Peruvian history books account for the first meeting between two cultures, the Incan and the Spanish, and the subsequent conquest of the Inca Empire (incidentally politically fractured and weakened already). In a few short years, the conquistadors pillaged and stole a large share of the material riches of the Inca Empire. It’s interesting to me how much we can learn from history; I believe there is something important for us to learn by comparing my country’s past with my present experiences as part of a WMF community.
Two great tragedies have set the tone for Peru’s history to be filled with so much abuse, theft, humiliation and indifference on the part of those who came to our shores to prosper.
The first tragedy occurred during the meeting of the representatives of the Catholic Church and the Inca Emperor Atahualpa. The ecclesial committee went to the meeting carrying two sacred objects: a Bible and a crucifix. Historians concur that the meeting went something like this: “Father Valverde delivered to Inca Atahualpa the Spaniards’ sacred book — the Bible. The Inca Emperor took this object called a ‘book,’ looked at it up and down, shook it, and then put it up to his ear hoping to hear something important. Seeing that nothing happened, he threw it to the ground, an act which to the Spaniards was a serious offense. Immediately they arrested Atahualpa and condemned him to death.”1
The second tragedy occurred after the Spaniards had taken control of the Empire and had imprisoned the Inca Atahualpa. A ransom was offered for his freedom: three rooms full of precious metals, two of silver, and one of gold. The Spaniards accepted this ransom, so the imprisoned emperor ordered that the rooms be filled; this was promptly completed and duly received. But the Spaniards proceeded to execute the Inca Atahualpa anyway.
Two tragedies equally full of indifference and prejudice occurred; greed left no room to learn from the cultural richness that the Inca Empire had developed. The entire world is only recently discovering and is amazed by the architectural, engineering and astronomical advances of the Inca Empire. The Spaniards didn’t realize what real treasures were destroyed in their pursuit of prosperity.
When I was first invited to WMF Peru’s street meetings with the children on the streets, the community went out during the day. We painted with the children and colored pictures on the street sidewalks. This was very strange for me, since I had grown up in this very part of Lima. Previously, I walked quickly through these dirty, chaotic streets only on my way to somewhere else; now I was sitting down with a group of children to color pictures on the sidewalk.
I watched as the children exuberantly went to work coloring. I contorted myself for some time, trying to accomplish two contradictory tasks: getting close enough to be with them, and yet far enough away to avoid getting dirty. This struggle took most of my mental energy, and I could barely concentrate on anything else. Some people were passing by and acted interested in what we were doing; I quickly stood up, having found a way out of my predicament. I began conveying information to them about what our group was doing (which, of course, I wasn’t doing, but the rest of the group seemed to do with some ease).
Later, the time came when I honestly desired to be with the children, there on the sidewalk. So I made a choice to sit down, and I got close. I could hear them now, and see them better. Soon I was comfortable and lost track of time while drawing and talking with my friends.
Now, I know that this situation was not really all that complex or traumatic, but for me at that time it involved breaking strong paradigms I had learned about propriety and cleanliness and the correct place to engage in certain activities.
After that day, those paradigms no longer hindered my real enjoyment of those meetings and being together with the children — wherever we were.
There is another encounter that I hold very close to my heart. It happened one morning in the Job House, WMF Peru’s day center where the boys and girls living on the street can come to shower, to eat, to listen and learn about God’s love for them and the hope they can have in God. At that time I was the Director of the Job House and was thoroughly engaged in my administrative tasks. The room next to my office was a reading room with some cushions where our friends could take a short nap or do quiet reading.
One of the girls was very interested in a book that she found on the shelf. She came into the office and very excitedly said, “Anna, I found an interesting book. When I finish it, I will tell you about it.” I encouraged her to keep reading. After a few minutes she returned to my office, happy and a little reflective, and said, “I finished reading the book. It was a good story.” I stopped what I was doing to listen. Because my friends had access to our office area, many times a simple administrative task could turn into a long journey of requests, calls and interruptions. This time I didn’t mind at all.
My friend continued, “This story tells about a small duck that no one wanted, not its family or friends. Nobody wanted it.” I immediately knew which book she was referring to, but let her continue in her excitement, saying only, “What a sad story.”
“You know,” she said, “those same things have happened to me. My family doesn’t want me, and, when you are on the street, people look down on you. The little duck, just like me, walked around alone and sad.”
I sat silent.
But she immediately began again, “Don’t worry, Anna — the story doesn’t end there! The little duck grows up and becomes beautiful, and everything changes!”
After a short pause, again reflective, she said, “That’s how God is with me, right? That’s what God does with the people no one else wants!”
I tried to affirm her, but she was already bounding out of my office, calm and assured, and told me that she was going to find yet another good book to read.
As mentioned earlier, the first meeting of the Inca Atahualpa and the Spaniards involved the perceived misuse of a sacred book which contained words of life, while for the Incas, there were only words of death.
The Spaniards came to Peru in search of riches, and they fully believed that they had found them. But this was not the truth. In fact, the conquistadors were deaf and blind, learning and gaining nothing by taking the quick and easy path to obtain what they thought were riches.
Sometimes I wonder about myself and how if I would not have sat down with the children, laying aside my preconceived ideas and beliefs, I would not have been blessed by the richness they possessed inside of them. I could not have called them friends. You see, it has been through knowing them that I have learned forgiveness — the hard-won, practical kind. It is with them that I have seen real mercy toward others, and they have helped me to live with freedom. This young woman, my friend, taught me to look for and find God in the simplest of things.
What would have been my quick and easy path? Perhaps to remain standing on that sidewalk, explaining to others what we were doing without actually getting involved. Maybe it would have been congratulating my young friend about her book and politely excusing myself, not taking time to really listen because of my large workload and important phone calls waiting for me.
But how much would I have lost? How much did the conquistadors lose?
There are many other examples through relationships with my friends that have helped me to answer some of life’s most difficult questions, like:
How can we give thanks to God when we have nothing?
How can we give thanks for God’s protection while suffering so much injustice and abuse?
The story of my country is full of abuse, humiliation, and blindness by those who have arrived to our shores in times past, and by some who continue to arrive with hopes of “prospering” while sharing the mentality of the conquistadors. My country is, in fact, full of riches, as are my friends on the street. The best part of all is that God sees their true value.
Translation by Brian Langley
ENDNOTES
1 La Biblia en la historia del Perú, Dr. William Mitchell.
Anna has served with WMF Peru for more than 7 years. Her heart burns passionately for the church to live intimately with God and to seek justice for the suffering. She also boasts an extreme practicality that is ever seasoned with wit.