Hi from iquitos

I’m currently back in Iquitos,
the heart of the Peruvian Amazon jungle, where I’ve been teaching and
encouraging church leaders (well trying to anyway). But time here always prompts
me to think of home and the differences between the church in the UK
and here.

Whilst there are many things people lack here, decent
medical care, clean fresh water and so on the Christians have a fire and
enthusiasm for the things of God. On Sunday, I had lunch with a local family,
who must be giving well over a fifth of their income to church work; and I’m
sure they are not unusual.

For all the haphazard nature of life here there is a deep
commitment to evangelism and the value of local church which we have often lost
in the UK. Our
post modern reflections on life having incapacitated us, our desire to fit into
society having blunted our edge.

I’m sure things will look different again when I’m back in
the UK, surrounded by all the demands of church and family life; but it would
be great to bottle some of the Peruvian enthusiasm and bring it home.