Los Cedros: Explosion

Have you ever been so lost with something you just feel like it might be time to pack it up?  Maybe a puzzle or a video game?  Maybe a math problem?  Maybe your financial situation?  Well for us, for me, it was Los Cedros.  I didn’t know what to make of this neighborhood.

Since it is a working class neighborhood, many people are away at work.  Many of the women stay in the house, taking care of the house.  Kids roam the streets, especially in the summer time.  It was an enigma to me, and I was all for us focusing on other things in Pacifico instead of developing something here.

Mark, on the other hand knew God was saying, keep things going.  Since we are a team, and I am wrong often enough, I was 100% behind him... but I wanted answers.  “How are we going to do this?  What is the vision?  What is the direction?" 

The answer?  Prayer and let Ronald do what he does.

What does that mean? 

Well Ronald, is one of those people that is a natural evangelist. Without forced language Ronald is always taking about who Jesus is, and what He did.  Kids gravitate towards him.  He teaches the guitar to them.  He teaches them worship songs.  He throws water balloons at them.  He gets so wrapped up with sharing Jesus, sometimes he forgets to come to lunch.

When Mark, Anna, Amanda, and I said it was time to reduce Ronald’s work load to free him up to evangelize, we thought it might take at least three to six months.  Wrong.  As soon as we said “go” the next thing we know our Sunday evening worship time tripled.

Since it is summer time, we have decided to wait to start any cell groups, until after they start school.  That way we can get to know them in informal ways, by playing volleyball and soccer with them.  The kids also come around for birthday parties, and conversation times.  They hang out, watch us pray, and even sing with us... because they like to sing the worship songs.   

We don’t know what the future holds, but we are excited to see what God is doing right now!

Calleria: Up the Amazon River.

(If you missed part one and two... CLICK HERE!!!)

 To get to Calleria, you have to navigate all sorts of small streams, and open river water.  Since it is the rainy season the trip takes between three and five hours.  If it is dry season, the trip starts at seven hours and goes up.  It was surreal to be on the boat, talking and laughing, even singing some praise songs while we took in the newness of God’s creation around us.

(Photo by Anna Burgess)

 As we floated along the river, we saw pockets of mestizos (which means mixed people), and Shipibo communities that randomly pop up out of nowhere.  At one point I turned on the GPS for my phone to see where we were.  The river was so flooded, to the satellite I looked like I was in the middle of the jungle vegetation.  I have never been off the map before.

 

As we arrived, there was no grand welcome.  We just pulled up the boat, got the stuff off, talked with the Church leaders, and then we started pitching our tents. 

Mistake one: never go to a jungle community that lives beside the river during the rainy season.The mosquitos are horrendous. 

As the sun began to set we were told that it would be smart for us to get ready for bed and into our tents as quickly as possible, so we would still have some blood left before morning time.  As we had just jumped into our tents, all sweaty and tired, we got a knock on our door. 

“They are having a church service tonight to welcome you.  It starts at 7:30.”

That was in 10 minutes.

WTP.  Welcome to Peru.

After waiting a while for the service to start, (we were on jungle time), Amanda went back to the tent for a little bit to put on long pants. Upon her return to the church she looked like she had just seen something horrible.  She had.  A tarantula was under our bag.  What made the moment even better is that as we were worshipping, another tarantula was in the banisters right above the women.  Amanda jumped and screamed a little.  All the people got a kick out of that, as she grabbed me and made me switch places. 

Our worship time was lively on our part.  Not so much because the Spirit was moving, but more because we realized clapping our hands and stomping our feet keeps the mosquitos off.  (We were slightly distracted).  Although the Shipibo worship is very monotone, they do love to keep beat with a drum, so we didn’t look too crazy.  (For the record: it is a very emotional experience to hear a people group worship in a language that you have never really heard before.  We would completely recommend that experience). 

