Chapter 22: Considering our Next Steps
Conversations, prayers, and some needed rest and fellowship
AS TOLD BY JOHN AGERSTEN
After returning from my long trip into the jungle, we celebrated Maino’s birthday at the end of March. She was four years old, and a big girl now. Her favorite things were to draw, color, and write letters. She also loved reading. We received a package from Norway from her grandparents. They sent many gifts, among other things a first grade reader and other children's books Gro had requested. She knew a lot of the letters and could read short words. She would sit quietly for hours working with the letters and looking in books. Lewi was growing, as well, and was putting on some weight after getting over tonsillitis and later some stomach troubles. He was crawling now and played happily with the toys he received at Christmas.
Gro and I talked a lot about the work and ministry during this time and discussed what the next steps would be for us. We both felt that the Lord was calling us to work in the areas of the jungle that I had just visited. Initially, when we arrived in Bagua, we had hoped that we could accomplish this by using Bagua as our base and travel to the jungle villages from there. After all, it seemed safest to live in a place you could get to by car. However, our time in Bagua showed us that this would not be possible. The distances were too great and communication too difficult when traveling in the jungle. We understood I would have to travel a lot and be away from Gro and the children for long periods if we were to continue living in Bagua. Besides these concerns, it would be almost impossible to plant churches and disciple the groups of believers without living among them.
My trips so far had shown us that there were already missionaries and churches that worked in the jungle areas closest to us. However, in the area I had traveled during my long trip, there were no missionaries working permanently among the native tribes or in the mestizo villages. We were aware that there would be many challenges to living and working in that area. There were no roads, no stores, no easy way to communicate with the outside world, and long distances to be traveled on the rivers. One of the primary needs would be to have our own boat to travel with and even to live in at the beginning.
We knew we would need to make a decision soon. We considered staying in Bagua and continue the work with the church there who had asked us to help them. Gro taught Sunday School there and preached in services when I was out traveling. I would help with the services as much as I could when I was home, and I also visited some of the churches planted in villages out in the countryside by some of the churches in Bagua. There was great openness to the Gospel in this area. Gro and I had many conversations about what our ministry here would look like if it was the Lord’s will for us to stay here. We thought and prayed about this a lot. However, we did not feel at peace with the idea of staying in Bagua Chica. In April, ‘69, we wrote to Salem, our church back home in Oslo, and told them of our plans to move into the jungle. Letters did not travel quickly between Bagua and Norway, so as expected, it took a while before we received a response.
Taking a vacation to Lima and Huancayo
It was almost time for our planned vacation trip to Lima, Tarma, and Huancayo. We were looking forward to a change of pace, and also to get away from the heat in Bagua for a little while. It was going to be fun to attend the wedding of Kerstin and Bengt, and also to visit our missionary colleagues and other friends. Maino was really looking forward to the trip and especially to see David and Samuel again. That is all she talked about for days before we left. When we left Bagua around six in the morning on April 22nd, we still had not heard back from Salem, our church in Norway, about our proposed move into the jungle.
The rain was pouring down, and made for an unpleasant driving experience: in fact, the first 100 miles or so were terrible. The Jeep stalled ten times because water splashed into the engine. The creeks we had to cross were flooded and the road had washed out several places. Other places the road was blocked by mud and rock slides, and a couple of times we had to drive off the road to pass lines of large trucks stuck in the mud. It took us about ten hours to travel approximately 190 miles.
It was almost time for our planned vacation trip to Lima, Tarma, and Huancayo. We were looking forward to a change of pace, and also to get away from the heat in Bagua for a little while. It was going to be fun to attend the wedding of Kerstin and Bengt, and also to visit our missionary colleagues and other friends. Maino was really looking forward to the trip and especially to see David and Samuel again. That is all she talked about for days before we left. When we left Bagua around six in the morning on April 22nd, we still had not heard back from Salem, our church in Norway, about our proposed move into the jungle.
The rain was pouring down, and made for an unpleasant driving experience: in fact, the first 100 miles or so were terrible. The Jeep stalled ten times because water splashed into the engine. The creeks we had to cross were flooded and the road had washed out several places. Other places the road was blocked by mud and rock slides, and a couple of times we had to drive off the road to pass lines of large trucks stuck in the mud. It took us about ten hours to travel approximately 190 miles.
Finally we reached the coastal highway which is paved. After five more hours and another 200 miles, we reached our first stop: the city of Trujillo. There we spent the night with the Vestheim family, Norwegian missionaries with the Salvation Army. From there we continued to Lima the next day where we would stay with our friends at the Scandinavian Seamen Church. We spent two days there taking care of official documents we needed before heading up the familiar road over the mountains to Huancayo.
In Huancayo, the missionaries Anderås and Lindgren were excited to see us. The Lindgren family had settled in Huancayo when they returned from Sweden, but were planning to move to Lima to start a ministry there. We spent 14 days with them, and enjoyed every minute! Although I ended up spending a lot of time helping with services, Bible studies, and their radio ministry, it was still a time of refreshing and we enjoyed our time with colleagues and friends. We also loved the cooler weather!
In Huancayo, the missionaries Anderås and Lindgren were excited to see us. The Lindgren family had settled in Huancayo when they returned from Sweden, but were planning to move to Lima to start a ministry there. We spent 14 days with them, and enjoyed every minute! Although I ended up spending a lot of time helping with services, Bible studies, and their radio ministry, it was still a time of refreshing and we enjoyed our time with colleagues and friends. We also loved the cooler weather!
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The first few days were busy with wedding preparations for the Anderås’ eldest daughter Kerstin and her fiancee Bengt. She had met him while she was in Sweden raising funds for her own support. He was a youth pastor and evangelist in the church where they met. Now they were both in Peru, and they would be responsible for the work in Huancayo while Brita and Per Anderås returned to Sweden on furlough. The Sunday after the wedding, the church held a farewell service for them, and it was very well attended.
