Hundreds of congregations along the Ucayali River in Peru are rejoicing to know that they have not been forgotten. Ten pairs of Bible workers have settled into “zones” along the river where they are each responsible for nurturing the worshippers in up to 10 villages.
In the past, missionaries visited each of these villages, bringing hundreds of people to Christ. Once they preached the message, however, the missionaries kept going, leaving numerous groups of Christians in their wake. Since the Peru Projects’ missionary launch alone cannot provide adequate follow-up training for all of the groups, they devised a new plan.
The area along the river was divided into zones. Each zone has up to 10 communities, depending on how far apart they are, and a pair of Bible workers. The Bible workers begin their work by visiting each community regularly, nurturing, encouraging, and re-establishing a church and church leadership. As the congregations are revived, the Bible workers turn their attention to training new disciples within the churches. In turn, the new disciples go to their neighboring communities to plant churches. Since these gospel workers live near their church plants, traveling costs are eliminated, and their steady presence will increase confidence among non-believers.
Now the Bible workers are settled into their zones and have begun encouraging the grateful congregations. So many of the worshippers had begun to feel abandoned as time lapsed and their members dwindled or lost focus. With the arrival of the Bible workers, their groups are already beginning to rejuvenate.