After the service ended, and our welcome from the spiders and the people were completed, we jumped back into our tents.  Literally.  The mosquitos were blanketing us.  We spent the next 20 minutes killing all of those that had snuck into our tent.  Then as we dozed off were were greeted by the sound of four bats and a rat.  Amanda did not sleep well at all.  Through the fits of my laughter, I dozed in and out, but all hope was lost for a good nights rest.

The next day after moving our tent and using the hole in the ground, we began our day.

Life is so simple there, and apart from the mosquitos, there is something very wonderful about the feeling of the community.  It feels close knit and safe.  The men were out working and fishing, and the women took care of the children, and made homemade crafts.  I went exploring for a bit, and go to know some of the people.

In our time there we did do some teaching and encouragement, and we did get to relax a bit.  However the highlight moments were the conversation time with the elders, the ministry times, and the medical campaign.

One of the things we learned from our time in San Juan was how to ask questions and explain things in a way that the Shipibo think and understanding.  Words like “feelings” are actually translated more like “thoughts.”  So when saying something like “what are you feeling inside?”  It is translated into “what are you thinking inside?”  So when we learned some of the nuances, it really helped us when we talked to the pastors and elders.  Apart from that, Marcial, a Shipibo man that lives in Lima, traveled with us to help translate the entire trip.  He was amazing. 

(Photo by Anna Burgess)

Our time with the pastor and elders was so satisfying.  We had an extremely productive conversation that was very clear and encouraging.  It started off awkwardly because they kept asking us, “is this the last time we will see you?”  They were really concerned.  We thought maybe we were complaining too much about the bugs but what we had come to find out is that the Church was used to people coming and going.  

 

The original church was planted about 60-80 years ago by American missionaries.  We don’t know what happened or why they left, but after they were gone, the Church was run by the locals.  Ideally this is great, but it ended up hurting instead of helping.  Unfortunately when the community was on its’ own, they had not been trained on how to encourage and grow a Church body.  What they explained to us is that slowly the entire community, 90% of which were once Christians, is now down to only a third of the people as believers in Jesus.  

The last pastor was very honest with us, and told us how burnt out he was.  They did not really know where to go with the community, or the church.  They weren’t sure what to do as individual leaders or as a team.  However, God had given them passion and a vision.  They were not sure how to get the results they could imagine in their minds.

We found out that almost the entire community can read at a relatively high level.  The women speak and understand Spanish and Shipibo.  The kids receive a secondary level education as of the past 10-20 years. 

After talking with several people, we have discovered that this is a jungle anomaly.  From our understanding communities like these suffer a great deal from illiteracy and language deficiencies.  So what we were seeing is that with the right resources and discipleship these people are primed to reach out to tribes even further down the river which would be unreachable for us.

I mentioned resources.  We also found out that only 30% of the Christians in the Church have Bibles.

Those that do have Bibles are currently using the Reina-Valera edition, which uses a type of spanish that most Peruvians don’t even use.  So for a community that uses Spanish as a secondary language it can cause some difficulty when they try and read and study their Bibles.

God put a conviction on our hearts after that conversation, and we are exploring how we  help them with discipleship, equip them, and get Bibles that they can read and study, into their hands.

During the ministry times, we were able to pray for the people as they responded to the teachings.  During that time we laid hands on people and prayed for the things that the Holy Spirit convicted us to pray.  This was especially necessary because although most people can speak Spanish, they are shy and self-conscious about their ability to speak, (we can relate to that), so they rarely talked.  

If God put anything on our hearts for people, we shared that with them, whether it was a verse, or images, or words of encouragement.

As I prayed for one woman, suddenly an image of a beautiful tree popped into my mind.  It was right by a river flowing.  It looked like the tree was supposed to be bearing fruits but it wasn’t.  However, it was really close to doing so.  The tree just needed a couple of things to make it fruitful.  I shared the picture I had in my mind, not knowing if God might be trying to share something with her.  Then later I found out that Mark also prayed for her, and God put on his heart to encourage her in her walk, to put aside the things of before, and to worship God with all of her heart.  Those things would yield fruitfulness, and would be example to the people around her.

