What are we doing in Peru?
AABC is currently involved in beginning a church planting movement among Ayacucho Quechua, in the village of Cordova, located in the Andes Mountains of Peru. You can continually receive updated information on our progress by subscribing to our World Impact feed to the right.
(from left: Betty, Pastor Jeremy, Ali)
For nearly five years now, Ashland Avenue Baptist Church has been involved in the process of planting a church in the Andes Mountains of Peru. We took a couple of years to investigate, plan, and pray. We then launched our first series of short-term mission teams into the Andes to the village known as Cordova in March of 2008. In all, we have sent six teams into the village, each team spending a week ministering to the various needs of the villagers. We also planted 5 college students in Cordova for the months of June and July. Our overall goal in 2008 was to establish a presence in the village through acts of service and personal evangelism. After our first year of ministry in Cordova, we can say we accomplished our goal.
In July of 2008, we were all overwhelmed with excitement upon hearing that there were two new converts in the village. Along with a nurse named Betty, a man named Ali had come to faith in Christ. Ali had a reputation of being ‘really bad.’ His background was full of sin and broken relationships. After a few weeks of being around our summer missionaries, Ali had become interested in hearing how he could change his life. Then one night, after preaching about the prodigal son, Casey McCall (our college ministry leader) was able to lead Ali to faith in Christ. Ali humbly got on his knees and through faith in Jesus begged God to change Him.
Immediately, Ali began to share the good news with others in the village. Ali’s father, Enrique, told us, “My son has changed!” Pastor Nate Bevier was able to baptize Ali in a frigid pool of water in the Andes. Our church family watched the video of Ali’s baptism and rejoiced! We had pled with God for this to happen. We were beginning to see God answer our prayers and move in village of Cordova.
Our prayer was that Ali and Betty would be strategic in leading others in the village to Jesus and helping us establish a church in Cordova. As the year in Cordova came to a close in October, Ali promised us that he would continue to share the gospel in Cordova. As we drove away from Cordova, we only wondered what would happen over the course of the next four months.
Anxious to get back to Cordova, our church family has been sitting on edge waiting to hear how Ali and Betty are doing. Last week, we received the report from Cordova that Ali had died. Ali fell from 30 feet while installing a satellite dish in the village. He was taken to a hospital some distance away for an emergency surgery, which was unable to save his life. Such news was bitter sweet for our church body.
When the announcement came on Sunday there were tears of pain in the eyes of members of our church who have never set foot in Cordova. Hundreds from AABC who have not and probably never will go to Cordova know Ali. They have seen pictures, watched videos, and heard stories of him and his faith. Even more, they prayed for his salvation and perseverance as a believer.
It is with heavy hearts that we look back on our encounter with Ali. But amidst the sadness there is reason to rejoice in the providence of God.
Ali is originally from the city of Ica, Peru. Ali and his father were under contract to do construction work in the village of Cordova for approximately one year. According to the providence of God, the year they were assigned to the village would be the year in which our short-term teams would begin going to Cordova. We now know that this would also be the last year of Ali’s life. All of this was God’s perfect timing.
While we plan, pray, and strategize for the long-term process of seeing a church established in Cordova, we must recognize what God has already done through the efforts of short-term mission teams and the sacrificial support of our church body. God graciously brought Ali from Ica 70 miles from Cordova for a short time to hear the gospel from a group from Lexington, Kentucky thousands of miles away from Cordova. He became our friend and brother in Christ whom we will serve the King with together forever.
What is the recipe for a successful ministry? Does a church need all the right programs and discipleship materials? Do they need to spend a little more time on the mission field to teach other cultures everything that has made our own churches successful? In I Thessalonians the apostle Paul finds himself in a great dilemma. He faithfully preached the gospel to those in Thessalonica. But he had to leave those believers and hope that God would preserve them in the face of persecution. Perhaps successful ministry has less to do with our talents and ingenuity than we would like to believe. Listen as Pastor Jeremy challenges us to abandon our pride and give God the glory for building his church.
