The Quechua People
The Quechua are
descendants of the ancient Inca people who, by the 1500's, ruled
much of western South America. Numbering about 12 million,
they are to be found in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay,
Brazil, and Bolivia. The 3½ million Bolivian Quechua
are classified as an unreached people group.* Of these,
about 2.2 million live in rural areas and speak only Quechua.
An Inca ruler entering the Temple of the Sun, Cuzco, Peru.
At the left chosen women attend the mummy of a previous
Inca ruler.
(Image used with permission of World Book, Inc.,
www.worldbook.com)
The Quechua people
are spirit worshipers, having no concept of a unique, holy God,
and likewise no concept of sin as an affront to Him. Most
are ardent believers in Pachamama, or Mother Earth, whom they
have to appease with sacrifices and offerings so she'll give good
crops and healthy animals in return. In some areas staged
fights are carried out between communities with the hope that
someone will be killed or at least that blood will be shed on
the ground for Pachamama. Llama fetuses are buried under
house walls and in fields as offerings. These and a host
of other beliefs and superstitions hold the people in a grip of
fear and oppression. Release from this fear is one of the
greatest felt needs of the people, a need which the Gospel of
Jesus Christ addresses. A small percentage of Bolivian Quechuas
are evangelicals, but most are woefully untaught and much must
be done before they are mature enough to be a clear light to their
own people.
A brief glance at a topographical map of Bolivia
or a flight over the rugged Andes Mountain ranges suffices to
emphasize the difficulty of using only tradional missionary strategies
to reach them. The southern central highlands of Bolivia,
where we live and work, are characterized by tiny villages and
adobe huts scattered throughout some of the most inaccessible
terrain in the world. There are few roads and those that
exist are often impassable, especially in the rainy season.
The people eke out a meager living by subsistence farming on a
scale that is unimaginable to our developed society.
As farmland has become scarce in the mountains
due to population pressures, many Quechuas have moved to the lowlands
in search of land. Living in the jungle is very different
from living on the mountains, but the difficulties in reaching
them are the same, if not greater. The one advantage is
that these people tend to be more open to the Gospel due to the
amount of change they experience and the need to receive new ideas
just to survive.
The Quechua people in general learn by demonstration
and doing, rather than by just hearing, seeing, or reading.
As a result, they need to hear the Good News but also touch and
experience it. They need to know personally God's power
and also His grace, love, and forgiveness through Christ.
We need to demonstrate as well as declare the Good
News to these practical people.
To this end our particular focus on our
missionary team is in the area of family and community development,
integrating appropriate technological assistance and training
with the proclamation of the Gospel. We work to understand
the felt needs of the people, helping them to meet these needs
with the resources available to them. This may be in the
areas of agriculture, energy, water, health, sanitation, etc.
(click here to see some examples).
Under God's direction we use the skills and gifts He has given
us to meet needs, build trust, and open doors. Our goal
is to establish reproducing churches whose members are known for
their love and practical care for each another and those yet outside
of God's family.
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