Christmas Greetings from Bolivia

To all our brothers and sisters who confess their faith in Christ:

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

-- Luke 2:10-12

Christmas, understood correctly, is a sign of joy for us sinners and sad mortals who,  deserving of no other destiny than eternal condemnation, today can jump for joy because of this great salvation which has been put before us -- a child wrapped in swaddling clothes who will finish everything we could not finish and will pay for our guilt: the Lamb who was slain from the beginning of the world (Revelation 13:8).

Let us celebrate together such great and wonderful news! Our salvation has been paid! Let us celebrate in Christ, God, the Son, our Redeemer!

With high regards,

Your confessional brothers and sisters from Bolivia

-------------------------------------------------------------------

A todos lo hermanos confesantes de la fe de Cristo: 

"Pero el ángel les dijo: No temáis; porque he aquí os doy nuevas de gran gozo, que será para todo el pueblo: que os ha nacido hoy, en la ciudad de David, un Salvador, que es CRISTO el Señor. Esto os servirá de señal: Hallaréis al niño envuelto en pañales, acostado en un pesebre." 

-- Lucas 2:10-12

La navidad bien entendida es una señal de gozo para nosotros pecadores y tristes mortales que sin más destino que la condenación eterna hoy podemos saltar de gozo ante tan gran salvación puesta delante de nosotros, un niño envuelto en pañales que cumplirá todo lo que no cumplimos y pagará por nuestras culpas: el Cordero que fue inmolado desde el principio del mundo (Apocalipsis 13:8) ¡Celebremos juntos tan grandes y buenas noticias! ¡Nuestra salvación ya fue pagada, regocijemonos en Cristo, Dios, El hijo, nuestro Redentor.

Con aprecio,

Los hermanos confesionales de Bolivia 

Photo Credit

South American Update

BOLIVIA – One Latin American Traveling Theological Educators (LATTE) professor is continuing to instruct a small group of confessional Lutherans in La Paz.

BRAZIL – Local members of the Brazilian Lutheran Church (ILB) are active in teaching children's Bible classes, youth ministry, adult instruction, and leading worship, but welcome additional training and counsel. The ILB is a relatively small church body and growth is slow, but recent baptisms, confirmations and requests for more Bible instruction show God continues to bless the preaching of his Word.

COLOMBIA – The Colombian national church continues its efforts to reach out in other areas beyond Medellin, such as Pereira, Manizales, Santa Marta and Bogota. Plans to relocate one pastor in Manizales continue. The national church continues supporting the small congregations in Santa Marta and Quibdó with pastoral training, educational materials, teaching visits and Bible studies via Skype. The International (Virtual) Church continues reaching out to repatriate Latin Americans who live in several places around the globe.

Class with 2 Mexican and 1 Colombian Students

I (Phil) am a professor on the Latin American Traveling Seminary team. At the present time I am living in La Paz, Bolivia because of a special assignment that I was given. Recently I was given a special opportunity, that of participating in the Mexico seminary program by means of Skype.

The two Mexican students that I am teaching are Dan and Luis. What makes the situation even more interesting is that Raúl, a seminary student from Quibdó, Colombia also joins the class. The class I am teaching to these three students is New Testament Isagogics. 

We thank the Lord for this technology which enables us to teach students in their own classrooms or settings even though we as professors live in distant countries.

Macedonian Giving

 Brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able,  and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 

(2 Corinthians 8:1-4)

On our recent visit to Bolivia, where LATTE Professor Philip is located, we found an example of this type of giving. LATTE Professor Larry, Ernie Latorre, and I were visiting Bolivia. We attended a worship service together with the national congregation. After the service, the members insisted on sending the offering along with us. Our first thought was that they were as much in need of this offering as anyone, but we thought it was very important to honor the spirit in which they offered this, as well as their desire to assist in world missions, so we accepted.

May God bless their spirit of mission giving and promote it among us as well!

Pastor Robert Smith serves as the liaison for LATTE and as the chairman for the WELS Administrative Committee for Latin America.

Overseas Living

Living overseas often involves changes in one’s daily habits. Activities that before were routine now consume a large part of your day. One activity that I do every day is prepare our drinking water.

We use faucet water to drink, but cannot drink it directly from the faucet. First the water must sit for a minimum of 6 hours to evaporate the heavy content of chlorine, then it is brought to a boil, and after cooling is ready for drinking.

