Proyecto Número Uno

A view of El Alto across the Altiplano (the peak in the background towers at around 6000m)

I noticed a distinct lack of photos on musings this morning, so I thought I'd start you off with a massive one of El Alto, the location of our first project.

So for those of you that enjoy the odd fact (those who don't can skip this paragraph), here's a small overview to keep you satisfied...

El Alto, once a suburb of neighbouring La Paz, is now one of Bolivia’s fastest growing and largest urban areas. It’s a new and modern city situated around 3900m above sea level on the Altiplano highlands. El Alto has a cold climate, reaching a maximum temperature of 17 degrees in summer. It is the largest city in Latin America which has a mostly Amerindian population with around 76% of its inhabitants from Aymaran descent and 9% are Quechua.

A Bit About The Project...

Now that you're a bit more clued up about El Alto itself, I should probably explain what we're actually doing there. My team are working with the Iglesia Monte de Horeb to finish the construction of the church building, focusing primarily on the building of the main hall which will be where the main meetings are held. At the moment, the walls are in place but there is no ceiling or roof so the church is meeting in one of the classrooms. Along side this my team will also be helping the church with their ongoing activities and ministries. The church runs all kinds of children and youth programmes, as well as various small groups which the team will be roped into. It has some 200 children who regularly attend the kids’ centre, so that'll probably make up a large proportion of our overall work, but this is Latin America, so a lot of things could change, and nothing is set in stone. 

Basically, we're going to be involved in all kinds of activities including, music, kids work, youth work, sharing testimonies, drama, small groups, maybe even preaching!! And the chances are we'll arrive, jet lagged, tired, a bit confused, and the pastor will immediately invite us to perform a drama and share some of our testimonies, in the service starting in a few hours time.. (we are preparing for such scenarios).         

JJ

A main street in El Alto