Yesterday at breakfast, Ivan shared a bit more about the work in North Potosi and his vision for future endeavors. The Bolivian Baptist Union is being careful not to create a culture of dependency among the churches there. This has been a problem in the past and if the churches are to grow and mature, they need to work towards a greater degree of self sustainability. Changing mindsets takes a long time, so encouragement must be tempered with patience. Consistent local leadership, in the manner of Pastor Juan, will be an important driver for change. Ivan is beginning to see possible synergies with his congregation of Brazilian students. They have grown from 18 to 60 over the last year or so, and are reaching the point where Ivan is encouraging them to think about integral mission. In other words, what they receive from God needs to flow outward to support God’s work in others. Ivan is thinking about forming teams of medical students supported by doctors and nurses who can visit the Chagas areas and provide diagnostic services and health care. He also sees a role for the students to visit North Potosi to support and encourage the youth and young adults who make up such a large proportion of the churches there.

This morning we had a meeting with Richard Arroyo Mendizabal, the new director of OBADES. OBADES is the social arm of the Bolivian Baptist Union. It has a strong relationship to Sharing Way and provides annual financial and operational reports to Sharing Way. It began in 2002 with the vision of promoting an integral and sustainable society, centered on Christ. It works to achieve transformation in families, children and communities, promote gender equality, develop sustainable urban and rural communities without discrimination, and support both physical and spiritual needs.

It has 7 projects underway at the moment:

Padefar supports rural families by providing training in agricultural production techniques. It provides micro-credit loans to families to buy chickens, pigs and other livestock. When OBADES workers speak to families about the transforming love of God, the transformation brought to lives by these physical supports give their message integrity. Padefar is funded by Sharing Way and CIDA. It works mainly in Cochabamba, Oruro, La Paz and North Potosi.

We became much more familiar with the Chagas Program during our week in Mizque. Plastering the interior walls of adobe buildings is a simple way to protect families from the debilitating effects of Chagas disease. There is a very large need for this work in the Chagas prone areas of Bolivia and very few organizations are doing this kind of work. The program operates in Mizque and the nearby areas of Tucma and Buena Vista, and in Premier de Mayo, near Cochabamba. In addition to plastering, the program educates people in caring for their health and homes.

The Micro-Credit Program provides small loans to individuals that allow them to develop small business opportunities. The loans are provided an interest rate of 1% compared to 3 or 4% from those few commercial lenders who will advance small loans. It will also provides loans to people who would not be accepted by commercial lenders. The program has a capital of about 1 million Bolivianos (~$150,000) financed by Sharing Way. It provides 50 to 60 loans per year. 99% of the loans are repaid on schedule and the other 1% are repaying but are delayed. The program aims to develop financially self sustaining families.

Casa de la Amistad provides day care and education for prison children. In Bolivia children live in the prison with their parent(s) unless the parents can arrange for some other family member or friend to care for them. Obviously this is not the best environment to raise a child. The prison in Cochabamba is about 1 block from the Casa and the children are picked up each day. Younger children are cared for at the Casa and older children are bused to school. The program accepts children 5 to 17 or 18, but can handle children as young as 3. OBADES would like to expand the program to include assist to the parents as they reintegrate into society. The Sharing Way pays for salaries and some expenses while the Bolivian government, pays for the children’s food. The Roman Catholic church has some similar programs, but this is the largest of its kind in Bolivia. The program is a great success. Some of the children have graduated from high school and are now attending university. We witnessed the program first hand on our last trip and were impressed and perhaps a bit surprised at how happy and well adjusted the children at the Casa were. Laurier Heights Baptist Church in Edmonton has a strong commitment to the Casa through the STEP program and sends a group of volunteers every year.

Canadian James Seaborn started Jireh to provide opportunities for children who work on the streets. The program is now run by OBADES. It is common to see children shining shoes or selling things on the streets of Bolivian cities. Jireh provides food 2 times per week, as well as education and tuition support. OBADES has a grant to fund a tailoring workshop that will train the kids in a trade and provide some income for the program. Unfortunately, the grant is running out and OBADES lacks the resources to continue Jireh. It will end this year unless other resources are found.

The Centre for Integral Development is a program run by Compassion that provides training to churches. OBADES provides administrative support. Seventeen Bolivian Baptist churches are in the program.

The Quechua Literacy Program teaches literacy skills to the Quechua people in their own language. It also provides some training in agriculture and health. Quechua is an indigenous language that is one of Bolivia’s four official languages. The others are Spanish, Aymara, and Guarani. The program is funded by Partners International Canada.

