Conferences & Consolidation in Bolivia

An update from David Del Castillo, Pastor of Gracia Soberana, Santa Cruz, Bolivia...

Dear Friends, it is a pleasure to be able to address to you again, although I have a lot to tell you I will try to be punctual so that it is not a very long report! 

A few months ago, I was asking for prayer the upcoming conference here in Bolivia, and the truth is only by God’s grace it was a success. Places were filled very quickly and we had to close registrations earlier than expected. The theme "the centrality of the Gospel" was very appropriate, it allowed us to remind many of the importance of this need and introduce the topic to others. We were also able to give away a couple of books. One of the things that most impacted me was a young man thanking our church a few weeks later; helping us to understand the great impact that the conference had on him, but also the book of "The Cross Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney. It led me to reflect on the importance of continuing to share these truths and not taking for granted some of the things that God has allowed us to see, but instead preaching on them again and again. 

In truth, the participation of Joselo Mercado, Matthew Williams, Chris Deloglos, Jacobis Aldana, Johnny Dueri and Oscar Vargas was of the utmost importance. And it allowed many of us to grow and understand many truths. But also, our church did an extraordinary job hosting the conference with very limited hands. I really believe this was so good for our church and they did so well!

After our conference, we were then able to go to the SG Pastors Conference, and on the way Jadwy and me visited some of the many churches that have supported us in different ways. It really is amazing to see the commitment and support we receive from so many churches and people who are with us and part of building the church here in Bolivia.The Pastors Conference was very excellent once again. We very much missed not being able to be together last year, so the fact that we could be together this year was a joy. The theme was very good, and really appropriate. But above all the communion was excellent.

Something important that happened at the conference, and that I wanted to share with you, is that because last year there was no trips for us because of the pandemic, the whole ordination process was postponed to this year. And thanks to the Lord, at the Pastors Conference I was able to conclude my process with the oral examination, and then be evaluated by my region. And thank God in both cases they approved me!

Now Chris Deloglos is working on the ordination service. I want to thank God for the theological committee. Because this process is so good, I can see that my theological perception in so many aspects has grown remarkably thanks to this step. I want to thank all the people who were involved in evaluating me in any part of the process - Matthew Williams, Abelardo Muñoz, Chris Deloglos, Manolo Quintanal, Hellman Avila and Alejandro Anchondo. Thank you for leading me in this process.

With regard to the church here in Bolivia, we can see that God has already consolidated a base group, and that it continues to grow. We can really see a small church now. We just finished a series based on the book of Ephesians and are now in the middle of a series on the book of Ruth. In addition, we are praying and planning for a topical series next year on the church, that will lead us to church membership. Even though in Sovereign Grace membership is so common, here in Bolivia people don´t know much about it, so we pray for wisdom as we prepare the ground for that series and topic.  

God bless you very much.