May/June 2017 Prayer Letter

Pam 2017
May/June 2017
Hello Everyone!
In Acts chapter seven when Stephen is speaking to the council, answering their accusations, he gives a brief history of Moses.  Within Stephen’s speech, he gives us a bit more insight, something that caught my eye, and continues to encourage me through these first few months on the field.  Acts 7:22-25 says, “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.  And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.  And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.”  
I was caught by the fact that even before his 40 years in Midian, where God seemed to mold and prepare Moses for the task He had for Moses, Moses was considered mighty in words, and fully believed God would use him to deliver the Israelites.  For years I have loved teaching, counseling, planning events, and working with people in general, but suddenly I find myself struggling to communicate, unable to speak much, let alone teach classes or encourage and counsel those in the Body of Christ here.  It isn’t because of something I have done wrong, but because God is preparing me in a new way, and right now, that focus, that preparation is in the area of Spanish.
That isn’t to say God hasn’t been able to use me here in Peru.  Quite the opposite actually.  I have had several opportunities to minister, in many different ways, but as much as I want to do everything I was doing in the States, as Moses with his developed speech problem, I am constrained by the Spanish I know, needing help just the same.  It is hard to hold back, and to spend hours a day studying Spanish when I want to be out ministering, but I know all to well that God has me learning Spanish for a reason, and that I will be more effective in ministry once I master the language.
Even with not fully knowing Spanish yet, God has given me some wonderful opportunities to minister.  We have had several missions groups here in Peru over the last two months, and with them, through interpreters, I have had the chance to share my testimony and the gospel with several classrooms full of teenagers in both public and Catholic schools.  I cannot say for sure how many accepted Christ as their Savior at those times, that decision was between them and God; but most of the teens in each class prayed out loud, confessing they were sinners and needed the gift of forgiveness Christ gave them.  
Along with sharing the gospel classroom to classroom in several schools, I have also had the opportunity to pass out Bibles and tracts in some of the busiest marketplaces in Lima, along with some very impoverished areas just outside Lima.  I have been able to spend time with several children who were recently rescued off the streets and placed in temporary shelters, and to be a part of services where we shared the gospel and then provided food or blankets to people with real needs.  It has been such a joy to be able to in these ways even when I need to concentrate on every word I say.
Recently though, I had two very different opportunities to teach, both of which were such privileges and encouraged my heart greatly.  The first came when the youth pastor at the church I am attending here in Cieneguilla gave me an opportunity I wasn’t expecting.  He asked me to teach an object lesson in the youth meeting…in Spanish. (Youth meetings here are for teens through singles).  I was able to write the lesson and then with the help of my Spanish teacher, we translated it.  I wasn’t able to fully memorize it, needing to read it when I taught, but as it was God’s Word I got to share, I don’t need to worry.  He won’t let it return void.
The other great opportunity I was given, was to teach (in English) a group of 10 people, ranging from 12-40 years old, “How to lead someone to Christ.”  I cannot begin to express the privilege it was to teach that class, and to know and hope that God would use that information to help reach people I may never meet in this lifetime.  
Please, please continue to pray for me, as I adjust to living in a new country away from all that is familiar, as I strive to build relationships and become a functioning member of the body of Christ here, as I work to learn Spanish, and as I finish raising the needed support to continue ministering here in Peru.Thank you for your prayers,
Pam Drout

March/April 2017 Prayer Letter

Pam 2017

Hello Everyone!
I must say, so much has happened in the last two months that I barely know where to

begin. I started out March in Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia before heading back to Michigan. The meetings I had in each of those states went wonderfully, at least from my perspective, and now I am just waiting to hear from a few churches regarding their decisions to take me on for support.

After services, conferences and meetings for the first part of the month, I was able to head back to Michigan to spend a month with friends and family before heading over to Peru. I don’t know that I could begin to share how hard it is to sift though your earthly possessions, deciding what should and shouldn’t go, and then what you do and don’t actually have space for. It really was hard, but it was also humbling, seeing the number of earthly possessions that I have, and how sometimes it is easy to feel they are necessary, but when I really take the time to consider it, they aren’t. God is so good in allowing me to see just how much sometimes we rely on earthly comforts rather than considering what is truly needed.

