An Invitation

You are warmly invited to Peru—an ancient land and birthplace of the proud civilization of the Incas. Since the fall of the Inca Empire to Spanish Conquistadores in 1533, Peruvians have endured great suffering and privation. Today, God is powerfully at work in this part of the world and there is a tremendous receptivity to the gospel among the Peruvian people. Opportunities for ministry are unlimited.

Vision

Our heart is to proclaim the name of Christ where it has not been previously named, and to plant churches using a cell-church model. From a base proximate to Lima, short term missions will be used to facilitate the high-impact, long term ministry of an indigenous church-planting movement. We intend to mentor Peruvian leaders who will be able to replicate the model. We believe growth by multiplication (as opposed to growth by addition) has practical potential in Peru.

The world has changed dramatically over the last 50 years and so too missions has changed—and must continue to change. We believe that God has a key role for Latin America in accomplishing His purposes globally.

Latin America is strategically positioned to play a vital role in spreading the Gospel. Hispanics are welcome in places U.S. citizens are not. In many cases they blend-in in environments where North Americans are conspicuous. Often, their cost-of-living is dramatically lower than ours. But perhaps most significantly, God has called-out for Himself a generation of radically committed Latin believers who are willing to lay their lives on the line for the sake of the Gospel.

We have a very clear sense that God wants to use us to help train and equip these “special forces” for the hard-core Kingdom work that needs to be done. We look forward to how this piece of our vision unfolds in God’s time.

Staff

Adventures In Missions has been doing short term missions in Peru for several years. This year, AIM will establish a full time presence in this hungry nation that is white unto harvest. Bob and Becky Cooley anticipate coming on staff with AIM and moving to Lima in the fall. Their youngest daughter, Kelsey, is joining them.

The Cooley’s first heard God’s call to Peru on an AIM trip in 2002 and have been working in that direction since then. Bob comes to AIM from the private sector where he has been self-employed for several years. He is an ordained elder. Bob and Becky have two other daughters who will remain in the states. Their oldest daughter, Jennifer, is married and teaches second grade. Their middle daughter, Julia, has just earned her commission in the Army National Guard.

Ministry

• Supporting and enabling the local church with 10 and 14 day short term trips (for both student and adult groups). Depending on the trip category, these may or may not be church planting projects. Special ministry on these trips can involve VBS, youth ministry, working inside schools, orphanages, detention facilities, feeding programs, etc.

• Longer church planting trips to remote areas like the high mountains or the jungle
• Intensive discipleship of First Year Missionaries who will serve as staff at the Peru base
• Training and mentoring of local leaders
• Establishing a training program for Peruvian missionaries
• We are open to whatever God might unfold

Overview of Peru

Geography - Peru is a long, narrow land mass (slightly smaller than the state of Alaska) that sits south of the equator on the Pacific coast. It has three distinct geographies: An arid coastal plain; the high mountains (the Andes is the world’s second highest mountain range); and the Amazon River Basin. The headwaters of the Amazon River are in the north of Peru. The Tropical Andes is known as the “global epicenter of biodiversity.”

Home to a vast array of ancient ruins and archeological mysteries, perhaps the best known of these sites is Machu Picchu. The many locations of historical interest and Peru’s spectacular geography draw many world travelers—ecotourists, sight seers, mountain climbers and other adventurers among them.

Climate - Because Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere, its seasons are opposite to those of North America. Depending on the location, weather can vary widely. Weather in the highlands (as well as in the jungle) can be extreme. But on Peru’s coastal plain, even in the winter months, temperatures during the day are moderate and can range from cool to warm. The exception to this is in the northern coastal area where winter days are generally sunny and warm.

Politics - Peru gained its independence from Spain in 1821. It is a constitutional republic. Its population of roughly 28 million is concentrated on the coastal plain, especially in the vicinity of Lima (est. 7 million), the country’s capital. According to the World Bank, 54% of Peru’s people live below the poverty line, making it one of the poorer nations in South America.

In June of 2006, Peru elected a new president. Alan Garcia, a socialist, succeeds Alejandro Toledo who is generally regarded as conservative. Garcia previously served as Peru’s president (1985-1990). His first term of office was widely regarded as disastrous—the country experienced a 7,500 percent rate of inflation as well as significant social and political unrest. In 2006, Garcia ran against Ollanta Humala, a former Army Colonel who led a coup attempt against Alberto Fujimori’s government in 2000. During the campaign, the nationalist Humala advocated closer ties with Venezuela's anti-American President, Hugo Chavez. Political instability has proven to be a persistent problem in Peru and has hampered its economic development.

How To Give

Gifts earmarked for the Peru base will be used to realize the vision articulated above. We believe that our ministry should be self-sustaining and self-replicating and the ministries we help to establish should follow the same principles.

It is building God’s Kingdom that motivates and shapes every thing we do. People and ministry will have priority before buildings and property. As God directs, we may be called to acquire the facilities necessary for ministry. This may involve buildings, vehicles, office equipment and the like. We believe that God will provide for the ministry He is calling us to do. We will make specific needs known as they present themselves.

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