The Two of Us

Carnival

2010-02-14T21:54:00.014-04:00

A wild (orgy) 3 day celebration (Feb 14-16), 40 days before Easter. It starts with a parade on Saturday night and finishes on Fat Tuesday with the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday after which one is supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures. Carnival with all its excesses, celebrates as a profane event, can be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh. They put on mask or cover their faces so that God will not know who they are as they committ these pagan acts. Along with these pagan acts they throw water ballons filled with ink or paint at people and vehicles. The also paint a lot of grattie on buildings.The most births in Bolivia take place nine months from now. Here are a few pictures. Anyway it is a holiday with no school.

Samaipata

2010-01-08T16:37:00.045-04:00

Debie and I were fortunate to get away from Santa Cruz. We went out into the country to a city name Samaipata. It was about a 3 hour bus ride from Santa Cruz. We went with two other families. There were 16 in all that made the trip. We all stayed at a resort called Cabanas de Traudi. We were fortunate to all stay in the same building. There were 7 bedrooms with adequate showers and bathrooms. A large dining area with a furnished kitchen. The temperature at Samaipata was cooler because we were much higher above sea level than at Santa Cruz. Below is a place we visited while at Samaipata. It was called Fuerte. An area in the mountains. We traveled a long winding road to about 5,000 feet. These were old Inca ruins. It was very interesting.

While at Samaipata we went to Cuevas, a park which has some beautiful waterfalls. We have pictures of one but there were others further back in the park. It would take a hike through the woods which we didn't take.

These are pictures were taken in the country on the to way to Samaipata. The country side is beautiful.

Christmas Decorations

2010-01-01T00:37:00.018-04:00

These are some photos of decorations in Santa Cruz Bolivia. They are all made with plastic bottles. Enjoy.

Varsity Volleyball

2009-11-09T17:35:00.014-04:00

Here is a pic of part of the Santa Cruz Chritian Learning Centers Varsity Volleyball team. The team consist of 9-12th graders. We had a very good season finishing the regular season 4-2 losing only to Co-operative School (twice). Our league consist of Co-operative School Jaguars, International School Griffins, Christian Learning Center Eagles, and Cambridge College Knights.

{Team members shown in the pic--front (starting from the left) Paul Estes (12), Mark Salinas (12), Nick Smith (10), Jesse Mann (10), back Jon Mann (12), Danny Canaviri (12), Jesse Hallock (11), and Andre Larson (10)} Missing from Pic Taylon Schreoder (9), Jihun Chun (10), Juan Carlos Yao (10), Richard Ling (11), Josh Mojica (12)

This last weekend started a tounament. It was Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It was a round robin tournament playing every school with the teams with the best record playing for the championship on Sautrday. One caveat about this tournament-it was both soccer and volleyball at the same time so our team played 2 soccer matches and 1 volleyball game on Thursday, 2 volleyball and 1 soccer on Friday, then the championship on Saturday for both volleyball and soccer. These were some long days with the last contest starting at 8:3o p.m. both nights. Now not all of our volleyball players were involved with soccer but 6 did play soccer.

Well we lost our first two matched and did not play very well. Then in the third match we finally got our act together and won. So we were in the consolation game on Saturday morining which we won to finish the tournament 2-2 with a 3rd place finish.

Below is a pic of three of the volleyball and soccer players that receive a MVP award for their outstanding play. The three are from left to right are Mark Estes, Danny Canaviri, and Jesse Hallock.

I am very proud of the SCCLC Varsity Volleyball team. They did a great job of representing themselves and the Learning Center.

JV Boys Volleyball

2009-10-22T21:47:00.012-04:00

Here is a pic of the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Centers JV Boy's Volleyball team. The team consist of 6-8th graders. We had a very good season finishing the regular season 4-2 losing only to Cooperative (twice). Our leagues consist of Co-operative School Jaguars, International School Griffins, Christian Learning Center Eagles, and Cambridge College Knights.

(Team members are Felipe Arce, Richard Enns, Cesar Flores, Haziel Martinez, Jose Merco, Wesley Ordoñez, Claudio Sandoval and Gaston Waldman.)

This week started playoffs. We competed against the International School Griffins on Tuesday winning 25-11, 25-8. That setup a show down with Cooperative again. But in the end we lost 20-25, 25-5, 13-15 with a questionable call by an official to end the game.

I am very proud of these athletes. They did an outstanding job with the little practice time we had. (We could only practice on Friday's.)

Below is a pic of Haziel Martinez in our contest on Tuesday. Again this was a very rewarding season for myself and the Learning Center. And it sort of felt good getting back into coaching.

