Mission Yearbook: Peru trip’s lessons inspire actions for leaders in PC(USA)

Last summer, a small delegation of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders journeyed to Peru. Over eight days, they traveled from remote Andean villages to the coastal capital of Lima and into the depths of the Amazon jungle. Along the way, they met with church leaders, theologians, activists and local citizens. They worshiped, dialogued, and learned about the profound damage that conquest and extractive mining have inflicted — and continue to inflict — on the environment, Indigenous communities, and other marginalized populations. When they departed, they carried a promise: what happened in Peru would not stay in Peru.

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The Peru delegation included staff from the Interim Unified Agency, the Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly (2024) and mid-council staff. (Contributed photo)

Global engagement is a key value of the PC(USA), and international trips are common — especially for denominational leaders. However, while many past trips centered primarily on observing or serving communities abroad, this delegation approached the visit with an eye toward action back home. The Rev. Tony Larson, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly (2024), brought a personal connection to the trip’s focus on the impacts of extractivism — a challenge he sees on the Carolina coast where he lives. The trip’s conveners were determined that participants would return not only with memories, but with insights and commitments they could apply in their U.S. communities.

Alongside Larson, the delegation included denominational staff from ministries focused on ecumenical and interreligious engagement; compassion, peace and justice; as well as disaster assistance. Representatives from presbyteries across the country also participated. 

Speaking about the commitment to tangible follow-ups from their trip, the Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus, director of Humanitarian and Global Ecumenical Engagement in the Interim Unified Agency, said, “We have not generally aimed for specific ‘deliverables’ when following up on such visits. This, we realize, is a lost opportunity for our Church, as well as for the partners who have taken time and effort to share their work and vision with us. This time, instead of limiting the trip to staff leads and the Co-Moderator, we intentionally invited leaders from two presbyteries involved in Joining Hands work in Peru: the Rev. Annanda Barclay from San Jose and Dr. Clarice Hutchens from Giddings-Lovejoy.”

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La Oroya is home to a smelting operation and is considered one of the most polluted places in the world. (Contributed photo)

In addition to its support of the Joining Hands Network in Peru, the Presbytery of San Jose has an ongoing commitment to addressing Indigenous land rights and the environmental consequences of the Doctrine of Discovery. Barclay also co-moderates the board for the Center for Jubilee Practice, which supports churches and Christian organizations in “confronting their legacies of liberation and developing restorative communal practices.” Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery has advocated for environmental justice within the U.S., endorsing General Assembly overtures highlighting the intersection of environmental issues and social inequities. Hutchens, a scientist and business executive, focuses on environmental sustainability and the integration of Western science with Indigenous knowledge.

This diverse group of Presbyterians brought their own expertise and passions to bear during their time in Peru. Now that they are home, they are committed to finding ways to integrate what they learned into their local contexts. While much is still being discerned, some concrete ideas have emerged.

Group members reconvened in August to share their ideas for next steps, which Kraus said include “outreach to a number of other presbyteries within whose bounds similar issues of environmental racism, extractivism, and Indigenous rights are in play.” She said they are working toward a follow-up trip to include some of those presbyteries in hopes of longer-term dialogue. Kraus also said a series of short videos could lift up the connection between experiences of partners in Peru and struggles in the U.S.

Meanwhile, in Peru, the work to undo the damage of conquest and the pervasive threat of extractivism continues. Eduardo Arboccó, head of Peru’s Joining Hands Network, emphasized the need to support Indigenous defenders — particularly women — who bear the heaviest burdens of exclusion in a society still marked by colonialist, sexist and classist practices. He said efforts going forward will focus especially on the northern Amazon, where Indigenous communities face heightened risks from foreign and domestic companies, and where environmental defenders often struggle to make their voices heard. The network also hopes to continue partnering with other Christian organizations, including the PC(USA), as they work toward justice and healing for the earth and human communities harmed by extractivist industries.

Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Kelly Cahill, Administrator, Plan Operations, Board of Pensions
Peter Campbell, Team Lead Consultant, Information Technology Infrastructure, Administrative Services Group, A Corporation                                   

Let us pray:

Gracious God, thank you for opportunities to see our neighbors’ plights in a new light. May we follow your example to help those in need as much as we possibly can. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: YAV joins program to help advocate for Peruvian state violence victims

Well-known Peruvian documentarian Javier Corcuera hosted a special screening over the summer of his newest documentary, “Escuchar,” about the state violence that took place in Peru between December 2022 and March 2023, resulting in the deaths of 49 protesters.

It’s a story about people like Marco Antonio Samillán, a young doctor who was shot in the back while attempting to offer medical care to protestors. It's a story about Marco’s sister, Milagros, who was thrust into the role of justice advocate and activist for victims’ families after her brother’s murder. And it is — in a way — a story about the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program in Peru in which Milagros participates. 

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The Peru YAV site coordinator, Jenny Valles, stands with eight of the nine YAV program participants for 2025-2026. (Contributed photo)

A few years ago, even the most gifted prognosticators would have been unlikely to predict that Milagros Samillán and the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program would cross paths. Prior to her brother’s assassination, Milagros was a young university student, still living in Juliaca, the rural Andean context where she’d grown up.

“I was just another citizen of this country, living my own life — business, university, and family life — trying to share as many moments as possible with my siblings because we had already lost my mother and were dealing with a very heavy loss for the family,” Samillán said.

Meanwhile, participants in the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program have historically been from the United States. The program offered them a disruption to “regular life” — a chance to encounter a different context in another city or another country and spend a year living in intentional Christian community while serving the church and the world. Currently, the program offers sites in four U.S. cities and cities international locations.

When Covid made it impossible for the YAV program in Peru to accommodate young adults from the U.S., site coordinator Jenny Valles made an innovative shift: She brought on two Peruvian young adults instead. What began as a creative solution born of necessity became a new vision for the YAV program, and Valles continued to invite volunteers from Peru and other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean alongside U.S. young adults.

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Milagros Samillán talks with pastor and AETE professor, Efraín Barrera. 

“I believe having a more diverse YAV community is a more faithful approach to meeting the needs of the global church and addressing the challenges of the world today,” Valles said, noting that the diversity among volunteers also includes faith traditions, social location and life experiences. Samillán is one such example.

As state violence erupted in late 2022, Samillán and her family weren’t oblivious to the escalating situation, but they were focused on their own grief at their mother’s death. Then, on Jan. 9, police in Juliaca killed 18 people in a single day. 

Samillán’s brother Marco was a doctor who had heard that protestors were being injured by police and went to offer medical care. Instead, he became one of those murdered, and Samillán’s life changed forever. 

In the months after her brother’s death, Samillán felt a growing responsibility to speak up for her brother and the others who were killed, as well as 1,500 survivors, and the family members of those murdered with whom she had bonded.

“I had two options: lie in bed and cry for my brother's death or use my brother's memory and my brother’s name to help and support the family members’ struggle, which is also my struggle, which is not only Marco’s, but also part of the 49 families who are demanding justice today.”

Family members of the victims, including Samillán, came to Lima in the spring of 2023 and slept on the streets — a demonstration that became known as the “Lima Occupations” according to Efraín Barrera, a pastor and professor at an ecumenical theological school in Lima called AETE. Barrera said that, in response to the murders and victims’ families coming to Lima, AETE formed the Evangelicals Presente Collective made up of students and faculty who provided material support to the families and also organized a work of “prophetic denunciation” of the violence done by the government. Through this work, Samillán became involved with AETE and Barrera. 

AETE has been in relationship with the PC(USA) since 2000 through various Presbyterian faculty members as well as the Joining Hands Network in Peru. 

Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Andrew Kang Bartlett, Associate, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Interim Unified Agency
Dwayne Batcho, Production Clerk, Presbyterian Distribution Service, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Holy God, upon you we depend. Help your church to stand strong — shining the light of your goodness in a troubled world and our often-troubled lives. Empower us to proclaim your salvation and new life in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: PC(USA) leaders visit Peru to see impacts of mining, other industries

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The PC(USA) delegation was in Lima, Peru, with the Evangelical Association of Theological Education and the Young Adult Volunteer program. (Photo courtesy of Jed Koball)

Could the heart of the Amazon hold wisdom that can heal the planet? Could the people of Peru point the way for U.S. Presbyterians to repair relationships with the land they live on and the Indigenous people in their own contexts?

