Thursday, September 21, 2023, was supposed to be an uneventful day for Memo Dominguez (senior, psychology) and fellow student missionaries from Southern Adventist University (SAU). Twice a week, a bus service takes passengers from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to Rurrenabaque, Bolivia, near Familia Feliz, the orphanage and school where Memo and other student missionaries are spending the school year. The team was supposed to take the twenty-hour trip that has taken many student missionaries to Rurrenabaque.
Memo arrived in Bolivia on Friday, September 15, less than a week before his bus was supposed to leave for Familia Feliz, where he would spend the rest of the 2023- 2024 school year serving as a home parent to 12 boys or “sons,” Memo describes. This process is familiar for student missionaries arriving for their calls in Bolivia. Student missionaries initially arrive at the Santa Cruz airport with their passports, where they purchase a visitor visa. Students then stay roughly a week at Red ADVenir, Bolivia’s Seventh-Day Adventist television station. During this time, a local lawyer helps the students apply for and receive temporary residency in Bolivia. It is “complicated to get a visa. Bolivia is allied with Russia and China,” explains Memo. During the application process, American student missionaries surrender their United States passports and await notification that they can retrieve their passports in La Paz after their temporary residency is fully authorized.
After completing the temporary residency application process and receiving notification the process was underway, Memo and two other student missionaries left Santa Cruz for Rurrenabaque on September 21. As they waited to board the bus, He observed the driver loading luggage on top of the bus. Memo reports the next moments “felt scripted.” Almost immediately after leaving the station, Memo saw sparks flying everywhere! The bus came to a halt as sparks continued to fall to the ground. Soon, Memo and the other passengers left the bus, where they met a growing mob of people. As the confrontation escalated between the mob and the bus driver, Memo realized the severity of the situation. Their bus had snagged a low-hanging power line in the neighborhood and dragged it to the ground. The area was overtaken by darkness and without electricity!
Initially, He was content with the situation, “laughing it off.” However, he was soon “kind of freaking out,” Memo reports, “they weren’t telling us what was happening!” As the night grew later, the situation became even grimmer for Memo and the SAU students. Soon, the authorities confiscated the bus, and panic began setting in. “[my] only form of working on a Bolivian Visa” was on board the bus, reports Memo. Initially, he thought he could reboard the bus and retrieve his belongings. However, as the situation escalated and authorities became involved, the team, their luggage, and documents were separated.
Memo reports staying at the bus station most of the night, first sleeping on a bench outside before joining other passengers on pieces of cardboard inside the station. Finally, around 3 a.m. Memo and his team found a taxi and returned to Red ADVenir. After talking with other passengers on the bus, Memo found out the bus was impounded at a junkyard in town. Memo reports joining a group of passengers the following day to retrieve his belongings and documents from the bus. Memo and his team were stranded in Santa Cruz until Friday, September 25, when another bus was available. Still, this second attempt was not without problems. Memo reports the 20-hour bus ride to Rurrenabaque soon became 28 hours as he and the team waited at a roadblock on Saturday, September 26. “Satan’s trying to work against us!” recalls Memo.
Memo explains that his parents were also student missionaries. “I have wanted to be a student missionary since high school,” he explains. Memo initially accepted a call to a children’s home in Honduras. However, little did he know the crazy adventure that was waiting for him. Shortly after summer started plans for Honduras fell through. As a result, he chose to accept the call to Bolivia. Memo still has a positive outlook for the year regardless of the last minute changes and scary start to the year. He reports that he looks forward to the challenge, connecting with the students, and growing his spiritual life.
If you are interested in becoming a student missionary or want to learn more about student missions contact Teela Ruehle or visit the CFE Office.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.