In 2006 I was invited to Bolivia by an International Ministries colleague to do training in the churches in conflict transformation. But the election of Evo Morales to the Presidency of Bolivia, the first indigenous person to hold that office, created a challenging new situation for the Protestant churches. On the one hand there were conflicts in the society with risks and opportunities through the Morales presidency. On the other, Protestant churches who had been perpetually marginalized by the Catholic Church were invited to participate in shaping the new constitution. My coming was a catalyst for Baptists, Pentecostals and other Protestants to think about their role in the new social/political context. Besides the training programs I led in Santa Cruz, Cochabamba and Pa Paz, I appeared on more radio and TV programs than I’d ever done before. IM missionary Mario Morales arranged for the publication in Spanish of my Bible Study Manual on Conflict Transformation with an introduction about the Bolivian context by him and Bolivian Baptist theologian Mario Rivas.
For BBC’s country background information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/country_profiles/1210487.stm
