I recently traveled with a new team to a village in Peru that several churches in our area visit throughout the summer. Deep in the Andes mountains (pictured above), a part of my heart lives in the tiny village of Quito-Arma. My nine-year-old son traveled with me for the first time. When we finally made it to the village, he asked: “Dad, how did you know this place was here?”
That’s how you feel when you arrive. I remember my first time…my initial thought was “I’m glad Jesus said he’s with me even to the ends of the earth, because I think I’ve found it!”
It’s hard not to think that after several days of travel. The first leg of flying to Lima isn’t too bad, unless you are met with flight delays and uncertainties. But, from Lima, it’s about six hours on a van. Thankfully it’s a paved road most of the way…until the last leg into the mountains.
Once we turn off the paved road we find ourselves on an adventurous dirt road that zig-zag’s through the mountains. One side of the narrow road is rocky mountain, the other side is a steep cliff. If you meet another car on the road, it’s a game of Tetris to get both cars past each other. I’ve been down that road many times now, but I enjoy hearing the “ooo’s”’and the “aaa’s” or the “oh my!” from first time travelers. There’s something about looking out your car window and seeing straight down several thousand feet.
Each trip we take provides more opportunities to share the gospel with folks who don’t get to hear it. Each time we come, we make deeper connections with the people. We end each week with a church service, something they never get to see otherwise. We worship God through song, prayer, and the preaching of his word.
Our hope and prayer is that God would raise up believers. We desire that God would raise up a local pastor who can minister daily and make disciples. There are several other unreached villages in the area, and a local church planted in Quito-Arma would be able to take the gospel to them.
It’s a slow work. It takes time to build trust and develop relationships, but God seems to be doing something. His timeline rarely fits in with ours, but I see his hand at work each time we go.
Pray for the people of Quito-Arma. Pray that God would raise up leaders in the village. Pray the Spirit would open the eyes of those blinded to the truths of the gospel. I believe that when we gather around the throne to worship the Lamb in the new heaven and earth, there will be people from this tiny village in Peru. When the Master calls, the sheep recognize his voice, and often the Master speaks through his people going on his behalf. “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15).
