Tarija Bolivia:
This past week I was able to travel to the southern part of Bolivia to the city of Tarija. This is a city close the border of Argentina that has close to 200 thousand in population. Tarija is truly a beautiful city that maintains many of its colonial roots. This was my first time visiting this part of the country but I was surprised at how similar it was to Cochabamba where we live, only smaller. We were there for a pastor’s conference put on by the Bethel Baptist Church with Pastor Fernando Flores and Pastor Johnny Daniels from Puerto Rico. There were classes during the morning and each night of the conference there were close to three hundred attending from all over Bolivia. There were also several special speakers there for the conference including Pastors Garven Walls from Oliver Springs TN, Don Strange from Fort Myers Fl, and Paul Kingsbury from Rockford Il. The preaching was great and also the opportunity to meet pastors from different parts of the country. Apart from enjoying the preaching and fellowship usually when I travel I like to try some of the typical food from that area. Before leaving for the conference several people told me that I had to try a dish that consists of small crabs and fish cooked whole. This at first didn’t sound too appetizing to me and I had to ask, where did they get the crabs seeing that we are a landlocked country and miles away from the ocean. It turns out that these little creatures come from the river and to maintain my reputation I had to give them a try. It was actually not too bad and the little fried fish were better than the crabs. The only part that was difficult at first was that you have to eat them whole.
Father’s Day:
This past month we celebrated Father’s Day here in Bolivia. On Sunday the 25th we had a special service to celebrate this important day. Many times here, there is not as big a deal made on Father’s day like there is for Mother’s day or other holidays. It could be because many times many Fathers are not present or as involved as Moms in the family. In our church many of the children’s father are outside of the country working and sometimes even both parents can be absent. On Sunday morning we had gifts for the father’s that were present, a video that talked about what Fathers can’t do (win races with their children and especially give up), and a message on how to solve problems in the family. Then on Sunday night we had a special video called “Courageous” that was a great blessing. We were surprised to see the church almost full and had almost as many in that service as we did in the morning and even had a few visitors. Our desire is to train up a generation of fathers that will take their responsibility more seriously and that we will see more fathers here in Bolivia decide that they are going to be godly fathers for their families.
The King’s Command:
I can remember in the mid nineties the first time that I went to Christian Camp. I actually went as a counselor because I was in my mid 20′s but it probably changed my life as much or more than any of the campers. There are many that have had their lives changed or made a decision about serving the Lord while at camp. It is those times, often in the beautiful mountains, away from all the noise and demands of life that God can truly work in us. This past year we were able to participate in a camp where many teen and college age lives are being transformed for the Lord. The Our Generation Camp will be held from May 28th – June 1st 2012 in Dayton TN at Fort Bluff Camp. This is a camp focused on missions with a unique opportunity to learn from and spend time with missionaries from different countries around the world. I hope that you won’t miss the opportunity to be a part of one of the most impacting camps that you have ever attended. If you would like more information please let us know or go to www.bcwe.org for more information.
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for our upcoming Leadership Conference in May.
2. Pray for our building fund project and the activities that we are doing as a church to reach our goal.
3. Pray for our Bible College Classes that we started this past month.
4. Pray for us because we have had a lot of sickness in the family lately.