Jorge Estrada becomes the first pastor of a new congregation in Valle Sagrado, an outlying area of Lima, Peru. Who would have thought that in this unlikely place where garbage is dumped, sorted and recycled, there would be a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Peru. The people who lived there thought of themselves as, “The Forgotten Ones.” When the occupation of most of the residents is salvaging garbage, not many would think of starting a mission church there.

Here is how it did start. A member of the church of Peru who was instructing teachers at a teachers college was invited to visit the garbage site to begin folk-dance classes. The Peruvian national church decided to help with nutritional snacks for the kids before the classes because the students were nearly passing out after some of the lessons, due to poor nutrition.

One of the vicars from the Peru seminary was invited to go along to distribute the snacks and conduct a brief devotion and a children’s Bible class. That continued for a time each Saturday. Jorge Estrada then began visiting the children’s homes. There soon were Bible classes, Confirmation classes and baptisms.

Now Jorge Estrada has undertaken to be the pastor of the congregation that has been formed. He was called by the members to serve them. Some funds were obtained from the Evangelical Lutheran Synod to purchase a site for a church building, which now has become a regular focal point of the community. Pastor Jorge visits the village five times each week to instruct and evangelize, that the congregation may continue to grow.

Jorge Estrada was recently ordained into the pastoral ministry, having completed the classroom work and the vicarage program of the seminary in Lima. At the service, the national pastors of Peru and Missionary Terry Schultz performed the rite of ordination and now have installed Jorge as pastor of this congregation and the other church he served during his vicarage year at Zappael. God be praised for the blessings to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Peru.

Wayne Halvorson is pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and a member of the Board for Foreign Missions.