Serving God in the Heart of the Amazon: My Missionary Journey Part 1

There are many ways to serve God, and not all of them take place in a church, a school, or on the front lines of missionary work. Sometimes, serving God means sitting at a desk, answering emails, preparing documents, organizing projects, and making sure that the work of the Church continues to reach people who live far beyond the roads and cities of the modern world.

For me, this is what being part of a Catholic mission in the Peruvian Amazon looks like.

A Mission Beyond the Ordinary

Living and working in the Amazon is a unique experience. Here, the great rivers are the roads, boats are essential means of transportation, and many communities can only be reached after hours—or even days—of travel by water. Life follows a different rhythm, shaped by nature, the river, the weather, and the daily struggles of the people who call this beautiful region home.

In the Apostolic Vicariate of San José del Amazonas, the mission of the Catholic Church extends across vast territories, accompanying communities scattered along rivers and deep within the rainforest. Many of these communities face significant challenges, including poverty, limited access to healthcare and education, and a shortage of pastoral workers.

Being part of this mission means becoming aware of these realities and recognizing how important it is for the Church to remain present, offering hope, solidarity, and the love of Christ.

A Year In Reflection

Greetings from Iquitos, Peru where the offices of the Vicariato Apostólico de San José del Amazonas are located, and where I am assigned on mission to assist with various administrative duties, especially in working with projects where we request donations from charitable organizations throughout the world.

On February 14, 2025, I celebrated one year of having arrived in Perú. (The px is of myself celebrating with two sisters who had traveled to Iquitos from their mission post. While the restaurant has beautiful Mexican themed decorations, their "Mexican" dishes left us a bit disappointed as they were not very tasty.) 

As I reflect back on the year that has gone by, the opening line of Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, seems to sum up my experiences up to now ..."It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Allow me explain:

My arrival was met with warm greetings by the missionaries that work and live at the vicariate's Mission House. I was given everything I really needed to live well. As the days passed and I began my work at the office, I began to meet and get to know the office staff, who are paid employees, all Peruvians. I also got to know many of the missionaries that live and work in the 16 Mission posts along the Amazon River throughout the vicariate (an area of 155,000 km). In the weeks that followed I began to venture out to get to know the city of Iquitos and do some shopping. As missionaries came from their posts for some much-needed R&R and to purchase items they needed to take back to their mission posts, it has been such a pleasure to get to know them personally and also to hear about their ministry with the local people of the town where they are ministering.

 

While the stories of ministry are very inspirational as they travel by water or by foot to reach some of the remote communities in their area, they also make me aware of how great the needs are of the people who live in this region of the Amazon jungle. What has been sad to hear is how their land and their livelihood is threatened everyday by deforestation, water contamination, etc. brought on by the greed of large companies, who don't bat an eye to see the damage that they are doing to people's lives. I have experienced a very severe drought of the Amazon River. While droughts are a part of the atmosphere in this area, the native people tell me that it has never reached proportions like this year. The droughts threatened the lives of the people that live up and down the Amazon River as they don't have water for their basic needs. It also made it extremely challenging for our missionaries and all folks to travel.  Luckily after about 6 weeks, the rains came down and have somewhat replenished the Amazon River making it easier to travel.

I have to be honest and say that earlier in the year I felt so out of place because, although I can speak Spanish, many of the colloquial sayings I could not understand. It's taken me a while to learn what they mean. The work itself has also been challenging because, although I can speak read and write Spanish well, I have never had to do it in a business setting where vocabulary such as that of accounting is a bit daunting. As time has passed, my coworkers have been very gracious in helping me understand the terminology needed for business and accounting. I have been asked to write up reports about projects that are being done in the vicariate, at different Mission posts. This too has been very challenging for me, but with God's grace and asking for help when I don't understand, I've been able to complete the assignments.

I have experienced how holidays are celebrated here in Peru. What I find amazing is that spirituality, the Catholic faith, and everyday life are very much intertwined. Many feasts of Catholic saints are also government designated holidays, and thus a day off for workers. This really amazed me! The faith of the people is strong! I was pleasantly surprised to see that saints' faces are found on their money (bills). Ex...Saint Rose of Lima can be found on a bill.

