Unexpected Blessings from God: Bolivia South America

By Doug Hovda and Maureen Hovda

In 2004-07, when we wrote a journal sharing our missionary experiences in Bolivia, we now decided to rewrite the journals into a book for those who love children and travel. We taught school there for three years, therefore, we have written three sections PART 1, PART 2, and PART 3, One part for each year. UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS FROM GOD is true, powerful and fun to read. Some students we taught, are missionaries now throughout the world. What a joy it is to help them financially because of the books we have written, from donations we receive. Enjoy the journals!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664144231

Doug Hovda

Doug and Maureen were high school sweethearts at Robbinsdale High School in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. God called them while they were at Bible camp and fifteen years old. They began teaching children in Sunday School about Jesus and sharing the gospel at the downtown mission and through child evangelism. During college, they were married on August 24, 1957. They spent forty years sharing Jesus, teaching Bible study groups, and spending time at missions around the world. God then called them to Bolivia for three years. They are eighty-three and eighty-four years old and still are encouraging others through Hovda Ministries and Operation Harvest. Loving God, loving each other, and the stories never end. Enjoy their journal they wrote while in Bolivia. A wonderful read! Doug and Maureen live in Avon, Indiana

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 by Doug & Maureen Hovda.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 11/25/2020

Xlibris

844-714-8691

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CONTENTS

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION

Part 1: (1/1/04—7/4/05)

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

SUMMER / FALL 2004

WINTER / SPRING 2005

SUMMER 2005

Part 2: (8/8/05—6/12/06)

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

Part 3: (8/1/06—6/10/07)

JULY/AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

FINALE

DEDICATION

We dedicate this book to our Heavenly Father,

Who created us, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

who died for us that we can live for Him,

and the Holy Spirit who dwells within us to guide us.

We also dedicate this book to our children and grandchildren:

Our daughter, Karen, and our son, Paul,

their spouses, Michael and Jody,

our grandchildren,

Meg, Tim, Benjamin, Catherine, and Donovan.

Thank you for your willingness to support us

in our unexpected blessings from God.

May your lives continue to show Jesus to the world

no matter which direction God leads you.

Jesus loves you all. You are the best!

INTRODUCTION

1/1/04

Happy New Year to all of you out there in cyberspace! Our journal has begun. We will stay in touch with you throughout our adventures with God. We wanted to touch base with you one more time before leaving for Bolivia. Yes, the time has finally arrived! We are finishing up our last packing. Did you pack the peanut butter and a couple of bottles of water? Are you sure you need that many pair of shoes? These books are very heavy. Are they all necessary? And so forth. Deciding what we need and what we want and being able to know the difference is a real challenge! However, a fun challenge! Our devotional today was entitled, Will You Go Out Without Knowing? How appropriate! The only thing we know for certain is that God knows what He is doing, and we are leaving for Bolivia in faith, with joy and anticipation for what He will reveal to us during the next few months. The verse below we claim as we head out to Bolivia. Enjoy the journal as we write while moving ahead. Exciting!

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so

easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us, looking unto

Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Hebrews 12:1b–2a (NKJV)

PRAY: that we will remain focused

on the goal of sharing Christ.

PRAY: that we will get through customs

with everything intact.

PRAY: that we will be able

to sleep on the plane.

PRAY: for rapid acclamation to 8,400 feet high

and the time change.

PRAISE: We are both healthy and eager to go!

We will have four days to get settled

before school begins on Monday.

Well, dear family and friends, it is time to put the lock on the suitcases and head to the airport, filled with excitement, joy, and unexpected blessings from our Lord Jesus Christ!

Love, Doug and Maureen

The effective, fervent prayer

of a righteous man

avails much.

James 5:16b (NKJV)

We will journal for you each week!

Enjoy the journey with us!

PART 1

(1/1/04—7/4/05)

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Doug and Maureen

with Mileage Sign to Bolivia

THE BEGINNING

JANUARY

1/11/04

Greetings from Bolivia!

What a beautiful city! Lots and lots of flowers, flowering trees, and unusual plants. Of course, the mountains are indescribably beautiful. Any direction you look, you see mountains. We have already learned that the highest mountains are north, so that if we get turned around, just check the mountain heights. Neat! We had no problems at all adjusting to the altitude, which is around 8,400 feet. This verse reminds us.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul,

And all that is within me,

Bless His holy Name!

