The time has come when those who choose the Lord for their present and future portion must trust in Him alone. Everyone professing godliness must have an experience of his own. 1T p 262

It is God’s goal for each one of us to have a personal experience in trusting Him. In trusting in Him alone. It goes against human nature to trust God for our daily needs. We prefer to trust in our work, in our parents, our retirement funds or social security. And yet the time is coming and I believe is at the door when all those things will be removed from us. If at that time we are unaccustomed to standing steady on the promises of God, how shall we stand?

It is one of our goals to teach this form of trust in God to our students. This last week God gave us the perfect opportunity to share this experience with the students. We had come to the end of the month, an especially tight month financially. We had tried to use the money frugally, we had made and sold 12,000 bricks, and still found ourselves one week from the beginning of the next month with only $7 left over. That left us a bit shy of the $575 that we spend weekly on food alone (to feed all 85 people on campus), and doesn’t come anywhere near paying for diesel and maintenance on the truck and generator or cement for the continued construction of the new classrooms. Continue reading ‘From the Bolivian jungle | Educational Secondary Industrial School’

Dear Family and Friends,

On Tuesday, while we were in town, we received an email from one of the girls that graduated from our school last year. Earlier this year she moved to Cochabamba (a large city in central Bolivia) to study nursing. She saved some money and did literature evangelism in order to pay for her travel expenses. In Cochabamba she stayed with her aunt and uncle and worked in their wood shop in exchange for room and board and the cost of her studies.

Continue reading ‘Bolivia Industrial School | Greetings from Bolivia’

Dear Family and Friends,
It has been a while since I wrote the last time. A lot has been happening and I don’t remember what I wrote the last time.

I think the last time I wrote anything was when Savana had first gone back into the NICU when she got the stomach infection. Well, that has been three weeks ago this last Friday.
After about a week she was doing some better when she got a fungal infection, which caused her to have to be put on the ventilator. They started her on meds right away, but it takes a while for fungal meds to kick in. She was looking really poor for about 5 days when she finally began to improve. She was doing slightly better for about a week when she stopped improving. So they had to change her medicine to a very strong one. She has been doing quite a bit better. However last night she had a seizure so they had to put her back on the seizure medicine. Continue reading ‘Jeff & Fawna Bolivia | Update on little Savana’

Tuesday morning in Detroit…

Forecasted high? 20 degrees. We pack up our stuff and shuttle to the airport where we wait for our favorite airline agent to come on duty. She arrives. The temperature is a balmy 18. Just 2 degrees short of the acceptable temperature for doggies to fly. We check our six bags and decide to wait it out. The plan was pretty much the same as yesterday. Jessi and I will go ahead. Ruan will stay back with the doggy, but if it warms up to 20 by 2:30pm, Ruan will come with us. Jessi and I struggle through security again…didn’t we do this yesterday? It’s 2:25pm. I call Ruan from Jessi’s phone. He answers and says that they are checking the dog, even though it is only 19 degrees. He will be with us shortly. Continue reading ‘Bolivia Industrial School | The saga Continues’

Our travel plans have been slightly altered.

All weekend long we have been anxious about the temperature. In order for Boesman to fly, the temperature must be 20 degrees. So, this morning, after saying good-bye to our friends in Lansing, Ruan, Jessi, and I continued on to Detroit with Ruan’s parents and our puppy dog. The temperature upon arrival? 12 degrees. It wasn’t looking positive.

We unpacked our luggage and left Boesman in the car so we could talk to the airline about our options. The first lady who helped us checked with a supervisor who adamantly told us that the dog would not go. It was just too cold. Continue reading ‘Bolivia Industrial School | Our travel plans have been slightly altered.’

THE SCHOOL


The school was started 4 years ago by some church members in Guayaramerín (Guayara for short) in cooperation with David Gates. It is operated under the parent organization Gospel Ministry International. It is run as a faith based school, meaning we do not actively seek donations, leaving it to God to impress people to give as needs arise. Every month we see evidence of God’s watch care over us as we always have enough to get through.


New students are accepted in the first and second years only, so that we can maximize our time of influence over them and also because the education system here is not very good, so the students come with only a basic knowledge of core subjects. The school is in its fourth year and will have its first graduation this November.

Continue reading ‘Bolivia Industrial School’

Educational Secondary Industrial School

“Unidad Educativa Técnico Industrial Richard Gates” (Bolivia Industrial School) - Bolivia (South America).
Director
Jeff & Fawna Sutton - jjsutton {at} southern(.)edu
USA contact phone number - (+1-231) 824-6001


Educational Director

Tara Swanepoel - swanepoel {at} gospelministry(.)org or rtswan {at} gmail(.)com
Please direct all project inquiries to Tara, as Jeff is always busy and might delay in replies.


Volunteer Coordinators
Mindy Wlasenko - clint.mindy {at} gmail(.)com (for English-speaking volunteers)
Jerry Cardoza - jerrycardoza {at} hotmail(.)com (for Spanish-speaking volunteers)


Other Details
Cellphone at school - +591-7-395-2696


School website - www.boliviamissions.org


The service opportunities can be found on the Opportunities for Mission Service page.

How to get there:


Fly to Santa Cruz’s International Airport (VVI). American Airlines flies daily from Miami, Florida to Santa Cruz, Bolivia with a short stop in La Paz, Bolivia. AeroSur (a Bolivian airline) flies direct from Miami, Florida to Santa Cruz, Bolivia three times per week. Current prices can be found by contacting the airlines directly (www.aa.com, www.aerosur.com). Most of the time, volunteer staff from Red A.D Venir (the Gospel Ministries TV station located in Santa Cruz) can meet new arrivals at the airport. These volunteers can help you purchase your local bus and/or plane tickets. These tickets CANNOT be purchased online.


There are two ways to get from Santa Cruz to Guayaramerin. There are local flights (with AeroCon) from Santa Cruz to Trinidad (a town in central Bolivia) and from Trinidad to Guayaramerin. Flying from all the way from Santa Cruz to Guayaramerin via Trinidad costs approximately US$150 one way. A cheaper alternative is to take a bus from Santa Cruz to Trinidad and then fly from Trindad to Guayaramerin. This option is doable for those who have a working knowledge of the Spanish language as the bus terminals can often be chaotic and confusing. Busing from Santa Cruz to Trinidad (9 hour ride) costs US$8 one way. You will need to take a taxi from the bus terminal to the airport in Trinidad. Flying from Trinidad to Guayaramerin is approximately US$75 one way.


Staff from the Bolivia Industrial School will meet you at the airport in Guayaramerin and transport you to the school.
BIS is an Adventist boarding academy, fully accredited in Bolivia. Students attend for free on a work-study program. Twenty-three students were enrolled during the first school year, beginning in March 2004 shortly after Brad and Lina Mills arrived. In November 2007, 9 students graduated at the first graduation at BIS. Beginning in 2008, there will be also be a primary school and a post-secondary missionary training institute on campus