Inauguration of Academic Year 2009 in SEB del Sur

On Monday the 30th of March we held the inauguration service for the new academic year in the Evangelical Baptist Seminary in Tacna. After the Rector had greeted everyone present the Vice- Rector, Silas Ramos opened in prayer and then Abraham Rengifo lead a time of praise. The Rector then spoke of the role of the Seminary as a servant of the churches and thanked them for their confidence in sending students and their help in giving them practical work and assessing them in this.

After singing the theme chorus of the Seminary, “We are the people of God”, the Director of Studies, Graham Williamson, introduced the teachers for this semester. There are twelve in all for different churches and with differing gifts which, we hope, complement each other. Fredy Mandamientos then introduced the folk group Amar, who sang two pieces before the Scripture reading from Exodus 18:19-21.

The new youth pastor of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, Felipe Ovejero then preached on the advice of his father-in-law, from the passage in Exodus where Moses’s father-in-law gave him advice. We must first be before God, then we must teach his word and do so practically. He encouraged the students not to keep their theology to themselves, but to share it with others in the church and beyond if they wished God to bless them. It was a challenging message for both teachers and students.

Following a hymn, Charles Pecharovich, one of our teachers and the Director of our Distance Programme in Puno, closed in prayer. Amar were then asked to sing again and did so as everyone else enjoyed cake and coke.

The service set a good tone for the new term and it is to be hoped that both students and teachers will heed the advice of the fathers-in-law of both Moses and Filipe. Pray for the classes which begin on the 31st of March and continue, God willing, until the 11th of July. May God bless us and make us a blessing to his churches here in the south of Peru.

Peruvian Society II Dictatorship and Democracy

Peruvian Society
(An Ocasional Series)

These articles are not written from a superior attitude which despises Peruvian society. If they are critical, it is the criticism of someone who is trying to understand and then to explain, what he has observed as a foreigner living in Peru. As such, they are a humble attempt to explain matters to outsiders from the point of view of an outsider who has had the privilege of “insider” knowledge.

They are not the product of profound reading, but of simple observation, and are personal reflections from an Evangelical perspective and with application to evangelicalism in Peru. All that is said in them should be seen in this light.

II Dictatorship and Democracy

Democracy is said to be a recent development in Peru and perhaps to be still fragile. Yet at one level it is very deep in society. Communities in the countryside and neighbourhood associations in the cities have constant assemblies to debate everything imaginable, from the distribution of land for this year’s sewing, to having electricity and water installed in new areas of the constantly growing cities.

Everyone must participate in constant elections and referendums. It is obligatory to vote in municipal, regional, national and presidential elections, and there are heavy fines for non-participation. However, after a couple of months these are usually revoked.

Political leaders of all persuasions must of necessity be populist in their promises. Even the most serious politicians, including two ex-presidents had to put on shows and personally dance as integral parts of their election campaigns.

Until recently Peruvians made the mistake of actually believing all the promises which politicians made, no mater how extravagant. Obviously bitter disappointment and disillusionment followed, until the next “messianic” figure appeared on the scene with a new programme and a new party, and the promise of changing the world.

Another reaction was to see the whole state as corrupt and oppressive, and work for its overthrow. Thus the terrorist movement, “Shining Path” was “Gang of Four” Maoists who wished to put the calendar back to zero and start again.

However, despite the democratic rhetoric of many, when they came to power they looked after themselves and their party members, or even their own family in some cases, first. Most ex-presidents face accusations of corruption and anti-constitutionalism as a matter of course.

Whilst some have worked hard to improve society and the economy, the general feeling of the people is that, if they personally are not corrupt, then their families and close political allies certainly are.

Again, despite all the democratic talk and the detestation of dictatorship, many former dictators (mainly military) are often admired for their achievements. Whilst democracy debates every issue from every angle, dictatorship does things.

Once again this is reflected in Evangelical churches, where sadly often the pastor and his friends and family control everything, including the money or even the title deeds to church property, and give account to no one for anything they do. The authority of the pastor, based on his exposition of the Word of God, is often replaced by the authority of his office in itself, or even in that of his forceful personality. The sheep of Christ either suffer in silence (and often resentment) or find another leader and split the congregation to go off and form a new church two streets, or less, away and are soon accepted by all as a true church. No wonder the Cardinal Archbishop of Lima described Evangelical churches as “a few insignificant people meeting at the corner of a street”. Compared to that, Roman Catholicism has a history and seriousness not to be ignored.

Peruvian Society I History and Attitudes

Peruvian Society
(An Ocasional Series)

These articles are not written from a superior attitude which despises Peruvian society. If they are critical, it is the criticism of someone who is trying to understand and then to explain, what he has observed as a foreigner living in Peru. As such, they are a humble attempt to explain matters to outsiders from the point of view of an outsider who has had the privilege of “insider” knowledge.

