Hey friends!
I know that I didn’t share much with you all this month about what we did or where we were but I’m going to give you a quick highlight reel from this month. Because of the flooding, ministry looked different every day and we were presented with opportunities that were pleasant surprises!
This month we were working in a Northern city in Peru called Trujillo. Trujillo is a coastal desert. One side is bordered by the ocean and the other has small mountains. Because of the flooding or as they call it, Huaicos, it was very hot there. Usually it’s pretty warm but this month the humidity factor was very high causing it to feel even hotter. The last few days we were there, it was hot but the breeze from the ocean was very nice.
Our ministry was called Savage Ministries. Run by an American man named Joel and his Peruvian wife, Maria. They built the school and church where we lived. Maria’s mom was the pastor of the church there and Joel was the pastor of the church we worked with in town. We worked in an area on the outskirts of Trujillo called Victor Raul in a school/church. Our original ministry was going to be working with the children from the school and then helping preach at 2 churches. We ended up working with the school one day then the Huaicos came through and the plans for our month were swept away too. Which was cool because God’s plans are always better than our own. So here goes a highlight reel of some of my best memories/ministry moments from Peru.
-The camp full of displaced people. Hopefully you read my blog the other day about this but it was a wonderful experience. It was an unplanned ministry too. We ended up meeting these missionaries from West Virginia in a Chili’s restaurant. They gave us their phone number and on one of the days off we went with them to some camps to share and meet with people who were now homeless.
-Feeding ministry. The day after this, returning to the camp. Because of the flooding, part of our ministry this month ended up being feeding some places around the largely affected areas. One of these places ended up being the same camp where we had gone with the missionaries. It was so heart-warming to see our friends again. Shakila shared a message and at that time, even more people decided to follow Jesus. On this day we were able to go to 4 places and feed probably about 400 people.
Another cool story in this section is that one of the days when we went to feed people, food had been prepared for 100 people. Once we ran out of plates, we should have also run out of food. But we didn’t. Around 200/250 people were fed with food for what was supposed to be 100 people.
-Evangelism in the square. One ministry we were able to do with our host was evangelism in the town square. We got to do this twice and it was a really cool experience. About 4 people decided to follow Jesus during these evangelism outings. During one of them, we just gathered in a circle in the middle of the square and worshipped God in English. We then would go around to anyone we felt led to talk to and shared Christ with them.
-Painting. One thing we did do a lot of this month was painting. We painted two large classrooms and one office. In one of the classrooms, we painted a garden scene on one wall and a sunset scene on the other. In the other classroom, we used all 4 walls to tell the bible story of Jonah, which ended up looking really great.
-Beauty for Ashes. This ministry is something that AIM started. It’s a ministry for women. The purpose is to pamper them and remind them of truths of who they are in Christ. We were able to do this for a few hours at 2 different churches. Women received manis, pedis, haircuts, braids, and massages. Then we were able to pray and speak truths over them.
-Children. At the very beginning of them month, we had one day where we were able to work at the school. After this day, school was cancelled by the government for the rest of the month. This one day with the children was really great though. The kids are 3, 4, and 5 years old. A lot of them live in the neighborhood around the school and remembered our names. They would call out to us as we walked through town.
-Preaching, teaching, and singing. One part of our ministries this month was preaching or sharing testimonies at church. On Sunday mornings we were responsible for the message shared at church. This was a cool opportunity and some really cool messages were shared by Candyea, Olivia, Ashley, and Alexandra. Sara and I also were able to share our testimonies. We also got to sing “Multiplied” at 2 churches and once at the camp. Candyea also sang a song.
This month didn’t go as planned. It was circumstantially tough sometimes but it’s been my favorite month of ministry. It stretched me. I’ve never shared my testimony to more than a small group, I’ve never evangelized to people who speak a different language than me, I’ve never fed 250 people with food for 100. I’ve never done so many things that we got to do this month. God is really good and I have no doubt that the kingdom was furthered in this place. We are so thankful for the way that our ministry host loved us and led us this month, they really are awesome. If you’re interested in helping them out, their ministry is called Savage Ministries. They are doing great things in Peru and God is using their lives so much for the kingdom.
I am so thankful for this month and Peru/our ministry hosts will be so missed.
I know it was a quick post, but I hope you have an accurate depiction of our ministry this month!
We are heading to Africa today! It’ll be a huge change, so please pray for us. Pray specifically for my team, that we would seek (as a team and as individuals) to draw nearer to God and we would love each other well.
Also please consider supporting me so that I can remain on the World Race and do what God has called me to do as a missionary. I have about $4,300 left to raise. If you can’t support me financially, please consider sharing my blog and definitely please pray for me in this specific area.
much LOVE! -Emma
