Major Earthquake Shakes Peru

     At about 2:30 am on Sunday morning an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit north-central Peru.  Yurimaguas, a population of about 62,000 people and the town that I live in, had considerable damage to several buildings and homes.  The quake struck 68 miles below the earth's surface according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) which thankfully, prevented more damage, injuries and deaths even though it was a major quake.

Severe damage done to several large buildings in Yurimaguas

     Fortunately, my house nor my dog Angelina, were not affected by the quake (although the house-sitter said she ran under the bed when it happened).  Maria and I were in a village community when it hit and were sleeping under mosquito nets in a house made of tree logs and a thatched roof.  Typically these village houses are not held together with nails but rather with twine taken from tree bark and usually do not have walls.  So when the quake hit everything shook and shook strongly for about 2 minutes.  Miraculously there was no major damage to most of these houses or to anyone in the houses except for one house that collapsed leaving no injuries.

     Our plan for this river trip was to visit four villages on the Nucuray River, which is about 16 hours by boat from Yurimaguas.  We wanted to encourage the believers in the only two churches on this river as well as present the Gospel to the non-believers in some of the other villages.  The quake gave us a wonderful opportunity to make the point that anything could happen at any time and that we all must be ready to meet our Lord at a moment's notice.  We were able to pray with several people to accept the Lord and several more to rededicate their lives to Him afresh.  It was a very encouraging trip and we were able to see the Lord move on many people to bring new life to their souls.

     While seeing the responses of the people was a huge blessing and an honor I feel I need to explain the struggles that many of these village churches experience.  For instance, the church in the village of Progreso, which is one of the only two churches on the Nucuray River, was said to be the stronger of the two.  However, over time one by one of the congregants fell away from the faith until finally Bartilome, the pastor, also fell away.  When this happened the few believers that were left felt betrayed and abandoned including one of elders of the church named Emerson, and so he also fell away.  Maria and I visited this village with the pastor of the other church to encourage both Bartilome and Emerson individually.

     We learned from Bartilome that there were so many rumors being spread about his conduct that were not true that he became overwhelmed and frustrated because he could not clear his name and therefore felt that he no longer wanted to be part of the church or in service to God.  Unfortunately, when he separated himself from the church he started drinking to cope with these struggles.

     By the time we met with him he had already received two visits from the senior pastor over him who encouraged him and set him on a path of recovery and accountability.  He shared with us that he could never leave his relationship with the Lord, just the relationship with His people.

The church in Progreso with Sharon sharing a message

     After sharing and encouraging both Bartilome and Emerson we had a church service in Bartilome's church and gloriously many people came out for it.  Even Bartilome himself!  The temporary pastor who was taking Bartilome's place, shared openly with the congregation how he too fell away from the faith but after prayer, repentance and encourgement was restored and was now asking the congregation for forgiveness.  It was done so humbly and sincerely that you couldn't help but just want to hug this young man for his vulnerability.  It set the tone for the message which led to a salvation call and an opportunity to rededicate one's life to the Lord.  Several people responded including Bartilome!  This was a huge step for him to demonstrate his own vulnerability to his congregation and I pray that they will fully receive him back with open arms.

     I share this with you to encourage you to please keep these village pastors and leaders in prayer for strength and wisdom so that when trials like this come they will use the resources available, namely other pastors or church leaders, to walk through it without falling.

     Malicious gossip is rampant in the villages and can destroy someone's character in an instant.  We just had a case like this in our first church plant of San Francisco where Nilton, the pastor-in-training was accused of sleeping with a 12-year-old girl.  The story soon lost its validity when the truth became known but not before causing much discussion among several neighboring villages.  Fortunately, Nilton held his ground and his faith and allowed the Lord to reveal the truth, which He did and was quickly resolved.

     I want to thank all of you so very much for standing with us in prayer for this work and for our protection at every level.  By God's grace we will finish the task He has given us to do and see His glory as a result of it.  I pray the Lord's blessing on each of you as you read this and encourage you in the faith to keep striving for the greater things of the Lord.  There are so many lives that still need to be reached for the Gospel let us seek the Lord together on how to do this in the most effective way.

Standing With You in Faith,

Sharon Malcolm

Missionary with 

Go To Nations since 1998