Seeds of Hope and Grace
Beneath the TV a bunch of young people sat eating their lunch, too young to know directly the years of terror, and (apparently) not at all interested in the news playing out above their heads.
Guzman was a university professor who founded and led this Maoist rebel group, and taught that only through violent uprising would they be able to overthrow the government and bring justice and equality to Peruvian society. The rebellion was only effectively ended with Guzman's capture in 2000.
How could a message such as Guzman's ever have found fertile soil? Essentially, the answer lies in Peru's history. The Spanish invaded in the early Sixteenth Century, and when the dust had settled, much of the native Peruvian population had no option but to serve their new masters, who had claimed for themselves most of the arable land. For many Peruvians, this sense of inequality and of being disenfranchised has remained.
However, there is only one hope for any nation, and that is the planting of a different kind of seed:
"You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God." (Colossians 1:5-6).
Please pray with us that the seeds of hope in the gospel would continue to grow, and bear the fruit of love and faith in the hearts of many here.