Today, after 40 years of jungle ministry, Perez continues to persevere. As the director of a large and growing Colombian ministry, he immerses himself in the training of native ministry leaders. Every six months, Perez holds training seminars for eager, future church-planters.
The number of ministry leaders continues to grow. Their testimonies are a tribute to God’s redeeming power. Many of them are former thieves, alcoholics, sorcerers, fighters and assassins.
In addition to providing missionary training, Perez also trains young women to become Sunday school teachers. Perez sends these young women back to their hometowns with Christian T-shirts for each child who attends their Sunday school classes. Parents are usually thrilled to discover their child wearing a new shirt and become curious to learn more.
Perez’s ministry operates on the eastern side of Colombia, mainly dominated by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The FARC is the oldest, largest and best-equipped insurgent force in the country. It controls approximately 40 percent of the country, and finances itself through kidnapping ransoms, extortion and the drug trade.
The average FARC guerrilla earns almost double the wages of a civilian, and is especially adept at recruiting youth, who are promised a better life than their impoverished parents.
These youth are soon called upon to attack, rob, kidnap and kill innocent people.
Many parents send their children to big cities, where there is less chance the guerrillas will recruit them. Perez’s ministry has strategically planted churches in these cities, which provide food, clothing and shelter to those who have come to escape the FARC. His ministry workers also teach a skill or trade to the youth to enable them to earn a living.
Perez’s ministry workers have also constructed a guesthouse and hospital in Bogotá for the many displaced people who are forced to evacuate their homes after the FARC seizes their property.
Many times, FARC guerrillas will attend a church meeting under cover to covertly monitor the service. "They are very sneaky," Perez said. "They appear legitimate because they know a few Scriptures and address others as 'brother' or 'sister'."