What are you willing to Sacrifice?:
It has always amazed me to hear stories of sacrifice, especially when it is in a religious context, to think that a person would strap a bomb to themselves and ignite it to “please their god” is beyond comprehension. One of the examples that has impacted me more than any other, is something that used to take place here in Bolivia. Years ago, families that wanted to really show their dedication and sacrifice would take their ten-year-old daughter to the monastery, to dedicate her to the Lord. What this meant was that their daughter was given to the Lord to be a Nun for the rest of her life. It was truly a great sacrifice because this meant that they would never be able to see their daughter or touch her ever again. She would be closed inside the monastery and the only contact she would be able to have with the outside world was a visit, once every few months where she could talk for a few minutes, although they couldn’t see each other. Can you imaging it, as your precious daughter walks in, the doors are closed and you will never again see her smiling face or feel her soft skin? The saddest part is that they thought by doing this they would be guaranteed a place in heaven. When I think of such sacrifice, I am ashamed to even say that I sacrifice for the Lord. In the average church today, just being faithful is a “great sacrifice”. If someone like that was willing to sacrifice something so important to them, what are we willing to sacrifice for the Lord?
Where are they Headed?:
Every year here in Cochabamba, we have a very large festival for the Virgin of Urkupiña. This is one of the representations of the Virgin Mary that is worshipped here and more than 300 thousand people attend each year. Part of the festival is a pilgrimage where thousands of people walk from the city out to the town where the Virgin is. It is almost 10 miles that they walk and takes about 5 or 6 hours total. Each year, for the last three years, as a church we have set up tables along the road and served hot chocolate and coffee, for free, while giving out gospel tracts. This year we handed out around 1200 cups of hot chocolate and coffee and around 8000 tracts. The amazing thing is that everything was gone in about 30 to 45 minutes. We actually had to buy more cups because by the end, there was still more coffee left, but the cups had all been used up. We also had close to 30 from the church helping serve the coffee and handing out tracts. At one point, the line of people waiting to get coffee crossed the entire road blocking the people that were walking. This no doubt brought much attention to what we were doing! While we may never know the results this side of heaven we know that many people had the opportunity to hear the gospel that night, many perhaps for the first time.
Happy Birthday Bolivia:
This past Tuesday was Bolivia’s Independence Day, turning 187 years old. Bolivia gained its independence through much turmoil and struggle, and has continued, in spite of many difficulties through the years. Through it all we praise the Lord for the continued opportunity to preach the gospel freely and without restriction. This year we did something a little different for our Sunday service where we were celebrating this day. We divided the church into three groups, following the colors of the Bolivian flag, red, yellow and green. These groups had to answer questions about the history of our country, from the year of its independence to the colors of the first flag. Then we all sang the national anthem together before the message. Everyone had a great time and I know I was not the only one that learned some new facts about the history of Bolivia!
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for the Laura family working with us in the northern part of Bolivia
2. Pray for our upcoming mission’s conference in October.
3. Pray for our girls as they start another year of school.
4. Pray for our meeting that we are having in Quillacollo on Thursday nights.