Tuesday, March 23, 2021

New beginnings in Oruro






I am now living in an apartment near the centre of the city of Oruro, I have been here for just over a week. It is great to be here, and I am adjusting to being in a new place. Oruro is smaller than the cities I have previously lived in and I am looking forward to exploring it! The people have been kind to me and seem excited to have me here.

 

Tomorrow I will visit a small church. This church has an exciting church plant in a poorer part of town, and I am hoping I will be able to get involved there. I helped some guys from this church organise some food packs earlier in the week.

 

I have started working with Prison International Fellowship here and I am currently working on two of the three projects that I am probably going to be involved with. 

 

The first of these is Onésimo which works with the prisoners in both the men's and women's prisons. Next week we are going back into the prison to see which of the guys might be interested in taking part in group Bible studies over the next few weeks.

 

The other project I have started working with is Angel Tree which supports the children of the prisoners. At the moment the team are visiting the children each week in their homes to support them in various ways. If schools return to “in person” teaching in the coming months the children will be able to return to the centre. This will mean we can work more closely with them. 

 

On Friday the 19th of March it was Father’s Day here in Bolivia, so we went into the prison to do some activities with the fathers of the Angel Tree children. This was a positive experience with most of the dads taking part, being responsive and keen to talk.

 

This was the first time I had ever been inside a prison. It was a very emotional experience, and I am still processing all the things I smelt, saw and heard. San Pedro prison is not very big but there are five sections and approximately nine hundred men are living there. The prison was slightly calmer than I expected, although there was a constant stream of guys asking for money or things. There were so many things to see shops, workshops, guys playing and locked off sections. There were men and clothes (lots of washing drying) everywhere. We also went to the football pitch where an event was taking place for Father’s Day. There were hundreds of guys there which I found intimidating but we went back later, and they were having a dance competition, and this was quite amusing. 

 

Overall, it was an incredible experience and feel very blessed and privileged that I will be able to work with these men. It was great to be able to start chatting with them. However, there are also a lot of shocking things to think about such as corruption, illegal possessions and punishment cells.

 

In the coming weeks, I may also get involved in restorative justice work with young offenders. I have also started helping with the projects’ social media and researching different Bible study methods. This week I will also probably start working on setting up a database of all the Angel Tree children and searching for victim impact interviews.

 


Thank you so much for being interested in what I am up to and for praying for me. If you ever want to know more, please just ask.

 

Today I was reading about Joseph again when he was reunited with his brothers. I was thinking about how God puts us in unexpected situations but when we are in them, he simply wants us to serve him and keep on loving him and others. It is such a relief that God sees the big picture and is in control. This is so reassuring especially when we fail and need forgiveness. I have realised recently that I have let some close friends(who I really love) down and I still have so much to learn in some many areas of my life. 

 

I was able to travel to La Paz on the way to Oruro. It was such a blessing to spend time with close friends. I am so grateful for the way they care for me and make time for me.  

 



Please pray for:

  • The guys in the prison that they would be interested and want to take part in the Bible studies.
  • That schools will be able to reopen, and the Angel Tree children will be able to return to the centre.
  • Political peace.
  • Settling into a church and making close friends here.

 

 






Here is a link to the FB page if you are interested in following what is happening here:

 

https://www.facebook.com/confraternidadcarcelariaoruro.bolivia\