Later we found out that the woman was the Pastor’s wife.  They just recently took on the role of leaders for the church, and it has been a real struggle for them to find the balance between work, ministry, and their personal lives with God.  That was definitely encouraging to see how God was using us to encourage them.

One other experience I had was when I prayed for an elderly man.  When I first saw him he  reminded me of the cartoon man from the movie “UP.”  Aside for the soft place I had in my heart for him, in my prayer time I was really drawn to him as well.  So I went over to pray for him.  As I prayed for him, I felt so drawn into the presence of God, I was humbled.  From head to toe, I just felt electrifying peace.  It was for a few moments and then left as I closed in prayer, but I felt like that man had been used to minister to me, more than I had to him.  (It had been a trying trip between tiredness, the heat, the planning, etc.)

We closed our time with a small medical outreach.  Haseena, one of the interns, came to Peru to love people, improve her language skills, and use her doctoral knowledge to serve.  Since she is a doctor, it is always helpful to set something up to encourage and edify the community.  We were able to pray for every patient, hug them, teach them about parasites, and meet any other needs with treatments that we could provide.  

Everyone on the team helped, even Anna who was watching the boys.  She was killing chickens and cooking for us (with the help of some other people).  She even got to spend some time teaching the women, which was a treat for them. 

Our time came to a quick close and before we knew it they were giving us a goodbye service.   They danced for us and sang, we sang for them, then we danced with them, and then we received a hug/kiss from every person in the building.

Then they opened up a mini-market for us, so we could buy some crafts if we saw something that caught our eye.   In minutes the market seemingly materialized out of thin air.  I wanted to buy all the crafts to help them, because it is their only source of income, but it was not possible for me or Amanda to do so.

The next morning we woke up at 5am, got all the stuff packed up and head back down the river.  We saw birds, wild monkeys, biting ants, oh and dolphins.  Actually we saw dolphins mostly on the way there, but I think one person saw one on the way back.

After our arrival back to the hotel we had our last team lunch together. In the evening we crashed, ate something, and then crashed again.  It had been a few days since a shower, and a good sleep.  It was a simple life, but one we were not used to.  Although I do miss drinking fresh coconut milk in the hot sun.

So where do we go from here? 

We are praying for that in 2012.  Both communities in San Juan, and in Calleria, are asking for us to encourage them and teach them about discipleship and  leadership.  What we are praying about is for Marcial to come back to Pulcallpa, and be our eyes, ears, and mouth.  We are praying that somehow we can raise enough support for him and his family to cover what he makes as a teacher, and get him doing what these people need, and what he loves to do. 

We are also looking into getting Bibles in both communities.  Audio Bibles, Spanish Bibles, Shipibo Bibles, and study resources will all go very far towards training these people up.

Finally, we are hoping to do at least one seminar a year, plus take a short term team there from America or the UK to help them build things a bit faster, and help equip the Body to go out and be Light. 

We are praying to stay in the Lord’s will, because we understand that “new” is always fun.  We just want to do what He wants, and we know if we do that, all the things we need will be provided for us!

Pucallpa- A Simple Life.

In the hustle and bustle of a city the size of Lima, it is very easy to get bogged down

with the day to day. Like most major cities, it has its trappings, distractions, poor air,

and smells. We are grateful that God has called us here for many reasons, but when

He calls us to the jungle, it is a special (and welcomed) treat.

A couple of months earlier we began talking to the leaders of a local church about the

potential of coming to visit them again to see what God is saying in terms of a

relationship. After a couple of years of outreach and communication by Mark and Anna,

we felt like it was time to see if God was calling us to invest in the people over the long

term, or if it was time to let them grow in their own fields, self-sufficiently.

In order to do that we needed to spend quality time with them, getting to know the

people. Obviously, the best way to do that is face to face, so we decided to spend two

weeks devoted to getting to know the people in Pucallpa.

