A letter from Bob and Julie Dunsmore in Bolivia
November 27, 2006
La Paz, Bolivia
Dear Friends,
As we approach the Christmas season, we are called to reflect on the place of Jesus' birth in the middle of nowhere, a podunk backwater, Bethlehem, Judea, which did not even have its own zip code. It was removed from the seat of power of His world. The birth occurred far from the bright lights and media, and went unnoticed by the middle-class citizens of Jerusalem as they went about their business. Good news, powerful news, but coming from way out there, on the margins of society.
And we see good news, powerful events, signs of hope coming from out here on the margins of the world in Bolivia, too!
We tend to think that important events occur in world capitals, in the so-called "developed" countries, where politics, money and power are concentrated, and where media coverage spotlights major happenings.
And have you ever noticed how often we feel compelled to share so much good news from Bolivia with you? Perhaps you wonder if we are really out of touch with reality?
The way we often write, perhaps Bolivia seems almost too good to be true!
Surely, you're thinking, there must be problems in Bolivia just like everywhere else. Aren't there a lot of poor people there, and political unrest, just like most of the world? Why are Julie and Bob presenting such a rosy picture?
Well, we have been debating with each other about this. And the answer is, yes, there are huge problems here.
But throughout our weeks and months here, we've figured out that we’re compelled to tell you all the positive stuff, the signs of hope, to offer encouragement to you folks in the United States, Presbyterians, Christians, because we all need to hear good news. Just as Paul wrote to communities of Christians throughout his world to offer encouragement in their endeavors, so we are writing you from a far corner to encourage you in your endeavors.
And we know that you get plenty of discouraging information about events around the world, just by watching the evening news.
We have reached the conclusion that people in information-flooded countries can use more encouragement than news about war and conflict and overwhelming world problems. And ideas about how to help.
Experiencing life at the margins
In a provocative recent interview published in Christianity Today, an African bishop tells North American Christians:
God very often is working most powerfully far from the center. Jesus is crucified outside Jerusalem…. In Acts, we read that the cross-cultural missionary thrust did not begin in Jerusalem. It began in Antioch, on the periphery, the margins…. I have come to the conclusion that the powerful, those at the center, must begin to realize that the future shape of things does not belong to them. The future shape of things is on the periphery. The future shape of things is not in Jerusalem, but outside. It is Nazareth. It is Antioch.
How can [North] American pastors be leaders if they haven't seen what God is doing elsewhere? Every search process for a senior pastor should ask, "Do you have experience in marginal places, economically deprived places, places with HIV/AIDS? Have you gone to be among them?
So we extend a warm invitation for you in 2007 to come and be among us and see what God is doing here in Bolivia.
And for those of you who can't make it 'way down here, here is another bit of good news from Bolivia. As a result of government steps to renegotiate more favorable oil and gas contracts with transnational corporations, the projected increase in revenue for the government has allowed a new program for health care coverage to take effect. Starting next year, health care will be available for all Bolivian citizens up to age 25, in addition to high-risk populations already covered. Also, a stipend of 25 dollars will be given to every child enrolled in public schools to help cover the cost of books, supplies, and uniforms, items never before provided by the government.
Improved roads, employment opportunities, increased tourism, more drinking water—all these other potential effects of increased revenue from sales of gas and oil, are good news for someone like the taxi driver we wrote about recently. And even though he had declared he wasn't really interested in politics because his immediate needs were so demanding, we feel sure that he welcomes the good news that beginning in 2007 his child will be able to receive health care and help for school needs.
Singer James Taylor so eloquently captured the vision of Martin Luther King in his son, “Shed a Little Light”:
Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women
Living on the earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood
That we are bound together
In our desire to see the world become
A place in which our children
Can grow free and strong
We are bound together
By the task that stands before us
And the road that lies ahead
We are bound and we are bound.
To this, we would add, “to work together to build the kingdom of God on earth."
So may our Christmas prayer echo this vision, this prayer of Dr. King, that all men and women living on the earth today recognize and honor our ties of hope and love, sister and brotherhood.
Good news.
Julie and Bob
We welcome contributions to our ministry, and are encouraged by the commitment of the Presbyterian Church, in the providence of God, to finding the needed funds so that all mission workers who wish to continue after 2008 and whose positions are still desired by partners overseas may continue to serve. We hope we fit in that category!
Individuals may send checks to:
PC(USA)
Individual Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700
Churches send checks to their normal receiving site or:
PC(USA)
Church Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643678
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3789
Contributors should take care to put our name and DMS number, D506248, on the subject line of the check.
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 46
