Beni 2007 Update

Placido and some of the other members of our team, including my sister Sunny (an honorary member), just returned from a trip to the Beni. The Beni is a department (state) in Bolivia that is predominantly rural and jungle. Most of the travel in this area is done by small plane or by boat on the numerous rivers and tributaries that crisscross its green expanse.

Several years ago, God began to lay this area on Placido´s heart. Whether by coincidence or by divine appointment, everything he seemed to pick up to read mentioned the Beni and the needs of the people there. Then, through a meeting and subsequent friendship with Enoel Suarez, a native of the Beni, Placido was able to travel there and meet some people and see first-hand some of the needs.

Since then, Placido has made several trips taking medical supplies and teams that offer dental and medical help as well as programs for the children and the Jesus film. SAM has approved a series of trips made with the purpose of surveying a certain area of the Beni to evaluate the needs and how we as a mission can impact them without being redundant to any other missions currently working in that department.

As a result of the trips made thus far, we believe that one of the greatest needs in terms of Christian work is to offer on-site Bible training to Believers already living in the Beni and to enable them to more effectively reach out to more remote communities where there are no Believers. The trips with teams are fulfilling the second objective and we hope that as a next step in the Beni project we will be able to take teachers with us from Santa Cruz to offer Bible school modules during longer trips.