Recently, our church has decided that their biggest priority on their property is a metal roof over the volleyball court.  Not only used for sports, the church uses it for large events that wouldn’t fit in the sanctuary.

For example, during the church’s yearly anniversary celebration, they hang a gigantic plastic tarp over the court to provide shade.

Our church recently hosted a volleyball tournament among several churches in the southern district of Cochabamba, and although it’s possible, playing sports in the intense sun (or rain) at this elevation is not fun.  As a result of the tournament, a new Bless volleyball team started up in the south of the city, and its “base of operations” is our church, where all practices are held.  Currently no Baptist churches in the south have a covered court, and constructing one could open up many opportunities for sports ministry, large district-wide services, evangelistic outreaches, and community events.

So to begin raising the $12,000 to $15,000 needed for the roof, the jovenes sold coffee and pancakes, recipe courtesy of Lindsay:


It’s a long way to go, but we love seeing these friends try new things and work together for a common goal.

As with most church events (including birthday parties and potlucks), we started with a few worship songs; this time, led by a guitar and charango. Unlike most church events, we started relatively on time (7:30pm, for an announced 7:00pm start time).

Showing off the new projector.

When we arrived with Caleb in the aguayo, he was quickly snatched away by one of the women who has told us several times, "Bring an aguayo so I can carry him!"

Filed under: The Nybergs ]]> http://thenybergs.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/reto-de-valientes/feed/ 0 The Nybergs Courageous http://thenybergs.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/pancakes-are-that-easy/ http://thenybergs.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/pancakes-are-that-easy/#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:47:31 +0000 Hans & Lindsay Nyberg http://thenybergs.wordpress.com/?p=985 ]]> On Sunday the youth pastor at our church asked if we would like to host a group of college and high school students on Wednesday night. We thought it sounded like a good idea and figured we would talk, maybe play a game or two, and eat some snacks together. Wednesday afternoon, the pastor called and asked if I (Lindsay) would teach the group how to make pancakes. And that is what we did…

Everyone was surprised that pancakes are so easy to make. "You mean you just have to mix everything together?" was the question of the night.

They were also surprised that the pancakes were "fried" in such a small amount of oil.

We taught the group to play Dutch Blitz a few gatherings ago and now it comes out every time they're over. Some of them are getting pretty good!

Lourdes, the mother of two of the high school girls, was holding Caleb when she saw the aguayo hanging up in the corner. She carried him around like this for a few minutes. I need to ask her to teach me how to carry him on my back!

We had a great time hanging out with the group. Up next on the agenda is for them to teach us how to cook a Bolivian meal. And with all of the requests I’ve had to teach everyone to make pumpkin pie, we’ll be having more than one cooking night! We are so thankful that our apartment is great for hosting groups… it’s a blessing to be able to open our home!