Here is report from the Segadores Team – we have been supporting one of their team.
Recent events
Missionary Training
The first two months of the year we were very busy in the annual cross-cultural missionary program that we carry out each year in our Training Center on the outskirts of Lima. This time we had 10 students studying in the Basic level, and 5 in the Advanced level. For the first time, the Lord brought us 6 foreign students for the same training program. (In the past we have had 2 or 3 foreign students at training programs, though not every year.) The foreign students came from the countries of Mexico, Panama, Ecuador and Paraguay. We had good students, serious in the things of the Lord. When the classes ended, five of the students were taken on a team to Ashaninka villages for a 15-day cross-cultural missionary experience.
In July we carried out a specially-designed missionary training for Ashaninka workers that aspire to do missionary work. (We believe that these kinds of missionaries are ideal for going to un-contacted tribes hiding in the jungle.) Nine workers participated in this 2-week training program in the jungle town of Mazamari. There was a good response in the lives of the students. Another missionary training is programmed for Yanesha workers in August.
Teacher Training
In response to the request of the Association of Ashaninka Churches, we have given 3 more teacher-training programs for their native Sunday School teachers. (Three were given last year.) These were carried out by our missionary Antonia and her team of 3 courageous women. They traveled over rough roads and dangerous rivers to reach the distant villages were the teaching was given. (Each training seminar was given in a different region.) The trainees came on foot from neighboring villages to study for a week, then returned to their churches with better teaching methods, and teaching materials. The first training was given in dangerous territory that has some terrorist activity, but a small group of military men accompanied our team the whole time!
Dental Training
In order to strengthen the relationship of our missionaries with the Ashaninka communities with which they are working (in the Anacayali valley), two training seminars were given for health promoters of the region, teaching them how to make dentures (false teeth). This is a way in which they cannot only help the villagers, but also earn a little income for themselves. The seminars were given in Buena Ventura, where our missionaries Macedonio and Gregorio are stationed. One seminar was given in April to 15 people, and another in June to 12 people. The training was given by Rufino, a very capable brother from Lima who knows how to keep the teaching simple, and make it practical for native people.
Children’s Work (in Pariachi)
Segadores has an ongoing ministry to needy children in a poor section of Lima called Pariachi where we have our Training Center. This is the third year now in which the children gather on Saturday afternoons for Bible teaching, and a dish of food. A team of 4 teachers (led by Otilia) teach the children, gathered in classes according to their age-group. Approx. 60 children attend the classes regularly. This year a new class was formed for the teenagers that used to attend when they were children, many of which had made a decision for Christ. Saul’s teenage son Yeremias is in charge of this outreach, and is helped by his teenage sisters Yudith and Yuliana.
Teaching in Native Schools
Our missionaries that are working with the Ashaninka tribe (of the Anacayali River) are teaching in the primary and secondary schools of the village where they live. Marcus and Adina Dumitru teach in San Fausto, while Macedonio and Nita Huamani, plus Gregorio Capucho, teach in Buena Ventura. They teach the Bible chronologically, plus a few secular courses (like math and history). This way, our missionaries are investing in the lives of the new generation, believing that many of these children and youth will come to know the Lord, and become strong Christians in the new church. Thus far, the results are encouraging. The native young people are learning well the Word of God, and easily learn better ways of living (such as planting vegetables, etc.). An unexpected benefit of teaching in the schools is that the parents of the kids now have a high regard for our missionaries, seeking their counsel when they have problems, and following the counsel that they are given.
Feeding Programs
The feeding programs that we have for undernourished native children in the Ashaninka villages of Aoti and Pampa Mercado have become more self-sufficient this year. Antonia’s insistence that the parents supply more of the food is having good results. Now they are growing beans, and raising chickens (for eggs) to supplement the oatmeal and milk that we serve the children. The children are given one meal a day, six days of each week, and are showing a marked improvement in their general health, plus better grades in school. In Aoti, 50 children of primary school receive this help, plus 20 children of primary school in Pampa Mercado. And in another part of Peru, in the Ashaninka village of Buena Ventura, 15 children are also given one meal a day to help them in their health and mental alertness. This feeding program is fairly new, and depends quite a bit on the food that is bought for it.
