(Continuing from PJ's prayer letter? Please skip to number 4)
As with any new venture, it's important to know the basics before you begin. As I launched a new exploration into the nation of Peru in the mid-2010s, it would have been helpful for me to know some of these things.
1. It hardly ever rains in Lima.
While this doesn't influence ministry so much, I found this fact quite interesting. That although it is located on the Peruvian coastline, the climate of Lima is classified as hot desert or BWh on the Köppen climate classification. The average rainfall in Lima is less than one-inch per year. It is equivalent to the annual rainfall in California’s Mojave Desert. At the same time, Lima receives only 1230 hours of sunshine annually compared to Seattle with 2170 hours of sunlight annually. Instead of sunshine, Lima is generally overcast and can be compared to a foggy South American version of London. The precipitation that Lima does receive is in the form of garúa or mist. The rain that Lima should normally receive, being next to the ocean, gets jet-streamed further east into the Andes mountain range and forms tropical rains in the Amazon region.
Ride with me on an unusually sunny day in Lima:
2. You can get Chinese food anytime and anywhere in Lima.
(food and interior photos, mine)
According to Wikipedia, there are over 6,000 chifa or Chinese restaurants in Lima. Compare that to only about 800 in the San Gabriel Valley. Why is that?
Peru has had a long history of Asian immigration, with the Chinese first coming to Peru in 1849. There are now an estimated 1.2 million people of mixed Chinese heritage, including those born from indigenous and serrana intermarriages. The Chinese population is well into the sixth and seventh generation, and being so assimilated into the Peruvian culture, only 14,223 self-reported or self-identified as being Chinese in the 2017 census. The community remains vibrant as evidenced by the number of Chinese restaurants in Lima. Called “Chifa” they are often mostly patronized by the Chinese community. For many native Peruvians, the chino restaurants are “cochino” or dirty and unsanitary. (Cochino means “pig”).
3. Things don’t work the same.
How to take a taxi? I found that I had to negotiate the fare with the driver before I got into the vehicle. There are no taxi meters installed. The name of the game is haggling, which I don’t do well even in the US. There was no Uber at the time of my initial visits. This is all complicated by two additional problems: not understanding the exchange rate and not speaking Spanish.
Lima taxi drivers are also notorious for overcharging if they know that you are a foreigner or tourist. Catching a cab near the Lima International Airport with an Asian face automatically makes you a potential of some type of banditry. Thankfully the pastor didn’t mind taking me around, perhaps understanding that I would be like a lamb led to slaughter.
Exchanging money found me with the pastor in a rather shady section of Lima. The Peruvian Nikkei pastor assured me that it was legit. Cambio after cambio lined the street. We seemed to pick one at random. I think I exchanged $50 US and received some worn-out looking bills called Sol and some random coins. But their value was difficult to compute especially after subtracting exchange fees. It’s good to have a currency converter on your phone. I didn’t have one at the time.
4. And the Japanese community? Didn’t Peru have a Japanese-Peruvian president?
Although there are those who think that Brazil, Argentina or Paraguay had a Japanese president, if you guessed Peru, you would be correct. Alberto Fujimori served from 1990 to 2000. He made significant gains overcoming the Shining Path Communist insurgents and restoring the country’s ailing economy. Unfortunately, he was prosecuted for corruption and human rights abuses. Though beloved by many Peruvians, he remains in prison at this writing.
Peru has a fifth-plus generation Japanese community with immigration beginning back in 1899, nine years before immigration to Brazil. It has a Nikkei population of 120,000. Its infrastructure is well-established and as such has very little use for the influence of outside organizations. The idea of the Japanese community being “cerrado” or closed was very much the impression I received in Lima.
God opened a door allowing me to meet with businesswomen in a prominent Nikkei organization in Lima called AELU (Asociación Estadio La Unión). Through these women, I would meet prominent leaders in the community.
With the company of Pastor Rick Chuman on my fourth visit, JEMS was able to connect and have meetings with some Nikkei Christian leaders to hear their needs and concerns and to explain JEMS' purpose in Peru.
Much appreciation is expressed to Pastor Tim Mitchell of the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (pictured standing, left, in photo below). Through his contacts, we were able to assemble this meeting of Japanese leaders.
5. God allowed JEMS to establish important bridges for others there.
It's important to note that while JEMS was unable to make further inroads with the Nikkei Peruvian community, we were able to establish a beachhead for the Brazil Japanese Free Methodist Church (BJFMC). The BJFMC was lacking a network in Peru and JEMS was able to serve as bridge for the BJFM church there.
One of our traveling and study partners, Pastor Daniel Yoshimoto, of the Sorocaba Japanese Free Methodist Church (pictured in white with Pastor Rick), made further contacts with pastoral and lay leaders in Lima and followed up separately by taking BJFMC mission teams to that city.
The last event I’m aware of is a baseball outreach (pictured below) that took place in 2018, led by Pastor Daniel and missionary Tim Mitchell. Baseball is considered by Missionary Mitchell to be one of the keys to reaching into the Nikkei and broader Peruvian community. (photos below courtesy Daniel Yoshimoto)
God made it possible for JEMS to be used as a vehicle for another group committed to a long-term project of evangelization among the Japanese.
As always, it is your prayer and financial support that makes these mission explorations possible. Thank you so very much!
If you got this far in the prayer letter, thank you for reading all of this text! Just an FYI, I will attempt to take a 30-day sabbatical beginning on March 6th (this was postponed from plans in 2019 delayed in part due to the pandemic). The purpose of the sabbatical is to study JEMS' service to communities in South America during this time of social isolation. While the focus is on Brazil, principles of cross-cultural ministry are hoped to be drawn for JEMS’ relationships with Argentina and Paraguay. Pastor John’s evaluation of our effort to establish ministry partnerships in Peru (above) show a need for additional study of our strategies. Additionally, there is a large population of Nikkei in Bolivia. While this might not be a timely project for Pastor John, it is worthwhile to keep in mind for the future.
Please consider contributing to Pastor John at JEMS: https://jems.networkforgood.com/projects/10083
