Of Beards and Revolution
We've entered week three of the Water For All Internship Program Beard-Off, a tradition begun when Allan shaved and let his beard grow back, and a few of us decided to join him. Meghan has not caught the spirit yet, but I think she's just shy.
Watching our beards grow was almost all we did this past week. We went to Santa Cruz to relax at a mission apartment for two days, and the length of our stay doubled.
Government troops at the airport were shooting tear gas at protesters, so we deemed it unwise to travel during potentially catacysmic unrest.
An article regarding the situation.
The AP story does a good job covering specifics of the actual event, but the presented history of conflict between the eastern provinces and the MAS-controlled government (MAS: Movimiento A Socialismo, Movement Toward Socialism) is much more complicated. It involves President Evo Morales' rule-by-decree to bypass constitutional law, statements from the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez interpreted as violent threats, and so forth.
Fortunately protests of this sort happen on a fairly regular basis. In fact, there is a saying that, "En Bolivia, pasa de todo y no pasa nada." Everything happens and nothing happens. Riots verge on revolution, and then everyone backs off, and there is peace for a while longer.
Of course, at times revolution does occur, as in the violent protests of 2003 that pressured the president, the vice-president and the supreme court justice - who was briefly president - out of office. That was how MAS came to power, after a special election that voted in Evo by a solid majority
Still, the protests were not near as bad as they could have been. Evo's rule has been respected for the most part since his party has tried to work legitimately through a constitutional assembly, and it has not been swamped with scandle.
And things are certainly not as bad as they have been in Bolivia's past. In 1991, Bolivia held the world record for most coup d'etats. I don't know if that has changed.
For now, the situation has calmed again. By God's grace, there is peace in Bolivia. Please pray for continued guidance for Bolivia's leaders.
Everyone went a little stir crazy during our time in Santa Cruz, except for McGee. He made good friends with members of a Southern Baptist Convention missionary group that teaches ESL classes. The mission apartment in which we stayed belongs to the SBC, with whom my parents used to work. And the ESL ministry headquarters at a little house down the street.
The missionary who heads the ESL ministry is the same who brought the evangelism teams to San Julian week before last.
The only times we left the apartment were to wander over to a grocery store or to eat at a nearby restaurant or to take Meghan to the hospital for foot treatment each day. She still limps, but her foot is almost entirely healed! Thank you for your prayers!
In fact, she has returned to San Julian, although she might not come with us on the next length of our journey, just to be safe.
Also with us now, for this past week and for the week to come, is Kim Edlund, former missionary to Bolivia and a dear friend of my dad. He pastors a church near Austin serves as Water For All's U.S. liason. He arrived a couple of days before the airport violence.
Kim is here now to bolster our team's spiritual nourishment with nightly devotionals which, both in Santa Cruz and now here in San Julian, have been welcome refreshments.
He'll be going with us to Antofagasta, in the lush, especially scenic, tropical landscape of Yapacani, about six hours north of San Julian and several hundred miles south of Texas.
Until next time ...
Watching our beards grow was almost all we did this past week. We went to Santa Cruz to relax at a mission apartment for two days, and the length of our stay doubled.
Government troops at the airport were shooting tear gas at protesters, so we deemed it unwise to travel during potentially catacysmic unrest.
An article regarding the situation.
The AP story does a good job covering specifics of the actual event, but the presented history of conflict between the eastern provinces and the MAS-controlled government (MAS: Movimiento A Socialismo, Movement Toward Socialism) is much more complicated. It involves President Evo Morales' rule-by-decree to bypass constitutional law, statements from the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez interpreted as violent threats, and so forth.
Fortunately protests of this sort happen on a fairly regular basis. In fact, there is a saying that, "En Bolivia, pasa de todo y no pasa nada." Everything happens and nothing happens. Riots verge on revolution, and then everyone backs off, and there is peace for a while longer.
Of course, at times revolution does occur, as in the violent protests of 2003 that pressured the president, the vice-president and the supreme court justice - who was briefly president - out of office. That was how MAS came to power, after a special election that voted in Evo by a solid majority
Still, the protests were not near as bad as they could have been. Evo's rule has been respected for the most part since his party has tried to work legitimately through a constitutional assembly, and it has not been swamped with scandle.
And things are certainly not as bad as they have been in Bolivia's past. In 1991, Bolivia held the world record for most coup d'etats. I don't know if that has changed.
For now, the situation has calmed again. By God's grace, there is peace in Bolivia. Please pray for continued guidance for Bolivia's leaders.
Everyone went a little stir crazy during our time in Santa Cruz, except for McGee. He made good friends with members of a Southern Baptist Convention missionary group that teaches ESL classes. The mission apartment in which we stayed belongs to the SBC, with whom my parents used to work. And the ESL ministry headquarters at a little house down the street.
The missionary who heads the ESL ministry is the same who brought the evangelism teams to San Julian week before last.
The only times we left the apartment were to wander over to a grocery store or to eat at a nearby restaurant or to take Meghan to the hospital for foot treatment each day. She still limps, but her foot is almost entirely healed! Thank you for your prayers!
In fact, she has returned to San Julian, although she might not come with us on the next length of our journey, just to be safe.
Also with us now, for this past week and for the week to come, is Kim Edlund, former missionary to Bolivia and a dear friend of my dad. He pastors a church near Austin serves as Water For All's U.S. liason. He arrived a couple of days before the airport violence.
Kim is here now to bolster our team's spiritual nourishment with nightly devotionals which, both in Santa Cruz and now here in San Julian, have been welcome refreshments.
He'll be going with us to Antofagasta, in the lush, especially scenic, tropical landscape of Yapacani, about six hours north of San Julian and several hundred miles south of Texas.
Until next time ...
posted by El Peregrino at
11:15 AM
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