Sewing Workshops
This year only one sewing workshop (in contrast to three last year) was carried out in Aoti. Ten Ashaninka women continued their training, and sewed a good number of native tunics for sale. Three of the women are getting close to saving enough money (from the sales) for purchasing their own sewing machine. Later this year another sewing workshop will be given, then the 6 machines will be moved to another Ashaninka village for training more women.
Tribal Research
Since our main goal in Segadores is to reach the un-reached tribes of Peru, we have found that field research is very necessary for finding out the true situation of these tribes, and for making contact with them. Our missionary Oscar made one research trip in June that produced valuable information on two un-contacted tribes. One of these is the Cashibo tribe of the upper Pisqui River, that has occasional encounters with Shipibo hunters that enter their territory. In these encounters the Cashibos are semi-hostile, chasing the hunters, but not shooting them. There are good possibilities of forming this year a missionary team of Shipibo believers to seek a peaceful contact with this tribe. Oscar plans on returning to the area later this year to begin preparing the team.
Information was also gathered on another primitive un-reached tribe: the Chitonahuas that live near the Brazilian border. Oscar learned that some of them are slaves of the Yaminahua tribe along the Yurua River, and another group is living near the jungle city of Pucallpa. Now we face the challenge of finding a way to free them so that a missionary can work with them. A missionary is also needed for working with them, to learn their language, and give them the Gospel.
Radio Program
In March, Peter Hocking began teaching on a Christian radio program on Saturdays, giving teaching on the Christian life, and sharing news about missionary work in Peru and abroad. This way the ministries of Segadores are becoming known, and people are contacting us. One of these contacts is a young man with missionary and technical training who is now in the process of joining us as a missionary.
Medical Assistance
Usually the medical help that we give is in native villages through the visit of a medical team. However, this semester we had to help two native men that had come to Lima for special corrective surgery because of hunting accidents that they had suffered. The hand of one of them was damaged, and the other man had shot his foot. When we were notified of their situation, bro. Melchor went and spoke to the hospital authorities on their behalf so that they would be given the attention that they needed. After over a month of visits and help, the two men were able to return to their villages with their hand (or foot) repaired.
Another native that Segadores has been helping in Lima has been Dina, the married daughter of the Yanesha worker Santiago Pascual. She has been in Lima since May for eye-surgery to restore her sight (that she lost in both her eyes four years ago). The treatment has been long (due to many tests), but one eye has been operated, and Dina has regained her sight in it. Lord willing, in August surgery will be done on her second eye and there is hope that sight will be restored there too.
Another native that Segadores has been helping in the Lima area is Rafael, an Ashaninka from the village where our Romanian missionaries work. He has recovered greatly from the terrible condition that he was in when he was brought to Lima in a coma two years ago. Rafael is now alert, and talks, though his legs are still paralyzed. He is cared for in a special home for invalids and Melchor visits him every month, speaking to him about the Lord, and assuring that he receives the proper medical attention that he needs.
School Construction
As part of the educational aid that Segadores gives to the native villages where we work, we have also obtained funds for, and constructed, a wooden school building in Pampa Mercado, and supplied the desks, bookshelves and tables that it needed. The children were overjoyed when the new desks were delivered in April. We also built a house for the school teacher.
In the village of San Fausto a school house was needed for the secondary school, but the local government would not supply the necessary funds. Thus, we sought the funds that were needed and our Romanian missionaries built the two-room school house. Now they are teaching in it.
Thank you for your prayers and gifts that have made it possible for us to accomplish the tasks reported here. We face more work the rest of this year in most of these areas, for which we need strength, wisdom, finances, and more workers. We count on your prayers to make all of this possible.
