Reaching the Amazon

In the Peruvian jungle, there are dozens of ethnic groups, and in the first part of October, I got to facilitate at a workshop for Christian leaders from 6 of those groups. I can't explain how cool it was, turning to your right and meeting someone from a culture and language so beautiful and so different from your own, and then turning to your left and meeting someone from yet another completely different culture. Then, standing behind him, is someone from a third...and this keeps on going around the room. I was also kind of star struck because these guys hail from people groups I have only read about, deep in the heart of the Amazon region. You know, the kind where you have to swing your machete to clear a path to walk through the jungle.

Missions has been a mostly foreign-led effort here for decades. Now the Peruvian church is growing and sending missionaries themselves, even within their own country. Instead of depending on an overseas agency and staff, the three organizations at this workshop were 100% local folks. They are self-starting and self-supporting, and their goal is to reach their "neighbors" for the Lord and to see those communities transformed because of Christ.

Here in the Amazon, reaching out to a neighboring people group can take more effort and sacrifice than a trip out of the country. It often takes days of strenuous travel, learning an unrelated language, and being prepared to face dangers from drug traffickers and other smugglers. Venturing to Africa might actually be easier, but these guys are getting it done!

Our workshop was designed to help each organization solidify their vision and then plot a course of action which will allow them to see their ultimate goal (hopefully God's ultimate goal!) realized in the communities they serve. To teach this "results-based management" style, we used a lot of practical analogies and examples, including an illustration involving the wheelbarrows below and lots of splashing water--no one complained about that in the over 100 degree weather!

I was a facilitator for the group MINAP, Misión Integrál Nativa de la Amazonía Peruana (which translates to the Holistic Native Mission of the Peruvian Amazon). They are the first missionary-sending agency run by leaders indigenous to the Amazon. At our table alone, we represented 5 distinct cultures and languages, but that didn't stop us from working together, getting a huge amount of planning done, and seeing God move as we sought Him throughout the process. Here's a picture of us on the last day and you can see their organizational plan laid out on the board behind us. Please pray today that God would continue to empower and provide for the ministry of MINAP.