Faith Becomes Sight in the Villages of the Shishinahua River!

Several God-appointed things happened on this last trip to the Shishinahua River. We went to minister the Word of God in two Shawi Indian villages named Santa Clara and Santa Rosa as well as check on the water filters that were done this past November. The answers to prayer came before we ever left the town that I live in, Yurimaguas, in the form of not one but two Shawi Indian pastors and their Shawi-speaking wives agreed to travel with me on this trip. One of the pastors also brought a new convert from his church, which made our team a total of five Shawi-speakers that could minister to the people in their own native tongue! I can’t begin to express to you how tremendous this was since I have been praying for four years to have people travel with me that can minister in the Shawi language.

Walking through the jungle to do house to house checks

Typical Shawi Indain family

After the 12-hour boat ride it took to reach these villages we started our work in Santa Clara by visiting house to house to check on the water filters. This not only gave me the opportunity to see how well the water filters were being used but also gave us the opportunity to share the Gospel with each family. When we got to the house of Ruberto, an older gentleman that had just recently finished making his thatched-roof home, we checked his water filter and saw that it needed to have some adjustments. We explained that we would do this when we returned on the next trip and then proceeded to share the Gospel with him. The two pastors spoke to him in Shawi and then gave him the opportunity to respond by asking Jesus to come into his heart. Because he had heard this on different occasions through the Christian films that I had brought in the past, the audio New Testament, and my own sharing of the Gospel with the community he was very ready to make a commitment to the Lord and so on February 20, 2011 Ruberto became a son of God!

We continued to have church meetings in Santa Clara where the Word of God went forth in the same ways as mentioned above except instead of me preaching the Shawi pastors shared the Word in their language resulting in a hunger for more of God and teaching on Christian principles.

Santa Clara listening to the audio New Testament

Santa Rosa watching the Jesus film on a 10” DVD player where the same movie was shown in Santa Clara

Pastor Algusto preaching in Shawi to Santa Clara

We completed our time in Santa Clara and then made our way about 30 minutes down river to the village of Santa Rosa where we followed the same procedure of checking the water filters and presenting the Gospel house to house followed by church services in the afternoon. In this village however there was a much stronger response to the Gospel. The people in this community were very open and respectful when the Word was going forth and so allowed the Holy Spirit to touch their hearts with His Truth. Pastors Rufino and Algusto took turns preaching the Gospel and on alternate meetings we showed Christian evangelistic films.

Pastor Algusto translating for Sharon into Shawi

Preaching the Word in Shawi

Pastor Algusto’s wife Siede, leading worship in typical Shawi attire and using a handmade instrument to praise the Lord

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On the last night of our stay Pastor Algusto preached a message on Lazarus and the rich man. He explained how real heaven and hell are and that when we die there is no possibility for one side to cross over to the other and then made the point that after death there is also no longer any opportunity to receive forgiveness or redemption. He shared many other things from this passage but this point seemed to be the one that pierced the hearts of the people.

As he was in the process of ending his message and giving an invitation to accept Christ a woman from the back of the room raised her hand before he could finish. My first response was concern because quite often when the women and children are disinterested in what is going on or don’t understand what is being said they can be very disruptive and so I thought that she was going to distract from this very crucial moment. As I watched her try unsuccessfully to get Pastor Algusto’s attention she finally leaned over to the wife of Pastor Rufino and whispered something in her ear. When I asked Eloisa what she said she explained to me that the woman wanted to know how to get saved! Eloisa told her to listen to the pastor and he will explain and sure enough in the next moment he invited anyone who wanted to ask Jesus into their hearts to raise their hand. Instantly her hand was up and so Pastor Algusto called her forward. In the Shawi Indian culture, like so many Indian groups, one does not draw attention to themselves but this is especially true for females. Therefore for this woman to be the only who raised her hand in a public meeting and then to respond by coming forward in front of all her peers is nothing short of a miracle and evidence that the Holy Spirit was truly working in her heart strong enough to cause her to do this. With just as much boldness she had when she raised her hand twice before she defiantly got up out of her seat and marched down front before all of her neighbors and friends risking their comments and snickering and patiently waited as Pastor Algusto completed his invitation.

Instead of the expected teasing the woman’s boldness triggered an avalanche of response from the others and immediately several other women also got up from their seats and came forward as did several of the men. The reception of the Word of God and the open hearts to His saving grace left all of us who where Christians speechless and awestruck over what the Lord was doing. Tears of joy filled our eyes as we watched a total of 11 Shawi Indians from the village of Santa Rosa invite Jesus Christ into their hearts as their personal Lord and Savior! What a moment. Although the five people who traveled with me were clearly effected by what they saw they could not begin to match the inexpressible, overwhelming joy I was experiencing at that moment as I watched faith become sight right before my eyes. Four years of plowing the field, planting the seeds and watering had now finally manifested into a ripe and golden harvest of souls. Can you rejoice with me my fellow labors in this glorious soul-gathering for the Kingdom? This is just as much your reward as it is mine for you too have labored in prayer to bring in the lost. It is for this that all the hardship that brought us to this point seems little compared to what is happening in heaven right now for all of our new brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pastor Algusto leading 11 people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ

The blessings of what happened that day do not end here however. The woman’s name, who was the first to respond, is Presentaciòn and is the wife of one of the village leaders named Miguel who also came forward to accept Christ. There were two other couples, another village leader and some men and women that were included in harvest that day. Potentially a total of three families have the Spirit of God working in their family unit and two of the three village leaders can now be influenced by the Holy Spirit as they direct this community of 14 families. My prayer is for the growth and development of this community in their new found faith and that one day soon they will take on the burden of evangelizing their neighboring villages. Will you continue to pray with me for the villages of Santa Clara, where Ruberto accepted Christ and several others were clearly affected, and Santa Rosa where 11 people accepted the Lord and countless others had seeds planted in their hearts?

I will be returning to these villages on March 12 for 7 to 10 days to do follow-up on the conversions in the form of discipleship classes and preaching with another Shawi Indian pastor (not of the ones that traveled with me this last time) and his daughter. Please pray for the following prayer points as together we establish the Kingdom of God in these villages:

1) Strong safety as we travel as this is the rainy season and so makes river travel more risky.

2) Wisdom in preparing the discipleship material since most do not read well or read at all.

3) That the Spirit of God will continue to work in the minds and hearts of everyone in both villages to assure a full salvation with the clear conviction of the love of God for each one.

4) Any opposition from the enemy to stop or hinder the work of the Lord will be thwarted before it ever gets started. There are two strong religious groups on this river that could be used by the enemy to do this.

5) Anything else that the Lord shows you concerning this work.

Words seem too lame to express my deepest gratitude to all of you who have stood in the gap and sacrificed for this work through your prayers, love, encouragement and financial giving. Because we have joined together souls have been snatched out of the fires of hell and added to the Kingdom of God forever. God bless each of you in your labor of love for this ministry and thank you again for joining with me.

Together with you in the Harvest,

Sharon Malcolm