Report from BHW Sth America Partnership Facilitators

Key person: Eli and Raquel Antelo

Recent Events

Carpentry Shop

The carpentry shop project in San Juan is run by Eli Antelo and his wife Raquel - a young married couple in their early twenties. The project has been operating for nearly two years now and Eli is generating regular business from the surrounding area and even orders from the city of Santa Cruz which is 11-12 hours drive away. He recently completed a government contract to construct 80 boxes for transportation of chickens. He is developing an ongoing business relationship with a client in Santa Cruz to supply wooden flooring products which is a good regular source of income. He also builds bee hives and supplies local bee keepers.

The carpentry shop is a registered business and can legally purchase local timber, work it and sell it out of the region. The main equipment that Eli uses is a circular saw and a planer. 

Eli and Raquel commented that they are beginning to generate enough income from the business to fund their needs so that they are able to continue to share the gospel and disciple people in their community without having a concern for their living costs. 

Church

In the time they have lived in the community they have seen the local church grow from 7 believers to around 27-28 adults. In addition to this they have developed a thriving youth ministry that meets every week with 20-30 kids. They meet on the local soccer field and have an opportunity to use up excess energy as well as hear some Bible teaching!

Raquel runs a women’s meeting every Friday where she disciples and helps women from the community study the Bible.

Eli teaches guitar to teenage boys and uses that as an opportunity to talk to them about Jesus as well as teaching Christian songs.

Their long term vision is to stay and grow the church so it can sustain itself by building up a team of believers helping in the work. Their passion is to mentor believers and do more evangelism in the outlying surrounding areas. 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

Eli and Raquel commented that they are beginning to feel that they are welcome in San Juan and that they are well regarded in the general community.

The local doctor (a woman) had been secretly reading the Bible and investigating the Christian faith. When Eli and Raquel moved to San Juan, Raquel struck up a friendship with this woman and she has become a follower of Christ. This woman is well regarded in the community has now become an advocate for the gospel too.

Raquel works with the children in the community who seem to have a real interest in studying and understanding the Bible. She recently heard one of the children say "Raquel knows more about the Bible than the [Catholic] priest"!

Current Issues and Challenges

Catholicism has strong roots in the community and in Bolivia in general. It is difficult for many families and individuals to open up to the true gospel of Jesus. For those that do accept Jesus and choose to follow him, they often face ridicule or challenges from family and friends.

Prayer and Praise Points

Praise

1) Praise for growth of the church and new believers 
2) Praise for the relationships they have with kids in the community
3) Praise for the salvation of the local doctor and her testimony
4) Praise for the contracts and work the carpentry shop is generating

Prayer

1) Pray for open hearts and minds to the gospel
2) Pray for roots of Catholicism to be broken in the area and for genuine encounters with Jesus
3) Pray for new believers to grow to maturity and to help in the ministry
4) Pray for continued contracts to come in for the carpentry shop

Comments

We were very impressed with the calibre of Eli and Raquel when we met them in person. Although they are young they are very mature and have a solid foundation in a love for the Lord and a desire to serve him. They have put that desire into action by sacrificing a lot to plant themselves in the community of San Juan and they are working hard to make disciples of Jesus in their community - the great commission in action. Eli is also working hard in the carpentry business and appears to be growing the business to a level where it can sustain their family's needs.

This is a great example of a good balance of business and ministry going hand in hand.

This project was a one-off grant for purchase of the carpentry shop and equipment, there is no further funding required at this stage. The idea was mentioned to Eli that if he required any further equipment he could put a proposal for a loan to BHW for consideration.