My good friend Pastor Jose and I have had a very good relationship, and he invited me to lead another mission into Peru’s Amazon Jungle, in the village of Bretaña.
As we began to plan for our trip, we decided that we could hold Pastoral training in the newly built Facility (the SOS Building) and teach the first-ever formal class to village pastors and church leaders. This ended up becoming a class for Pastors and Church leaders. At Jose’s request, I placed my focus on prophecy.
The journey to Bretaña was quite extensive. We flew from Dallas to Atlanta, then to Lima, Peru, and then to Iquitos, Peru, with lengthy layovers between flights. We then boarded a river taxi for a 4-hour ride to Requena, Peru, a town halfway between Iquitos and Bretaña. Then boarded a second smaller river taxi for another 4-hour boat ride to Bretaña.
We arrived around lunchtime which was much earlier than we had expected and ended up having the entire afternoon prepare for teaching the next day.
The first thing we did was go over to the SOS building where Clara’s brother was finishing a cistern so that one bathroom in the building would be operational the next day. I commandeered a second wheelbarrow and shovel to start helping bring sand from a pile in front of the building to the cistern in the back. This was labor-intensive work but was worth it as when completed, the building had its first-ever sanitary sewer system installed. And we got it done just in time.
That first evening we held a special candle-light prayer service for the ministry team in the Upper Room of the SOS building. It was a time of “intense” prayer as we dedicated the room, and the building itself. It was an intense and powerful time in the presence of God. Jose brought Pastor Larri forward and he declared and prayed a prayer of dedication over him that God would bless him personally and help him grow his church in Bretaña even more. Then, to my surprise, Jose called me up and prayed over me, I felt the “hands of God” wrapped all around me during those amazing moments.
The next morning Jose and I had agreed that Jim would open each day with one of his foundational messages. The first one being on Free Will. This was a great lead-in to our time teaching and ministering for the classes. We taught class each morning we were there which was Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
One very interesting this was while we did nothing to plan our lessons together, with God’s help and direction it was as if God had placed our messages together in a sort of symphony.
On Wednesday night I preached in Larri’s church to members of his congregation. That night we invited anyone needing healing to come forward and several did. Jose and I prayed over each one for specific healing for whatever brought them forward. On the return to Iquitos, we got to God at work again as one of the ladies who had been burdened with continuous severe stomach pain for several years reported that her pain was completely gone. Praise God!
Then Thursday night I ministered to members of the four Christian churches in Bretaña. God challenged the congregation to be intentional with their time and attention especially when he is inviting them to go deeper into His presence.
While on this trip I was able to have someone that was able to capture the work we were doing. Jim did such a good job taking pictures and video clips of the work that we were accomplishing.
The journey home was just as strenuous as the one down. But we had several hours to kill in Iquitos so Jim and I took Jose and Clara shopping; particularly looking into several items that Jose could use with future classes, like a “smart TV” to record and play sermons from other pastors.
This trip was truly unique in so many different ways. Both Pastor Larri and Pastor Jose’s houses now have Wi-Fi, so we were able to call home using WhatsApp. The village also now has power for 90% or more of the day, and water is pumped from the river instead of people having to carry buckets from the river to their homes.
One of the blessings is how each of us on the trip grew closer together. Jim and I both formed a lasting bond with one another. We both also formed an even stronger bond with the team in Bretaña. This also became a testimony of how Jesus told the disciples to go out two by two. It demonstrated the power of a pair of men of God traveling for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
