Victor Atto is a Peruvian missionary with a big heart. Following his salvation at age 31 and a 4-year stint in a Bible institute, Victor planted a church in the jungles of the Amazon 15 hours from his home in Piura. For 10 years, he labored among people who were a strange mixture of staunch Catholic and spirit-worshiping animists. Then God focused Victor’s attention on the rural, indigenous people who inhabit hundreds of remote settlements in the Andes Mountains. Victor chose Morropón, a small valley town between the coast and the mountains, to start a church. Imagine his excitement when he found a comatose “Pentecostal radio station” transmitting over a crooked pole from a dilapidated shed in the middle of an abandoned field. With the help of Pastor Carlos Flores (Woodburn, Oregon) and Christian Radio International (CRI), Pastor Atto purchased that station. Gene Sharp (Independent Baptist Media) installed new equipment, and Pastor Benito Purisaca became “The Radio Voice of Victory.”
Technical difficulties plagued the station. Electricity was unpredictable, Internet was nonexistent, and the tower site (an arduous 20-minute climb straight up Mount Cross) was, to say the least, challenging, but Pastors Victor and Benito pressed on. Then COVID hit! The draconian Peruvian lockdowns skyrocketed the local listenership of Victory Radio. Catholics, Pentecostals, and the unsaved called with questions. Twenty adults in El Virrey-Olmos (one hour away) asked Benito to make the journey to their town and explain salvation to them. All 20 received Christ, and Benito began shepherding the new converts. Church #1, “The Faraway Church,” was born. Listeners in Río Seco, a desert area south of the station, trusted Christ while listening to the radio, and Benito established Church #2, “The Desert Church,” in their house.
In the town of Huaraz, Renelmo Carhuapoma, Peru, a Christian found a broken radio at his job site, tinkered with it until it worked, and began listening to Victory Radio. He requested that someone start a church in his house.Benito
volunteered, and Church #3 was born. Three years later, “The Broken Radio Church” (pictured below) has grown to an attendance of 50 and has purchased property—with all their own funds—to build a church.
Meanwhile, after COVID, Pastor Victor resurrected his church in Morropón. His congregation has increased to about 50 people who meet under a tarp on an empty lot, which is their building site (pictured below). Many parishioners walk 25 minutes to get to church. Church #4, Victory Baptist Church, is thriving!
During all this time, one issue nagged at Pastor Victor—the indigenous people of the Andes Mountains (who live a mere 30 miles away) were still unreached. He tried to evangelize some areas, but the 5-hour drive over dirt roads made it impossible. Then a miracle happened! Victory Radio went off the air. While equipment was being installed, the station became an affiliate of La Luz Latina (CRI’s Spanish network). Immediately, disgruntled villagers from the Andes Mountains complained. “What happened to our station? You are our only source for preaching and teaching!”
Unbelievable! Unbeknownst to Pastor Victor, many remote settlements in the mountains were able to receive the signal even at 6,400 feet. Hundreds were listening to the station. One church in Palo Blanco reported that their congregation of 100 people all listen to the station. Pastor Victor was utterly amazed! God Himself had evangelized the Andes Mountains, and He’d used a derelict radio station in an overgrown field to do it!
George Zarris
Christian Radio International
