The Fields are White unto Harvest
Iquitos, Peru, the city of our heart, has a population of close to 600,000. Around sixty percent of the people dwelling here are aged thirty and under. Almost all of these young people come from broken homes. Cohabitating is much more common than marriage. Infidelity is frequently seen. Child abuse and domestic violence are rampant. Most of the city lives in poverty, and many budding youth have no hope of getting a college education or a job to provide for a family. The fabric of society is devastatingly frayed. As a result, these young people grasp for anything that might give them a sense of security and acceptance.

With such difficult home lives as a reality, the youth of Iquitos are ripe for the gospel. When they hear about a God who loves them just the way they are, they are often ready to give Him a chance. We are living in a window of time where winning souls comes easily. Just ten years ago, only about six percent of the city's population consisted of born-again Christians, but today this number has grown to around eighteen percent. Truly we have been called to the youth of Iquitos for "such a time as this."

Vision for JIEL* Youth Ministry
We look out over this vast multitude of hurting young lives, and dare to dream big dreams for bringing the good news of Jesus' love to them. We yearn to see the stadium of the city, with a seating capacity of 18,000, filled to overflowing with youth rejoicing in His presence and committed to a life of discipleship. We are nowhere close to that dream yet, but we serve a God with whom the impossible becomes the attainable!

Having seen that the largest churches in the world have often born their fruit through a strategy of cell groups, we are implementing a model for growth based on the same concept. We are using what is known as the "G-12" blueprint, discipling groups of twelve individuals, who in turn are each charged with discipling twelve more. As new youth come into the church, we view every one as a potential leader.

Our young people are leading their own cell groups, winning their friends to the Lord. This comes easily in a culture where everyone on the block has grown up together and spends most leisure time enjoying one another's company. Inviting "the gang" over to one's house on a Friday night is as natural as eating lunch. There, the neighbors hear the gospel and frequently are glad to join the Saturday night youth service once they have been incorporated into a cell group.

We are grateful to the Lord for the fruit that He has brought so far. In 2001 we started with five cell groups. Since then this number has increased to forty-four, and we have grown from twenty youth to almost six hundred. We eagerly look forward to seeing what He has in store for us in the years to come!