December 2, 2002

A MIXTURE of Chinese and Latin beliefs show up in this Chinese "chifa" in Lima, Peru. Southern Baptist missionaries Wayne and Debbie Brinkley say the Peruvian Chinese feel uncomfortable in a traditional church setting, so they're teaching about Jesus there.

In Peru, missionaries take Jesus to dinner
___By Chris Turner
___SBC International Mission Board
___LIMA, Peru (BP)--Debbie and Wayne Brinkley thought they had a plan. They'd eat in as many Chinese "chifas"--diners--as they could to learn where the Chinese living in Lima, Peru, gather. When they weren't eating in chifas, they'd drive around Lima, marking locations on a map.
___They ate and marked, and marked some more. They noted more than 100 chifas on a single street alone. Little did they know they'd embarked on an impossible mission. Lima boasts almost 6,000 chifas.
___The Brinkleys are International Mission Board missionaries who recently changed from working with Spanish speakers to focusing on the 400,000 Chinese living in Lima. Nearly 100 percent have no relationship with Jesus Christ.
___"We were praying about how to reach the Chinese with the gospel," Brinkley said. "And we had the thought, 'What if there was a church in every chifa?'"
___Mrs. Brinkley answers the question

WAYNE & DEBBIE BRINKLEY share a laugh with their language tutor in their home. They have been studying Chinese language and culture in hopes of sharing the gospel with Peruvian Chinese. (IMB photo)

: "We could reach everybody. All the Chinese could have access to the gospel wherever they were in the city."
___Chifas are the center of Chinese life in Lima, regardless of socio-economic level. Most chifas are family-owned and -operated. Living in an environment that is at the opposite end of the cultural spectrum from their own, Chinese are drawn to the familiarity, solidarity and sense of safety that chifas offer.
___Chifas also represent an intricate network of associates closed to outsiders.
___"The benefit is that it is a ready network through which the gospel can get out," Brinkley said. "The difficult part is getting into the network."
___The flow of Chinese arriving in Peru had been constant for more than 100 years until last year's presidential election. Peru had been a transit point for Chinese wanting to emigrate to Canada and the United States. But the current president has made obtaining Peruvian documents more difficult. Still, the Chinese are deeply rooted in Peruvian culture and represent almost half of the 1 million Chinese living in Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Peru.
___That's why the chifas are such a significant ingredient in a church-starting movement. Family is important in Chinese culture, and the chifas represent family units. Meals are important in maintaining family connectedness, and chifas allow for families and outsiders--not yet trusted--to come together in a setting where the Chinese are comfortable.
___The Brinkleys now are building cultural bridges, finding ways to enter the network. They also are helping a few Chinese Christians develop as leaders. From such humble beginnings, their expectation is that thousands of Chinese churches will one day be scattered across the five countries.
___Their confidence comes from what they believe God already has done.
___"It has been so obvious that God was working before we accepted the assignment," Brinkley said. "We've had so many people and organizations contact us and say that they've been praying for the Chinese in South America and that they feel like God is calling them to be involved.
___"That's why now we don't see our role as starting at ground zero but helping to connect all these people God has already called to the task of reaching the Chinese here with the gospel."
___With Peruvian documents more difficult to obtain and a steadily declining economy across South America, many Chinese are returning to China, where there is considerably less freedom to share the gospel. The Brinkleys believe the Chinese living in Western South America could be missionaries to China.
___"South America is a window to China," Mrs. Brinkley said. "If the Chinese here understand God's desire for reaching China, they will be able to go places that North American missionaries can't. They are already going back; the problem is that we haven't reached them with the gospel yet."
___The Brinkleys, who are featured missionaries in the Week of Prayer for Southern Baptist missions, believe the chifas are the key. That's why they're hanging on to their map and spending a lot of time building relationships. There's another Chinese chifa right down the road.

___

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