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