Thank you, Westgate!!

This is Christen writing here.... I wanted to share a picture and some stories I am hearing...
The last day of camp the Westgate team got to pass the microphone down and share why they came... easy, right? Simple.... BUT POWERFUL! Here is the word on the street...
"Gringos came to serve US? They spent THEIR money to wash dishes and clean toilets? They loved US without knowing us??" I have now heard about 3 people who came to the closing time, the "say-so" (Let the redeemed of the Lord say so) where testimonies were shared and after hearing Johanna, Marissa and a couple of the guys share a little about what they learned and why they wanted to come, gave their hearts to Jesus. The testimony of Jesus was so real in Westgate peoples' lives that they wanted to know Him too! As I type I have tears rolling down my cheeks... these kids that met Jesus aren't just some kids to me. They are my neighbors and my friends! They are kids who I see daily and now I see with a new light in their eyes!

Westgate, THANK YOU!!! Thank you for giving, for sending, for loving, and for having such a fragrance of Jesus that people want to know him when they are with you guys!!

Saints 31, Colts 17!!

Church this morning was fabulous. Lots of college students, 2 other visiting mission’s teams besides us and great fellowship among believers. Then, of all things, Chinese food for lunch! Apparently there are big Chinese communities in Peru and great Chinese restaurants throughout the country! The rest of the early afternoon was spent at the Incan Market with some serious bargaining and Peruvian treasures that needed to be had.
The best part of the day was at Doris’ home, the Swiss woman that owns the Refugio we visited yesterday. She has 11 adopted children all under the age of 11, with a set of triplets and a set of twins amongst the group. We brought new shoes for these 11 and the 5 at the Refugio and lots of candy! Her home is wonderful and perfectly set up for children. We played with them, broke bread and took lots of pictures, all of which were a delight for them to see. It was amazing to watch the men on our team laughing and playing with mostly a preschool audience and the kids really connected with them. Running around the playhouse, throwing balls in and around the ball pit, it was priceless.
It was then getting close to the Super Bowl hour and Christen suggested that we try to get to a sports bar to watch the game. The football fans in the group were overjoyed. However, by the time we arrived at the venue every American in Peru had already arrived. It just so happened that one of the YL team was meeting us there to drop off some photos and he invited us back to the home of the YL Activity Director for tacos. What a treat that was, to spend the evening on the roof top of a Peruvian home, watching football and visiting with some fabulous Christian brothers and sisters!! During half time some of the girls escaped to drop off the remainder of the surgical masks to the Govt. orphanage that we prayed for last week. The quarantine should have been lifted early in the week but 4 workers came down with H1N1 while we were gone. This new development will now extend the quarantine to Feb 21st. It’s been a month since anyone has left the building. I take that back, 2 workers left early on and were fired for abandoning their jobs. When we asked what else they might need, they requested some fruit. The food rations they’re receiving are filling their bellies but it’s also stopping them up. Something some of us would love to experience at this point! So, tomorrow we’re going to one of the open air markets and buying up their entire stock of papayas and mandarin oranges to deliver by lunch, thanks to WestGate’s generosity!

Tomorrow is our debrief day at a resort close by. Swimming, lunch, praying and getting are minds wrapped around all that God has done on this trip. Please pray for our travels home, and pray for the Govt orphanage as they continue their vigil.

See you soon, Cindy

El Refugio

Today we visited a sweet bunch of elementary age kids at the Pachacutec Refugio in an area outside Lima. It was a squatter’s community where people have set up their homes using tin, cardboard, or if their lucky, brick to build their dwelling. The Refugio is home to 5 little ones but is a safe haven for up to 60 who find food and fun everyday offered by loving Swiss and Peruvian women. We were able to spend the day with the older kids playing games, creating cards for their loved ones and telling them how much God loves them. Our cameras were the high light of the day. We would take pictures and they would play them back, looking at themselves and their friends with such joy and laughter. Something so simple and without any language barrier. All of us are picking up a few phrases and catch words but are saddened to not be able to carry on meaningful conversations. We’re praying that the Holy Spirit is interceding for us and that His message is coming out loud and clear.

The poverty that we saw today was heavy on our hearts but the joy that these kids expressed helped to take the sting away. Many of our team is already beginning to talk about coming back. Some have even talked to Christen about some long term ideas, resource gathering and relationship building. Bob and I are blown away by the response and commitment this team has begun to develop here in Peru. God is showing us the tremendous heart for serving that He’s given our team and is allowing them to dream big dreams for Him. Please pray that as we come home this experience won’t be swallowed up by the “things” that might get in the way.

After dinner most of the team went over to one of the Young Life Clubs to surprise the kids that had been at camp. They were so happy to see them. They thought they would never see “those gringos” again. What a treat for our Peruvian friends and it was good closure for our team. We then stayed in the rest of the night at the Catholic Retreat Center that we’ve been staying at and had a killer game night. Catch Phrase was the game of choice and quite lively at that!

Tomorrow will be a sleep in day, church at 11am and perhaps some sightseeing. We’ll be attending a North American Church that started as a Home Church for Calvary College students studying in Peru. It’s exploded over the past few years and is now used by Peruvians to practice their English skills, and surprise, hear the gospel at the same time! We’re looking forward to some back home worship and some English conversations!

Talk with you soon, Cindy

Been The Done That Got the T Shirt

We’re back n Lima tonight, tired, burnt and some of us under the weather. A little bit of too much sun and the South American water, if you get what I mean! Our time at camp with the kids was amazing. There were 48 Peruvian kids from a poor section of Lima that attended. Young Life leaders had been building relationships with these kids over the school year and they were looking so forward to camp. Young Life is all about relationships, building a friendship and trust in the kids so that when the gospel is presented discipleship can happen. Twenty eight kids accepted Christ by the end of the week and the camp was celebrating! The cool part is that each of the tent leaders will still have contact with their kids back home to continue to help them grow in their faith.

During our stay at camp we developed some great friendships with the Infrastructure team and the kids. We washed breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes for 92 people everyday (note to families, no dish duty at home for awhile, please!!) and monitored the bathrooms for the mounds of sand that the kids drug in from the beach each day. Our men also did Night Duty, which happened in 3 hour shifts, keeping watch over the camp. This was a sacrifice but as Joey put it one morning, a special blessing to have spent an evening one on one with a Peruvian talking about life and spiritual things. He pulled out his iPhone one night and showed him pictures of his goofy sisters and trips he had taken to Boston and SF. He was worried that he might be boasting but Christin assured him that by sharing his life he was giving his friend a vision and a hope, of something he might be able to do someday. This is something that the Peruvians have lost since the Terrorists of the 1990’s have come and gone. The bonds they made with those men were priceless and an encouragement for them both.

Bob gave us devotion the other day that helped to put into words what we all have been feeling as we’ve ministered to the YL team and kids. It was titled “Been there, Done that, Got the Tshirt”. He was describing how God “gave” starting in the beginning, through the fall, and then at the cross. He showed us that as a response to that we are to give, and we do that in many ways. But as we’ve worked hard at this camp, in the heat and in the dirtiest of jobs, that the sweat on our “Go” tshirts would be a sweet fragrance to God as we leave. That picture of our shirts and the stench we carry on them really came to life and caused us all to consider never washing our tshirts in order to remember the tremendous opportunity God had given us to be His hands and feet.

Off to an orphanage tomorrow, soccer for the boys and Valentine cards for the girls!!
Talk with you soon.