Beauty in the Chaos

 

Recently, Alberto, a Shawi pastor we work with and a friend of ours called to see if we had room for he and his family to stay with us for a night or two while they were in town.  This was not an unusual request on his part, he and his family have stayed with us many times before.  Two years ago when we lived in a village for a short time, we stayed in his in-laws house.  Ever since then, if we're available, they stay with us when they come to town.  He and Josh are good friends and they have 3 children about the same ages as ours and the kids have always enjoyed playing together.  

When they first began to stay with us, his wife and children were very timid and unsure of our ways.  As time has gone on, they've grown quite comfortable here.  While we do enjoy them visiting, there are still several cultural differences that sometimes are hard for my neat and tidy personality to handle.  For example, Shawi do not eat the skin of grapes.  They peel them with their teeth and spit the peel on the ground.  Same with apples.  In the village, no big deal.  In my house, kinda disgusting.  Eating only in the kitchen is a rule for my children, but a foreign concept to them.  Needless to say, when they leave, we find fruit peels on the floor, mixed in with the toys, and even behind the bed.  

Toys are another challenge.  They aren't used to our toys and enjoy playing with them when they're here.  I'm glad they enjoy playing, but putting one thing away before you get out another is also a foreign concept (although my kids aren't great at that one either!)  Needless to say, after one night, the house is a mess.  After 2, well, it required Lucy and I to take deep breaths this last time.  

But after they left, I stood back and examined the condition of my home through a different lens.  I was grateful that they are comfortable staying here in spite of our differences.  Not only have they gotten accustomed to our strange way of showering (they even enjoy a hot shower now when they're here!) and taking out the trash (Alberto loves to help meet the trash man when he's here), but they've become comfortable in my home, and there is a real beauty in that for me.  

You see, in the beginning, they were such timid guests.  But now they're comfortable and it's like family is visiting. (Although they still do not like sitting at the table to eat.)  Since the whole family was in town last time, I thought they might want to eat something special as a treat for dinner.  I asked them if they wanted to order rotisserie chicken (a local favorite) or get fresh fish from the night market and fix for dinner.  They chose fresh fish.  Josh wasn't able to be home that evening (and he does our fish buying) but they were willing to do the shopping and help with the cooking (because Josh does that too and I still don't know how to clean fish!).  So, we spend the evening in the kitchen together.  Them teaching me to clean and prepare fish, me teaching them how to light the stove and use the sink!  Our evening was full of laughter and my heart was full of joy.  You see, even though we've lived here over 4 years now, only Maggie is a big fan of fish (my fault because I'm not either so I don't fix it!).  But my kids put smiles on their faces and sat down to a dinner of Shawi fish soup (some kind of fish with whiskers I'd never seen before boiled in water with a bit of salt and cilantro).  We all laughed as we made jokes about eating the eyeballs (a delicacy to some) and how little meat was left on their bones as compared to ours.  My kids not only enjoyed the fellowship but decided they liked the meal as well. 

 

So as Lucy and I began to pick up the house the morning after they left, our hearts were full - full of love for our friends and gratitude for friendships that transcend cultural differences. 

To live Christ

Security patrolling in Yurimaguas.

Philippians 1:21

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

This is a well know verse. Many people have it on their walls or on a coffee cup. But how many people believe it? How many people live it out?

We are today on day 90 of our quarantine and it has not been easy. The city has been on military enforced shutdown and curfews. Most people here live day to day, and not working for 90 days has taken its toll. Many people are struggling to meet basic needs. If a family is in need they can hang a flag on their house indicating the need for help. 

Flag demonstrating need.  (Photo credit: Ryan Rivetto)

We have started working with local pastors and believers to reach these people. To date, with the help of our teammates Ryan and Rebecca Rivetto, many generous donors and the kids at the children's home, we have assembled and handed out over 400 bags of food.

