Fierce Amazonian Kingdom Warriors

Amazonian Wednesdays 🌴

December 2017
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You may or may not have heard me sharing about the lives of Papá Victor and Mamá Noemí. They are some of the most unassuming, powerful, humble, earth-shaking Kingdom builders I have ever encountered. Listen to these words from their hearts:

“When we travel through Candoshi territory to preach the gospel, how keenly we feel the risk! As we slowly pass by each village, we see their guns trained on the river. These fierce indigenous people are intensely proud of the name they have selected for themselves, ‘Men of War.’ They are constantly killing each other, caught up in a violent, bloody cycle of hatred and revenge.”

Papá Victor and Mamá Noemí regularly make this trek through Candoshi territory. Papá Victor must dress up as an apu, which is the local word for “chief.” He puts on a feathered headdress and appropriate garb as they make their way through the waterways of the jungle. This is the only way the Candoshi watchmen will respect them enough to allow them to pass through alive.

“When a fresh round of killings is happening, the main rivers are too dangerous. In those cases, Pastor Roberto guides us through tiny, hidden inlets as we push through towards our destination. We sit still in our little boat, journeying for hours and hours through absolute silence, gazing into the vast forest. We never know when an enormous boa might spring on us, wanting to have us for lunch. Who, then, would come to our aid in the middle of nowhere? It takes us at least four days traveling this way to reach the next chosen location for announcing the good news about Jesus!”

In the face of such extreme adversity, Papá Victor and Mamá Noemí have valiantly, relentlessly proclaimed the message of salvation. They have had incredible success. Already, in just six years of labor, eight thriving Candoshi churches have been born under their apostolic leadership.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is power. The immeasurable force of His might has begun to penetrate the closely woven fabric of the Candoshi culture. Where God’s seed falls, transformation begins. We are believing that as His truth continues to penetrate and permeate their hearts, this precious people group will learn to stop murdering each other.

Papá Victor and Mamá Noemí graduated from our Missions School in 2008. In these years since, they have planted no less than fifty churches.

The Candoshis are only one branch of their tireless, arduous efforts. They are also working among the Huampi, the Achual, the Urarina, and the Quichua peoples. Mamá Noemí is fluent in all of those languages! For this reason, she is actually the main preacher of the duo. Everywhere she travels, throughout the vast Amazon rainforest, her spiritual kids affectionately call her “Mamá.” 

For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these children of the Most High!