Elvis and Jesus Together again in the Amazon

Thank you all for your prayers for the RELENAP meetings in Yurimaguas. There were 46 attendees. The following tribes were represented: Chayahuita, Achuar, Aguaruna, Quechua San Martin, Machiguenga, Ticuna, Shipibo and Ashaninka. This was a time to help all understand the differences between dependency and interdependency and empowerment. Not only were there times with speakers (Irma Espinoza, Elvis Shantiori, Jairo Sangama, and Ken) but times of learning with games and of course time to eat and have fellowship.

There was a great turnout by the Chayahuita leadership. Oscar and Jesus stayed for the meetings and Jesus will head to Pucallpa to help his mother in law get to the hospital for her operation and then go on to attend CAMIT.

Jesus and Elvis

Please Pray

The last week we have been able to spend a lot of time with Jesus and his family. His mother-in-law, Dominga was brought here from Nueva Vida because she has a tumor in her abdomen. It took a week to do sonograms, blood work and get results. Fortunately it appears to not be cancerous but it is quite large and she looks about 6 months pregnant with the protrusion. She will be sent to Pucallpa to be operated on since they have better facilities there and she can recuperate at Swiss Mission. Dominga’s husband, Roque, also we have eye surgery.

This family is truly amazing. They shared with us that they lost their oldest son just days before he was due to go to Pucallpa to study at Swiss Mission in 2006. Day before yesterday one of their daughters lost her youngest son (3 mos. old) to sickness. Through all of this they are resting in the Lord. They are not complaining at all but are asking for us to pray for them. Please uphold them in prayer with us.

To the Chacra

Saturday, I went to the Marta’s “chacra” with her. She has grown quite an assortment of plants. She has yucca (manioc), sweet potatoes, green beans, plantains, papaya, passion fruit and some watermelon. Fortunately it was not too hot. Even so working the garden always makes one sweat. She was gone from December until last week so there was a lot of growth to deal with, but at the end of a couple of hours more than half of the undesirable growth had been cleared. She pulled up the yucca she needed and replanted the branches. It will be another 8 ½ months before it will be ready for harvesting again. After pulling several yucca plants up, she left one for Habakuk, Guina and Clinger. The pulled and pulled to no avail. Even with all three of them pulling and pushing the root refused to give. Finally Habakuk found a spear and was able to loosen it up and up came some very big yucca. Marta got a kick out of it all since with one big tug she could have pulled it up.

Like a Roaring Lion

While many in the US think that our enemy is Russia or some foreign power, the Chayahuita know full well who he is. The devil and his crew are scurrying about trying to throw all off guard. We had a conversation with a health worker from a village in the south. He said that his life and the life of his family have been threatened. He and his family regularly sing praises to God and the local witch doctors do not like it. There apparently are 2 that live very close to his village and one actually lives in the village and is also the appointed primary school teacher. Under the influence of ayahuasca (a hallucinogen) they “prophesy” and see visions. He was told by one of the witch doctors that he could shoot him and see if his God was real. The health worker said that he was not afraid to die because he would be in the presence of God. This witch doctor, infuriated by the praises that are sung, even cranks up his music to try to drown it out. Many won’t even talk about this subject because they are so afraid that the demons will overhear them and it will get back to the witch doctors and they will pay the price.


The health worker also shared with us how a Pentecostal group has come into the area and from his perspective all they do is jump and scream. There is no real praise going on. He and his wife have a daughter that has cerebral palsy and is 8 years old. She started having convulsions and one of the pastors from this church said she was sick because of the sins of the parents. He was flabbergasted that he would say this and offer no other answers. They then went to the hospital to see if something could be done. After a few months the only thing they could suggest was to put her on anti convulsion medicines. She has not had convulsions since and is even able to sit up and is developing.

Visits and Revelations

It has been a very interesting few days. We continue to have many visitors which is such an encouragement to us. This weekend we had the pleasure of having Lucho, Aurora and family stop by. The last time we saw Aurora she looked as though she didn’t have much time left here on earth. She was quite sick. Even though she is confined to a wheelchair, that sweet smile and spirit from before shined through. Lucho started talking about how changed Soledad has become since the massacre in Bagua. Many in the community have believed and accepted the salvation Christ offers them. Even a nearby bedroom community of Naranjal has seen an increase from one family to 10. Where the church for the last few years has had only maybe 15 or show up now the church is filling up once again.

One the other hand the enemy is also working overtime. Lucho shared with us about a group with extreme doctrinal teachings congregating close by. They are teaching many falsehoods. They are saying that the men need to leave their wives and go to the hills to pray taking verses out of context. They are also ordaining young immature teens to be pastors. Their leaders are also “prophesying” that several community residents are going to die and when.

Please continue to pray for the village of Soledad. Pray for the pastors: Abelardo, Francisco, Luis and Simon.

Empowerment and Partnership

Ken ran into Inocente from Soledad this weekend. He was in town to take another laboratory course at the hospital. He has taken many courses on his own and has now become a laboratory tech and is putting his microscope to great use. Ken asked him how many deaths there have been of malaria in Soledad. He said there have been no deaths in years since they are able to be treated quicker since they have a microscope.

He started out as a simple health worker in his village, but became increasingly concerned as case after case of malaria showed up in Soledad. It would take over a week to get results back from blood tests which meant the delay in treatment for those affected. He really wanted to find a way to acquire a microscope and learn how to use it. He approached us about it. He said the village was willing to come up with the money. We told him we would check around to see where the microscope could be bought at a reasonable price and how he could receive training. Other missionaries in Peru that we talked to for leads doubted that Soledad would come up with the money for this purchase and told us that we should at least provide half of the funds for them. We had faith that the money would be provided by Soledad alone. Sure enough they decided to sell a couple of bulls to raise the money to buy the microscope and receive training. When a Peruvian national heard about this funds were donated to provide transportation to and from Lima for his training. Since that time about 6 years ago, he has also taken it upon himself to train other Chayahuitas to use the microscope. Other villages have also bought microscopes so they too can have faster results.

Changes and Growing

As things in our ministry change it is exciting to know that it is GOD that directs our paths. He allows the bumps in the road to cause us to remember to rely on Him and nobody else. We have been truly blessed with being able to see some of the results of our time with the Chayahuita here in Peru. They are realizing that they can make their own decisions and while the foreigner can offer many things they are not the ones that will control what they as a tribe do. They are responsible for the spiritual welfare of their own people.

There is a renewed sense of urgency of sharing the Gospel and they have been trained to share it in their own heart language and in a culturally relevant way which is causing many to understand for the first time. They are realizing that they have God given talents and gifts to use for His glory the same as the foreigner does and that we are all truly brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Many, with a renewed self esteem, are going ahead and studying past high school. Others are being trained in the business world to start businesses in their own area with their own people. There is for the first time a sense of hope for their future that doesn’t rely on the outside world of the foreigner.

We feel in many ways we have learned so much more than what we have taught. They have shared with us, from their own hearts, that they consider us as one of their own. This makes it more difficult to leave Yurimaguas, but we know they are in good hands. We will still be plenty of contact with the Chayahuita. There are several projects we will continue to be involved with in partnership with them. We will be back often.Ken will remain the Advisor to the tribe, at their request, as well as Advisor to the newly formed Peruvian Indigenous Network.

The hope for the future is that many other indigenous will be able to have this same hope both spiritually and financially. There is a new realization of the importance of the indigenous in the Amazon Basin; however, there is still racial inequality. Hopefully, as the indigenous networks throughout the countries of the Amazon Basin are formed, our indigenous brothers and sisters will be encouraged and realize they are not alone.