Grocery shopping is also different since we do most of our shopping at the open market instead of a grocery store. There are several grocery stores available but their prices are generally higher. Two or three times a week, I walk to the market to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese and eggs, bread, cleaning supplies, etc. I have to gauge how much to buy since it will have to be carried up the hill back to our apartment.

Once at home, fruits and vegetables are soaked and washed. Some countries have special solutions in which to soak the produce. Here we have been using a solution of freshly squeezed lemon juice and vinegar.

In spite of the precautions, we do occasionally get infected with parasites and have to take pills to eliminate them from our system. For the most part, we thank the Lord for the good health with which He has blessed us. We are also thankful that, in every country where we have lived, our bounteous God has always provided for our needs.

Living in La Paz

 City View

LATTE Professor Philip and Kathy currently reside in La Paz, Bolivia. This growing city is home to over 877,363 inhabitants (2001) in its metro area, making it the second largest city in Bolivia. Walking around the city can literally take your breath away at its high elevation of 9,800 to 13,500 feet. 

Sunset View

Learn more about their life in Bolivia at www.welsinbolivia.blogspot.com.

Plato Paceño

This a typical meal in La Paz, Bolivia.  It is usually served with soup and a light dessert like jello or fruit.

Ingredients

• Corn on the cob
• Horse beans (broad or fava beans)
• Potatoes
• “Kollana” cheese
• Steak -- thinly sliced

Directions

1. Fry steak in oil or butter
2. Boil corn, beans, & potatoes (with skin left on)
3. Fry cheese slices in oil
4. Serve with locoto sauce (see below)

Locoto Sauce

Instructions

• 2 locotos (hot peppers)
• 1 large tomato
• 1 t onion -- minced
• Salt -- to taste
• 1 t oil

Directions

1. Halve the locotos
2. Remove seeds 
3. Wash thoroughly several times to reduce their hotness 
4. Cut locoto and tomato into small pieces
5. Grind very fine with a mortar
6. Add salt, onion, & oil
7. Mix well

 

Bolivia

Professor Lorenzo & Bolivian Students

LATTE Professor Lorenzo began making teaching trips to La Paz, Bolivia in 2007.  After four years of visits, the Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (FIEL) requested a full-time LATTE seminary professor to teach what the Bible teaches.

Professor Philip & Kathy

In March, 2011; Professor Philip and Kathy moved from Santiago, Dominican Republic to La Paz, Bolivia to serve the church leaders. 

Professor Philip & Student-Pastor Julio

Professor Philip is currently teaching theological courses to seminary Student-Pastor Julio and 10 Bible institute students on-site. He and Kathy also participate in activites of the local congregation, El Redentor.

El Redentor, La Paz

Recently, five children were baptized at El Redentor after their parents studied the doctrine of  baptism with Pastor Julio. 

Go to www.welsinbolivia.blogspot.com for additional details on the ministry training in Bolivia.

Update from South America

Bolivia  

A LATTE Professor has been in La Paz, Bolivia, since March of this year. His purpose is to help a small church body in its effort to become a confessional Lutheran church. The instructor reports that there is good progress. The pastor of the La Paz congregation is now preaching and practicing sound Biblical doctrine and other leaders are also gladly receiving Biblical instruction. Though there has been progress, there is still work to be done. 

Brazil  

Despite church break-ins and unexpected bills from the city, God is helping the members of the Gravatai congregation to slowly increase support for their local ministry. Another two baptisms and five confirmations show God's grace in action. The Brazilian Lutheran Church (ILB) is in the process of producing evangelism tracts that deal with current issues in Brazilian culture. National pastors gathered around God's Word for spiritual growth and mutual encouragement in October. In November, WELS representatives met with the ILB to discuss options for how the WELS and the ILB might work together so that the gospel may continue to be proclaimed in the world's fifth largest country. 

Colombia

The growth of the church in the Medellin, Quibdó and prospective Pereira area is slow. The willingness of the church of Medellin to relocate Pastor Herrera to a new city and partially support him shows the seriousness it takes mission work. This idea is under strong consideration and is an objective for the immediate future once more prospective members are added. This outreach commitment merits support and encouragement.  The growth in Bogota has been very limited.  Efforts are being made to help the congregation focus on evangelism, as well as the LATTE efforts to train three leaders of the congregation. Training of one pastor continues via Skype and with personal visits from LATTE professors. Training of two more student candidates is under consideration.

Five Children Baptized

“To be sure, children are brought to Baptism by the faith and work of others; but when they get there and the pastor or baptizer deals with them in Christ’s stead, it is He who blesses them and grants them faith and the kingdom of heaven. For the word and act of the pastor are the Word and the work of Christ himself.” 