In the year that has passed, I have had to confront some health issues which caused me much confusion as to why I was feeling weak or having different symptoms. I also experienced a bad accident where I tripped and fell crossing a street trying to get away from a fast-moving motorkar (a motorcycle retrofitted with a seat in the back that can hold 3 people) that was barreling down the street. This was the time where God helped me realize first of all the wonder of our bodies that have the potential to heal themselves. Also, many missionaries would come by on their R&R time, would stop and check in to see how I was doing and if I needed anything. This really showed me their love and kindness. Thanks be to God, I healed well with only a minor stain that has remained under my right eye... A reminder of how God will see me through everything that may happen.

Now after having been here for a year, I am feeling much more acclimated to the weather and to my life here in Peru. I've also come to realize that my mission is not necessarily to be directly serving the native people of the jungle as many of my fellow missionaries do, but rather it is to serve the missionaries so that they have what they need to serve their local people.

So in closing, I can say that this past year was challenging, at times confusing, but I feel I have grown through these challenges and confusions and feel ready to continue on to my second year, with a clear mind, a healthier body, new friends I can depend on, and a stronger faith in the love and protection of our loving God. I look forward to the many adventures I know I will encounter in my second year on Mission. Stay tuned for updates.

God bless you and thank you for supporting our missions.

Update and Retreat

Greetings from the Amazonian city of Iquitos in Peru! 

The last few months have been challenging for me, but with God´s grace I now feel so much more acclimated to the pace of life here, the food, the colloquialisms, customs, and the weather.  I have also formed some good friendships with several missionaries. 

At work, I´m learning more each day about what it takes to work with projects requesting financial assistance for the many needs of the vicariate.  There are many administrative details required when writing, submitting, and managing these projects. Then when the project is completed, we need to submit a final descriptive report along with a financial report along and all receipts to show how the funds were spent.  All paperwork for closed projects needs to be kept in our files for a period of 10 years due to audits donor organizations may request.  After many years of teaching, I am enjoying office work again and using my business administration skills for the good of the vicariate’s mission.

I had not written a blog for a while because I suffered an accident.  On June 4^th I was walking with two other missionaries to go eat supper at a local restaurant.  As we were quickly crossing the street to avoid oncoming traffic, I tripped on broken asphalt and came down hard!  I came down hard on the right side of my face, mostly on my cheekbone, which I thought I had broken.  Needless to say, in no time I was bleeding profusely. The two other missionaries helped me up to my feet and one of them lent me her scarf to help stop the bleeding.  They stopped a motokar and we came back to the Mission House.  They helped me clean up, nursed and bandaged my wounds. The right side of my face swelled up quickly.  I looked like I had lost a boxing match!

The following day I had an X-ray done on my face and was informed that no bones were broken or splintered.  I then went to see an ophthalmologist who informed me that there was a considerable amount of swelling in the back of my eye near the retina.  His concern was that if it continued to swell, it could burst and cause hemorrhaging, which could damage my retina. He said that this would mean I could lose my eyesight in that eye.  He prescribed some eyedrops and pain killers.  In addition to medication, he insisted that I needed to rest, NOT go to work or do any kind of housework for about 3 weeks.  Also, for about a week I was not to use screens of any kind, no writing, nor reading.  I could not carry heavy things and was told NOT to bend down from the waist nor bow my head to look down!

Not being able to do anything was very difficult!  After a week, I returned for a follow-up check-up and the doctor was pleased with the progress my eye was making and told me I could again look at my cell phone but not with my head bent down and for no more than 15-20 minutes at a time. After three weeks, the doctor released me to return to work and full activity, except carrying heavy items, and not bending from the waist.  I resumed my work at the office on June 25^th. 

I did much praying during these days and felt God had given me a small mission within my larger mission, as one veteran wrote about my accident.  I kept asking God if in fact this was where He wanted to be.  Soon God´s answer came to me in the form of a comment that an LMH veteran to our director in response to a prayer request for my healing.  He said that his period of healing and inactivity was a “small mission within my larger mission.”  I felt that my small mission was to offer up my pain and sacrifice of inactivity for others.  So that is what I did, I would pray and offer up my boredom, anxiety and pain for the needs of the vicariate and of the missionaries as well.  I also prayed for all in LMH and our families.  I came to realize how just BEING, not so much DOING, helped me draw closer to God and evaluate my commitment to mission work.  Now, my face and eye area have healed well and only some stains under my eye.  The doctor assures me that in time this will fade.

