Jesus Loves Luis

Amazonian Wednesdays 🌴

Note: For those of you joining me recently, I want to mention that most of the stories that I release here on Amazonian Wednesdays are from over the twenty-three years that I have been a missionary in Iquitos, Peru. Once a month I share a very recent testimony, but the other Wednesdays are older ones. Today’s share is from June 2003:

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“I didn’t have a choice about getting involved with this,” explained Luis, referring to his role as a curandero, or “healer.” His life consists of dedicating himself to demons and consulting them on how to cure those that come to seek him out for help with various maladies. All alone, he goes deep into the jungle three times a year to fast for weeks in a row, to consecrate himself to the spirits that he serves, and to ask them for more power.

Luis went on with his story, “I had a troubling illness in my sinus, and I went to the curandero to look for healing. The curandero chose me, and I have been under the obligation ever since to dedicate myself to this trade. I am not doing this because I wanted to. But after fifteen years, I have gotten used to it.”

A small group of us leaders from the church in Iquitos and a team from Lighthouse Church in the Chicago area were visiting Luis in his home. He lives in the town of Tamshiacu, an hour speed boat ride up the Amazon River from Iquitos. The Lighthouse team came to our area exclusively to pray strategically over the city of Iquitos and all places the Holy Spirit would lead them to. The day before they left to go back home, the Lord had taken us to this town.

After praying over the main town square, we had been introduced to the mayor and been allowed to pray over him. We had then prayed with authority in the town hall, declaring that Tamshiacu belongs to Jesus and ordering the enemy to give it up to Him! After this, we visited Luis’s home, each of our hands saturated with anointing oil, subtly anointing and praying in the Spirit over every inch of his home that we could touch as we walked through.

Luis is a leading spiritual figure in his community. In addition to receiving many people from the town for “healing,” he also supplies many tourist lodges in the area with witchcraft paraphernalia. Many tourists come from around the world to “soak in the spiritual energies of the jungle.” Luis insists that his practice is virtuous, differentiating himself energetically from “those bad witches that send curses on people out of malice.” He blindly and proudly believes, “I am only helping people.”

I share this story to give you a little more insight as to how to pray for Iquitos and the surrounding jungle. Luis is one of many like him, scattered throughout the different jungle communities. As the team talked over the experience afterwards, we all could not help but comment on the sadness in Luis’s face. He openly confessed to being trapped in what he is doing. He is a slave that Jesus wants to set free. That day did not end up being the day that Luis would surrender his life to the Greater One, but that day each of us in our hearts made a commitment to pray for this man and others like him until their day comes. Would you join us?

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P.S. Over the years we have seen quite a number of witchdoctors come to Jesus! Keep checking in on Wednesdays for stories like those and many other wonderful things God is doing in the Amazon Jungle of Peru.