The Great Darkness and The Great Need
The area of our city where our second church is at is called Quillacollo. It is truly an area of great darkness and great need. The city has more than one hundred and fifty thousand people and the church that Pastor Pablo pastors is the only church that we know of that is being a true light in the darkness. They also have one of the largest religious celebrations there every year. Over three hundred thousand people come to worship the Virgen of Urkupiña. Starting at midnight, the night before hand, they walk all night from the center of Cochabamba out to this area and then they have dances and a large celebration that lasts a couple of days. All this in the hopes that they will receive some material or spiritual benefit. This is why we have been helping Pastor Pablo purchase the land for their church so that they can be a permanent light in the midst of all this darkness. Since this past month, the Lord has been blessing tremendously and we have received offerings for $5000, $500, $200, $1600 and $1000 for a total of $8300 for the land. That leaves a little more than $11,000 to have the land completely payed off. We have a little more than a month left to make the final payment so we would like to ask you to pray for this great need and if you would like to give, please let us know and send to:
Vision Baptist Missions,
℅ Bolivia Land Fund,
P.O. Box 442,
Alpharetta GA 30009
Christmas in Bolivia:
We had a wonderful Christmas here in Bolivia, although it is a holiday that is not emphasized much here and one many say that they dislike all together. We have always tried to encourage them to focus on the real meaning of Christmas and make it a special time with family and friends. In our churches we have different activities to both celebrate the birth of Christ and to reach out to new people that show interest during this time. In the church in Cochabamba we had a special kid’s program and then gave all the kid’s gifts with Paneton (Bolivian Fruitcake) and hot chocolate. Then in Pacta on the Sunday morning before Christmas we had a kid’s program where we had five or six visitors that were family of the children. Then that night we had a Cantata and both churches came together. We had seventy or eighty people present and several that were visiting for the first time.
New Elections:
With everything now pretty much back to normal, after all the conflict and fighting, they have just announced the new presidential elections that will take place the first week of May. There are still rumors that the former president might try and come back or some how be involved in the elections. This has caused many to be concerned and uneasy about what the future holds. We are praying that things will remain peaceful and that the next government will help towards the progress of the gospel and the ministry here. On a good note, the current interim president has eliminated the Visa requirement for Americans to come to Bolivia so that makes having visitors much easier. Please pray for us and the country during this time.
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for the situation in Bolivia and the next government that will be elected.
2. Pray that the remainder of the money will come in for the land in Quillacollo.
3. Pray for my wife Beth as she will be traveling to Peru to teach a ladies conference
4. Pray for the need for laborers here in Cochabamba and Bolivia.