Have you ever been to the desert? Have you ever lived in the desert for a period of time?
Just imagine sand… sand everywhere. On the ground, in the air, on the floors, on your clothes, on your feet. Basically, 24/7. Another thing: you know how after a long, hot day in the sun, going home to a nice, cool house sounds great? Yup, not at all a thing here in Peru.
Grateful to be pushed out of my comfort zone in these ways, too. Coming from a place where I have easy access to water, food, shelter with A/C, and transportation, I am absolutely loving the lifestyle of surrendering those comforts to God and seeing Him work in new ways.
^Conquering the land of Trujillo.
^Team Valor.
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This month, Sojourners’ Squad is in Peru. My team, team Valor, is in the city of Trujillo. In the desert.
We are working alongside the organization called Savage Ministries, which includes school, sports, and church ministry as well as weekly evangelism.
School ministry.
Our weekdays entail of assisting the teachers in the classrooms during the school days. We do everything from reading things out to the class in English, playing with the kids, helping the teachers with any type of activities, to cleaning up messes, mopping and sweeping the floors. If there is any way we can help the professor, we do such things. AKA, “see a need, fill a need.”
Our prayer is that through this ministry the children witness and experience the love that Jesus has for His children. We don’t know what their life is at home or what they have experienced in their life, but while they spend their time here at the school, we love on them and show them the love that Christ has first shown us and pray they come to know Christ in their lives as well.
^Rodrigo showing me his toys.
^Snack time.
^The girlys loved “Ring Around the Rosy.”
^My new buddy, Augustine.
Church ministry.
The team leads services on Wednesday evenings, which is filled with a testimony, a short message, and a sermon. Jen and I were even given the wonderful opportunity to sing a couple of songs this past week with the Ukulele and Accordion in Spanish: Great are You, Lord and My Lighthouse (Grande Eres Dios ii Mi Luz). Saturdays, we plan Vacation Bible School for later on that evening for the children at the church. After VBS, around 6:30, there is youth night, where we worship together as well as share a message with the youth. Sundays, we attend the church service in the morning and continue building the relationships with the members of the body.
It has been awesome getting to know the church community here in Trujillo. The youth and the adults are very kind and they love to try and speak English with us. Week after week, the relationships continue to grow and we pray that God continues to use us and to speak through us. Our hope is that the Holy Spirit touches hearts and continues to give them strength daily to serve Him, no matter the circumstances they face.
^Jen and I giving praise to God in Espanol.
Sports ministry.
Yes. This has been one of my most favorite parts of this month. I love sports and people so, yes, I am all in for this. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, we get together in the evenings with the people who live in the community and play volleyball for a couple of hours. Saturday mornings and other occasions, we play soccer. It has been an unforgettable experience to be able to be an example of Christ to the community around us by doing something that allows for personal interaction, relationships to be built, and to share the love of Christ to those who need to hear it.
As of now, most of the people we play with do not know Christ for themselves and our hope is that through this ministry, God stirs up hearts that desire to choose Christ. One of the girls in particular, “F”, she has been on our hearts. Two Sundays ago, we invited “F” to come to church with us on Sunday. She came. And she also came the following Sunday. This week it’s “F’s” birthday. The team and I will be giving her a Bible in Spanish. Our prayer is that she continues to have a thirst for what we have. For finding Christ. That God continues to soften her heart, open her eyes, and bring her to Him. Along with her, we pray that the others we are building relationships with in the community come to know their Savior.
Evangelism/ATL.
Wednesday’s before church service in the evening, our team goes with a few members of the church to evangelize in the community surrounding it for a couple of hours. Prior to setting out to evangelize we do ATL, which means “ask the Lord”. We take a few minutes and just sit in God’s presence and ask Him to reveal to us anything He wants. Whether it is some sort of direction as to who to approach, what to say to them, etc. It is incredible to see how He speaks to us and what He reveals to us. For example, this past week: one of my teammates saw a woman at a fruit stand. Guess what? First person person we encountered was a woman at a fruit stand, selling fruits. We stayed and talked to her. Her daughter came a few minutes later, and we found out that her daughter is a Christian, but she wasn’t. After speaking more to the both of them, we prayed for her and her family.
^Elderly woman we felt God calling us to go and speak to and pray for.
Other.
This past Friday, a medical team came to the school to provide free medical care to those who wanted to come. Children, youth, and adults from the community came and got a check-up.
Many of the adults that came had children that attended the school, so as they would approach the front of the line a few of us would go and gather the children from the classroom. FYI: It is amazing how many Peruvians assume I am an expert in Spanish, when it is not the case at all. It was so fun attempting to communicate with the parents with my broken Spanish to try and figure out who their child was so I could get them.
As each patient left, a few of us had the chance to pray for them. To pray for healing. Even though we didn’t witness something “miraculous” happen, I believe that the Holy Spirit touched lives that day through the prayers.
^Children getting checkup at the clinic.
^Praying for healing to our God who is the Healer.
Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
P.S. Stay tuned for a new blog post in the next 24 hours!
Soli Deo Gloria
