2017

November/December Prayer Letter

Pam 2017
November/December Prayer Letter

November December 2017 Prayer Letter

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!

Each and every episode of Sesame Street is ended in the same fashion, something like this, “This episode has been brought to you by the letter “P,” the number “7,” and the word, “cat.”  I can think of no better way to end this year than to say, “November and December have been brought to you by the word, ‘Preparation’.”  

As you may recall, I was back in the States in October and November in order to renew my visa and continue raising the support I nee to effectively minister in Peru.  In November I had the opportunity to visit or speak at several new churches in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  Praise God I have already heard from one church, that they are taking me on for monthly support, and a few others will be voting soon.  Please pray God directs them in whatever way is best for their churches, and please pray God directs me as I continue to raise the support I need.

At the End of November as I was preparing to go back to Peru I got to pause long enough to celebrate my birthday, Thanksgiving and a mini-Christmas with my family and friends before delving back into the world of packing and shopping.  Amidst the craziness, I chose black Friday as the best day to find supplies for the ministries I am involved with here and Christmas presents for the kids at New Life Children’s Home.  However, once I returned to Peru, that’s when the real craziness and preparation began.

Beginning in January (summer vacation here) twice a week I will be running a Bible memory program which I have written over the last few months called Cazadores del Tesoro (Treasure Hunters), helping and teaching in junior church, discipling a few young ladies, doing weekly devotions with a group of women and then teaching several English classes a few days a week in summer school.  

For this reason, along with spending time with the kids in the home, the youth in the church and reconnecting with the people I was getting to know here in town, I have spent much time studying for, writing and translating lessons, learning how to teach English, training others in children’s ministries and writing the Treasure Hunters Bible memory books.  Like I said… Preparation.

I am so very excited for each and every opportunity I am being given to serve here in Cieneguilla, but I most definitely am begging for your prayers.  I know a person can teach, can inspire people (in some way), or motivate people without being a Christian.  But, I also know that not a single thing I do will be effective, will have any impact on eternity without the strength and power of God.  I need His help and discernment in the words I should say, translating those words into Spanish, as well as the energy, the temperament, attitudes and thoughts to impact these people for God.  Please pray with me that God will daily work through me.

Please continue to pray as well as I work to contact churches, let people know about these ministries and continue raising the support I need to minister effectively.  I know I am not as good at it as other people, but God will provide through people and in ways I would never have imagined. ~Pam Drout~

 

Prayer Requests
 

~ That the money will come in to help cover the cost of the Treasure Hunters and English class materials.

~ The finances will become available so that I can purchase a vehicle.

~ That I will be able to effectively communicate God’s Word in Spanish.

Praises
 

~ Another church has taken me on for support.

~ I have been able to train others in working in Children’s Ministries.

~ I have finished writing the Treasure Hunter’s Bible memorization curriculum and it is being printed now.

September-October 2017

Pam 2017
September-October 2017

September-October 2017

 

Here is the link to my current prayer letter.  Thanks for your continued prayers and support!

Dear Friends,

Thank you so very much for your continued prayers over the last several months.  I have truly been blessed by them and greatly appreciate them.   

The last two months have been filled with wonderful opportunities to serve God, share the gospel with others, teach, and prepare for ministry in the coming months.  September quieted down slightly as missions group season has passed here at New Life Children’s Home, but if you know me, you know that means I am going to go out hunting, finding some way to impact eternity each day.   Throughout September as I continued to focus on Spanish, God gave me understanding in a few areas of language I had been struggling with through the summer.  I am thankful for the struggle, because there is no doubt in my mind that understanding came not from my own potential and hard work, but through God’s help.  

I have been so blessed to live here at New Life Children’s Home, be a part of their ministries, and to be given the opportunity to become involved in the lives of the children here.  As my schedule freed up this month I was able to spend more time with the children and workers in the home.  I was able to help with homework, comfort tears and fears, and love on the children.  God’s not only used me in different ways in their lives, but He has used them in mine.    

