I am sorry for the amount of weeks I have gone without posting anything. But I have a few blogs written up that I will be posting in the next few days so I apologize for bombarding your Inbox!
we have been traveling a lot lately and it makes it difficult to sit down and be able to format a blog. Here is a quick update of where I have been:
• August 8th – 26th Santiago, Chile
• August 26th – 27th Valparaíso, Chile
• August 28th – 31st Santiago, Chile
• September 1st – 7th San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
• September 8th – 10th Arequipa, Peru
• September 11th – 13th Cusco, Peru
• September 14th – 16th Aguas Calientes, Peru
• September 17th – 18th Cusco, Peru
• September 19th – October 2nd Lima, Peru
• October 3rd – 6th Quito, Ecuador
• October 7th – 8th Baños, Ecuador
• October 9th – 12th Quito, Ecuador
• October 13th – Arrived to Medellín, Colombia
On September 7th, my team began the 20 hour trip, with 3 stops and bus changes and border crossings to Arequipa, Peru from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.
Peru’s ministry focus was what Adventures in Missions, AIM, refers to as Ask The Lord, or ATL. This is a time where we actively ask the Lord what He wants us to do. It’s a time to practice listening to God, and let ministry be a direct overflow of what He says! Jesus taught that if we belong to God we “hear what God says.” (John 8:47). Personally, this has been my goal for my time in Peru— to learn the voice of my Papa.
We spent the majority of our time asking God what He wants us to do, then doing it.
A day of “Ask the Lord” ministry might look like worshipping with no shame on a 6 mile hike, striking up conversations with a taxi driver, visiting one store over and over again to support the kind businessman, praying for people who just needed to talk to someone, etc. It is a daily stepping out of our comfort zones.
While in Arequipa, we decided to attend a local Spanish church— Comunidad Cristiana Arequipeña. It turned out to be the biggest church in Arequipa with 4 services in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. We had a beautiful girl, Ari, and her precious friend, Sabrina, approach us and offer us a tour of the church.
They then offered to take us out for lunch and we went to the cutest Italian restaurant while we are also joined by the amazing Sofia and Allison.
From Left to Right back row- Aryne, Emily-Ann, Tori, Shea, Fabienne, Mollie, Sarah, Sabrina, Sofia
From Left to Right front row- Ari and I
These girls shared their hearts with us as their dreams in just the few minutes we had met them. This is what it feels like to know your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Sofia, Sabrina, Ari and their dreams:
Sofia– Wants her own creative studio and to support the church with the use of it. Check out her amazing photography skills through her Instagram: sofiachicana
Sabrina– Sabrina is a pilot and she wants to use those skills to serve the Lord and she wants to continue working through the ministry of worship. She desires to be a wife and mother some day.
Ari– To work in ministry and to depend completely on God. She would like God to use her preaching in whatever position she can make known the word of God. She, too wants to be a wife and mother.
Allison– She is currently in law school, specializing in Business (Corporate) law. She loves to travel!
Allison, me, Sarah, and Fabienne
The girls also took us to a small Alpaca and Llama spot! So cute and fun!
Anyway, I am still learning a lot about recognizing the voice of the Lord and learning how to communicate with Him and to truly be still and listen to Him.
It has been difficult to not be “hands-on” with an assigned ministry because we don’t see those results that often help us measure our effectiveness.
But, through obedience, in trusting Him, in believing in God’s goodness I am seeing how “Life is ministry and ministry is life.”
I see God’s Kingdom in meeting sisters in Christ in a whole separate country and feeling at home. I see the Lord in the way I have been learning to fight for my teammates and my squad mates.
We sometimes expect God to show up in these movie moments in another nation but God is right here, right now, and always.
God shows up, often, in the smallest things. I have been pretty faithful in waking up at 5:45am every morning to practice Listening Prayer and have learned so much of His character through these small moments of obedience.
“No Christian has a special work to do. Our Lord calls to no special work: He calls to Himself.” -Oswald Chambers
Be on the lookout for a post on our time in Cusco in the next couple of days! Thank you for your understanding and support!
