Bolivia Focus

Pastor had to leave home for his faith

Photo: Leilan Corani Alvarez, Vice-President of the Iglesia Unión Evangélica (Evangelical Union Church) in Bolivia, who distributes Bible Society Scriptures from the high plains of Oruro, where he lives, to the deep jungles of Bolivia's Amazon rain forest. Oruro, Bolivia. Photo: UBS/Larry Jerden (BOL01DJ-31.JPG)
Leilan Corani Alvarez, Vice-President of the Iglesia Unión Evangélica (Evangelical Union Church) in Bolivia, who distributes Bible Society Scriptures from the high plains of Oruro, where he lives, to the deep jungles of Bolivia's Amazon rain forest. Oruro, Bolivia. Photo: UBS/Larry Jerden (BOL01DJ-31.JPG)

ORURO, Bolivia — When Pastor Leilan Corani Alvarez became a Christian at the age of 14, he was so excited by his new faith that a year later he began preaching on the streets. By the age of 17, he was serving three congregations. But his passion for his faith came with a heavy price - his family did not approve of his activities and kicked him out of their home although he was still a teenager.

“I lost my family for Jesus Christ,” says Mr Corani, who is now vice-president of Iglesia Unión Evangélica (Evangelical Union Church) in Oruro. “My father threw me out of the house and from that day to this I have never lived with my parents.”

Rejection by his family was particularly traumatic for the young man because his parents had previously been Christians and had even named both their sons after missionaries.

“After my parents had been in church about four or five years, they fell back from the Christian life,” Mr Corani recalls. “So as a family we were not part of the church. When I decided to become a Christian this caused a fight in my home because my parents told me that I could not go to church.”

He refused to listen and consequently ended up on the streets. Fortunately, however, that is not the end of the story. “I won my family back to Christ five years later and now my father is working with me in the same congregation,” he smiles. In fact, Mr Corani’s whole family are committed Christians - his brother is a pastor and his wife and five children are active in the church.

“My two eldest children are musicians and play in the church band,” he says. “My eight-year-old is a drummer and my seven-year-old plays the keyboard.”

Central to Mr Corani’s ministry is the Bible, which he studies and from which he preaches in three languages.

“My native language is Aymará, out of necessity I learned Quechua, and at school I learned Spanish,” he explains. “My congregation is mainly Quechua but I hold evangelistic outreaches in all three languages. Every week I have a new outreach, and every other Sunday I am out of my congregation, sharing the Word of God.” (WR 368/26 - 6.02) [PHOTOS]