I would like to introduce you to the community of San Lorenzo, in Loreto. From there a team of people has started the translation of the Old Testament for the Achuar speakers whom I visited recently.
San Lorenzo, once a small community, is on its way to becoming a city. Some paved streets, lodges and a few restaurants are already visible. This growth is causing the city to spread further and further away from the banks of the Marañon River, where it began.
Datem del Marañón is home to seven different linguistic groups in addition to Spanish: Awajún, Wampis, Shapra, Pastaza Quechua, Candoshi and Achuar. Some of these groups are also present in Ecuador.
San Lorenzo is the capital of this province and because of its location near the junction of major rivers, it is a transit point for many people from each of these seven groups.
A knowing eye will be able to distinguish them by some physical feature and a trained ear will be able to identify the difference in their languages. But whether you can tell them apart or not, they are there. Some live permanently in San Lorenzo, so they also speak Spanish and are adapting their thoughts and practices to that of the “mestizos”. The next generation of these families will most likely already speak Spanish and identify themselves as mestizos.
Many others are just passing through on their way to their communities, which may be as far away as the border with Ecuador, on boat trips of different sizes that can take a few hours or many days.
How to get there?
My visit was a real treat for the eyes. I arrived by plane from Yurimaguas. On the way we encountered a heavy rain that completely covered us for about 20 minutes, half of the flight time. It is quite interesting to be in a small plane of 6 people being moved and a little shaken by the rain, without seeing anything but gray around and the drops hitting the plane. I was constantly looking at the pilot and as he seemed very calm looking at his dashboard, I was able to enjoy the experience. In the clear minutes I could see the beautiful and seemingly endless jungle.
The return from San Lorenzo to Yurimaguas was a little downstream on the Marañon and a little up the Urubamba. That is better to feel the water and the sounds of the jungle, plus some boisterous music played at times.
But I serve in the translation and use of the Scriptures, so I can’t just look at a beautiful landscape.
Why did you travel to San Lorenzo?
That huge jungle represents the home of so many thousands of Peruvians who have maintained their cultures and languages through generations, who today see the mestizo cities growing in their territories. We seek to present the gospel to them, with the Bible in their languages and with quality training for the church.
So that they can see the creator God of their land being the sustainer of it and the ultimate end of life, above the difficulties, sadness and darkness of what some call “ancestral beliefs” that in practice are inheritances of occultism that only prolong despair and fear.
Don’t stop praying for the people in the indigenous villages. I share with you some more pictures:
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