July 01, 2006
Bolivia Prayer Warriors—
Our team arrived home last night, but Pastor Enzo has another big day today. He flew to Sucre this morning to teach about 40 Quechua leaders how to use the EvangeCube and give them an overview of our church planting training. Please pray that the Head of the Church will use this training to build His church.
Thanks so much for praying for our Bolivia campaign! Ray summed up our week very well: “God is working in a special way down here.” He did that in answer to your prayers—
· 1,612 professions of faith (1,297 in the 12 work areas and 315 in executive outreaches that Ray and Mary did in partnership with Campus Crusade)
· 9 new churches were planted
· 10 churches strengthened (3 areas in which we worked and 7 mother churches of the new areas)
· 1,026 follow-up contacts made (79% of the professions of faith in the 12 work areas)
Behind these stats are hundreds and hundreds of God stories. Here are a few of them.
School Kids. Pastor Gaylord, Scott and Ellie were back at their host home/church for lunch after a morning of visiting homes. “Some kids are outside” someone said, so 18 year old Ellie jumped up to go talk to them. Others followed after a minute or two, and were surprised at the sight they saw—Ellie surrounded by 50+ kids who had just gotten out of school. God drew dozens to Christ as Ellie shared the gospel with them. Hallelujah!
Outdoor Cathedral. Jason, Andy and Sarah were overjoyed when over 170 people came to the evening meetings in their brand new area. Since they had no building, they met in an open field. For the main service they met under a tree strung with a few light bulbs. Then they broke up into groups. Jason took the 70+ kids under a lone streetlight along a dirt road. Andy taught the 35+ youth as they sat on the soccer field illuminated by headlights from two cars. Hallelujah!
Students. We thank the Lord for the 12 students He placed on our team. It was a joy for the parents on the trip (Bob and Samantha & Greg and Bryannia, for example) to see their kids sharing their faith fearlessly, as 12 year old Samantha is doing in this picture.
Name My Baby. As Richard and Sue worked in an area, they received a request that was a first for us. One of the ladies who trusted Christ asked Richard to say a prayer of dedication for her 3 month old baby. Then she asked him to name the baby! So he named him “Fabio Enzo Plata.” “Fabio” after the national believer who helped share the gospel with this new mom, and “Enzo” after our Bolivia national director who loves and serves the Lord.
Walk to Church. Lindsay, Kara and Philip worked in an area with lots of kids. When Kara learned that many kids attend church without their parents, she voiced the question most of us think: “but how do they get to church?” Living in the US, we assume everyone drives to church. But in most countries of the world, if a person can’t walk to church, they don’t go to church. That’s one key reason why we focus on planting new churches in barrios around the world.
Special Thanks to Troy for being our team translator!
Want a Video? One of the unexpected blessings of the trip was Ky. After he signed up to go, we found out he is a videographer. Ky’s passion is to do evangelism, and then capture ordinary people being used by our Extraordinary God to accomplish eternal things. He’s making a video of our trip, so please let me know if you’d like a copy.
Blessings.
Mike Jorgensen for Team Bolivia
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