Harvest in the Highlands
By Dalila Correa
Bolivia, a Plurinational State since January 2010, is a very interesting and peculiar country. The variety of its landscapes and climates, and the great mix of indigenous groups and traditions make Bolivia a country of contrasts and great cultural richness. However, it is an impoverished country with the lowest human development index in all South America.
Geographic diversity has marked features in the population. In the Highlands, 13,681 feet above sea level, life is tough and people are not open, but hard working. In the plains, people are open and friendly. History also marks the people; it is like two countries in one. The Highlands, with the Aymara predominant group, were conquered; the plains, with a mixed ethnic group, were colonized. This is the great difference that marked a huge impact in their lives and generations.
The population in Bolivia at present is 11,324,032, of which the Amerindians (pre-Inca, Inca origin, and indigenous communities) represent 58%, Mestizos 28%, White 10%, Asians and 4% Mulatos. Spanish is the most spoken official language (84%), while Quechua (28%), Aymara (18%), and Guaraní (1%) languages are also spoken.
Uncertainty and social and political insecurity are what Bolivian society is currently living, with the majority discontent about the 5th reelection of the current president.
There is freedom of worship in Bolivia, but the regime has threatened to take away that freedom. Its reprisals against the Christian faith are to gradually eliminate it by confiscating church assets for the state.
At every main square, a cathedral will be seen with numerous churches scattered around. Religion is not only important, but above all the fervor in all the rites and ancestral beliefs in the supernatural force of Mama Pacha, the Sun or the Moon.
Many Christian denominations are present now, but most of them are located in large cities, or capitals of provinces. Rural or distant places are being forgotten, because these can only be reached by inaccessible dirt roads, by foot, or on the backs of beasts. Here is where Source of Light Ministries appears on the scene. The Grace of God is shown on this vast and white field, ready for sowing especially among ethnic groups.
Our national missionary, Miguel Sanchez, who has been carrying out the ministry in Bolivia since 2004, is now focused on Tarija and its seven provinces with a population of 483,518. The percentage of Catholics in Tarija is 83.43% and of evangelicals 6.41%. There are ethnic groups not yet reached such as the Simba Guaraní, the We’enhayek, and the Tapieté, as well as many Spanish-speaking towns without Christ.
Roads are not all paved, most are 30% dirt and usually difficult to travel due to many landslides and mud with deep footprints. In rainy weather, they are often impassable, only reached by horses and mules.
These people live literally on the high places, but they need to know what it is to dwell with God on high places. As Habakkuk says: “The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hind’s feet, and he will make me to walk upon my high places.”
Miguel’s heart desire is expressed in Philippians 3:13–14: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Would you be willing to take time to pray and to ask God how you could be part of this unfinished task on the Highlands of Bolivia?