Psalm 103:1 (NKJV)

That is definitely how we feel as we embark on this new chapter in our life. Praise the Lord for a smooth flight and clearing customs without as much as a glance at our luggage! They knew that we were with the school, and school personnel are highly regarded here. We are settled into our apartment, unpacking, and adjusting to the time change. Since we arrived on Thursday morning, life has been a whirlwind of meeting people, learning by doing, such as riding in a trufi, which is a fifteen-passenger van, from school back to the apartment after a day of orientation, and walking around the area getting our bearings. There are five single teachers who live in the apartment complex where we are living or across the street in the guest house apartments. We have adopted them, or they have adopted us—we’re not sure yet! There is Crystal from Nebraska; Julie from Canada; Beth from South Carolina; Susan from Argentina; and Meagan (pronounced with a long e) from Australia. They took us out to eat with them, walking to Melena’s where we had Bolivian food while sitting on the patio. When we are not eating out or having a quick piece of bread for breakfast before the day begins, we are eating at the guest house across the street. Talk about fabulous meals! Friday noon we had silponcho, which is beef pounded very thin, over rice with tomatoes, onions, and a fried egg on top, along with fried potatoes on the side. Oh, and with freshly cooked green beans and then peaches for dessert. Fortunately, the big meal is served at noon, so a sandwich is sufficient at night, unless, of course, someone invites you out to eat like the girls did. We have already declined once. They are in and out and feel comfortable relaxing in our living room. What interesting girls they are: Susan, for example, did a parachute jump to raise most of her support! We will have many great conservations in the future, I’m sure. Pray that we will be good listeners and advisors to these, our newly adopted daughters. Dianne, from South Africa, is about our age and refers to herself as our chocolate sister. She is our official if you have any questions let me know person, but she does not give us a chance to ask any! She whisked us off to the Saturday morning open market (by foot), then took us on a micro-bus to the SIM financial office downtown so that we could get some money changed. This morning we caught a trufi-taxi (cab) to the English-speaking church, then caught another cab to go to a wonderful Chinese restaurant for lunch. Whew! So much to pack into three days before school begins tomorrow! Oh, yes, Maureen has been scrambling to get lesson plans written, at least for the first day of school this semester. Nothing like jumping in with both feet! So what else is new? She will be teaching third grade in the mornings and another will teach the third grade afternoon subjects while Maureen teaches music to grades 1–6 in the afternoons. There are nineteen children in her third grade class, and she has been told that they are very bright, eager learners. She does not begin teaching music for another week, which is a blessing, giving her more time to prepare. Doug will meet with his supervisor tomorrow, then he will know what his jobs will be. We already know that Doug has a men’s breakfast next Saturday morning, and Maureen has a baby shower next Saturday afternoon, so you know what she will be doing in her spare time! She has one week to knit a baby sweater. In some ways, it feels like we have been here for weeks. We already feel completely at home and are really enjoying getting to know many wonderful people from around the world. Your prayers are being answered. Thank you for being faithful in partnering with us. We praise God for e-mail so we can bring you along with us to Cochabamba. Con amor y abrazos

(With love and hugs), D and M

1/18/04

Dear fellow laborers,

Greetings from beautiful Cochabamba. In spite of the heavy rain the last few days, our daily activities have not changed. Each morning at 7 a.m., we board the school trufi and head out to Carachipampa Christian School. We arrive at school about 7:35, depending on how many people we pick up along the way. Staff devotions begin at 7:45, so we quickly grab a cup of coffee and head for the teachers’ lounge, where we take turns leading devotions. Ann, our director, has led devotions this past week each morning, as we studied together the meaning of God’s grace. Another staff member will lead this next week. Maureen’s turn comes after spring break, so she will have ample opportunity to see how the other teachers lead. After devotions and prayer, the daily announcements are given and we head to our classrooms by 8:25, when the first bell rings.

Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,

says the Lord of hosts.

