Peru Update #6

Dear Family and Friends,
     Greetings on this beautiful fall day!  Well, I guess I should say spring day for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere!  I hope you are all having a wonderful spring and enjoying the nice sunny weather.  Despite the fact that it is fall here in Peru, it is actually one of the sunnier parts of the year.  Sunny and dry, though it will not be until October that one can say it is really dry.  We only have two seasons here, (though there always is a little variety within them; rainy, from roughly November to April, and dry, from May to October.  It is almost getting cold enough at night to make chuño ("freeze dried potatoes") which is a staple here in the Andes.
     The beginning of this month found me sweltering in the heat of the jungle.  It was rather a stark contrast to the frosty nights we have recently been having here in Velille.  My purposes in going were twofold, to accompany some friends who were moving to the jungle and to see the other half of Peru before I leave in July.  Though I never left the county, I might as well have for all of the travel it took to get there.  We piled off of the tanker truck, on top of which we were riding not long after two in the morning on our third day of travel.  We were then forced to wait the dawn on a concrete patio, since the only way of continuing was by boat, of which there were none at that early hour.  It actually was not as hard to sleep on such a hard "bed" as I though it would be.  Then again, I guess I was a little tired after crossing the Andes in such style!  The ride went from freezing cold at the top of the mountains where we had breathtaking views of snowcapped peaks, to a sultry heat as we dropped down thousands of feet into the jungle.  It was a trip that will long be remembered. 
     In case anyone wonders at my sanity in traveling as I did on top of a loaded tanker hauling petroleum, let me explain myself.  If I wanted to give a good Peruvian answer I would say that it was less then half the price of a bus ticket, but to be honest it was actually just as much as the decision of those I was traveling with, as it was mine.  I did enjoy the adventure though, and really did not have to suffer much more than I would have by bus.  Most of all, it crossed the mountains in daylight, which was spectacular, whereas all of the buses cross in the dark.  It is a very long ways to travel no matter how you look at it, well, I take that back, there are not hundreds of switchbacks and mountains to cross when traveling by air!  By the time we arrived, I think all of the other passengers realized I was not doing it as a tourist.  
     But traveling by such means was only one of the many new experiences I had.  Life in the jungle is a lot different than it is here, where our elevation is more than 12,000 ft.  The heat was probably the main difference and effects the way the people live in many ways.  Also, the fact that they do not grow potatoes there, makes a big lifestyle difference.  I saw almost no agriculture, (I would not call gathering fresh fruit off of the trees in your back yard agriculture!) and very little livestock other then the pigs in the streets, and a unique type of cow that they raise only for meat.  Most of the people I met either made their living from mining or forestry, which are the big money makers in the area.  The wages there are more than double than what one gets paid here in Velille, but the cost of living is much higher as well.
     Traveling with Charo and Hipolito, along with there two month son, was a very meaningful experience.  Besides Daniel and Maria, we have had more interaction with them, then with almost anyone else here.  It was hard to see them leave, especially since they themselves have concerns about what they will do over the coming months with no christian influence.  They say that once their time in the jungle is over, they would like to return to Velille, be baptized and lead a christian life.  The fact that they have been very influenced by the Wenger family came out several times as we witnessed numerous misbehaved children, as well as abusive parents.  They have seen enough of what a christian home looks like, to know that that is what they want for their family.  Please do pray for them as they are on their own in so many ways.  Pray that their desire and sense of need for salvation would increase during this time, and that they would not succumb to the wicked lifestyle of all around them.
     My time with them passed all too rapidly.  It was a neat experience though to spend some time with Hipolito in his work.  Where they live is not accessible my car, at least not conventionally!  Though I never saw it done, what they do is tie two or three large canoes together and drive vehicles onto two perpendicular planks, and thus ferry them across the murky water.  Everything in town is brought in by boat, from motorcycles to everyday merchandise.  It was a sad realization of the way people live, when I saw several boat loads of beer piled high on the large motorized canoes, making multiple passes across the river.  Hipolito works on one of the smaller canoes, called a "pecky-pecky," mainly hauling people rather than goods.  I enjoyed my time on the water, taking in the many beautiful as well as interesting scenes.  My only disappointment was that I did not see any crocks!
     Having finished my time with Hipolito and Charo I continued on to Puerto Maldonado, located only four hours from Brazil.  I was asked to share at a Saturday evening service at a church there in town and was blessed by the opportunity I had to make some new friends.  I also spent Sunday with the same congregation and especially enjoyed getting to know a young Brazilian missionary.  From Puerto I returned by a different route and spent Tuesday buying Bibles and other related items to bring back with me.  By the time I got back early Wednesday morning I was plenty ready for the chance to get some real rest, after having spent two consecutive nights on buses.
    After all of my traveling, I am glad to be back, and thank the Lord for a productive and safe trip.  It is good to once again have part in what the Lord is doing here.  I am thankful for the opportunities that the Lord gives in all of life, no matter where I may be, to witness of His saving grace.  More than anything else, I desire to be faithful to His calling, and obedient to His leading.  It amazes me how quickly my time here has passed as I look to returning in July.  I do ask for your prayers, as I pray, plan and prepare for what God has for me back in Washington.  May He continue to lead in every aspect of my life!

    Thank you all so much for your prayers as well as your interest in the work here.  What a blessing to know that Christ has promised that He will build His Church, and that it will be victorious!  I am awed by such a wonderful claim.  Let us do all that we can as part of His Church, to fulfill His purposes here on earth!

     For the cause of Christ, Nels
    

     George Macleod pleaded that "...the cross be raised again at the center on the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town garbage heap; at the crossroad so cosmopolitan that they had to write his title in Hebrew and Latin and in Greek ... at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is were He died. And that is what He died about. And that is were churchmen ought to be, and that is what churchman should be about."

Attachments:
1. Crossing the Andes
2. On the water
3. Early morning gold mining
4. Overlooking Puerto, and the vast extent of jungle