OBADES is also planning to develop a child sponsorship program. Like similar programs run by other agencies, the sponsorship money will benefit the entire village rather than just one child. The sponsorship will support the education and spiritual formation of children and will work to improve relationships between children and their fathers. The goal of the program is to assist children to grow in wisdom inspired by God as modeled in Luke 2:52. Similar programs exist but there is almost unlimited need here. OBADES will provide the local administration and knowledge, while CBM will provide administration of the Canadian donations. The program is still under development and when it is complete OBADES will work with CBM to gain approval and work out the Canadian administrative requirements.

Richard’s presentation was thorough and very informative. We all came away with a much better understanding of OBADES contributions to integral (physical and spiritual) mission in Bolivia.

Ivan’s parents invited us over for a final lunch. They have been very gracious to us during our stay here, despite his mother’s health problems. We are very grateful for the way in which they have opened their home to us.

Later in the afternoon we went to Premier de Mayo to visit Francesca’s house, which the first step team from First Baptist renovated and plastered. Premier de Mayo is a small community of immigrants that have come from other areas of Bolivia. It is a poor community but we saw more businesses in town and there are signs that life is improving for the residents. Francesca was away for the afternoon visiting the hospital but two of her granddaughters were there. They have grown a lot since we last saw them, but they remembered Sam and Melba, who were part of the first team. Francesca’s house looks great, with a coat of stucco on the outside giving it a finished appearance. If you want to find Francesca’s house on Google Earth, use these coordinates: 17.46905S, 66.20702W.

On the way back into town, Ivan described some of the work that Habitat for Humanity is doing in Premier de Mayo. Most people don’t have title to their land, but there is a process by which they can get title. Habitat is planning a program to help people work through the process of registering title with the government. This is especially important for women. Women head bout 46% of Bolivian households because the men are away working, or have problems with alcohol, etc. Having title to their own property gives them security.

Back in town we finished packing and checked our bags at the airport, then went for a light supper with Ivan, Alex and Yayo, who is back in town. Now we are regrouping before our departure at 9:45. Over the last two weeks we have had a wonderful, enriching experience that has deepened our knowledge of the issues, both material and spiritual, faced by our Bolivian brothers and sisters. We feel a bit sad to be leaving, but are looking forward to getting home and seeing all of you again.

Thank you for being part of this adventure through your prayers and encouragement.

Hasta mañana.

In a basic way, Bolivia shares many of the same industries as Canada:  energy, mining and agriculture.  With the rise of commodity prices over the past number of years, Bolivia is starting to capture significantly higher royalties and resource revenues from state-owned industries.  For example, tin prices have soared 10 fold over the last 10 years, making older mines profitable despite the high costs of mining and transportation.  Construction is a major segment of the economy in Bolivia, with concrete, gypsum and bricks accounting for most of the core building materials.  Wood is quite expensive as large forests are rare here due to the high elevations and deforestation.  Bolivia lacks many of the specialized equipment that is common in our agriculture industry, as many farms are small in size and are largely farmed by hand and with oxen.

Bolivia largely operates as a cash society, however, credit is gradually starting to emerge.  Land is the key purchase for a family here, with a dwelling or commercial building the next step.  We saw thousands of partially completed homes and buildings in Bolivia as the owners begin to build the framework of the structure first, gradually completing this building as funds become available through savings.  As a result of this approach, there are few foreclosures and defaults.  New neighbourhoods continue to spring up and infrastructure such as water and sewer are gradually expanding to the smaller centres and towns.  Rural homes receive subsized electricity, with monthly rates as low as 3 Bolivianos (50 cents).

The currency of Bolivia, the Boliviano is effectively pegged to the US Dollar, at just under 7 Bolivianos to 1 USD.  This rate has been fairly consistent over the last 4 -5 years.  Property taxes are collected, as are income taxes – although these taxes are generally  applicable to those who earn monthly salaries.  Most contractors and self-employed people operate on a cash basis only.  Unlike Canada, where many occupations are paid on an hourly basis, many Bolivians who work in similar jobs are paid on a monthly basis.  For example, restaurant employees are paid a monthly wage.  As a result, I expect, there is far less turnover in the service economy.  Major purchases (motorcycles, computers, cars, houses) are priced in US Dollars.  House prices have escalated significantly in the last few years, with many homes in Cochabamba selling for over US$ 200,000.  Even in Llallagua (at 13,000 feet), good homes are selling at over US$ 100,000.