On April 15th, I left for Peru. I am not fully supported yet, but meetings and conferences are hard to come by during the summer months. In talking with and getting counsel from several people, the plan was for me to go ahead and come down to Peru, establish my home, and begin language studies in earnest for approximately 6 months. In the middle of October and early November I have a few meetings scheduled back in the States to finish raising my support. I am still working to schedule a few more, depending on how much support I see coming in from the churches I met with from January – March (so here is my shameless plug, if you know of a church I might contact, I would appreciate the information,). The plan is then to be back in Peru in late November or early December. I have seen God do amazing things not only in my own support, and in churches that have supported me, but I have heard stories of what He has done in the lives of missionary friends, and have no doubt that through the prayers and soft hearts of His people He will continue to do far more than I could ever imagine.

So, on April 15th I left for Peru, and was truly, truly blessed to have my close friend Amy come with me for a little over a week to help me get settled. The sacrifice she and her family made for me was far beyond what I could ever hope for. Along with Chelene Kennedy, we spent the week hunting down and purchasing furniture, getting my internet and cell phone set up, interviewing Spanish teachers, learning how I should get around Peru, learning how to clean foods so I can eat them, finding embassies, doctors, clinics and so many more things. While it was so very hard to see her leave, so much was accomplished during her time in Peru with me, I could not imagine how it would have gotten done without her. God truly is gracious!

I don’t understand or speak as much Spanish yet as I wish I did, but it is so wonderful to see how God can work in the midst of the language barrier. I attended the staff devotions at the children’s home last week and a young woman was giving the devotion, in Spanish of course. I knew enough though to know which verses she was referring to, and while she read them in Spanish, I read them in English. As I sat, not understanding much, God began to work in my own heart regarding the verses. In Philippians 3:8 Paul says, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” While the story is perfectly parallel, it still struck me. In Michigan I was involved in so many areas of my church, and in the lives of several people, doing so much, and loving it. None of those things were wrong, but I have to set those loves, those ministries, those things aside, in a way losing them all, in order to be where God wants me, to pursue the ministries He has for me next. While I am still learning Spanish it feels very hard to still be effective for Him, but I would rather be where He would have me, them spending my life working hard but being ineffective for Him.

Thank you for your prayers,

Pam DroutMarch April 2017 Prayer Letter

January-February 2017 Prayer Letter

Pam 2017

January February 2017 Prayer Letter

Hi Everyone!
Several months ago I mentioned in a prayer-letter how God was using the story of George Müller and II Corinthians 4:15 to impress upon my heart and cause me to be more active in praying for specific items instead of praying in generalities, but then also to look for the small graces and answers to prayer all around me and communicate them to others in an effort to increase the glory I bring to God. Over and over again in the last two months as I changed the habits I had built in prayer and the way I prayed, and actively looked for the small things God did each day I was increasingly encouraged by His active presence, but also overwhelmed at the thought of trying to communicate all He has done.

The first big piece of news I have to share comes as a direct result of these prayers, the prayers of friends, and several sermons I heard when dropping in on a few different churches. In January I began praying about the specific date that I would be leaving to go to Peru. I was beginning to believe it was time not only to talk about when I would be going, but to make the plans to go, purchase tickets, and actually get to Peru. I have always struggled with big decisions, especially when they are something I fervently desire, because I get nervous I am making the decision based on my own desires and not God’s desires for me.

To make a very long story short, God placed a timeframe of two weeks on my heart and then put me in a place to hear a sermon about the actions of faith. I had what I believed to be the right decision, and a friend challenged me to pray about it for 21 days. I did so, begging that in those 21 days, God would give me peace about the decision, not through feelings, not through a calm demeanor, but peace through His Word, showing me a passage or a verse which would help me know I was going in the right direction, but also that the authorities He has placed in my life, and those I am accountable to would help affirm this decision. As each day went by, verse after verse assured me of the decision, and those people to whom I am accountable and hold authority in my life ALL agreed it was a good decision. So, on April 15, 2017 I will be leaving for the mission field. I will be in Peru until the fall sometime, finish a few meetings I have scheduled, schedule a few more if my financial situation shows the need, and then at the end of November head back to Peru.

Not only did God provide peace through His Word, and through my authorities, but He also gave me another gift. I had been praying that before my tickets were purchased, the money would come in, over and above my normal support, to cover those tickets. Praise God, that very thing happened, I was told by a good friend my ticket was being paid for.

