Month: June 2016

Our trip here in Peru is winding down, but that doesn’t mean that the ministry or the adventure stops.  Each day here has had somewhat of a theme… work day, schools, children, celebrations, etc. but if I were to give Friday a theme it would have been “the random extras.”  Our group started out the morning finishing projects.  Some went and finished clearing the final pieces of rubble and trash from the construction/deconstruction work we had been doing, some cleaned a gazebo, and some finished making several hundred wordless book bracelets.   I was able to finish storing all of the items we brought to Peru and then got to head over to New Life Christian School.

Throughout the week Amy, Chelene and I have taken a little bit of time on more “survey trip” type tasks for me.  While a move is never seamless, we wanted to think of as much stuff to work on now as possible.  Friday, Amy had the wonderful (and beneficial) thought of asking Mike if there was anything else he thought would be good to make sure happened while I am here, whether it was items to look at, places to go or connections to make.   Somewhere in that conversation it was decided that Mike, Amy and I would head down to the school, spend some time with Pastor David so he can know me a little, get to meet his wife Miss Susie, and then spend some time talking with some of the kids letting them know what God’s been doing in me, that I am coming to Peru, and why…and we would leave in 5-10 minutes.

It was such a joy to be there.  I love evangelism.  I love getting to see people get saved, or share the Word of God with them, but I also have a deep burden to see people grow, to continue to work with them beyond the moment of salvation.  Much of a missions trip here is evangelism because in such a small space there are so many who need to hear, and much of a missions trip here is evangelism because we are only here for a week and a half, but I love helping people grow.  It was said of Stephanas that he had addicted himself to the ministry of the saints.  He loved working with the saints, helping them continue to grow in their relationship with Christ.  To get to go into New Life Christian School and meet the kids and teens I am going to get to help mentor, to share my heart with them, and how God uses what happens even at a young age to shape us for His use, it’s priceless.  When I move to Peru my heart is going to break leaving behind the youth group I love and young ladies I have had a chance to study with, but knowing there is a group of teens here that I have met and have an opportunity to speak with is a comfort.

After lunch our group with the interns headed to the area around the presidential palace where we spend 45 minutes passing out hundreds of John & Romans and I think close to 3,000 tracts.  Afterwards we spent about 30 minutes at an Indian market and then we had an all new adventure.  The bus was pulling up and a lady who works for the transportation department directed it where to park.  When we all got on she then tried to cite the bus for a traffic violation, wasn’t supposed to be away from his route and wasn’t supposed to park there.  She was going to send the police to give us a ticket and impound the bus for parking where we shouldn’t, even though she had just told us to park there.  Mike was able to talk to the Colonel of the Police who he had led to the Lord just 2 days prior, the colonel then spoke on the phone with the officers who arrived and settled the matter quickly letting us go with no issues.  Praise God!

We then proceeded to make the trek up the mountain (on the bus) to the Cerro san Cristobal – El Mirador (the lookout.).  On the way we were driving through a sketchy neighborhood when a couple guys created a diversion on one side of the bus and on the other side a guy tried to come in through the window to steal the camera out of Tammy’s hand.   She knew enough to pull away and Hector came flying back to get the guy out the window.  Nothing ended up stolen and they guy ran as fast as he could, eyes insanely wide – he had been expecting to get a nice Nikon and got Hector instead!

The trek up the mountain in itself was an adventure.  A road literally on the side of a cliff curving around corners you can’t see around, having to stay into the oncoming lane to go around corners…it’s nervous making.  But get to the top and it is so beautiful.  You can see Lima for miles and miles.  We made it up for sunset.  The beauty of what God created, combined with the sight of millions of people who need Him just endears me more and more to be here.

For the most part that was the randomness of the day.  A few other things happened but those are some of the highlights.  Saturday, we will pack up, head to Blue Doors and another Indian Market and fly out a bit after midnight.  Thanks for sharing in my adventure, for praying, and for wanting to be a small part of my world.