One of the days, we traveled to Tarma where we had lived at the beginning. It was great to see friends again and encouraging to see that the church was almost full. We also stopped by the American hospital in La Oroya, where both we and the children received a check up and some vaccinations. We were all declared healthy and sent on our way with a supply of vitamins. All too soon our time in Huancayo was over, and it was time to head back north to Bagua. We spent a couple of nights at the Seamen Church in Lima again. The last evening there we spent a pleasant time with Per and Brita onboard the Swedish ship that would be taking them home. We did get a little homesick, though, knowing that this ship was headed to Scandinavia. It had been almost two and a half years since we disembarked in this same place when we arrived in Peru on the Margrethe Bakke M.S. |
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Back in Bagua
After leaving them on the ship, we headed north that same evening. We drove all night and arrived at the Vestheim’s in Trujillo a little before noon. We rested there, then set out for the long stretch to Bagua the next morning. The road was thankfully much better now; the flooding had ceased and the mud dried out, so we arrived in Bagua that evening. It was a bit of a let down to be back in the house where we were greeted by layers of dust, spiderwebs, and roaches. The windows only had screens, the road outside was dusty, and spiders and roaches could easily get in through many cracks. But after some soap and water and a little elbow grease, the house was homey again.
Shortly after we got back, we finally received a response to our letter from Salem. They wrote that they did not feel that it was safe for us to leave “civilization” and set out to areas unknown both to us and them. Their concerns reflected our own: we had nowhere to live, no boat, and it would be difficult to communicate with the outside world. They also wondered how we would reach the tribes when we didn’t know their languages. Would someone translate from Spanish? Another concern was finances. Would moving and settling in a new place be an economic hardship? We understood their concerns, and Gro and I discussed further what our ministry would look like if we were to stay in Bagua. We thought we could continue to work with the small group of believers we had been helping since they were not affiliated with any other church or ministry as far as we knew. However, one day a ministry team arrived in Bagua from a church in another village. A couple of the believers that had started this small group in Bagua, had been saved in that church before they moved here. Now the team that came wanted to register the Bagua group with their ministry. We were still welcome to work with the group, and of course, we wouldn’t mind doing that, but this event and the fact that there were several other churches and ministries in Bagua, made us more sure than ever that the Lord was calling us into the lowland jungle, where the needs were so great.
After leaving them on the ship, we headed north that same evening. We drove all night and arrived at the Vestheim’s in Trujillo a little before noon. We rested there, then set out for the long stretch to Bagua the next morning. The road was thankfully much better now; the flooding had ceased and the mud dried out, so we arrived in Bagua that evening. It was a bit of a let down to be back in the house where we were greeted by layers of dust, spiderwebs, and roaches. The windows only had screens, the road outside was dusty, and spiders and roaches could easily get in through many cracks. But after some soap and water and a little elbow grease, the house was homey again.
Shortly after we got back, we finally received a response to our letter from Salem. They wrote that they did not feel that it was safe for us to leave “civilization” and set out to areas unknown both to us and them. Their concerns reflected our own: we had nowhere to live, no boat, and it would be difficult to communicate with the outside world. They also wondered how we would reach the tribes when we didn’t know their languages. Would someone translate from Spanish? Another concern was finances. Would moving and settling in a new place be an economic hardship? We understood their concerns, and Gro and I discussed further what our ministry would look like if we were to stay in Bagua. We thought we could continue to work with the small group of believers we had been helping since they were not affiliated with any other church or ministry as far as we knew. However, one day a ministry team arrived in Bagua from a church in another village. A couple of the believers that had started this small group in Bagua, had been saved in that church before they moved here. Now the team that came wanted to register the Bagua group with their ministry. We were still welcome to work with the group, and of course, we wouldn’t mind doing that, but this event and the fact that there were several other churches and ministries in Bagua, made us more sure than ever that the Lord was calling us into the lowland jungle, where the needs were so great.
The green light
We wrote another letter to Salem where we expressed how we were convinced that it was the Lord calling us to work in this area that was almost untouched by the Gospel. The Pongo de Manseriche rapids was a natural “border” between the high jungle in the west and the lowlands eastward below the rapids. During my trip into the eastern area of the jungle, I had only met four believers. According to the Evangelical Central Office in Lima there were no missionaries or church groups working permanently in this area, and we had not heard of any either. We also explained our plans in more detail.
After some time, we received a second letter from Salem. They now understood our situation more clearly, and trusted us and our decision. The church gave us their blessing to move forward with our plans and would be praying for us. We also knew we had the support and prayers of the “Peru mission group” in Salem, which consisted of our parents and other friends from the church. They also helped us financially beyond the support we were receiving from Salem.
We were thankful to have been given a green light to move into the jungle, and could now start the preparations for the move and the work on the river Marañon.
We wrote another letter to Salem where we expressed how we were convinced that it was the Lord calling us to work in this area that was almost untouched by the Gospel. The Pongo de Manseriche rapids was a natural “border” between the high jungle in the west and the lowlands eastward below the rapids. During my trip into the eastern area of the jungle, I had only met four believers. According to the Evangelical Central Office in Lima there were no missionaries or church groups working permanently in this area, and we had not heard of any either. We also explained our plans in more detail.
After some time, we received a second letter from Salem. They now understood our situation more clearly, and trusted us and our decision. The church gave us their blessing to move forward with our plans and would be praying for us. We also knew we had the support and prayers of the “Peru mission group” in Salem, which consisted of our parents and other friends from the church. They also helped us financially beyond the support we were receiving from Salem.
We were thankful to have been given a green light to move into the jungle, and could now start the preparations for the move and the work on the river Marañon.