The national Mennonite Brethren conference of Peru, Conferencia Peruana Hermanos Menonitas, is a member of the International Community of Mennonite Brethren. When national delegates to the 2022 ICOMB Summit drew the name of another conference with which to connect, Orlando Panta of Peru drew USMB.
When Saul, a Mennonite Brethren pastor in Peru, needed help with his fields, he hired a man from a nearby town. This man was intrigued by Saul’s work as a pastor and Saul shared the good news with him. Eventually, this man wanted to follow Jesus. Saul continued discipling him as they worked. In time the man was baptized.
Saul did not know that this man was the mayor of that nearby town, and the Lord was about to start a new church there! This hired hand, the mayor of Zona Ventura, gathered people in homes, preaching who Jesus is and about the kingdom of God. In time, the mayor donated property so the church could have their own place to gather. From hired hand to church planter!
The Peruvian MB Conference of 15 congregations and seven church plants has approximately 457 members and 631 attendees. Conference leaders have a vision and strategy of visiting each conference church, enabling them to see the needs of each church and how to best walk with them, whether that be financial support or training for leaders or church planting. Conference leaders sense a desire to learn how to have a healthier and more effective church planting strategy in other towns and regions of Peru.
The conference has the help of missionary Stacy Kuhns. In November, Pablo and Maricela Chavez and their family will arrive in Peru, apprenticing under conference leadership and experienced missionaries.
During the last few months, homiletics and hermeneutics courses have been held for pastors and leaders and classes were offered for Sunday school teachers. Pastors and leaders are also currently studying online, thanks to certificate courses offered by Instituto Biblico Asuncion in Paraguay. The conference hopes to provide more pastors and leaders with laptops so that they can continue learning through virtual classes.
Prayer Requests:
- Pray that the churches will find more ways to work together and have a closer relationship. The church in Trujillo is furthest away from the other MB churches and so communication and visits to the church are difficult.
- Thank God for the missionaries that support and serve in this conference and ask God to continue to raise people that want to serve in Peru.
- Thank God for training opportunities and pray for continued means to train leaders.
Did you know?
- Peru is the birthplace of the potato and is one of the top foodie destinations in the world.
- Peru’s most famous landmark is Machu Picchu, voted in 2007 as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
- The Amazon, the world’s longest river, begins in Peru and the Amazon rainforest covers 60 percent of Peru.
- Peru’s Andean condor is the largest flying bird on earth. These birds can weigh over 33 pounds, have a 10 ½-foot wingspan and stand at up to 4 feet.
- Three-quarters of the world’s alpaca population, 3.5 million, live in Peru.
- There are three official languages in Peru: Spanish (spoken by 80 percent of the population), Quechua and Aymara. An additional 13 languages are spoken as you travel toward the Amazon jungle.
- Lima is the capital city and is home to one-third of the country’s population.
- The population of Peru is 33 million people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds, including the Uros people, many who live on Lake Titicaca and the Mashco-Piro tribe, which lives in the Amazon rainforest.
- Peru has one of the highest sand dunes in the world. The Cerro Blanco dune is the second-highest in the world, towering over the Sechura Desert at 1,176 meters.
- Lake Titicaca is the world’s highest navigable lake. Located between Bolivia and Peru, this lake is 3,810 meters above sea level. In the 1970s, ruins of a city were found beneath Lake Titicaca. Today the descendants of the Quechua people who called this lost city home, live on 120 self-made floating islands on the lake.
The International Community of Mennonite Brethren is a global fellowship of 22 member national churches in 19 countries. Our global family has approximately 450,000 official ICOMB members. ICOMB has associate members in over 20 more countries. Associate members are all on different points along the pathway to full membership. ICOMB exists to facilitate relationships and ministries to enhance the witness and discipleship of its member national churches – connecting, strengthening and expanding.