There have been so many other answers to prayer in the last few months. A close friend who had walked away from God years ago asked me to help her find a church and started going just last month. A young woman I had been talking with through a tough decision ended up with a health scare, that turned out okay, but brought her to a point of finally settling on the answer she believed was what God wanted. There was a young lady visiting a church I was at for a missions emphasis day and I got the chance to speak to her before the evening service and led her to Christ. And so much more.

So many things have happened in the last two months, I can in no way do them justice here, but thank you for praying. Please, please continue to pray now as I finish up meetings and make the preparations to move to Peru in April. I am still somewhat short on regular finances and want to set up a few more meetings for the fall, and need still $1800 more to make sure my transition/set-up fund is fully funded. Please continue to pray as I try to focus on wrapping things up to go to Peru, and work on learning as much Spanish as possible before I get there. In the midst of the busyness and chaos I cannot wait to see what God is going to do the next two months.

Thank You!

Pam Drout

November-December 2016 Prayer Letter

Pam 2016
November December 2016 Prayer Letter

Happy New Year Friends!
I hope you each had a wonderful holiday season, time with friends, family, and

focusing on all our Savior has done for us. The last two months have been quite a treat for me as I have had the chance to walk just a little in one of my heroes’ shoes. For years I have admired and studied as much as I can about Timothy, Paul’s own son in the faith. Not only did he get to travel with Paul for awhile and learn from him, but he travelled without Paul, travelling to and from different churches Paul or he and Paul had been to before, finding out how they were doing spiritually, finding comfort and rejoicing in the state of others and making connections between churches and between believers. Paul said of him that he has no man like-minded who would naturally care for their state, because all men seek their own. (Philippians 2) Timothy then of course went on to pastor and Paul still kept an eye on him, encouraging, edifying and exhorting him in his own ministries.

Over the last two months I have gotten the chance to travel to numerous churches and in each one found sort of connection to someone else I know, or to another church I love. I got to see people I hadn’t seen in years, seeing how they’ve grown, chosen to minister, and to continue allowing God to work in their lives. Between the holiday season as well as the passing of my grandfather I was able to make connections and spend time with friends and family I haven’t connected with in many, many years. To hear what God has been doing in their lives, to see the changes that might have been subtle over the years but are evident with the passing of time has been a joy and a comfort. I feel like I perhaps understand how Timothy felt.

Over the past two months I have had the opportunity to share the ministry in Peru with nine different churches between Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and Tennessee. In one church I had the chance to talk and pray with two young women considering going into full time missions, and in another church I spent time with a wife and mother whose husband had just shared with her the burden God was placing on his heart for another country. While I don’t have permission to share names, please continue to pray for these women. In one church I was working in the junior church and a young lady raised her hand during the invitation indicating she wasn’t sure she was saved. Her parents had been in the back as they were the usual junior church teachers and that afternoon they got the chance to lead their daughter to Christ. Praise God!

God has allowed me to see His working in many ways these last two months; people saved and considering missions, a young man who years ago been a teen in the youth group I worked is now a youth pastor in Tennessee with wisdom that blew me away, and a passion for God and to serve Him in extended family I haven’t seen or spoken much with since I was a child. All of it has been such a joy.

Something else God allowed me to see over the next few months involved a surprise with my support. While I am not fully supported yet, I got to see a month where between regular monthly support, 2 love offerings and a few additional Christmas gifts the total made up exactly 100% of the support I need. I know it doesn’t mean everything is coming in already, but it was an encouragement to see and provided hope and the drive to keep going.

Please continue to pray as I visit and minister to other churches while raising support to head over to Peru. I hate focusing on the funds needed for the ministry in Peru while at churches, I would rather focus on ministering to the families in the churches, so please, partner with me through your prayers. Pray that I can be a blessing to these churches but also that the remaining funds will be raised quickly. Please also pray that I will be able to find and schedule other churches to fill in the remaining dates I have open this January – March. I greatly appreciate your prayers and never cease to take them for granted. Have a wonderful new year!

