~Peru~
God is clearly at work in South America. Here in Peru, His plans are unfolding and His purposes are being fulfilled in a number of places and in a multiplicity of ways. You have an opportunity-and an invitation-to play a part.
God is clearly at work in South America. Here in Peru, His plans are unfolding and His purposes are being fulfilled in a number of places and in a multiplicity of ways. You have an opportunity-and an invitation-to play a part.
There is no one so small that they escape the Father’s notice. In Peru-and especially in Lima-there are innumerable thousands who have been forgotten by the world: Families living in shanty towns that would shock most of us; Women with children whose fathers have abandoned them, struggling to survive; Children who have been abused and left to fend for themselves; Elderly women from the high mountains who beg simply to subsist.
These forgotten ones represent unlimited ministry opportunity. Perhaps God is calling you to join a team of college-aged students who invest the equivalent of two semesters that can truly make a world of difference for some. The bonus is that it can also make a world of difference for you.
What will my ministry in Peru look like?
To some extent, the shape of your ministry depends on you. We believe deeply that God communicates with us-and that we can learn to hear His voice. God has a purpose and calling that is specific to you that will align with your gifts, both spiritual and natural. Each First Year Missionary will develop a ministry internship that averages about 20 hours per week.
We will help you discern God’s calling and we will help keep you accountable. If you will do your part, you will see the transformation that is exclusive to God’s Kingdom. It is an incredible privilege to be in an authentic partnership with God!
Discipleship is key
Many have responded to a message of salvation that has-with grievous results-been stripped of the equally imperative call to discipleship. After all, how many of us would turn away from a free life preserver if we were drowning?
If you read the great commission, we are not called to go and make converts, we are called to go and make disciples. When Jesus encountered a sin-sick soul, he didn’t ask that person to simply adopt the right theology and enlist in the right club. He invited that individual to follow Him-to live with Him and to learn from Him. While the mechanics are a little different today, the call is still the same. There is no substitute for discipleship, no shortcut to the prevailing Christian life.
We say that Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship. But how many of us actually experience a vital day-to-day relationship with Jesus?
The call to every believer is to count the cost and to take up the cross of discipleship. There is death in that cross-death to our old sinful nature. But there is also resurrection life in that cross. In that resurrection life is supernatural power and transformation. This is where we find the Kingdom.
An integral part of your nine months in Peru will be living in close relationships within which genuine discipleship takes place-learning to live with Jesus and to hear His voice; submitting our lives to Him in such a way that the transformation described in Romans 12 can be realized substantively in our lives.
What will my environment look like?
Peru has three distinct and extreme geographies: the desert coast, the highlands, and the jungle. The Andes is the second highest mountain range in the world. The headwaters to the Amazon River are in Peru, near its shared border with Ecuador.
Peru is the birthplace of the ancient and proud civilization of the Incas. The high mountain people are descendents of the Inca. It is no small irony that so many of them have been reduced to begging on the streets and byways of a city established by Spanish Conquistadores.
Lima is a throbbing, sprawling city of over 9 million inhabitants. It is located midway along the country’s Pacific coastline and, as such, gets very little in the way of rain. Set inland from the ocean, Central (or Old Town) Lima is the city’s historic district. Many of the structures built by the Spanish are reminders of Lima’s Colonial past. Mira Flores has long been Lima’s chief financial district. It is also Lima’s most popular tourist area. Generally speaking, the further north and south you get from the main part of Lima, the poorer the communities you will find. To the east is where you will find Lima’s middle class districts. When you get beyond those, you will find newer-and poorer-communities.
Lima has many shanty towns where public services like running water are still lacking. Large numbers of high mountain people have come looking for work and a better life, only to find themselves in desperate circumstances. You will find many dwellings where the floors are dirt, the walls are made of some make-shift materials and the roof is a sheet of plastic. It is not unusual to find a family of five or six living in an 8′ X 12′ space. You will see many beggars in the well-trafficked areas of Lima. At traffic lights you will find Lima’s underclass trying to eke-out a living by selling food or trinkets. Theft is a pervasive problem in Peru.
What is the spiritual environment like?
God’s Kingdom is moving forward powerfully in Peru. Reports of the supernatural intersecting with the natural are not uncommon. Many are coming to faith in Jesus and God’s love is transforming lives. However, the Kingdom doesn’t advance without opposition.
As is true anywhere, the influence of culture in Peru is very powerful. You will read in texts that Peru is 90% Catholic. The reality is that the vast majority of Peruanos are only nominally Catholic. Catholicism in Peru has been influenced heavily by Peru’s pagan past-many superstitions and beliefs have been absorbed into Catholic tradition. There are many peoples in the highlands and in the jungles of Peru who have never heard the gospel.
There is tremendous need in Peru and there is an amazing openness to the Good News of the gospel. This seems to be especially true among Peru’s needy. At present, the majority of people in Peru tend to view the U.S. and its citizens quite positively. This presents a tremendous opportunity. Peru is a land that is ripe unto harvest.
