Strengthening our Community of Friends: Visit to the Yearly Meetings of Bolivia

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By Karen Gregorio de Calderon, Coordinator of Latin American Programs

Pastor Gualberto Torrez and his congregation in one of their churches in the Andes region.


In the month of January, God allowed us the privilege of making a visit to the affiliated yearly meetings of Bolivia, with the objective of strengthening our community and sharing the love of God that unites us. It was a wonderful experience to be able to greet the brothers of the different congregations to share with them, in the worship services and multiple scheduled activities, in which we were able to live together in harmony, worship our Lord Jesus Christ, share our cultures and our common heritage. We thank God for this privilege and for what it will allow us to continue doing in the near future with each of the Meetings. We are sure that God will direct the plans for the growth and expansion of his work.


I traveled with Raúl Pérez, member of the Executive Committee of FWCC-Section of the Americas and member of El Salvador Yearly Meeting and Robin Mohr, Executive Secretary for the Section of the Americas. We had the opportunity to visit the yearly meeting annual sessions of INELA Bolivia, the Bolivian Union Friends and the Central Friends yearly meetings.


We particularly want to thank Pr. Gualberto Torrez, of the Iglesia Evangelica Union Boliviana Amigos for his support and taking us to visit some of the rural churches of their yearly meeting.
We also had the opportunity to visit with Friends of Central Yearly Meeting. It was a blessing to share the message of God’s word and participate in the worship services. We thank its president Armando Mamani and the Congregation for the organization of the activities and their development.

Raúl Pérez, member of El Salvador Yearly Meeting and member of the Executive Committee of FWCC Americas, shared the experience of Central American yearly meetings with missionary work in Nicaragua and Cambodia.
In the Aymara culture, “Apthapi” is the name of the Aymara celebration in which food and knowledge are shared. It is derived from the verb apthapiña, which means to bring. The celebration attendees bring food to share with the group. We thank the sisters of Unión Boliviana and their churches in the Andes region for this wonderful experience.
Attendees at the INELA Bolivia Yearly Meeting.
Sharing experiences with Northwest YM Friends: Daniel Cammack, David Thomas, Roy Lujan, Ken Comfort.
Sharing with the leaders of the Amigos Central Yearly Meeting, at the Villa Victoria church.
Sharing with the leaders of the Amigos Central Yearly Meeting, at the Villa Victoria church.
Sharing with: Edwin and María Girón. They were also part of a panel presentation about modern approaches to missionary work.
Visit to Escobar-Uria Friends Church
Pleasant moments with the sisters of UFINELA. (INELA Women’s Union) during lunch, during the activities of the yearly meeting.
With the South American members of the Traveling Ministry Corps
In the first row: Jhoana Ramos (INELA Peru), Robin Mohr (Executive Secretary of CMCA) Karen Gregorio de Calderón (Coordinator for Latin America of CMCA-COAL) Carmen Rosa Paye (Bolivian Friends Union)
In the back row: Jhimmy Roque (INELA Bolivia) and Juan Daniel Mamani (INELA Bolivia). Thank you for your service to our community of Friends!
Youth Leadership of Bolivian Friends
One of the main objectives of the visit to Bolivia was to share with the young leaders of the affiliated meetings. We were able to meet and share with around 25 young people from Amigos Central, Unión Boliviana Amigos and INELA Bolivia. We had the opportunity to share the vision and mission of FWCC, future plans and projects, and share ideas of plans that we can work on together.
Showing our Appreciation
The FWCC-COAL deeply thanks the local arrangements committee, who did an excellent job coordinating travel to the different Annual Meeting. They include: Jhoana Ramos, member of the Section’s Nominating Committee, (INELA Peru), Milena Villca, FWCC Executive Committee (Union Boliviana Amigos), Carmen Rosa Paye, (Bolivian Friends Union), Timoteo Choque and family (INELA-Bolivia), Agustina Callejas and family, (INELA Bolivia) Ruben Maydana (INELA Bolivia), and Florentino Ramos and family (INELA Peru). We appreciate and value their support.