Church Planting In Santa Cruz, Bolivia
An update from Jorge Del Castillo, Bolivian Pastor & soon to be Sovereign Grace Church Planter…
In 1972, our God, through a young preacher named Julio Cesar Ruibal, promoted a spiritual movement that reached our entire nation - Bolivia - and even neighboring nations. As a fruit of this, in the following years, Churches and Christian institutions were established. Our Christian Congregation in La Paz Bolivia where we have served for more than 39 years was a result of this movement.
In 1992 our Church contacted Sovereign Grace through the Deloglos family and during all these years pastors have visited us and various E-teams have come to work with our Church. We have also attended the annual Pastors Conferences and seven Bolivians have had the opportunity and privilege to be trained at the Sovereign Grace Pastors College: Johnny and Pablo Dueri, José Troche, Jorge, Marcelo and David Del Castillo and Oscar Vargas. All of our families have been blessed and profoundly transformed by the teaching, principles and values learned at the Pastors College.
Reflecting on the years in which we lived away from God and how the Lord saved us, rescued us from a vain way of life, brought us to the communion of his Church, placed us in his purpose, and gave us a passion in our hearts to reach others who are lost in the world as we were. We now long to bring others into the communion of the Church and preach to them so they will become disciples of Jesus Christ, as Jesus has commanded us.
That is why we want to plant a Sovereign Grace Church in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. A reformed and continuationist church that God willing will begin church gatherings in January 2020, built on the values and principles of Sovereign Grace that have so blessed us. A church that will belong to the family of Sovereign Grace Churches.
Santa Cruz de La Sierra, the city that we have chosen for this plant, is a department (State) of Bolivia that has a territorial extension of 370,621 km2 and an estimated population of 2,862,811 inhabitants. It is the department (State) that has the highest population, population migration and territorial extension in Bolivia. It also has a very important role in the economic development of our country. Very soon my family and I, along with my son David and his family, will be relocating to make this city our home.
It is our hope that our church will be impacted and shaped with the Gospel, and the importance of planting churches. By strengthening our members, it is our prayer that we will be able to affect the city, the rural areas, the country and even beyond our borders, all for His glory.
