Peru STEP Trip 2005 Peru STEP Trip 2005

By Pamela Shiver – Peru STEP participant

On June 21, 2005, eighteen youth and ten adults from the Eastpoint Church of God, accompanied by two adults and three youth from Altha Church of God, Ray Ortega of Chattanooga, TN, and Eleana Lombardi of Colorado departed our homeland enroute to South America. Led by David Ray also of Tennessee, we departed Atlanta to embark on the journey of our lives in Lima, Peru, 3,000 miles away.

We had around two hours of sleep the first night in Lima before we left to board another plane to Iquitos, which is the largest city in the world that can only be reached via boat or plane. That afternoon we traveled up the Amazon to minister to the Bora tribe that had been led to Christianity last year by Wayne Wozniac, Lima missionary. We climbed up the steep bank carrying our battery powered sound system and walked approximately ten minutes on a slippery clay trail to a cleared area with a large hut in the center. While sitting on logs for benches, we watched as the Bora tribe danced and entertained us with their customs. We joined with them in the “Anaconda” dance with the grace of a rhino. We then cranked up our sound system and the youth performed musical drama to Spanish lyrics and then ministered through puppets. They sang songs for us and then we initiated, “Jesus loves me”, to which they joined in and sang in their native tongue, unifying us on common ground.

That evening, our team divided in two since the churches we were scheduled to attend were too small to accommodate our group. The church we attended was approximately 14x20 foot with one fluorescent light bulb suspended from the ceiling for inadequate lighting. Our team, known as “Frontline” set up their puppet stage ready to minister in the already cramped alter area. It was impossible for them to read their scripts in the dim lighting so they resorted to adlibbing. Mark Ortega of the “Watering Hole” Christian bookstore in Eastpoint preached through interpretation of missionary Wayne as members of the congregation peeped through the open holes in the wall that served as a window and door because there was nowhere left to stand inside the church. The parsonage was a small room adjacent to the sanctuary that contained a hotplate, mattress and few personal belongings. There were no facilities and no running water. Although they had no worldly possessions, they had a vision of a church that presently had one wall erected on the next lot that would one day be filled with fellow believers. Before we left, our group vowed to make the $3500 building project a reality for the community before the year ended.

On Thursday we went back to Lima where we witnessed poverty and overpopulation at its worse. Since financing is not an option, the people who are fortunate enough to own a home and piece of property would leave rebar sticking out of their roofs for future family growth. There were homes littered on every mountain side with cisterns for water systems and an outhouse for facilities which was sometimes shared with neighbors. The neighborhood we pulled into was the home of the Feeding Center that provided 300 children, three days a week with Bible teachings, lessons on hygiene and a hot meal. We performed skits for the children then played with them on the hillside before we reluctantly had to leave due to time.

We did various other ministries such as construction clean up for one church, street ministry for promotion of two churches and giving away tracks and Spanish new testaments. In all, we performed our skits and mimes on eight different occasions. The youth tirelessly performed on stages that consisted of dirt and rocks that they would fall on and roll in with no complaints.

The pastors that were affiliated with every project that we were involved in were former students of the Bible Institute in Lima. Missionary Wayne is the administrator of the Bible Institute which trains its students that come from regions of Central and South America to become pastors and establish churches in their home towns making a long term impact on the communities. Nonetheless, they all were in need of financial support and encouragement. One day the Frontline team decided to fast one of our allotted meals so that we could bless one of the pastors with a $300 love offering. Several times we would give offerings to bless various projects that we believed so strongly in and we never reached the bottom of the barrel.

There were special events that took place that are too many to mention. The Frontline team all agrees that we have a new perspective on life and the way we live it. Ray Tyre said it best when he said “We brought back much more than we could ever offer them”. The culture, humility and compassion that we gained were absolutely priceless and we will all be forever changed. We all wanted to thank everyone for their support and prayers that made this trip possible. My husband, Scott Shiver and myself wanted to thank all the adults that played vital rolls in making the trip a wonderful success as well as all of the youth that gave so much of themselves without consideration of self. What a great country we live in. God Bless America!

