The Earth People * of San Ignacio

The Mapuche Indigenous people live in the south of Chile and Argentina.
They are a simple and timid people,
and many of them don´t have much contact with the outside world.
They have their own language - Mapudungun - but it is not used very often.

The Mapuches of San Ignacio live a quiet and
secluded life in harmony with nature.
The community is situated 80 km from the nearest town,Junin de los Andes,
where they go about once a month to buy supplies.

"Once during winter I was driving back from a visit,
and the car broke down in the middle of the dessert.
I had to spend the night in the car,then walk out to the highway
the next day to get help." says Guillermo Perez,
pastor of a church in San Martin de los Andes, 2 hours drive away.
He used to come to visit his friends in San Ignacio every week,
but now he is able to go only once every month.

In the Mapuche community, the women are the face of the family.
Margarita lives alone with two of her brothers,
a 30-40 minute horse ride from the nearest neighbor.
All her children have moved out of San Ignacio and
started their own lives and families.

There are three things that are sacred to the Mapuche:
the Weapons, the Women and the Horses.

Guillermo always brings something when he comes, this time it is kerosene,
as the winter is getting close and the houses will need to be heated up.
With the kerosene it is possible to get the humidity
out of the wood in order to start the fire.

Not many people own a car in the community.
When it's needed to go to town to get supplies,
they gather together to fill up the car.
In many ways you get further on a horse than by car in this rugged landscape.

Guillermo strikes a tune at Don Ignacio's house.
The Mapuche and their ancestors used to serve Nguinechen,
the Mapuche God,but now some have come to know God the creator.
Don Ignacio is the pastor in his community.

This used to be the home of Don Ignacio's family of 6 up til recently.
During the past 10 years the Municipality of Neuquen
have been building new houses for the Mapuche families.
The families don't tear down the old houses.
When the oldest member of the family dies,
they take off the roof so that the spirit can leave.

The last part of the house is being finished, now it only lacks the painting on the walls.
Ignacio's wife, Doña Rosa serves us mate.
The Mapuche are a hospitable and sharing people,
not slow to tell you to sit down,
share some mate with them, and offer you some home made bread.

The fruits of the modern civilization....

Sheepskin is both used in the households and sold to get some income.

Building friendships takes time and patience.
Guillermo says that his aim is not to convince his friends about
a certain belief or impose his modern culture,
but to help them realize who they are and the value they possess.

Guillermo leaves in his 1979 year model jeep,
not knowing when is going to be the next time he will be back.
Today he visited 3 families,
but hopefully he will be able to see more of his friends next time.
"It has been a good day!" he says, and we can only agree.

* In Mapudungun, the mapu means "the earth" and the che means "the people"

Pastor Guillermo D. Perez has been working with San Ignacio Mapuche community for several years now and is currently trying to raise more support throughout Argentina to his work. If you feel like wanting to help him in any way, please contact him (preferably in Spanish): cuentaconmigogk@hotmail.com or ice@smandes.com.ar

THEY COME TO FIX THEIR SHOES AND GET THEIR LIVES FIXED AS WELL

It’s another day in Zapala, a small town in the Neuquen province in the South-West of Argentina. A dry wind is blowing; everyone is looking for a shelter from the sun. You would think that a desert is something that doesn’t have much life in it, a place where you have to fight for your existence, thinking firstly of yourself and only then of those around you. All though sometimes this is true, Juan Alberto Azocas is someone who has been going against the stream, proving that love overcomes all wrongs and hope heals the brokenness. For the Zapala community, he is not only their shoemaker, but also the one who has brought lots of life, hope and joy to the people around him.

Everyone who enters the shoeshop get
greeted with a warm smile and kindness.

“My shoemaker shop is a talent I have been entrusted to take care of, just like in that story in the Bible, but for me it means something more than just doing my best with repairing the shoes,” says Alberto, with a bright smile on his face and a large apron around his waist. The sixty-two year old man looks more like a counselor or a teacher than a shoemaker. “For me, it goes together with the gift of serving people, doing everything I can to help them. I don’t worry about the money – I believe that if you do your job well, the money will come.”
Though he indeed does his job with an excellence, in Alberto’s world, helping people doesn’t mean just fixing their shoes. It means doing whatever he can to bring back joy and peace into their lives – praying for a couple who cannot have a children, helping a woman who has been beaten up by her husband, bringing a lost soul to a church or just lending a listening ear to someone who is going through a hard time. For Alberto, people are more than just clients, and his shoemaker workshop is more than just a workplace. “Many of the people who first came to me to fix their shoes, now are like children to me,” he says. With many of them he has stayed in touch, and they keep coming back for a chat, prayer or a piece of advice.

This policeman and his wife weren't able to have children for many years,
he came into the shoeshop one day and got to know God through Juan Alberto, and was prayed for.
They now have a beautiful one year old daugther.

Though so beloved by his community, Alberto was not born in Zapala. He came to Argentina more than 30 years ago, leaving behind his life in Chile and following God’s calling, helping to start a church in Argentina. After serving the first years as a pastor, because the church didn’t have one, Alberto decided to leave his ministry to some one else. That left more time not only to focus on shoemaking, but also create relationships with people, which has been more than rewarding. “There was a woman, a schoolmaster, who we prayed for after she kicked us out of her school, because we wanted to hand out New Testaments to the school kids,” he shares one of the stories. “After four years, she came into my shoemaker shop saying that the Bible she received from her friend, who got it from me, saved her from committing suicide. The woman hugged me, saying she would like us to give out the New Testaments in her school.”

Juan Alberto proudly shows his Gideon card.
As an active member of the organization he gladly gives out the New Testament to all that want one.

Alberto has tons and tons of stories like that. About his mom who was healed from a serious heart disease. About teenagers who stopped using drugs. About people who have gotten out of depression and started a new life. And that is not all. There are more to come, little pieces of miracles walking in and out of his shop while he greets everyone with a smile and an encouraging word from the Bible or his own wisdom. The people of Zapala keep coming to Alberto’s shop, leaving not only with their shoes repaired but lives mended as well.