Week One: Serving at Misión TEC

What a fun week! During the first leg of my time in Pucallpa, I’m helping out at Misión TEC alongside a group of five other young adults from my church. San Jose, the community in which TEC is located, lies on the outskirts of Pucallpa. I will live about 25 minutes from TEC when I move to the SAM base. I plan to help out at TEC regularly during the year. Our church group has helped with many clubs for kids this week. We love working with the kids. Every hug, smile, and attempt to communicate brightens both our lives and their lives.

Kisses from Katie, a book written by a missionary in Uganda, encouraged us in this as well. Katie says, “I’ve noticed something about people who make a difference in the world: They hold the unshakeable conviction that individuals are extremely important, that every life matters. They get excited over one smile. They are willing to feed one stomach, educate one mind, and treat one wound.”

What does the community in which Misión TEC ministers and lives look like?

Some of them live in houses that look like the one pictured below. We visited a few of the kids’ families to give them food items and pray with them. The poverty level astonished us. However, Cristina, a leader of the mission, reminded us to have a true understanding of poverty. We from North America think of poverty materially and mourn for those who lack. She pointed out that those who live with less see poverty as a relational and spiritual thing; impoverished people lack God and relationship. While God does mourn when His people do not have the means to sustain themselves, He concerns Himself more with the wealth of our relational well-being.

Moments worth highlighting:

- I met some of the students I will teach, their families, and some fellow missionaries at the SAM prayer meeting this week. They joyfully (with applause and all) welcomed me and were glad to hear another teacher had come. They overwhelmed our group with kindness.

- We visited Nueva Era, the Shipibo village our church has connected with regularly. The people welcomed us with open arms, as always, and we gave them greetings from home. I loved seeing a few girls with whom I’ve connected in the past. Real highlight: They asked us to go up front and sing for them unexpectedly. After some deer-in-the-headlights stammering as we looked at one another, we decided to all go up together to sing for them. Luckily, we picked a song that they knew in Spanish, and some of them joined in. We return to that moment as one of the more comical ones we’ve experienced.

- On Saturday, Peru celebrated their 191^st year of independence (commonly called Fiestas Patrias). We walked through a parade in town with the kids from the clubs here…a parade that consisted of walking/marching for about 60 yards down the street after gathering together. Let me tell you, they know how to celebrate (really, they do). We’ve sung their national anthem about four times already as well. Time for me to join in their patriotism!