There is a reason that I have been putting off writing the final installment of my Peru series. We as a family have had to take a step back, take everything into consideration, and make a decision as to whether or not moving to Peru as full-time missionaries is the best direction for us right now. For various personal reasons we have come to the conclusion that the best way to honor God, ourselves, and the mission team is to back off and say "not now." Eralda will be the first to tell you that changing my mind about anything is like turning an oil tanker around with a popsicle stick rudder. Nonetheless, the tanker is turned, and now we must set a new course, which is mostly terrifying.

That being said, I left my last question hanging: "Why in the world would we evangelize among a predominantly Catholic society?" The first answer you will hear from most protestant missionaries is "because the vast majority of the Catholics in Peru are only nominally Catholic." This is a good answer. After all, Paul, the quintessential missionary, was all about bringing people to maturity in Christ.

I would like to offer, however, some additional answers to that question. When George W. Bush sold the Iraq war by claiming we were bringing Democracy to the Middle East, on some level (whether we wanted to admit it or not), something about that idea was appealing. What's so bad about handing control of the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people? Going into whether or not those were actually the intentions of the Bush administration when we invaded Iraq is beyond the scope of this post, as is going into why we are failing at bringing Democracy to the Middle East. The point is, at some level, it felt right. It felt like we were liberating oppressed people. It felt like we were offering the Iraqi people a chance to take control over their own destiny.

That same sentiment lies behind my reasons for wanting to evangelize in Peru. Off to a pretty bad start, eh? I mean, I just compared evangelizing in Peru to the Iraq war. Step back for a moment, however, and ask this question: can you divorce the idea of being a liberator from the idea of being imperialistic? I think you can. It's tricky though.

Not Replacing One Dictator for Another
You can start by being willing to let what happens as a result of your "liberating" happen organically, within the context of the place you are doing the liberating. To help explain this, I will employ a classic missiological analogy. Imagine the idea of "church" and all it entails to the Bible Belt South as a plant. Now imagine uprooting this plant, roots and all, and then plopping it down on foreign soil, hoping it will spread other plants just like it. This represents the imperialistic approach to missions. Now, set what I just described against the idea of taking a seed (the Gospel, without any preconceptions of "church") and planting in on foreign soil, allowing it to grow into something entirely unique and independent. Something appropriate for the context in which it finds itself.

Only Liberating Those Who Want to be Liberated
You must also think very tactfully about how you are going to go about presenting this seed. Are you going to manipulate people? Are you going to short-circuit their freedom of choice by presenting their current religion in a despicable light, and then presenting your own as the exclusive means by which to attain salvation? If so, then in my opinion you are not only taking advantage of people and brainwashing them, but you are also short-changing the Gospel's power to attract people on its own, without your sheisty car salesman tricks. The Gospel doesn't need to be pedaled like snake oil. If you are representing the Gospel in your life and being sincere enough about your love for your neighbor by being deeply involved in their lives, people will be drawn to you. It will be impossible for them to rub up against you in the milieu of daily life and not catch a whiff of that Aroma of Christ.

If I haven't convinced you that you can be a liberator without being imperialistic, then assume for the sake of argument that this is possible. The next question is, do the people of Peru need liberating? The answer to that question is equally tricky.

Peruvians Have Been Historically Oppressed
To the extent that you can judge these things with statistics, the vast majority of Peruvians are only culturally Catholic (nominal) and belong to a low social class (way below poverty level) which has historically made them vulnerable to political oppression and economic extortion.

Politically
For example, when election time rolls around, the best thing a political party can do for itself is go into a poor neighborhood and promise roads, infrastructure, etc. They then show up on election day with buses and cajole every living being in proximity to hop onboard for a ride to the nearest polling booth. Then, once the results are in, that neighborhood will be unlikely to receive diddly squat. The Catholic church, claiming 90% of the population of Peru as its constituents, is a formidable political force in itself. While I would greatly hesitate to say that the Catholic church has sought the oppression of the poor, it certainly hasn't done much in the 500 years it has culturally dominated Latin America to improve their situation (with the exception of the Liberation Theologists, who were mostly censured by the Vatican).

And Economically
Economically speaking, the government appears to be content to let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. What sticks in my craw, however, is the idea that one's petitions before God might be better received if a candle is purchased first. One might be protected by a saint if he or she would buy a statuette of St. Christopher for their car. Even their "pagan" religions are mediated through the purchasing of objects.

Between Peruvians and God
So what is the end effect of this? Standing between the average Peruvian and God are sacred things that must be purchased, particular votes that must be cast. God is just another fee to pay. Whatever happened to "come to me all ye who are burdened and heavy laden, for I will give you rest?"

What Liberation Looks Like
What if instead of a corrupt political figure swooping in to win their hearts, the embodiment of love, sacrifice, and "good news for the poor" became incarnate among them, becoming the hero they desperately need? No longer needing to be mediated through the Catholic church or political parties, they are on a level playing field with the rest of humanity. What if instead of spending their money on candles and desiccated llama fetuses, they pooled together their resources to help each other directly? No longer needing to pay the God fee, their prayers are just as valuable as those belonging to the richest Peruvian.