November 23, 2004
Hillsboro, Oregon
As we pause to remember from where and how our nourishment and
support come to us, Julie and I write, first of all, to thank
you for your support and prayers. It makes a huge difference.
We thank God for each of you.
It was so good to see so many of you this summer and fall. You
are a wonderful family.
Once again we are packing! Si Dios quiere, these our plans: We
leave Oregon on December 7th and begin a journey that should land
us in Bolivia by mid-March where we will begin our new three-year
assignment as mission co-workers with the PC(USA), an assignment
which will be renewable.
We will attend our son Damian's graduation from the University
of Colorado in Boulder on December 17. Then he will join us on
a road trip to Atlanta, Georgia, where we join our daughter Simone,
her husband Darien, and our granddaughter Taneli Marie for Christmas
and New Year celebrations.
Damian will go with Julie and me to Porto Alegre in southern
Brasil to attend the World Social Forum and, hopefully, the first
international gathering of the Life Network (Red VIDA) which is
advocating for citizens' rights to clean and abundant water, now
denied or unavailable to most of the world’s population.
We will then travel to the Brazilian cities of Curitiba and Belo
Horizonte to learn of the innovative work of these cities in addressing
the issues of hunger, public transportation, cleanliness, and
poverty.
The Brazilian part of Julie's and my travels will be supported
by the Presbyterian Church's continuing education program and
should serve us well in our new work in Bolivia.
Damian will then return to Atlanta and, hopefully, a job!
Julie and I will continue to Peru to spend a few weeks becoming
familiar with the Peruvian network of Joining Hands Against Hunger
(JHAH), and their efforts to address hunger and injustice in Peru.
Then we travel on by land from Peru to begin our new work with
(JHAH) of Bolivia, a program of the Presbyterian Hunger Program.
We will make this trip by bus and train to gradually acclimatize
ourselves to the high altitude of La Paz (13,000 feet above sea
level).
Once in La Paz we will settle into a home that will have an extra
room or two so that you will feel at home when you come to visit
us. There will probably be no central heating, though, so come
prepared to wear layers of clothing to peel off or put on. Summer
there is our winter here.
For the next three years we will be learning with, accompanying
and, as appropriate, facilitating the Bolivian network of churches
and non-governmental organizations dedicated to addressing the
root causes of hunger and poverty in Bolivia. The network is called
Joining Hands for Life (UMAVIDA). It will be a great privilege
to learn from these people of faith, to walk with them, to be
inspired by their examples.
Next week, before we leave Oregon, we will be getting to know
the people of the Presbytery of San Francisco who have joined
hands in solidarity with UMAVIDA to work together to advocate
for justice for the hungry of Bolivia.
Keep in touch. We hope you all have made note of our new e-mail
address, bjdunsmore@earthlink.net.
We love hearing from you and ask you to receive this letter as
if it were written just to you, for as we prepare to send this
out, we are thinking of each of you, thanking you, thanking God
for you.
In hope-giving faith,
Julie and Bob
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
132 |
