Moving On Up

After the medical clinics I got sick – go figure, and then Wendy did as well.  Getting back into the business of visiting the many contacts that we received through the clinics has proved to be a little more difficult than we’d hoped, but we’ve got good news nonetheless.  We’ve started visiting folks and the clinic is proving fruitful for people who want to follow through with discipleship.  We moved our kid’s class from the yard of a family on the back side of the hill to a public park near the locale where we held the clinic in Socabaya.  We had 17 kids!  The adults have been a little fickle lately, other than a steady contact that just gave birth and isn’t meeting with us for the time being.  I hope that this news changes for the better as we begin to meet in the locale which we will have at our disposal every Monday afternoon from 3-6pm.  We only have to pay 10 soles a month to cover the use of electricity.  How exciting!  We’ll drop of the official document for use of the locale tomorrow, Monday the 19^th with the President of the community.  Please pray for all that lies ahead.

We Go Where The Doors Open

It's been quite awhile since we last blogged about José Bustamante y Rivero...and that's because things were growing in our other districts, but none of the events that we tried in JByR really elicited much of a response.  We prayed about it for quite some time and even did some work in JByR at the same time in another district (Socabaya) at the same time to see what would open up.  After a couple months like this, neither area had really taken off, but what has been developing since the May impact teams is the family we've been visiting on dirt mountain - which is technically Socabaya, but just past the Hunter district line.  It's much closer than the other part of Socabaya where we had been visiting a contact from a festival in Paucarpata.  After an impact event at her house and a medical clinic, we managed to have a cell group with 9 adults and 8 children...and then the doors started to close.  It's really far out, so we were only, and will probably continue to visit for awhile, just one day a week.

On "dirt mountain" we've grown from 3 women and 8 children to 5 women, a teenager, and now 13 kids.  There are other contacts that are interested, but we're just trying to figure out timing.  We also decided to add another afternoon to visit there, being that it's just a little past Hunter and easy to work out bein in both of the districts. We'll also be doing a medical clinic there on August 5th with the team that is coming down from Idaho.

What has been the neatest thing for me, is teaching these women.  Wendy teaches the kids and I teach the adults - half can read and some only at a basic level and the other half not at all.  All speak spanish as well as the native Incan language of Quechua, making some of their homes bilingual.  Thank the Lord, we now have the help of the 40/40 missionaries that are going to Paraguay until January with this group that is growing.  I have the privilege to read in two languages, when some can't even read in one, as well as the privilege tp share with these women who have never read, therefore never read the Bible, about the love of Christ.  Many things that are common knowledge to even non-believing North Americans, are new information to these ladies.  I always walk away with a full heart. 
There are some that are believers, but more a long the lines of a faith that is also placed in idols - statues of virgins that represent those that were once good-doing nuns.  Others are thirsty to learn and appreciative of our lessons, but have not accepted Christ yet.  Please be praying for all of them.  Please also pray for the medical clinic, that will be a week from tomorrow and that more contacts will be made - opening more doors on dirt mountain.

DIOS llega a la gente en formas que solo ellos pueden entender

Developing Slowly

Celebration Service

What a great evening!  Wendy and I, will the help and support of our church family, support family, and members of the office held our very first combined service for our 3 church plant areas.  The objective was to celebrate with them in their new way of living, help them to know all the folks in their district and give certificates to the seventeen people who completed a series of lessons about Christian basics.  Wendy prepared two slideshows, one that dated back to Love Extreme – which initiated our ministry, and one that contains photos and videos from our impacts and cell groups.  It was really cool to see all that has occurred over the past year.  We had band for worship for the first time in a long time at the church, a saxophone special, a drama, and I preached for the first time in my life…in Spanish.  I’ve spoken in front of hundreds of people, shared my testimony several times, given devotionals to small groups, but this was the first time that I preached and it was probably in front of 50 people or so.  After the service we had sandwiches and snacks, watched one of the slideshows and mingled.  It was such a great night.  Here are photos from the service.  Thanks to everyone who helped out!

Coming Together

Jose Bustamante may have been the sector of Arequipa that we had done the least in before the holidays.  It'a much more developed and urbanized than our other sectors: Paucarpata & Hunter.  Just before the holidays we were able to officially start a cell group at the jungle restaurant.  We have 3 teenagers.  When we returned after the holidays we showed up and Juanita had forgotten about our meeting, so we left an invitation for the installation service of our new pastor with her father.  The new pastor is an answer to prayer and a huge blessing.  I'll probably write about that in my personal blog: http://www.journeywithvanessa.blogspot.org/. Anyway, the whole family came to church the Sunday and went to the altar to pray.  Since then they've returned and we will continue meeting with them this Friday at the restaurant.

At the end of the installation service we met with Nepthali, a middle-aged dentist that went to a spiritual retreat held by the district and for a while was attending the church in Zamacola...where we live.  He had been traveling a bit and hadn't been to Zamacola for awhile and our friend's Gladys & Ruben are no longer meeting with him to disciple him.  Zamacola is about an hour away by combi from where he lives in JByR.  Our church in Umacolla is much closer and he lives only blocks away from the restaurant.  We met with him for the first time last week, learned more about him and the area.  He will have 3-4 people with him the next week and is very excited.  We won't unite the two cell groups just yet because of the age difference, but it looks as though it's a great start to a small church.  Nepthali also lives near a park that will be perfect for a community impact. 

We're thinking about teaching English as a way to connect with the community.  There are many students that have to learn English in their primary and secondary schools, as well as many students attending institutes.  Because the area is upper middle class (for Peru) the tactics that typically work in poorer areas may not be as effective.  Join us in praying for the groups that are beginning to grow in Jose Bustamante y Rivero and for future relationships to be built in the surrounding area, as well as our impact event that will be in April.