Print Bibles for Pastoral Work in Peru
Monday, November 23, 2009

Project Code: 234-08-89

The variety of languages and cultures makes life in the Apostolic Vicariate of Yurimaguas in the Amazon region of eastern Peru as colorful as the tropical rainforest. Nonetheless, living conditions are hard. Most of the people living in this region are indigenous Indians or half-caste mestizos, and most live in simple palm huts in small villages and settlements that can only be reached by boat. There are very few roads to speak of, and those that do exist are mostly impassable during the rainy season. The medical and educational care that exists is provided almost exclusively by the missionaries. The women cook their simple meals over an open fire and grow the basic necessities in small cultivated plots of land. Yucca, plantain bananas and occasionally a little fish – these form their staple diet.

"As a nun, I often sit with the women and cook with them. It is important to be close to the people, simply to be with them," says Sister Maria Luisa. A Spaniard, she left everything 37 years ago in order to serve Christ here in the tropical rainforest. Although she has such a ready smile, this sister also becomes very indignant at times, for she can see how the Indians in the rainforest are forgotten and left on the margins of society. She comments, "Many people think only of the rainforest as a 'green lung' for the world; they are so exclusively fixated on environmental problems that they seem indifferent to the people who live in them."

The Church is very much on the side of the Indians and does not approach them in a condescending fashion, but instead humbly shares her life with them. One might imagine that the people in the rainforest would long above all for better living conditions, but in fact many have a quite different, yet equally heartfelt desire – they want to be able to read the Bible! Bishop José Luís Astirraga of Yurimaguas has asked ACN for help for this very thing. He writes, "The people have heard the call of the Pope and of the Latin American bishops for a New Evangelization. They, too, want to pray and prepare themselves, and they want to have a Bible – but there are none!"

In fact, the demand for the Holy Scriptures is growing ever greater. More and more of the ordinary faithful want to get to know and love the Good News, but there are no Bibles, not even in the schools. In the capital, Lima, there are a few available, but they are far too expensive. Sister Maria Luisa echoes the bishop's words and is likewise counting on our support. "Who else are we to turn to in order to get this special Bread that is the Word of God?" she asks. It is an appeal to all her brothers and sisters in every land, to help ensure that the Gospel message can reach "every tribe and race and tongue."

The Order of the Missionaries of Jesus Christ has organized a program within the Apostolic Vicariate of Yurimaguas that is intended to help the ordinary faithful to grow in their love of the Sacred Scriptures, through intensified Bible study in the parishes and schools. We have promised $8,200. Will you help provide Bibles for the faithful in Peru?

Progress: 17% Raised: $ 1430     Goal: $ 8200

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