Make the world a better place

It is nice to brighten the world with a kind deed. Did you know that you and I can also make the world a better place starting now and for eternity? WOW! How? Being a part of helping people around the world come to know Christ as Lord and Savior and then teaching them to be His disciples makes the world a much better place.        

God has been so faithful to renew, strengthen, and refill our hearts during this year in the USA. He has also put a burden on our hearts to return to Bolivia for the next two years to help make it a better place. 

This is not about us or our career; it is what we believe God wants us to be and do.  

We believe that God wants to transform individuals and communities through the principles from His Word. Our focus is to invest in lay leaders and young future leaders by teaching them these principles from God’s Word. We are ready to go. We need to return by mid-August so that Leah can start her junior year of high school at Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center. 

Is God asking you to make the world a better place? Is He directing you to participate with us as a part of this ministry team?  

We need partners who will cover us in prayer for the next two years. If you believe God is putting that on your heart, please send us an e-mail so we can put you on the list for monthly updates.  

Will you partner with us through financial support? Is God asking you to help us in this way?  We still need 28 partners giving $50 in monthly support and $7,200 in cash. There are so many ways to partner with us. You can start giving regularly, or increase your giving. You can help motivate other people or groups to participate. Giving to missions is a tangible way to make the world a better place. 

Please pray about what God would have you do. You can take action by clicking on the link on this blog. 

The road trip ahead

David has heard a lot about nature’s beauty in Oregon, and he got to see it firsthand in the month of April. It was a trip of many miles, rest stops, and gas stations, but he has been blessed with God’s hand of protection. He was able to share with people and church groups about the mission of wholistic discipleship that God has put on our hearts for Bolivia. 

Leah is excited as she can see the end of the road of her sophomore year of high school. She will be going with us on the summer trips.  

Micah will be working a summer job and will drive to Pennsylvania for this opportunity. He plans to return to KMBC in the fall. 

This is our summer travel schedule as we prepare to go to Bolivia in August.

June 2–7 Colorado Springs, Colorado

June 9 Copperas Cove, Texas

June 16 Sweetwater UMC, Wesson, Mississippi

June 19 New Hope UMC, Wesson, Mississippi

June 23 Barlow UMC, Barlow, Alabama  

June 23–28 Hartselle Camp Meeting, Hartsell, Alabama 

June 30 a.m. Columbus, Georgia

   p.m. Lizella, Georgia 

July 19–28 Eaton Rapids Camp Meeting, Michigan 

July 29–August 1 Mount Carmel Camp Meeting, Jackson, Kentucky

Sometime in August, we plan to exit homeland ministry assignment to enter missionary ministry in Bolivia. 

Please pray for: 

1. Us that the necessary funding will come in for us to go to Bolivia by August.  

     

2. Micah as he stays in the USA when we return to Bolivia. Pray for him and the decisions he will be making concerning his future. 

3. Leah as she transfers back to the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center and makes decisions concerning her high school classes.

Life for our family in Marion, Indiana, lately has included snow and icicles. It certainly makes us appreciate a warm home. We especially thank Bob and Bonnie Hudson for giving us a comfortable place to live from January to May. (We lived in a different home August through December.) 

During the months we were in Bolivia with the Bolivia missionary team, we participated in the process of strategic planning. It was a time to specifically seek God’s direction in ministry for the Bolivia team. They have continued that process and now communicate the vision and passion for those “29 and Under,” the children and young adults who will shape the country of Bolivia in the future. It is interesting to see how God is also directing our ministry to the University Residence project and other similar ministries aimed at reaching young people. 

We had the opportunity to participate in a CHE (Community Health Evangelism) training seminary. Taking this seminar for the second time (we first took it in Argentina), we were renewed by the concepts that were presented. The principles practiced in CHE projects are holistic, that is, including the whole person - mental, physical, spiritual and social. These biblical principles involve the recipients and bring about their participation and ownership. God is so good to bring along the right opportunities at the opportune time for us to grow in our knowledge of Him. 

University Residence project funds are growing slowly. We do seek God’s purpose and timing in this. Would you pray with us that God will guide and direct in all the aspects for building the team for this project? 

Would you help us? It seems like there are more barriers to overcome as we prepare to return to Bolivia. We need your help in getting over them! We need friends like you who believe that building God’s kingdom in all parts of the world is the mission God has given to all of us. Do you have friends who would be interested in this ministry? Do you have creative ideas of how to get more people connected with missions and our ministry? We would like to help people get involved through praying, going and giving. We still need 60 partners giving $25 a month to be able to return to Bolivia in August this year. Can you help us get to Bolivia by then? We appreciate your partnership! 

What is the University Residence?

Sucre, with 30,000 university students, is a place of opportunity for educational and professional advancement for young people in the southern part of Bolivia. It also is a place of many secular distractions.

Pastor Sergio and his wife, Fanny, have a dream for a Christian University Residence. It will house university students from surrounding rural communities and other parts of Bolivia and will be a refuge that will provide adequate lodging and spiritual discipleship for these young people.

The discipleship program will focus on nurturing in the students a love for God, a love for others, and service to the world.  

This building will also strengthen the national church district of Chuquisaca as a place for continued education for the local lay pastors.   

HOW THE KERNEYS ARE CONNECTED TO THE UNIVERSITY RESIDENCE PROJECT

God has put it on our heart to be facilitators of the University Residence Project, serving alongside Pastor Sergio and Fanny. Our part is to raise money to buy the land and build the first floor of the building. We will help research and prepare a discipleship program for the students. We will also work with Pastor Sergio to formulate functional culturally appropriate lifestyle guidelines for the residents.  

