David at home in La Paz, celebrating the sun shining on Mount Illimani after days of his mountain being hidden in the clouds!
Trip to the cities of La Paz and Sucre, Bolivia, November 24 – December 9, 2023
Trip Purpose:
We will facilitate a coaching workshop for three days of our first week for Food for the Hungry (FH)– Bolivia leaders including a few leaders from other ministries. This will be held in La Paz close to FH’s national office. The second week in Sucre we will facilitate an Adult Learning and Bible Telling five-day workshop with Food for the Hungry leaders and their local team leaders. We will also have conversations with FH leaders as to how to organize ongoing training with them throughout the year.
| Trip Calendar:
Other team members will be flying out on Nov. 25 and back on Dec. 10, one day after me. |
Praises and Prayer Requests:
- Praise God for this amazing opportunity to work with a well-known and successful Christian development organization, Food for the Hungry International-Bolivia! We are no longer working with Compassion International – Bolivia as their Colorado Springs office has another program that they want them to follow. We wish them well. FH wants to see their partner churches and communities gain a strong sense of ownership and empowerment in effectively reaching out to their own communities, long-term after their partnership with them ends. They are inviting us to walk alongside them in the process of improving their organization and methodologies to more effectively see the kingdom of God expand through their work throughout Bolivia. What a privilege!
- Pray for our three-day coaching workshop with FH leaders and a few other leaders we are also training, including our Navigator leaders. Gary, Merri Lee, and I will facilitate this workshop for everyone else. Pray for people to understand Christ’s empowering leadership. Pray for a strong desire to grow in participants to be a more empowering leader, and pray for some excellent experience in coaching, and a commitment in the months ahead to practice these skills. Pray for FH leaders to see ways to improve their organization’s leadership culture to become more empowering, with a growing strong value of developing the leaders they have and work with.
- Pray for our Adult Learning workshop for people to understand the “why” behind the way we facilitate, to desire to learn how to teach in this way, and to commit to taking some practical steps to grow personally and especially for those who will be on local D4D teams, that they will practice this method of facilitation.
- Pray for our Bible Telling workshop for people to see the value and effectiveness of studying God’s word in this powerful and involved way. Pray they would catch the vision of this method and that they would commit to practicing it. This skill often brings a strong “win” to those beginning to implement Discipling for Development in their churches and communities. This is a powerful way to connect people in our churches and communities to Bible study in a much more accessible way than using traditional preaching or teaching methods.
- Pray for our team:
- Gary and Merri Lee Hipp – American missionaries who coached our Rwanda D4D team. They are an amazing team who have led D4D for many years. Gary is our team leader. They are learning Spanish and will facilitate a few lessons with Katia interpreting for them.
- David Thomas – Evangelical Friends Missionary blessed to partner with The Navigators D4D in this new work in Bolivia and a former missionary kid from Bolivia.
- Judy Camp – American Navigator ministry with Hispanic ladies in Los Angeles for many years.
- Bruce Hook – American Navigator working with American Navigator missionaries and Latin American Navigators in member care in Latin America.
- Sergio and Mónica are Mexican Latin American Navigators.
- Marcia and Carlos are Chilean Latin American Navigators.
- Cintia Huayhua – FH worker, Friends church member, future missionary hopeful.
- Stefanie and Rodiz Chambi – Friends church members, and future missionaries to the Middle East. Stefanie has been translating our material into Spanish!
- Pray for God’s favor, blessing, and grace to rest on us! Pray for wisdom and Holy Spirit insight as we walk alongside FH a YWAM leader, his local church in Santa Cruz, and a Bolivian Friends missionary couple to the Chiman people.
- Pray for health, strength, energy, excellent Spanish, and excellent communication with all those participating in these seminars.
- Pray for safety in travel for all those coming (often a day’s drive from their cities). Pray for health for everyone during the two weeks of seminars.
- Pray for me. I am learning to be continually centered, grounded, and rooted in Christ’s love. I know that I am his “beloved ‘huios’ (son, heir, family representative), that Papa is pleased with me, (that he trusts me), that his delight rests on me.” (Luke 3:22) Pray for these truths to be deeply rooted in me, in who I am.
- Pray also for me to be continually aware of Holy Spirit’s presence and nudging, to find a good rhythm of rest alongside the times of intense focus in facilitating and listening to others facilitate. Pray for growth in my emotional intelligence and awareness of everything and everyone around me. Pray for God’s favor to rest on me!
| I am seeking new monthly financial partners as well as new prayer partners. A friend startled me with the idea “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” and that Holy Spirit’s greatest impact through my ministry will be through the people partnering with me rather than with the people I work with! I will be thinking on this more. Ask Holy Spirit about joining my monthly financial and prayer team!
There are four ways to give:
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Bless you!
David Thomas
Spanish 
English (United States)