Pucallpa is a large town that is pretty poor compared to Lima, the airport and area we were staying in was on the edge of town. As we walk through the streets they aren't paved and the big holes in the roads are full of puddles from the last rain shower they had. The houses are poorly made, mainly of wood and corrugated iron but as we walk around the corner and see the church we are shocked that the church is both massive and brand new and would look not look out of place anywhere in the UK.
We get there and put our bags in the small flat the church has built for guests and visiting speakers and we head out for a tour of the city. The main roads are paved and are covered with Motortaxis which are small motorbikes with a cabin that fits 3 in the back behind the driver. 
We visited a wildlife centre where i saw some very intersting local animals some of which i have no idea what they were. We then go into town and visit the main square, have some roast chicken and Guanabana juice (we have been explaining to some of the Peruvians the names in English for the fruits and that things like Guanabana are also Guanabana in English as well, as most of you will like me have never seen or heard of them).
We go back to the church and chill out in the room before the church service they are having in the evening and about 20 mins before we go down Hoseas comes up to makte sure that Mark is ok to speak at the service. 20 mins notice - very Peruvian.
We enter the church not knowing what to expect at all and are greeted with some of the strangest and to be honest worst music i have heard in a church before. The philosophy seemed to be, we have a new sound system and we are gonna play it as load as we possibly can, it meant the music was very distorted and with no words there was no hope of following the songs. The little spanish i had learned had no chance to pick out any of the words. We were introduced to the church and Mark spoke and asked at the end of his talk if anyone would like to come forward for us to pray for them and we were shocked when the entire church came to the front and began to pray - it was not what we were used to.
That night we spoke to on of the Pastors to try and understand some of the different things about the church, like they met every night and twice on a sunday, the men sat on one side and the women on the other and we enquired about the praying. She explained that in that area the people had very little to do and so for them they were really glad to be together in the church and that because a lot of the men dont work, the evening meeting with the church is an opportunity for the women to sit and be with their girlfriends and the men to have some space from their wives sitting with the other men. As we stayed over the next few days we began to see the great things about this church after our first strange impressions. The church certainly knew how to pray, like no group i had ever seen before. As well as the church meeting each day, they had 3 prayer meetings each day, but to me even more impressive than the frequency of these meetings was the passion and belief which accompanied these people's beliefs. The church really understood its function as the centre of the community, it was always open and there were always people around. A small cafe built as part of the church gave a few jobs to local people and provided a meeting place for others, the house where the 2 pastors lived had 15 other residents, all children they looked after from about 2 to 21 years, it was quite an amazing place to be.
On the 2nd day we went out into the real jungle. The big church has planted 23 different churches in jungle communities which are made of various different sizes and which have buildings of different levels and styles of construction. Today we went with a group of about 20 (fun in a little combi) to visit 3 of the churches and to meet the pastors and pray with them. 
The visits are aimed as a way of encouraging them, it was very interesting seeing the different areas, villages and people. The bus dropped us at the 1st church where we stayed and talked and prayed, we then had to walk about 4 miles back to the road to catch a motor taxi (we got 7 plus the driver on one) and arrived at the 2nd village where we stayed for lunch (chicken soup). 
This took a long time to prepare as they first had to catch the chickens which we watched come in sqwauking n flapping - it was certainly fresh food, that and the sugar cane cut as we ate it.
We went to the church and they asked us to share something so Mark spoke to the church and we praye dsome more and then the sky opened - real jungle rain and we had to walk about a mile back to the road again, it was a wet one. When we got back to the town we expected to be doing the service again but were told that when it rains everyone stays in the house and the church doesn't meet - so a bit like the cricket in England rain stopped play.
On our last full day we went with Hoseas and from the port we crossed the river to meet another community who live in a very remote area, about an hour away from anywhere by boat. They live in houses in the water for about 4 months of the year. As we crossed the river we were lucky enough to see a group of river dolphins playing and jumping together. As we arrived on the other side of the river we began to cut through little river alleys which are the paths when the water dries up.
It really was an amazing time and place, as we arrived at the pastors house so did another boat, and another and another until the house was full of kids, teenagers, adults and old people who all wanted to hear some words from us, it was my turn to speak, talk about being put on the spot. I spoke about the way in which we are all part of the same Christian family and that no matter how different our situation in life our God is the same, they were so friendly and loved the fact we had made time to visit them. They then took us on a tour of the village by boat of course which was great fun, kids playing everywhere in the water, animals all around and despite this a very quiet, tranquil place.
The family took us to there house and gave us a gift of a few kilos of bananas, so we went to the only family who has a coconut tree and bought 20 coconuts to give out to all the people we had met. They didn't have a stick long enough to get the coconuts down so the pastor jumped up the tree and they then threw a rope up to him with a huge machete attached and he began hacking away with the huge yellow coconuts falling around the boat and splashing in the water. 
Before we left we were also given 5 fish that had been caught and a huge bunch of bananas about up to my waist. We were shocked by the peoples generosity they were giving us so much as because of there situation all thye had to eat was fruit and the fish they caught but they were so glad to have us visit them, it was amazing to think they will talk of this visit from these white people from England for a long time, how great to be able to encourage people like that. We said our goodbyes and went back across the river.
In the evening Mark again spoke to the church and i met with the young people in the Pastors house, they kept coming including lots of new people who had heard i was going to be speaking to them, i told stories, made them laugh and had lots of fun sharing about my experiences and life and how amazing it is to me to know and love Jesus. We then went into the church building to be part of a prayer tunnel - something Mark had used before which is a way of everyone praying for everyone else. As we entered the church 2 lines of people greeted us and we slowly walked in single file through the middle as everyone placed their hands on us and prayed for us, it was an amazing experience to feel that much love and encouragement and so good to share in that way with others. Was a bit like cricket again when someone has done something amazing and walks off the field through all the players who hold there bats together above their heads, but this way insteading of lifting up and encouraging just 1 person, everyone is encouraged.
On the final morning before we headed back to Lima on the plane we went out to 1 last village and met a pastor who invited along a few of his church and Mark shared with them then we walked around the village and they showed us another church building. As we stood around i heard a megaphone sounding not far away and heard the word iglesia, in my broken spanish i knew this meant church and realised that whoever this was was talking about us, and as we stood there people began to arrive, a few kids, teenagers, couple of families. The church then really began to fill and people stood all around. In all i counted about 90 people and as Mark had just shared something it was down to me. The pastor introduced us and i began to speak to the crowd.
As most of the people were local to this village they spoke another language and so Mark translated my English into Spanish and his words were translated by another man into the local language. As there were so many kids and with the language issues i told and acted the story of David and Goliath, the people really paid attention and certainly laughed a lot, they are not used to seeing starnge white men jumping and clowning around and i'm sure that was probably there first double translation. It certainlyy was an experience i will never forget. About a minute after i finished the rain began too lash down on the roof , so load bouncing of the corrugated iron that you couldn't hear anything and everyone ran for cover, it really had been a surreal and memorable hour. A fantastic end to a truly unique few days.
No comments:
Post a Comment