Mission partners in La Paz, Bolivia
We have two Mission Partners in the Church of Christ the Saviour, Sopacachi, La Paz.
Ronnie Irene was ordained on 11th September 2005. He is married to Nicky and they have three children. Ronnie is Pastor responsible for Youth Work in the Sopacachi church, and Nicky is a full-time English teacher running the Sunday school and young people's group.
Martin Flores is married to Carla and they also have three children. Martin is worship leader and coordinator of the link to the Boys' Orphanage at Viacha.
Both Ronnie and Martin studied the SEUT course prepared by Rogelio Prieto - who came to Bitterne a couple of years ago. Martin has yet to complete the course but when he does he will also be ordained.
The Church of Christ the Saviour at Sopacacchi was founded by Peter Bartlett, who, with his wife Sally, eventually left La Paz in September 2005 after 13 years service. The church has groups meeting for Bible study, Alpha, regular prayer meetings, a ladies' group, youth meeting for 10-14, and a monthly all-night vigil. There are activities for children in three classes between 2 and 14.
God willing, Ronnie, Nicky and family will be visiting us at Bitterne in the weekend of July 6-8th.
In 1987, David and Shelley Stokes were Bitterne's SAMS Mission Partners, working in Temuco, Chile. In 1993 they acecpted SAMS' invitation to work in Tartagel in the Chaco of Northern Argentina, where David continued as a theology teacher. However they didn't start in Tartagel till August 1993 because of delays in obtaining visas and work permits in that country. By July 1994 they moved inland to Mission Chaquena to work with the Wichi people, and it was there that their children Jonathan and Sarah were born. David learnt the Wichi language and continued organising religious training amongst the Wichi till 1999 when he and Shelley felt the Lord was telling them it was time to leave Argentina. They returned to England where david started training for ordination.
In March 2000 SAMS chose a young Youth Worker, Deb Thompsett, as our Link Partner, to go to Sopocachi in La PAz, Bolivia. She left England on 25th April of that year after visiting Bitterne. Email has enabled her to keep us informed about her progress in La Paz. She stayed initially with a Japanese family, and worked under the tutelage of Peter Bartlett, then Pastor at Sopacachi. After two years Deb met James Gibson, a water engineer, and they returned to England to marry on 3rd January 2003. Deb and James visited us in Bitterne after their wedding, and told us they were off to Mozambique later in the year where James had accepted a job as a water engineer.
It was Deb who recommended the two pastoral assistants at Sopacachi Church, Ronnie and Martin, to become our new Mission Link Partners which began in mid-2003.
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