Ministry with Niños!

During our time in Bolivia, we visited several ministries that work with kids. Being that Keo and I both currently work with kids here in LA, it was very exciting to see some of the ways that God is at work among the children of La Paz and El Alto.

First, we visited a small church in El Alto called Bethesda. During the week, the church hosts an after/before school program. The kids in the city only go to school for a half day, so for the other half of the day, they hang out at the church - working on homework and doing other assignments. The church also has several small business ventures (sewing, baking, and chocolate-making) that they are using to train women in the community in new skills and bring in some income for the after-school program. They also have a micro-finance business for women in the community. The ministry hopes to become self-sufficient with the help of all of these small businesses and a blessing and financial help to the members of the church and surrounding neighborhood. It was very exciting to hear about everything that they are doing. The ministry has been around for about a decade and they emphasized that it was been a very slow road to growth, but the Lord continues to provide for their work as they take small steps of faith.

Our day with the ministry was really great. We shared a warm drink and snack with the pastor and program director when we arrived and learned more about the kids and their vision for the ministry. Then we got a tour of their facilities and learned more about each of their business ventures. Then we got to spend about 30 mins in one of the younger classes, hanging out with the kids and helping them color and construct little paper houses "built on the rock". Then we were able to buy a mid-morning snack of salteñas and soda for the kids. What a joy to provide this special treat for them. Then we went up to the high school class, introduced ourselves, told them about our desire to learn more about God's work in Bolivia, and answered many questions that they had about American culture and education. We felt a little like movie stars. We ended our time with the ministry by meeting once again with the pastor and program director. We discussed their needs and desires for the future and asked questions about the spiritual climate of the city and the ways in which the city is still in bondage to darkness and in need of the liberation of Christ.

We were very inspired and encouraged by the work of this ministry. God is most definitely at work in that place. It was difficult, however, to envision ourselves working in a full time capacity for the ministry. The ministry is fully Bolivian run and operated. It seems that the ways in which a foreigner might be most useful is in partnership and getting the word out about their ministry, providing connections and support. Bethesda was a great example of a holistic approach to ministry and could potentially be a great partner in ministry if a Servant Partners site were to launch in the city. So, we'll keep that in mind for now.

The second kids ministry that we visited was called Qhanawara, which is a K-6 after-school program on the outskirts of El Alto. The community that it served was very humble and was so far out of the city, that it was starting to look more rural and agricultural. I think the program was started by a Swiss woman in partnership with the Bolivian community. They have a handful of Bolivian teachers and counselors for the kids. The space was small and humble, but it was obvious that the kids were cared for and enjoyed the safe and encouraging environment.

The day we visited happened to be the last day of the semester in which they had invited the parents to come and see all of the work that they had done over the last few months and presented certificates to all of the kids. It was really fun to see all of the impressive crafts that the kids had completed throughout the year. Also, the youngest kids performed a rendition of "the boy who cried wolf" - which had Keo and I rolling with laughter. They were so cute in their sheep masks and especially cute when they hugged each other in fear of the wolf. Man, I wish we had a video of it... so funny! After the ceremony, we hung out and shared a meal with everyone. Then we went out to the courtyard and played soccer with a bunch of the boys. I love how easy it is to connect with people over soccer! ...too bad more girls don't play. :(

Again, we were very encouraged and inspired by the ministry of Qhanawara. They are providing a great service to the children and the community. It is a place of love and proclamation of the love of Christ. But again, it was hard to see where we could fit into the ministry. It is a small, Bolivian run ministry that seems to be doing very well on its own. It doesn't seem very natural for a foreigner to come into a full time position with the program. But again, it is a great ministry that could be a good potential partner is ministry among the community at large. It is a ministry that I would love to visit and get to know more in the future.

Finally, on our last day in Bolivia, we visited a ministry called Kaya Children International, which works with street children in La Paz. They have three homes for boys and an after-school program. They have done a good amount of street outreach in the past in which they meet the kids and invite them off of the streets. At this point though, they seem to be more focused on the children that they currently have in their program, supporting them as they learn to live in a house with a "family". Each of the houses has 8-12 boys and an adult couple that act in a parental role for the boys. They intentionally keep the numbers very low in the houses in order to limit the chaos and focus their energies - quality over quantity. Because of these small, focused houses, they have had really good success rates of boys making it through the entire program and successfully entering healthy adulthood.

During our visit, we ate lunch at the after-school program and met some of the kids. We got to talk with one of the full time staff (an American missionary kid) about the program and learned more about their current work of reaching out to the families of the kids. Despite having housing options of the kids, their ultimate goal is always to be in communication with the family in hopes of reintegrating the kids with their biological parents. While the family situations are often quite broken, they hope and work towards redemption and healing of this relationship. It's a difficult and often messy ministry. But we were encouraged by their hearts and passion to work with this very vulnerable population. They are a large and growing ministry with many opportunities to join in the work. For some reason, I didn't really feel called to join this ministry, but I'm still going to keep them in mind for now.