September-October 2016 Prayer Letter

Pam 2016

september-october-2016-newsletter

Hello Friends!
After two months stationed in Midland, Michigan working and training others during VBS and Youth Conference events as well as helping my church out with some projects, in the beginning of September I packed up the prophet’s chamber I was living in, sent most of my stuff to storage, and found myself on the road, living out of my car, and houseless. After the first two weeks of living on the road the novelty of traveling and meeting new people began to wear off slightly and I began to throw the term homeless around in my mind but quickly recognized that no matter what, I am not homeless, merely houseless. This world is not my home, I am just here for a little while to get to know my God better and serve Him with all I am, and then one day He will take me home. Charleston, West Virginia (where I grew up) was never my home. My apartment in Midland, Michigan, was never my home but rather I have a heavenly home still waiting for me and at the moment I am merely houseless and thankful for every place to lay my head.

I began my current stint of traveling on September 11, 2016, and since then I have visited six different states and put another 4,508 miles on my car. I have met numerous people along the way and once again I can tell you that I have had opportunities to serve and learn that I never could have imagined. My main focus for my time when I am not in services has been preparation for the field in any venue I can find. I have spent numerous hours studying Spanish, reading different biographies and writings from missionaries past and present, and preparing materials that can be used in children’s and adult ministries, however some of the greatest lessons and learning opportunities have come in other ways.

In the last two months I had the chance to work for a few days at a mission and homeless shelter, helping prepare for a big event but also asking questions and learning everything they were willing to share about the how’s and why’s of their particular ministry. I spent some time volunteering in two different public schools, helping in a library and observing how kids learn and interact with each other. I also spent a day at a Christian school, talking with the teens, teaching them about ministry, God’s will, and Peru, while listening to them talk about the issues they currently face.

I was also overjoyed at the opportunity to run a children’s ministry training program at a church which was in the process of starting a junior church. Many of the churches I go to ask me to work in their children’s classes or to run a children’s class while I am there which always fills me with joy and brings out the fun side of me, but I love the chance to explain and pass on to others why I do what I do, showing them just how kids respond, learn, and engage when they are surrounded by loving, caring and involved teens and adults.

While traveling, training and ministering in different places the last two months I read a quote in the biography of George Müller written by A.T. Pierson which has stuck with me and continues to work in my own life and ministries. “In fifty thousand cases, Mr. Müller calculated that he could trace distinct answers to definite prayers.” We were created to bring God glory, and II Corinthians 4:15 tells me the thanksgiving of many for God’s abundant grace redounds (results in) God’s glory. Am I looking for God to work? If someone asked me, could I tell them exact answers to prayer I have seen? Could I say I saw God answer my prayers? Am I sharing specific requests so that direct answers can be seen?

God’s teaching me a lot, so here are four specific requests I have for you. Please pray that I will hit my goal of having my $10,000 set up fund (includes plane tickets, storage unit payments, and home set up needs) by December 31st. I am currently 62% there. Please also pray that I will see at least 5 of the churches I have visited in September and October take me on for support before the end of the year. Please pray that God gives me the time and the aptitude to get halfway through my Spanish vocabulary textbook in the next two months. Finally, please pray that I will have the opportunity to share the gospel with someone directly each place I travel. Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Serving Christ, Pam Drout

July-August 2016 Newsletter

Pam 2016

july-august-2016-newsletter

 

Hello Everyone:
Each time I write I try to find an easy theme to summarize the past two months and

the farther I travel down this road of deputation and missions the harder that becomes. Let me just say in the last two months God has shifted my focus from, “go, go, go, do, do,
do” (which I love), to, “slow down and let me teach you something.”

While I did continue to present the ministry opportunities I have in a few local churches, much of July and August I have been at Midland Baptist training others to step into the ministries I have previously worked with, learning how to let go and trust others to carry them on, and then learning new skills I will need to minister in Peru.

In July our church ran ourVacation Bible School, “Come See the Sea of Galilee.” Throughout the week we saw 224 different kids, 3 years old – 8th grade, pass through our doors. Praise God we saw 26 kids accept Christ as their Savior, and several others gained assurance of their salvation.

For me week was a bit of a challenge, learning to train others in what I love doing while I watched, but then it was also encouraging in many ways. I saw people step into positions dear to my heart, learning to write curriculum, teach, place volunteers in roles where they will thrive and minister best and more. I saw the members of my church step in, excel and fall in love with these ministries themselves. Each year at our VBS we do a penny offering for a missionary. This year we taught the kids how 1 child’s sacrifice can go far, like the child who gave his fish and bread to Christ to feed the 5,000. Our kids learned how 4 pennies will purchase 1 tract and 1 piece of candy, allowing us to share the gospel with 1 child in one of the schools in Peru. In the penny offering that week, our kids raised $1,900 towards sharing the gospel in Peru, the equivalent of 47,500 children. While it is such a joy to see such a large number and consider the opportunity of sharing the gospel with so many children, it is humbling to realize that is less than 1% of the school children in Lima. Still, praise God for what a child’s sacrifice can do.

