My
participation in the Haven Retreat was only part of what I was doing in
Bolivia! Our dear Bolivian friends, Raul
and Isabel Justiniano lead a “mission” of 14 churches in an around Santa
Cruz. Isabel asked if I would be willing
to meet with and do some abbreviated Kitchen Table Counseling training of their
women leaders. The main church was just
two blocks down the street from where we were staying!
The first
evening 60 women attended. Due to a
tight schedule at the Haven Retreat, I literally arrived at the church and
walked on to speak! After speaking for
over an hour on basic principles of encouraging women, they began to ask
questions. The Lord gave wisdom and grace during those 45 minutes of very
difficult and delicate questions. What a
challenge and joy to switch from teaching, co-facilitating a small group,
helping to paint toe nails and leading an exercise class in English during the
day, to training leaders and fielding their questions in Spanish at night!
The next
evening women from all 14 churches of the Justiniano’s mission filled the
church sanctuary to learn more about being Chosen and Dearly Loved by the King
of Kings and Lord of Lords! A number of
those 350 or so ladies are now my friends on Facebook. And the church has asked
if Glen and I would come back three times a year to work with their people—Glen
with the men and me with the women! We
can’t manage three times a year, but we certainly want to go and help build up
this wonderful group of people so eager to learn and make a difference in their
circles of influence for God’s Kingdom! 
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