Last week I had this idea to get out! I wanted to go see something I haven’t yet down here in Peru. I wanted it to be relatively safe, affordable, and simple to plan. So as I asked some of the knowledgeable people from our little bubble here, I was drawn to the idea of going on a little road trip into the Andes Mountains. One of our translators named Richard knew the area that the World Racers from last April were serving. So he made a few phone calls and I recruited a few fellow adventurers and we were off!
From our dusty home in Chincha we rode the next 14 hours or so on buses to the small mountain village of Musho. Here we walked the exact streets that our World Race brothers and sisters walked 8 months earlier. We met the pastor and some of the community with open arms and warm hearts. It was a blessing to make the trip for a weekend get-away.
As our weekend panned out, we met a few missionaries that have been doing ministry in the highlands. One gentleman was working alongside a few other Americans to train 9 men from the Peruvian jungle in a cross cultural setting. They were in a discipleship program to train them for there ministries back in the jungle in a few months time. The other missionaries were a couple who had basically sold everything back home and moved to the mountain village of Tupampa where they bought a house and were ministering to the people there.
We spent 3 days in the mountainous villages exploring, observing, and worshiping. We joined in a few church services where I was blessed with the opportunity to share a little bit of my heart. The churches welcomed us with open arms and we gladly joined in worship with them.
On Monday the seven of us did a tour of the area where we saw a lost city that was covered in 8 feet of rock, mud, and debris from an avalanche 40 years ago, some of the local natural ice cream shops, a national park, and got close to the mountain with the highest point in Peru that is Mount Huascaran.
As I reflect back on this get-away of sorts I am reminded of the words that the Lord spoke to the prophet Ezekiel in 36:24-27, “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you of all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
As I conversed with the American missionaries and hung out with the missionarios from the jungle I saw the passion that I’m striving to walk in. These guys are crazy for Jesus and give their lives to share the Good News. The Americans left their comfortable lives back home to live in Peru and be immersed in the cultures there. They are training the people of Peru to minister to their own countrymen. The Missionarios (from the jungle) have left their villages for the first time and have given up their comforts to move to the highlands to learn and be discipled so that they may be equipped for the Lord’s work through them back in the jungle.
The Lord is breaking down their hearts and rebuilding them with His spirit. They are excited to go back and be that light to their families, fellow villagers, and the natives down the Amazon River. They have accepted Jesus and are full heartedly seeking to know Him deeper and learning to share that love they have experienced in their own hearts. God has saved them just as He’s saved me and God brought us together for 3 days to encourage one another and to experience Him together. My heart has been softened and I can tell theirs have as well. God is moving in the mountains and I’m excited to have experienced God on a mountain!!
I thank the Lord for meeting all of these servants and to hear their hearts. The have lifted me up and encouraged me to keep going on this adventure and to keep walking forward. I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit is here in Peru and there’s so many more places to bring Jesus. From the plains of Manitoba to the deserty coast of Peru to the mountaintops of the Andes…………HERE I GO!!
