Dear Friends & Partners;
Thank-you for taking time to read about what God is doing in our lives and work in Bolivia. We love you and appreciate your part in our ministry. In this letter, we will talk about the following items:
1. Marriage and Family Conference
2. Youth Ministry
3. Missions Trips
4. Children's Clubs
5. Ladies Ministry
6. Fruit that Remains
7. Needs
8. Health report
9. Prayer Requests
10. Pictures of Various Activities
Since our last letter in late August, there has been a lot of activity in our work and we have seen many people make professions of faith and life changing decisions. For us, it is an honor and privilege to live and work in Bolivia and be part of what God is doing here in Tarija. Further, we want to thank you for being part of our work whether it be through finances, prayers, or good will in general. We hope you enjoy reading some of the highlights of our work.
Marriage and Family Conference: Before our last trip to the States, our church began planning a 4-day Marriage and Family Conference which took place the weekend of the 24th of September. The turn-out for this event was incredible with a high attendance of 260 people. There were 6 people who made a profession of faith and many other decisions were made for Christ!
Youth Ministry: One of the core groups in our church is the Young People. We hesitate to use the words “youth or young” when describing this group as college and career aged individuals are included in this group in Bolivian churches. We are blessed to have a fine gathering of University Aged students in our church who not only participate, but contribute to the overall ministry. In fact, they have a track-record of volunteering when ministry needs and opportunities arise.
Missions Trips: We’ve had two churches visit our work in the last 2 months! Each group has had a unique make-up and were an incredible blessing to us and the people we work with. Most recently, our sending church, Victory Baptist in Maryville, TN came for a visit. It was a great privilege to show them the work that we are involved with and cast a vision for future ministry opportunities that exist in Tarija. If you are thinking of taking a Missions Trip; please consider coming to Bolivia. There is a lot to see and do, and the impact you can have on our ministry is incredible. Over the years, we have hosted several trips and we believe that coming here will be a blessing and help broaden your Missions awareness and commitment.
Children’s Clubs: The two “Hora Felices” we launched in August are becoming more established, and we are beginning to see who the regular attenders are. We would like to begin offering breakfast on Sunday mornings and bringing people (children & adults) to church. There are details that must be worked out to accomplish this on a consistent basis, but we expect this step will help the people in these communities as well as expose them to the Gospel on a more consistent basis. One of the areas where a club is located is a developing community. There is no water or electricity available at this time for most homes. However, there is a school being built which is an indicator of the expected growth in this area of Tarija. That said, this will be a poor area for quite a while. When our sending church was here; our Pastor presented the idea of providing breakfast to the children that will go to the new school. It’s a great idea. Please pray for direction and wisdom as we explore this possibility.
Ladies Ministry: Over the summer months (our winter); Sandra began reaching out to the women in our church and community by offering regular meetings specifically geared to women. These meetings have been a blessing to the ladies who have participated. October 11th was “Day of the Woman” and we planned a banquet in coordination with the visit of our home church. We began planning for 60 women to attend. However, the commitments to attend kept increasing so we prepared the meal for 100 ladies. Well, there were over 130 people in attendance! At the end of the evening we had 21 professions of faith, 5 people rededicate their lives to the Lord, 1 person asked to become part of our discipleship ministry, and many asked to be visited by a Pastor. Friday, one of the women who attended was in a crisis. We reached out to her and that evening she stopped by the church with her husband and was able to visit with our Ministry Partner, Elias Huaman. When they came, they were broken. When they left, they were Children of God! They came to church Sunday and brought their 6 children!
Fruit That Remains: One of the greatest blessings to us has been seeing people who were reached in our ministry here over 10 years ago that are still faithful in their walk with the Lord. There are many such people in our church; we’d like to introduce 2 of them to you. The first is a young lady named Marisol. She was just a small child when our church started in 2003 and was part of our children’s ministry. Today, she coordinates our Sunday School Ministry and leads an Hora Feliz. Her brother, Ivar, came to church with her as a child. Today, he is our Youth Pastor and does a great job with our young people. Another man that we recently came in contact with at the airport is a policeman who was saved in 2004. Jeff baptized him in a swimming pool. His name is Israel and though he no longer attends our church, he is a faithful member of another church in town. Our goal is to make a long-term impact on the people that we work with. It is always a blessing to see the fruit of this endeavor.
Needs: Many people graciously responded and helped with the initial construction of our new auditorium. For the most part, the main building itself has been completed. However, due to some cost over-runs and increases in the price of materials, we have not been able to install doors and windows. We also need to install ceiling fans as our metal building will seem like an oven in the Summer months! We expect the cost of the windows and doors to be $2500 and fans will cost about $800. Additionally, we have the opportunity to bring many people to church from our Children's Clubs. However, we do not have a means to do so. To help with this we would like to purchase a bus. If you would like information about any of these items or would like to help with the costs, please let us know. Please pray that the Lord supplies for these needs as He sees fit.
Heath Report: As you may remember, Sandra had to undergo another round of routine cancer screenings recently and received a good report. Jeff on the other hand is dealing with an issue in his right knee. At this point, we know there is arthritis, bone spurs, the knee cap is tilted, and the doctor is concerned that the meniscus might be torn. The Veterans Affairs Orthopedic clinic wants him to come for further evaluation in November, but he is attempting to hold off until next year if possible. It is painful, but at least it is manageable at this point. Please pray that it stays that way.
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray that we are able to effectively follow-up with all of the people who have been part of the special events that have taken place in our church.
- Please pray that the Children’s clubs will continue to grow and that we will be able to bring the people in these communities to church until we can establish something more formal in their areas.
- Please pray for one of our partners in Ministry, Maribel Castro. She is the wife of our co-pastor, Elias Huaman. Recently, she had what turned out to be a pretty serious issue with her gall-bladder and it had to be removed. From talking to the Doctors, it was close to a life and death situation. Our sending church took care of the cost of this surgery while they were with us which was a real blessing to the family. Please pray for her recovery.
- As our work expands, we need more support. Please pray that the Lord will open new avenues of partnership for our ministry.
We love you, and we remain your hands and feet on the ground in Bolivia!
Jeff & Sandra Price
