Saturday, May 18, 2013

Schedule for Jungle Trip

This is our schedule for our upcoming trip to the jungle on Thursday.  Please be in prayer for this.  Our church is fasting on Wednesday for the work in the jungle if any church or individual would like to join us.  This schedule was made by Scott Dollar.

  • Facebook Page for Missions Peru found here. This includes various groups working in Jungle and the Mountains.

  • May 23- Fly to Lima (Scott Dollar). This is simply a travel day. But beyond traveling mercies pray for continued clarity of mind and for the Lord to continue to prepare for the teaching, preaching and ministry that will take place on this trip.
  • May 23- Scott Doherty, Tim Killilay and Joe Martinez will be traveling from Cusco, Peru to Jauja Peru with Scott Doherty preaching at Iglesia Biblica Bautista Emaus De Sausa in the evening.
  • May 24- This will be a full day that will start at 5:30 AM with  Scott Dollar flying from Lima to Jauja. After arrival to Jauja we will secure transportation to Tarma. From Tarma we will secure transportation to Satipo. After arrival in Satipo we will eat and than go to church for service. Scott Doherty will be preaching as Iglesia Bautista El Camino De Satipo will be gathering all the people they can for the services.
  • May 25- We are not sure what will be taking place during the day. Probably some visitation with believers in Satipo to encourage them. In evening Scott Dollar will be preaching at Iglesia Bautista El Camino De Satipo.
  • May 26- Morning and Evening services at Iglesia Bautista El Camino De Satipo. Scott Dollar Preaching.
  • May 27- This is another travel day. We will drive to Atalaya and than take a boat to Chembo. Continue to pray that God’s peace will reign in Chembo and the people will continue to welcome us, but more importantly welcome the King we represent.
  • May 28- Today begins the teaching conference for various church leaders from the Jungle villages along the Rio Tambo and Urubamba. Day 1 will last 5-6 hours and Scott Dollar will be teaching. In the evening there will be worship services with Scott Doherty preaching.
  • May 29- Day 2 of the teaching conference for various church leaders from the Jungle villages along the Rio Tambo and Urubamba. Day 2 will last 5-6 hours and Scott Dollar will be teaching. In the evening there will be worship services with Tim Killilay preaching.
  • May 30- Day 3 of the teaching conference for various church leaders from the Jungle villages along the Rio Tambo and Urubamba. Day 3 will last 5-6 hours and Scott Dollar will be teaching. In the evening there will be worship services with Joe Martinez preaching.
  • May 31- This is another travel day. We will get in a boat and go to Atalaya. From Atalaya we will fly to Satipo (30-45 minute flight). We will secure transportation from Satipo to Jauja. Once in Jauja we will touch base with Miguel from Iglesia Biblica Bautista Emaus De Sausa.
  • June 1- We will spend the day in Jauja with the brothers and sisters of Iglesia Biblica Bautista Emaus De Sausa. The ministry will include baptisms, Lord’s Supper and anything else we can help with. Maybe even an evening service.  Joe Martinez and Tim Killillay fly back to Cusco.
  • June 2- We will fly from Jauja to Lima first thing in the morning. Scott Doherty will fly home to Cusco. Scott Dollar will go and preach at Iglesia del Salvador De Barranco in Lima. After services I will spend time with Walter Isse and his family. In the evening I will head to the airport to begin travel back home.
  • June 3- Scott Dollar will fly home


  • Tuesday, May 7, 2013

    Resistance in the Jungle Removed

    I'm continually amazed how God turns the schemes of the Devil for His good and glory.  The Devil's schemes to stop the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ have turned to actually further the Kingdom.  As you know from an earlier post, the unbelievers in the village of Chembo rose up against us and spoke to the jefe of the village to stop us from coming.  Many people have been praying about this but alternatively we were planning to do the teaching in Atalaya, a little community on the river.  I just received word from Miguel, the pastor in Satipo that we support, that the resistance has been removed.  Miguel and his father-in-law have just returned from the village Chembo with the news that they spoke with the jefe and resolved possible misunderstandings (like we were not going to kill their children, steal their grease or their souls). 

