Bolivia - The God Who Provides
An update from David Del Castillo, Pastor of Gracia Soberana Iglesia Cristiana, Santa Cruz, Bolivia…
As soon as we made the decision to establish a Church of Sovereign Grace in Santa Cruz, Bolivia we identified ourselves with Psalm 34, that invites us to taste and see that God is good, and we have not stopped seeing this to be true.
We still remember very vividly when we were leaving the United States going to Santa Cruz, Bolivia in November of last year, after having been to the pastor conference and visited some churches telling them about the church plant. By that time we had already left our hometown in La Paz Bolivia, but upon arrival in Santa Cruz we immediately had delays to start the meetings due to political problems that our country was facing, but by the grace of God we were able to start meeting on February 16th, 2020. We were very excited to finally start.
But what we did not dream of, like many of those who are reading this update, was that Covid-19 was going to impact the entire world, and that on March 22th, our country would dictate a total quarantine until May 31st, a measure that is being evaluated these days to see if it will continue.
The quarantine is very severe in our country to the point that we can only go out once a week according to our ID and only in the mornings to buy groceries, and we cannot use our cars. This measure changed all our plans, since we had already lost time due to political problems and we were now facing Covid-19, on the other hand, our economic resources were beginning to decrease without any expectation of increasing.
It is then that God showed us once again that he is always in control and that He sustains those He calls. We started talking to some churches about our need to raise funds in February when Covid-19 was not yet in Bolivia. And we didn't get immediate answers at the beginning, we had almost two months of waiting and trusting, and then many generous donations from churches and friends began to arrive. And although we cannot physically open the church, we are working online and the Lord continues to provide both financial resources and people to whom we are able to disciple in an ongoing way.
This week it was very good to meditate on the providence of God regarding work, because even though all the circumstances are “against us” his sovereignty goes beyond all circumstances. God provides as he reminds us in Matthew 6: 26-33. Thus, we thank our God for accompanying us in the midst of need.
We give thanks to all who are reading, praying and helping us financially. We are waiting to see what the Lord has for us next here in Santa Cruz Bolivia, and are excited to see what He will do.