So, last night I left you as I was going to go play with the kids from the children’s home.  I did just that, and made several friends at the same time.  I was playing around with the kids when a couple of the young girls, 5 & 6 years old each grabbed one of my hands and in Spanish began to tell me “you can be my Mama.”  How heart breaking.  I am old enough to be their mother, and to see an adult who loves to play and spend time with them, who says she is their friend and not planning to be their mother…in the very little Spanish I know…even for a kid its just another blow.  I do know they have adults around working with the home often, but as a child I would have wondered why she didn’t want me.  But praise God for breaking my heart, because it is that broken heart that drives me to prayer for those girls and the rest of the children in the home.

While it is always a joy to get to serve, there are some days that my joy increases just a little bit more (or maybe a whole lot more) and one of those days was today (Thursday).  The burden, passion, and desire that God has placed on my heart over the last several years has been children, teens, and young adults working with children.

We headed off this morning to go into some schools.  The first school we showed up at, we originally had an appointment for, but someone from the ministry of education was there and so we were asked to come back that afternoon.  A wasted trip you say?  Absolutely not.  Mike got the opportunity to witness to a young man who was standing outside the school, maybe in his twenties, and that young man accepted Christ as his Savior.

As a group (Midland Baptist, the interns, Mike & a few of the staff he employs) we then went to a military run school with kids ranging from kindergarten age through 16 years old.  We broke up into groups of 5 and went classroom to classroom sharing the gospel.  Be still my heart.  My particular group got to visit 5 different classrooms ranging all ages, and saw numerous kids believe the gospel and accept Christ as their Savior in every classroom.  We were in one class of kids approximately 13-14 years old and when we finished, the teacher brought us to the classroom of kids he was getting ready to take to gym.  He wanted to be sure these young kids got to hear the gospel before they left their class.  Amongst the 4 separate groups we visited 17 classrooms in that school.  I can’t tell you exactly how these children’s lives or eternities changed.  I can’t tell you for sure who did and did not accept Christ.  I can tell you in our classrooms at least 80 responded that they had done so.  What I can for sure tell you is that God can use anybody, and God opens doors that we could never imagine He would open.

While we were going classroom to classroom, Mark (our youth pastor) and Mike Kennedy got the chance to speak with the director of the school and his brother.  Originally they weren’t going to let us in.  They’ve had people visit the school before who have only taken.  They’ve taken up time, resources, and even stolen all the school’s musical equipment.  The director was very reserved, and very nervous about allowing anyone to come into the school, and rightly so.  But as Mike began to explain that we were coming to give the Word of God and other gifts (Tootsie Rolls – they don’t have them in Peru) he cautiously allowed it.  As we continued to visit Mike was able to share the gospel with the director and both he and his brother got saved.

We went to a couple other schools throughout the day, in two going classroom to classroom and in the other we had a group of about 30 – 40 kids gathered in an open space in the school where we shared the gospel, again, many of them receiving Christ as their Savior.  Most of the schools we went into today were within a 20-30 minute drive from the Children’s Home, which was greatly encouraging to me, knowing that as I go back, prayerfully in February, these are kids that I might get the chance to have further ministry with.

After the schools we went to a holding tank this evening just before dinner.   For those of you who don’t know, a holding tank is a temporary shelter for kids and teenagers to get them off the street and somewhere safe.  Some are orphaned, some are abandoned, and some have needed removed from their homes.  It’s temporary, and there are constantly new kids within the shelter, but it does provide protection.

The holding tank we went to this evening had about 17 girls between the ages of 12-16, one of which had a baby 6-9 months maybe.  Mike took time to introduce us to the group, thank them for allowing us to come and letting them know we had gifts for them, and then the guys all left the room while the intern and MBC girls stayed and spent some time talking with these young ladies.  Two young women amongst the 12 of us in there gave testimonies of God carrying them through abuse and hard times, and how in the midst He still loves them and is good.  At the end I was given the opportunity to share the gospel with these young women, and I believe every one of them responded, understanding she was a sinner and needed the love and forgiveness of a Savior.  I can’t fix their lives.  I can’t fix the abuse and hurt and abandonment they have gone through, but I can introduce them to a God who gives them hope, a God who can take the bad, horrible, rotten scenarios and use them for good and His glory.   I got some time to visit with Ana and Marianna afterwards, giving them John & Romans and showing them Romans 8:28 & John 3:16 – to give them something to cling to.  Marianna was maybe 12 or 13 and was the young lady with the baby, and Ana was 13 and pregnant.  I couldn’t say much, but did all I could to let them know God still loved them.

