Report from Cristina Castillo July 2019 

Recent Events

Ministry

Returning from Uripa to Lima (I was on holiday) I got back into my service with Segadores mission. Antonia and I still couldn’t return to the central jungle due to the rain and floods. The Sunday school leaders continued to teach there. 

Here in Lima I helped the Dumitru missionaries from Romania in their work. They had come from Pucallpa (in the jungle) to Lima and were staying in the Segadores offices. They have two children (6 years old and 1 year old). I helped by taking them to the park, playing with them and feeding them while they were in Lima. I also helped with cleaning the Segadores offices and in other areas. On Thursdays I helped with the prayer meetings to pray for the unreached tribes Segadores are endeavouring to reach. 

In April Antonia and I were able to travel to the jungle taking supplies to help the schools in the different Ashaninka communities. God helped with the provision of the supplies and getting around the different communities. The children who received the school supplies were really happy. Big and small children formed queues! I helped to distribute them. The chiefs of the communities were very grateful to God for the help given to the children.

Nila is our friend and she lives in an area near a pond in Aoti. She was friendly and invited us to her humble house and we took food to share with her and her family. We also presented them with the Word of God, Psalm 23 in an illustrated form, and we sang happy songs. All the family was listening well to the teachings. A result of this that whole family received Christ and are attending the church.

I continue to teach the study, Firm Foundations, on Sundays in the Sunday school to 7-10 year olds. We are now teaching the Call of Abraham in the classes.

We work in Aoti which is in the Ashaninka community in the region of the central jungle. According to them they are Christians because they have been baptised and they come up to the front confessing what they have done in the past. They think that God has forgiven them without repenting and recognising Jesus as their personal Saviour. 

They are very fearful of the spirits and the consequence of this is that many of them don’t eat fruit or combined meat (chicken mixed with other meat from the mountains) because of ancestral beliefs. Also their lack of knowledge of God leads them to run back to witchcraft and the medicine man when they feel bad or sick. Their resources are scarce and they tire very quickly (because it appears they are malnourished).

A lot of the time they don’t sow crops, even though they have good land they prefer to ask others for help. There are some children in the process of change, we are seeing them grow in age and spiritually and it makes us really happy to see their consistency in attending Sunday school each Sunday. We see their happy faces as they enjoy us giving them breakfast, they wait their turn with clean hands respecting each other.

We know that the Word of God won’t return empty. This is our hope. (So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:7) 

Personal Life

I give thanks to God for my health, the doctor confirmed that I have good health after recent tests.

In February I travelled to Uripa (in the region of Apurimac) with a friend and we helped in a church there. The woman who was in charge of the church invited us to share the Word of God to a church group four hours travel away. We went by bus to the village. This was a Saturday. What a Saturday because we felt intense coldness but it didn’t impede us in sharing the Word of God to the adolescents and on the Sunday to the children in the Sunday school. It was a blessing for us and for them.

On the return trip we went to another village called Hauayro where we were invited by the pastor of the church to share the Word of God.  

Family

I am single, don’t have children and my parents have died. I live in a rental when I’m in Lima. My sister lives in Cuzco and I always hear from her and how she is getting on.

My sisters used to go to church with me when younger. One of them is married and due to the influence of her mother-in-law she has backslidden from her faith. I am praying to God for her that she will return to the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ. Her and her husband recognise that they are far away from the Lord but they haven’t made a decision yet. I visited one of my nieces who looks up to me a lot and looks after me. When I arrive in Lima she is always waiting for me. I pray for their family that they will come to know more about God. 

Prayer and Praise Points

1) That the Lord will continue to give me strength and health to be able to continue teaching the children.
2) That God will give understanding to the adults and the children to be able to retain the teachings they are receiving from the Word of God.
3) That God will provide economically for the travel to other communities.
4) I am grateful to the Lord for His care and for using me for His kingdom.