Bolivia Update

Thank you for your prayers for the nation of Bolivia. Things have calmed down considerably.

This past weekend was odd, to say the least. Friday afternoon it was announced by pro-socialist leaders that the protesters that were blocking the main highways would lift the blockades. The reasons were varied. Some of the blockades were indeed cleared; but some still remained.

This last week here in Cochabamba the ministry Compassion held a 5 day conference with a concert planned as the grand finale. The concert was cancelled because the streets in front of the hotel that the singer was staying at were full of violent protesters. They were not protesting the conference, just the political issues. Of the 4,500 attendees to the conference just over 400 came from Santa Cruz.

As the buses were dispatched Friday evening after the conference to return to Santa Cruz safe passage was promised. Yet, 20 minutes outside of town the protesters began to attack the bus with rocks and large fireworks that served as rockets to shoot at the windows. Much glass was broken and the passengers were made to get off the bus while the drunken protesters interrogated them to find out if they were pro-democracy.

The people in the group told the protesters that they were Christians and showed them their bibles and the admission bracelets from the conference. The protesters demanded that they pray on the spot to prove that what they were saying was true. It is a common belief here that someone is incapable of uttering a prayer unless they are truly a spiritual person.

Finally the drivers and passengers were allowed to get back on the buses and return to Cochabamba. The reason I know these details is because some of those passengers were my friends. I called them on their cell Saturday morning to see if they had made it back to Santa Cruz.

After finding out that they didn’t get back to their hotel in Cochabamba until 4 in the morning I told them to sleep and then come over to my house for lunch. Being leaders of a group of 10 they didn’t want to abandon the youth they had brought. So I told them that they could all come. It ended up being a fun time.

On Sunday after church I took the kids out to eat and then over to a friend’s house so I could go shopping to get a few things “just in case”. (No house help, no hubby, gotta rely on friends.) But when I got to the store the doors were only half way open and there were armed guards all over the place. The place was full of customers but almost empty of the basics. No milk, no meat, no bread, etc. They had diapers so that is a good thing.

Things should be normalizing in this city this week. The city of La Paz seems to be the next target for the pro-socialists.

You can continue to pray. We are not out of the dark yet.

On the flip side church attendance has been strong. There have been many visitors and people coming back to church that we haven’t seen in a while. Even though the persecution is political, it has still had a positive effect in the church. History has proven that the church thrives under pressure and persecution. We are praying that the members and their families are kept safe during these trying times and that many people come to have an encounter with the true and living God as they seek to make sense of all that is going on around them.

Personally, our family is full of peace and great anticipation for how the Lord is going to use all these occurrences to His benefit. We are praying against a spirit of terror. As you walk around the people have a tense, solemn expression on their faces. And as you speak with them some have tears in their eyes, others have a trembling voice as they speak out the worries they have about the future.

Last year many missionary organizations “exported” their missionaries. Some that had been here for more than 20 years were told that the political situation was too unstable for them to continue in Bolivia. At this point in time we do not feel that we need to leave the country. We are constantly before the Lord seeking His will and direction. You can pray that we continue to hear Him clearly and obey Him.