Hello Friends!
I know this update comes a month sooner than my regularly scheduled letter, but with so much going on I decided to go ahead and let everyone know about some of the different things going on in this corner of my universe.
March began with the outlook of an extremely busy schedule. Classes began at New Life Christian School on March 5th, and for the first several days of the new school year I was helping out in the 4 & 5’s class, and then as the young kids got used to being in school and away from home I spent some time during recesses with the older kids. But, 5 class days into the new school year, on March 11th, the government suspended classes and on March 15th called for a strict nationwide quarantine; closing the borders not only to the country but between provinces and departments (like states), instituting a national curfew (currently 6pm-5am), prohibiting the use of personal vehicles, limiting the number of people who can be out and why (only groceries, banking or medical emergencies), limiting the ages of people who can be out (no one under 18 or over 60), and then recently limiting the days each gender can be out. This week for instance, the only days I can be off the children’s home property are Tuesday and Saturday. Currently these restrictions are valid through Easter, however our government will decide on the 9th whether they will be extended once again.
I certainly have been blessed in the midst of everything to be at New Life Children’s Home. Unlike many people I am close to here, I have a comfortable home, a bed, a refrigerator, and I am not worried about whether I will have water tomorrow. (On top of everything else Cieneguilla, Manchay, and La Molina have been dealing with water shortages.) Unlike many people I am close to here I have the ability to step outside the walls of my apartment to walk, exercise, enjoy the fresh air, and spend time with the 30 other people who live here. Unlike many people I am close to here, I have enough food and am not worried about what I will eat tomorrow.
In the midst of the restrictions which limit where I can go and what I can do, God has not left me bored or without work. Being at New Life Children’s Home, I have had the opportunity to do a Sunday Morning lesson for the kids and tutoras (guardians) who live here as well as devotions as different times throughout the week. The kids continue with school virtually, online or through messaging apps, so I help with homework as well, and then we spend time playing together in the afternoons. This slower pace has also allowed me to help several churches in the United States with their children’s ministries by talking with different pastors or leaders regarding curriculums or specific lessons, staffing for different kinds of programs, helping them connect with the children in their churches virtually, and planning for the future as churches are able to meet again. I have also been able to focus on writing devotions and “have at home” material for the future for my kids in Manchay and other areas where church attendance is difficult and owning a Bible is a rare privilege (especially for a child or teenager).
As April continues, most likely with an extension to our national quarantine, I have several prayer requests to mention to you all. The first is I would beg of you to be praying for those I minister to in Manchay. I know they are struggling to feed themselves. Even before the stay at home orders began, there were several families I was working to help as I could see the kids getting skinnier and skinnier each week. With the restrictions on travel and where we can go, I haven’t been able to get up there and check on them, and kids don’t have cell phones to be able to communicate with me. Pastor David and I are working on different ways we can get food to the families there through people we trust who live in the area. But please be praying as I know several families that made it through each day based on the money earned the day before in jobs that are no longer available. Please also be praying for the families in our church and school. People are doing what they can, but it isn’t much.
Finally I would ask you to be praying regarding my “future plans.” Next week will be my three year anniversary upon arriving in Peru. It is hard to believe it has been three years but I am so excited to continue. Before the quarantines hit around the world, I was making plans to be in the United States for four months between December and March for a furlough, in order to present updates to the churches that have been supporting me through the years and to raise a bit more support; however with the return to whatever the new normal will be still a few months away, I am needing to decide whether I will postpone that furlough a little bit longer. It is still somewhat early to make that decision, but many churches plan out the missionary presentations a year in advance, and no one is making any plans right now. So please be praying as I am regarding when I can visit and update my supporting churches.
Thank you all so much for you care, prayers and support. You all mean so very much to me and please know I am praying for you all in the midst of these events as well. Thank you.