(What Luther Says, Vol. 1, p. 51, 141) 

When LATTE professors first came to Bolivia, the doctrine of infant baptism was not being clearly taught or practiced. When the LATTE professors began to teach this doctrine and show the great importance of putting it into practice, they met with some resistance. A family with five children who regularly attend worship services at Redeemer Lutheran congregation had never had any of their children baptized because they thought that it was not necessary to do so. After much instruction from Scripture with an emphasis on the spiritual benefits that come with baptism, the parents of these five children finally agreed to have their children baptized. 

What a joyful moment it was when five precious children received this precious gift which has granted them the benefits of the forgiveness of their sins, becoming members of the family of God and having the assurance of a home in Heaven once this life is over. 

Go to www.welsinbolivia.blogspot.com for more details.

Between Borders

This month, Professor Natán and I departed our home in México to visit the Lutheran Church in Brazil. Our flight itinerary took us from México through Peru and then Bolivia to Brazil. While changing plans in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, the airline notified us of a problem with our Brazilian visas and would not allow us to board the plan. We were stuck between borders.

As it was 3:00 am on a Saturday morning, we had to wait until Monday morning to visit the local Brazilian Consulate. We did take advantage of the wait and visited some Inca ruins outside the city.

We met with an agent at the Brazilian Consulate as planned and filled out the initial paperwork for a new Brazilian Tourist visa.  The next step was to find a local photo studio to get passport-size photos taken and go to a specific bank to pay the fee to process the visa.  We returned to the Consulate with the photos and payment receipt from the bank.  After we answered a few more questions, the agent told us to return the following day.  We spent the afternoon making new travel arrangements with our stateside travel agent through the Internet via Skype and emailed our contacts in Brazil.

The next day, we went to the Consulate, reviewed the final documentation, signed a couple of papers, and left with new visas in hand. Our new Brazilian visas have a later expiration period as well as a longer maximum stay.

Our 3-hour layover in Bolivia turned into a 4-day adventure. We are thankful to God for his protection during this unexpected delay and that there was a Brazilian Consulate in Santa Cruz that processed ours visas so quickly.

Go to here for more details on this journey.

Man proposes – God disposes

Trip to Apolo

Road to Apolo

One of my duties in Bolivia is to visit the national church congregations that are located in outlying areas of Bolivia in order to strengthen our fellowship ties and also to see if there might be some potential theological education students who could study with us.  The first trip was to Santa Cruz.  This month another trip was planned to the outlying area of Apolo.  There is a saying that man proposes but God disposes.  That clearly turned out to be the case in this instance.  My wife, Kathy and I, Julio, the pastor of Redeemer Congregation in La Paz, Julián and his wife, Ana all headed out for the town of Apolo in the mission car at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15.  

Julián & Ana

Stop for Lunch

We were told that the total length of the trip would be around 12 hours.  We had traveled for 7 hours when it became evident that the car was losing power.  I stopped the car to check the oil and to see if there was any other evident problem.  Once the car had stopped, I attempted to put the car in Park, but found that the gearshift lever was jammed.  Then I made an inadvertent mistake.  I turned the motor off in order to check the oil.  I found that both the motor oil and the transmission oil levels were ok, so the decision was made to try to keep going to the next town in order to try to find a mechanic who could look the car over.  However, when I tried to start the car, I found that I could not do so since the car, having an automatic transmission, will only start with the gearshift lever in Park.  More efforts were made to get the gearshift lever to move, but to no avail.  A mechanic in La Paz was called and he made some suggestions, but nothing worked. 

Finally the decision was made to call the insurance company and ask that a tow truck be sent.  The insurance company told us that the only two trucks available were in La Paz, 7 hours away.  Since there didn’t seem to be any other alternative, we asked that one be sent.  Meanwhile we began to pray that a car with a mechanic would stop and help us out.  None came.  We were on a very isolated stretch of road.  A vehicle would pass about once every half hour.   

Fog Rolling In

Since a special invitation had been made by the president of the Apolo congregation to attend their yearly voting assembly, it was felt that it was very important that at least some members of the group still try to get to Apolo by hitching a ride or by flagging down a bus that was headed in that direction.  At 5:30 p.m. a bus picked up Julio, Julián and Ana.  Kathy and I stayed in the car to wait for the tow truck from La Paz.  Around 7:00 p.m. a heavy fog moved in and surrounded the car.  It was clear that our trust in the Lord was being tested.  What if another vehicle smashed into us?  What if thieves held us up?  We put the reflector triangle behind the car and also turned on the blinker lights whenever we saw the lights of a car approaching from either direction.  Since the road we were on was high in the mountains, as night fell it began to get very cold, and of course we could not use the heater of the car to warm us up.  Since Apolo is located at a lower and warmer altitude, we had each only brought along a light jacket. 

