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Writer's pictureTia Louise Reilly

Wild Fires Displace Families in the Amazon Rain Forest

Updated: Sep 30

This picture (upper right) is the view of the sky one Sunday morning after I preached in Cochabamba, Bolivia, this month. Cortana is about 8500 feet high, and where the gray haze is, usually appear mountains.  But now everything is under a haze of smoke as the Bolivian portion of the Amazon is on fire.


I've been blessed to be able to minister in Bolivia. For about the last 8 years, I have worked with a church in Santa Cruz Bolivia, First Evangelical Church of Villa 1 de Mayo. For the years that I've known this church, I've been able to visit and teach theology studies to church leaders and participate in other ministries.


Over the years, I have gotten to know Bolivian missionaries Israel and Eliana.  Israel and Eliana travels to and lives in an area, Urubichá, that takes him hours and hours to reach.  This includes a bus ride, a taxi ride, and a canoe ride. 

On this Sunday morning, seeing the smoke of the fires burning in the Amazon, I knew that things were not well where Israel and Eliana and their two small children live and minister.


These fires have consumed 5.4 million hectares.  Twenty percent of the Bolivian Amazon has been destroyed in these, the worst fires in over 50 years. The town where Israel lives and works, Urubichá, is about 314 miles from Cochabamba, and is a community originally founded by the Jesuits in the 1500s. The people there speak the tupi or guarayo languages, and they are known for making hammocks.  But right now, the town has been evacuated and the community moved to safer locations.


Our hope and mission is to be ready for the aftermath, for the recovery, when the people are allowed back to their homes.  We want to provide for the people here:  non-perishable food (rice, noodles, flour) and medications such as eye drops and others that can help with infections caused by smoke. To provide for this as well as for a rental vehicle to deliver the supplies, we are working to raise $1,500. Members of the Church of Villa 1 de Mayo (Santa Cruz) will be servicing the delivery of the aid.


If you feel led to help with this project, you may contribute online HERE. In the notes section, please write in "Bolivia/Amazon." If you would prefer paying in another way, please contact us at reilly.clr@gmail.com


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