Week 2 of ministry in Peru was an adventure to say the least. My team was super privileged to get to do ministry in the jungle this week with two of the most beautiful people we have met thus far, Belén and Pablo, ministering to the beautiful people of Chuquibambilla. They are going to be moving to the area and living with the people, sharing more of the wonderful truths of Jesus and learning about the people’s culture and language. Their eventual goal is to translate the Bible into their native language.
One of the first nights we were there, I felt called to impart with Pablo and Belén what the Lord had told me as my team was riding into Peru. He put on my heart then that the theme for this month of my Race would be “understanding my position as the beloved.” I was listening to a sermon that was quoting Hosea 2:14, where it says that the Lord will allure His people Israel (personified as a women in the Scriptures) by bringing her into the wildness and speaking tenderly with her. Isn’t that interesting? He leads people through the desert in an attempt to speak tenderly to them and grow their relationship with Him. Little did I know, we would literally be in the desert this month! This was true for me, and I felt in my soul that this was true for Pablo and Belén. As I shared this with them, the Lord put another idea on my heart. They had been in the desert for a time now, but now they were in the Promised Land (the jungle int their case). This was where the Lord had called them, and this was where He promised to make you into a great nation.
Almost every day of ministry looked pretty similar. We would wake up and spend mandatory quiet time with the Lord at 6 am before communal Bible study at 6:30 am. Then, we would have breakfast. I loved this detail in our schedule because it was a constant reminder to us that our relationship with God should be of utmost importance, even more than sleep or food. We actually had to lead a handful of the Bible studies ourselves. That was a great experience and opportunity! I have only ever had a chance to lead one Bible study before. We spoke a lot about the love that God has for His people partly because that was what the Lord had been teaching some of us in our personal quiet time. How beautiful is that?
After breakfast, we would spend almost the entire day (until about 5:30 or 6:00 pm) doing “manual labor” kinds of tasks. We did flooring, constructed bunk beds for the missionary houses on site, painted, fixed broken furniture, built other furniture, and set cement blocks pathways to connect all of the buildings on site.
Still, each day did present some unique tasks and challenges. For example, on our first full day of ministry, we moved a pile of sand from one end of the lot to the other using wheelbarrows. This sand was needed for the concrete blocks we would later be making. The difficult part about this was pushing it up and down two steep hills in the middle of the hot day with no clouds in the sky. We got dehydrated fast. But the work wasn’t all bad. We did our best to stay motivated and positive:
As if that was not difficult enough, we spent the latter half of the day climbing up the side of a mountain in the jungle. We were actually wielding machetes and chopping our way through the bushes that were growing over our “path.” Here’s some proof:
We hiked up to where a man was living. He was selling planks of wood that he had chopped up himself, and we were supposed to carry them down the mountain on our shoulders. That was definitely not easy either. I can’t tell you how many times I dropped the wood or slid down parts of the mountain. It’s a wonder I didn’t hurt myself with the machete I was carrying!
I also ended up getting really sick during this ministry week. If you know me, you know I almost NEVER get sick. But I was nauseated to the max and I was having a lot of diarrhea (maybe this is TMI, but that’s just how I roll haha). I was feeling so rough, I couldn’t even sleep. One time on my way back from the bathroom, I ran into two other missionaries that we were serving with us. They took one look at me and were moved with compassion. They made me a special tea to settle my stomach… Of course the tea did also make me throw up everywhere, but it did get the job done. I guess there’s not much to settle if there’s not much in there anymore, amirite?
To end every night, we had a church service with the community where my team and I performed a skit and taught from the Word. Our skits this week were of the prodigal son (Luke 15), the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17), the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18), and Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14). Let me just tell you, my teammates and I crushed it if I do say so myself. The kids thought the skits were hilarious, which is great because if you can laugh about it, you can learn from it. I’m praying these stories will stay in their memories for a long time.
One of the biggest highlights was getting to play with the kids. I don’t know how many times a kid asked me to throw them into the air or spin them around. We played with them, taught them some English words, and attempted to learn some words in their native language as well… which was not happening. Sometimes it was hard to keep up with them. Honestly, the most difficult part was telling them that you had no energy left (because boy, we sure had a full day of work every day).
The children and the families we encountered this past week were so beautiful. They were energetic, hilarious, and hungry for the Lord. Church services were always packed, and you could tell just by being there that the Lord had something special planned for these people. What a blessing it has been here in Peru so far! The Lord sure is showing me more and more of His love for His people all over the world. And in the process, I’m learning more and more about His love for me as well!
In all things, be blessed!
AG
P.S. – All photocreds to the wonderful Colby Wayenberg! So blessed and honored to have such an artist on our team!
