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.

I Discovered What Happened to all the Dinosaurs

Last week Wendy and I headed out to José Bustamente y Rivero to get acquainted with the area, for we knew very little about it.  When we stopped by the church down the street, to figure out which combis we would need, we ran into my out language school professor, Manola.  He's been offered a teaching position through Extreme with the new folks training here in Arequipa for the projects in Columbia and Lima.  He just so happens to live in JB.  Word! 

So he not only told us which combis to take, but also the economic and social status of our three territories.  He then said that of course, we would plan soon to do dinner at his house as a group.  He accepted Christ after Love Extreme, but I'm not sure that he continues to attend church.  I plan to put the pressure on for a cell group in his house.  :)

With his advice, we left for JB, got there quite easily and began to explore.  We knew we had entered JB when we saw the park with all the Dinosaurs...

Later we walked to the municiple center to begin the process of seeking permission for impact events.  On the way, we came across a restaurant that makes typical northern peruvian jungle dishes.  It also belongs to a family that has more recently stopped attending the Umacolla church after the death of Pastor Genero.  We stopped to talk to Juanita and let her know we'd be working in the area.  She's a beautiful, tall and poised 15 year old that seems older than her age.  I think that she will be a good source of energy behind a cell group.   Join us in praying for this family and Manolo's family that we can use their homes and lives as gateways into JB.

JB is a population of upper middle class, which will make people a little more hesitant to respond to the impacts or even to the message at times, than normally happens in the poorer areas.  But like we saw with Manolo during language school, you can have a nice home and a good job, a great family, but you can still feel empty and not want to seek a filling of drugs or alcohol.  With the sophistication and organization of the upper middle class, we found that the processes will be a little more complicated than in Hunter, but it is well organized and not biased in the direction of any one religion or against religion and therefore we only have to follow a specific process to get the permission we need.  It will be very different working in JB than in Hunter and Paucarpata, but I'm very interested to see what God has in store for JB and how he will work in and change the lives of the people there. 

José Bustamante y Nieves eres ordenado y limpio

DESDE:WENDY 

Es un lugar muy muy bonito, ordenado, tranquilo, muchos lugares bonitos que conocer ese día estuvimos en el Parque de los Dinosaurios es muy bonito para pasar tiempo con amigos, niños, familia, etc.

El viernes nos enteramos que Manolo el profesor de idiomas de Vanessa vive allí, ella estuvo bromeando con el por qué lo encontramos en le centro distrital sobre una célula en su casa y el reía y dijo vamos a ver, pero sabemos y vamos a orar y pedimos su ayuda en oración por una célula en la casa de Manolo también el José Bustamante y Rivero vive una amiga mía llamada Juanita que tiene un restaurant con comida de la selva y ella está muy feliz porque vamos trabajar en esa zona.

Fue también este lugar donde recibí medicina de Dios a través de consejos y palabras muy sabias de Vanessa ahora estoy muy feliz libre de temores, preocupaciones e ideas que no estaban bien gracias Dios te amo…………………… por ser mi padre de amor, cariñoso, misericordioso, perdonador, etc ,  etc ,etc, etc.

Bienvenida to the Blog about Bustamantinos

Bustamantinos, are the people of José Bustamante y Rivero, who will make up one of our future church plants.  Wendy and I will be exploring JByR on Friday to learn more about the area, the people, to find the Municiple center to begin conversations about permission for impact events, and to pray for the ministry that will happen there.  Please join us in prayer for a specific vision for His kingdom come in JByR.