Reflections from the Andes

It has been an awesome month in Peru, living in a beautiful place and with such beautiful people. I’ve really enjoyed the walk in to Tumpa each day to meet people, sit in their homes and talk, share about Christ, give them Bibles and see the excitement on their face, study the Bible together, and then meeting in the plaza as a team to pray and sing praises to the Lord for what He is doing. Pastor Josue has a huge task ahead of him as he follows up on all these contacts that we have made. There are church members who will be helping him as a new church is planted in Tumpa.

Helping the Tumpa kids find Bible passages in their new Bibles during a youth outreach

Elizabeth and Ruth- 2 girls from Tumpa I met at our outreach and who then came to church in Mushu!

Steph and I with the Tumpa map pictured in the background

We have a map of Tumpa made up and hanging in the church, listing all the people we have met and where they live- looking at this is such an encouragement of what God has done and all the people we have gotten to share about the love of Christ with and to build relationships with. This past week was spent making sure that every person was followed up with and trying to have the pastor or some church member meet them. We were able to pass out many boxes of Bibles and teach people some of the basics. I am amazed at how much teaching is needed here! We have had so many people accept Christ, and then have only gotten to scratch the surface of what the Christian life is about. Each time we have a new believers Bible study, new people show up (praise the Lord!), so we share the gospel once again and more accept Christ! There is so much to learn and share with these new believers! I have been blessed to have known Christ for 20 years and was raised in a Christian home, so there are so many things that I used to just assume everyone knows. Not true! Most of the Quechuan people we have met have either no or a confused basis of understanding of the Bible, so we just try to pour in to them as much as we can without overwhelming them with a ton of information. This is one of many reasons I really see the importance of getting them connected with the church and a strong pastor, and why in short term mission trips that a priority when at all possible needs to be a connection with local believers so that the people have a resource, can continue to grow (be discipled), and be encouraged. We have been blessed to see many accept Christ, and now much prayer is needed that the Holy Spirit will help them to really grasp the Truth they have received, the amazing free gift they have accepted, the importance of getting connected with other believers, and for growth.

Amelia and Senon at the first Tumpa church plant outreach- in their home!

I am blown away at how God works and the connections that He makes and how things work out! I had met a lady (Amelia) the first week here, who I’d gotten to pray with about her son (Senon) who was sick. I had never actually met her son, so I thought, because he was out in the fields every time we went to visit. The last week Amelia started showing up to everything we held- even for the youth event!! She is a devout Catholic and said she could never leave her church to attend ours, even though she was very interested in Jesus and did pray to accept Him in to her heart and life! (We tried to explain to her that it’s not about the church you go to, but about your relationship with Christ) Meanwhile, a number of us had met Senon mulitple times in the plaza- he would often show up when we were there with lots of questions and with a lot of scepticism. All month, we’d been praying about a place to hold the church meetings in Tumpa and I couldn’t believe it when I found out that Amelia and Senon had an extra big room upstairs in their house that they rented out to groups- this is the place the pastor had found, prayed about, and decided on for the church meetings! Our last outreach in Tumpa was held here, as the first service in their new location (verus in the middle of the plaza for every other gathering we’d had). I was so excited that both Amelia and Senon were there for the whole time! Neither of them would come to “church,” so the Lord brought church to them. I am praying that their home will not be a place that church is held a few nights a week, but that is church whenever anyone enters.

Gloria and Teofilo with their new Bible at our first Bible study in their house- now 4 members of this family have accepted Christ! Each time we would visit, we’d meet another member of the family who also wanted to accept Christ (Teofilo, Juana Ardilies, Gloria and Maria)

Yovanna- we met her at a youth outreach, then followed up with her the following week for a 45 min walk to her village because she told us that the people of her village needed so much to hear about Jesus Christ. She just wanted to hang out in the plaza and talk with whoever came by.

Yanamito ministry- sharing the gospel with the school children

Here we are with a group of kids- about 30 of them gathered around us and Ericka (one of our translators and a new sister) did an amazing job of sharing the gospel with them. Many of them, in childlike faith, prayed to accept Chrst.

Many relationships were built with women like Aide, who would be out drying their corn as we were walking through town

Pedro (one of the Mushu leaders) speaking at our last outreach

Ener is a 15 yr old we met this past week- he is so hungry for more of Jesus! The Holy Spirit had been working in him long before we started talking with him. The first day we met him, we were there about 2 hrs jumping all over the Bible as he asked question after question, seeking to know the Truth. At the end of this time, he was ready to accept Christ! When we came back the next day to talk more, he had his new Bible covered in plastic to protect it and was ready with more questions from what he’d read the night before! I really believe God is going to raise him up as a leader in his community- he is hungry, bold, and eager!

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me.”

It’s hard to leave and not get to disciple these new believers more, but God promises in Phil 1:6 “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” So, the work that He has started here, He will continue to complete and He will not reject the work of His hands.

Youth outreach in the plaza!