Transportation on the highways is dominated by trucks and buses.  Bolivia had a railway system (narrow gauge) which essentially was shut down about 20 years ago.  As a result, all major goods and materials must be transported by trucks.  Gasoline and diesel fuel is subsidized by the Bolivian government.  Diesel fuel is about 45 cents a litre.  Bus fares between cities and towns is also subsidized.  The cost of a bus fare from Cochabamba to Mizque, a journey of 4 1/2 hours is only 20 B, or just over $ 3.  These low costs allow people to go to major centres to pick up goods that can be re-sold in the towns.  The roads are extremely arduous with massive changes in elevation.  Car and truck repair businesses are everywhere, as are every imaginable type of replacement parts.

A basic wage in Bolivia is between 1,000 and 2,000 Bolivianos a month ($150 – $300).  This basically can cover most routine expenses, but leaves little for saving for land or other major expenses.   Perhaps one of the most promising aspects of Bolivia is the ability of every student to attend college or university with free tuition.  There are many universities throughout Bolivia and most course credits from one university are transferable to others.  Education is taken quite seriously by young people and so the future could be brighter.  Bolivan universities also attract a high number of foreign students, as the tuition rates for out-of-country students is quite reasonable.  For example, Brazilian medical students pay about $600 a month in Bolivia for their tuition versus $2,000 a month in Brazil.

Technology in Bolivia is dominated by the cellular phone industry.  Cell phones are everywhere, even with workers earning the basic wage. Rates are low, incoming calls are free and most phones are used on a pay-as-you-go basis.  On a given block in Cochabamba, there was likely one to two dozen cellular retailers.  Most cellphones are the basic talk/ text variety, as networks are not as advanced as they are in Canada and the cost of Apple iphones is prohibitive for most users.  Computers, given that they cost as much in Bolivia as they do in Canada, are also beyond the reach of most Bolivians.  Internet cafes are everywhere, with rates of about 1 B for 30 minutes use ($0.15).   Wi-fi is gradually emerging in Bolivia.

The major challenge for Bolivia continues to be basic infrastruture:  roads, water (distribution/ treatment / sanitation), home heating and others.  We saw glimpses of this on our trip – the most obvious being the new 100 km road built between Oruro and Llallagua.  This road has brought a significant increase in commerce in that town and with it a growing population.  It may take several generations before we see this immense task surrounding infrastructure largely completed though.

The Bolivians we met were hard-working, industrious people.  They took immense pride in their skills and workmanship, and were quick with a joke and a smile.  The future belongs to the young and the vibrant – they are going to make changes and improvements for the better.

The other large church in the area has about 35 people attending.  Large is relative here.  Besides those two churches, there are a lot of small congregations made up of a few people who meet in homes.  People often live some distance from either of the larger churches and have no means of transportation, so the small house churches are a place to meet others for worship and fellowship.

In Celestino’s role as President of the North Potosi Association, he spends most of his time traveling from place to place encouraging the believers.  He is not paid for this work, so much of the time he walks the long distances between churches.  Celestino often uses his own savings for the travel and due to the parched land he has little or no access to water for many of his journeys, having to stop and rest before setting out again.   It was not entirely clear how he survives with no pay, but he and his wife have some sheep and most likely she earns a bit of an income to support them both.

It was clear that he has a great deal of dedication to his role as an encourager for these tiny groups of believers.  Ivan and Emigdio have discussed his situation with him and have decided that purchasing a motorcycle for the North Potosi Association, which Celestino could use for his travels, would alleviate much of the burden of his constant traveling.  Another challenge is helping the believers in North Potosi understand that they have a responsibility to share financially in this important work that benefits them all.  The Bolivian Baptist Union is reluctant to simply pay all expenses.  They want to foster a culture of support for the work of God among the local believers.

This theme of responsibility came up again later as we visited the church in Llallagua.  Pastor Juan showed us around the renovations they are undertaking in a building that adjoins the church.  The First Baptist team that visited in 2008 did a children’s program here during the Sunday morning service.  The building was made of adobe bricks that were beginning to crumble and the church decided to tear it down and build a new one made of brick.  The building will be used as an annex for children’s and youth programs.  It is clearly needed because the church itself is a single room that cannot easily accommodate children’s and youth activities.  There has been some controversy about the renovations, with some members supporting them, others not.  The new building has two floors at the moment, but an architect told them that it could accommodate four floors and Ivan and Pastor Juan are encouraging the church to think about the future and build the four floors now.

Pastor Juan has seen a number of his congregation leave for other churches that have nicer buildings.  We walked by the Mormon Church on Tuesday evening and it stood out, large, new, and beautifully constructed.  It was funded by the Morman church at large, not by the Mormans in Llallagua.  Pastor Juan hopes that as they continue to improve the Baptist Church building it will attract new members.  He also noted that other churches and the city itself in Llallagua are taking a keen interest in the Baptist church, as they are interested in using the newly renovated space for various functions.