I know several of you are reading this, some from this trip, and some who have taken trips to NLCH in the past and you can picture what is going on, but still, it is hard to adequately describe the work that God is doing here.  Continuously the gospel is going to new places and reaching new people, and Christians are getting training at sharing the gospel effectively with multiple age groups and in multiple scenarios.  It’s just after midnight and I am still up because I can barely contain the joy over seeing all God has done today.  I had to get it down and share it with you before I forgot a single moment.

More went on today that I haven’t focused on.  Chelene Kennedy, Amy Simpson and I finished up several of the tasks that I needed taken care of in order to begin my transition in getting here on a permanent basis.  A large group of us spent maybe 45 minutes singing in the dining hall (which echoes beautifully) and making the wordless book bracelets.  I made friends with several of the ladies that work with the children in the home despite the language barrier, and I am beginning to get more comfortable riding through the crazy mountainous streets.

God is so good.  I have loved Peru for years, and I have been excited to come, anxious to come, and praying God would get me through deputation quickly, but after today I have fallen more in love with the Peruvian people, and have a great burden for the children here than ever before.  Please pray for them, but please, please, please, (with a cherry on top) pray that God will help me quickly raise the rest of the support that I need in order to be here permanently.  There is so much to do, so much opportunity, and I don’t want to let a single minute go unredeemed.

Yes, I do know I haven’t updated for a few days, sorry!  Around here the days have been full and the evenings even fuller.  The theme of Monday was “work.”  Mike had a project that needed done (ok, several actually) and so we jumped right in and got to work.  We knocked down a house, moved massive amounts of lumber and building supplies, did some painting and a few other things probably (I can’t keep track of it all.)

In the afternoon while the group continued in their manual labor, Miss Amy, Chelene Kennedy and I ventured into La Molina to Sodimac.  Sodimac is a store similar to Lowes where we were able to get totes and plastic in order to store the suitcases full of my belongs we brought to the field in hopes of my relocating here permanently in February.  We were also able to get the pricing for several items that I will need to purchase when I come back.  Seems like it wasn’t a huge deal as you read it, but in reality having friends there to help me measure my apartment, plan what furniture and items I will need to purchase from Peru and then price it all out has been a huge blessing – and something semi-concrete I can know as I venture into this whole new world.

Tuesday was such a huge blessing and joy I don’t know that I can begin to describe.  We left early in the morning with our group, a group of interns, Mike Kennedy, a few of his kids, Pastor David and a few other men who were going to interpret.  We took the ride into Lima where we had the opportunity to present the gospel and several testimonies to a group of high ranking officials and workers in the Peruvian Intelligence community.  After a couple testimonies and then Mark speaking about the responsibility of intelligence…protecting the citizens of a country and then protecting the citizens of this world from hell, Mike gave an invitation and almost every hand in that room went up as a response to accepting the gospel message.  I can only estimate there were about 50-60 in the room.

After the invitation, a few more testimonies were given and then the Director who had invited us (someone Mike had previously met) got up and began to tell the group about the movie End Of The Spear and how he greatly respects what missionaries are willing to do in order to share the love of God.  He then had our entire group come to the front where he led everyone else in a prayer for us.  It was a blessing all around.

That afternoon we went to Gomorrah (I can’t guarantee the spelling) – the marketplace/street where many groups have gone in the past.  Sound like just repetition?  Maybe but in no way is it.  There are thousands of shops and people on this street.  We had 25 people, 300 or so John and Romans and we made it maybe 15 minutes and a quarter mile (if that) down the road before they were all gone.  People come running to get the Bibles, and then as we walk back down the road to the bus, every where you look you can see people reading.  We will never know the results of those 15 minutes until heaven; but I can’t wait to find out.

Today so far has been another work day.  The rest of the house came down, rooms were painted, we moved a gazebo 2-3 times the size of the one at CoBeAc (for those of you who have seen that), and hired someone to bring in a machine (I’m sorry I am a girl and can’t tell you if it is a front end loader or a back hoe as there were items on both ends) to load at least 2 truck fulls of rubble and take it away.  Again, sometimes it seems like it isn’t a big deal, but when 20 some people can get the work done instead of 3… I know God can use that work too.  I am here to help the missionary instead of him catering to me, and if this is what he needs, it is what I will do.

