In Vallegrande, Bolivia, Bright Hope supports the town’s student boarding house, a community pillar known for their Christian love and excellence.
When she was 16 years old, Maria Ehny moved into the student boarding house. At first, she felt uncomfortable with the daily disciplines of prayer, Bible reading and study. But over time, these Christian disciplines brought her comfort and eventually became a true source of strength during a very trying time.
While residing at the student boarding house she received a call from her mother in Italy who, like thousands of other Bolivians, migrate to Europe to work and send money home to their children in Bolivia. The news was very bad: in the apartment that she shared with six other Bolivians in Bergamo, Italy, one of them tested positive for COVID-19.
Because of this, all the other inhabitants were quarantined. All eventually tested positive, and due to the lack of capacity in the region’s hospitals (in addition to being undocumented), the health personnel provided them with medications, gave them instructions on how to take care of their health, and left them in their apartment with wishes for “good luck.”
Feeling sick and fearing the worst, Maria’s mother called to say an emotional goodbye to her daughter.
The young lady began to cry and related the situation to the directors of the student boarding house who, without hesitation, summoned all the residents to a prayer vigil for Maria’s mother. They prayed all night, and the next day everyone encouraged Maria to have faith in God.
Every weekend, Maria would receive a phone call from her mother who reported that although three of her companions had died, her health was improving! And it was not just her physical health that found healing, but more importantly, her spiritual health. Maria’s mother received Christ as her Savior and became confident that just as God cared for her daughter in Vallegrande, Bolivia, He cared for her in Italy!
We praise God for healing this woman’s body and for bringing her into an eternal relationship with Him! This testimony also strengthened the faith of the 39 young men and women at the boarding house, who continue to hold a prayer vigil every Sunday night.
Please pray for those in Bolivia who are infected with the coronavirus. Pray that like with Maria’s mother, the Lord would heal their physical bodies, and also bring many to faith in Christ!
To see other urgent prayer requests, visit our Prayer Wall.
To learn more about how the coronavirus is impacting our partner churches in Bolivia, click here