The experience was eye opening.

We had two community focuses. The first is a community outside the city of Pulcallpa,

called San Juan. It is a small church community where they mostly farm and work in

wood factories. Our original thought was to spend time with them, let them ask

questions, we would ask questions, and then see if there were some areas that God

was telling us to help them. Letʼs just say it didnʼt start with a *bang*.

We found out that the Church was really struggling. People werenʼt happy. The Pastor

had disappeared, (which is not uncommon for church leaders it seems). Hardly anyone

was coming to the services and there was no discipleship going on.

That took almost three days of questions and teachings to find that out from the leaders.

Were we asking the wrong questions? No. Was it a cultural or language barrier? In

some ways, yes, because their first language is not Spanish, itʼs Shipibo, a jungle

language. However the real reason for the problems resulted in their lack of training in

ministry, and in communication.

No one had really taken the time to sit down with any of these leaders and explain to

them about ministry and leadership, and what a healthy church body looks like.

Discipleship, and what that entailed, had never even occurred to them. They were

obedient to God by planting a church, they just did not know what to do from there.

Once we realized their struggles, it gave us a ton of motivation to love on them more

and spend some time getting to know them and in order to make their ministry more

fruitful!

We had split up into four groups: leaders, women, youth and children. The youth time went

well, and we saw a drive and excitement as they kids sang songs and learned about

having a relationship with God.

The womenʼs work was altogether difficult. Many of the

women did not speak or understand Spanish. Some could not read or write, and they

had medical ailments that were bothering them. Yet Anna, Amanda, and Rosa worked it

out, teaching them about spending time with God, and listening to Him in their lives.

This is what they did (from Amanda):

"We used a seed to define our relationship with God. When a seed is

planted, it starts to grow roots. The roots signify the depth of our

relationship. But sometimes we come across "stones" or obstacles. One

day we focused on the obstacles. Each of the women took a paper "stone"

and drew what their obstacles were. We talked about how to overcome

those obstacles in order to continue growing deep. The next day we talked

about the "fruit" of our relationship. Each woman took a paper "fruit" and

drew about the good fruits that are grown from a healthy relationship

with God. It sounds very simple, but the women really connected with it!"

 

 

In terms of the teaching time for leaders, we spent a couple of days throwing things at

them, and we were hitting real walls. Nothing was sticking, and you could see it all over

their faces. Then one day God did something.

We were sitting on the porch of a shack because it had been pouring rain, and we

began teaching. We were teaching about church leadership, and what that looks like.

The men were really focused, and taking notes like crazy, which is not a cultural norm

with the Shipibo people, as we learned from previous experiences. The real spiritual

breakthrough could be seen because people from the community suddenly began to

arrive as we talked about what God calls the church to be. As we wrote on paper held

up by gum, people began gathering to see what these gringos were teaching. It was

encouraging to see the local ice cream man stop working so he could hear a bit more

about the Body of Christ.

We finished out two days with worship. In one of those days, Amanda and Ronald

began to sing, and the skies opened up and God let it rain. It poured and poured. As

the water hit the roof, it created a time of beholding Godʼs majesty, as we thanked Him

for salvation through worship. We prayed for people, laying hands on the sick, asking

for Godʼs healing.

To be honest, it was difficult, because this Church is fighting so much right now. There

is a lot of oppression amongst the people and the leaders. So whenever there seemed

like people might let their wall down, something would creep up, and the door would

shut.

However, there was one moment for me, as I was praying for one of the men whose

church title would probably be “Director.” He has a hard time reading his Bible because

of his poor eyesight. He is thirsty for the word of God, but sells himself short because

he is not “trained.” Yet, half the witch doctors in the area know him and his love for

Jesus. So as Amanda was singing, and Ronald was playing to God, I walked over

behind them, where he stood in prayer.

