“The first one scared me,” Maricela relates, “but later, it became almost like a game. To date we have encountered 176 scorpions in the house; 176, and still counting! We thank God that none have harmed us. They’re just… uncomfortable. Yes, it’s true—living like this is uncomfortable, but it’s part of our reality.
“It’s what we chose.”
Maricela and Pablo Chavez and their three boys made the choice to leave their home in California in 2022 for a life on mission in Peru. They faced some criticism for this choice; those who knew what it had cost for their families to immigrate from Mexico and settle in the United States in the first place challenged their decision, even calling them ungrateful. The story of their difficult journey into global mission can be heard in the video, God is Calling (multiply.net/god-is-calling).
“We left behind a comfortable lifestyle,” admits Maricela, “and weren’t sure what to expect. For example, we had been told that Almirante was a land of rich agriculture. It is a desert! Everywhere you look, there’s sand. The heat is almost unbearable.”
What Pablo and Maricela saw when they first arrived in Almirante was not very pretty, but it soon became evident that the true beauty was in the people: they were kind, caring, and welcoming. “They received us at the airport, they received us in their churches,” Pablo says. “It took a little longer for them to receive us in their hearts, though.”
This reluctance came as somewhat of a surprise to the Chavez family. Being of Mexican descent, they had assumed that the transition to life in Peru would be relatively easy. To their chagrin, there was a chasm of difference.
“Even our Spanish wasn’t the same,” Maricela explained. “We had many of the same words, but with completely different meanings! I had to pay very close attention to what people were trying to say. That was a shock for me—I had expected communication to be easy.”
“It was crazy!” Pablo remembers, shaking his head. “Sometimes they would be speaking to me in Spanish, and I would just stand there with my mouth open, thinking, What on earth are you guys saying?”
Being relegated to the status of language learners was only one of the humbling realities of life in Peru. “One time there was an event that required food preparation,” says Maricela, “and I offered to help. They told me that I was peeling the potatoes wrong! I have been peeling potatoes my whole life!” She laughs at the memory. “In the end, I just handed over the knife, and asked them to teach me how to do it right.”
“We had to remember that our role as missionaries was not to come and be in charge of things,” Pablo asserts. “It’s not up to us to make decisions for Peruvians or to direct them, but to see what God is doing and to walk with them on their journey.”
Taking a humble posture of learners was critical in building relationships in the community. “It took time for them to get to know us,” Pablo acknowledges. “Learning their way of speaking Spanish, learning their way of peeling potatoes—all those things were needed for trust to be built, before they would open up and tell us about their real needs, the conflicts in their churches, the problems in their marriages, the brokenness in their families.”
Trust was a two-way street, the couple realized. Even as the church leaders began to invite Pablo to help with conflict resolution on a conference level, addressing issues of moral failure and sin, he also shared his own struggles with them. “On a personal level, I went through a period of depression in the ministry. I lost the joy of serving, and I needed their compassion and support.”
“Life in Peru is a challenge,” Maricela reflects, “but not just for us. The level of suffering we witness is terrible. At least one person is dying every week! There are always so many who are sick and needing prayer. Sometimes I think that the only things that can thrive in this desert are the flies, mosquitos, lizards and scorpions! But somehow, the Peruvians persevere and grow crops here.” She pauses, pensive. “In a way, that shows their heart. They don’t give up; how could we?”
“These last three years have not been easy,” Pablo agrees, “but we didn’t choose Peru because it is easy or pretty or comfortable; we chose it because of the people. We chose to surrender, we chose to follow Jesus, we chose to serve the ones He loves.”
“By God’s grace, this is what we still choose.”
PRAY
The Chavez family is currently in North America, visiting friends, family and supporting churches and discerning next steps in mission.
