Peru Day 3

The Home Stretch…

Today was our final full day of ministry. As the groups entered into the mission field for one last time, their focus was on leaving their pastors and nationals with all of the tools that would be needed to carry on the work when we are gone.

As we look back on our week we have to ask ourselves a question…are we leaving behind a legacy? We have two choices when it comes to the spiritual lives of others; we can either be a blessing or a curse. I believe that we can honestly asses our work here in Camana, Peru and say that we gave our all to serve the people of this land. We have invested our time, talents and treasures into things that will continue to pay eternal dividends. Today we passed the torch and at the end of the day, we can say that we fought the good fight, finished the race and claimed the crown that is in Christ Jesus. As we watch our nationals and pastors take the reigns we can humbly proclaim that we choose to be a blessing for life.

One great example of equipping the nationals happened this evening at the daily discipleship training meeting. Two 16 year old boys showed up for the first time. They joined a small circle of teenagers, who were sitting and listening to testimonies from the North American teenagers. They appeared to be skeptical of what they were hearing. They snickered and whispered to each other frequently. When the leader of the circle would ask them direct questions they would usually not answer, but laugh together instead.

Pushing ahead, the leader asked one the North Americans to go ahead and share the cube with the boys. The N. A. teen did so reluctantly due to the disruptiveness being shown by the Peruvian teens. Peer pressure knows no cultural boundaries I guess. After the cube was shared, these two did agree to pray a prayer of acceptance, though even that was done with some snickers. After the prayer, more testimony was being shared, when one of the boys reached out, took the cube, and began playing with it. When the leader asked for it back, the boy acted like he was going to keep it. He was then challenged by the leader. He was asked what he would do with a cube if he had one. He answered that he would share with his friends. He was then told, “If you can share that cube, correctly telling the story of Christ’s resurrection, with us, then you can keep it. Well you can imagine our surprise when he told the story and used the cube like a pro. He did keep it and we truly believe that he will share what he heard with his friends and family.

God continues to who us how He continues to draw people to Himself in unexpected ways. This was just one story from 6 different mission points, so as you can imagine, if we chose to tell them all it would take days to read. We hope these few stories we share, display to you God’s heart for the people here and that your prayers for the area of Camana are being answered.

Please continue to pray as we wrap up with church plants for the final day of ministry. We will be continuing with follow-up discipleship visits in new believer’s homes. This evening at the closing rally, we will completely pass the torch to the church leaders and nationals. Encouraging them to continue the work that has begun, we trust the Lord’s hand as they invest in building Christ into lives of the people.

In Him,

The Peru Team