Chembo - To Live and Die Without Ever Hearing the Name of Christ

After over 50 hours traveled by plane, bus, car, truck, and boat, we returned safely from another trip to the jungle. Wehrner, a good friend named Anthony, and I made up the team for this trip. We taught and preached in the mountain town of Jauja, the jungle town of Satipo, and the Ashaninka village of Chembo. The church in Satipo is progressing very well and we saw huge improvements. We also were very encouraged by the work in Chembo. It seems that after two years, we are starting to see some fruit from the gospel. 

 

The first trip that we took to Chembo, we found a far less civilized place. We were the first white people to set foot in the village, everyone hid their children from us because they thought we came to steal their “grease”, and our Peruvian driver was taken captive by gun point because he wandered too far from the village. Now, after two years, the village of around 500 people accepts us with no problems. We have exclusive access in Chembo to preach and teach. We are now invited to share the gospel with hundreds of students in the school. We are invited to preach at the community center and to the whole village in the evenings. Chembo has even advanced in technology. The government installed solar panels and lights in each hut and now they have a cell phone tower in the village. This is the first cell tower in any village along the Tambo river that we know of. It is strange to be in a remote Ashaninka village and be able to call my wife each day.

 

Once again on this trip we discovered insurmountable needs for the gospel and heard some sad stories of people living and dying without ever hearing the name of Christ. I put this video together to sum up the trip, since pictures speak louder than words.