Our first day in Yurimaguas, Peru was a little different
then we had experienced before. It was Sunday and we had planned to go to
church at a Shawi village. The hotel restaurant was supposed to open at 6:30am. We woke up early to the humid
jungle heat. Arriving at the restaurant promptly at 6:30am we find it closed. Around 7 they finally opened and we went in and
sat down. The waitress told us they had a chicken sandwich for breakfast and asked “would that be ok.” What option did we have? We
wanted breakfast so chicken sandwich it was. Then she asked if we were in a hurry? We
told her our driver was picking us up at 7:15am and she responded, “esta bien.” She
yelled something at the cook, then turned and ran out of the restaurant and
down the street. The cook took a whole fresh chicken out of the fridge and
began hacking it up with a butcher knife. A couple of minutes later the
waitress returned with bread and we had the freshest chicken sandwich ever. Thanks
to our driver being late, we even got to eat it.
Next we took off out of town on a little dirt road that lead
into the bush. The road was rough but passable…at first. Susan, our hostess
told us that sometimes the road is too bad to get all the way through and we
may have to hike the last couple of kilometers. The first hour on the road was
pretty good. Passing the occasional plantain farm or cattle ranch.
We passed
through these little villages with names like, San Lucia, San Antonio, and San
Lorenzo. The houses were mostly one room with grass thatch roofs. Then the road
got really bad with deep ruts and I began to pray that we could make it to
church. I realized that it was the first time in my life that I prayed for God
to help us get to church. Strange. After a long
time Susan thought we might have missed our stop and asked the driver to pull
over. After he stopped, she looked around and realized that we were parked next
to the exact path we need to take to get to the village. More of God's provision
to get to church. We hiked about a half mile through the jungle till we came to
a river. On the other side of the river we could see the village and a couple
of dugout canoes tied up on the bank. A man was bathing in the river while
another man brought a canoe over to our side.
It took two trips for us to get across
because we had five young children with us. After crossing we had to
hike across a grassy field surrounded by small thatch roof houses, then up a
hill to the church. The church was an open pavilion with a metal roof and a
couple of handmade benches. The women
wore bright colored skirts and tops. Most of them had a baby attached to their hip
with a blanket. They had what looked like painted faces or tattoos. I latter
found out that this was done with a plant in the jungle and stays on for up to
two weeks. The men dressed in American clothes,and some had the same tattoo paint on their foreheads. A couple of men were
playing guitar as we arrived. Three of the women were dancing in the front of
the congregation and I noticed their feet and ankles were also tattoo painted. All
the women danced with what looked like a string of walnut shells. The sound of
the shells jingling to the music was almost magical. 
As soon as the music ended
we were asked to get up and introduce ourselves and give them a greeting. Then
the children were dismissed to a house with Jennifer and Susan for Sunday
school. Arlen King, director of Missionary Ventures USA, was with us and got up
and began preaching. The men speak Spanish but many of the woman only speak
Shawi. As a result Arlen asked one of the men to translate. It was difficult to
concentrate on a sermon preached in two languages I don’t understand but it
gave me time to reflect on the beauty and diversity surrounding me. What a
strange people and strange place yet it was beautiful to listen to their worship
and to listen to the word of God as the read from the Bible in Shawi. After the
preaching there was more worship and a giving of offerings. Then church ended
with handshakes and blessings. We brought some candy to share with the children
and it was so interesting to watch the little kids try to eat it with the
wrapper on.
We said our goodbyes and crossed back over the river with the help
of some boys from church who couldn’t have been older than 8 or 9. Back on the
road I forgot to pray for safe return and we were soon stuck. God provided
again as a van load of men came down the road and about 6 to 8 of us pushed and
sweated in the heat for about 10 minutes until we were back on the road again. 
Back on the road covered in mud and sweat I realized how remote we were, there is no cell phone service and no electricity. We were a solid day hike from town and if we did not get out of that hole in the road I am not sure what we would have done. About an hour and a half later we finally made it back to Yurimaguas. What an adventure. What a God we serve.
~ Josh
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:13-15