What can we teach ourselves in Cordova? Selected Scripture: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (172)
Our Medical Mission Team will be traveling to the village of Cordova Peru this Friday to host a medical clinic. The dates for the clinic are October 13th and 14th. The clinic will be used to encourage the folks in the village to have regular check-ups and to educate concerning personal health. Upper respiratory infections are among the main causes of illness and even death in Cordova. While the medical center is supplied with medication to treat such illness, many of the villagers cannot afford treatment and some simply neglect it. Dr. Larry Butler and Julie Lasslo will be working alongside the national medics already working in Cordova to perform basic check-ups. The rest of the team will be working to share the gospel with those who are waiting to be seen by the medical team. They will also be inviting each person to attend a Bible Study that will be held each evening of the trip. Pray for this trip, as we seek to establish more of a redemptive presence in the village. Pray that God will use the evangelism efforts of the trip to save many in the village. Also, pray for Pastor Jeremy as he meets with the new believers in the Cordova and encourages them to share the gospel with the rest of the village.
Join us this Sunday evening (August 10th) at 6:00p.m. in the AABC family center for “To Cordova And Back“. Beginning at 6:00p.m. we will enjoy some Peruvian cuisine and then spend the evening learning more about Peruvian culture and reflecting on all that God is doing in village of Cordova. Admission is free and you do not have to make reservations.
This report was written by Casey McCall after the July team arrived back from the village of Cordova
On July 10, 2008, Pastor Nate Bevier, Jenelle Bevier, Heather Ledbetter, and I took a week-long trip to Cordova, Peru, in order to continue AABC’s work among the Ayacucho Quechuas in that area. We joined a team of three from Ryker’s Ridge Baptist Church in Madison, Indiana, as well as the five summer missionaries who were already serving in Cordova, for a week of exciting and fruitful ministry.
The trip had three primary goals: to continue establishing a positive presence among the people of Cordova toward the goal of starting the first ever church in that area of the world; to evangelize the lost through music and Bible teaching; and to encourage our summer missionaries who had been diligently working to plant gospel seeds all summer. By God’s magnificent grace, all three goals were met beyond anyone’s expectations.
Much of our time was spent just hanging out with the people and continuing to build relationships and trust. Our team was able to spend time each day talking and eating with various people in the town, playing with children, and cultivating relationships. We had to remind ourselves constantly of the importance of this ministry. It is not common to see North Americans in a small village three hours up a mountain from any semblance of modern society. The people in Cordova need to know that we are there to love them. They need to be able to trust us. These times of day-to-day interaction with the people of Cordova were invaluable in providing a foundation of trust upon which future ministry can be built.
The goal of evangelism was accomplished through personal conversations around town by day and times of music and Bible teaching at night. During the day our team spoke the gospel to whoever was hanging around the town. At night, however, we targeted particular people who had shown interest in the gospel and invited them to our nightly Bible studies. These were people who our summer team had specifically targeted and in whom our summer team had invested much time and effort in trying reach with the gospel. Because of the prayers of AABC, our summer missionaries’ hard work and sacrifice, and God’s wonderful grace, we were able to play a role in seeing the first two sinners saved through our efforts in Cordova! God acted mightily to save Ali and Betty, and he is working in the hearts of even more. Before we left Cordova, Pastor Nate was able to baptize Ali. This might have been the first ever baptism in Cordova!
Our summer missionaries were excited to spend the week with our team in Cordova. We were able to encourage them just by our presence. But seeing the fruit of two new believers was all the encouragement they needed. These five missionaries will come home soon, knowing that God used them to accomplish amazing things in Cordova. Each of these missionaries shed tears of joy when Ali and Betty repented and believed the gospel. It was an amazing time for everyone involved.
Our summer missionaries will return home soon with more exciting stories of what God is doing in Cordova. As our summer efforts draw to a close, we must remember that the work has only begun. Christ calls us to make disciples. While Ali and Betty are now believers, there is still much work to be done toward making them disciples. We must continue to pray, give, and go to Cordova until there is a church there that is working to reach its own community.