Alright, I gotta run…Gots kids to play with!

If there is one thing I have learned about Peru over the years, that would be it is a culture that loves celebration, and Sunday was most definitely a celebration, or three.  It was Father’s Day, and the celebration began even before church.  One of the things that touched me significantly 10 years ago when I was here was how the children at NLCH celebrate Father’s Day…BIG!  These children are orphans or abandoned, living together, in hopes of one day finding their forever family.  Maybe 30 minutes before church they all gather just outside the dorms with instruments cards and gifts, head up to the Kennedy’s apartment and serenade Mike Kennedy with songs, gifts, and a large group hug because of that role that he has taken in their lives, and the desire in him to keep NLCH alive.  When even a child with no father to call his own, can be joyous on Father’s day, not bitter over the fact that he has no father, but celebrating the people God has put in his life it makes you stop and think about how you respond in a multitude of scenarios.

After this first celebration we walked a street over to New Life Baptist Church in Cieneguilla with Pastor David.  We were told that several members of the church were gone that morning, travelling for Father’s Day, and yet before the children were dismissed for their classes and with our group sitting in the pews there were very few open seats available.

In the midst of a church service I am continually reminded of the task before me of learning the language.  While I have studied Spanish in the past, and have started working on it again, when I hear it spoken or sang it reminds me how far I have to go.  Learning Spanish I have my own speed at which I speak, and then there is the speed which everyone else speaks (much faster) and the fact that in Spanish during speaking and singing, to my ears, many of the words seem slurred together.  It’s overwhelming the task before me and at some moments I don’t even want to begin to imagine it, but I do know God is gracious, and He will help me to learn.

Back to the service.  It truly was a celebration of Father’s Day.  Our youth Pastor, Mark Simpson preached a message encouraging fathers, and everyone, to view our roles and live our lives in the perspective of the cross, allowing it to change our responses toward each other and our responsibilities to each other.  Maybe there was more to it, but that’s where my heart focused.  As Mike Kennedy stepped up to give the invitation that morning, there were 3 hands that went up for salvation, but again the scenario was very descriptive of the culture.  There was a man, but then a mother, and the third hand was her raising her 7-9 year old son’s hand.  While I wouldn’t actually say this young man knew what was going on, I am learning that in Peru it is very frequent parents might say, “you are this religion because I say you are,” or as young Christians parents might think they can make that decision for their entire family, and then tell the kids, “yes, of course you are saved.”

When Mike gave the people that raised their hands a chance to stand and then accept Christ as their Savior, the older gentleman did.  While the woman and her son did not, I watched her mouth moving the whole time.  Whether she was talking with her son or talking to God, I will never know, but I will continue to pray for her and CELEBRATE over this gentleman getting his eternity settled.

After the service the church continued to meet in a large celebration of Father’s Day.  2 Children’s classes sang songs, 1 did a skit which we didn’t totally understand but was hilarious anyway, and then a group of adults did a skit celebrating fathers.  Videos of children throughout the church and at the children’s home wishing their fathers a happy father’s day were shown and then the resident professional photographer with our group (we love you!) took pictures for each of the families that she will get down to them.

That afternoon we headed out to Pachacutec, a village about 1.5 hours away which was celebrating its 9^th anniversary.  At about 4:10 a group of 26-27 of us hit the market with tracts and tootsie rolls with 20 minutes to get out as many as we could.  The group scattered and as Jeff said, in the States, 1 in 50 people will take a tract but in Peru 1 in 50 will reject it.  20 minutes became closer to 45 as Josh Kennedy, the missionary’s son who just graduated high school, got the chance to share the gospel with someone at the market.  As we were getting ready to leave he and Mike were pulled over to talk with a woman who had just received a tract and was very curious.  Mike says it is the first time this has ever happened, but she found out we were on our way to church and wanted to get right on the bus with us and go!  So that’s where she and her daughter found themselves.

