We are safe in Peru! We are nestled here in the Andes mountains, under the shadows of Huascaran which is the tallest mountain in Peru. It beckons to us with its beautiful snow-capped mountains that sit 22,000 feet above the earth. Amazing is the word that comes to my mouth after I have stood silenced for several minutes by the massiveness of God´s creation. We are living in Musho, a village below the beast, and the people are breathtaking as well. Their well worn feet shuffle along the dirt roads, and their calloused hands grip ours with such love that we cannot help but return the bright smiles and bursts of laughter. Their faces are rosy red from the wind but I also think from their joy that they include us in. We are situated at the back of the church that we will be working with, and there we crawled together for the cold Peruvian nights. It is fun, sort of like a large slumber party (though ladies and men are separated) and at night we jump under our two blankets of heavy wool and crawl into our sleeping bags, burrowing down until we gently fall asleep. This is our life. We are home.
It was definitely hard for us all to leave Nicaragua. It was our home, our hearts that we had found on Ometepe and to have to wrench ourselves from that was terrible, but we trusted God, who quietly whispered to us, ¨These are my children too and I love them more than you. Do not forget them, but the world is still hurting and needs your love too.¨ So we set out with tears running down our faces and children clinging to us. We did nothing for them, we felt, but gained so much from them. Their joy and passion gave us new breath and for that we thank them. They will always be our friends and our family and it is hard to have to leave that, but God beckons with a comforting hand that more is out there. The last night that we were there, they sent us off and it was hard to see everyone crying and hugging. I felt like God wanted me to speak words of life into the men that I had met, so with my limited Spanish I cried to them as I looked into their eyes,¨You are a man of God! You are loved and He has placed such a special gift within you. Remain in that love and never wander from His arms. Be the man that God created you to be.¨ I felt like it was God´s words for them, that He allowed me to be a part of. Praise God that in HIs infinite wisdom, He knows their names and my name and knew that we would be put together for His purpose. But it is hard still.
One other thing that I wanted to mention to all of you so that it will not be a surprise is that the route has changed. Because of unforeseen difficulties and many hours of prayer, we will not be going to Uganda or India at this time. INstead there will be ministries that will occur in Mozambique and Thailand. We as a body want to remain faithful in following after God´s heart and we feel that this is something that God has placed before us, but we want you to come alongside of us still in praying for these opportunities. One of the greatest joys of this trip has been seeing God change our plans to His plans and moving us into that. So please continue to pray for us and the plans that God has, that we will be recetive to hearing His words and ways.
