National Missionary Visits Beni Community

Above: Elmer Terrazas, sitting on a fallen bibosi tree

The bibosi tree in the photo above began as a vine. The vine had grown up and around a palm tree, eventually choking and then replacing the palm.

"This often happens in the lives of Christians," Elmer Terrazas writes, "when we allow the things of this world and its cares to envelop us. The result is a dead and fruitless life."

Last October, Elmer, a LATCOM national missionary, visited the Galilea community of the Cavineño people in northern Bolivia. He taught a two-week Bible course with the themes "Establishing Christian Values" and "Such a Great Salvation."

"The Cavineño (church) leaders need training and moral support," reported Elmer, "so that they don’t give up on the ministry."

Above: The evangelicals of Galilea are building a new church.

Building the Church

On the other side of their existing church building, the believers are constructing a new one with their own resources, according to Elmer. But, they said that it would be a great blessing if someone could help with the purchase of galvanized roofing. Contact LATCOM if you are interesting in helping this church.

Above: Inside the evangelical church in Galilea.

The Beni

The Beni region is filled with tributaries of the Amazon River that often flood in the rainy seasons. Communities can become isolated and infrastructure is difficult to maintain. The pre-Columbian peoples of the Beni built earthen causeways, some of which still stand.

The Cavineño People

There are less than 1,800 Cavineño people living in the Beni and Pando regions of northern Bolivia. Galilea is a typical Cavineño community, with about 40 families. About 1,000 still speak the Cavineña language, and all speak Spanish.

According to the website amazonia.bo, Franciscan missionaries contacted and established missions among the Cavineños in the early 1700s. Not until the 1970s did SIL linguists compose a grammar of the language.

Read more about the Cavineños

In Spanish: www.amazonia.bo/

And also here: www.ethnologue.com/