Bolivia
Republic of Bolivia
The World Convention is currently building a global reference for the nearly 180 countries and territories where we know there are Christian – Churches of Christ – Disciples of Christ congregations. Rather than wait for comprehensive, complete information we are putting up details that we readily have available. If you can correct or add to this information, please contact us with details at office@worldconvention.org Reference for further information will be in the form of web sites and mailing addresses.
High in the Andes Mountains of South America, on the Altiplano, a plateau nearly 3,600 meters above sea level is La Paz, Bolivia the loftiest capital city in the world. Separated from the Pacific Ocean by Peru and Chile, Bolivia is landlocked by its western neighbors; Argentina lies to the south and Brazil to the northeast. The rugged, mountainous terrain to the west makes the country doubly inaccessible from that direction. Covering an area of almost 1.1 million sq km (424,000 sq miles), Bolivia has a population nearing 8 million people; Quechua and Aymara Indians represent 55% of the population. In the thirteenth century Incas displaced the earlier Indian population of the area. Spanish conquistadores appeared on the scene in the 1530s. Discovering silver, they soon set up mines, the most famous being at Potosi. Spain ruled the area until 1825. Political instability has marked Bolivia since that time, the country suffered from nearly 200 coups from 1824 until 1981. As a result of instability much territory was lost to neighboring countries, including access to the Pacific Ocean and significant oil and rubber producing areas. Today Bolivia is a republic governed by two legislative bodies known as the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
Due in part to political instability and loss of important territories Bolivia has suffered in recent decades from hyperinflation, rising to 11,700 percent by 1985, significantly damaging industry. Tin is a major export of Bolivia, once the largest producer in the world. Bolivia is the world’s second cultivator of the coca leaf. Metals, natural gas, soybeans and jewelry are the official main exports but coca grown cocaine is said to be Bolivia’s biggest export earner. Agriculture accounts for 50% of the economy.
The Spanish conquistadores brought with them to Chile Roman Catholicism and today 95% of the population claims that faith tradition. The remaining five percent, often in remote areas, combine Christianity, Aymara and Inca beliefs and practices.
The earliest activity of the American a cappella Churches of Christ in Bolivia is traceable to Evert Pickartz who distributed tracts on his first missionary journey to Chile in 1958. In the two decades following Evert made several attempts to work through other North American and Chilean evangelists to help bring the Gospel to Chile. Unfortunately, none of these efforts met with lasting success. In 1983 Evert was able to encourage Ricardo Bermudez and Alejandro Gutierrez to move to La Paz and establish a congregation, which now meets in Villa Copacabana. In 1984 a team of eight from Oklahoma Christian College, including Earl and Denise Fultz, Ken and Sherri Hines, Jimmy and Jan Rogers and Jose and Alicejoy Taylor, moved to La Paz to initiate a congregation. From 1987-1989 the work was assisted by the Scott Carnegies.
In about 1973 a Peace Corps volunteer in Chile, Frances Ito, placed an advertisement in a Santa Cruz newspaper for a Bible Correspondence course. This led to the baptism of Angel Justianianao by Glenn Kramer. Angel later became an elder of the church that was established in Santa Cruz, planted with the help of short-term American missionaries Jerry and Ann Hill. Churches of Christ in Chile were officially recognized in 1979 through the efforts of Juan R. Garcia of Nicaragua then ministering in Santa Cruz.
By 1990 there were five congregations in Bolivia, four of them being in La Paz, with a total membership of 250. The congregation presently meeting in the La Paz Province of Murillo is under the direction Evangelist Hugo Sandoval Oporto and has both radio and prison ministries.
Clinton J. Holloway
National Profiles Editor
May 2004
For further historical reference:
Churches of Christ Around the World, Lynn, Mac, 21st Century Christian Publications, Nashville, TN, 2003.
Contact Information
For online directories of a cappella Churches of Christ see:
Website: http://www.churchzip.com/otherdirectories.htm
Website: http://church-of-christ.org/churches/Bolivia