Now that´s a Bolivian meeting

This past Saturday, the big meeting of Christian indigenous leaders I (Drew) had been organizing finally took place. I admit I was a little nervous never having done anything like this. All 9 people we had invited I called and re-checked with them two days before to remind them and make sure they were coming. Everyone confirmed and some even said they were bringing some other leaders with them. But like everything here, nothing goes quite as planned. The big day arrived and only half the people expected showed up. Why? Because there has been an over-production of rice this year, prices have threatened to plummet and the rice growers in the north part of the department decided to blockade the roads to demand that the government buy all their leftover rice so there isn´t an economic disaster. So all the people coming from up that direction were unable to make it through the blockade. Oh well.
Once we got started (1 hour late) I suggested that we each introduce ourselves by giving our name, where we come from, and what church we are a part of. I knew it would be a while when the first person began with, "Well I was born in. . ." Including three of us from the office, it took over an hour and a half for the 9 people to introduce themselves. We heard everything from medical histories, testimonies, family stories, and prayer requests. At first I was a little antsy to get the meeting moving to the points we had to work on. We´ve got events to plan and things to do! But something (Spirit maybe?) told me, just slow down and listen. I soon realized that this was perhaps the most important part of our whole day. Here we were, Christian brothers and sisters from 6 diferent people groups and as many different churches, coming together to see how we can work as one body in Christ. Of course, the first thing we need to do is get to know each other! As the introductions ended I was already floored, awed by their stories of struggle and celebrations of life, and amazed at how much some of them had gone through to get to this little meeting because their churches esteemed it as that important.
One example is of Froilan and his wife Elsa. This couple, in their 60s, left their village the day the river overflowed its banks, cutting off their village from the rest of the world until the end of rainy season. Their church, knowing the cost, told them to go because they wanted to hear what we had to say and they wanted to invite us to their village. The 65 mile dirt road from their village to the nearest town was partly flooded and it took them 16 hours to travel just that small distance, even wading through knee-deep water for 3 miles at one point. The most amazing thing is that Elsa´s heart is failing. She has been on bed rest and the doctors told her she should no longer even wash dishes at home because the exertion could cause a heart attack. I only pray that the Spirit will give me that sort of strength and determination to follow through to the end with our service and support of their community. Ann and I will be visiting them over Easter weekend for their big church celebration.
In all, the meeting was still productive in the Western sense as well as in the indigenous sense. I took all day, but we accomplished a lot, planned trips for us to go to different villages, and planned other events we will be doing together this year. I learned that there are people here who expect us to work and are willing to sacrifice a lot to partner with us to help their church and community. And I learned a little about listening, patience, and Bolivian meetings.