GOING TO BOLIVIA 16

1991 EXPLORATORY TRIP TO PERU & BOLIVIA - Part 5

This post, is part 5 of the 12th post in an ongoing series GOING TO BOLIVIA where I relate the circumstances surrounding my response to the Lord's call to serve Him in Bolivia. The 12th post in this series is significant because it tells the story of my first visit to Bolivia with Bishop Moses Tay and his wife Cynthia.

So here I was in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in 1991.

I spent most of the morning and afternoon with missionaries in Santa Cruz.

My suitability to serve in Bolivia was tested in interviews and meetings with the missionaries, Sue Woodcock and Ernesto/Denise Obregon who were serving at the Anglican Church in Santa Cruz. The first question Sue Woodcock asked me was if Michelle was supportive of my willingness to uproot ourselves and come to Latin America. I replied in the affirmative. The question was important, I found out later, because the rigors of inculturation normally brought to surface unresolved issues in marriages. Sue Woodcock was a no nonsense silver haired lady. She was single, disciplined, persisent and a good bible study leader. She used to serve in Uganda before she came to Bolivia, and was recently serving in Spain before she passed away from cancer. I managed to speak to her a few days before she passed away.

Ernesto Obregon and his wife Denise were a fun loving couple and complemented Sue Woodcock. Their daughters were pre-teens. Ernesto was an anglican from a pentecostal background. He liked traditional liturgy and was trying to bring in more elements from the church's tradition in the church he was pastoring. Denise, his wife had an effective ministry with the young people.

The highlight of the visit was the opportunity to visit the small YWAM base in the grounds of the Anglican Church. David Hulford, an anglican,  was the leader of the base. We sort of interrupted a lesson  on the 10/40 as we walked into the church grounds while the lesson was on. Our arrival was timely because of Spore's location near the the window. It was here that I saw the bilateral missionary connection between Asia, Latin America and back to Asia. To some extent this has already been fulfilled as Latin American missionaries are already making an impact in Asia. The Bolivian church have already sent missionaries to India.            

At night in the house of one of the local lay leaders Bishop Moses Tay taught the scriptures and shared testimonies from the church in Singapore with the local Bolivian leadership and the missionaries. I felt at home and was happy to mingle and to get to know some of the Bolivians. I had translators to help me out as I listened to Bolivians share their stories of conversions and daily walk with the Lord.  

We returned to La Paz the next day after spending a night in Santa Cruz.