Summer Missions Report from Peru

The following is a report on a summer missions project in Peru. How wonderful to see our young people so committed to sharing the gospel in other countries. (from IMB sources)

Summer workers lift the darkness
By Marie Travis SANTIAGO DE CHOCORVOS, Peru (BP)Nestled in the Andes mountains of Peru sits the small village of Santiago de Chocorvos. Far away from “civilization,” most of its people had never had the chance to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But that changed when three Southern Baptist summer missionaries arrived for the summer. Kathryn Oder, Lindy Moser and Elliot Jeffries came to Santiago as part of the REAP (Rapid Entry Advance Plan) South program. Developed by the International Mission Board, the program steers missionaries into rural areas in the mountains and jungles of Peru and Bolivia, where they can interact with unreached people groups. And this group did plenty of interacting. Waking up at 7 in the morning and not getting home until after dark was common for the summer missionaries. Every day consisted of telling others about Christ, praying with people, holding regular church services and visiting surrounding villages. But it was their ministry to the children that had the greatest impact. Every day around 3 p.m. they headed to the basketball court to play “futbol” (soccer) and jacks with the children. Through these activities, the missionaries were able to share Christ with the children’s parents, family members and friends. “I really like to work with adults,” said Moser, 21, from Woodland Baptist Church in Peoria , Ill. “But God is really working through the kids … for the adults.” Every Friday evening the missionaries held a service in the village plaza. With mostly children in attendance, they taught Bible verses and songs. Oder, who plays the guitar, led the music, and Jeffries preached while Moser translated. In addition to their regular activities, the three young people found themselves involved in a number of unusual ministries over the summer. “The first month we were in Santiago we went to the river and were able to help more than 50 people sift rocks and dirt to make bricks for the mayor’s new house,” recalled Oder, 20, from CrossRoads Church in Norfolk, Va. “We called this ministry ‘river evangelism.’” “We were able to tell them about Jesus as we worked with them,” Moser added. Many of the locals were surprised the missionaries helped with the labor. “It was a good witness,” said Jeffries, 21, summer missionary from Kirby Woods Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn. Because there were no washing machines -- and little running water -- the missionaries began washing their clothes at the river, fed by clear, glacier water from the mountains. This too turned into a ministry time. “We went down (to the river) most Fridays,” Oder said. “There were always people to talk to. We called this ‘rinse-and-repeat ministries,’” Oder said of witnessing to those down by the water. At the beginning of July, a volunteer team of mostly students from Kirby Woods came to Santiago to help the missionaries. The church had adopted the Ayacucho Quechua people group in the Santiago area of Peru the previous summer. After arriving in Santiago, the volunteers hiked the seven-hour, uphill trek to Santa Rosa, one of the unreached villages REAP South and the summer missionaries wanted to evangelize. “(When we were in Santa Rosa) we prayerwalked different areas of the mountains and had evening services with families,” said Theresa Canon, volunteer from Kirby Woods. “We (also) helped move bricks for a woman who was building a new house.” “(During one of the services) we were all crammed in this tiny room on the top floor of a lady’s house, singing and praising the Lord as boldly and as loudly as we could, so the men down the road getting drunk could hear us worshipping,” added Emily Davis, a volunteer from Kirby Woods. “It was so amazing and so Spirit-filled, we all just started crying tears of praise.” HARDER TIMES Despite the picturesque scenery of the rolling Andes mountains, clear water and the blue skies, life was not always easy for the summer missionaries. “There were a lot of hard days,” Oder said. “Some days you just wanted to talk to the outside world or you wanted to be alone, but you couldn’t.” In Santiago there are no private phone lines or private Internet hookups. There is one phone and two computers, one of which only occasionally connects to the Internet. “We only had three days of Internet before the Kirby Woods team came. There was complete isolation. We didn’t have electricity for a month and a half,” Oder said. “The electricity came back on the day Kirby Woods got here and went off the day they left.” Many of the people in Santiago became family to the missionaries. Zenon and his wife, Neli, who cooked for the missionaries while they lived in the village, were two of those people. Zenon and Neli are two of the very few believers in the village. “Zenon went with us (when we witnessed) to make sure everything was OK,” said Jeffries. “It’s like the watchman’s duty that is talked about in Ezekiel 33. Sometimes Zenon tells others about Christ,” he said. “But he is scared to tell many for fear of losing his job.” A policeman told Zenon he would make sure no one shopped at his store if he witnessed to people, Jeffries said. Despite Zenon’s fear of losing his job, the missionaries pray that he will get over his fear -- and trust in the Lord to provide his needs. “(As Christians) the overall goal (is that) everyone will have an opportunity to trust Christ,” Jeffries said. “We have to teach others to go out and tell others about Christ no matter what the situation.”