Manantial de Vida Methodist Church (River of Life Church)
Church construction in Bolivia is accomplished through a different approach than we are used to here in the U.S. The Evangelical Methodist Church in Bolivia (IEBM) is literally a “church OF the poor” in a country where most of its members live on $1 or $2 a day. In Bolivia, a “church building fund drive” would take years, if not decades, to raise enough funds. And in El Alto, Bolivia, currently the fastest growing city in the Western hemisphere, and a correspondingly increasing Methodist presence, they don’t have time to wait those many years to have a proper place to worship.
The congregation of Manantial de Vida church (River of Life) is currently meeting in the home of one of its members, Rupertina Mamani. Rupertina is a widow with 5 children, 3 still living in the home with her. But Rupertina answered the call of what began as a small group of indigenous Bolivians who had become Christians, and Methodists, and needed a place to worship. Rupertina moved her belongings out of the main part of her home. She and her 3 children live in the kitchen and another small room adjoining the kitchen, more of a storeroom, so that the larger main room, with access to the street, can house church benches, a plain, small altar, a modest lectern and the various other décor of a very simple sanctuary. This congregation now had a place to meet, and grow, as they worked towards meeting the few simple requirements to qualify for help towards obtaining land for a church building and then help with funds from the IEMB, and construction help thru VIM teams. These requirements include forming an active Administrative Board, Women’s Group (the equivalent of our UMW), Youth group, Children’s Program/Sunday School, and Missions Committee, along with a minimum number of active membership.
Chapel Hill United Methodist Church Assists the Manantial de Vida Congregation
The congregation of River of Life Church grew and met these requirements and the IEMB then helped fund the purchase of a lot close to Rupertina’s house, and in June of 2008, a team of 12 missioners from Chapel Hill UMW in Oklahoma City, headed to El Alto to work alongside their fellow Bolivian Methodists. Pastors Sara Marie (Chapel Hill) and Modesto Mamani (Bolivia) dedicated this effort to God as we broke ground. Oh, what hard, rocky, unforgiving ground it was as we began the arduous process of digging the foundation. The El Alto region does not receive a lot of rain anyway, and the ground was especially hard since we were there during the “dry season.” But we were determined to persevere; the holes weren’t going to dig themselves. And as good missioners, we weren’t really complaining. It’s not polite to point out how this would be so much easier in the US because of our easy access to backhoes. Then Pastor Modesto asked our lead construction guy, who happened to be a civil engineer, “Isn’t there a better way to do this?” To which Jeff replied, “Yeah! With a backhoe! Do they have those here in El Alto? I know how to run one.” We were in luck. We pooled our extra funds, rented the backhoe and driver and the entire church and perimeter foundation was dug in a short afternoon, freeing us to continue with mixing and pouring cement. We left that first year with having helped the members of this church, who worked side-by-side with us every day, or rather, we with them, get a good start on their capilla. They were fortunate to receive a team from Houston later that year, and they continued with much of the work on their own.
Unbelievable Dedication from Manantial de Vida’s Congregation
It is at this point I have to introduce you to Andres, to give an example of the dedication of the members to participate in the hands-on building of this church. Andrés was there every day, and I had noticed that he walked with a limp, but while he walked a little slower, he did whatever needed to be done. One morning, the chore was that of moving the larger rocks “from here over to there.” As I greeted Andres that morning, I noticed that his young son was with him this morning. I asked the son, Tomás, why he wasn’t in the Mission Bible School some of our team members were holding at Rupertina’s house. Andrés interrupted and told me how Tomás, who was all of 9 years old, was there today to do the work that he could not do. He showed me the problem….his limp was due to a leg prosthesis he wore, and to make matters worse, it was broken in more than one place (and an obvious attempt to repair with duck tape!) which made it too unstable to bear the burden of carrying these heavy rocks. But it was so important to him that he works on the church every day, that he brought someone who could do it for him. This is dedication! The entire congregation had moments of personal sacrifice for the sake of building their house of worship. You can see how a church might take on so much more personal meaning to a congregation such as this. They can’t just pool their funds and voila!… a new church building a year later. They have to have infinite patience to wait on VIM teams who will choose their site to come to help build and also bring a certain amount of funds for the materials. They also have to wait patiently for more funds to come to them so they can still continue with the work on their own when US teams are not plentiful. The church has been under construction for 1½ years now. Still not completed, but not for lack of faith or dedication of this congregation. Only for lack of funds.
Help Us to Help Them
Join brothers and sisters in Oklahoma City to support this hard-working church. Any gift will be appreciated. A steel plaque will be placed on the building recognizing the church or individual who donates at least $1,000 for this particular church.
