By Amanda Delzer
It’s a bit unusual for MKs to return to the country of their childhood as adults and missionaries in their own right. I’m one of a small number who have done that. I grew up in the western highlands of Bolivia in the 1990s and early 2000s. My parents, Duane and Lori Delzer (Missionary Prayer Handbook Day 18), had been serving there since 1987. We lived in several different places, including five years in the city of Potosí, where I now serve.
When I left Bolivia a few months before my 18th birthday, I never expected to return for more than short visits every couple of years to see my parents. Throughout my time at university, my interest in missions grew with every year that passed. However, I focused on the needs in Southeast Asia, believing God was calling me to serve in that part of the world. Several years passed after graduation, and I still lacked clear direction regarding a country of service and a specific ministry. The door to Asia remained tightly shut.
Then, out of the blue, my mom told me an old friend of hers, Mary Hawthorne, had asked her to pass on a message. Mary was a missionary I had known since I was a little girl; her family used to occasionally stop at our house on their way to the remote village where they lived and worked. My mother explained that Mary needed a trained English teacher for an outreach she’d started that used English as a second language to spread the Gospel in Potosí. After much prayer and discussion, God confirmed that this ministry was His will for me. I returned to Bolivia in late 2016, about six-and-a-half years after I had left.
A miles-high city with a complex history
Bolivia sits right in the middle of South America. It’s a landlocked country with three major climates: tropical jungle, warm valley, and arid mountain. The Amazon jungle covers a portion of the east of the country, valleys run through the middle, and the Andes mountain range dominates the west. Potosí is located high in the Andes. At about 14,000 feet above sea level, the city is more than twice as high as Denver, Colorado. It has a wet and a dry season and tends to be cold most of the year.
The pinkish mountain behind the city is called Cerro Rico, meaning “rich mountain.” It contains the largest silver mine ever discovered—the reason Spaniards built Potosí. The city’s sad and difficult history still affects the culture and the way the people think. They tend to be reserved and are slow to trust new people. Once won over, however, they are warm and caring. As a collectivist culture, rather than an individualist one, they prioritize the needs of the group, but within that group, they work together to care for the individuals. The people are generally soft spoken and indirect in their communication. If you want to get things done or get permission for anything, the single most important factor is whom you know. Anything important is run by your network of personal connections.
Several combinations of religions exist among the people here. Some Bolivians in Potosí are devout Roman Catholics who pray to the statues of the saints and the Virgin Mary in their homes every day. They go to Mass regularly and complete all the sacraments. Most people, though, combine the Catholic religion with worship of the ancient mother-earth goddess called the Pachamama. They see the Virgin Mary and this goddess as one person. The two religions have been blended for over a century now, and people follow rituals for both throughout the year.
Similarly, the local miners also worship an old god—from the time before the Spaniards came—that they have nicknamed the Uncle. They believe he is lord of the underworld and they must make offerings to him (such as alcohol, cigarettes, and once per year, a llama). If they make him angry, he will cause an accident in the mine that will kill or disable them, they think.
Because of this fear, few miners have become believers up to this point. Some who have come to know Christ keep their faith secret because they don’t want the other miners to get angry and harm them. These circumstances can be dangerous for the believers to work in, although not impossible. I know a few miners who are open about their faith. Our team has been praying for missionaries who will focus on this fairly unreached community, which numbers in the tens of thousands.
God’s love in English and Spanish
Here in Potosí, I mainly serve at my local church and through English classes at a ministry called Allinta Ruwana (AR). Currently, AR is a small ministry with three branches: a clinic, a developing hospice program, and the English language classes. I work alongside missionaries from several organizations, most of whom work in health care in some way. We have a doctor and a nurse from the US and many short termers who come for one or two years to help. The team also includes several Bolivian believers. My only other English teacher, Brenda, is one of our Bolivian team members.
We work in a small two-story building with the clinic on the first floor and two classrooms on the second. One of the classrooms doubles as my office, making for a tight squeeze. Hopefully, in the next few years, we will build more rooms to use for the English classes and recruit another missionary teacher.
My students are between 7 to 25 years old. We separate them into different classes by age and language level. I’m responsible for four small groups and two individuals. In total, I teach about 10 classes per week. During the week, I prepare for class in the mornings and then teach in the afternoons and evenings.
Many of my students attend private Catholic schools and come from strongly Catholic families. My student Diego is one example. He’s about 11 years old and is currently preparing for his first communion. My coteacher, Brenda, and I try to show Christ’s love to our students and their families through our words and actions, and we find ways to share what God is doing in our lives while relating that to the topics we cover in class.
Four to five times per year, we hold an event called English Club and invite all our students. It’s a great time of fun and games that revolves around a specific theme. Last year, we focused on the four seasons, and a steady group of about 10 students came. During English Club, we tell a Bible story in English and then explain salvation in Spanish so we can be sure our students understand the Gospel.
Bible studies—even in a kitchen
On the weekends, I am involved in a couple of different things for Hebrón Iglesia Cristiana Evangélica, the local church I attend. It consists of about 120 people who meet in a small, simple building in the upper area of the city, as it climbs up the ridge. I teach a Sunday school class for 16- to 18-year-olds, and it’s been great to study the Bible with them. They are really cool kids and always listen well. I try to spend more time explaining things about God and our relationship with Him rather than telling them what to do to be a “good Christian.” Since there aren’t enough Sunday school rooms, we meet in the kitchen (which occasionally causes funny situations).
On Sunday afternoons once per month, I lead a group study for some of the church’s young women who are in their late 20s and early 30s. We are learning about certain attributes of God and how understanding Him more helps us grow in our practical Christian walk. The turnout has been good so far with about 10 young ladies coming to study and discuss the topics together.
On Saturdays and Sunday afternoons, I tend to meet with several women for one-to-one Bible studies and discipleship. We study a book of the Bible one paragraph at a time, and I teach them a simple Bible study method that uses three steps: observation, interpretation, and application. I hope that as we repeat these three steps with every paragraph, they will become more and more comfortable doing deep Bible study on their own. I would love it if they could someday teach others to do the same.
Prayers for a city close to the heavens
Please pray with us for more people to be called to serve in Potosí, whether as ESL teachers, medical personnel, or missionaries to the mining community. Also, pray for the salvation of the 35–40 students currently enrolled in our English classes. Additionally, please pray that the believers at Hebrón will grow in their faith and that the Lord will give me wisdom as I teach and disciple one to one and in small groups. May this remote city so close to the heavens truly understand that heaven came down to us in the person of Jesus.
Amanda Delzer is commended from Arbor Oaks Bible Chapel in Dubuque, Iowa.
Originally published in Missions magazine, July 2024. For more content, sign up for a free subscription (US) to Missions at CMML.us/magazine/subscribe