Packing food bags

One of the pastors living out Philippians 1:21 is our friend and neighbor. We buy our propane from him and one day he told me of the needs he'd encountered while delivering propane during quarantine (he has a special pass since his services are considered essential).  He began using the proceeds from the propane sales to help needy families. I told him we wanted to help also and since that time we have been working together. He has worked tirelessly visiting the sick and elderly and helping with food and medicine. He contracted COVID-19 and he and his entire family became sick. During his self-quarantine, he came down with dengue fever.  After five days of high fevers, he had to be admitted to a local clinic for re-hydration. He also had his motorcar impounded by the police while trying to help an elderly neighbor get to the bank (his special pass did not allow for such assistance, only deliveries). Yet he hasn’t stopped. The best part is his desire to share the gospel. As a result of his efforts 40 people have come to Christ!  He is continuing to follow up with and walk through difficult times with these new believers.

While delivering food bags, he has come across additional needs. This is the story of a man with COVID-19 and his crippled wife. Upon delivering the food, he learned of their needs.  Since becoming ill, the husband hasn't been able to work and buy diapers for his wife.  She is also confined to a bed which consists of wooden boards on a bed frame. Learning of the need for a wheelchair and hoping to receive financial assistance from local believers, the pastor posted a picture of the woman and her need on Facebook.  Many people shared the post but he received little response in terms of financial assistance.  The response he did receive though was surprising and beautiful. He began to receive phone calls from around the country of people who were willing to donate wheelchairs they were no longer using, some having belonged to family who passed away due to the virus.  Two chairs were shipped from the next closest city, one was delivered to her, the other will be delivered Monday to a young man crippled in a motorcycle accident.  A woman from Yurimaguas also reached out after having seen the picture, not with a wheelchair though.  She was touched that this woman didn't have a mattress on which to lay and donated one. She invited the pastor to come to her store and pick one out to deliver to the family.   She donated bedding and other good as well. 

Praying over the blessing of food.

This pastor inspires me. I know Christians here in Yurimaguas that are hiding in their houses in this time. Scared to go out, afraid of contracting the virus. Yet perfect love casts out fear. We can choose to hide in our houses in fear protecting ourselves and our families or we can choose to love our neighbors even if it brings a personal risk. But if we really believe that to die is gain then we have nothing to lose. 

Quarantine Life

I am leaving to buy fruit. It is much harder these days to buy fruit then it used to be. The market is closed and surrounded by police barricades to keep people out. It is impossible to get within two blocks. And so to buy food you have to go hunting. I put on my face mask to drive. It is illegal to be outside of your house without a face mask. It has been interesting since most people do not own masks and do not have the money to buy them so they have resorted to making their own. Some are just simply an old shirt tied around their head and others have taken cloth and sowed their own, complete with ear loops. They are quit pretty, made with flower patterns. I even saw a sewing shop selling them for 4 soles.

Not two block from my house I pass the bank. The line to get in is two blocks long. It is only 6:50am and it does not open for another hour and ten minutes. The people are in line to receive their emergency relief money from the government. Most Peruvians live day to day. Making just enough money today to buy food tomorrow. Most have been two weeks without work and things are getting tough. The government is stepping in and giving 380 soles to families living in poverty. It is about $110. Not much, but an average family can eat for a month on that so it is a huge help.

I pick my way downtown. The police and military are everywhere. They are letting people drive around because it is legal to leave your house and buy food before 10am. Curfew is 4:00pm. If you are outside of your house after that you can be arrested. So far 4000 people have been arrested in Peru for breaking quarantine laws.

Downtown I meet Elvis. He works for the mission. Our motorcycle has broke down and he is looking for parts. This is difficult because all the part stores are closed. The only option is to knock on the doors of the part stores looking for one where the owner lives there as well. With luck he will open the door and sell you parts, although it is a risk as it is illegal.

I finally make it to the fruit stand. It is disappointing. He has some fruit but it is all the same as was there two days ago. It looks old and rotten and there are flies all over. I buy the last mandarins and he promises that more fruit will arrive today. That is what he said two days ago.