That night, the church at Pachacutec was celebrating not only their 9^th Anniversary, but also Father’s day.  Several members from our group got the chance to get up in the service and share a testimony.  Mine was not a testimony of salvation, but about how the church there, Calvary Baptist, is such a representation of God’s work in Peru.   10 years ago I was with a group in Pachacutec on the evening of Father’s Day as we interspersed through the market to pass out tracts in a very similar fashion to this Father’s Day.  10 years ago we stopped at a soccer field, interrupted their game and Mark began to preach with Mike interpreting.  We started with 10 gathered around, ended up with 50, 10 of whom had accepted Christ as their Savior.  On the bus that night, Mike expressed his desire to one day start a church there, and then said that one day I should come and work with them in Peru… My answer was “Not Yet.”

There were several skits and drawings and other activities to celebrate the 9^th anniversary and Father’s day, and then Mark Simpson was left to preach in the service while many of us took the kids back to do a program for the children.  One of the interns Julia presented her testimony, Larissa Fifer presented the gospel using picture cards we brought with us and then I did again using a demonstration with 3 colored ropes I had learned years ago at CoBeAc.  That night we were told at least 22 people got saved through the preaching, including the woman who had asked if she and her daughter could come on the bus to church with us.  PRAISE GOD.  Today was most definitely a day to celebrate all around.

The first day in Peru, June 18^th, was designated a “rest day.”  And in some ways, yes it was, but when I go back to try and list all we have accomplished, and take into account how sore I am there are other words I might use to describe it.  Sure, it wasn’t as busy as Sunday or Monday will be, but we didn’t lay around and recover from our adventurous trip.  Our day didn’t start until 10:30am that morning so we got to sleep in, but keep in mind, we went to bed at 4am.

Part of taking it easy this first morning was to spend time playing with the children at NLCH (New Life Children’s Home.)  One young lady with us was on the trip last year and had made friends with a young boy Pietro.  He spied her through the window during breakfast and lit up.  All day he stuck close to her side, and in the moments she was in town or working on ministry preparations, he walked around asking everyone where Rissa was.  I got to spend much of my morning singing and playing instruments with Abel, a 14 year old boy I met 10 years ago at the home, playing dodgeball with the entire group, and learning a game similar to pogs that the young kids play here.  A 7-8 year old boy named Adam took an hour and great, great patience teaching me to play with him.  They laughed as I was clumsy at the game at first, but the time was precious.

A good portion of the day was spent preparing for the ministries we will be involved with over the rest of the week.  Did you know that among 13 people we can come up with at least 5 different ways to make wordless book bracelets?  Everyone has learned, seen or heard it differently, so we settled on a way and have begun to construct hundreds of these that we will use in different venues of ministry.

A lot of time has also gone into writing out testimonies, both salvation testimonies and testimonies of how God has worked.  Toward the beginning of the trip, Amy mentioned to the group to utilize me as a help when learning how to present the gospel or a testimony to kids.   While working with people, teaching them how to teach children is a part of the ministry I will be taking up in Peru, I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon.  At first I was slightly nervous, but from the moment the first person handed me their written out testimony, asking for help with it, I was in my element.  It is such a joy, not only to work with children, but to teach others how to as well.  Among our group we have several who have never worked with children before, and a few who have never given their testimony before.  Teaching them how to express what God has done in them, that their story doesn’t have to be like every one else’s, and that God has given them their particular testimony for a reason is fulfilling.

To most people, ministry on a missions trip is sharing the gospel, or construction to help the missionaries but oftentimes ministry can look different.  In the midst of Paul’s travels and sharing the gospel, he spoke of Stephanas who had addicted himself to the ministry of the saints.  To spend 30 minutes with someone not sure if God can use their gut-wrenching story, and giving them confidence that it is God’s story and He can’t use it when no one knows about it – to me that’s ministry, and it is just as fulfilling as presenting the gospel to a group of 500 kids.  I won’t share this person’s story with them, but maybe they will!

