Min and I arrived safely on Tuesday morning in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. A friend of mine and pilot for GMI named D.J. Knott picked us up at the airport and showed us around town on the way to the RedADvenir TV station where we will be working and staying. Santa Cruz is an interesting city in that there are roads called "radials" that start from the center of the city and go outward in all directions, as well as "rings" that make a circle around the center of the city. The circle closest to the center is called "ring 1" and the next, "ring 2", etc. We travel west out of the city on the radial "double via" until kilometer 17 and take a left to get to the station. It's a good distance away and very peaceful. Min and I are staying in a shipping container that has been converted into a house. It is several feet off the ground on cinder blocks and has running water from the well at the station, and 220V electrical power, a shower and toilet. We're very happy there. I am officially working with the pilots, who have a plot of land at the other end of the property and a grass runway. The airplanes are at a small nearby airport though. Min is working at the TV station. She may be the new cook, as the current one is leaving on Tuesday. She is hesitant about cooking for 15+ people, 3 meals a day but she is brave enough to be considering it. She is working with the current cook, Monica (who is from Guyana) and we will be taking a trip to the market together soon to buy food for next week.
Today, RedADvenir had a visit from the local SDA conference. Two officials came and were very supportive. Everyone at Red ADvenir was very pleased and excited, especially David Gates. It seems that in the past, the Conference here has not recognized "supporting ministries" which are ministries that are not directly supported and supervised by the Seventh-day Adventist Conference. However, a change in administration has taken place, and now the door seems to be opening for us to work together in harmony! I am very happy to hear this, although I didn't know there was a problem in the past with this until yesterday.
So far I have been helping the pilots move tools, oil, etc. from the TV station to a shipping container on the pilots' side of the property. This allowed the TV station to clean up the main studio for tours, as they were able to move their things into the adjacent storage rooms that were now empty. For me, it was a lot of lifting heavy objects and moving them all day. I was so grateful for a loving wife who could give me a back massage I so much needed that night!
A little history: The TV station has sold their old property which was in the city (actually the city grew to encompass it) and bought a property in the country. The new property had no buildings, so they are almost starting over. They have a very nice main building now, and hope to be up and running soon. The pilots are working on Jeff Sutton's house. He is the director of the Aviation program here, and the new grass runway is across from his house. He just moved into the unfinished house just recently and we are working around him and his family. Please pray for all of us as we work to get these two ministries set up in our new location.
