Having lived in Peru for three years now, more and more I find myself morning the effects of the fall in this culture. We see the darkness being pushed back, and rejoice with new church attenders as they encounter Christian community and the love of Christ for the first time, yet even for those who accept the gospel and make a profession of faith, the millstone of having grown up in a godless culture makes submission to Christ’s Lordship in all areas of life incredibly challenging—especially when it comes to morality. The state of morality in this culture is so broken that it has almost completely destroyed the concept of family, and led to a pervasive sense of shame and mistrust. I see this issue as the single biggest stumbling block for Peruvians in giving their lives to Christ. It’s so discouraging to see people grow in their faith, experience the love of Christ, long for the gospel to be true in their lives, and then cower under the weight of their inability to submit this area of their life to Christ’s Lordship.
Persistent moral decay certainly presents a formidable adversary to the advancement of the gospel in our own US culture. For many within in the church, religiosity has caused sexual struggle to present itself as a hidden yet festering cancer causing shame that fuels further struggle, and even giving birth to crises which shake our very faith in God’s goodness. I’m thankful for ministries like Authentic Intimacy, which are offering hope to a culture that is quickly decaying in sexual brokenness. As AI’s new book, “Rethinking Sexuality: God’s Design and Why it Matters” states, “A tidal wave of sexual confusion and brokenness has swept over us, but this is just the beginning. The percentages of those addicted, traumatized, confused, and in bondage will exponentially increase in the days to come. A devastating tsunami of sexual abuse, addiction, shattered identity, and shame is on the way.” I see this reality already playing out in Peruvian culture.
In Cusco today, young people are growing up with the basic assumption that they cannot trust a single human being—not even family members. Between 2000 and 2003 the World Health Organization in Peru conducted a study which revealed that 69% of women in Cusco reported physical and/or sexual abuse by a partner. I would venture to say that the percentage is actually significantly higher than that today, and that the abuse comes not just from partners but from members from the family of origin.
Young people here are promising themselves that they will never marry. Why would they? Many of them have literally never seen a healthy marriage. Yet their sense of identity is so damaged by abuse that they run after sexual partners who offer to affirm their worth and for a season, help them to forget their feelings of shame.
Within the church the mindset is not much different. If an understanding of the correlation between sexuality and spirituality is lacking in the US, it is certainly lacking here. There seems to be a general assumption that as long as you love God and treat your fellow man with benevolence, what you do behind closed doors with your partner is of no concern to God or the church. This breaks my heart, because it promotes engaging in sex for all of the wrong reasons—reasons that lead to mistrust between humans and undercut the beautiful picture of covenant love that God designed it for. By the time people are confronted with the gospel, their sense of identity is so dependent on an immoral lifestyle that they cannot accept a God who would condemn them for it, and church leaders struggle to know how to combat this.
The church is hurting because it is attempting to impose Biblical principles on a people whose worldview is colored by survival mentalities resulting from a godless society. Time and again people come to our church looking for help in their relationships. Wounded by romantic unions which are centered on personal gratification, people ask for counseling and hope for a quick fix.
Is there a fix for chronic cultural immorality and godlessness? Jesus’ own disciples balked at the exhortation to abide in Christ through giving up one’s own life and consume His flesh and blood (John 6:53),” saying, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” Jesus acknowledged that His teaching IS offensive and that “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no help at all.” (v. 61-62) The Spirit of God alone can move any person toward true repentance and acceptance of the true (yet offensive) gospel.
So what can we missionaries do to combat the negative aspects of this present culture?
One immediate project I’ve begun working on is developing a class on God’s plan for romantic relationships that we can offer at our church for those who are seeking help. It’s my hope that studying what the Bible says about this topic will not only help people with their human relationships (which would be huge), but will point to the beauty of the gospel in a way they’ve yet to see or experience. The gospel is written into our bodies and at the very core of our human longings. I pray that the people of Peru will come to see that, and have their eyes opened to the amazing love of a heavenly Father who is the ultimate fulfillment of all our longings.
For change to really transpire at a cultural level, however, I know that a class will not be enough. I believe it must begin with families, and it has to be more than one or two days a week. I believe that a Christian school, in partnership with the local church, could facilitate an invaluable space for bringing about the formation and shaping of hearts and minds. A school that trains young people from an early age to view all of life through the lens of Gods’ good plan for the world, that engages parents on a regular basis regarding how to reinforce scriptural principles at home, and that models daily, via its staff and teachers, what a life transformed by the gospel looks like, and could, with God’s blessing, bring about redemption in a culture, one class at a time.
This dream is big and it will certainly require years of hard work to prepare, lots (let me emphasize LOTS) of money, and a group of missionary teachers willing to give their lives for the sake of bringing about this cultural revival. I believe it’s totally possible, though. Schools are being used around the world to bring about ideological changes in culture. Just this morning I listened to an interview in which a Rwandan pastor shared about how the schools in his country slowly indoctrinated his countrymen over the course of 35 years such that in 1994 brothers were persuaded to take up arms against brother in 100 days of widespread genocide. After starting 25 churches in Rwanda, this pastor shifted his focus toward spiritual formation of his countrymen via starting a Christian school. Schools have a powerful platform to affect culture either for evil or for good.
I propose that spiritual formation happening in a Christian school in Cusco could equip Peruvian students, one generation at a time, to affect change in this culture. If a generation of young people could grow up with basic assumptions about life, their identity, and their personal worth that are based on truth, and if they were equipped with a high quality education, imagine how they could impact their culture! For this reason, I have begun a discussion with our teammates and with like-minded promoters of Christian education around the world about the possibility of starting a Christian International school in Cusco. Will you pray with me toward this goal? Will you pray about how God might call you to be involved?
- Laura Dougherty
