This month our ministry looked a little different than in the past two months. We were sent to Cusco, Peru to help at the Josephine house which is an orphanage for infants and toddlers. So my expectation was that we would be working with the orphans and women who take care of the babies. When we arrived Tim and Holly Anderson welcomed us into their home and told us that our ministry this month was actually to encourage. When they said this I was a little shocked because that was not at all what my expectations were. I was here to work with babies not encourage you and your family. But little did I know that God had something up his sleeve for me.
As many of you have seen we had the opportunity to go to Machu Picchu and rainbow mountain. Many of you have asked hey I see you going on all these adventures but I thought you were there to do ministry. Yes you are correct I am here to do ministry, but my question back is “what is ministry?” Does ministry have to be structured and look a certain way for it to be valid or is our whole life ministry?
One of the things our leadership kept telling us at training camp was ministry is life and life is ministry. Essentially what this means is there is no separation from living my normal life and doing ministry. Jesus should be oozing out of me so much that people can’t help but see him in my everyday typical life. Our hosts, Tim and holly, embody Jesus all the time. They can’t help but splash Jesus on the people around them because of how well they see, love and then get to know people.
When they told us our ministry was to encourage them and their family I was taken aback. I asked the question, is that really a ministry? (remember ministry is life and life is ministry) But the more we got to know the Anderson family the more I can see why they needed the encouragement. This family has been here in Cusco for almost four years. They came here thinking they were going to be missionaries under a specific well drilling mission. But after years of trying to drill the way they want to drill wells, they found out that it can not happen because of a certain type of sediment that is here deep in the rock. So what do you do when you know you are called to a place but no longer have the umbrella of a certain mission organization? Turn around and go home, go somewhere else and try drilling there? Well Tim and Holly and their five kids stayed. They knew God was not done with them in Cusco, So they stayed! They lost a lot of their funding and had to basically start over from scratch. But God is cool and sent a world race team to them and they have been hosting teams ever since. They pour out with all they have and don’t ask for much in return. They only ask us to love on their kids and be open with them. They have found their calling in discipling people. And let me tell you, THEY ARE SO GOOD AT IT! People in their community, missionaries who come to help out the orphanage, and world race teams are their focus. They share their lives so openly and love so well.
The Andersons live life the way I want to in the future. They live a life filled with fierce love and full of adventure. They seek God in everything they do and don’t let circumstance hold them back. Circumstances like not having a car could and would hold most of us back from going out and reaching the community. But they don’t let that stop them. They have been asking the lord to provide for a van for the last three years. Their house is about 2 miles up a dirt road that busses no longer drive on because the road conditions are so bad. So anytime they want to go into town, go to the grocery store, or just need to run some errands they have to walk two miles to catch a bus and then they have to walk two miles back in when they return. This might not seem like a lot but when you have groceries or have just had a long day out the last thing you want to do is walk two miles up a dirt road. Especially when it is rainy season and the road is just straight mud. They are a brave and faithful bunch. They are humble and didn’t tell us about their dream for a van until we prodded and asked why they didn’t have a vehicle. I want to help them get a vehicle this year. They have said they need about $5,000 more to be able to buy one.
If you would like to donate to them, they are specifically looking for partners who will support them for $20 a month. Or people to just donate toward their vehicle. You can donate to them via equipinternational.org specifically to Blue Castle Ministry House Vehicle to help them get a vehicle or if you would like to become monthly partners with them you can type in Tim and Holly Anderson.
