Bolivia VIM Trip

The partnership between the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) and the Iglesia Evangélica Metodista de Bolivia (IEMB) took its first “concrete” steps this past February when a Volunteers in Mission (VIM) team traveled to Bolivia and actually poured concrete.

The ten-member VIM team returned from Bolivia inspired and anxious to share their experiences with others. A slide presentation describing the Bolivia trip is available, and members of the VIM team are seeking invitations to speak at local church as well as Conference and District events. To schedule a speaker or to learn more about Methodism in Bolivia, construction of the church in Chua and the NIC partnership with the IEMB, contact Joyce Carrasco (847-488-0770) or Wally Calaway (630-910-1179).

This VIM trip is the first of several planned over the next few years with the goal of completing the new church in Chua, Bolivia, a small town nestled between the glacier-covered Andes Mountains and Lake Titicaca. Funds for the Chua church construction project as well as volunteers for future VIM trips to Bolivia are being sought. The construction project is scheduled to be a Conference Advance (Green Band) for the NIC 2010-2011 Rainbow Covenant.

The partnership between the NIC, IEMB and the Chicago Religious Leadership Network (CRLN) on Latin America was implemented by Bishop Hee-Soo Jung of the NIC UMC and Bishop Carlos Poma of the IEMB at the 2008 Northern Illinois Annual Conference.

Read about the Bolivia VIM trip at the NIC web site, http://www.umcnic.org/news/2009/February/25feb09bolivia.htm.