The Final Frontier

Our work in Bolivia has taken us pretty much everywhere nationally. We’ve been up mountains, over high plains, deep in the jungle and through valleys. Until this February however, there was still one of the 9 departments (provinces) of Bolivia that we hadn’t explored: Pando.

Pando is a sparsely populated region in the very north of the country bordering Brazil and Peru. This month, the first Bolivian Baptist church-plant in Pando’s capital city of Cobija celebrated its two-

year anniversary. We were invited by the denomination to provide a workshop, preach, encourage the church and participate in their festivities.

A couple of things to know about Cobija:

• The city, while the capital of the region, is still very rural.
• There are almost no cars: most transportation consists of motorbikes.
• It’s HOT. Being in the middle of the Amazon rain forest, Cobija is humid with temperatures regularly surpassing 30 Celsius.
• Bananas, plantains and fish abound.
  
  

We were really refreshed over the time we spent with this neat church community. They participated with vigor in our workshop, church members offered to zip us all over, a widow and her son opened their home for us to stay in, and we were invited to share meals in many homes. We were made to feel part of the church family and given the opportunity to learn and celebrate side-by-side. Pray for Emanuel Church in Pando as they begin their 3rd year of ministry and seek ways to be light in Cobija.