Congregations flourish in eastern Bolivia

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Above: Through the NETS Project, growing congregations in the Lomerio have built new
buildings or have rennovated old ones.

Planting churches, making disciples, developing communities

Few things have excited me so much as to watch the progress happening in church planting and church growth the last few years in the Lomerio area of Bolivia.

In 1967 my father, Chuck Ramsey was one of the first missionaries to evangelize the Chiquitano people of the Lomerio area south of Concepcion, Bolivia. This work was followed by that of Mel and Dianna Ferguson and Wycliffe Bible Translators in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Mel and Dianna and fellow missionary Tom Bassett left behind three strong congregations among the 28 villages in the region. As a missionary with South America Mission in the '90s I supervised work among these people through sending a national missionary to the region.

In the last five years we have begun to see a tremendous growth in the churches. All of this began through the efforts of LATCOM’s national missionaries, Onésimo and Elodia Rojas, Pablo and Felicia Chuvé, and Pastor Eloy Mollo, and the NETS project they launched in 2009.

I recently took two trips into the Lomerio area of Bolivia to see how our missionaries’ work was progressing. Astoundingly I confirmed that five congregations have experienced so much growth that their churches are full, two new churches have been built, multi-use buildings for dining and Sunday schools have been added to four churches, eighty believers have been trained in evangelism and have begun reaching three more communities, and an annual women’s conference is now attended by more than 100 women and is in its 8th year. These conferences have given rise to Christian community organizations, which make and sell indigenous products to help fund evangelism and outreach programs.

Furthermore, the churches’ youth in the area have raised funds for their own sound equipment and use this for evangelism and major youth get-togethers. The youth are currently working on plans for an area youth camp to be run by our Monte Blanco camp staff in the Lomerio area.

In the Porvenir church there was standing-room only and the believers there had already launched their own efforts to build a new sanctuary. Holes had been dug and posts planted to support a new roof–– as much as their meager economic situation will allow. (LATCOM could use two U.S. work teams to help complete this project.)

When you begin to see God’s spirit move, people responding to the Gospel, and other organizations working together to reach an area for the Lord, it is beyond exciting. It is the realization of a dream I’ve had since God permitted me to return to the Lomerio area in 1985.
If you would like to know more about this ministry, please check out the latest NETS Bulletin.• by Tim Ramsey

In the Porvenir church there was
standing-room only.