One of Pastor Juan’s chief concerns is the lack of commitment among church members for financially supporting the church.  Previous pastors have paid people to attend the church and this has created a culture that has no sense of responsibility for building and maintaining the church community.  The transient population in Llallagua also makes it difficult to maintain a membership with a long-term commitment.  He has been seeing some long-term residents of Llallagua starting to attend and is hopeful this will help to build a solid base of committed members.

The university in Llallagua has been upgraded and accredited and this has brought a lot of young adults into the town. A number of them attend the church. For example Marlene, the President of the youth group, who we met Monday night, is in Lllallagua studying education.  It was obvious at the Monday night workshop that Pastor Juan has a strong connection them.

Paster Juan is working hard at teaching both the love of God and the responsibilities that we have for each other as a result of that love.  With his wife’s illness, he is reevaluating his role as Pastor.  It will be a big loss to the church if they lose his leadership.

Later in the afternoon, we paid a visit to the training centre in Villa Aeropuerta.  It is fully constructed now and looks good.  The First Baptist team that visited in 2008 helped to lay the foundations for the building, so we were very happy to see the finished product.  It still doesn’t have any furniture or water and they are buying power from a neighbor when they hold courses, so there are still some finishing touches needed.  They would like to open the centre up for community use, but can’t until it has bathrooms, furniture, and it’s own electricity supply.  Even so, they have been running courses for the last few months with visiting professors from the seminary in Cochabamba.  Mostly local people attend the courses; many in the area live too far away and have no transportation to get to the site.  Attendance is somewhat sporadic because people are often away working their fields or in the mines.  It is still a challenge to get the local believers to understand the importance of being well trained for leadership roles in the church.

On our way back to Llallagua we made a detour to Merke Amaya, the site were 8 Baptist believers, including Canadian Norman Dabbs, were martyred in 1949 (Time Magazine article August 22, 1949).  While we looked around two elderly Quechua women and the two granddaughters of one of them came by with a flock of sheep.  They both attend the church so came over to greet us.  They complained a bit to Pastor Juan that they need so much in the church and no one ever provides funds to help them.  He reminded them of the church’s own responsibility for providing for the church’s needs.  It was a spontaneous demonstration of the difficulties the Bolivian Baptist Union faces in building self-sustaining church communities in the area.

That evening, Melba presented a spiritual formation workshop in the church at Uncia.  About 40 people attended and we were greeted very warmly.  All 40 lined up to give us kisses from the women and back slaps from the men.  Like most of the churches, except Lllallagua, it is without a pastor, but Daniel helps out when he can.  He translated Melba’s presentation into Quechua. The workshop started off with Quechua hymns, in this case accompanied by a young man on electric guitar and another on a drum kit.  Several young men had a PowerPoint projector running when we got there, with lots of mountain and snow scenes.  No doubt they had done an internet search for scenes of Canada.  As Melba talked they put up the text (Ps. 119: 169-176) on the screen.  The audience listened but didn’t have any questions so it is difficult to tell how much they absorbed.  They gave us a warm farewell, though, and seemed to genuinely appreciate our presence.

This morning we had breakfast with Pastor Juan, Daniel, and Modesta Negretti, a deacon from Uncia.  Members of previous teams may remember Andre, who was working with the churches in the Llallagua area.  Modesta is his mother.  Andre is now working with churchs in Chapati, about an hour from Cochabamba.  Modesta brought us gifts from Uncia church, some brightly colored vests and scarves.  We were quite touched by their generosity.  Daniel thanked us for our love, support and friendship for North Potosi.  He made the same request that we have heard everywhere we have been, “Please remember us.”

After making our farewells, we loaded up the SUV and headed back down the road to Cochabamba.  Our time in Llallagua was short and we were sorry to say goodbye to the people who are dedicating so much to the work of God in a difficult area.

We had a good drive back to Cochabamba, with a short stop in Oruro to visit the cathedral where we took a short tour of the underground mine museum (located about 75 feet below the church).  We also had lunch at a fine little restaurant owned by a family that attends the Baptist church in Oruro.  We climbed back up to the summit and into the clouds.  Clouds rolled around above us during the entire drive and there was quite a palate of colours, hues of blues, purples against grey, light brown and red rocks – coming and going with every change in position during our journey over the mountain passes.