For the last 6 years our church has run our own youth conference for our kids, and my joy has been to plan the week, as well as work with some of the programming, chaperone, and participate with the teens. During this week away the teens walls begin to drop and they begin acknowledging and dealing with the sin and struggles in their lives. This year I attended and helped train the people taking my place with these ministries and I had to learn how to step away and let others do what I enjoy and miss doing. God was gracious in teaching me how to let go.

This year we had about 92 people there and we saw the teens and the chaperones make many decisions to turn away from sins they deal with, a few young men surrender to be willing to preach, one young lady gain assurance of her salvation and one young lady get saved. God is so good.

Please continue to pray as God teaches me new ways to minister and I continue training to minister in Peru. In September I will be back on the road, traveling to different churches and ministries between IL, IN, OH, WV, VA, NC and KY, not returning to Michigan for several months. I’m excited at the chance to travel, meet fellow believers and find new ways to minister, while nervous at being on my own for so long. Please pray for safety as I travel, a focus as I continue to study Spanish and that God would touch hearts to pray and to give.

Serving as an Ambassador for Christ

Pam Drout

May-June 2016 Prayer Letter

Pam 2016

May-June 2016 Newsletter

May/June 2016

Hello Everyone:

In the last few months I have started a new adventure, full-time deputation.  If I have had the opportunity to share my testimony and my decision to go into missions with you, then you would have heard me say that full-time deputation was one of the main reasons I almost didn’t go into missions; giving up my regular ministries at my church, traveling around with no real sense of consistency, living my life in a state of transition, and a few other scenarios that come with full-time deputation.  I wasn’t willing to put myself in that place.  Has it been a struggle learning to adapt, I will readily and humbly admit that yes it has, but when I learn to see past my struggles and focus on God, to observe what He is doing and how He is using me during full-time deputation I can begin to relax and enjoy this time He’s given me.

After finishing up the last week few days of employment in May, I headed straight to West Virginia where I spent time at several churches as well as to spent some time with extended family and friends, neither of which would have happened while still working.  I was overjoyed to get to share the ministry opportunities God has given me with people I’ve known since I was young, friends I have made over the years, and people I have never met.   I love meeting people who have a burden for missions and desire to play any part they can.

While full-time deputation gave me several commitments in evenings and on the weekends, it gave me a freedom to minister in those moments between.  During those moments in WV I got vividly see struggles I only get glimpses of through the world of social media and enter into those battles, physically and spiritual with friends and family.   It was hard to know I am not at a place where I can fix everything as I have a tendency to want to do, but God had to let me know of the hurts and needs otherwise I couldn’t pray, which is the most powerful help of all.  So please, let me ask you to pray for these friends and family members with me.

In June I got the chance to head over to Peru with 12 other members of my church.  Even though I am still in the midst of deputation, we took the opportunity God gave us and the group helped me send many of my belongings to Peru without the cost of trying to ship items.

While we were in Peru, our group was able to complete numerous work projects around New Life Children’s Home as well as spend time inviting people to church, passing out John-Romans, presenting the gospel to upper level Peruvian intelligence, and going classroom to classroom sharing the gospel in several Peruvian schools.  We got the chance to love on the children in New Life Children’s Home, play with them, and spend time encouraging the staff who work with them.  We ran a special children’s program at one of the churches we visited and passed out tracts and New Testaments around the Presidential Palace.  We will never know how God uses the work to sow, water and reap the gospel, but we know the gospel reached thousands, and a large number professed Christ as their Savior.

It was hard coming back.  It was hard knowing that I can’t be there full-time yet, but need to continue to raise funds.  Currently I am at about 43% of my needed support.  PLEASE pray with me that it comes in soon so I can get back to Peru and start working.

An Ambassador For Christ,

Pam Drout

The Random Extras

Pam 2016 Peru Missions Trip

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.

A Day with Children

Pam 2016 Peru Missions Trip

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.

Work, Other Stuff, and More Work!

Pam 2016 Peru Missions Trip

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!