Fog

The tow truck finally showed up at 10:00 p.m.  The driver was a mechanic and tried to get the gearshift lever to move, but was unable to do so.  The only option was to take the car back to La Paz.  They pulled the car up onto the flatbed of the tow truck.  Since three men had come in the tow truck, there was no room for us to ride in the truck.  So, we sat up in the car for the ride back to La Paz.  The car was comfortable and has reclining front seats, but the downside was the cold.  The ride back to La Paz took another 7 hours and we finally got in at 5:30 a.m.  We thank the Lord that He was with us throughout this ordeal and that He got us back home safely.  Our trust is that His plans are always best.  

Go to www.welsinbolivia.blogspot.com/2011/09/traveling for addtional details.

Registering a Car - Part 2

The following are the steps we had to take to purchase our car here in Bolivia and get it registered:

- Francisco returned to La Paz and gave me his report.  We then went back to the third floor of the Motor Vehicle department, got another order for a telegram to be sent, this time to Santa Cruz.

- Then we went back to the SENATER office, paid another fee and had the second telegram sent to the Santa Cruz Motor Vehicle office.  They said they would call us when they received a reply.

- We waited over a week for the reply which never came.

- Right at that time I had a scheduled trip to Santa Cruz to visit the congregation of FIEL that is located there.  Francisco was designated to accompany us.  We decided that while we were there we would personally visit the Santa Cruz Motor Vehicle office to see what had happened with the telegram that had been sent.

- When we got to Santa Cruz we were able to find the Motor Vehicle building there and first went to the telegram office.  They told us they had not received the telegram that supposedly had been sent. 

- Next we went to the vehicle registration window.  They found a file folder on our car, but it simply had a note about the crime that had taken place in 2007.  There was also a document in that file indicating that the vehicle was actually registered in La Paz!  The lady at the window told us that we would have to go to the Motor Vehicle department in La Paz in order to obtain the document we needed.

- When we got back to La Paz, tired of all the run around we were getting, we hired a lawyer to look into the matter and try to get the document we needed.  The lawyer was successful in getting the document.

- With the final required document in hand, we went back to the Motor Vehicle office in order to submit all the papers.  After waiting four hours in line, when we got up to the window, they told us that the previous person in line was the last one they were going to attend to that day.

- We went back the next day early in the morning.  This time we only had to wait three hours and finally were able to submit all the documents for getting the vehicle registered in my name.

- Now there were only three more steps to take before everything would finally be finalized.  First we had to take the vehicle transfer papers from the Motor Vehicle department to a notary in order to have the signatures both of the former owner and the new owner notarized.

- Next we had to take all the papers back to the Mayor’s office in order to get an ownership card from them.

- The final step was to take a copy of all the papers to the police department in order to get a certificate of ownership from them.

- Finally, after a month and a half of running around, the car is now legally ours.  We thank the Lord that He has granted us success in this endeavor.

Registering a Car - Part 1

The following are the continued steps we had to take to purchase our car here in Bolivia and get it registered:

- Then came the process of registering the transfer of ownership of the car.  The first stop was the mayor’s office.  We had to make a copy of all the ownership papers and the purchase contract that had to be submitted there.  The line there was very long and it took all morning to finally get to a reception window where we submitted the required papers.  We were then given two documents.  One was a bill for the taxes owed for doing the transfer.  The other was a document to turn in to the Motor Vehicle department so that they could legally register the car purchase with the government. 

- We got into another line at the Mayor’s office to pay the taxes owed for the transfer of ownership.

- With the receipt for the tax payment in hand we made another copy of all the documents and then went to the Motor Vehicle department.  When we got there we saw on the wall a long list of requirements for getting the car registered.  We already had most of the required documents, but there were two that we didn’t have.

- The first requirement that was missing was a vehicle inspection.  When we got to the location of the vehicle inspection with the car, they had their own list of required documents in order for them to be able to make the inspection.

- We went to get the required documents for the vehicle inspection and the next day returned to the vehicle inspection site.  This time we were successful in getting the vehicle inspected.  However, the vehicle inspector told us that we would have to get photos of the small plate located on the inside of the windshield which had the number of the motor on it and also a picture of a sticker located on the door frame of the car. 