Zechariah 4:6b (NKJV)

Maureen: My class is a joy. I have nineteen eager, active, third grade students who can’t wait for school to begin each day. I have a vast range of nationalities, including Australian, Korean, British, Portuguese, American, and Bolivian. Each child has his own way of pronouncing the English language, so my listening skills are being put to work big-time! They are very patient with me, when I ask them to repeat something because I cannot understand it. Explaining the word niece, for example, to some child whose English is limited was a particular challenge for another teacher. The student finally exclaimed, Oh, I know! Head, shoulders, ‘niece’ (knees), and toes! So each day brings many smiles as we work together. I have begun a scripture memorization contest. Friday was the first day I allowed them to recite for chart stickers. Well, it took forty-five minutes to hear all the verses they had worked on during their free time that week. I have them explain what the verse means as well so that I know they understand what God’s Word is saying to them. For example, after quoting 1 John 1:9, I asked Eugene, one of my students, what unrighteous meant. He stood up tall and said, Anything that is not right! Rather good, wouldn’t you say? Another thing is that they all want a turn to pray. The first day, Monday, I asked the class if any of them had a prayer request. Every hand went up! So, everyone prayed for their respective request. What a delight to hear them so simply come to the throne room of God and share their hearts. My heart is full as I think about the lives that God has placed in my care for the next few weeks. Pray that their hearts will be open to the Spirit of God and that the seeds of His word will be planted on fertile ground. I begin the afternoon music classes tomorrow. I also meet with a tutor for Spanish twice a week during my prep time.

Doug: I ride to school each morning with a group of teachers from our area. I attend the teachers’ morning devotional time and hear announcements for the day and spend time in prayer with the rest of the teaching staff. After that meeting has been dismissed, I am blessed to have a quiet workplace to carry out my work assignments. Currently, I am looking over an area which is used as a shop to teach industrial arts to students (woodworking). This area is used for a welder, a carpenter, and an area for electrical repairs. It is also a storage area for some broken chairs and discarded items from around the school campus. My assignment is to see where improvements can be made to improve the storage of tools, students’ wood projects, and provide better work areas for all of the above disciplines. I am left alone to work out the details, but I am located just outside the director’s office, so I do not miss out on much. I have been given at least two other projects to do after I complete this current task. I will share those as we get closer to starting those projects. I am having a great time interacting with the teachers, and I still have some difficulties communicating with the Bolivian workers. My supervisor suggested that I take Spanish from a Bolivian tutor on campus. I have a forty-five-minute class each day of the week, and I am already able to use small amounts of what I am learning. Today, we went to a Bolivian church, named Dios en Cristo, with one of the teachers, and we met three other missionaries there as well. We were able to walk there, but we took a trufi to a restaurant prior to walking back home again. We are enjoying ourselves and meeting many new people each day. Please pray that I can shake this cold that has got me coughing a lot these last couple of days. So that, dear ones, is a very brief summary of our week. We still become very weary by the end of the day when the trufi brings us home by 5 p.m., but it is a good tired! Continue to pray as the Lord brings us to your mind. There is much spiritual warfare going on at the school, and God’s covering is essential. Thank you again for standing with us in prayer. Each day as we leave our apartment, we claim a verse.

Your Bolivian link,

Maureen and Doug

PS: By the way, Maureen finished the baby sweater in time to take it to the shower on Saturday. So, who is surprised?!

1/25/04

He who is in you is greater

than he who is in the world.

1 John 4:4b (NKJV)

Dear friends and family,

The rains seem to have let up somewhat and the days are sunny and cool with a gentle breeze. It probably gets into the low 70s during the heat of the day. We walked to the grocery store (about a mile) Saturday morning and were comfortable in short sleeves. The store, IC Norte (pronounced ee-say nor-tay), has just about anything one would want that is available here in Cochabamba. We arrived just when the freshly baked bread and rolls were coming out of the oven. Naturally, we bought some for lunch! We also bought some dulce de leche to go with it, reminiscent of Cordoba, Argentina. (Those were the days, right, Mark and Pat?) We browsed through the store for about an hour, purchased our groceries, and took a trufi-taxi home. This afternoon we had our first SIM monthly meeting. Maureen played for the worship time, and we met many more missionaries. After prayer time we were reminded to stay aware of government activities by watching/listening to the news. This is the time of year when strikes generally occur, so we need to stay alert. Nothing is in the offing immediately, and we were all assured that the SIM leaders here are in constant touch with the US Embassy and stay on top of things. Therefore, do not become concerned if you hear rumblings on the news stations there. We will keep you up-to-date. We are safe and fine. Keep praying.