By Pamela Shiver – Peru STEP participant

On June 21, 2005, eighteen youth and ten adults from the Eastpoint Church of God, accompanied by two adults and three youth from Altha Church of God, Ray Ortega of Chattanooga, TN, and Eleana Lombardi of Colorado departed our homeland enroute to South America. Led by David Ray also of Tennessee, we departed Atlanta to embark on the journey of our lives in Lima, Peru, 3,000 miles away.

We had around two hours of sleep the first night in Lima before we left to board another plane to Iquitos, which is the largest city in the world that can only be reached via boat or plane. That afternoon we traveled up the Amazon to minister to the Bora tribe that had been led to Christianity last year by Wayne Wozniac, Lima missionary. We climbed up the steep bank carrying our battery powered sound system and walked approximately ten minutes on a slippery clay trail to a cleared area with a large hut in the center. While sitting on logs for benches, we watched as the Bora tribe danced and entertained us with their customs. We joined with them in the “Anaconda” dance with the grace of a rhino. We then cranked up our sound system and the youth performed musical drama to Spanish lyrics and then ministered through puppets. They sang songs for us and then we initiated, “Jesus loves me”, to which they joined in and sang in their native tongue, unifying us on common ground.

That evening, our team divided in two since the churches we were scheduled to attend were too small to accommodate our group. The church we attended was approximately 14x20 foot with one fluorescent light bulb suspended from the ceiling for inadequate lighting. Our team, known as “Frontline” set up their puppet stage ready to minister in the already cramped alter area. It was impossible for them to read their scripts in the dim lighting so they resorted to adlibbing. Mark Ortega of the “Watering Hole” Christian bookstore in Eastpoint preached through interpretation of missionary Wayne as members of the congregation peeped through the open holes in the wall that served as a window and door because there was nowhere left to stand inside the church. The parsonage was a small room adjacent to the sanctuary that contained a hotplate, mattress and few personal belongings. There were no facilities and no running water. Although they had no worldly possessions, they had a vision of a church that presently had one wall erected on the next lot that would one day be filled with fellow believers. Before we left, our group vowed to make the $3500 building project a reality for the community before the year ended.

On Thursday we went back to Lima where we witnessed poverty and overpopulation at its worse. Since financing is not an option, the people who are fortunate enough to own a home and piece of property would leave rebar sticking out of their roofs for future family growth. There were homes littered on every mountain side with cisterns for water systems and an outhouse for facilities which was sometimes shared with neighbors. The neighborhood we pulled into was the home of the Feeding Center that provided 300 children, three days a week with Bible teachings, lessons on hygiene and a hot meal. We performed skits for the children then played with them on the hillside before we reluctantly had to leave due to time.

We did various other ministries such as construction clean up for one church, street ministry for promotion of two churches and giving away tracks and Spanish new testaments. In all, we performed our skits and mimes on eight different occasions. The youth tirelessly performed on stages that consisted of dirt and rocks that they would fall on and roll in with no complaints.

The pastors that were affiliated with every project that we were involved in were former students of the Bible Institute in Lima. Missionary Wayne is the administrator of the Bible Institute which trains its students that come from regions of Central and South America to become pastors and establish churches in their home towns making a long term impact on the communities. Nonetheless, they all were in need of financial support and encouragement. One day the Frontline team decided to fast one of our allotted meals so that we could bless one of the pastors with a $300 love offering. Several times we would give offerings to bless various projects that we believed so strongly in and we never reached the bottom of the barrel.

There were special events that took place that are too many to mention. The Frontline team all agrees that we have a new perspective on life and the way we live it. Ray Tyre said it best when he said “We brought back much more than we could ever offer them”. The culture, humility and compassion that we gained were absolutely priceless and we will all be forever changed. We all wanted to thank everyone for their support and prayers that made this trip possible. My husband, Scott Shiver and myself wanted to thank all the adults that played vital rolls in making the trip a wonderful success as well as all of the youth that gave so much of themselves without consideration of self. What a great country we live in. God Bless America!

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