“And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.”
~ 1 Thessalonians 1:7
Hi James and Ellen,
When your grandmaa and grandpaa arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia with your dad and Aunt Lynn near the end of August in 1978, your grandmaa and grandpaa joined an eleven member church planting team that was embedded in the Bolivia South America Mission field missionary team that usually had twenty or so field team missionaries in Bolivia. Before your grandmaa and grandpaa arrived in Bolivia, the Bolivia South America Mission church planting team leaders – Dom and June Deckman, decided that your grandmaa and grandpaa would be the unit on the church planting team who would help with a church ‘plant’ in a Santa Cruz barrio called El Pari. Before your grandmaa and grandpaa arrived in Bolivia, Dom and June found a very nice house for your grandmaa and grandpaa to rent that was located about three blocks from where three couples – Zacarías and Justina Choque, Alberto and Juana Céspedes, and Jesús and Josefa García, lived who were Christ-followers. One of the couples – Jesús and Josefa García, were leaders in Alto San Pedro. Alto San Pedro is the mother church of the churches that are located in Santa Cruz that are affiliated with South America Mission. Jesús was elected a couple of times by members of A.I.E.O. to be their President. A.I.E.O. (Asociación de Iglesias Evangélicos del Oriente) is the acronym that is used for the churches that are affiliated with South America Mission in Bolivia. Zacarías and Justina lived with their daughter Gloria in a small house that was located on the property that was owned by Alberto’s family. Zacarías did whatever he could to earn money. Alberto worked out of his house carving designs into wood – such as beautiful headboards for beds. The original meeting site of El Pari was the open patio area that was part of the property that was owned by Albert’s family. After a time of having meetings either on the open patio or – because it was raining or it was too cold to be outside, inside the house that Alberto’s family owned, Jesús and Josefa built a rustic structure between their house’s front door and the street that ran past the front of their house for the guys, gals and kids who were going to El Pari’s weekly meetings. El Pari’s walls were made of waste wood that was the first cut from a tree that was being sawn for lumber. The number of guys, gals and kids who attended an El Pari service – which was every Sunday morning for Sunday School, every Sunday night for a preaching service, every Tuesday night for a Bible study, every Thursday night for a prayer time and every Saturday night for a youth happening was usually between twenty to thirty guys, gals and kids. El Pari was officially accepted in April of 1979 by A.I.E.O. as a South America Mission affiliated church. After your grandmaa and grandpaa implemented in Concepción, Nuflo de Chávez – in Bolivia, the Bible education and leadership training program, Zacarías and Justina Choque were recruited to be in the second class of Centro de Capacitación (Center of Learning) students. Zacarías and Justina became very good and trusted friends of your grandmaa and grandpaa. After Zacarías finished studying at the rural resident Bible education and leadership training center in Concepción, Zacarías was instrumental in starting up a church in another Santa Cruz barrio where he is the pastor of the church.
Paul – with the help of Timothy and Silas, began in Thessalonica a Christ-follower community of guys and gals. Thessalonica at the time was the largest city in Macedonia. Thessalonica was a bustling seaport city on the Thermaic Gulf. The city of Thessalonica – being located at the juncture of the Ignatia Way and the road that led to the Danube River, was in important communication and trade center. There were about 200,000 guys and gals living in the city of Thessalonica when Paul wrote his letter to the Christ-follower community of guys and gals who were living there. Because Paul had upset some dudes who were living in the city of Thessalonica who apparently were set on killing him, he and Silas abruptly left the city of Thessalonica. Paul ended up in the city of Corinth where he wrote the first letter that he sent to the Christ-follower community of guys and gals in the city of Thessalonica.
1 Thessalonians 1 has Paul impassionedly animating new Thessalonica Christ-follower guys and gals who had left pagan lifestyles to follow the beliefs that he had taught them. These new Thessalonica Christ-follower guys and gals were being persecuted because of their decisions to follow a radical new belief norm – which has them rejecting worshipping all inanimate idol gods. These new Thessalonica Christ-follower guys and gals were receiving very little grounding in their newfound faith. Paul reminds the Thessalonica Christ-follower guys and gals that they had been chosen by God to be His followers – that the words that they had heard and which they had accepted had been words that been spoken through the power and conviction that had been implanted by God – as God the Spirit, in their hearts. Paul reminds the Thessalonica Christ-follower guys and gals in verse 7, “And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” A true conversion to Paul of a guy, gal or kid was to a turning from idols, serving God – as God the Father, and waiting for the return to planet Earth of God – as God the Son. Paul wanted the Thessalonica Christ-follower guys and gals to be imitators of him and guys like Silas and Timothy. Paul wanted the Thessalonica Christ-follower guys and gals to be good examples to other guys and gals even though they were living persecuted lives. Paul clearly has internalized what life is like living only for the one true, living God. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are very thankful that God chose them to enable guys and gals to live hope filled lives.
1 Thessalonians 1 (918)