The march of the Gospel continues as the River Bible Institute of Bolivia is founded


BY BUDDY JOHNSON, BMAA Missionary A friend recently reminded me of a


statement I made in a meeting several years ago. “I have never finished anything in my life, but I have started


stuff everywhere I have been.” He said that I said that! Seriously, the joy of my life has been to begin things and teach other men to carry on what has been started. Perhaps because of that joy, I was invited by the


brethren of Bolivia to help begin the “Bolivian River Bible Institute.” I didn’t have to pray a lot to know that this is what God wanted to begin on the huge Mamore River that runs south to north between Bolivia and Brazil. I began work on a curriculum that could be used to train new believers who want to carry the Gospel to regions beyond them. With Phil Knott and the men in Bolivia, we began to plan at least three sessions each year to be held in one of the villages about 450 miles downriver from Trinidad, one of the ports on the river. I invited Trevor Morris to accompany me as


instructor in the first seven-day session in Belencito (Little Bethlehem). Understanding the very basic level of understanding of the people who live on the river and their eagerness to learn, we chose to teach the Book of Acts and Paul’s Pastoral Epistles, along with Evangelism


Explosion (personal evangelism). Trevor did a great job, and the students were impressive with their zeal and ability to learn and retain the materials. Since the Book of Acts has only 28 chapters,


and the history of the early church was written as the Gospel marched from city to city, country to country, and continent to continent, our challenge was for the people of the Mamore to write chapter 29. The “march” of the Gospel continues. What a joy to have had a small part in the beginning of the River Bible Institute of Bolivia. We began with 20 students from different


villages along the river. Some traveled 18 hours by boat to arrive at the Institute. There were 14 who completed all the required work. The excitement was a beautiful thing to watch as they gladly accepted the “homework” to go to other river villages and take the Gospel of our risen Lord. In our evening services, there were seven who were saved and some were baptized while we were there. Please pray for them. The plans are to build a building to house the


students during Institute Sessions. Your help with the building materials will be greatly appreciated. You can send offerings to the BMAA Missions office marked, “Rivers of Blessings.” n


bmaamissions.org n theGLEANER 5


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