    We now have permission to stay the week in Chembo, preaching and teaching.  It gets better.  Now there are invitations going out to 12 villages to come to Chembo for teaching and preaching and Chembo is the village that is going out inviting the other villages.  This is an amazing turn of events.  Only a few days ago the unbelievers in Chembo had stopped us from coming and were trying to stop others from going to hear us in Atalaya. 

    It should be amazingly interesting to step out of the boat onto the ground of Chembo village in a few weeks.  Gloria a Dios!!!

    Friday, May 3, 2013

    The Ashaninka

    I would like to introduce you to the tribe that we work with in the Amazon.  The information below will give you a better idea of the culture and history of this people group.
     
    The Ashaninka

    Wilder, the panther killer.  One of the pastors we work with.

    The Ashaninka (also known as Kampa) are an indigenous ethnic group of people who live in Peru and in northwest Brazil (state of Acre). They speak a language belonging to the Aruak family. In 1993 there were 55,000 people in the group, and 869 of them lived in Acre. The Ashaninka have a long history of conflicts with other groups of people, from the Incas of the Inca empire, to the rubber collectors who came to western Brazil in the 1980s. The natives have been trying to resist the advancement of unlawful loggers in their territory up to these days.
    Location
    Among the 300,000 native people from 65 different ethnic groups in the Peruvian Amazon, the Asháninka are the second largest indigenous group, the Quechua being the largest. The Ashaninka communities are scattered throughout the central rainforests of Peru in the Provinces of Junin, Pasco, Huanuco, and a part of Ucayali, and the Province of Acre in Brazil. After Brazil and New Guinea, Peru is believed to have the highest number of uncontacted tribes in the world.
     
    Name and language
    The Ashaninka speak a language belonging to the Arawak family.  There are differences in dialects spoken by the tribe, but their culture is homogeneous. "Ashenika" is the name used by these people to identify themselves, which can be translated as "my relatives", "my people", "my nation". Throughout their history, the Ashaninka have been identified with names such as Ande, Anti, Chuncho, Pilcozone, Tamba, and Campari. They are best known as "Campa" or "Kampa", names used by anthropologists and missionaries to designate the Ashaninka exclusively, or the sub-Andean Aruak generically. Literacy rates range from 10% to 30% compared to 15% to 25% literacy for the second language, Spanish.

    Subsistence
    The Asháninka are mostly dependent on subsistence agriculture. They use the slash-and-burn method to clear lands and to plant yucca roots, sweet potato, corn, bananas, rice, coffee, cacao and sugar cane in biodiversity-friendly techniques. They live from hunting and fishing, primarily using bows and arrows or spears, as well as from collecting fruit and vegetables in the jungle.
    History
    The Asháninka are known historically to be fiercely independent, and were noted for their "bravery and independence" by the Spanish conquistadors. During the rubber boom (1839–1913), the Asháninka were enslaved by rubber tappers and an estimated 80% of the Asháninka population was killed.
    For over a century, there has been encroachment onto Asháninka land from rubber tappers, loggers, Maoist guerrillas, drug traffickers, colonisers, and oil companies. For much of their history, they resisted acculturation and outside influence. Since the 1950s, Asháninka territories have been reduced and their settlements have been systematically destroyed, resulting in a retreat by Asháninka people into the jungle. Some Asháninka fled to Brazil, and now a small community of 600 or so have land rights in the state of Acre.
    During the 1980s and 1990s, internal conflict in Peru caused massive displacement, disappearance, and death among the Asháninka communities located in the Ene, Tambo and Perene valleys in the Vilcabamba Mountain range. In this period Ashaninka chacres (garden plots) were burned, Asháninka legal papers were destroyed, some Asháninka were forced on pain of death to join the Shining Path, and others were enslaved. Many fled into the interior and others gathered in the thousands in small areas for protection. Because Asháninka communities are usually very small, this caused great disturbance. They could neither hunt nor fish effectively due to the danger posed by armed groups in the forest, thus malnutrition became increasingly threatening. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 10,000 Asháninka were displaced, 6,000 Asháninka died, and 5,000 Asháninka were taken captive by the Shining Path during this time, and thirty to forty Asháninka communities disappeared.
    Malaria is on the rise in Asháninka communities due to logging and the illegal clearing of tracts of lands by loggers and colonists, as are other diseases bought in by "outsiders".
    Current threats (either directly or indirectly) are from oil companies, drug traffickers, colonists, illegal lumberers, and illegal roads.