A VISIT WITH TWO READERS IN PERU, MAY, 2006

(An Addendum to the Ecuador Conferences Report)

 

 

     OVERVIEW:   At the conclusion of the Ecuador experience, and after saying our fond farewells to Nelida, the Arias Family, Jose, Mario, Lynn, Dolores, and Susan, we flew from Guayaquil to Lima, Peru on May 29th.

     Primarily, we went to Peru to visit with Arlene’s cousin, Marcos, and to complete a long-held dream of traveling to Machu Picchu.  But, as with all our travels, we incorporate meetings with Urantia Book readers wherever and whenever possible.

     After Lima, we flew to Cusco, the ancient capitol of the Inca civilization – an enchanting city filled with unique sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings, and people to create lasting memories in every visitor.  (Of interest, is the word “Inca” meaning “Children of the Sun God”; change one letter…)  It took a 4 hour train ride and a 30 minute bus trip to get us to the slops of Machu Picchu, and our time there, though short, was an enriching experience well worth the wait.

     Upon our return to Cusco, we made a phone call to a local reader whose name we received from Norman Ingram (thanks Norm), and we agreed to meet at our hotel.  We met Luis Alberto, a wonderful friendly, warm-hearted man.  He spoke little English and we speak little Spanish but because of our desire to communicate we were able to share our faith, and soon became warm friends.  He is a professional working in a natural health clinic (he even wrote a prescription for natural healing of a stomach ailment for one of our traveling companions), married with children, and like many Latin Americans is interested in the material of J.J. Benitez.  He was very interested in contacting other readers – in Peru, or anywhere in Latin America. He agreed to get the UB in libraries in Cusco, and we agreed that if/when we return to Cusco we would do a public presentation to stimulate interest and study group activity.  We gave him one book, a Paradise Ascension poster, Los Frutos del Espiritu book markers, a CD of Buck’s presentation on “El Evangelio de Jesús”, and several UB business cards.  We parted with a true feeling in kinship.

     After returning to Lima, we made many telephone calls to a list of contacts we had accumulated from several sources in the UB community.  (Before leaving the USA, we also sent emails to all addresses we had accumulated – with the only responses coming from readers outside of Lima; i.e. in Arequipa and Trujillo.) 

     We finally made contact with Jesús Guevara and had a very fruitful 2 hour meeting with him in Arlene’s cousins’ condo.  He is a 36 year old engineer who initially ordered the book off the web and received it in 1997 through the embassy.  He read the whole book but his focus is on the Life & Teachings because of the difficulty of the other parts.  We did have a short discussion on the local universe and Christ Michael as Creator.  He has read the book alone through the years, although his father and two sisters are somewhat interested – one sister lives in Miami.

     Jesús agreed to place books in libraries in Lima.  We left him with 1 book, 3 coupons, a Paradise Ascension poster, Los Frutos del Espíritu book markers, a CD of Buck’s Ecuador presentation, and many business cards.  He was nearly overwhelmed by the gifts, and expressed a desire to connect with more readers in Lima, in other areas of Peru and South America.

     We returned home on June 6^th, appropriately, on our 36^th wedding anniversary.

 

IMPRESSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:   Being in Peru for only a short period of time and meeting with only 2 readers gives us a limited perspective on “the state of the revelation” in Peru.  Nonetheless, the impressions we had are that there seems to be quite a few readers in Lima, and the country of Peru.  As with everywhere we went in South America, the individuals to whom we introduced the Urantia Book seemed to have an intense desire to learn more about the Revelation.  However, there is no real leadership or central group of readers in which to refer them.  And, of course, there are no organized outreach activities.  Both Luis and Jesús became very excited when discussing the possibility of joining with Fellowship representatives for public presentations on the UB in their area.

     If the Argentina Conference goes according to plan in 2007, it may be fruitful for 2 or 3 representatives of the Fellowship to plan some time in Peru before/after Argentina for public presentations and other outreach activities.  Several books via the Pipeline of Light for library placement have been put in place.  In the meantime, we will continue to help create a communications network between the known readers in Peru, connect them with other leaders in Central and South America, and confirm their importance to the worldwide Fellowship of readers.

     We again wish to thank International Committee and the General Council for their help in the honor of participating in these outreach activities of the Father’s Kingdom.

 

Arlene & Buck Weimer

Pueblo, CO