Spirtual Enrichment Week

2009-10-20T19:04:00.027-04:00

Last week, 12-16 Oct, was Spiritual Enrichment week at the school. This was something new for us. We have never experienced this before in the public school system. Here is some info from a flyer that was published. As you can see Mike Blanks published this flyer and is in charge of the event. He is a WGM Missionary serving here in Santa Cruz. Also it was interesting in the last paragraph that they wanted us to take into consideration the amount of work the students received during the week out side of class. NONE!! I have also inserted more info throughout the flyer in ( )'s.

Spiritual Enrichment Week
High School Retreat
& Servant Day are COMING SOON!
Please be in earnest prayer...read on...

Spiritual Enrichment Week ~ OCTOBER 12-16
Franco Salvatori will be our special speaker for this year’s secondary Spiritual Enrichment Week. (Two pic's have been inserted while sharing at Chapel.) Chapels will meet each day during First Period on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday. Wednesday’s Chapel will be held during Seventh Period (because of the PSAT test for all the juniors). Special Activities will include an Afternoon OUT with the junior high from 3-5 & a Bible Study / Dinner for the high school on Monday evening from 6:30-9:00. These will be special times with Franco as he shares his testimony, and they will give the young people opportunities to get to know him a little better. We will have another opportunity for the seniors to get together with Franco on Wednesday evening…Please be in prayer for Franco as he prepares what he will share and pray for a SPIRITUAL REVIVAL amongst our students and staff here at SCCLC!

(Franco shared 5 R's during the week based on Psalms. He did a fantastic job. Briefly the 5 R's.

REVEALS-Ps 147 God reveals himself both in General (nature) and Specific (creation).

REVERES-Ps 33 We need to Praise HIM, Walk Justily, and Fear HIM.

REBEL-Ps 78 We all rebel in are own way including prophets of old like Moses.

REPENT-Ps 32 Guilt or Confess and Led or Guided

RESTORE-Ps 80 Restore us God almighty. We need Gods presents.

He hit a lot on Rebel/Repent. That seems to be a cycle that we need to break. We need to be in tune with him all the time.)

High School Retreat ~ OCTOBER 16-18
Our High School Retreat will be in Samaipata again this year. We will be leaving on Friday afternoon and returning to Santa Cruz on Sunday. Our theme, RAISING THE BAR, is loosely based on the book, DO HARD THINGS, which many of our students have read. Please pray with us that God’s message will be clearly conveyed and challenge us to live above the low expectations we and others put on our lives.
Pray also as I prepare the messages and organize the weekend’s activities and for all involved.

(On Friday, October 16, we will be leaving the Learning Center after classes for Samaipata. We will stay until Sunday enjoying social times together, a few games, “serious” times, and of course, plenty of free-time. There will be swimming, hiking and other activities to fill your free time or you may opt to just read or sleep a little. This is a retreat from the norm, so we want you to come, relax and have a good time with your friends, as well as remain open to what the Lord has in store for your life. Please have your ride home arranged to meet you at the Learning Center on Sunday, October 18 at 4:30 PM - SHARP!!!)

Servant Day ~ OCTOBER 21
The school will be “sponsoring” a servant day for all junior high & high school students. Junior highers will remain on school grounds while the high school students will go to various places for this day of ministry. Look for details in the coming weeks...
Please pray that this will be a great time of ministry to our students as well as to those whom they serve!

(As you can see by the date that Servant Day is tommorrow and the Senior High students will be going off campus to do various community projects while the Junior High students will be staying on campus doing varies projects to improve the appearance of campus.)

¡Please Consider!
School is important and it is a priority. I also believe these special events are key to the spiritual development of our young people. IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, please take that into consideration when making lesson & homework plans for the week of Spiritual Enrichment and High School Retreat, October 12-18. Thank you so much for your consideration and prayers. Blessings on you as we continue to minister together! - Mike Banks

Trinity International Church

2009-09-20T20:32:00.021-04:00

Trinity International Church. This is the church Debie and I attend. This is an English speaking church. It is just down the road from the school so we walk there on Sundays. Debie also attends a bible study there on Tuesday evenings. They are doing a study of Esther by Beth Moore.
The pic on the right shows an overview of the whole church while the one on the left is the front entrance.

The next 2 pics show the back side which has classrooms and a kitchen.

This is the Pastor of Trinity, Pastor Andy Partington. He is from the UK. Pastor is doing a series on Transformative Encounters. He is very gifted and interesting to listen too. The only negative aspect is that the Pastor and his family are leaving at the end of the year. They are going back to the UK for other ministry opportunities.
This is the back of the church. There is a balony. This is sometime full on Sundays. This is where the sound system is also located. An individual in the church translates the message into spanish as the Pastor preaches.

