We can Breathe Again!

Hey everyone,
Sorry about the lack of blog action for the last few days. We have been busy busy busy. On Sunday morning we left Cochabamba at 5:00 am and took a 4 hr bus trip to Oruro. Cochabamba is roughly at 8,000 ft in elevation, so on this bus ride we increased our elevation by about 4,000ft. Oruro is one of the highest cities in Bolivia, even higher than La Paz. Our team definitely could feel the effects while doing our puppet shows. It was so much harder to hold your hand above your head and move the puppets mouth even if only for three minutes. Oxygen is so necessary!!!
The reason why we made this long journey was so that we could experience what the pastor of the first baptist church in Oruro experiences every Sunday. They have been unable to find a pastor who actually lives in Oruro, and the current pastor´s business is in Cochabamba, so he has to make this grueling commute every Sunday. This church was the first evangelical church in all of Bolivia. It has only been around for 106 yrs. Jhonny, the pastor that we have been working with was once the pastor of this church, and was able to give us a greater understanding of the persecution that the church suffered only 50yrs ago.
Jhonny took us to the cemetery where he showed us the memorial to those who were killed for spreading the gospel of Christ. The Catholic Church convinced its members that the evangelicals were not of God and that they needed to be dealt with. So as a result of this uprising men and women of the city beat ten men and women to death with stones and picks. These Martyrs were not allowed to be buried in the city cemetery because they were not catholic. However years later, as the evangelical movement continued to grow, and the catholic church no longer had a hold upon the city, Jhonny was the one commisioned to bringing these bodies back into the city. It was definitely a moving site to see that only fifty years ago these men gave their lives for the cause of Christ.
After the cemetery, Jhonny took us to the Catholic church of Oruro. He continued to share with us more of the history of the city and how the church took its folklure and turned it into a part of its religion. It was hard to fully understand where the distinction between the church and the cultural mythology stood. Dan said that he even after hearing the story so many times couldn´t fully comprehend it. The church is built on the opening of a silver and tin mine. Jhonny also used to work in the mine.
He gave us a tour of the mine and continued to explain to us how the god of the mine, which they called el tio, was taken by the catholic church and turned into el diablo. However the confusing part was that el tio or these el diablos were not necessarily good or bad. As the legend goes it was the mighty female angel, who saved the city from harm, that controlled these diablos. The diablos would bless or curse the workers of the mine. The Catholic church branded the angel as Mary. To them they are one in the same. So every year the city has a huge parade festival to celebrate the protection of this angel. The parade circles the entire city and ends in front of the catholic church in hopes of drawing people in.
This trip was filled with so much historical information and interesting beliefs that I think it left us all with a lot to ponder.
Dan made a couple of points that really stood out to me. He shared a quote with us in response to the martyrs, and I don´t remember it exactly, but the gist of it was this-- a hero doesn´t come from dying for Christ, but rather living for him. For to die is gain, to be with Christ forever, but to live here on earth under persecution is our true calling. For the Truth of Christ is the only thing that under persection and through the death of its leaders it continues to grow more and more. This was clearly evident in the city of Oruro and in all of Bolivia.
As we head home tomorrow please be praying for safe travels. We have been told that there is bad weather, possibly a hurricane in or near Florida. So please please please pray for the continued safety of our team as well as for our ability to process all that God has been teaching us through out this trip. Thanks again for all your support!

-Emily