Farewell To Alfredo

Alfredo on the left with a friend and his brother

Alfredo Choque was both my student and a friend. I first met Alfredo when he became the co-pastor at the Linaje De Dios church here in Santa Cruz. At that time I was attending the church for a number of months and teaching the adult Sunday School class. Alfredo was a young man with a wife and perhaps three small children at that point. He and his wife María would eventually have four children altogether. Alfredo was fairly quiet but had a ready smile. He began attending my Bible Institute classes somewhere along the line and was a faithful student. When the head pastor was assigned to a different church, Alfredo was designated as pastor for the church and his family moved into the "parsonage" of the church - one small room that was attached to the sanctuary of the church. (I said at the time that the reason why they reassigned the other pastor was because he was single and so it was a waste of space to only have one person living in the parsonage when they could put a family of five into it.)

As Alfredo served as the pastor he now was required to preach every Sunday, I watched with interest as his preaching skills, along with his message content, improved. It seemed that the district had a potential solid leader in Alfredo. But it was not to be. After an extended stint as pastor Alfredo announced that his family would be moving to the other side of town where they had purchased a lot. They would live there. The distance would make it impossible for him to continue as pastor.

So Alfredo dropped out of sight. After returning from our last deputation time in the States I was inquiring about Alfredo and his family. The news was not good. Alfredo had returned to the world, was drinking again and had separated from María. In the midst of all this he had contacted a serious health problem with his kidneys, I think it was. He was in Argentina and his relatives in Bolivia were trying to locate a potential organ donor should lit become necessary. But God seldom allows these things to happen without seeking some redemptive purpose. I never did know all the details of just what took place or how, but through this illness Alfredo was reconciled to María and both to God again.

These past months Alfredo and his family have been active again in the Linaje church. But this past week he needed to travel to Potosí, (he was originally from there) trying to obtain some document that he needed. One night he went to bed feeling fine but sometime in the night or early morning slipped into a coma. It was decided to try to bring him to Santa Cruz, probably for treatment, but he did not survive the trip.He buried this past week.

Alfredo's death leaves María in a precarious position without a source of income and four children to care for. Although Alfredo had a steady job (he built concrete sinks for washing clothes) there is little money as any savings they may have had had been spent during his illness. María will not be able to take over his business. Her family would like her to return to the town where she grew up but her children are in school here in Santa Cruz and, as she says, if she goes, they will help her for a couple of months but then what? So she hopes to stay here in Santa Cruz. There is a market near her home that has booths for sale where she could set up shop. The booth would cost her around $500 and she would need another $500 to stock items for sale. There is hope that her family will be able to assist her. Also the church is planning to do what it can to help. We in the mission will probably contribute as well. If you or your church would also like to help María get back on her feet, you can send donations to Evangelical Church Missions, 9421 West River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55444. Please indicate that it is an offering for María - Bolivia. Thank you very much.