Over the past few months I have also had more opportunities to minister with the children and youth at the church, and I have begun making my way around town each day, sitting in parks and areas studying, but also forming relationships and talking with people from around town.  With the seemingly quieter schedule I have also focused on developing a Bible memory program for this upcoming summer called “Treasure Hunters.”  The program is totally in Spanish, written to fit the culture and needs down here.  The plan is that the children at New Life Children’s Home will participate in the Treasure Hunters Program this coming summer (January and February).  Not only is it great experience for me in writing in Spanish, teaching in Spanish and developing a type of curriculum, but as we work through the kinks and through the program, it will allow us to use it in other areas of ministry in the area.

This past winter as I was making plans to head to the country of Peru, I mentioned that I would be in Peru for approximately 6 months as my visa allowed and then return to the States for 2 months to continue raising my needed support, and then head back down to Peru.   That is exactly what has happened.   In the beginning of October I came back to Michigan and began speaking at several different churches and events, continuing to raise my support.  During this time I have seen at least 1 more church take me on for support.  I had the opportunity to lead a young girl to Christ after church one Sunday and the opportunity to share the gospel with several people.  I was also given the chance to go on the teen fall retreat with Midland Baptist Church, to help run some games, and underground church activity (giving young people a better picture of the struggles of church and ministry in a closed country).  I also got to speak during the girls’ split session on the topic of “Stress, Anxiety, and Panic Attacks.”  So many young people and older people today struggle with these issues and rarely are they talked about.  For months I had been studying the topics out, seemingly for this moment.  God did amazing things that weekend and it was a joy to be a part of it.  

Please continue praying as I travel here in the States to raise more support and then travel back to Peru at the end of November to not only continue with the ministries I had been involved with but become involved with new areas of ministry as my Spanish has increased.                                           ~Pam Drout~

Praises

~ Another church has taken me on for support.

~The salvation of the young lady in church.

~The opportunity to speak about stress, anxiety and panic attacks, and the responses of teens who acknowledged they need help.

Prayer Requests

~ Money to come in towards a car, and my support to increase so I can minister more effectively.

~ The Treasure Hunters Program books to be finished quickly.

~ Opportunities to minister to others to abound.

July-August Newsletter

Pam 2017

Hello!
So much has happened in the last few months that I want to share with you all, I had so much trouble deciding what to include in this letter. The infamous “they” say that, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” so I have decided to share several pictures (at the bottom of the post) and short snippets of the last few months with you in hopes of sharing even a part of my life and heart.

Several times throughout this summer (winter here in Peru) I have had the chance to go with groups to a temporary, emergency shelter for orphaned, abandoned or at risk girls. Each time I went there was a whole new groups of girls with whom we got to share snacks, our time, and ultimately the gospel with. God continues to work on my heart with ways I can pray for and then practically help and teach these young women.

Even though I am still working to learn Spanish, God has given me several opportunities to start serving in the local church here. I have started attending and helping in the 10-13 year old junior church as well as playing flute and singing during the services.

In July, the New Life Baptist Church hosted a national pastors and leaders conference during which, through a translator, I got to speak to the women about Deborah, a woman whose role was not to share her own words and opinions with others, but to share the Words of God.

With one visiting missions group, we got the opportunity to share the gospel with the Colonel and and many police officers in one of the largest districts in Lima. This gave us the opportunity to go back to this district with two other missions groups, run the food truck and share the gospel with over a thousand members of the community.

Several times throughout the last several months we have had the opportunity to share testimonies, the gospel, Bibles and tracts with children in several area public and Catholic schools.

While I don’t have photos to share, much of my time here is still spent focused on learning Spanish so that eventually I can be even more effective in the ministry of the gospel. Still, even in the midst of my learning, it brings me great joy to tell you that this last month I was able to share the gospel totally in Spanish, with a young man Baeron. Please continue to pray as this young man knows he needs to make a decision based on all he heard.

Please also be in prayer as I continue to raise the funds needed to minister effectively here in Peru.

Thank you so very much for your prayers and support.  They are so very dear to me.

 

July August 2017 Prayer Letter

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