This month my team is partnered with a church called Iglesia la Antorcha (Church of the Torch) in Pacasmayo, Peru. The heart behind the name of this church is all about passing the torch. The people of this church are so focused on passing the love of God to others. They have such an evangelical heart. The fire that this church has already touched myself and my teammates.
This church has so many ministries. Besides the Sunday and Wednesday services, the church has an after school program at a compound (which is where we are living), there are English classes taught at the church 3 nights a week, and also street evangelism.
This past week, we have been working at the compound preparing for school to start back up this next week. We have cleaned the school, painted a playground, organized medicine, painted a wall a bright yellowish orange color. We have also been helping at the church teaching English on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The first night we had around 50 people show up for English class which was overwhelming but at the time also amazing. The most recent ministry we were a part of was street evangelism. On most Saturday’s, a huge amount people from the church go out to the center of the town for evangelism. Now the evangelism that this church partakes in is something that I could definitely get used to. They pass flyers out, give testimonies, and the adults usually go around and talk to people that come. But let me tell you how they attract people to stop by. They dance! Yes, dance. Mostly the youth but there is also a children’s dance group. We had the privilege of learning one of the dances, but just one dance was nothing compared to how many these younger students knew. There was probably over 10 choreographed dances/skits performed. I was blown away by their talent and the fact that people continually stopped to see what was going on. Part of me just wanted to jump in and dance with them, but I just sat and watched what was unfolding before me.
This church has so many ministries, and I am so glad we are able to help or be a part of them all. Stay tuned for what next week will look like.
