Church Empowerment and Local Projects
A team from First Baptist Church in Fairbury, NE spending time at Parque de la Familia in Cochabamba while on a short term volunteer trip to FPE.
A big part of the ministry of the FPE is to help the local church be “the church”. By that, we mean we work with local congregations to be more missionally focussed. A church that proclaims the gospel and also lives it out within their community. We work with them to identify the needs and the areas that they can make an impact and share Each year the FPE hosts short-term volunteer teams that partner with local churches and ministries to work in specific projects. These projects are meant to empower the church and help them to equip their ministry in the local community for long-term Kingdom impact.
Marshall University Campus Ministries at a worship service with other college students in Cochabamba.
Every year, FPE partners with volunteer short-term mission teams from churches and other ministry groups. The Foundation partners with a volunteer team and they work together with a local ministry on a project. Usually, the project is a work-project at the church. We aren’t just building structures...we are building relationships. Here is how it works. Each group has responsibilities. The church has responsibilities to prepare for the work, the Foundation then works to get the teams to Bolivia and to secure the resources needed for the project. The team helps provide some funds for the work and some sweat equity. Then the church provides one person to work for every person that the team brings and something wonderful happens. The people work together on the project and by the end of the week they have figured out how to get past language barriers and more to be able to develop relationships with each other. These relationships, in some cases, have lasted for years and have been an encouragement on both sides as God works to bring them together.
Local leaders with Parkway Baptist Church working together to build a sanctuary for a local congregation in Cochabamba.
In 2019, we were able to receive 60 short term volunteers from all over the US. These teams come for many different service opportunities and also to learn from the churches and ministries we work with. What they learn they can take back home and apply to what God is doing in their local community.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our 2019 volunteers and pray that God will bring them back to the Foundation in the future to join God and us in ministry for His glory here in Bolivia.
Volunteer Teams and Individuals visiting in 2018-2019:
South Parkersburg Baptist Church (Parkersburg, WV) work team helping to build a sanctuary for a Quechua church.
Rev. Sharon Koh, CEO International Ministries
Baptist Campus Ministries of Marshall University, Huntington, WV helped to finish construction on a local church.
Professors and students from Palmer Seminary in St. Davids, PA, participated in the residency week for the Bolivian cohort of the Masters of Theological Studies program.
IM Global Consultant Kristy Engel worked to help train and empower local health ministries.
An evangelism team from Florida and Brazil worked with the Bolivian Baptist Union Churches on evangelistic and discipleship ministry opportunities.
Parkway Baptist Church of Duluth, GA, returned a second time to help a church put finishing touches on a building project.
First Baptist Church of Fairbury, NE, (pictured below) helped to build bathrooms for a church with a growing children’s ministry.
South Parkersburg Baptist Church helped with a church building project and a medical clinic.