My Dream In Reality.....Bolivia: The Memorial in Villa Charcas!

Serving in Bolivia is a never ending adventure that never ceases to amaze me. In these last days there is always more to do, another door to knock, a new language or new town to preach in... and that is exactly what is happening in Culpina and Villa Charcas here in Tarija, Bolivia! This was the second year the congregation goes to Villa Charcas to do the Memorial. A group of about 40 of us drove the 7 hours to Villa a few days before the Memorial to start inviting as many as we could to attend. As you can see below the brothers set up a table close to the plaza and market. There was an amazing response! Many people took literature and stayed talking and asking the brothers questions. Various even filled out the "Bible Study Request Forms" that the brothers had made.
In addition to the town of Villa Charcas and Culpina we were also able to get out to numerous of the small surrounding towns. It was so beautiful being out in the country! As I left the invitation with numerous families I wondered if any of them would make the trip down to Villa for the Memorial... and they did! Paula (my roommate) and I had the opportunity to talk to a young girl who had made the trip to get to the Memorial. She didn't have a Bible and was overjoyed at the idea of being able to have one as well as a Bible study. Ok well I'm getting ahead of myself haha ... As usual Satan always tried to put a wrench in Jehovah's plans to have the Memorial in Villa. The catholic priest called a last minute mass at 7pm that very night. We had already rented and invited everyone to the Stadium for the Memorial but when we all got there at 5pm to clean and get it ready... a man was standing in the doorway and directly told us that they weren't going to let us have the stadium... all of the brothers and sisters stayed calm... we knew Jehovah would find a way... We had all been staying in another function hall (our hotel ;) So the brothers decided that that hall would do just fine so with very little time left before the Memorial we rushed to the hall to make it a beautiful house of Jehovah! Two sisters stayed at the Stadium to direct the people to the new hall... Everything was set and ready as we all stood looking at the door waiting... hoping... praying that many would soon walk in... our eyes welled up with tears as 132 smiling people walked through the doors and sat down ready to observe the most important occasion for our loving God Jehovah and his son Jesus. Satan didn't win. The literature table the brothers had set up was completely wiped out in a matter of minutes after the Memorial ended and the guests stayed for almost an hour and a half talking with us, asking questions and exchanging addresses and phone numbers so we could visit them at their homes. The brother gave the talk in Quechua and Spanish. Quechua is the native language and for many of them it is their first language. How beautiful it was to see the happiness on their faces hearing the truth in their language... One of the brothers who was passing the emblems said "It brought tears to my eyes to see the joy on their faces to be able to take part in such an important event"
All thanks goes to Jehovah...