Oct. 16, 2009

Aboard the Evangelista in Peru: People Learn, Practice Missions

Source: HCJB Global

A pill or an injection cannot cure the ailment of many who live along Peru's Ucayali River ? because the problem goes beyond physical needs.

And the solution is the gospel of Christ, according to Paola Vélez, an Ecuadorian third-year resident at HCJB Global Hands' Hospital Vozandes-Quito. A family practice physician, she visited Shipibo indigenous villages such as Nuevo Ahuaypa along the upper Ucayali in late September. Vélez and others offered medicine with the message of the gospel whenever their barge-like ministry boat, the Evangelista, docked.

Returning to Quito after the trip, Vélez told a gathering at HCJB Global Hands of her adventure of ministering to some among the 16 or more ethnic groups along the Ucayali that haven't yet heard the gospel. Through times of personal reflection, she realized how strategic missions is to change entire communities for the glory of God. The Lord confirmed to her again her role as a healthcare provider to reach the unreached peoples of the world.

Some 100 people on board the Evangelista combined missions learning with practical applications during the trip. "People were asking to know God," said Román Miranda. "Even crying out [in their need for Him]."

Miranda, a resident of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, now studies at the mission's Christian Center of Communications/Northwestern College campus in Quito.

"God's Heart for the World" was one of the topics covered by Pastor Eliezer González. Other mission themes were addressed by missionary Peter Hocking and Pastor Francisco Beltran, both from Peru, along with Jim Yost, an anthropologist who has lived with his family in a Waorani community in Ecuador's jungles.

Peruvian HCJB Global missionary Américo Saavedra asked the "So what?" question after each session, challenging participants to connect truth to life situations.

Trip objectives included exploring new strategies for bringing the gospel to unreached people, exposing people to village life and to the hardships many face there and connecting with mission agencies and individuals already working in the jungle region of Peru.