If you notice, on the previous post there is a photographs of some Quechua farmers with ancient-design farming equipment and a couple of ladies, one carrying her child in a blanket on her back. That photograph was taken while I was visiting Choco, Perú, the title was Photoshopped on later. The Choco mission was a very successful church plant that began as an emergency relief mission and developed into something more. Let me take a couple of days to tell you something of the story. I think you will enjoy it and it will show you something of the unexpected ways in which God works.
My part of the story begins in the late 1990’s, when the El Niño current was causing severe weather disturbances along the Pacific coast of South America and even affecting some North American weather in the midwestern USA. The year was 1997-1998. “The 1998 El Niño event caused an estimated 16% of the world’s reef systems to die.” It was a particularly strong El Niño that caused severe rains in parts of Perú that were unaccustomed to such rain. One of those areas was the Colca Canyon area of Perú.
Choco, Perú is located inside the Colca Canyon in a thoroughly indigenous area of Perú. The inhabitants of that area are Quechua, and many maintain ancient customs. However, the social organization of the towns in the area date to the Jesuit “reducciones,” although the ancient Inca farming system is kept. So one can see long sweeps of terraced farming in which arid land is turned into irrigated land without the use of modern machinery. Alpaca and Llama herding are also big in that area, and one can see Quechua children herding their charges. Free herds of vicuña can also be seen running through the altiplano areas above the canyon. Hmm, I said canyon, but Choco is actually listed as being at 2,473 meters of altitude, or 8037 feet altitude. But, it is in a canyon, and one of the deepest canyons on earth. Hmm, did I mention that I had to cross a pass at 5,300 meters altitude in order to get to Choco? That is 17,255 feet of altitude. Should I also mention that every time I crossed there was no oxygen available? So, a little indigenous village at only 8037 feet of altitude, in comparison with the surrounding main areas is definitely in a valley. It is all perspective, right?
To get to Choco, I could take a bus from Arequipa, where we lived, to Chivay, at 3,600 meters of altitude, or 11,700 feet of altitude, and from there to Cabanaconde. From Cabanaconde I would get on a mule, and descend into the canyon, down to the 2,000 meters of altitude level before climbing back up to Choco. It was only an eight hour trip of mule-riding and walking. Some of the mountain trails would be very narrow, and periodically a small rock slide might wipe part of the trail out, which would mean some interesting detours, or even, running across the shale slide at an upward angle so that one could cross the slide without falling in. At times, one could stare at a drop of a couple of thousand feet to one’s immediate side, with no guard rail and no protections.
So, how did I end up doing such a thing? Well, it began with those rains. They loosened the mountainside, and a giant chunk of mountain slid down into the river. Look at the Google map up above. Do you see how Choco is at the conjunction of the Colca River and a smaller tributary? It was the tributary that was blocked. Unfortunately, normally quiet tributary had become a raging river due to those rains. And the mountain blocked the normal course and diverted the raging river right at Choco. Thirty-four people died and close to a third of the village buildings were wiped. Look again at the map. Do you see that empty swath near the river on the northeast side? That empty swath is what is left of the destruction. There has been some rebuilding done since then. At the one year mark from the tragedy, I was the priest who did the memorial liturgy when they installed a cement memorial to remember the dead. A lot of ministry had gone by during that year.
===MORE TO COME===
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