Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings from Taperillas!  It is Spring here....the hillsides are covered with beautiful blossoming trees and it's often quite warm (hot, in fact).
Two days ago, a doctor and two helpers arrived from the States to assist in medical needs amongst the Simba.  Yesterday, all the Simba in Taperillas were lined up for worm treatments and hemoglobin tests, as well as consultations with the doctor for those who needed it.  Kathleen and the boys were mainly helping with the hemoglobin tests, which involve a finger prick for the needed drops of blood.  The boys were especially entertained by the preschoolers, who often began screaming, kicking, and even biting long before they received the finger prick.  :(
Tomorrow we hope to journey with the medical workers to a more remote Simba community 3 hours from here (50km on very rough roads).  The medical needs there are great, so we are planning to camp out there for two or three days, in order to meet as many of the needs as possible.  A local dentist is also coming.  We'd appreciate your prayers for the trips in and out, and that we can meet not only medical but spiritual needs.  Jack Russell, a missionary who has been here six years and is now fluent in the Simba language, is planning to teach from the Bible while patients are waiting and in the evenings.
After returning next week, we will have just one week more here in Taperillas before we need to travel to Cochabamba to renew our visas and other documents.  This will involve several days of travel, but the boys are thrilled as we'll be passing Tambo right when they have their Field Day, so they'll be able to take part!  In the week before we travel, Bill is hoping to finish putting in the windows and doors into the house...a very time-consuming process, as very little is square here and most work is done with hand tools.  As well, the other missionaries are hoping to resolve the road problems in the coming two weeks, before they also need to leave for business.  We will all be gone from Taperillas, and are hoping NOT to come back and find a road in our backyard.  The proposed road would pass very close to two houses (ours and one another), and would involve blasting in the ridge just above our house.  The community would like the road company to simply improve the river crossings on the existing road, but the road company doesn't seem to like this option.  It's good to know the Lord knows what is best and is more than able to work that out..."the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord" (Prov. 21:1).

Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement.  May the Lord bless you as you walk with Him.

Bill and Kathleen