The weekend of August 3-6, I participated in our annual Gathering of Missionaries at our retreat center in a small town called Indiana about 2 hours travel by boat.  The purpose of this gathering, as our Bishop told us, was “to gather and share Christ´s presence and Word in fraternity so to grow as missionary disciples and return to our pastoral labors filled with enthusiasm.”  We also had a presentation by a sister and a man who is working on his doctoral degree in theology.  The theme of their presentation was "Towards a Fully Pastoral Amazonian Church".

Leaving the mission house headed to the dock.

On the boat riding up the Amazon to the retreat house.

It was great to see and spend time with my fellow missionaries.  These days were spent sharing a half day retreat, daily Mass and prayer services, meals, group work, good conversations and fun!

 

Group work and discussion.

Stretch break... dancing and Conga line.

We also had the opportunity to discuss issues and challenges of being a missionary in the Amazon region. We were asked to separate in groups based on our cohort, i.e. lay persons, religious women and men, priests and deacons.

Lay missionaries' cohort discussion

All missionaries standing in front of the Amazon. Here I am! (see red arrow)

On the last day, we celebrated the closing of our gathering with a delicious supper followed by karaoke.  Songs were sung from all the countries represented by missionaries present. We also did some dancing.  A fun time was had by all, and the party ended around 11:30 p.m. It is always great to celebrate together, and this group of missionaries really knows how to do that well!  It is great to be among folks who share the same mission and love for our Amazonian brothers and sisters.  We are one large family of missionaries where everyone is valued for who they are and their ministry.  

 

Dancing at closing celebrations

    

Our gathering was truncated a bit because the plan originally was that we would end the gathering on Tuesday with a Mass, lunch and then riding the boat back to Iquitos. However, the bishop received word that Cardinal Pedro Barreto, Archbishop Emeritus of Huancayo, Peru, would be traveling to this area and had time on Tuesday morning to come and talk with us.  Cardinal Barreto has been an educator and a staunch environmetal advocate, especially for the Amazon región.  

The gathering had to be at the Missionary House in Iquitos because he had other commitments in this area.  Since he was scheduled to come at 9:00 a.m., we were told that the schedule would be changed. The change was that we were to be packed and ready to leave Indiana by 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, walk to the dock and board the 6:00 a.m. boat back. We arrived back at the Mission House, had breakfast, freshened up a little bit, and headed off to our gathering space to wait for Cardenal Barreto to arrive.

Although it was hard getting up earlier than usual, and especially because we had the closing celebration the night before, the sacrifice was well worth it. Cardinal Barretto is a friend of Pope Francis, and is participating in meetings with the Pope and other cardinals (from this region) and men and women theologians at the Vatican on the issue of how the Church can be more missionary to meet the needs of the people of the Amazon region. He spoke for about an hour, and I was really enthralled with what he had to say. He also communicated to us that Pope Francis cares deeply about the church here in the Amazon region.  I´m sure I'm not doing him justice, but that was the basic topic that he covered with us and thanked us for our service for being willing to minister in one of the most difficult vicariates to serve in due to its enormous size and great challenges missionaries and the Amazon natives deal with on a daily basis. He gave an uplifting talk! Here is a picture of us missionaries, our bishop and our vicar general with Cardinal Barreto.

The green arrow points to Cardinal Barreto and the blue arrow points to me.

 

L-R: Fr. Cesar (Vicar General), Cardinal Barreto, and our bishop, Jose Javier

That is all I have to share for now.  Be assured of my prayers for you and your loved ones, and I humbly ask that you remember me, and all missionaries, in your prayers.  God bless you!  Until next time…stay blessed! 

Speaking The Same Language?

I’m getting used to the people’s accent and manner of speaking, which is very soft and quick.  Their sense of hearing is very good.  At the office, I often hear our secretary speaking in a low volume and then hear the accountant at the opposite end of the office respond to him.  It is amazing, really.  I am slowly adjusting to their accent, speed and low volume with which folks speak here. 

And though I am fluent in Spanish, some of the local colloquialisms leave me feeling like I am listening to a foreign language.  For example:  A trash can I know as “basurero” in Spanish, but here it is commonly called a “tacho.”  A “partida” which to me means “a leaving” here means “a certificate.”  There are many such instances where I listen and then have to ask someone what a word means in the context of our conversation.  Following, I share with you a funny lost-in-translation instance that happened to me recently at the office. 

