Peruvian jungle resources

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Background

For many years Sovereign Word Trust has been partnering with Roccio Villacis in Peru. This was a relationship that began when Rocio came to England to work in Christ Church, Tonbridge as a youth worker. Before she came to the UK she had been using Bob Gordon's Foundations of Christian Living, a book by Sovereign World Ltd, and she was keen to find and meet the publisher. Little did she know that she had landed on their doorstep! Rocio had been developing simplified resources in Spanish from Bob's book for use in small village communities in the Amazon jungle and Andean foothills. 

The challenge

The Peruvian jungle context presents a number of challenges. Firstly, the community speaks Spanish not English. Secondly, their Spanish is very basic and usually only the village chief is able to read. Thirdly, the climate is harsh and books are vulnerable; books and paper do not last long. In some areas here, settlements are washed away by flooding every few years and they need to start again from scratch. So the challenge is to provide durable, simplified resources in easy to read Spanish. 

The solution

Rocio has also been working on parallel simplified and illustrated versions. These include prompts, actions and questions so the material can be used in a very interactive manner. When these villages receive the gospel, they turn to Christ together and the village chief becomes their pastor. Picture if you can a simple dwelling in a remote region. There is no electricity, only a wood fire. A group of people, old and young, are huddled together inside a bamboo dwelling listening to their pastor and chief, responding to him with actions, gestures and words. He holds up a laminated sheet with one of Rocio's Good News Bible-style drawings of Jesus feeding the 5000. One of the children is invited to act out the part of the boy who brought his loaves and fishes to Jesus!

Impact

It is vitally important that we continue to support Rocio who shares these limited and precious resources with leaders. Subsequently, they are passed on to those living in more remote regions, who in turn pass them on to others.