I began praying for God to put a fire in his heart. I donʼt know why completely, it was

just something that God convicted me to pray for. In my mind I figured it was because

he has so much contact with people that are living dark spiritual lives. Godʼs fire can

burn through that stuff like fatwood. At that moment, he started praying fervently to

God. I looked down at his crossed arms and I heard that small voice saying to

me to uncross this manʼs arms, and help him lift them up to praise before God. So I did.

Those moments of seeing him give his heart to God in real, authentic worship. I donʼt

have words for that...

click HERE for part two...

Perseverance vs. Endurance

As always we try and tell you where we are at in our ministry.  Sometimes it is tongue and cheek.  Sometimes it is informative.  Sometimes it is real.  Today is a real day.  

When we decided to come to Peru, not only did we think it was crazy, a lot of other people did too.  I remember sending an email to Pastor Pepe, and asking him if being there was something they really needed.  “Was being in Peru something that was going to edify and uplift the Church?”  I was nervous about leaving our life.  Leaving our work.  Leaving our money.  Leaving our family.  Leaving our friends.  Leaving our dogs.

I don’t really talk about that email very often, because when Pastor Pepe wrote back, God put His peace in our hearts to go.  It was a difficult decision, but one we were positive we needed to make.  So we made it.  

We made the decision quickly.  We talked to people with passion, but inexperience was written all over us.  We had no idea what to expect, and how long it would take.  We knew we were being called for more than a year, but in our lack of faith, we said we would only be going for a year.  I say lack of faith, because in a way we only planned for a year because we thought that was all we could feasibly do financially.

In the ups and downs there have been several consistent thorns.  Sickness.  Sadness.  Loneliness.  Finances.  Reliance on others.  Lack of freedom.  Cultural barriers.  

And I would wake up, and feel so frustrated.  So confused.  Because I knew we were here for a reason.  It was so hard to wake up, and sit, and think of my weaknesses and realize that I am failing.  Was I not eating at the right places?  Were we being good stewards of our money?  Are we tithing enough?  Am I encouraging people correctly?  Is my English a hinderance?

There is no one here on this Earth more aware of our weaknesses than ourselves.  We beat ourselves up every day about it.  We second guess ourselves everyday over it.  

Then Pastor Pepe preached on a verse last Thursday:

 “9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I wake up EVERY SINGLE DAY asking God if I should pack my bags, and go.  Amanda does too.  We are so focused on our weaknesses, and what we could not do.  We completely forgot that in our weaknesses His power is great.  (But I am not done.  Because even though we had that realization, it goes deeper).

This is what I read today:

 “ ‘Be still, and know that I am God . . .’ —Psalm 46:10 

Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for— love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men— will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.

If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, ‘because you have kept My command to persevere . . .’ (Revelation 3:10).

 Continue to persevere spiritually.”

-Oswald Chambers

When I set aside all of the junk, all of the lies that we hear on a daily basis that are made to discourage us, I feel the need to persevere.  I feel like if we left right now, we would be agreeing that He can be conquered.  If we leave right now, we will be saying that Jesus is not bigger than our fears, our problems, our weaknesses.  He is using us.  People are getting to know Jesus, and it is in deeper ways.  Amanda is worship God in front of the Church, and people are experiencing worship in ways that make me worship louder and with more passion for my God.  

So I am looking to live this way:  “endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen.”

We are weak.  He is Strong.  He is God, we are man.  We will delight and trust.  He will Provide Perfectly.  It is going to happen.  Our hopes, and dreams for these people and this nation.  It will happen.

I will love you Jesus.  Take my heart Jesus. Take all that I have Jesus. How I adore you.

Cantar- To Sing

 I like to sing. I don’t claim to be very good but I am not tone deaf. I’ve been in my share of choirs, musicals, and ensembles. Being in Peru has been a new challenge, in all aspects, but especially in one way I didn’t expect: Music. Of course the language in Peru is Spanish, but I guess I hadn’t thought about the fact that the worship on Sunday’s would also be in Spanish. Below is the play by play of my experience with Sunday morning worship.