A delegation of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders, including the Rev. Tony Larson, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly of the PC(USA), recently traveled to Peru in pursuit of answers to these questions. They spent eight days in conversation with Global Ecumenical Liaison the Rev. Jed Koball and local partners about the impacts of extractive industries like mining on the environment and Indigenous communities.

The delegation also included Dr. Dianna Wright, director of Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations; the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo, director of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance; the Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus, director of Humanitarian and Global Ecumenical Engagement; and Valery Nodem, Associate for International Hunger Concerns.

Two other trip participants — the Rev. Annanda Barclay of the Presbytery of San Jose and Dr. Clarice Hutchens of the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy — embody what Kraus considers an exciting expansion of how PC(USA) moderators engage with global partners and mid councils and congregations here in the U.S.

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The PC(USA) delegation is photographed in La Oroya, Peru, with members of the Conservation Committee of Villa El Sol. (Photo courtesy of Jed Koball)

“We have not historically looked at how we might engage our mid council and congregational partners in these efforts, beyond an expectation that the Moderator would share the stories and results of their visit in their work around the Church,” Kraus said. “This, we realize, is a lost opportunity for our Church, as well as for the partners who have taken time and effort to share their work and vision with us. This time, instead of limiting the trip to staff leads and the Co-Moderator, we intentionally invited leaders from two presbyteries that have been involved in the Joining Hands work in Peru.”

Koball, a Global Ecumenical Liaison for the PC(USA), says this trip has been in the making for at least five years. It developed out of work with the Presbyterian Hunger Program — particularly its Joining Hands Initiative, which seeks to address systemic causes of hunger in countries around the world. Koball says during that time, Joining Hands has identified its work, globally, as addressing and dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery.

The 15th century Doctrine of Discovery established by the Catholic Church granted Christian European nations the right to claim lands and resources they “discovered” from non-Christian peoples. In Peru, this doctrine led to the conquest of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, including land theft, disruptions of spiritualities, and genocide.

Koball emphasized that the destructive mentality of conquest in Peru, and many other places including the United States, is not just historic, but ongoing.

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The delegation is seen In Callao, Peru, with people from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. (Photo courtesy of Jed Koball)

“That relationship with the land is defined today as we talk about extractivism,” Koball said, “where we see the Earth as something that is a resource for generating wealth.”

By contrast, Indigenous communities have maintained a more harmonious relationship with the environment.

“Humanity is dependent on a harmonious and healthy relationship with the Earth, and those most equipped to promote that relationship are Indigenous peoples,” Koball said. “So, getting land in Indigenous hands is ultimately kind of the goal here.”

The purpose of the delegation’s time in Peru was twofold: to see how this ongoing mentality of conquest and the extractivist industry of mining are impacting both the environment and the people there — especially Indigenous and Afro-descendant people — and to learn how Peruvians are addressing these issues so that knowledge might inform how Presbyterians engage in similar efforts in the U.S. Several members of the group come from presbyteries already working on addressing the impacts of extractivism on their local environments and Indigenous communities.

Over the course of eight days, the delegation traveled to three different regions of Peru. They visited La Oroya in the Andes, home to a smelting operation that has earned the city a reputation as one of the most polluted places in the world and where people have been protesting for more than two decades. On the coast around Lima, the group encountered the literal downstream impacts of mining: a contaminated river and beach. They also traveled to the Amazon to meet with a federation of native peoples working to prevent encroachment and extractive activity on their land.

Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist

Let us join in prayer for:

Judy Walton, Vice President, Lending Services, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program
Laura Wampler, Operations & Rights Associate, Operations, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray:

Lord, thank you for opportunities to serve you. Bless us as we share our loaves with the children, youth and adults. Help us to remember that in John’s Gospel, the sharing of loaves began with a child. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - In Peru, the light at the end of the tunnel still a distant one

Surrounded by desert, mission co-worker finds peace among the plants

November 24, 2021

Mission co-worker Jenny Koball and son Thiago sit in the garden they have created on the 16th floor of their apartment building. Photo by Jed Koball.

Although the U.S. is slowly returning to some semblance of normalcy, the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel is much more distant for other countries.

In a recent letter to supporters, mission co-worker Jenny Valles Koball sees a stark contrast in Peru, where she serves with husband Jed and son Thiago.

“Jed and I can see how the pandemic is subsiding in your part of the world, and we celebrate with you the newfound freedoms of social gathering that many of you are now enjoying,” she wrote. “Here in Peru, throughout Latin America and across the global South, we still have so far to go. The light is still so distant; the tunnel is still so long. And so, I ask myself, from where will my help come? How do I find peace in the darkness? When will the light shine again?”

Jenny was born in Peru and as a child she found refuge and a kind of inner peace among the plants that surrounded her childhood home.

“When war prevailed around us in the high jungles where I grew up, and later when economic difficulties fell upon my family, I found peace among the flowers, the fruit trees, the vegetable plants and the medicinal herbs that filled the land around us. The colors of the flowers helped me see beyond the black and white versions of life that only serve to divide us. The intertwined prickly thorns and soft petals taught me about our interconnectedness. The fruit of the vine reminded me that when we care for one another, God saves us. God provides. The plants not only gave me comfort, they gave me courage, purpose and hope.”

While she can’t pinpoint exactly where her love of plants came from, she believes it may have come from family before her who, by tilling the soil, made it a way of life.

“Perhaps it was passed down through the blood of ancestors long before — those who sought to live in harmony with the Earth before the Spanish arrive,” she wrote. “I still tremble at the thought of those who came not only to conquer a land and its people but to bury its spirit, too.”

Today she works to restore that spirit, not only by honoring those who came before her but thinking about those who will come after, like Thiago, so that he too can know the spirit of the land that surrounds him and find its inner peace.

Like millions of others in Peru and around the world, the past 15 months have been challenging for her family.

“From the 16th floor of our apartment where we have spent most of every day for nearly 500 days, we are able to look out upon the concrete jungle of Lima that is built in the middle of a desert,” she wrote. “There are no flowers or fruit trees, vegetable gardens or medicinal herbs. It is a reminder that those who came to conquer and exploit our people and our land have secured immense power that continues to divide us and generate inequalities. I look out the window, and I see no place to take refuge, to find peace, to find hope. I see so little green.”

So, in their own small way, Koball and Thiago have dedicated the past year to creating their own refuge. They have planted and nurtured their own little jungle on the 16th floor of a high-rise in downtown Lima.

“The colors of the flowers tell us the story of God’s diversity. The scent of lavender brings calm to the moment. The feel of the soil between our fingers reminds us that we are part of something bigger. We are part of God’s Creation. Our tiny jungle gives us peace. And it gives us purpose because to plant a seed, to nurture it and watch it grow is nothing less than an act of resistance in the face of the powers that tell us we are anything less than a valued member of our Creator,” she said.

Koball wants everyone to know that she, Jed and Thiago are doing well. Despite the pandemic, they continue to work with PC(USA) global partners in Peru to accompany those with the greatest need.

“Together, as God’s people, we continue to plant, even in the darkness of a concrete jungle, so that God’s garden of hope takes root wherever we may be,” she said.

 Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Dee Decker, Social Media/Media Relations, Communications Ministry, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Chelsea De Lisser, Retreat Center Manager, Stony Point Center, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Awesome God, we thank you for giving each of us a place to belong with one another. Help us to learn and grow from others so that we may bless others in return. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Systemic poverty in Cameroon, Peru illustrates the complex barrier poor people face

Matthew 25 students learn from textbook examples shared by two men working to effect change

May 12, 2021

The 85 or so Presbyterians studying the underpinnings of systemic poverty zoomed out to take in a more global perspective recently, thanks to presentations by Valéry Nodem and the Rev. Jed Koball.

