Sword & Trowel 2017: Issue 1
CHURCH PLANTING IN BOLIVIA
A report from Michael Hunt, one of the Tabernacle deacons, who recently visited Quillacollo
P
ASTOR Javier Soto with his wife Ximena began a pioneering work in the Quillacollo suburb of Cocha- bamba, in Bolivia, in January 2014. First meeting in their house, they now rent a location for Grace Tabernacle Baptist Church close to the centre of Quillacollo. Some 50 people are attending with varying regularity, amongst whom are several who are unsaved. They are from a range of backgrounds by contrast with other Protestant churches in the area which tend to be socially stratifi ed.
Evangelistic Sunday School
Following three weeks of house-to- house visiting, an afternoon Sunday School was started at the beginning of August. Numbers are increasing week by week, the highest attendance so far being 34, and three age-graded classes are provided with lessons taken from the Spanish translation of Lessons for Life. More recruitment visiting has just begun every Wednesday evening in the
long street in which the church is lo- cated and other areas near the church, and families are being spoken to during street witness. Recent additions have included a child invited by a friend and the son of a street vendor selling fruit close to the church premises.
Outreach A pair of believers go out on Mon-
day evenings to witness in the vicinity, knocking doors. Others go out on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons to the largest square, the Plaza Boli- var, which is normally full of people. Whilst a range of responses is experi- enced, there is generally a willingness amongst the local people to talk and to receive an invitation. Many are Ro- man Catholic and most are wary of the various groups, including charismatic churches and Jehovah’s Witnesses, al- ready trying to draw them to meetings. Once a month, in pairs, believers enter local buses, heading out of town from the bustling Plaza Bolivar, to speak to the passengers. These buses wait until they are full, with 30 or more seated passengers, before leaving. The believers enter at the last minute, seek the permission of the driver, pay their fare and stand to speak. A Bible verse is read and plainly applied for 5-10 minutes then the believers distribute tracts and leave the bus, catch another going back
Michael Hunt speaking at the Sunday School.
page 38 Church Planting in Bolivia
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