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Unfortunately it seems everywhere there are people there are also difficulties and divisions - Huaraz is no exception, as shown by the many small churches scattered about the town. Since we arrived here we've visited different churches to get more of an idea of the Christian church in this part of the country, while also trying to decide on one we can attend.
The Alianza Church (a North American denomination) and the local Baptist church were the ones most like what we're used to at home, with various church activities and a similar format - the Baptist even offers a Sunday School for adults! Most of the foreign missionaries in Huaraz go to the Alianza, which appears the biggest and the most contemporary (for Huaraz!).
The IEP is another of the main denominations in Peru. The local IEP doesn't have a Pastor at the moment so the services are led by a guy in the local police who also covers the Pastor's duties. The service we attended began at 9.30am and was still going strong at 12.30pm! The sermon itself lasted for over 2 hours and most of it seemed to be about the earthquake of 1970! The church was composed mainly of Quechua people who were very welcoming to us gringos - they got us up to the front to introduce ourselves, which was fine until they asked us to perform a song! We were pretty mortified and said that it was better we left that to them…don't think the world's quite ready for our duets, better we keep them for our own four walls! Saying that, singing in tune didn't seem to be a big priority there - oh well, I'm sure God didn't mind!
The Assemblies of God have a large church on the main street in Huaraz. When we visited they sang songs which repeated the same 3 or 4 words a hundred times and unfortunately the sermon went a bit like this - if you're following God he's going to bless you with health and wealth this year. Many of those there were from quite simple and poor backgrounds and we felt this was both unbiblical and unhelpful. Sadly, this 'health and wealth' teaching is quite common across Latin America. The strangest bit for us was at the end when there was an altar call for those wishing to give their life to God - to our surprise a few of those around us, after seeing our white faces, tried earnestly to escort us up to the front! We reassured them we were already Christians and then made a quick exit!
We also visited the Church of the Nazarene, which one of our German colleagues attends. It's held near the market area in a room that resembles a garage and opens straight on to a noisy street. It may only be a group of around 12-15 people but they were so welcoming and we enjoyed the teaching. The 'praise group' consisted of the Pastor on his electric guitar and a few tambourines. Again, they were not often in tune and song words weren't provided but it was SO refreshing to be in a place where people didn't care, they just sang their hearts out to God - no fancy lighting, no worship band seeking to create an atmosphere or perform as if they're at their own concert, no one who couldn't be bothered being there - just committed, sincere people who love God and wanted to worship Him. There were some interesting quirks though - like people chatting loudly on their phones during the service or when children one by one went into the bathroom and returned with full water balloons ready to throw at some unsuspecting passerby!
Finally, we visited a few churches in the mountains outside Huaraz. The church at Urpay was recently planted by a colleague from Arco Iris and was held in a family's basement. Around 12 people sat on some planks of wood and sang a mixture of Quechua and Spanish songs. People were really friendly as is typical in the smaller and simpler churches. Since our visit the church has built a new building up the hill in Atipayan - and when we say they we don't mean professional builders but the church members themselves. It's been really humbling to see these people's devotion to their church.
The other Quechua church was at Matara Pampa, which we trekked up to one Saturday night. To reach this place, which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, involved a car, some walking, a motorbike and some climbing. The destination was a very basic old, draughty barn with one very bright light bulb and some planks to sit on. About 15-20 locals showed up, all with colourful blankets, prepared for the cold temperatures. Although we had hats, scarves and coats on we were freezing! Again, this was a really different church experience but we enjoyed being amongst the campesinos. On our return we walked down a valley in the pitch dark with only one small torch. While blissfully enjoying the clear starry skies, we heard loud barking and saw eyes glowing in the distance - suddenly we became aware of horses and bulls in the field around us and a few dogs bounding towards us. Pure fear passed through us and we didn't know how we were going to get out of this one! Thankfully another lady with us managed to calm the dogs down long enough for us to escape...needless to say we decided we would not be returning there!
After all that, we've finally decided to attend the Church of the Nazarene where we hope there'll be opportunities for us to serve and encourage those there. Though we'll have to work on our ability to sit still, 3 hours is a long time!
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