Bolivia

Bolivia is a country of great cultural and geographical diversity and beauty. It is the highest and most isolated of the Latin American countries, right at the heart of the continent and landlocked. It has the high, cold and dry, mountain-rimmed Altiplano to the west; medium elevation valleys in the middle; and low, hot and wet forested plains in the east and north-east.

La Paz is one of the highest cities in the world at just under 12,000 feet. Not all cities are yet linked by paved roads, and transport to areas outside main towns and cities can be unpredictable.

Bolivia is rich in natural resources, especially minerals, gas, petroleum, hardwoods, soya and other crops, including potatoes, rice, corn, sugar cane, yucca and bananas. Coca cultivation is on the increase.

Historically, the Roman Catholic Church was the official church in Bolivia and enjoyed special benefits. However the new constitution says: ‘The State respects and guarantees freedom of religion and spiritual beliefs, according to one’s worldview. The State is independent of religion.’

Nevertheless, the government particularly promotes the traditional religions of the original peoples. This has met with resistance from both the evangelical church and the Catholic Church (despite its history of tolerating syncretism).

The majority of evangelicals have in the past come from the lower classes, and these are the people being most politicised by the government and encouraged to return to ‘traditional’ beliefs and practices.

The evangelical church has not been very interested in social action until recently. However, some of the Bible and mission training colleges are starting to include integral (holistic) mission in the syllabus.

The Latin Link Bolivia team is growing and vibrant, with a good number of members serving longer term and many others coming each year on the shorter term Stride and Step programmes.

They serve in a wide range of ministries, including work with children and young people at risk, strengthening churches by developing leadership alongside national Christians, student work, prison and justice work, evangelistic outreach, and social action.

Bolivians are easy to relate to, informal, and open to God’s word. The Latin Link Bolivia team would love to see more people working with churches, especially in parts of the country outside the main cities.

Given the current political situation, we don’t need people who are just theologians. Instead we need professionals to work in social projects and be involved in holistic mission, ready to teach and preach, and disciple believers, including large numbers of children and young people.

The church remains vulnerable in many cases and help is needed to strengthen it in culturally appropriate ways. There is a need to prepare leaders and help people embody their Christian identity beyond church on a Sunday.

So the Bolivia team is looking for people with a heart to serve God and be sensitive to the culture here; people ready to live alongside and encourage Bolivian believers, even when that is not comfortable, and model servant leadership to them; people willing to pioneer, to be prepared to go to places where there are few comforts and no other foreigners; and people willing to study and to learn Spanish (or the other languages spoken in Bolivia) well.

For more information, please see the Opportunities page of our International website (this will open a new tab).