Last night a group of us went back to the community of Canchamana. We shared with them that we wanted to come back at some point and bring them a “traditional American meal” for whatever that’s worth. What we meant was a common food found in North America that we could feed them with. And so we did last night.
At first we didn’t know what to expect. I mean either they have never had pizza before or they wouldn’t necessarily like it. Seriously, last week they fed us a baby goat fresh from the pen! And so with Matt Snyder giving a short tutorial on the art of eating a slice of pizza, we chowed down!
We wanted to bless these people in a unique way to say thanks for the amazing blessings that they gave us the weekend before. I shared in 2 previous blogs entitled “What does it take to belong” and “Goats, Cows, and Rabid Dogs………..Oh My!” about this people group and my experience there as I lived with them for 3 days. Like I shared before as well when we had a church service our last evening with them, they were hungry for more of the Lord. They wanted to know more about Jesus, the Bible, and what it meant to be a Christian.
We didn’t have a set plan as to what to share or what to say when we went back last night, but asked the Holy Spirit to guide us in our time with them. We all sensed that this wasn’t a time for giving pizza and leaving. It was beyond using pizza as a doorway to their hearts. I’m 100% sure that they would have been open to learning more even if we just showed up! This is how the evening unfolded:
We thanked them for meeting with us and asked if they had any questions about the Christian faith, the Bible, or other such things. Of course they did and they asked away. Some of the questions were things like “How come there are so many religions and only one God?”, “What happens to people who believe in other religions?”, and “How can I have salvation?” to show you a few. In our responses Matt Snyder ended up sharing about Jesus Christ and how through Him we have salvation. We continued to explain how God wants a relationship with each and every one of us. He wants to know us all individually and wants us to come to Him. We don’t have to pray certain prayers for certain things and we don’t have to pay money for our sins. We are to come to the cross and lay our sins and our transgressions there. We are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, our soul, and our strength as well as love our neighbor as we would ourselves.
I then followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and shared my testimony of following a “religion” for most of my life before turning over my heart to God full heartedly to enter into a “relationship” with Him. I shared how the Lord called me to give Him my whole life and not pieces that I felt I could give. He answered my scary prayer when I asked Him what it means to truly follow Him. He answered by saying I want everything! I want your money, your life, your trust, and your obedience. I said YES to God and that’s why I was able to be in Peru to spend those precious 3 days with them.
So after sharing what it meant to follow Jesus and to answer what it meant to have salvation, we asked them if anyone wanted to accept Jesus’ sacrifice for their lives. Everyone stood up and wanted to give God their lives. Some I observed was a re dedication and others it was their first time. None the less we shared with them that when someone comes to the Lord, the angels in heaven rejoice. The angels were having quite the party last night I must say! So we shared some songs with them and they shared a couple with us. It was beautiful. Some asked for prayer and we prayed. We prayed for God to relieve the pain, the aching muscles, the headaches, and to be with these people in their situation.
To conclude our evening I shared a few words on what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. I also shared that they were now part of the church. Church isn’t about the walls, the roof, or the stain glass windows, it was about the body of believers who worship the Lord and follow Him. I encouraged the people with a passage of scripture that I felt come alive to me as I reflected my 3 days living with them.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
I saw compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience as they met my every need! I was hungry they fed me, I was thirsty, they gave me something to drink, and I was hot and tired, they built me a shelter! These people were Christ to me. These people have encouraged me. These people have pulled hard on my heart. Thank you Lord for the people of Canchamana!! Thank you for these shepherds who gave all of the little they had!
And so we walked in with pizza, left the Gospel and walked away filled with the Holy Spirit!