- We went back home and I took the pictures of the two items that had been requested and printed them.  The next day we took the printed pictures back to the inspector and showed them to him.  He rejected them and said the pictures had to be done by a professional photographer. 

- We found a photographer who took the pictures, printed them out, signed his name to them and this time they were accepted.

- We had to wait a couple more days for the vehicle inspector’s report to get sent back to the Motor Vehicle department.  When we returned there, we were told to go up to the third floor in order to obtain the other required document that we still did not have.

- At the office on the third floor we were told that in order to get the document that we needed, we would have to go to a different office called SENATER in another part of town.  At this office they would send a telegram to the city where the car had been previously registered in order to get a copy of the former registration papers.  The officer signed a paper giving the order for the telegram to be sent.

- We then drove to the SENATER office where telegrams were sent from and gave them the signed paper that we had received from the officer at the Motor Vehicle building.  We paid their fee and they gave us a receipt and told us they would call us when the answer came.

- Three days later they called us and told us to go back to the Motor Vehicle department in order to get the answer.  So we went back to the Motor Vehicle department, went back up to the third floor and asked the officer there for the answer to the telegram.  He replied that he did not have the answer.  We would have to go back to the SENATER office in order to get the reply.  He signed another paper authorizing SENATER to give us the reply.  Then off we went back to the SENATER office.

- The SENATER office did indeed have the reply to the telegram.  The reply stated that they were not going to send the information by telegraph.  Rather we would have to go personally to the city of Cochabamba in order to get the required registration documents. 

- So that I would not have to interrupt my classes, Francisco and I went to a lawyer’s office and I had a power of attorney document written up for Francisco.  He was then able to make the trip to Cochabamba with out my needing to go along. 

- When Francisco got to Cochabamba, he went to the Motor Vehicle building there and inquired about the registration document that was needed.  He was told that the only officer who could do the search for the required document was not there that day. 

- Since Francisco did not want to wait around possibly for several days until the officer in question would return, he asked around and was able to get the phone number of the officer.  He called the number, but a family member answered.  The family member said she would try to find the officer, which she did.  The officer agreed to go with Francisco to the Cochabamba Motor Vehicle office to search for the required document.

- When they got there, the search began through a whole room full of file folders.  The officer examined the file folders one by one and he allowed Francisco to also examine each folder.  After four hours of searching they both concluded that the required file was not there.  The officer then made some calls and discovered that the former registration documents were actually in Santa Cruz.

Colorblind

Retired Missionary Charlie and Beth Flunker share details on returning home to Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul where they serving Igreja Luterana Brasileira – The Brazilian Lutheran Church as active volunteers.

When was the last time you thought about the color of your skin? I'm guessing that most of you live in places where one skin color predominates, and people of another race and skin color are few. You might have some in your congregation or neighborhood, but they are the minority. As you might well imagine, different colors of skin are the rule in mission work, and often it is the missionary who is the minority.

Charlie and I just returned from our annual visit to the US. The trip was very interesting! In the Chicago airport, waiting for our flight, we observed the people. That airport has many international flights, and we began to see people of many different nationalities. When we finally decided to sit down in the gate area of our flight, we begin to interact with the many Brazilians, who are returning home from the US. This interaction continues on the plane. The Brazilians often take us for Germans, who are the light-skinned and light-haired people living in Brazil, so we always have a ready-made conversation starter.

Once in the bus station we see a wider variety of skin colors. Everyone uses the efficient and comfortable bus system in Brazil. There are business people, students, store owners with huge sacks of merchandise going back to their small towns after the buying trip to the big city, old people going visiting, whole families, and actually people moving all their belongings in large feed sacks. We can pick out the Bolivians, who have noticeable facial characteristics, and who are returning to their homes just across the frontier from Brazil. Here, as well as in the 15 hour bus trip home, we see all skin tones and walks of life.

This all happened from Wednesday to Friday of last week. So it was rather unique that Gilberto, our evangelist, preached a sermon on Sunday that was based on Peter's vision of the sheet full of unclean animals, and the lesson that Peter learned from it. God does not look at people's skin color, He just wants to find faith in their hearts. So it is important for us to accept one another, and to reach out to all people, because if God doesn't see any difference in skin color or social level, neither should we. Wonderful reminder to get back to work here in the mission field in Brazil!!

We pray that you have also learned this lesson, that a soul is a soul, no matter the external covering, and all souls are tainted with sin and need a Savior. May the Lord bless your mission spirit!