Read how Jonny & Olga are serving and equipping the church in Bolivia
Jonny and Olga’s difficulties in getting local Bolivian pastors to understand that children have an important place in God’s church, even though Jesus encourages parents to bring their children to Him.Matt19:14.
Jonny and Olga – Bolivia
Jonny, originally from the UK, and Olga, from Columbia, began their service in Bolivia as a married couple in 2010. They now have three children aged 15, 13 and 12 who Olga home schooled until the age of 11. The children now study at boarding schools with good Christian input in the UK.
Jonny and Olga work with the Quechua people many of whom are from an Andean, animistic background. Spiritual concerns are never far from the minds of the Quechua people and conversations open easily to gospel witness.
The church in Bolivia is growing, however, it is easy to start a church without any Biblical grounding and people will attend as they have such a spiritual hunger.
In a culture where reading comprehension levels are low and much of the Bible is not yet available, oral Bible teaching methods are incredibly important. Jonny’s focus is on training pastors and modelling oral Bible teaching methods so that people can find Christ in the whole of scripture.
Jonny shared “We’ve been here over ten years, but we feel like we’re only in the early stages of ministry. We’ve no idea how ministry will look in five, ten or even 20 years time.
In a culture where, if you have the title of pastor or minister, people will accept what comes out of your mouth without challenge, the idea of ongoing learning is not that relevant. But as teachers and preachers, we all need to be challenged as to whether we are faithfully teaching Christ from the passage.
We need to make the teaching as simple as we can, but faithful to the scriptures. The greatest compliment is when the simplest person says “I really understood this time.””
Please pray
the Lord will lead to pastors who are willing to learn.
as we develop a non-formal model of faithful teaching that can be used in multiple churches.
encouragement for pastors who faithfully teach God’s word, but face opposition for doing so.
that the church will recognise of the value of teaching children and young people God’s word at a level they are able to understand.
witness to non-Christian Quechua friends. As church ministry and teaching opportunities increase, there is less time to nurture these relationships.
the adjustment of family life as all three children study in the UK. Pray the Lord’s clear leading for Olga as to which ministries she should now invest time in.