This part of the praise band. All three individuals are high school students. The two guys go to SCCLC (Juniors). They are very talented. Missing is a teacher at the learning center that plays a trumpet and sometime we have a individual that plays the bongos. The music selections is much the same as in the states. They also include one hymn before the Pastor preaches to set the tone.

School House

2009-09-13T20:00:00.029-04:00

This is the path that we walk to school. We walk out our fenced in area to an open field.This is the first part of the open field that we encounter.

Then we encounter a fence and we walk along the brick wall which is part of the SCCLC. At the end we turn right and into the Learning Center. We have posted pics before of the entrance.
The one on the left is a pic of the Library on the bottom with the Computer Lab, where I teach Office 2007 to 9-12 grader, and Chapel on the second floor. The one to the right is a pic of some of the classrooms. Mine is on the second
floor.

These are pics of the Eagle's Nest. This is where lunch is served. I usually have chicken and french fries with salad everyday. It cost 10 B's which about $1.70.

This is a pic of the gym. I teach Girl's PE. I have 9-10th graders Monday and Thursday with 7-8th graders on Tuesday and Friday. Also this is where we practice Volleyball. The gym is partially open on the ends.

This is another pic of the gym and the pic to the right is the sign going into the PE office.

This is the classroom that I teach two different classes. I have Ancient World History with 9th graders and Consumer Math with 12th graders.

The is the soccer field. It currently being renovated. There has been a serious water problem for a couple of years that they are presently fixing.

Volleyball

2009-09-05T18:23:00.003-04:00

In case you didn't know I am coaching Boy's volleyball. I coach both the JV's which are 6-8th graders and Varsity (9-12 graders). Most athletes play both volleyball and soceer during this time of the year. We practice one night a week with games on Tuesday. The varsity practices on Monday and the JV's on Friday. When we have contest we play both volleyball and soceer on the same nights. On Tuesday is Boy's JV and Varsity volleyball and Girl's JV and Varsity Soccer. On Thursdays is Girl's JV and Varsity volleyball and Boy's JV and Varsity Soceer. Andrew Bloomfield coaches the girls volleyball and we both help each other out on game nights. So I am busy 4 nights a week with coaching. Here is a blog site that list the scores of the games with some pics if you want to see how we are doing at the Christian Learning Center (SCCLC).
http://www.scisl.blogspot.com/

Kinder

2009-08-24T20:10:00.048-04:00

This is the entrance to SCCLC school complex as we walk in each morning. You can see a playground in the middle. This is used for elemenary grades 1-4.

This is the outdoor hallway down to the Kinder classroom where Debie teaches each day. It is the next to the last room.

Above is Debie's desk. As you can see it is neat and tidy.

This picture is the front of the classroom. You can see she spent a lot of time making posters, etc. Also there is the Elementary rules for her class.

This is another picture of her classroom with the student desk, etc. As you can see has has their name and other information scotch taped to the tables. Isn't she so neat.

This last picture is the door to the outside where the Kinder playground is located. (This is her backdoor.) Also you can see she has cubicles for all her 9 students.

This is all for this edition. More to come at a later time. Out here.

H1N1 swine flu virus

2009-08-20T17:15:00.004-04:00

The SCCLC and all schools in Santa Cruz have temporarily been shut down because of H1N1 swine flu virus. We are off school the rest of this week and next week unless conditions change. There has been no virus at the SCCLC. So next week we will be doing professional development days and curriculum.

Mailing Address

2009-08-17T19:46:00.003-04:00

Tim and Debie Gale
c/o Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center
Cajon 4049
Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Use this one for letters

or

Tim and Debie Gale
c/o World Gospel Mission
Casilla 55
Santa Cruz, Bolivia

For letters or packages

New Friends and Apartment

2009-08-16T21:53:00.108-04:00

The first picture is of Andrew Bloomfield. He has become a wonderful friend and helper. Andrew is from California and is a bundle of energy. He is absoutely fantastic with the students. Andrew, Debie and I are the only ones at the Learning Center who have not taught here before however Andrew, who is with New Tribes, taught in Korea last year so he has more experience teaching on the Missions field than we do.

The next picture is with Kurt Zimmerman. He has taught here for 15 years and has been a wonderful mentor with his wife Cynthia. They have 5 children with one being in college in the States with the others in school here. In the picture we are at a large market place. This is where I bought Debie a microwave, pots and pans and me a TV.