We will not hide

God’s redemptive works

from their children,

telling the generation to come,

the praises of the Lord,

and His strength

and His wonderful works

that He has done.

Psalm 78:4 (NKJV)

Maureen: The above verse is the school motto for this school year. What a challenge to all of us as we walk throughout the campus. It is a constant reminder of why we are here. Well, I had all my music classes this past week and what fun it was! On Wednesday, I lost my voice, and I had the laughing as I tried to introduce a new song fifth graders to them. Fortunately, I brought a CD of the music with me, so all ended well. One girl stopped as she was leaving class and asked if she could pray for me. Oh yes, I said. Thank you! What a joy. My voice is almost restored, although I have not tried to sing yet! Tomorrow will tell. I have a very full schedule this coming week and am looking forward to being a part of shaping these precious lives once again. Pray for my understanding of the various accents that are spoken, not only by the students, but the staff as well. I have never heard the English words pronounced so many different ways. Another learning experience for me. God continues to teach me things all the time!

Doug: This week was good for me as well. The layouts that I completed in week 1 were reviewed by my leader and the leader of the shop area where these plans will be implemented. I received a go-ahead to draw up detailed drawings so that materials can be ordered and then the building of shelves and benches will begin. Some of my ideas were not needed, and they brought up some new ideas of other improvements that they wanted done. These assignments are great for me because I have done this sort of thing before and being so soon after my surgery last fall, I am not required to do any heavy lifting. My Spanish reading and pronunciation are improving, but my conversational skills are not to a place yet where I can carry on a conversation with anyone speaking Spanish. I enjoy the daily classes a lot. My cold and cough have improved greatly, and I do believe that Maureen is coughing now more than I am. Pray for my acquisition of enough Spanish that I will be able to talk to my fellow workers and be understood by them and that I might understand what they are saying as well. All of the workers are Bolivian men. We are meeting new missionaries almost every day, so we are trying to remember a lot of new names and faces. Pray that I will be an influence for Christ upon those I meet here. Thank you all for your continued prayers on our behalf and continue to let us know what is happening at your place as well.

Love in Christ,

Doug and Maureen

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face to shine upon you,

And be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His

countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26 (NKJV)

FEBRUARY

2/1/04

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,

Early in the morning my song shall rise to Thee.

Dear loved ones far and near,

That was the song I introduced to the fifth grade class this past week. Many questions were raised as we went over all the phrases in the song, including a fantastic discussion of who God is. One student in particular had many questions. I talked with him briefly after class and thanked him for his input. I felt a burden for him and prayed much for him that evening. The next day, his mother came to tell me what happened after school with Chris. He came into the house and told his mother that he had just accepted Christ as His Savior. She asked him what they had talked about in Bible class that morning that prompted him to make that decision. He told her it wasn’t Bible class but music class that caused him to make that decision! Wow! Those of you in music/worship leadership, do not forget the incredible power of music to the human soul! Thank you, all of you musicians out there. To God be the glory! I am so grateful that God allowed me to be a part in Chris making the most important decision of his life! Please pray for him, as he has some difficult choices ahead of him. Another highlight this week was Marianna, one of my third grade girls. She came into the classroom bright and early, rushed up to my desk, and said, I have a Bible verse memorized! Can I say it now? I said, Not right now, but just before lunchtime. She said OK and went to her desk. About twenty minutes later, she was back, wanting to know if it was time for lunch yet. I said no, and she said, Please can I say my verse now? Again, I said, no, that she would have to wait. This went on all morning, and each time she was more insistent. Finally, it was almost lunchtime, so I called her up to my desk, and she drew herself up as tall and straight as she could and flawlessly recited the Lord’s Prayer. When she finished, she was glowing, and I had tears in my eyes. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her; so proud we both were. You see, Marianna, is one of my shy ESL students who struggle somewhat with the English language. It brought to mind our approach to God sometimes when we pray. I want to do it now. I want an answer now. And God says, Wait a little while, until the time is right. These children continually teach me things every day. Well, that’s only two of many stories, so you see, every day is a new experience. I stopped my Spanish tutor, as I need more time to be available to the students and teachers. I help with dramas and music for chapel each week. Last night we helped Dianne with