One day, our receptionist/office clerk was standing by my desk waiting to talk with Anna, our office manager and financial officer, and said, “I need to speak with Anna because I have to go to the Banco de la Nacion (Bank of the Nation).  I have to send Domi menudo.” FYI, Domi is a missionary in a very small town located in one of the most remote areas of the jungle.  It takes 2 days travel via the Amazon and Napo rivers.  So, when I heard the word “menudo” my mind went all over the place.  First, I started craving menudo, a Mexican soup commonly eaten at breakfast.  Second, I thought, where do they sell menudo here, (Peruvian cuisine is very different than the Mexican one.) and why is she saying she is going to the BANK to get MENUDO? Lastly, my thought was how would she package menudo so it doesn’t spill and spoil?  Of course, all these thoughts ran through my mind in a matter of seconds and then she added, “because Domi has a hard time getting change in that town.  AHA! Then the light bulb went on in my head, and I realized that when she said “menudo” she meant CHANGE!  Now that made sense as to why she needed to go to the bank. I am always amazed at how we can speak the same language and yet not understand each other. 

There is much more to share from here, but I will save it for my next blog.  I continue to pray for you and humbly ask for your prayerful support for all missionaries.  Thank you.  God bless you. 

Co-Workers:

Getting to Know Iquitos

I am living at the missionary house.  It is a center with many rooms where missionaries receive hospitality during their stay here in Iquitos.  Missionaries come for meetings and/or for some much-needed R&R.  It is great to welcome them “home” and spend a bit of time chatting with them about their mission and getting to know them better.  Our missionaries come from various countries, including Mexico, Spain, Colombia, India, USA, Poland and from here in Peru.  The diversity, yet unity of purpose…to make Christ known to all…is wonderful to experience and be a part of!

In the past few months, I have gotten to know Iquitos better.  I have been pleasantly surprised to learn that a new Mall, which can rival a regular mall in the USA, recently opened here.  It is a bit far from where I live, but one Sunday afternoon, three sisters and I ventured out to see what this mall was like.  We were pleasantly surprised to learn it was air-conditioned, had a food court, beautiful decorations, escalators, and many nice shops.  We walked around for a while then stopped at the food court and had supper.  Then we returned to the missionary house, i.e. my home. 

 

Iquitos has many stores and therefore it is not hard to find what one needs, though the quality may not always be what one is used to back home.  It has some nice restaurants as well. 

As the days go by, I am becoming more acclimated to this hot and very humid weather.  My fan is my constant companion as is my repellent as many mosquitos, ants, chiggers, small biting flies, etc. inhabit this area of the country.  The vegetation is beautiful and very diverse.  I am seeing plants I had never seen before and many diverse birds.  It is beautiful to behold nature here!

In March we celebrated St. Joseph’s Day, which is a huge feast for us as St. Joseph is the patron of our vicariate.  My coworkers, along with the staff of the Office of Catholic Education and the Office for Peace and Justice (both belonging to the vicariate and whose offices are located on this property) to pray, eat and enjoy time together to celebrate our patron saint.  

The Vicariate

Greetings from the city of Iquitos located in the Amazonian region of Peru. In my February blog (yikes, where has time gone?) I shared my arrival Lima and here in Iquitos where I am working and living.  This is my mission post.  I am working as an administrative assistant in the offices of the Vicariate of San Jose del Amazonas. At present I am learning about what projects we have received donations from, what it takes to monitor a project, and how to compile all the necessary documents to write up a final report for each project. I am also learning how to issue official copies and make corrections to the information found in Baptismal and Wedding certificates.

I am learning more each day about the day-to-day workings of our vicariate.  Our vicariate encompasses an area of the Amazon Jungle region of 155,000 sq. kilometers (59,845.8346 square miles) of land.  It is a very large vicariate with 16 other mission posts on the banks of the Amazon and Napo rivers.  We are a total of 72 missionaries (a bishop, priests, two deacons, brothers, sisters, and lay people) but this is not near enough to meet the needs of the faithful in our vicariate.  