Nodem, who’s from Cameroon, is the Presbyterian Hunger Program’s Associate for International Hunger Concerns. Serving in Lima, Peru, Koball is a mission co-worker serving with the Peru Joining Hands Network.

Nodem spoke about colonization and globalization. He said that although Cameroon gained its independence from Great Britain and France 60 years ago, it’s as if colonizers are still present. In part that’s because Cameroon’s natural resources — including oil, timber and coffee — are exported. Value is added in other countries, and the money made by selling those products remains outside Cameroon’s coffers.

He identified three drivers of colonization in Cameroon: gold, God and glory. The first two are fairly well-known: Colonizers had a financial interest in extracting natural resources and were also interested in converting people to Christianity. The “glory” part “was about showing your influence,” Nodem said. “What resources did you find there? It was about showing power.”

As a result of the 19th century “Scramble of Africa,” countries were sliced up arbitrarily, he said. “They weren’t thinking about the consequences” of the warfare those practices would help bring about.

“Colonization makes people feel powerless in their own country,” he said. “The system is still strongly governed by foreign powers who robbed countries of a lot of resources. It’s ripped up regions that used to live in peace.”

As a college student in Cameroon, Nodem “was always going to pretty much any demonstration,” he said. “My parents were always upset. They said, ‘Stay out of trouble and don’t do anything.’” Later they told him it’s because they feared for his life.

Koball spoke about “The Story of Empire in Peru,” which included this famous 1514 decree from Spain’s King Ferdinand to the Conquistadors: “Get gold — humanely, if possible, but at all costs get gold.”

Koball identified three driving forces for doing just that: extractivism or taking what generates wealth; the caste/class system, which he called “the seeds of white supremacy”; and spiritual suppression, which included the Spanish practice of placing religious structures directly on top of Inca places of worship.

Peru remains the world’s sixth-leading producer of gold and ranks high among other precious metal producers, including silver, copper and zinc.

“Peru has been the darling of development with consistent economic growth over the last two decades, due primarily to mining,” Koball said. “But at what cost?”

A few years ago, Indigenous people blocking a main highway to the jungle were fired on by police, killing dozens. The road was quickly reopened, as was free trade.

“We have seen how free trade agreements can undermine democracy and human rights,” Koball said, famously in the mining city of La Oroya, one of the most polluted cities in the world. The lead smelter there, which was owned by a U.S. company, declared bankruptcy in 2009, claiming, as Koball said, “its rights as a foreign investor had been violated.” The case is still pending in court, with no remediation so far to La Oroya’s soil and water.

During the last seven months of the global pandemic, Peru has suffered the highest per capita mortality rate of any nation on Earth. “Nothing has been invested in health or education,” Koball said. Instead, the government has rolled back environmental protections and fast-tracked approval of new mining projects, Koball said.

And what about the church? Are we to be complicit, or collaborators in a new creation?

Now in its 20th year, Joining Hands “has been going beyond quick fixes,” Nodem said. “We are listening, and we can be part of the change.”

Joining Hands is present in seven countries. In addition to Cameroon and Peru, they are the Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Haiti, India and Sri Lanka.

“We are hoping to get to the place of life in fulness that the Bible promises,” Nodem said. “In every place we have worked, communities have become equipped. They now understand their rights better and they are ready to defend them.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Tamron Keith, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Stephen Keizer, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Gracious Lord, please open our eyes to the opportunities that exist all around us. Help us to move when you call us, and enable us to engage our communities so that together we might accomplish the tasks you have put before us. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Prayers and determination bring Peru YAVs home safely

With a lot of help from their friends, here’s the story of their arduous return to the U.S.

September 16, 2020

The three Peru Young Adult Volunteers, Juliana Bernier, Andrew Avram and Rachel Adams. (Photo by Jed Koball)

When the State Department recommended that U.S. citizens return home in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Rev. Everdith Landrau, working with the World Mission crisis management team, followed the directive of the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, to close the five international YAV sites for the remainder of the year. Most of the YAVs were able to obtain flights quickly because they were near major airports. YAV Juliana Bernier, who was serving in Moyobamba, Peru, was able to leave April 2 with a group of American tourists who were staying in the area.