Life is hard in quarantine but I do not want to complain. As of this writing there are only around 1000 cases in Peru. The quarantine seems to be working at stopping the spread. The government is doing a good job controlling it and helping the poor. Still life is different, very different. But I am thankful that we have food to eat and we are safe. I trust that God has a plan for this too. What else it there to do but trust?  

Jungle Technology

A couple of years ago I began recording Shawi worship on my phone.  There were new church plants at the time and they were asking for help. When these new churches would meet they were unsure what to do. Can you imagine a group of new believers meeting together? Most do not know how to read or own a Bible and no one knows hymns or worship songs.  So one evening Lucy and I recorded a Shawi pastor and his wife singing a handful of worship songs and then the pastor gave a short message encouraging the new believers. We combined the content with some Spanish songs I had and began distributing it on USBs and SD cards. Here in the jungle most of the people own battery powered radios and all the radios play USBs or SD cards so it made it easy to distribute the music. The new churches could now meet, listen to the pastor’s message and worship along with the music. And they loved it.

From there it began to pick up steam. I continued recording music and messages in Shawi and they continued to ask for more. Many of the believers sit around after dark or early in the morning and listen to worship music on their phone. I often have people give me the SD card out of their phone so I can take it back to Yurimaguas and load it with worship music from my computer.

Yes the Shawi have phones. That is the world we live in now. There are more people in the world who have mobile phones than there are people with access to a flushing toilet. Technology is cheap. Toilets are expensive.

Thanks to Maple City Chapel we were able to purchase an awesome tool while back in the states, a pocket WIFI device. It is essentially wireless internet but you control the content. Now instead of swapping SD cards they can log onto the device and stream or download content directly from it. It is full of worship music, the Jesus Film, messages, and the Bible both in text and audio. The content is in Shawi and in Spanish.  Right now one of the devices is in a remote village two days up river where new believers gathered together to celebrate New Year’s. It is cool to think about all these new believers that are getting access for the first time to the Bible, or sitting around late at night watching the Jesus Film.

Anyway, I just learned the neatest part of the story this past week. About a year and half ago I was in a village for a church inauguration. A pastor from a remote village who rarely comes to town was there. He speaks very little Spanish and since my Shawi is not very good, I did not have much of a relationship with him. But he is faithful to visit other churches for events such as the inauguration and he always walks. He began to sing that night and it was really good. I had never heard him sing before so I recorded the song he was singing. The song was over 20 minutes long but sounded great so I added it to the content that I distribute. Since that time I have passed the song on to more than 50 people, have shared it with others, and listened to it in church gatherings. Hundreds of people have heard the song.

Last week, one of the guys at the discipleship center was listening to it over and over. I asked him to translate it and he began to tell me the meaning. Most of the songs are taken from an old Shawi hymn book and so I now recognize many of them and even understand some of them but when he began to translate it, I realized it was not from the hymn book. I asked him where the song came from.

He told me that the pastor singing the song had a dream one night. In the dream he could see himself in front of the church singing this song. Then God told him to write down the song and sing it to the churches where he visits. So the pastor woke up at 4:00am and wrote the song. It is a powerful song about God’s love for us. It has a message for men, women and children. It talks about a wide range of things and quotes scripture. It is a 20 minute sermon, put to song, given by God.

I was floored by the message. It was powerful and moved me. But then I thought about how God had orchestrated everything. He gave the pastor the song, he had me record it and now it has gone out and hundreds have heard it. And thanks to the pocket WIFI devices, hundreds more will hear it.

Only God can orchestrate such a beautiful thing. Only God can take a pastor of a small church in the middle of the jungle and use his voice to impact hundreds of people. Only God can give me the tools to distribute His message without me even knowing! He is sovereign and He has an amazing plan.

As Job said:

I know that you can do all things;

No purpose of yours can be thwarted.

Job 42:2