 

I have learned that the needs of our vicariate are many.  We depend solely on the donation of charitable and ecclesiastical organizations to sustain us. In many of the parishes throughout the vicariate Sunday collections average the equivalent of $14.00 per week.  Since our priests are few (14 total), many villages do not have a resident priest but rather have a trained parish agent who conducts worship services focusing on the Sunday readings.  Communion in these worship services are rare and only if a priest happened to celebrate Mass there the week before and was able to leave consecrated hosts.  I learned that consecrated hosts will not last for more than a week due to the high heat and humidity and the lack of facilities to store the hosts.  In the communities where there is no resident priest, the faithful often get to celebrate Mass once or twice a year when a priest visits their community. 

 

Each mission post has anywhere from 30-80 scattered communities in their region, which they visit throughout the year. Most visitations are done by boat, walking, or motorcylces.  These visitations, called “caserias,” are done throughout the year with the hope of getting to visit all the communities in their post at least once a year.  The needs of the native people of Amazonia are many and many look to the church for assistance. Many of the needs have been brought about by the destruction of their land due to deforestation and contamination of the river water they depend on for day-to-day living.

 

My ministry/work has to do, not so much working WITH the native population, but rather working FOR the native population. What I mean is that the job of our office is to make sure that missionaries out at the mission posts have what they need to best serve the folks they minister too.  

Arrival In Peru

 

On February 13th at midnight, I arrived at the Lima airport, tired but grateful for a safe journey.  I was also very excited to begin my new mission and adventure in Peru. 

I was met at the airport by Eduardo, a friend of Fr. Cesar, the Vicar General.  After claiming all my luggage and clearing Customs, Eduardo drove me through the empty streets of Lima (it was about 1:30 a.m.) and shared details about the various neighborhoods we were passing as well as several landmarks.   This was a good start to my mission.  We were met by Sr. Maria Christina, a Sister of Divine Providence, who hosted me and Veronica (an Argentinian Lay Missionary who arrived earlier that evening).  The accommodations were comfortable.  The sisters provided delicious and nutritious meals for us during our stay.  They were very accommodating to our needs as well.  We could not have had better hosts to make us feel so welcome and comfortable during our one week stay in Lima.

During this week, we traveled 10 hours overnight by bus to the northern city of Trujillo where we both needed to present legal documents at Interpol to obtain documents we would need to present to immigration when we arrived in Iquitos. While in Trujillo, we were hosted by a missionary couple, friends of Bishop Jose, our bishop of the Vicariate of San Jose de las Amazonas.  We remained there for two days and since we finished all of our business with Interpol, we were treated to a tour of several sites in Trujillo like the Cathedral, Main Plaza, walking, shopping and restaurant district.  We were treated to lunch and although I am fluent in Spanish, reading the menu made me realize I was truly in a foreign country as some of the foods had names I did not recognize and needed our host to describe what each item meant.  Example:  Aguacates (avocados) are called "palta" here in Peru.  

That evening we boarded the bus back to Lima.  I needed to get a translation from a certified translator, so I rode a taxi for about 45 minutes.  Although traffic was thick, I enjoyed having the opportunity to see more of the city.  We then flew on to Iquitos on martes, February 20th.  We were greeted at the airport by Anna Borkowska, the Economist/Office Manager of the Vicariate, whom I will be working with during my mission.  The cocophony of noises from traffic, especially the many "motokars" (motorcycles retrofitted with a two to three person seat in the back and a canopy to ward off the sunshine)  was overwhelming.  

We arrived at the Vicariate complex, where I am now living, to find a nice, large bedroom with a private bathroom, all clean and prepared for my stay.  I was also introduced to my future co-workers and two permanent Canadian lay missionaries who are in charge of maintaining the complex and welcoming missionaries of the vicariate when they come for some much needed rest and/or to pick up supplies for their mission outposts.  Other priests, sisters, lay missionaries from other vicariates and diocese are also hosted during their visit to Iquitos.  I was pleasantly surprised to know that meals are cooked for us daily.  

The most wonderful surprise for me was that Mass is celebrated in our chapel each morning by visiting priests. What more could I ask for? God has been good to me first by calling me to this mission, then by providing a comfortable place to live, good food to eat, great company, and above all, daily Eucharist and the blessed sacrament in our chapel!  My new mission and adventure is off to a good and blessed start!