Baptizing Individuals. Building Ecclesias.

Well it has been just over four weeks now since Isaiah and I safely arrived at our apartment here in La Paz, Bolivia. It was quite the journey to get here and we were not sure that we would make it!

At the beginning of this year we were both in California visiting Isaiah’s family for a couple of months before heading to South America where we planned to start two years of mission work in Bolivia. All was going according to plan until right before we left when Coronavirus really started to have an impact worldwide. We were still planning on going in spite of this, but the day before we were due to leave, we found out that Peru had entirely shut down their borders. Our flight from the USA was routed through Lima, Peru to Bolivia and so had been cancelled. Finding an alternate route was not straightforward, as there are no direct flights between America and Bolivia and many countries in South America were due to close their borders within the next 24 hours – not giving us enough time to route through on our way to La Paz. Eventually we found a flight that stopped in Brazil and would get us to Bolivia.

A few months ago David and I were visiting with the Harvey River ecclesia at the home of its recording brother, Matthew Williams. The drive is a rough one, winding along pothole studded bamboo shaded roads, up through the hills, almost an hour from the closest main city, Lucea. During our time in Jamaica, we tried to regularly visit the small ecclesia. Despite all 5 of the members being over the age of 80, they rarely miss doing service at the hall on Sunday and have been enjoying Brother Matthew’s weekly exhortations for nearly two decades! 

Below, is his story about his conversion to the truth, as well as his advice for other brothers and sisters. 

On July the 6th, the 2019 Truth Corps team started a three and-a-half week adventure to serve our host Ecclesias and spread the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

This year, our team spent time in the Pomona and San Diego Ecclesias in California and at the Broughton Ecclesia in Jamaica. The team consisted of Brothers: Erick Cervantes, Micah Hewitson, Brandon Hefner and Micah Luff; and Sisters: Sarah Perry, Lonti Shindano, Claire Robinson and Rhiannon Bourke. We were later joined in Jamaica by Sister Sarah Kohlman and Brother and Sister Matt and Cilla Tuckson. Our team was led by Brother Dave and Sister Cassie Giordano for our time in California and by Brother Dana Kohlman in Jamaica.

Saturday, June 15th saw the annual Mutual Improvement Day in Kingston, Jamaica. Believers from all over the island travelled by mini-bus for up to three hours to meet together in the Kingston ecclesial hall. The day was well supported, with over sixty brothers and sisters present.

It was a joy to visit the brethren and sisters and friends in Lima. In the course of 3 public lectures and memorial service, we were happy to welcome 23 different adult visitors, along with 14 children and the support of 9 of the 10 baptized members. Most visitors attended for several sessions.