New friends, Grace and Viro, visit the Cristo de la Concordia statue atop San Pedro Hill near Cochabamba, Bolivia.
MARY ELLEN WEYLANDT VISITED Bolivia for the very first time when she was a kid, just 11 years old. She came with her dad, helping to build the youth center at Emmanuel Methodist Church. Over the next decade Mary Ellen made return trips to Bolivia, serving with youth missions teams and then returning alone to stay with missionaries Wilson and Nora Boots. Now in her mid-20s, Mary Ellen traveled with St. Paul’s youth on their 2016 mission trip, where Bolivian women offer their hospitality by preparing meals for the mission team.
she reconnected with a Bolivian teen named Viro, whom she used to babysit in years past. Over the week-long stay, as teens from St. Paul’s interacted with Emmanuel youth and collaborated on work projects, Mary Ellen noticed how Spanishspeaking Viro befriended English-speaking Grace. Despite the fact that Viro and Grace do not speak the same language, they still became close buddies and worked and played side by side.
THE ST. PAUL’S FOUNDATION INVESTS IN LONG-TERM, LIFETRANSFORMING RELATIONSHIPS. It’s relationships like these—relationships formed over time through multiple encounters together—
G LO B A L M I S S I O N S
that make the mission connection all the more
2015 2016
authentic and mutual. Emmanuel Church knows
Global Missions Fund
6,539
6,299
that St. Paul’s will be there for the long-haul. Just
Mission for Latin America
7,011
7,085
251,304
257,888
as Viro and Grace linked arms as friends, St. Paul’s Wilson & Nora Boots Fund for Methodist Mission in South America
continues its commitment to link arms with its sister church in Bolivia to support her endeavors for vibrant, transformative ministry.
For more information, see footnote on page 21.
2 0 1 6 A N N UA L R E P O RT
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