Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Shots! by Marie

Wow what a day! Part of the Bolivia team members today took part in
an adventure that i'm sure we will talk about while we are in
Bolivia. Jim & Ann D, Jim W, Susan C, and Marie C
drove to South Portland Maine to a travel clinic.
Can you believe it? A two hour drive up and back. It was great for
team bonding as well as for special prayers & requests
made for our team. We all received our yellow fever shots. Some of
us received Hepatis A shot. Typhoid is a in a pill form
so luckily we did not have to do another shot! Here is my God Stops
moment that I wrote in my journal last night:

I feel God's presence in our Bolivia team. I can't describe every
detail but I feel warmth and and love for my brothers and sisters
in Christ. Each person is gifted with a blessing from God. I know
all things will be revealed to each and everyone of us when
we embark on our trip to Bolivia. I pray for wisdom and discernment
for each and everyone of us.

Blessings,
Marie

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Welcome to the BCC Bolivia Blog!

Introduction
The purpose of this blog is to keep those in the Church up to date on what's happening with the BCC Bolivia Missions group. Our next trip is April 18-27 where we will be meeting up with the Timmers to spend a week in and around Cochabomba, Bolivia.

For a calendar of events where you can keep track of the Bolivia mission trip, click here.

To find out more about BCC, go to http://www.bedfordcc.org.

To find out more about the Timmers and IOUBolivia, go to http://ioubolivia.org.

To find out more about the country of Bolivia, go to the World Fact Book at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bl.html.

Group
This trip is being put together by a number of people (last names are not listed):

Adam A. and Maggie: BCC Missions Ministry Leaders. They are doing a majority of the planning and setup work for this trip even though they are not going this time.

Adam S.: Trip Leader. Adam S. is one of the co-leaders of the Bolivia Missions Ministry with Adam A. and will be leading this trip.

Sue and Marie: Trip Administrators. Sue and Marie have the monumental task of organizing all of the details of the trip from vaccinations, to group meetings, visas, passports, ground transportation- all of that stuff!

Jim: Spiritual Leader. Jim will lead the group spiritually throughout our week.

The other people going on the trip are:
AJ, Jim, Heath, and Ann.

Preparation
Preparing to go to Bolivia requires a ton of work. Each person needs a passport. Additionally, the country of Bolivia has begun requiring all visitors to obtain a visa ahead of time before entering the country. In addition to the $100 price tag, the visa application requires a lot of paperwork and requires mailing the Bolivian Consulate in Washington, D.C. our passports for them to affix the visa stamp. Each person also must receive a number of shots including tetanus, Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, and Rabies. Finally, each person is required to raise and/or pay $1400 in order to go on the trip.

Support
If you would like to financially support someone going on this trip, give that person a check directly made out to BCC with "Missions" in the Memo area of the check. Do NOT write the person's name on the check.


Our plan is to provide video updates to this blog while we are in Bolivia so that members of the Church, family, and friends can keep up to date with what we're doing and can live through the experience with us. So leave your comments to let us know what you think!