Trujillo, Peru

The big, blue truck drives up the sandy path. The people living on the outskirts of Trujillo, the area known as Cerro Bolongo, know how important that truck is to their survival. They approach the driver with their five-gallon buckets and stand in line. Handing over the money - about a penny - the driver fills the four buckets with water. Although it isn't the cleanest water, they are grateful that the truck comes. If there were no water truck, there would be no water. They can't remember the last time it rained.

Despite the desperate situation the people of Cerro Bolongo seem to be in, they are a lively and happy group. Ten years ago, El Nino flooded the desert community, washing away the mud bricks and the thatched roofs, leaving nothing in its wake except for the people. The Luke Society has been a key presence during the rebuilding process, bringing hope, love and food to those in need.

Much of the land around the city of Trujillo is divided into sectors. After the flooding, the Luke Society began to minister to the people in sector three, one of the areas hit hard by the flooding. Felix Aldave, Luke Society director, and his wife, Bertha, began to provide health care to the people living in this area.

To gain a more permanent status, Bertha applied to the city development office to gain the title to the land they were working on. Instead of giving them land in sector three, they were given 750 square meters in the nearby sector six. "After hearing we didn't get land in sector three, we went with our prayer meeting early in the morning and prayed in the sand to give us love for the new area," said Bertha. "Then we knew God wanted us to start churches and prayer groups that would expand from number six to number three to allow the Gospel to wash like the Nino flood into Cerro Bolongo."

The prayers of that group kneeling in the sand have been answered by God. There are now 20 prayer groups that meet at 4 a.m. each morning to pray. Felix and Bertha lead four of these groups, the rest meet independently. With an average of 12 people in each group, a total of 240 people are gathering in the early hours of the morning before God. Bertha also stated that many individuals meet in their homes outside of the prayer groups, meaning the numbers are growing even more than first realized.

In the communities where the Luke Society is working, civil security is a big problem. Robbery is very common. To alleviate the problem, all the leaders of the sectors came together to form a security council. Felix attended the meeting and after looking around, he said, "You have invited all the leaders, but you have not invited the One who will secure this city." Then he read from Psalm 127:1b, which says, "Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." Some of these leaders are now praying daily for their sectors and are eager to see what God will do.

Felix begins these prayer groups wherever he can. Recently, the government health program put Felix on a house-visit rotation. His job is to visit sick people in their homes and provide health care. Because this was a government program, Felix knew he had to be careful about sharing his faith. He found that if he showed compassion during the medical care, the people would open up about their spiritual needs as well. After they told him about their family problems and problems at work, he would tell them that prayer could heal those things. Luke Society Latin American coordinator Apolos Landa says, "He's almost like a Peruvian Patch Adams." Many prayer groups have started from these home visits, and like the American physician, Patch Adams, who healed with compassion and laughter, Felix Aldave is healing with compassion and prayer.

The children in these sectors lead a hard life. Many of their fathers have left to work in the highlands. The children are left alone in their homes while their mothers work. Due to poverty and the need for companions, "this area is the birthplace of gangs," says Bertha.

The Luke Society is working to reach these children through daily classes and providing breakfast before school. Every day, over three hundred children eat breakfast provided by the Luke Society. All the kids that eat also have to attend classes put on by the Luke Society. One of these children is Lev Loayza. He is 12 years old and has been involved with the Luke Society for two years. At a young age, Lev's father left his family to work in the highlands. He knew very little about God before going to a Christian campaign.

Unsure if he should attend the campaign, Lev stood on the outskirts. He saw many kids his age there and was drawn in by the puppet shows. Amid all the children, Bertha Aldave found him and shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with him. Two years later, Lev's favorite thing about going to the Luke Society is learning more about God's Word.

In the nearby neighborhood of Porvenir, Lev attends high school as a freshman. His goal is to attend university and become an engineer. He wakes up each day at 6 a.m. to pray and read his Bible. He helps his brother and sister wash the dishes and clean the house before eating breakfast. Before school starts at noon, he goes to the Luke Society to finish his homework and study. The Luke Society has a small library, where he got the book he's currently carrying around-Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper."

Lev experiences a lot of peer pressure at school, especially to join the gangs. "I ask them what they like to do, and if I don't like it, I stop being friends with them," he says. "They tease me, but I ignore it."

The mothers also live a hard life, but they are encouraged by the work of the Luke Society in their community. As a requirement, the mothers of the children who receive food must attend classes as well, led by Luke Society nurse, Carmella Morillas. One mother said, "The people of the Luke Society are concerned that both tummies and hearts of the children are full."

Most of the mothers are struggling with abuse, both physical and verbal. As a consequence to this abuse, many of them suffer with low self-esteem. With the degrading treatment they receive, they believe they can't make it on their own. Those who aren't married go from man to man, trying to find the love and support they crave. "I try to teach them they can go at it alone," Carmella says. "When they come to the Lord and are healed and have good self-esteem, then they can face their problems and the future."

Those women who still have husbands in the home usually don't have the support of the men. The men discourage the women from attending the Luke Society classes and from learning health education. Most of the men also mock the faith to which these women are so desperately clinging. A mother named Maritza says, "My husband is not a believer, but I am thankful for the strength God gives me."

Carmella is teaching these women the basics in health care. "I want to serve this community," she says. "I ask God for help-to guide me to see not only the physical problems, but also the spiritual." She teaches the women how to respond to fevers, diarrhea, minor wounds, and about family planning, vaccinations and support for pregnant women. Maritza says she is teased because she attends the classes, but she resists the urge to lash out. "I am free," she says. "And when they ask for help, I help them. I'm not ashamed. I tell them my story - that I didn't believe, but God touched me and He is unresistible."

Because of the food program and the children's classes, the parents are beginning to open up to the Luke Society ideas. Maritza says, "Large amounts of the population - even men - are happy with having the Luke Society here." Not only are the gangs decreasing, but safety is increasing. "I am happy because I can go to work with confidence by leaving [my children] here for classes and lunch," says Maritza.

Jorge Salinas teaches the children's classes. But he doesn't teach children's topics as we would think of them. "The first thing is to read the Bible to get principles to apply to our lives," he says. "Then we speak about our problems - delinquency, gangs, drug abuse, abortion, divorce, AIDS, sexuality." But teaching these kids about such sensitive topics has made him more than a teacher. "I feel so close to these children," he says. "When they hurt, I hurt. I want to be involved."

Not only does Jorge want to be involved, he wants the students to be involved in each other's lives. He encourages his students to talk about their problems in class. Two girls recently talked with the class about their experience when their father left the home. "It was a healing process for those girls," said Jorge.

Jorge knows what it's like to face these issues at a young age. When he was five years old, his parents divorced and his mother worked outside the home, leaving three kids to fend for themselves. His mom remarried an alcoholic, who would not support Jorge, and he barely got through high school. "I know what it's like to be there and face those problems," he says. "But with God's help, it's easy."

Another day comes, bringing food for the children, classes for the mothers, and the water truck waiting by the market. Just as that truck driver brings in water every day for the people of Cerro Bolongo, Felix and Bertha Aldave are bringing the Living Water to their community with hope that they will cause a different type of flood into the city of Trujillo.