Man Copies Sabbath School Study Guide by Hand to Teach Jungle Community

In the Peruvian jungle, many indigenous communities live in remote areas, where their main economic activities are agriculture, hunting, and fishing. Most of the time, gaining access to those remote places is not easy. So, it’s extremely challenging for services and resources to reach them. However, with the help of missionaries and volunteers from Peru Projects, the residents of a jungle community in Peru’s Amazon are now taking the gospel of Jesus to other communities.

Consider the case of Elias Saboya, a 65-year-old man who used to travel to another community every week to borrow a copy of the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide (a quarterly lesson guide to facilitate Bible study). His goal? To copy the guide’s contents by hand and then return to his community to teach others about the Word of God.

Saboya is the leader of the La Selva Adventist congregation, located in the Ashaninka community, in the district of Iparía, Ucayali region, in the east-central part of Peru.

“Every week I used to go to Amaquiría, a nearby community, and looked for an Adventist to lend me the Sabbath School quarterly so that I could copy the topics of study for each day,” Saboya told Peru Projects volunteers. “We can’t go without studying our Sabbath School quarterlies. At least on Saturdays, we manage to get together and go over every topic [included in that week]. I prepare weekly summaries to explain the topic of the week to my brethren.”

Currently, thanks to a donation made by the South American Publishing House Association (ACES), this community has begun to receive Sabbath School study materials for various age groups. In addition, thanks to a generous donation of Bibles, they also have the Word of God in each home, regional church leaders reported.

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Elijah Saboya’s hand-written copy of the weekly Sabbath School Bible Study Guide to share with his fellow church members. [Photo: Peru Projects]

Community residents now receive materials for Bible study adapted to their various age groups. [Photo: Peru Projects]

Peru Projects staff and volunteers with Adventist literature that is distributed across isolated communities in the Peruvian jungle. [Photo: Peru Projects]

Airlift Project for Ongoing Evangelism

Adventist pastor and pilot Eben Espinoza, director of the Peru Projects ministry, shared some of the challenges in that vast territory.

“I thank God because, as part of getting to know various entities and people across the region, many opportunities arise to support this ministry. At the same time, our wish is to keep supporting an increasing number of people, and the way to carry out this work is through planes and volunteers,” Espinoza said. “It is clear we need more help.”

Espinoza said he is thankful for all the donations the ministry has been receiving lately but invites more people to get involved to keep expanding the reach of the gospel message across the Peruvian jungle’s isolated communities. “Thank for your support to this mission,” he said.

The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Spanish-language news site.