Machine or manual labour

A weekend in August was a busy one for the members of Iglesia Dios de Amor as they worked on the church building. While they hauled fill into the sanctuary to raise the floor, we fixed the cement mixer. Freddy had borrowed the machine a couple of months earlier and we were under the impression that they had used the mixer for other parts of the building, but we were wrong. The machine had been sitting idle while the cement was mixed by hand because the mixer did not work. The problem was a small one --the spark plug was full of carbon.

It was 5 pm. and time to mix the cement. We were ready to use the machine but everything came to a halt. The man hired to supervise the building did not want to use the mixer; he wanted to mix the cement by hand. This would mean that all the dry materials would be mixed on the ground using shovels. Then water would be added and finally it would be lifted into the wheel barrows and carried to where it was needed. The helpers wanted to use the mixer – it was easier.

Finally, an agreement was made and we started mixing the cement. Although we were told that everything was ready, there was a mad scramble when the first load of cement was ready. And the mad scramble continued until the last load was poured. They were amazed at the speed at which the cement was being mixed.

We realized that the supervisor did not understand how to calculate how much sand, gravel and cement he should put in the cement mixer. He knew the ratios for mixing on the ground but was not able to convert those amounts into the smaller amounts used in the mixer. The men who handled the wheel barrows also could not understand how Jake was calculating the mix. “Sometimes he puts half sand and half gravel in it and other times he adds a bit more cement. We don’t know what he is doing.” They must have thought Jake was either a magician or was just guessing.

An hour later everything was finished. By 6:30 everyone headed home. Freddy told us that when we started mixing the supervisor said that it would take until the next day to mix with the machine. He could not believe that everything was done in one hour. I think that we will be ‘hired’ again when they want to cement the floor.

Acción de Gracias.

There is no Thanksgiving Day in Bolivia; however, this church was celebrating Thanksgiving Day. But not in the manner to which we are accustomed. The purpose of this celebration was not only to bring thanksgiving, but also to raise money for the church building.

Many churches depend on ‘outside’ money to build their churches. In some areas this has become the norm. ‘Dios es Amor’ is no exception. A couple of years ago they asked us to donate the tin for the roof of their building. Since we had no connection there, we declined.

The situation has changed since Freddy is the pastor of this church. The congregation wanted to build a larger church. They knew that Freddy has connections in England and expected that he would request the needed funding from there. But Freddy said no. If it was important to them, they would show that importance by raising the money themselves to build the ‘templo’.

On faith, they are building their church. Acción de Gracias was part of this initiative. The women prepared meals and sold them at the church. Some had their own carts that they used to serve meals in the street. Others had their food in large pans. There was fish, steak, and a number of chicken dishes. Each meal came complete with salad and rice. Some had yucca; some had chuño; some had corn. Prices were 8-10 bolivianos for a meal. Coconut juice and juice made from dried peaches (mocachino) were one boliviano. In addition to the meal, people donated other food stuffs that were sold – rice, manadarins, lettuce, bananas.

At the end of the day, the people raised 2200 bolivianos that will be used toward their new building. Will it buy a lot of materials? No. But these people are ‘putting their money where their mouth is’ and they have a great pride in what they are doing. They are doing it themselves.

Will they need help? Yes. Instead of expecting a donation from us, they have taken out a 7,000 boliviano loan which will pay the workers. They will need more money. Freddy will ask a church in England for some assistance.

We, also, want to help with this project, especially since the congregation has shown such initiative. The long term plan is that the church will not only be a ‘templo’ but will also serve as a community center. There are four existing neighbouring barrios and two more are being planned. These are all located in a poorer section of Yapacani. The church plans to operate a Compassion International project as well as women’s programs, programs for teenage mothers, programs for teens, and other programs that will benefit the community.

If any of you would like to donate to this project or if you would like to get a group together to come and help, please contact us and we will send you the information.