I was a little concerned not to have heard from Sandra and Chris recently and so contacted Sandra’s husband last night. All is well! Then this morning this update came through from Sandra, who had tried to send unsuccessfully to send me something on Tuesday.
The photo is of a bring and share meal in the Central Altiplano District. It was held in the Susanna Wesley Centre, a place for women from the surrounding villages to meet and work together and to rest overnight when they have walked long distances.
Sandra writes:
“On Easter Monday we had a more relaxing day. We chose not to return to Valle de la Luna, having seen it briefly the previous week. It was a fascinating place, but quite strenuous, so we were taken to La Paz zoo, where among other things we saw Bolivia’s national bird, the condor.
After a short break we visited the Museum of La Paz, an old Franciscan monastery. Our guide, a student trying to improve his English, couldn’t quite believe that we were Christian if we were not Catholic. We tried to explain that Methodists were Christians, but he wasn’t convinced!
On Tuesday we set off at 7.30am for a three-and-a-half hour drive to meet with the women of Lago District. As usual we received a wonderful Bolivian welcome and after worship I talked about leadership ‘Susanna Wesley style’. Unfortunately a typical Bolivian thunderstorm created a natural break in proceedings! We eventually continued and Chris led a Bible study on Ruth. After a little hesitation the women were happy to share their experiences of being strangers in a foreign land. We delivered our talks with three-way translation: English, Spanish and Aymara!
On Wednesday we set off at 7am for Copacabana and enjoyed a wonderful day hosted by Isabella and her husband Felipe. They took us to their home town and delighted to share with us their traditions, including a meal of fresh trout from Lake Titicaca. We had no interpreter, so my Portuguese style of Spanish came in useful and we found interesting ways of communicating and shared in wonderful fellowship together before returning to La Paz at 8pm.
It’s difficult to put into words how truly blessed we feel sharing with these communities who have so little in material terms and yet so much to give in love and fellowship. They will remain in our hearts and prayers for a long time.
On Friday and Saturday we are based in La Paz, so won’t need to travel so far to our meetings. We’re looking forward to two more days of fellowship, learning and sharing with more groups of wonderful ladies!”
