Why Bolivia?

We’ve been asked that question a lot over the past few months. There are many reasons. First off, we’ve always wanted to move outside the USA and participate in our volunteer ministry full-time. In 2010 we started talking about it seriously, eventually deciding that we’re at the right time in our lives to make such a move—it’s basically now or never! But the question remained, “where?”

Europe was a top choice, especially since we fell in love with France after spending a month there in 2009. But the EU visa requirements made it basically impossible. Our attention then turned to Latin America, a place that felt accessible, offered many diverse countries to choose from, and fit our language/culture preferences. Working our way down the list, we realized that some countries (Mexico, Brazil, etc.) were out because, among other reasons, they’re way too dangerous. Some were amazingly beautiful, but too hot and humid for our tastes. Other countries, like Argentina and Chile, looked promising but again the visa requirements were way too strict. Eventually the list narrowed down to Bolivia—and, well, Bolivia! It was the only place that offered the perfect combination of safety, easy visa requirements, and a big need for volunteer Jehovah’s Witnesses like ourselves. In fact, the JW growth rate in Bolivia is one of the highest in the western hemisphere.

First off, we had to find out where Bolivia actually was! You don’t hear much about it, so we didn’t have many preconceived notions. After doing some research it sounded promising so we decided to make a visit in April-May 2011. Obviously we liked it!

Maybe in the future we’ll post more about our thought process going into making this move. It certainly wasn’t an easy decision, however it’s one we’re ecstatically happy about making. For now, let’s focus on our journey to Bolivia!