Hasten His Return!

The SALT ministry in Huancayo, Peru is perhaps one of the longest and most successful ministries under the Christian and Missionary Alliance and SALT partnership. Students from many towns around this city come at considerable expense to receive training in theology, and many go on to graduate and receive a degree which they can put to good use.

The ticket on the bus costs only $10 (USD). The point of origin is Lima and the destination is Huancayo, Peru. It is a medium sized town situated in the Altiplano, between two parallel high ranges which make up the Andes Mountains. Until recently, the only way to get there was by car or bus.

The 9-hour ride begins by winding through the city of Lima. Then one senses the altitude and better air as the bus winds higher and higher. The scenes are craggy cliffs, rock slide areas, high lakes made from snow melt, and small towns, then mountains.

As one who suffers from motion sickness, it is a tough trip. I bring several airplane “comfort bags” because they are sure to be needed. In the first hours, nothing happens, and we reach the highest altitude of the trip at the Ticlio Pass, more than 4,800 meters (about 15,000 feet) above sea level.

The bus usually stops to let passengers stretch their legs for a few moments, then it’s back on board to push ahead another four hours. After winding down into the plain to Huancayo, and with oxygen deprived, my stomach can stand no more.

Huancayo is one of the most successful sites for teaching under SALT (Support and Leadership Training). The response by pastors and church leaders is always robust, and the sessions are marvelous. Being there with such wonderful people makes that trip worthwhile. Huancayo is right out of a tourist catalogue advertising a picturesque Spanish colonial town.

The two-day meeting with pastors and lay leaders begins in a small Alliance church near the center of the city at 9 a.m. and ends around 6 p.m., with a two-hour lunch and siesta in the middle of the day. The church has bullet holes in the walls from past attacks by Shining Path terrorists who routinely went to churches like this to terrorize church goers and take their money.

People from the city and others from the surrounding countryside attend the teaching, bringing Bibles and paper and many questions. My first visit there was to teach from the popular book “The Purpose Driven Church” by Rick Warren. Distractions were common. A side door wouldn’t close, and chickens would wander in and walk in front of me. Dogs and cats would do the same and roosters would crow outside. But the fellowship was always warm, and the pupils seemed eager to learn. Many of these people are pastors but cannot read well. They love to hear new information which helps them compose messages for the weeks ahead. The people are largely of Quechua extraction and speak more comfortably in that language than in Spanish. Hardly anyone speaks English.

Lunch time is always a favorite of mine, and the local dish, pachamanca, is frequently served. This is a typical, high altitude meal of the Quechuas, prepared first by digging a hole in the ground about one meter deep. Hot rocks are prepared in a nearby fire, then tonged carefully into the bottom of the hole. First to go on top of the rocks is chicken, then another layer of hot rocks, then potatoes, more rocks, chicken, more rocks, and vegetables. Finally, a pile of earth is put atop the last layer of rocks. A reed cross is placed on the pile and everyone waits for about three hours. When the reed cross begins to droop, we know that the food below is cooked and ready. The earth is shoveled away, the rocks and food are taken out, and lunch is served. We add to that Inca Cola or Chicha morada, a purple corn drink, and great conversation. The food is unforgettably good.

Two days of such fellowship and good times goes by very quickly. The people want you to know them. They tell you things. They invite you to places. One pastor and his daughter, Hela, came to the seminar. Hela wanted me to know two things about her. She passionately loved Jesus and served Him in two ways. First, I went with her and her dad to their church. She wanted to show me her Sunday School room. Going to the stairs, I thought that her classroom was upstairs. Instead, her classroom was the stairs, and she had 20 students there each Sunday, learning the Bible and keeping each other warm as they listened to the lesson. In the photo on the right is Hela Hualcas and one of her students in their Sunday School class “room.”

Hela’s other ministry is as “pastor” to about 100 children in a city park every day. Hela is small, and her voice is high. She asked for a microphone and the Lord provided one. Now all the children can hear her make the gospel clear. Hela likes to use Good News Club materials and the Wordless Book. In the photo on the left is a Quechua mother and many children in the park.

Today, Hela and her father have a ministry in Huancayo named Hogar Esnehe (House of Ezra and Nehemiah). This organization feeds and houses about 100 children who are destitute, homeless, need a place safe from abuse and a place to be fed and clothed and educated. Many of the children are orphans. Their ages range from 2 to 18. They need your help!

The SALT (Support and Leadership Training) ministry in Huancayo is perhaps one of the longest and most successful ministries. Students from many towns around this city come at considerable expense to receive training in theology, and many go on to graduate and receive a degree which they can put to good use. Several graduation ceremonies have been held in Huancayo over the past 20 years. Many of the teachers who go are academically trained. I am not. I have an engineering degree. But as one of “God’s irregulars” I go because I love the people and know that I have been called by God to be part of a collective effort to prepare for the Lord’s return. It’s a desire to “bring back the King.” What we do in Huancayo is to help pastors and workers like Hela return to their congregations and spread His Word. Jesus taught us in Matthew 24:14: “And the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Postscript: The return trip down the mountains to Lima always seems more agreeable on the body than the trek up. Perhaps it has to do with the ability to breathe again. But the views are spectacular, and here and there are herds of llamas, vicunas and alpacas. If one takes the relatively new airline connection to Huancayo, all of this would be missed!