Back here in Cochabamba, we are catching our breath again and beginning to process everything we have seen and heard.  We could sense some of the frustration brought by the challenges in North Potosi.  So many of the challenges were familiar ones, faced by churches everywhere.  It shows us that we cannot romanticize the Church in Bolivia.  They face the same challenges that churches everywhere face.  But there is hope in the strong leadership from people like Pedro and Flora, Aida, Pastors Juan in Mizque and Juan in Llallagua, Daniel, Moises, Marlene, Celestino and others.  The economic changes we have seen in Llallagua and will likely see in Mizque as the transportation infrastructure improves will bring the challenges of transient populations but also improved economic opportunities that will allow the churches to better support themselves.  Bolivia is a country on the cusp of change and with the dedication of its Christian community and the prayers and support of the larger community including us it has a bright future.

Cristo Te Amo (Acappella) Christ I Love You.  A beautiful Spanish song

- just click on this links

We’re back in Llallagua, safe and sound. You can find our hotel on Google Earth at 18.42350S, 66.58610W. It was a beautiful drive up over a 4495m pass then down the other side to Oruro. We stopped for a quick bite at bakery that we had fond memories of from our last trip. It did not disappoint. From Oruro we turned off the road to La Paz on to the road to Llallagua. Last time we made the trip is was a narrow gravel road that clung to the side of some very steep hills. Now, three years later, there is a brand new paved road (see link below). It still clings to the side of some very steep hills, but now it actually has guardrails. The new route is just as beautiful as the old one, winding through the dry hills, past llamas and sheep grazing the sparse grass, and little towns plopped down in the most unlikely places.

When we arrived at Llallagua those of us who had been here before were surprised at how much more busy it has become with the new road. Two large buildings are under construction in the square and there are people everywhere. Better road access has brought some new economic opportunities, so mining is not as important as it was three years ago. Food is less expensive, too.

We checked into Hotel Llallagua, our home away from home in 2008. Willie is still here and he hasn’t changed a bit. Willie helps out at the hotel and keeps us entertained. We had supper with a group of leaders from the First Baptist Church of the Miners in Llallagua. Pastor Juan and his wife Costa were there, with Miriam, president of the women’s group, Celestino, president of the North Potosi Association, Marlene, president of the youth group, and Daniel, who works with World Vision and helps with the youth.

Juan gave us a summary of how things are going at the church. It came through some difficult times in 1990 and lost a lot of members. Some have come back and the church seems to be stabilizing now. Juan has been pasturing the church for 3 years; he came shortly after our 2008 visit. He has been working a lot with the church, trying to build up their understanding of Christ’s teaching as well as their capacity to take on leadership roles and support the church both financially and with their time. His time is limited because he lives with his wife in Cochabamba and travels out by bus every weekend, although if circumstances allow he stays longer. The church doesn’t pay him so his wife supports them both with the proceeds from a small shop she runs in Cochabamba. She has been diagnosed with terminal cancer so it is uncertain how long he will be able to continue.Despite the challenges he has baptized several new people in the last few weeks.

When we arrived at the church for Melba’s workshop, only a few people were present but people kept coming and soon we had about 50 in attendance. We were surprised at how many young (late teens and 20’s) were there. They greeted us warmly and we probably set a record for kisses and back slaps. They sang some choruses in Quechua and Spanish and then Melba presented her Spiritual Formation workshop. It seemed to be well received. Everyone was attentive and there were quite a few questions afterward. Gordon gave a testimony and we finished the evening by presenting our gifts. It was a very engaging service and Pastor Juan obviously had a great connection to the people. The number of new baptisms and the high proportion of young adults at the workshop is very encouraging, but we got the impression that the church in Llallagua and throughout North Potosi still lacks solid leadership. It is a challenging area with many distractions and a transient population. We hope to learn more on Tuesday as we will have time in the day to tour around and get a better sense of how things are going.

We have been taking lots of video on our trip. You can click on the links below to find a few examples at You Tube.

We woke up every morning like clock work to the 6:30 call to mass.

Mizque Alarm Clock

Here’s a short video our first day of work.

Day 1 at Sebastien and Angela’s house

We’re almost finished in this video and it’s becoming a challenge to keep out each other’s way.

Plastering choreography

A short video clip of the service at Buena Vista. The tiny church was lit by only one light bulb, so there wasn’t much light for video.

Buena Vista

Juana has a beautiful story to tell of her life in the church and her connection to Canada.

Juana’s story

A short video clip of the young adult service in Cochabamba
Young adult service

Young adult service

A video clip of Ivan, his brother-in-law Wilson, and his father Juan entertaining the Brazilian students.

Brazilian Party

Go ahead and click on the cube!!

The TEAM is back in Cochabamba