Come with me to the Andes Mountains in Peru, a country in South America. Today we are headed high up in the mountains with Daniel and his daughter Ruth.
As we zigzag up the steep road, we see big steps carved into the side of the mountain. “These steps are terraces built by the Inca Indians a long time ago,” Daniel explains. “The terraces gave them flat places to plant their gardens and crops.” Back then the Incas worshipped the sun god. Today people in the Andes Mountains still worship false gods and don’t know much about the Bible. That’s why we are taking a pickup load of Bible story books to the children of their villages.
After a long drive on a narrow, bumpy road, we finally arrive in the village of Pirca. Houses made of mud bricks dot the mountainside. A woman in a big sun hat herds two cows down the street. We stop in front of a bright green schoolhouse. Inside, the older children are studying at their desks, but the classroom for the younger children is empty. It’s their day off.
“Hurry, go tell the children that some visitors are here with books,” the teacher tells two of the students. The students dash off to spread the word throughout the village.
Soon children come running from every direction and take their places on the sidewalk. Daniel reaches into his blue shoulder bag and takes out a Bible story book. “We have come to tell you about Jesus and share stories from this book,” he says.
The children listen intently as Daniel tells how Jesus used a little boy’s lunch to feed five thousand people. Some of the children have never heard this story before. “You’ll find many such stories in this Bible story book,” Daniel said, holding up the 101 Favorite Stories from the Bible book. “Each of you will get your own copy to keep.”
The children clap delightedly. They can hardly believe they will have a book of their very own. Their village has no library and the school has almost no books. They reach eagerly as Ruth goes down the row to hand each of them a book.
Some of the boys and girls immediately flop on the grass and start reading. Others huddle over their books, looking at the beautiful pictures. “Look!” they say, excitedly pointing to the pictures.
As evening falls, we head down the mountain again after giving out Bible story books in a few other villages. It’s a good feeling to know that we made some children very happy and that they are learning about the true God.
Daniel and his family live in Peru and work with Mount Zion Literature. Part of their work includes distributing literature provided by CAM.
