I hope and pray these lines find you full of blessings, enjoying the richness of His unconditional love. I have to admit I have not communicated with you as I should but I am slowly trying to change that. I strongly believe you are essential in my ministry and I very much appreciate your efforts and dedication in supporting me. I realized I haven’t seen you in a long time, but your faithfulness astonishes me. God bless you for that. At this moment I would love to let you know a little of what is happening in my life and ministry as I am serving in Bolivia.
High School Blessings
As you may know by now this year I have had the great privilege and challenge of teaching Christian Education at a school that was not a Christian school until the beginning of 2008. The name of the school (San Simon) clearly demonstrates that it used to be catholic. The school is located very far from my house and in a poor, complicated neighborhood. It is so neat to have ten groups of students ranging from 6th to 12th grade. I have the opportunity to build relationships, show them that being a real Christian is different from what they think, and to help and support them. I see it as an evangelistic field that opens to me every week, in which I can plant the seed of the gospel and then wait for the Lord to do the rest.
· Praise God for this school year, for the magnificent opportunity I have to share God’s word with some many unchurched students.
· Pray for their hearts, that they would be ready to listen to God’s word.
· Pray that I would be sensitive to God’s word and to the students so I can take advantage of every possibility there is to speak the truth of God.
Youth Groups
I hope as you read this letter you will start realizing why I don’t write you more often. I know I could and should do it regularly, but like so many other things I’m not able to do them as I would want. This year on top of the school opportunity which consumes a lot of my time, I am still in charge of two youth groups (Emanuel and Jesucristo Vive churches). As you can imagine I cannot work in either place as I would love to. I have no time to meet with some of them individually, I cannot teach as much as I want to in each church, and even organizing discipleship courses is very hard. I have so many things in my mind I would love to be doing with both groups but there is no time. I am limited to pretty much organizing activities with the core group and preaching one Saturday at each church. That is not what I really would love to do, but it’s all I am able to do as of right now.
Pray for new youth leaders that would be good examples, who the churches would consider as youth pastors. There is a huge need in the leadership area.
Pray that I could manage to organize my time better, and to concentrate in helping potential leaders among the youth groups so they will be challenged to grow spiritually and take more responsibilities in church.
Praise God for both youth groups, for so many wonderful lives that God has brought to Him, for the work many are doing to support my work, and for the privilege I have of working with them and teaching them God’s word.
University Professor
On top of all the work I have this second semester I will teach a modular class at our Theology students. The agreement with the Evangelical University is still running despite some hardships especially because of the lack of commitment of some students. Jerry Olson, our GMI field director will be in the States until June 2009 for deputation. This means I am the only one in charge of this deal with the Evangelical University. We have about 17 students and we need a minimum of 15. Starting on October 14th I will be teaching Homiletics.
Please pray that God will protect this blessing we have to teach our own students at a university level and in our own building. That we can continue this deal so we can have a good number of Bachelors in Theology in few years.
Pray for me that I could do my best to plan my classes and to give the students my best so they could take the best out of this important classes.
Costa Rica Mission Team from Bolivia
It is with great joy that I share the news about three youth from Santa Cruz that went on a missions trip with me to Costa Rica. The four of us visited the Grace Church in San Antonio de Belen, Costa Rica, and helped out for a week in construction of their building. We had an amazing time with our brothers and sisters there. What a blessing it was for me to see these Bolivians stepping out in front of the entire church to sing some specials, share their testimonies, and work very hard every day and always with a smile on their faces. I thank God for the hearts of Eloy, Darwin, and Patricia who have a desire to seek God in everything they do, and who are considering missions as an option in their lives. Darwin openly says he wants to be a missionary! I loved being part of this great group, sharing some incredible talks with them, getting to know them on a different level, and building stronger relationship with them.
· Praise God for the opportunity we had to take this trip. Praise Him for the people that had a desire to support youth missions from Bolivia without even being asked. There are so many wonderful people of God that support His ministries all over the world; they are moved by the same things that move God. I admire them because they have hearts that seek after God.
· Pray for Eloy, Darwin, and Patricia, that they will allow the Holy Spirit to grow in their lives. That they will continue to mature as leaders of their local churches and that they will realize that God can use them in mighty ways if they are just willing.
· Praise God for the beautiful church in Costa Rica, praise God for the many wonderful people He let us met. For the fellowship and especially for seeing the great work they are doing in Costa Rica. The church people as well as the missionaries (Befuses and Clarks) were so friendly and hospitable.
Political and social turmoil in Bolivia
Bolivia is in a state of uncertainty right now. It could be said that this country has been waffling politically since its birth, but what we're seeing now is probably the most instability in decades. This week, thousands upon thousands of Santa Cruz people are having a fabulous time at their infamous ExpoCruz! As they party and cheer, thousands upon thousands of indigenous, country people (supporters of the president, Evo Morales) are marching this way and prepared to enter the city to confront and provoke it’s citizens. It is this potential crisis that is causing some missions to send some of their people home. Bolivia is not immune to such unrest. More often than not, it's like a match that lights up and extinguishes itself quickly. The messages are mixed and it's hard to determine what will happen. It could end in a temporary peace or it could be the beginning of a civil war.
Please pray for this country and for its leaders, that God will give them wisdom as they try to bring peace and understanding to Bolivia.
Pray that the church will rise up in prayer and action during these difficult times.
Pray that God’s power and love will be clearly shown to the millions that live in this country.
Prayer is Power, blessings to all of you (1 Thess. 5:16-23),
Talo Vergara