At this time, we are in the USA but will return to Bolivia in August of 2013. Our main ministry focus will be the purchase of the land and the construction and inauguration of the residence. We plan on living in Santa Cruz and will travel to Sucre as needed. God is also opening other areas of ministry for us with the national church, at Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center, and with field administrative responsibilities.

HOW CAN YOU CONNECT WITH THE UNIVERSITY RESIDENCE PROJECT

We are ready to return to Bolivia, but we need your partnership. We have the money to purchase the land! We still need to raise $35,000 to build the first phase of the building. Can you give toward this project?

We have 78 percent of our monthly support, but we are praying for the 22 percent still needed. Could you step out in faith to help us go to Bolivia?  

We need people who will commit to pray that the University Residence will go from being a dream to being a reality.  

Your partnership is important. Will you pray about how God would have you be a part? You can respond through the links on this blog.    

David and Rachel Kerney 

Visit Bolivia

Tour of Sucre

Even though our family is presently in the USA, we would like to invite you to take a quick trip to Sucre, Bolivia, with us.  

Sucre, a city in the center of Bolivia, is surrounded by mountains and has a number of colonial buildings. It is the judicial capital of Bolivia and a historic city with a population of more than 224,000.

Weather

Sucre, 9,153 feet above sea level, is on a ravine on the edge of the Andes mountains and has a mild climate. Usually, it gets from 25 to 29 inches of rain yearly and the temperatures range from 57 to 68 degrees.

Universities

Sucre has been called the Athens of South America because it features San Francisco Xavier University, which dates to 1624. Today, the university has about 30,000 students, many of whom study law or medicine.

“Facts About Sucre, Bolivia.” Travel Tips - USA Today, n.d. http://traveltips.usatoday.com/sucre-bolivia-21603.html.   

Spiritual Needs in Sucre 

Sucre is an interesting place to visit, yet it is a place of great spiritual need. 

Pastor Sergio and his wife, Fanny, live there. They have a great burden for the university students. Secular curriculum and university culture have many negative traps and distractions for students.

Pastor Sergio and Fanny have a dream for a University Residence. Here is their dream in Pastor Sergio’s words, which we have translated. “This will be a great support for the students academically and spiritually. Many students have little guidance on where to go or what to do. We want to give them that guidance based on God’s principles and help them become good students and leaders. The world has many bad things that that can harm the students. We need to do this project for the university students.”

God, thank you for little things too

All the things I am thankful for can be scaled from big and eternally significant to very minute.  

The first one is not a “thing” but I am so thankful for “my” God.  The better I know Him, the closer I want to be to Him.  He is SO big that He can be “mine” as well as the personal God of every other person that accepts Him without exceptions.  He is SO great!  

On the little end, I am thankful for garage door openers.  

“Yeah right,” you say. 

“They are great,” I respond.  

In Argentina, when we left the garage one of us had to slide the large iron gate open (like a pocket door) and then close it and lock it. 

In Bolivia, we had two big gates that opened like French doors, it was a challenge to keep in the rambunctious dogs who were mad about getting out. There were often strong winds blowing dirt or rain to contend with as well.  

In the USA, we park in a garage and push a button to open the door.  That was super until I lost the garage door opener.  I bought a new one.  Then I ask, “How do you make the new opener “talk” to the machine that operates the door”?  Fortunately, the manufacturers thought of that option and programed the machine for that too.  David figured it out in a few minutes with the instruction book.  

Okay, I have lived overseas a long time, but among all the great blessings that I enjoy, I  am thankful for garage door openers.  

The birth of the University Residence dream in Sucre

Pastor Sergio and Fanny with family 

We arrived in Sucre, Bolivia, in 2003 to help in the ministry of the Bolivian district of Chuquisaca. Knowing that we were in Sucre, a Bolivian city known for its universities, parents of young people from different churches in Bolivia asked about lodging their children in our home while their young people studied. They knew they would be in good hands with our family and in God’s hands. The house we had did not have much space, but we did accommodate a young lady and two young men, sharing rooms for five years with our family, including our three children who were also young people. The students who stayed with us are now graduated from the university and considered professionals. The young lady is a licensed nutritionist, and the young men are teachers who already have jobs. They are also good leaders in their churches.  

Seeing this need and having this experience, we know it is possible to do this ministry for the Lord and prepare leaders for His church. This will be a great support for the students academically and spiritually. Many students have little guidance on where to go or what to do. We want to give them that guidance based on God’s principles and help them become good students and leaders. The world has many bad things that that can harm the students. We need to do this project for the university students. We prayed to the Lord a lot about this and waited patiently until one day missionary David Kerney came to our house. We shared our burden for these needs with him. Every year more students are coming to study in Sucre, and more parents from different parts of Bolivia are requesting lodging for their sons and daughters.

We are thankful to the Lord that the Kerney family can help give this project a “jump start” to make it possible to realize this dream for a University Residence. We appreciate everyone’s prayers and support in this project. May God bless you, and may you keeping moving forward in ministry for our Lord Jesus Christ who can do all things.

“Dios les bendiga mucho y gracias hermanos”  (God bless you abundantly and thank you, brothers.)  

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV)

Pastor Sergio and Fanny Coaquira 

The president of the World Gospel Church in Bolivia, Pastor Rafael Flores, has expressed that as a national church they see that Sucre has a real need for this residence. They are supportive of the University Residence Project.