Peruvian Mission

It is not a stretch to say there’s a world of difference between the hills and prairies of Central Texas and the jungles of eastern Peru. If you wander too far from town down there you might happen onto a tribe of natives not so friendly to strangers or into a river full of piranha.

It’s funny where faith will take you.

Last month a group of Gonzales missionaries from Two Rivers Bible Church made the trek south of the equator into the village of Puerto Maldonado, near the border of Bolivia. The Rio Madre de Dios snakes through the area before it meets many miles later with the Rio Amazonas, the Amazon.

For church elder Scott Dierlam, the weeklong trek, his second to the region. He accompanied nine other members on a mission to take the teachings of Jesus Christ to the people of that area to see what hearts they could touch.

“What we found is that there aren’t many churches down there. There’s not much church presence,” Dierlam said. “What we found is that they have really open hearts.”

The group headed to a new area. Their isolation and lack of media meant they had scant teachings of what role a love of Christ could bring into their lives, he said. The church was eager to try to spread the good word to people and children that were open to listen.

The program was a type of backyard Bible club that the church is fond of back here. They had over 120 kids in afterschool sessions. They played games, chatted with the church members and their interpreters and learned more about having a relationship with Jesus.

“When we talked to them what they had a hard time grasping is they thought they had to do a lot of good works to get to heaven,” Dierlam said. The locals thought that they had a certain amount of criteria they had to meet before entering heaven one day. They were unaware about being saved and all that went with it, he said.

“It was all surrounding a conversation that it didn’t matter how hard you try, it doesn’t matter how many things you do, there’s no way to get across to God without Jesus Christ dying on the cross,” he said.

Dierlam noticed it as being liberating to the villagers because they had so many burdens. Hearing this new word gave them hope.

“We really just initiated a bunch of conversations and started those relationships,” he said.

Dierlam described Puerto Maldonado as larger than Gonzales and acting as the trade center from goods coming in from the jungle. Houses are very simple and few can be completely sealed from the weather. Businesses are exclusively mom and pop establishment with no chain stores or name brands.

“Most people in the city to some extent had electricity. There wasn’t much air conditioning,” he said. “You definitely don’t drink the water out of the faucets.”

Even though it wasn’t a tourist destination, Dierlam said that he never felt unsafe the entire trip. The people were extremely friendly and were used to people of European descent showing up since the area attracts a lot of scientists to study its biodiversity.

He was also surprised at the diversity of people in Peru. The country is a true melting pot of cultures, he said, with people of German, Asian, African and natives communicating fluently with each other.

Dierlam’s job was in logistics. He assisted in renting the soccer complex where the events were held and in arranging transportation for the delegation.

For Two Rivers, this was a kind of “stepping out” moment. He said. They had attended mission trips before but this was the first time they ventured out on their own. They have a missionary that lives in the village who was able to coordinate their trip and make sure things ran smooth on the Peruvian end. They were able to raise the needed funds for their delegation and look forward to making this an annual tradition.

“The bottom line is we will be going and there will be more people,” he said.

Dierlam probably won’t mind returning. He called the food incredible with spicy dishes of chicken, fish and pork served over rice. The fruit selections were also awesome with fresh bananas being much coveted.

And even though he is a bona fide Texas Aggie football fan, he did find another form of football that he could get behind.

“I didn’t know much about soccer when I went down there but it’s pretty fun,” he said.

The trip appeared to be successful with the church members reaching a good amount of the children and adults that they ministered to. He noticed a difference in several of the kids, opening up after a week learning all of the benefits of a loving relationship with Jesus Christ.

At the end of a week, they had a little fiesta where all of the parents showed up and had food and drink with the traveling Texans.

“It was just a fascinating experience,” Dierlam concluded.