But YAVs Rachel Adams and Andrew Avram were serving in Huánuco, Peru, a 10-hour drive from Lima, in the mountainous central Andes. Adams was working with Casa del Buen Trato, a shelter for female adolescent survivors of sexual abuse. Avram was at Granja Lindero Ecológica, an ecological farm run by the nongovernmental organization Paz y Esperanza, a member of the Peru Joining Hands Network.

On March 15, Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra called for a 15-day lockdown for the entire country. No one was allowed outside unless they were going to a doctor, pharmacy or grocery store. Violators would be jailed. The lockdown was announced that day at 8 p.m. and went into effect at midnight. Adams and Avram had no choice but to shelter in place in Huánuco with their host families. They began making travel plans to leave for the U.S. as soon as the restrictions were lifted.

After two weeks, the lockdown was extended; it’s still active today. Those travel plans had to be scrapped. Heightening the anxiety for the YAVS and for site coordinator Jenny Valles Koball, they were being told the U.S. Embassy would be ending repatriation flights to the U.S. on April 10, just a few days away.

And “we had been told we were very unlikely candidates to be repatriated since we’re young, were far away from the embassy and had a safe place to stay,” said Adams. “At the same time, we were seeing other YAVs arriving home and it was hard. Juliana and I were first to ask to return home because we felt we were an additional burden on our host families and our work sites. We were crushed.”

Koball and her husband and fellow mission co-worker Jed called embassies, police and transportation authorities. It was a 10-hour drive to Lima. They needed transportation waivers and they had to be at the embassy by a certain time or they would lose their seats.

Moffett and several members of World Mission’s crisis team were on the phone and wrote letters to government officials in the U.S., as well as both the U.S. and Peru embassies.

Finally, on the afternoon of April 5, Adams received a call that she and Avram had seats on a flight out the next day. They had to be in Lima at 10 a.m. Monday. As they were saying goodbye to their host families and finishing their packing, the embassy called back and said they didn’t realize they were so far away and wanted them to give up their seats since they might not be able to make it to Lima in time. They still didn’t have the transportation waiver they needed. Adams asked for 15 minutes. She called Koball for help.

Koball was able to reach a Peruvian transportation official who connected her with another official. That person knew how to get the necessary documentation from the embassy. He offered to forward it to the checkpoints they would have to clear on their way to Lima.

At 11that night, Avram’s host father, Johony Rosas, picked them up in a borrowed car to begin the journey to Lima.

They were stopped three times at police barricades. At the fourth, their passports and car were photographed, but for the next several hours they had a police escort most of the way to Lima.

Rosas, who only had a 24-hour travel pass and would be jailed if he violated it, slept one hour and then headed home to Huánuco. Koball said he asked for nothing except a little help with gas money.

Kathy Melvin, Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Rosemary Mitchell, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Lee Mitchum, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Dear God, thank you for showing us such great love through sending your one and only Son. Help us to remember the true meaning showing loved to one another. In your name we pray. Amen.

Sharing pandemic voices of hope in Peru

Join in singing a new tune of mission outreach

by Chenoa Stock, Mission Connections | Special to Presbyterian News Service

Jesusa, a member of the Evangelical Church of Peru, is thriving in her other ministry of providing U.S. teams with delicious food during their mission experiences in Peru. (Photo by Chenoa Stock)

LIMA, Peru — Throughout these times of quarantine, I have found myself singing more — children’s English and Spanish songs with our 2-year-old son, Leandro. These are songs I remember from high school and university choir, hymns, my mom’s songs or just humming random tunes. If I’m honest, my singing is not always an expression of joy. As I write this, we are on Day 71 (May 25) of strict quarantine in Peru, and we are permitted to leave our home only for groceries, bank transactions and medical needs. Our curfew, complete Sunday lockdown and closed international borders also are still in effect.

