Bolivia

Andrew Esser-HainesThe below is a part of a letter sent during my work in La Paz Bolivia, it references my experiences in an evangelical Quaker Church in the city of La Paz in which I was asked to share a personal testimonial in preparation to preach to the congregation.

Fourth month twenty fifth day two thousand and second year.

...As for this past Sunday and giving my testimonial in church there is much that I could say. What feels most present is to say that I felt like I was giving a performance (which is basically what I was asked to do). It was not giving a message, and I hope that when I do get the opportunity to serve as pastor it will be more spirit led. That said, it felt really good to share openly about my spiritual journey. I have found that one of the great things here is that I do not feel any need of being accepted and for that reason I feel much more comfortable going ahead and laying out ALL of my belief system, talking about Jesus and about social work, about following God and about interpreting scripture. I feel like most times in the US I hold back some pieces because I am worried of what people might think.