"It is for freedom that Chist has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let
yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery"  Galations 5 : 1
Prayer Update - July 2007

“Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”  
2 Corinthians 3 : 17
Hi Everyone!! First of all, please accept my apologies for not having been in touch for so long with updates on the work here.  
I can’t believe it’s now July and I haven’t written at all this year!  If I wrote now about everything that’s happened this year it
would be pages and pages long so I’ll try and summarise… about 10 pages should do!!  Only joking!

The previous website (www.freedomkidsbolivia.com) is no longer working I’m afraid.  I didn’t receive emails about renewing my
subscription so they cut me off! The new address is
www.freedomkidsbolivia.org  
The .com changes to .org and the rest is all the same.
One of the local streets at the beginning of the
rainy season

This year has been a bit different compared to last year. Chicho has
gone back to university to study law and Gabriela, who was helping
with the children’s classes last year, was given a full scholarship to
study medicine – in Cuba!  So I was left with no one to help in
classes.  The first few months of the year were spent in planning with
the Foundation, family visitation, health provision, church activities
and helping the children get ready to start back at school.  During
that time there was a period of bad flooding in the town – thousands
of families had to temporarily leave their homes and move into local
schools and tents on the ring road of the town.  The flooding and
heavy rain caused a lot of health problems and many of the children
in the prisons were ill with chest infections, bronchitis and infections
during the first few months of the year.  It seemed like every day
there were more children needing to go to the doctor! We were able
to take them all to the health centre when necessary and provide
their medicines and now the health in general of the children is much
better, but health provision is still a big area of the work since the
poor living conditions in the prison cause many infections and poor
health in the children. Please pray for the health of the children.
Since the school year starts in February here, there were a lot of children who needed to be enrolled in school but had no birth
certificates or any paperwork which is required to enrol in a new school.  In the woman’s prison, none of the children had been in
school for a year and had no birth certificates or school report cards to prove what class they had been in.  I spent about a
month trying to get birth certificates for the children and get their papers in order for them to be able to go back to school and
thankfully, all of them started school in February.  There is an initiative at the moment to provide identity cards free of charge for
everyone who has never had one, so God willing, we will be able to help their parents get the children’s identity cards as well as
birth certificates in the near future.

In the few months with no classes, I was also able to do a lot of visiting to families both in prison and in the local area and also
spend time with the girls in the children’s home.  Please pray for these girls, that come from very difficult backgrounds, and that I
can really get alongside them, read the bible with them and help them to realise their value to God and how special they are.  
Please pray for me also that God will give me wisdom and the right words to say to them.
Classes started back up in April and I have a new helper,
Laura, who has just finished her training as a primary teacher. It’
s great to have the kids back at class again. We’re really
enjoying working together and making plans for the classes.
Laura’s helping them with homework and helping the children
that are struggling at school.  We’re making plans for the
classes at the moment and hope to have a time for homework,
bible study, a worship time, English, crafts, games, and a
snack.  We have multivitamins that the children receive every
day they’re at class and they’re now getting chocolate milk,
yoghurt and fruit instead of sugary juice at snack time, which
will hopefully be healthier and more nourishing for them, since
many are malnourished and the diet here isn’t well balanced or
very healthy.  We have classes 5 times a week in the
afternoons, with two different groups of children.  One group is
from the men’s prison and the other group is from the woman’s
prison and ex-prison kids who now live in the community.

We hoped to be able to start another class with the teenage
girls from the children’s home but almost all of the staff and
directors in the home have recently changed so relationships
with the staff have to be formed again.  Please pray for
relationships between us and the staff at the home so we can
continue visiting and encouraging these children, who don’t
have families of their own.
Laura with the little kids' group
We’re settling into our new church, which is quite small and mainly made up of children.  We’re both leaders in the AWANA
children’s bible club programme and have been encouraged by the enthusiasm of the children to learn memory verses and find
out more about the Lord. Please pray for the church, its leaders and the members.
Please pray that all these
classes, with the various groups
of children will bring glory to the
Lord and that these children will
learn more about him through
the bible stories and study times
that we have with them and that
God would really work in their
lives and in the lives of their
families.  Pray also for guidance
and patience for Laura and
myself as we work with these
children and seek to be a
Christian witness to them.
Trip to the park with the AWANA club children
Sunday morning at "El Jireh" church
A couple of months ago we moved into our own house and that has been a real answer to prayer.  We’re still trying to get settled and
get everything organised, but we were just about organised and tidy before my parents and sister arrived at the end of last week!  It’s
been great to have them here with us this week and they’ve been able to see around Trinidad, visit the prison and children’s home
and also the health centre and sports activities run by Fundacion Totaí.  We are going to the States with them for a couple of weeks
holiday and we’re both really looking forward to the break.

Our family has grown and we now have two Golden Labrador puppies called Mambo and Pipoca.  They are beautiful, but are ruining
anything they can get their paws on – typical puppies!  Our new garden was torn apart by them the first day.  I now know that puppies
and plants are not a good combination!
Prayer Points:

•        For God’s guidance as we start working together as a married couple.
•        That we will find somewhere more permanent to live until we start building.
•        For the new church we’re attending - “El Jireh” (which means “The Lord Provides”)
•        For Chicho and I and our (not so outstanding) musical skills and that we will be able
       to contribute to the music at church.
•        For the prison children, the classes and their involvement in church activities.
•        For girls from the children’s home and the bible class on Saturday afternoons with them.
•        For special events inside the prison that we hope to have on a regular basis.
The prayers, support and encouragement we receive is very much appreciated and we both send you our love and thank you
for your continued support.

Love Chicho and Rachel xx
Chicho and Rachel with Mambo (7 weeks) and
Pipoca (4 weeks) in March