Due to the continued rise of positive cases, despite the strict measures put in place early on, the Peruvian government has extended our lockdown in two-week blocks. The most recent extension, announced on May 22, is through June 30th. This is now much longer than the usual two-week block and is one of the longest periods of mandatory isolation in the world. Leandro and I have not left our apartment at all during these 71 days. Not one toe. My husband, José, is our grocery “warrior” who puts on his obligatory armor of mask and gloves to retrieve our household’s needs. These have not been easy times, and I have found that singing is sometimes what I need to let my emotions out, and my voice be heard.

Enjoying music time during Leandro’s virtual class. (Photo by José Luis Claure)

I wonder how many voices have been lost during this time of COVID-19? In Peru, the inequality has been exacerbated throughout the months of this pandemic. While our middle-class neighborhood grocery stores check temperatures and require handwashing before entering, I am almost sure this control and care are not found on the outskirts of the city or in rural areas of the country. While many citizens have received government stimulus payments to ensure economic security, many do not have access to these social safety net programs. While some citizens are able to work from home and protect themselves and their families from this immense health risk, many are part of the massive informal sector of Peru and have either lost their jobs due to the strict measures, or are forced to work illegally, despite the risks.

Due to unemployment, experienced by about one-third of the population, there has been a reverse mass migration from the city to the rural provinces in hopes of finding work in the agricultural sector. Many are escaping their life of living in the tight quarters of informal urban settlements. Families are returning to life on the land, where the harvest has begun, and the government quarantine measures are not so strictly enforced. Sadly, it is here that the virus could soon start to spread rapidly.

Before the pandemic lockdown, Pastor Leopoldo concluded a first-aid course for the women’s ministry, led by a short-term mission team from First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Tennessee. (Photo by Chenoa Stock)

Amidst these voices lost in inequality, we find the voice of Jesus Christ, heard through our Peruvian partners. Two members of the Evangelical Church of Peru, Pastor Leopoldo and his wife, Jesusa, have continued their ministries from their home in the city of Cuzco. Prayers are needed for them both, as Leopoldo has had two strokes recently. This has left him with no movement in his right arm and hand. He is presently at home doing therapy with the help of a family member. They are trying to reduce trips to the hospital, given the coronavirus threat.

Although about half of Leopoldo’s congregation has been part of the rural migration, mostly due to unemployment, he shares sermons and messages with those who have access to online technology. Before his recent health crisis, he made house calls with two families together to worship, study the Bible and offer pastoral support during these uncertain times.

Pastor Leopoldo, Jesusa and their granddaughter, Zoe (Photo by Chenoa Stock)

Jesusa, whose religious messages were broadcast on the radio daily before the pandemic, has installed the necessary equipment in their house so she can continue sharing God’s word of love and hope with people in Cuzco and throughout the country. She is the regional leader of a vibrant women’s ministry and will soon be continuing her women’s ministry by giving online courses and lectures. Pastor Leopoldo and Jesusa’s faith and commitment to being God’s hands, feet and voice bring a new tune to mission outreach during quarantine.

And are we not all called to be Matthew 25 churches? Did Jesus not teach and show us that we are to walk with our partners and neighbors, especially those on the margins — to be a voice that cries out for justice and equality to ensure that the voices of the least, last and left out are heard?

As we share about Leopoldo and Jesusa’s ministry, we are reminded there are many more stories of mission being lived out by our partners in Peru. I would love to share how they are answering the call of Matthew 25.

We are all improving our skills of virtual worship, conference calls, creating videos and communicating in new ways, so that we can accompany our partners in their ministries and accompany you in the U.S. Together, as we develop closer relationships with our partners, we can share a deeper understanding of Jesus’ commandments. Please let me know if your congregation, your youth or any other church group would like to hear more stories from our Peruvian partners, whether through a pre-recorded Minute for Mission or a Zoom meeting. Their voices are waiting to be heard!

Mission co-worker Chenoa Stock with her husband, José Luis Claure, and their son, Leandro, 2. (Photo by Chenoa Stock)

May these unique times create a space for us to make our voices heard for the poor, the naked and the hungry. May our faith in God’s justice and love lead us to question the structures of inequality, now and beyond COVID-19. May we join together to sing a new song of praise and hope in God’s mission.

