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Aymara
Strategy Group
Bolivia
IMB, SBC
We hope that you will become our partner in Prayer for the Aymara people and for God's work to bring salvation to them.
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Total Population:
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700,000 +
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Need:
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7,000 churches
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Have:
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344 churches
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Need:
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6,656 Church Starts
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Have:
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1 Southern Baptist, IMB missionary - Linda Baker
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Need:
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Southern Baptist volunteers and at least 10 Southern Baptist churches, one church to adopt each district
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El Alto, Bolivia
El Alto is the highest city in the world at 13,555 feet above sea level. People who buy tickets to La Paz (one of the capitals of Bolivia) land in El Alto and take a taxi or bus ride to La Paz which lies over 1000 feet down the mountain. Living at this altitude means one adjusts to the cold. Temperatures vary little - low of 20 degrees F to highs in the 60s. In the months of May - August, it is dry with gusty winds and strong sunlight. October to March is rainy season so it is cloudy part of the day and the terrain is muddy. Homes in El Alto are mostly made of adobe or fire brick with no insulation.
El Alto is the youngest city in Bolivia, recently celebrating the 20th year of being founded. It is a city of migrants with most of the population coming from the outlying rural areas of the high plains and settling in El Alto. They come in search of a job and a better life but usually end up disappointed. Despite the frustrations of the city and lack of work, the population continues to grow at an annual rate of 5-7% which means it is the fastest growing city in Bolivia. The majority of the population is of Aymara descent and speak Aymara but also by necessity speak Spanish as well. The statistics vary but one report indicates that 40% of the population is between the ages of 0 and 14 years. Another report indicates that 60% is under the age of 25. The older adult population (more than 65 years) is only 2.7%. The inhabitants of El Alto are considered to be the poorest with 66.9% of them living in poverty.
The city is composed of 9 districts at this time with the city of Viacha nearby. The main religion is Catholic but there are evangelical churches also. We have found 344 throughout the city and this includes 23 Baptist churches and missions with the remainder being Assembly of God churches, Pentecosts, Presbyterian, Methodists, Lutheran, "prosperity-doctrine" type churches and Adventists. Most churches have around 50 members but some may have as few as 5. Despite the number of churches, the majority are not growing to keep pace with the population growth nor are they multiplying. The majority are traditional and very inward focused. They also lack vision for how to reach the young people and children of El Alto. They need a good model of adults teaching, caring for, and taking responsibility for the children, as God's Word instructs us to do.
There is a great necessity for discipleship training and leadership training (of local lay leaders). God desires that every believer (disciple) becomes an active participant in carrying His Word to others. This type of training and modeling needs to take place among the believers here. The churches here are in desperate need of encouragement, training and modeling. Could God be calling you and your church to take an active part in reaching the Aymara of El Alto?
Pray and read about the need of each district and seek God about adopting a district to pray for and to come and help in evangelism, discipling, and training local leaders so they can and will train others in order that churches can multiply rapidly in El Alto to keep pace with the population growth in order to give every inhabitant of El Alto the opportunity to become a disciple of Christ and to make more disciples.
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District 1 - Population 99,920
Urbanizations: 30
Total evangelical churches: 23 in 10 urbanizations
Urbanizations without churches: 20
Need at least one U.S. church to partner with local churches in 3-4 large pockets of lostness.
District 2 - Population 75,212
Urbanizations: 71
Total evangelical churches: 49 in 21 urbanizations
Urbanizations without churches: 50
Need at least one U.S. church to partner with local churches.
District 3 - Population 134,893
Urbanizations: 133
Total Evangelical Churches: 60 in 44 urbanizations
Urbanizations without churches: 89
Need at least one U.S. church to partner with local churches.
District 4 - Population 91,598
Urbanizations: 61
Total Evangelical churches: 52 in 29 urbanizations
Urbanizations without churches: 32
Need at least one U.S. church to partner with local churches.
District 5 - Population 89,191
Urbanizations: 53
Total Evangelical churches: 61 in 22 urbanizations
Urbanizations without churches: 31
Need at least one U.S. church to partner with local churches.
District 6 - Population 101,493
Urbanizations 20
Total Evangelical Churches: 60 in 14 urbanizations
Urbanizations without churches: 6
Need at least one U.S. church to partner with local churches.
District 7 - Population 24,672
Urbanizations: 85
Total Evangelical churches: 16 in 5 urbanizations
Urbanizations without churches: 80
Need one U.S. church to partner with local churches.
District 8 - Population 39,561
Urbanizations: 150
Total Evangelical Churches: 23 in 5 urbanizations
Urbanizations without churches: 145
Need one U.S. church to partner with local churches.
District 9 - Population 2,608
Newly formed district so details are not yet available.
No churches in this district yet.
Need one U.S. church to partner with local churches.
Viacha - Population 66,142
Total Evangelical churches: 4
Need at least one U.S. church to partner with local churches.
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