WOW! We have been blown away with the response to the "Parnering with A Chayahuita Pastor" success. The small groups at Grace Church have been such an encouragement as we have met with and explained the program. We thank you all for opening your homes and your hearts to be the encouragement to our brothers in the Amazon Basin.
For those who have not had the opportunity to hear what we are doing here is a synopsis of what we are presenting to the groups.
11 years ago, 3 pastors from Grace Church went to Peru with Paul Johnson, president of Amazon Focus, to visit the Chayahuita Indians. When it became evident that God was leading our pastors to develop a partnership with the Chayahuita Church, they sat down with the Spiritual leaders of the tribe. As Paul led the discussions, he asked the leadership of Grace Church, “What could they do for the Chayahuita?”
They responded:
We will faithfully pray for you.
We will be involved in projects which benefit the tribe.
We will provide education for the pastors.
And each one of us will personally visit you again.
Paul then turned to the Indian leadership and asked them, “What could they do for Grace Church?”
There was silence for a few minutes, and then one of the Indians asked our pastors, “What do you need?” The answer: We need prayer. We spend most of our time counseling. We need wisdom in how to effectively counsel in a variety of difficulties. The Chayahuita promised to pray for Grace Church daily. And they have.
Church to Church is a partnership, an interdependence, between churches. So, what is empowerment? It is defined as “giving someone the authority to do something.”
Many times, we as North Americans, when we go to 3rd World Nations, we are deeply moved when we see the impoverished situations of others. We can easily lose sight of the spiritual needs, because of the overwhelming dire physical & economic conditions. I don’t have words to adequately describe the physical poverty that exists among the Chayahuita and other tribes in the Amazon Basin. At times, it is indescribable. And so quite naturally missionaries and non-profit organizations have looked for ways to ease the pains of the tribal people by giving money, medicine, equipment – you name it. We have given the Indians everything but, “… the authority to do something.”
Listen, I don’t question the compassion and motivation of these people who have given so generously & graciously, but what has been the long term affect? What happens over the course of time when giving is only a one way street? In a nutshell, it creates dependency.
We have had the advantage of looking back and seeing the effect of this type of charity based missions endeavor on the Chayahuita, over a 30-40 year time span.
2 Things have occurred in the case of the Chayahuita.
1. They have come to expect handouts. Instead of trying to look for ways that they can resolve their issues, they quite naturally look to the outside world for solutions. They have become dependent on the foreigner. When giving is a one way street, there is never a sense of equality, partnership, or even ownership. The giver, whether intentionally or unintentionally, is creating a dependency that the recipient cannot get out of. They become trapped like a caged animal.
That leads to a 2nd problem.
2. The natural conclusion of the recipient is that he/she must be inferior to the giver, because after all they believe that they cannot provide for themselves or for their families, neither can they think through their problems in order to resolve them on their own.
Empowerment for us began by treating the Chayahuita as our equals. We started teaching them how to take care of their own needs. And, we believed in them, that they are capable of learning and doing. The final element of empowerment was not to cave in to their constant financial requests.
Because of empowerment, there is a goal on the horizon that we believe is fully attainable in our lifetime – that every Chayahuita has the opportunity to hear the Gospel in their own heart language. That goal has been the dream of every missionary, but it hasn’t been accomplished, in part, because the missionaries have been doing the work, not the Indians. 3 young men have been trained by the Extreme Team. Jesus, Enoc & Maximo are taking the Gospel to remote areas where no Gringo missionary has ever ventured. I’m no prophet, but I don’t have any doubt in my mind that God is going to raise up more young men like these 3, to go and take the Gospel to every village, so that everyone will hear the Good News and many Chayahuita will become believers and followers of Jesus Christ.
However, at this moment there are approximately 60 Chayahuita pastors, many who are discouraged because they live in isolation and very few people care that they exist. As Terri and I became aware of the plight of these Indigenous pastors, we became concerned and started to think of ways that we could encourage them. We brought Church to Church into the equation. We have approximately 60 small groups at Grace Church & approximately 60 Chayahuita pastors. What would it take to team up these 2 entities? What would be the prospect of getting each to pray for one another? How could there be communication between the 2? After prayer and brainstorming, the idea of Partner with a Pastor was conceived. PWP is not going to be a steady stream of dollars going down to the jungle. We don’t want you sending a lot of money, nor do we want the pastors thinking that they are going to be getting money from you. That would be creating dependency all over again.
PWP is simply exchanging photos, letters of encouragement, & prayer requests. Please don’t get the idea that Small Group involvement is insignificant or trivial. On the contrary, y’all are crucial, extremely vital to the success of the Chayahuita pastors and God’s moving in the Amazon Jungle.
As I’ve said at other times, this is a team effort.
Some of us are the hands, who give generously.
Some of are the knees, who pray diligently.
And some of us are the feet, who go obediently.
All these components are of equal value to God.
All 3 are essential in empowering the Chayahuita nation.
Church in Balsapuerto where the conference will be.
Please pray for the Chayahuita leadership as they prepare all the details of the teaching time coordinating with all the teachers involved. This year things will be done a bit differently. The decision was made to have the women have their own time all week for teaching as well as the new believers and of course the kids will have their own teaching as well. These are very exciting times and there is so much growth happening; both spiritually and in business development. (more on that at a later date) 