The Jesuit Missions

Last weekend a group of 14, some short term volunteers and some language school students went to the Jesuit Missions outside of Santa Cruz. Those who are familiar with the movie "The Mission" are familair with the story of the work of the Jesuits in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although the film is set in Paraguay there is a similar history with the work of the Jesuits here in Bolvia. I was very interested in the history of the missions as well as the Baroque Music which was part of the training of the Jesuits for the Chiquito people. After arriving in Santa Cruz we traveled 5 hours to the first mission of San Xavier and then traveled onto the second mission of Conception. There are both fine examples of the work of the Jesuits and both were restored in the mid 1980's by the artisan Hans Roth. He not only restored the churches but trained many of the local people as artisans who still work in wood up to today. The local Vicaria still has a school that trains about 150 local men a year in the crafts/ We had a very good visit and some of the Jesuit students who were with us continued on to visit 3 other missions over the next few days. It was a good experience and a chance to grow in my understanding of the Jesuit reductions and their place in the Mission history of Bolivia. This coming week I will be taking a few of ourt short term volunteers up to La Paz to explore that area of the country for a few days. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. i am looking forward to coming back to New York and New Jersey the last 2 weeks of August and catching up with as many people as possible.