Peru: Day 4

Day 4 was very much the same as day 3, only in a much poorer village known as Chavin and, with probably twice the number of people seeking our help. We had so many come, in fact, we had to open up the eye glass clinic again the following morning just to serve everyone who registered with us! We were able to lead many people to Christ through the counseling tables and brought the day’s events to a wonderful close with another message from Pastor Tito. The warmth and friendship that these people show to each other, as well as to this group of outsiders coming into their homes, is truly amazing. Despite their less than ideal conditions, they open their homes and hearts to us without hesitation and it struck me that while we are trying to be of service to these people in the name of Christ, they too, are being of service to us with a humbleness that mirrors Christ beautifully and, it has truly been a joy to watch and be a part of!

 

Peru: Day 3

We began day 3 by setting up the stations for our clinics inside and in front of the home of Dennis and his wife, who are members of the church. They live in a village known as Brisas, which is about 45 min away from our guest house. The roads were paved in this community, which is very uncommon but makes such a huge difference in terms of appearance and overall upkeep of the neighborhoods. We "opened" the clinics around 9am and there was a steady flow of people all the way up until we broke for lunch around 1:00. As well as checking vision and handing out glasses, we had three counseling tables set up where a member from our team and an interpreter met with individuals and were able to speak with them about their relationship (or lack thereof) with Christ as well as lead them in prayer. Ashlyn and I were blessed to spend time with the children who, despite the language barriers, were so excited to participate in our activities. When we returned from lunch (WHICH WAS DELICIOUS) there was already a line of people waiting to be served and we continued doing so until around 5 pm. We then held a service for the community led by Pastor Tito and, what a beautiful time of fellowship and praise. Multiple people made decisions to give their lives to Christ that evening.

Peru: Day 2

The following day was the Sunday church service.  Attendance started out low and we attributed it to being Peru's National Independence Weekend celebration.  However, by the time we began worshiping practically every seat was filled.  Our team got to lead the congregation in two songs en Espanol and then Janice and Ashlyn both shared their testimonies.  Some technical difficulties turned what was originally meant to be a flute and piano duet into a flute solo featuring myself and I was beyond blessed and humbled to get that opportunity.  Dick gave an incredible message on our DNA and how we each have a physical DNA that gives us our unique characteristics but, we have a spiritual DNA as well, that makes us all brothers and sisters in Christ and heirs to the kingdom of Heaven.  Following the service some ladies from the church made a delicious lunch for us consisting of lots of chicken and rice and, fellowship with one another.  We ended the day by touring the city's local water park which features an array of masterfully designed fountains inside a luscious park. 

God saw fit to begin and end our first two days by demonstrating the timing which only He has.  As we were standing around the park exit trying to decide whether to wait another 40 minutes for the taxi we had negotiated with after dropping us off, to come pick us up, an Uber big enough to fit our entire team pulled up right in front of us.  The driver was familiar with the street we were trying to get to and was happy to give us a lift. 

Peru: Day 1

Greetings from Peru! God blessed us with a mostly uneventful trip both to Miami and Lima as well as with a very swift baggage claim in Lima... praise God!  We came with 8 duffel bags full of gifts for the locals and supplies for ministry and all 8 were already waiting for us when we made it to baggage claim. Some members of the church were waiting to welcome us when we arrived in Lima - with handmade signs and all - and the excitement on their faces was precious. 

After a night's rest in our beautiful guest house, we hit the town for some breakfast at a local McDonald's and then some grocery shopping at Lima's, equivalent to WalMart, which is known as Wong's.  God showed His provisions, yet again, during that outing as we were blessed by an English-speaking local in front of us in line at McDonald's who helped us make our orders.

The church sent a van to pick us up from the guest house at 3:00 and took us to the church for a night of games and bible study with the children and youth.  There were about 30 children in all and we were able to give each one of them a “Game On” t-shirt from this year's VBS, which they all loved.  The youth had a much lower turnout but that ended up making things more intimate which I think we all enjoyed.  Then three teenage boys all prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior that night thanks to the counsel and coaching of Chris and Dick and their interpreter Eloy.

Alaska: Day 5

What a day! The team went to the new facility for Kingdom Air Corp in Palmer. Kingdom Air Corp trains those that are called to the mission field to fly into the remote areas to spread the Gospel. They train them to fly and fix mechanical problems with their planes. The new hanger will help to keep the planes warm in the freezing, Alaska winters. Kingdom Air Corp also created and runs Brook Range Bible Camp. They fly in to 11 villages to pick up children that want to attend the camp. What a great ministry.

 

Alaska: Day 4

Happy 4th of July from Whittier, Alaska! Today we helped serve the town of Whittier and their Chamber of Commerce by prepping lunch, setting up tables and a bounce house and face painting for the kids. We then helped serve lunch to around 350 people. We did a little site seeing in the way back to Anchorage and actually got to see a new iceberg that showed up just for us!