 The first couple of weeks: Interesting, to say the least. My brain was on overload trying to understand anything and everything. If we sang a familiar song I would unintentionally focus more on the English, singing it quietly to myself. I didn’t realize I was missing out on the blessing of worshiping God in a completely new way, but when you don’t understand anything going on around you, you tend to hold on tightly to what you do know.

 Fast forward a few months: Singing the same handful of songs can really boost your confidence. I felt like I was finally grasping the general idea of the music. I knew the tune and could keep up with the pace. Granted, I still had no idea about the literal translation of the words, but it was better than nothing. At this point this is what my thought process probably sounded like, “Spanish word Spanish word JESUS Spanish word Spanish word LIFE Spanish word  Spanish Word AND Spanish Word...” You get the idea. At this point I was becoming more interested in learning how to translate the songs, rather than my limited understanding.

 At one point I had started thinking about what it might be like to not only sing in Spanish, but also understand everything I was singing, giving me the opportunity to really worship. It had crossed my mind to ask about joining the worship team, but I was not confident and kept the thought to myself. However, shortly thereafter Shaun approached me with the same question, “Have you ever thought about joining the worship team.” Coincidence? I think not.

 After praying about it and weighing the pros and cons I finally mustered up the courage to ask. The worst thing that could happen is that I would get a big, fat, “NO”. (I actually expected it. I’m trying to work on the confidence thing) I had my supporting speech all ready, “I’m not the best, but I really think I would learn more Spanish, it would help me practice my pronunciation, and maybe even help me become more confident.” I didn’t even get to the speech. All I had to do was ask and Cesar (the leader and a friend of ours) said, “Of course!” Turns out they were in the final stages of changing several things about worship, including new music and some new members. He said I would be coming in at the perfect time! We decided that I would sit in on a few weekly practices before becoming active just to get a little more comfortable.

 3 weeks ago: I joined the team for my first practice run. There were 3 of us; Carlos (Lead singer), Cesar (Guitar) and me (uhhh). It was then that I found out that the worship team would be Carlos, me and one other girl, Giselle, but that she was not able to make it to practice during the week and would join us for practice before the service on Sunday. I was then handed brand new music (I had never heard) and practice began. I butchered my way through the first practice, but you have to start somewhere! They left me the music and the lyrics so I could work on them during the week and asked if I was ready to sing with them on Sunday. I thought they were kidding, but they were serious. I decided against it, but agreed to join them for practice on Sunday morning, just to get used to it. Practice went well, and as I went to take my seat Cesar said, “So, you’re going to sing with us today, right?” I. went. numb. but after regaining feeling I somehow let them talk me into joining them. Shaun had reminded me that it wasn’t a performance for anyone, but it was praise to God. I tried to keep that in mind, but I kept my eyes on my lyrics and my thoughts on the pronunciation. During a pause I glanced up and I realized that not one person was looking at me, and that’s when I was reminded that this was not about me. It was a very humbling experience!

 Over the past 2 weeks I have really focused on practicing my Spanish and understanding the translation to each song. I can’t say I don’t get a little nervous right before worship starts, but as I focus more on the music and less on myself or the people around me, the nervousness goes away. I want this to be something I remember as a blessing. I want to be able to tell people that God allowed me, an American that speaks English, the opportunity to praise Him in another country with their language.

 For me it’s really exciting that now, instead of this:

“Spanish word Spanish word JESUS Spanish word Spanish word LIFE Spanish word  Spanish Word AND Spanish Word...”

 I understand this:

“Jesus is the bread of life, the manna of my desert, my energy, my sustainer. Jesus is the bread of life, my first necessity and without Him I am nothing. Because Jesus is the eternal bread of life.”

 It’s a process, and I am constantly learning, but I am thankful to have a new opportunity to work on my Spanish, in a way that I enjoy!