They are not the product of profound reading, but of simple observation, and are personal reflections from an Evangelical perspective and with application to evangelicalism in Peru. All that is said in them should be seen in this light.

I History and Attitudes

Oppression is a reality in Peru. In the 1980’s, during the period of apartheid in South Africa, Peru was known as “the hidden South Africa”. Your surname, the colour of your skin, or your features determined your place in society. This is changing, especially in the last 20 years, and may perhaps go to the opposite extreme.- a 360 degree turnaround that will bring us to a position where the more “European” one is the more discrimination there will be against one.

The Inca Empire is seen as an ideal time in Peruvian history, when everyone was equal. The political Left has seen it as an almost utopian model. However this is simply a myth. The Inca, his family and court were very much in power. Everyone else was equal and society provided for all the needs of all the people in a form of collectivism. But there was no real freedom.- come to think of it, perhaps this does reflect a leftist utopia.

The Spaniards are seen as the cause of all the problems in Peru. Less than 20 men conquered the entire Inca Empire by holding the Inca to ransom for two rooms of gold and then killing him anyway.

The Incas had three basic laws: Do not lie, do not rob, do not be lazy. It is said that the Spaniards practiced just the opposite. They became owners of vast territories and enormous numbers of slaves. Whilst the slaves worked they put their feet up and enjoyed themselves (when they weren’t fighting amongst themselves or putting down futile rebellions).

So the idea exists in Peru that one has “arrived” when he is in charge and doesn’t actually do anything, but has everyone dependant upon him. The Spanish exploitation of the riches of the Inca Empire is seen in the attitude of the professional classes of a generation ago. Professional men expected to work for 30 years (women for 25) and then retire on full pension without tax. Thus a man could retire at 50 and expect to spend the rest of his life eating, drinking and making merry with his friends. This ideal is still cherished by the older generation of middle class professionals, who resent the law which now obliges their children to work until they are 65.

Oppression of the “indians” (now a politically incorrect term and a great insult) resulted in two opposite reactions: one is an almost masochistic resignation which does not expect anything to change and is indifferent to anything except authoritarianism, to which it responds with instant obedience; and the other is an almost institutional view of Revolution as something desirable and to be applauded.

Leading revolutionary leaders almost invariably have come from high society (with a few exceptions such as Hugo Blanco in Cuzco who is indigenous, but is married to a Swiss woman).

Sadly these situations are reflected in Evangelical churches and organizations, where “indians” are loyal to their churches, but know they will be ignored in major decision-making, unless the church is almost totally indigenous (as in the sierra). They are often resigned to this, but often harbour a deep resentment to authority.

Pastors and other leaders (“Servants” is the in term) are often authoritarian and these types of people actually achieve many things, but at the cost of harshness and dictatorship.

Breakfast at the Seminary

Saturday 21st of March was a first for the Baptist Seminary in Tacna as we held a breakfast for the pastors of the Tacna churches. Elizabeth Almanza and Rosa Espinosa were up early to prepare juice and eggs and Lourdes and John Brew arrived with the bread and proceeded to set the tables. When Graham and Lourdes Williamson came down they were sent back up to bring down knives and spoons as Lourdes Brew went home to bring back more glasses.

The first pastors arrived about 8.00 o’clock and we were still not quite ready as Lourdes Williamson set to help preparing eggs and Maritza Casas started pouring the juice. It was about 8.20 when we made a start with a short devotional message from II Tim 2:2 about how the Seminary could help the churches prepare faithful men to bring the apostolic message to the next generation.

After Silas Ramos gave thanks we all shared a lovely breakfast, and then our Administrator, Elizabeth Almanza gave us a Power Point talk, prepared by herself and Blanca Valenzuela about what the Seminary had to offer in terms of courses. Graham Williamson, our Director of Studies then thanked everyone for coming and asked if there were any questions. He then ably fielded these with a bit of help from John Brew.

It was encouraging to hear former students saying how much they had appreciated their time at the Seminary and how it had helped them in their present ministries. Timoteo Alverez hit the right note when he said that he had learnt some things at the Seminary but that he still had to continue studying and learning all the time. That is the type of attitude we want to see in our graduates, not one that says, “now I know everything”, but rather one which says, “now I have the tools and know how to study I am better equipped to undertake my ministry for the Lord. Graham then closed the meeting in prayer.

We had hoped to show a video of former students speaking about how the Seminary has helped them but this was not possible due to technical difficulties. Elizabeth Almanza and Raul Sanchez spent many hours preparing this and it was a great shame that it could not be used. Once again Elizabeth has gone far beyond the call of duty in preparing for this event and along with Rosa Espinoza and John and Lourdes Brew was still cleaning up at 11.30 in the morning.

This was a really worthwhile experience and would encourage us to try new initiatives in reaching the churches in Tacna in the future.