PERU 2012 - Lost in the Amazon: Search for the Unreached Ashaninka Tribe

Nuevo Nazareth, Peru
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
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Lost in the Amazon: Search for the Unreached Ashaninka Tribe
After two days in Caco, our team prepared to head back out onto the Ucayali River to make contact with the unreached Ashaninka tribe and stay in their village. We had thought it was all planned out. Pastor Antonio said that he had received permission from the chief in an Ashaninka village for us to visit them. We had also thought we would only need Pastor Antonio’s boat to get there. After  loading ourselves and our belongings onto the boat and traveling over an hour upriver, we pulled in to another Shipibo-Konibo village called, “Nuevo Nazareth.” Pastor Antonio’s cousin was the pastor in this village. To our surprise, we were informed that we could not make it to the Ashaninka village in one boat and that we would need to spend the night in this village, and the pastor would bring his boat as well. Conveniently, another church service was convened for us to lead. A pattern was developing. We would hear one thing and another thing would take place. This was a bit frustrating to say the least. Extending grace, our team agreed and stayed the night, bringing the glory of God to another Shipibo-Konibo language.
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The next morning we loaded both boats and headed even further upriver seven hours. Somehow, our boats got separated and Pastor Antonio who was captaining our boat became lost in the Ucayali tributaries. We were lost for about four hours, navigating the river and following golden butterflies which we believed had been sent by God to guide us. Our team wasn’t too worried, but time was against us as it was getting dark and fear began to arise within Pastor Antonio and his son. Finally we heard our other team mates on the other boat close by on the river. We were relieved at this, but heard shouts from them that they needed help.
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The reason they were asking for help began to unfold. Their boat had made it further up river, only 45 minutes from the Ashaninka village. Then, some Ashaninka loggers from that village chased down their boat and began to interrogate them. When asked why the team was going to the village, the local pastor replied that we were wanting to plant a church there. This of course was a foolish thing to say and was a part of his agenda, not ours. They then scolded the pastor and the team, telling them that they weren’t welcome and didn’t want a church. Liney tried to clarify our teams intentions to simply visit the tribe, learn about their culture and make friends. To that the loggers were much more willing to accept. But at that point it was too late. The loggers warned the pastor about a fiesta that was happening where the tribe always is drunk and violent, and that they had killed other foreigners who had tried to visit the villages. This of course didn’t phase our team, as we had heard from God to visit the Ashaninka people. But the pastor refused to take them further in his boat, turned around and wouldn’t talk to our team members. This is what our friends on the other boat were asking for help with.
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Jesse, the team and I on our boat immediately came into agreement with our team on the other boat and put our foot down, saying that we were supposed to go to the Ashaninka tribe in spite of the risks. The loggers had also said that the chief was in Pucallpa and we wouldn’t have permission to talk with the tribe unless he was there, yet we had been informed that we were cleared by the chief to visit. Again, things that had been said to us before weren’t panning out. Both pastors vehemently opposed us in our desire to continue on 45 minutes to the Ashaninka village. After a battle over this, we finally had came to the conclusion that we were on their boats and we realized they weren’t going to budge. A spirit of fear, religion and pride were thick all around us in the local Shipibo-Konibo pastors. I was freakin’ pissed off that the enemy was having his way in this, yet our hands were tied. Being only 45 minutes from the Asheninka tribe, we turned around and headed another seven hours back to Nuevo Nazareth in the dark, using large flashlights to guide us and dodging large crocodiles on the river. But before we began to head back a rainbow appeared in the sky right over where the Ashaninka village is. I felt that it was God’s promise that He desires for that tribe not to be destroyed but to be saved, and that we would send missionaries back to them.
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Christian Young