Throughout the rest of the day we hiked, walked and drove to different markets, explored the ruins and then went to PlazaVea (Similar to Walmart.)  I don’t know what the rest of the group did there, but this was a chance for me to prepare for moving to Peru.  Amy, Chelene Kennedy (one of the missionaries I will be working with) and I went and priced out several items I will need, from toiletries to printers and a small bit of furniture (more to come), to see what needs to be brought from the States and what I can buy in Peru.  While I am so thrilled that Peru seems to carry most of the brands of items I use, the biggest blessing came when we hit the pharmacy.  There is one medication I take on a daily basis which is prescribed for me in the US.  My health insurance at my job covered it, but my new health insurance won’t cover it all, and the generic version will cost me approximately $50 a month.  Praise God we found the generic medication down here for approximately $2.50 a month and I do not need a prescription.  Please be praying as I try this generic medication out for a few months to see if it will work as well as what I have been obtaining in the States.

A lot happened today, and it doesn’t all seem like a big deal, but for a young woman moving to the mission field with a passion for teaching others to minister, today can only be described as joy.  If you are reading this, please continue to pray for our group as we will be headed into a full day of service for Sunday and then minister in schools and shanty towns, sharing the gospel throughout the rest of the week.

Good: completely sufficient, perfect for its design or use.

If you have heard me present my testimony sometime within say the last year and a half, you have heard a lot about that word, and so far, this trip to Peru seem to embody that word.  But, just like in life, you usually have to get towards the end of the story or at least out of the midst of the circumstances to really see how they can become good.

I am in Cieneguilla, Peru with a group of 12 other people from my church.  We left on Friday, June 17^th and found ourselves in the midst of an adventure right away.  What was normally a 2 hour drive to the airport became almost 4 hours due to an accident several hours earlier that day shutting down a stretch of the freeway.  Myself and one other traveler were on a 1:45 flight to Atlanta, while most of our group was on a 2:59 flight to Atlanta.  Well, we arrived at the airport at 1:40.  Needless to say we didn’t make our flight.

Amy, our youth pastor’s wife, had called the airport ahead when we realized we wouldn’t make it, and then somehow was able to find her way to the very front of a massively long check in line once we got to the airport.  Because she’d called they were able to move us to the same flight as the rest of our crew, and had one agent dedicate her time to checking our whole group in so no one else had to wait in the line either.  The last person made it to the gate in enough time for our group to be the very last in line to board.  They closed the doors 5 minutes after we were all on – then we proceeded to sit on the tarmac delayed for another 40 minutes.

We got to the airport in Atlanta in time for our entire group to go as fast as possible straight to our next gate (across the other side of the airport) and again, get in line as the last ones before they shut the gate, and then sit on the tarmac for another hour in delay.  It was a stressful day.  From breakfast until 7pm dinner on the plane, the only food was airplane pretzels and any snacks we had brought with us.  Brief periods of running to sitting and waiting, hoping the wait wouldn’t be too long.  But finally we made it to Lima, through customs, onto the bus, stopped for water and snacks at a gas station and then to New Life Children’s Home.  After unloading, we finally fell asleep in the dorms at 4am Lima time (5am EST).

Adventurous, crazy, stressful, exhausting, the trip was all of those, but it was also good.  Maybe no one else in my group will think so, but me, I look for that good.  I want to see how many different ways God can work in my life, and I love to search for them.  I wouldn’t say it is a game of hide and seek, but maybe more like a treasure hunt.

Pretty soon I will be on my own.  Yes, I’ll be working with others in Peru, but still, as a single woman on the mission field, much of my life will be on my own to accomplish things.  Travelling and running into problems around every curve and being able to do it with friends and people a bit more experienced with international travel than I am allowed me to learn.   I learned how to handle the prospect of missing a flight.   Watching some others, I learned a few things NOT to do in security.  Missing the first flight allowed me to be on a flight with the group.  On my first flight I got to sit next to a Delta maintenance dude (like that job title?) and he taught me a lot about some of the ins and outs, perks, and how to get information that most people don’t know.  I learned the fastest ways to make it from one end of an airport to another, and I began to learn how not to worry when it is a situation I cannot control.  It was good in several other ways, but those take much more explanation.

Our trip to the airport alone was chaotic, but even in the midst of the chaos, and a seemingly insignificant part of a missions trip, God can work, preparing us for the future, for 2 years from now, but also for tomorrow.