Operation Bolivia

It is always a great encouragement when people make decisions for the Lord. We have a couple in our church that are originally from Argentina. Fernando and Gladis were hippies making their living performing on the street traveling from city to city and country to country. Their life was a hard one of drugs alcohol and even living on the street. One day while listening to the Bible Broadcasting Network he accepted Christ as his personal Savior. He began to come to church and receive discipleship. Both him and Gladis have been growing spiritual and getting more involved in Church. A few weeks ago they expressed their desire to get married in the church and honor the Lord with their family. So in only a few weeks we planned everything and had our first wedding at the church. It was truly a special time for them as they made this commitment public before the church and the Lord. Please pray for them that their example might serve to help others make decisions for the Lord

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We praise the Lord for the wonderful day He gave us this past Sunday. This month we are preaching on the End Days. Many people have lots of questions and even fears of what is going to happen when the time of Grace comes to an end. On Sunday in spite of having several families absent we had 96 in attendance and one young man trusted Christ. We also praise the Lord for the leaders and workers in the church. After the morning service we had our workers meeting and had over twenty. 

We are always excited about having people come and visit us here in Bolivia.  This past week we had our pastor and my dad and step mom visiting with us. They arrived on Friday morning and said that all their flights and travel went smoothly. On Saturday, they were able to go with us to our youth meeting and enjoyed seeing the activities and I translated for them during the preaching. On Sunday my pastor preached for Sunday school and in the morning and night services. We had a great attendance in the morning of more than 80 and we sang a special as a family in the night service. Our pastor also brought us several radio like boxes that are called Proclaimers. They are simple devices that work with solar power, batteries or plug in and have the Bible recorded on them in the national language. They can be used for Bible study and reaching many people in rural areas that can’

t read or write. We truly enjoyed having family here for a short stay and they were a great blessing to our ministry and us.

A day at the park.

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My pastor on the left my dad and step mom on the right with Cochabamba in the background.

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        One of the greatest needs that I see in Bolivia and even in other countries around the world is the need for strong families and strong churches. In Bolivia well over half of all children have one or both of parents absent because they are working in other countries. Also as missionaries and pastors it is easy to get into the routine and be satisfied with where we are. For that reason we had this month two conferences together to help unite families and stir pastors. We invited pastor Austin Gardner whom we trained with in Peru to come and speak. Starting on Sunday through Wednesday each night we had our second annual family conference. On Monday through Wednesday in the mornings we had our first conference for pastors and leaders. The people of the church worked hard inviting friends and family and we sent out invitation to as many pastors as we could. Planning for the conference we were expecting maybe 50 or so pastors and leaders and had a goal of 120 for the family conference. When it was all said and done we had people come from Peru, Argentina, and three different cities here in Bolivia. In the mornings we had around 100 with a high attendance 120. In the family conference averaged around 140 each night with our high attendance on Tuesday night of 171. It was truly a time of blessing for our church and many pastors that participated. We heard comment after comment about how the time helped them in their families and encouraged them as pastors. This was a great opportunity for the people of our church to learn and begin to work in the ministry.

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Father’s day is celebrated here in Bolivia on March the 19^th but much like in the United States it doesn’t compare to the same day celebrated for moms. With our family conference coming up a week afterwards we didn’t make that big a deal of it. We told everyone to invite their fathers and that we had a special gift for each one. The Lord truly blessed and we had several fathers visiting for the first time. In total we had 105 in attendance and many that raised their hands wanting to be the father that the Lord wanted them to be. 

In Spanish countries the decision to get baptized can be a major one. This month as we had our second baptism service in the church we were able to see this first hand. We were preparing several people for this first step of obedience and as the time approached several of them told us that they would not be able to participate because their parents apposed. For many here that don’t know Christ, getting baptized means that they are rejecting their religion that they have had for years and many either prohibit it or threaten to disown them as part of the family. On the 23^rd we were a little discouraged but the baptistery was ready for what we thought would be four people getting baptized but during the Sunday School hour we had several that stepped forward and made the commitment. When it was all over seven had gotten baptized. We praise the Lord for these who took this first step of what we hope will be many in following Christ.