Whenever I thought of missions, I thought of doing some kind of work that required physical labor, such as building homes. In Bolivia, we didn't really do any of this.
We spent the majority of our time at the university giving seminars on various topics such as self-esteem issues, dating, leadership, and building good studying habits. There were more topics, and they varied depending on which department we were assigned. I was with a group that was assigned to the school of communications. Given the nature of the school, we found the use of media to be the most effective way to capture the students' attention. Hence, most of
our seminars consisted of showing short films, produced by the Bolivian staff of Campus Crusades, to the students and holding discussions thereafter. Eventually all the discussions were led towards the four spiritual laws (a booklet that explains the essentials of christian faith), and ended with an invitation to accept Christ.
The response from the students was overwhelmingly positive. The comment cards returned to us almost always had something nice to say. Through the use of these comment cards we also got a better idea of how many people had accepted Christ. For each class that we went to, it seemed like at least 90% would check off "yes, I invited Christ into my heart."
I was so surprised at the numbers that at one point I began doubting the students' hearts. For the first few days I couldn't help but think that the students were just being polite and checking off the "Yes" box merely because they couldn't say no. Then I began to doubt the effectiveness of the campus approach we were taking. My faith was being clouded by doubt. Who was I to question their hearts anyway?
It wasn't until the follow-ups that God started to open my eyes to the bigger picture. The follow-ups were for students who were interested in learning more about Christ. Typically, they would come to our hostel, we'd get to know them a bit more, and do more studies with them. We also held various events in the lobby, such as pizza night, for all students that were interested. To my surprise, the work we were doing wasn't just for those who didn't know Christ; it also turned out to be a great opportunity for believers to meet other believers in their class. In one of the gatherings,
we met a girl, Daniela, who was christian. As she met other students that had come to the event, she realized she hadn't been alone and teared up as she shared about how hard and discouraging it had been to be without community, and how good it felt to now know that there were others who shared in the same faith. As we all sat in a circle, I could sense the relief and excitement in Daniela and those around her. I was thankful to God and prayed that He would bless their new relationships.
In the time that we were there, I also got to know the Bolivian CC staff better. I learned that some of them had accepted Christ in the same way that students were accepting Christ in the classrooms. Someone on campus, while they were still in school, had explained the four laws to them. Then I remembered something: when we first arrived in Sucre and met with the Bolivian nationals of Campus Crusades, we were told that there were people in Santa Cruz (where the Campus Crusades headquarters is located) praying that God would raise 5 people that would step up to lead the movement in Sucre.
When we left for Santa Cruz, one of the Bolivian staff members, Chavi, decided to stay an extra week in Sucre to continue meeting with the students. In that week, students continued to stop by the hostel eager to learn more about Jesus.
With the movement clearly alive in Sucre, Campus Crusades-Bolivia plans to send out a team once a month to Sucre so that they can continue meeting with the students. Our prayer is that God will convict the hearts of the students and that He will make leaders out of them just as He had done with the Bolivian CC staff.
By the time we left Sucre, over a thousand students had noted on the comment cards that they had accepted Christ. How many of them sincerely received Christ is something only God knows. Still, I like to believe that over a thousand seeds have been planted and it's exciting to think of how many of them will come into fruition.
Thank you all for your support in making this mission trip possible.
-Vero
1 comment:
amazing that your team got to plant so many seeds.
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