Chenoa Stock, mission co-worker in Peru and daughter of Presbyterian co-pastors, serves as delegations and partnership coordinator for PERUSA, with the Evangelical Church of Peru and the Joining Hands Peru Network. She previously accompanied the Bolivian Joining Hands Network, UMAVIDA (Joining Hands for Life), for eight years in Bolivia, and prior to that served in Sri Lanka, after completing service as a Young Adult Volunteer in Kerala, India, where she taught English in a primary school.

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Today in the Mission Yearbook - Trees of life

What can one person do to combat climate change? Ask Mama Toya

April 30, 2020

Youth from Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin, join with local youth environmentalists organized by global partner Red Uniendo Manos Peru to support the work of Mama Toya. (Photo by Jed Hawkes Koball)

Last year, I took more than two dozen flights. In many cases I could have taken a bus, but for little extra cost, I opted to save time. A flight from Lima (on the Pacific coast) to Tarapoto (in the Amazon) takes a little over an hour. The bus takes more than 25 hours. So, for about $25 more per flight, it seems worth it to travel by air. I know my knees are grateful. But, like so many things in life, there are usually more costs than those that simply make a dent in our wallets. There are environmental costs, too.

Here in Peru those costs are adding up. Two years ago, unprecedented rains on the desert coast led to floods that displaced a quarter of a million people. This year, forest fires are decimating large swaths of the Amazon and threatening the lives of indigenous populations. Every year, farmers in the Andes are seeing their natural water supplies decrease. The water temperatures off the Pacific Coast are rising. The mountaintop glaciers are melting. The biodiversity of the rainforest is dying. This plus gross inequality and poor infrastructure make Peru one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change.

In the grand scheme of things, air travel contributes to a relatively marginal 2% of all greenhouse gases. While not the most contributing factor to global warming, it is notable nonetheless. And, looking at my personal lifestyle, it is quite remarkable: The carbon dioxide emissions attributed to my air travel account for about 75% of my family’s carbon footprint. Despite all of our recycling, reusing, repurposing, limiting red meat consumption, not owning a car and not using air conditioning, our carbon footprint is still twice that of the average Peruvian family. I came here to help, not hurt.

Of the more than 24 flights I took in 2019, all except two were for my work. Some of those flights were to help our global partners prepare for Presbyterian short-term mission trips. We Presbyterians travel a lot! Those of us engaged in World Mission really travel a lot! And, let’s be honest: that’s not going to end anytime soon. And it will be decades before air travel can be supported by renewable energies. So, how can we hold ourselves responsible? How can we live into hope and not out of guilt or fear?

Just east of Lima, in the heart of the Andes mountains, 84-year-old Mama Toya — a friend to many Presbyterians — gets up at sunrise to tend to the trees on the hills outside her home. She has planted more than 30,000 trees over the past 20 years to help restore fertility to her community’s lands that have been contaminated by emissions from a nearby metals smelter as well as to adapt to advancing climate change.

Next year, our global partner, Red Uniendo Manos Peru, will donate $20 to its own newly established tree fund on behalf of each Presbyterian short-term mission trip participant it receives. Every penny of these funds will support Mama Toya’s work to help offset greenhouse gas emissions generated by short-term mission trip participants’ air travel.

What if this offset idea became our Presbyterian practice? What if we Presbyterians put money into a Presbyterian Tree Fund for every single flight taken for Presbyterian-related work? What if global partners around the world were supported in their reforestation efforts with these funds? Yes, there are many such funds one can contribute to. But how often can you see exactly where that money goes, while also igniting passion for the care of the very Earth that sustains the people we have come to love through partnership in mission? In the face of a climate crisis that impacts us all, may such love show us how to live justly in the world today.

Jed Hawkes Koball, Mission Co-Worker in Peru, Presbyterian Mission Agency 

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Laura Caruthers, Presbyterian Foundation
Jennifer Cash, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Lord, help me to listen for your voice, to hear what you are telling me to do and then to do it today. Amen.