Dear Family & Friends,

Greetings from Taperillas!  As you in the northern hemisphere are moving from winter to spring, we in the south are entering winter....we even have had our woodstove going recently here with the cooler weather!  The sky is completely clouded over today, and we're praying it will clear as our students make plans to travel to the cursillo.

This cursillo is the last of a series of four which will have taught from Genesis through to the Gospels.  This last one, which will finish with the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, should leave the students with a complete understanding of salvation and an opportunity to believe.  This is the first time such a presentation has been made in the Simba language.  Please pray the Lord will prepare the hearts of the students, and will bring back those students who have attended the first three cursillos....some have to hike and travel for more than a day to get here, and transportation is often very difficult to find in the more remote areas.  Please pray too for Bill and for our Simba co-worker, Felix, as they team-teach the Bible sessions.  There are six Bible sessions each day, and one literacy session in the afternoon, so the days are very full.  The cursillo is scheduled to begin this Wednesday evening and to last until Sunday morning, when we expect to teach on the resurrection.  May many hearts and lives be changed as a result of these teachings!

Please pray too for the country of Bolivia....the political unrest has been continual and increasing.  Due to some controversial legislation, several groups in the country are planning anti-government protests for mid- May.  These protests often take the form of roadblocks, which could affect our students as they attempt to return home following the cursillo.  Also, the demonstrations will likely affect our visas, as in the past, these actions have completely shut down government offices.  So we're praying that our visas will be renewed and our passports will be in our hands by mid-May before it all begins.  Following the cursillo, if our visas have been renewed, we will need to pack up our house, then travel to Cochabamba for our mission Field Conference in early June.  Enroute, we will pick up Josh, as his school in Santa Cruz finishes the end of May.  If we have our passports, we can fly to Canada from Cochabamba for our furlough following the Field Conference.  As it all hinges on the visas being renewed soon, we'd sure appreciate your prayers for this matter.

Well this next couple of weeks will for us be the culmination of three and a half years of work...it has been a tremendous encouragement that the Lord has allowed us to see the Gospel presentation made in the Simba language.  In reality, though, it is really only the beginning, as there will remain much work in the discipling and teaching of church leaders who can in turn teach and disciple.  Our overall goal is to see a strong and mature church functioning among the Simba-Guarani people.  Please pray with us toward that end.

Thank you so much for your interest in the work among the Simba.  May God bless you as you serve Him.

Warmly in Christ,
Bill and Kathleen Mann