This picture is of the front gate to the compound. There is a fence all around it. There are 7 apartments inside this compound that belong to WGM, the missions that we are with. It is about a 3-5 minute walk to the school.

The next pic is a parital of where we are living. The section to the left is where Zimmerman's live. There is one more apartment in this complex on the other side.

Here is another pic of the same but further away.

This pic is the front entrance into our apartment.

Here is another view from the side.

This is the site we had out our kitchen widow last Sunday as we were getting ready to go to church. We go to Trinity International Church. The service is in English and it is about 8-10 minute walk from our apartment. It is much like our services at IHCC.

This is a pic of another set of apartments. There is two in this complex.

This is the last set that are at the compound. There is two small apartments in this complex.

This is our living room with a couch and a couple of chairs. The door to the right is our front entrance.

This is a view as you come in the front door. At the very end is where I am tonight writing this blog.

This is the kitchen. That is the window we saw the cows out of last week.

These two are of course the bathroom. It has a washer inside this area. The shower is located on the far left.

These last two are the bedroom. It has a couple of chester drawer with a book case. There is also a dryer in our bedroom. You can see a fan but we also have an air conditioner in this room.

That is all for this week. By the way I start coaching boys volleyball this week. I have High School and Middle School. We have one practice for Middle School before our first game and four with the High School. We play some Bolivian schools and they are on a different schedule since this is their winter. They get out for summer break sometime in December. So they have been practicing and we just started school.

Debie is doing great with her Kinder classes. She has 10 students. More later. Out Here.

August 8th

2009-08-08T12:25:00.000-04:00

Hello from Santa Cruz. We are just finishing up our first week. We have been in school orientation Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. None on Thursday because it was an Bolivian holiday-independence day. The first pic is this years student verse I Tim 4:12. This is painted on the inside wall of the entrance into the SCCLC. By the way we have a new picture on the home page of Debie and I-it is the entrance to the school.

The next three pic are the house we were staying in. It was a big house with 4 bedrooms etc. It was also a mile away from the school which was an inconvenience. Also there was another couple coming that had a bigger family so we moved on Thursday to our present location which is about a 5 minute walk to the school.

We have been spending a lot of time at the school preparing classrooms and material for Monday when we start school. Pictured below is Debie's Kinder room. It needed a lot of work and it is just about ready to go. Debie teaches a half day Kinder with 1o students. Some our MK and some Bolivians. She has been a real trooper and has done a great job in preparation for the school year. Now she needs to study her curriculum.

As for Tim his teaching schedule is 9th grade Ancient World History, 9-10th Computers, 12 grade Business Math, and 7-10 girls PE. What a schedule. They haven't said anything about coaching yet but I will probably be coaching some level of Volleyball. I don't have one room that I am in so I really don't have any roots. I will not know how many students I will have in each classroom until Monday. One thing about PE is that I am team teaching with Andrew Bloomfied a CA boy who is in his 20's. Last year he taught in Korea. He is a great guy who is a lot of fun. I will post of picture of him later since I don't have one at the pesent time.

Debie is working very hard trying to get our present apartment up and running. This one has 1 bedroom, 1 bath, a kitchen and living room. A lot smaller. It also wasn't in as good condition as the other. I did go out today and purchased a microwave for the apartment. It was about $70. More expensive in Bolivia. But for the most part the food is a lot cheaper in price here.

We are doing good. Going to an English speaking church tommorrow and then back to school for final preparation for Monday.

August 2nd

2009-08-02T16:38:00.000-04:00

We made it. It was a long Saturday getting up at 3:30 a.m. and finally getting into our house at 1:30 a.m. on Sunday. It sure is different, no TV, no radio, we should have brought some type of a boom box and music. The house we are living in is about 1 mile from the school. It has 4 bedrooms, an office area, storage room, laundry room, kitchen, dining, and living rooms. It is all fenced in and we have a security person in the evening. Once we get pictures, we will post. We are looking forward to school orientation tommorrow. Then hopefully we will know what we are teaching and other aspect of the SCCLC.

Friday

2009-07-31T15:27:00.000-04:00

Well it is Friday afternoon and finally we are seeing all of our task done before we go. Packing so that we have only 50 pounds per suitcase was tough along with deciding what to take. As Debie is finishing cleaning I am deciding what to do next. We are really looking forward to this opportunity to serve. Again I want to thank everyone for your encouraging words and your desire to pray for us on this journey. The support has been fantastic. Thank you.

Bolivia

2009-07-17T10:45:00.000-04:00

We will be leaving Michigan on 1Aug09. Arriving in Santa Cruz, Bolivia the same day for a 10+ month stay at the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center. We will be teaching school and helping out in any way that we can.