Peru

Partner with Local Missionaries in Peru

Peru’s varied landscape is home to a diverse number of ethnic groups, some of which are completely isolated from the rest of society in the dense forest of the Amazon. Approximately one third of Peru’s people live in the coastal region along the Pacific Ocean, where the capital city is located, and around half of the population lives in the highlands of the Andes Mountains.

While Peru’s overall economy has been growing in recent years, extreme poverty exists in rural areas. Many children drop out of school to help support their families. Up to one third of Peruvian children between the ages of 6 and 14 work, often performing dangerous mining or construction jobs.

The Quechua people comprise the largest of the ethnic minority groups in Peru. Descendants of the wealthy and renowned Inca people, the Quechua people battle acute poverty and alcoholism.

Christian Aid Mission assists indigenous ministries working in high-altitude Quechua villages. Indigenous missionaries often travel by horseback, donkey, or on foot to deliver desperately needed food, clothing, and school supplies to these villages. They also provide free medical and dental care and share the message of the gospel at multi-day evangelistic events. Collectively, they have planted hundreds of Quechua churches.

One of these ministries has successfully spread the gospel to entire Quechua families through its feeding center, where approximately 100 children receive a daily nutritious meal—often their only meal of the day—and learn God’s Word.

Another ministry is successfully planting churches among the Ashaninka people who live in the Amazon forest and are fearful of outsiders due to past oppression. When this ministry first began working among the Ashaninka, they discovered a disturbing and pervasive practice. Witchdoctors often accused children of bringing bad luck upon entire villages, ordering parents to abuse their own children or expel them from their village to die alone.

Through the ministry’s compassionate care and persistent witness, many Ashaninka people have accepted Christ as savior, and as they’ve grown in God’s Word and been set free from the fear of evil spirits, they have abandoned their old cultural practice of child abuse. Today, the ministry trains Ashaninka believers to reach their own people for Christ.

Sources: Joshua Project, Wikipedia, Etnopedia

32.4 million

Population

14.4%

Evangelical Population:

104

People Groups:

Unreached People Groups:

How to Pray for Peru

Pray that God would open doors for indigenous missionaries to reach Peru’s last remaining unreached people groups—people who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ.
Pray that God would raise up many more missionaries among ethnic tribal groups who will spread the gospel to their own people.
Pray that God would grant continued wisdom and guidance to indigenous missionaries who are developing curriculum and training ethnic tribal believers as church leaders and missionaries.
Pray that God would provide the resources requested by indigenous ministries to grow their outreaches, including funding for a mission base and classrooms in the Amazon forest region, boats to reach people living along the Amazon River, support for their workers, and assistance to continue providing the poor and needy with compassionate, life-saving aid.

More stories from Peru

Provide Critical Aid in Peru

Alcoholism, drug abuse and poor nutrition devastate families among the Quechua and other tribal peoples, but native Christian workers recently helped them to survive with distributions of shoes, clothes and food. Workers helped to meet physical needs while sharing the love of Christ, including providing groceries and regular lunches. One worker recently traveled to a city to provide help to 100 people, both children and adults. Donations of $35 or $70 are sought to provide such compassionate aid. Pray that lives would be touched in such a way that the kingdom grows.

Help Transform Lives with the Gospel in Peru

A 67-year-old villager in the Andes had spent his life worshipping ancestors and was addicted to coca leaves and alcohol. Native Christian workers found him no longer providing for his family and emotionally broken, and when they shared the gospel with him, he tearfully gave his life to the Lord. “He has happily donated part of his 200-square meter plot of land to build a church in his community, and he is sharing the kingdom of God with the inhabitants,” the ministry leader said. Workers need donations to share the gospel through various means and cultivate the faith of new Christians. Pray God’s kingdom will grow in grace, love and truth.

Help Form Well-Rooted Christians in Peru

Suffering stomach pains, a mother of four who made offerings to an earth goddess and was addicted to coca leaves visited a native missionary’s church. She accepted Christ, and after the worker prayed for healing, her stomach pains subsided a few days later. The woman now seeks to travel to share her testimony with other Quechua- and Spanish-speaking communities. “We are praying for more female missionaries like her who patiently listen to the difficulties of other women and help them in prayer, fasting and biblical counseling,” the ministry leader said. Workers need donations to undertake such gospel outreach. Pray for continuation of the ministry’s Bible institute.

Send the Message of Eternal Life in Peru

After praying and fasting to discern where the Lord would send them, local missionaries set out to proclaim Christ and planted 27 congregations in the mountains, jungles and on the coasts. At the same time, their radio program daily reached about 200 towns in one area and 121 villages in another, with listeners calling into the station for prayer and some trusting in Christ as Lord and Savior. In one area, 50 young people received the Lord’s grace. Workers need donations of $25 or $50 for such gospel proclamation and follow-up. Pray that grace will produce spiritual fruit that would glorify the Lord.

Bring Salvation to the Broken in Peru

A 22-year-old man who devoted himself to pornography and throwing stones at a native ministry’s church building was tormented by nightmares and what appeared to be ghosts. A neighbor invited him to a church service, where a native worker spoke about the peace of Christ. That same night the young man accepted Christ, and he began to heal physically and emotionally, leaving pornography as he was discipled. He now goes out to the main squares of his town to share his testimony on Sunday afternoons. Workers need donations of $25 or $50 to share the gospel and disciple those who commit to Christ. Pray that many people coming to Christ will receive strong biblical foundations.

Change Lives With The Gospel Message in Peru

A farmer addicted to alcohol and abusive toward his wife and children attended church with his family one Sunday at the invitation of his neighbor. When he heard the gospel preached that day, he and his wife accepted Jesus as Savior, and their life together was immediately changed. The farmer gave up alcohol and became an avid reader of Scripture; he and his family attend church services every week; and he serves as a deacon, helps clean the church, and accompanies the local missionary to other towns to share his testimony. Donations help native missionaries spread the gospel. Pray that the message of Christ will impact those who hear it.