Iris and Mario serve God in the beautiful and diverse country of Bolivia at the Baptist Seminary of Cochabamba. They work together to equip future leaders by enabling young people to discover God’s will for their lives and ministry as well as for local churches and society. At the Seminary Mario teaches in the Theological department and Iris teaches Psychology.

Iris was diagnosed with Hürthle cell carcinoma of the thyroid in 2007. She writes in a recent Mission Journal entitled A MISSION JOURNEY WITH CANCER: THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS MY HOPE: “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all.”  (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees hope in every difficulty.”  (Winston Churchill)  It may be easier to give up to life and to my ministry but I know that the one who has called me will also sustain me even as I fight cancer.

Due to the need for treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas, we have made arrangements with our Bolivian Partners and International Ministries to continue with our missionary ministry even as we stay both in USA and in Bolivia. 

During this time of tribulation a great awakening is taking place among Bolivian leaders who we train at the House of Hope, when they discovered that if ministry was to continue it was up to them to take charge and apply their leadership skills as they were instructed. The results are amazing, 100% of the people that we invested in as missionaries are now doing ministry and working alongside of us even as we go back and forth to USA for treatments. These are the ministries we continue to work with at the House of Hope in partnership with the Bolivian Baptist Union.

 In the last fifteen months MD Anderson Doctors identified cancer metastasis in my brain and lungs. [She then describes treatments she has undergone.] At the last visit to MD Anderson exams showed that all brain tumors were gone. However, the lung tumors were not responding well and a dose increase is necessary to fight them. An upcoming visit to MD Anderson CA center will take place in June 2010.

• We ask your prayers and support as we continue our mission journey with cancer.
• Pray for Iris and for Mario and for their children Mario (22) and Ben (17).
• Pray for the ministry of the Bolivian leaders and missionaries trained by Iris and Mario.