Hello! Well, I left off my last blog with the end of our first ministry in Peru – working through YWAM Lima in Ventanilla with Gospel Church. To continue the journey….the last week and a half in Lima were definitely full of adventure!! My team started flying solo working with Gracelife Church Lima (a church plant of Gracelife Church based in Baltimore, MD) in various ministries they run in the Callao area of Lima. We started on Friday with small teams walking around a mall in Callao just trying to talk to people, hear their stories, and invite them to any or all of the ministry events over the weekend which were a bazar (garage sale), english class, and/or church. On Saturday, in the morning, we played with kids who live at a home/center for children with AIDS. In the afternoon, we helped the Gracelife team prep and run the bazar and english class, both of which were hosted at a local Christian school called Creation of God.
That following week, one day we sanded and re-stained all the desks at Creation of God school. It seemed like no big thing – just a little sanding and painting. But actually, the school has been open and run by a family for 15 years and she said that we were the first team to do this for them. I could have mis-understood but if that’s true, I’m so glad we were able to take a couple of hours and bless them in that way. The next morning back at the school, we were able to connect with some of the kids from the neighborhood. They come there during the week in the summer (this is their summer) for extra studying time. We just sat and talked for a while, I learned ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ in spanish….and do I remember it now? Nope. We danced, played, made thanksgiving ‘turkey’ hands, and just had a great time. Later that day, we went down the street to a nursing home that looked basically like a big house with about 15 or so residents. We visited, danced, even acted out the story of Noah…..but the biggest hit of the day: tic-tac-toe:) Wrapping up our ministry time in Lima: on Friday we visited malls again talking to people, Saturday we helped with the bazar and english class, and on Sunday helped during the Gracelife church service.
While I enjoyed most everything we had the privilege to do for ministry in Lima and Ventanilla, I think I thoroughly enjoyed getting to help with the english class the most. And anytime I got to just sit and practice english with people we met along the way. And a personal victory in randomly talking to two young women in Starbucks while we were walking around the malls. They ended up not coming to english class or church that weekend but it was fun encouraging them in their dreams and just listening to their story for the short time we talked.
And to continue the trend of new experience whole throwing in some epic adventure, I took the plunge and went with some of my squad to Machu Picchu:)….it was probably one of the most intense, challenging experiences I have ever done so far in my life. But it was incredibly rewarding to see this place that has yet to be fully explained nestled in the beautiful mountain jungle of Peru.
But I don’t want to deceive anyone, there were times while in Lima that weren’t so fun or exciting. But I fully believe I was with my team here for a very specific reason. I think being here taught us to be content with what we are asked to do even if it seems trivial or unproductive. I know for me the only way to get through ministry some days is to have faith that God is always sovereign. He can/will use what He has asked us to do even if we are long gone when our efforts come to fruition. At least that is my hope and prayer….that’s all I’ve got for now. Bye Peru!
