Okay, the long awaited ministry update from my time in the village of Nauta, Peru! Our squad (27 racers) lived on a barge for 10 days. We had all of our meals on board and we ventured off the boat for our ministry times. Some of the main ministries were a VBS program for the children, a Youth Group program for the adolescents, Church services, home visits, and many personal relational ministries. So as one of 27 servants those 10 days, here’s what I was up to:
VBS took all 27 of us to unite together and run a program for roughly 100 kids. We played games, made crafts, acted dramas, memorized verses, and played in rain storms. It was a blast to share Jesus’ love to the delicate children and even brought interest into some of the families to see what we were upto and what us “gringo’s” were upto in the church.
Being a former “Youth Pastor” (so professional I know!) or youth worker, I had a hand in the Youth Ministry we ran. Many of us shared testimonies, we played ice breaker games, did skits, and had gender specific discussions. It was so cool to see the youth come alive in their walk with Jesus and want to learn more. I took alot out of the meetings myself.
Sports were a big thing for me as well. From random soccer games on the street with kids to playing volleyball with homosexuals to organizing basketball games with my teammates, I got my sports fix! The people love to play sports and it’s such a tool to get involved with them and bring Jesus’ love in a subtle and unique way.
Being a very relational person, I had the opportunity to befriend a young fellow named Isai. He was a pastor’s son in another small church. I had the privilege to be able to spend alot of my evenings with him and get to know him. He was a Christ follower and has many dreams for missions work. I learned alot from him in his struggle to make sense of his life and his calling to ministry. I thank the Lord for my little bit of broken spanish to be more than enough to converse with Isai. A true blessing to my time in Nauta full of illness.
So that’s a brief synopsis of what my ministry looked like. There were many gaps in that schedule as I was often exhausted, sick, and dealing with an ear infection. So God’s grace for me to be able to reach out still was a blessing and I praise Him for that!
