WOW

Peru was awesome!! Thanks for all of your prayers!!

This is what it boils down to... the Peruvian people think that we are wealthy because of the material things that we possess but we saw them as wealthy because of the type of loving community that they have. We were asked repeatedly, "What do you think of our town?" Our immediate response was to tell them they had a beautiful town. After they returned a skeptical look, we would explain that the people of the town made it beautiful. Their smiling faces made us forget we were in the middle of the desert. And though they had much less in a material sense, they were rich in family, community, kindness, and gentleness.

Hace Frio!
You might be surprised to hear that the temperatures in Peru only reached about 65 during the day and got down close to 40 at night. It was their winter season. So, we got as much use out of our long sleeve tee's and sweatshirts as anything else. It was actually quite amusing though. I spent most days in a short sleeve tee or a polo as we were visiting the people in the community. But the Peruvians would come out like they were bundled up for a snowstorm -- hats, gloves, heavy sweaters, etc. I felt like a real tough guy. I guess those cold PA winters are good for something!

Inspiration from Below the Equator
The church that we worked with this week is actually a church plant in the town of Laderas de Chillon, a suburb to the city of Lima. Spending time with Pastor Guillermo and his family was encouraging to Laurie and I. Their excitement for what God is doing through this church plant got us really energized for SRC. Although "Iglesia de Vina" in Laderas has had it's share of growing pains, the overhwelming sentiment of the church and it's community is one of passionate expectancy!

Relational Leadership
My greatest concern at the halfway point of the week was the feeling of ineffectiveness. I felt like there wasn't much I could do in 9 days to really make an impact on this city. It just seemed like there was so much need and not enough time or resources to meet those needs. All of that changed on Friday when I spent the whole morning with Pastor Guillermo as we went door-to-door in the community. As we went about the town and got to know the people, I got to see his heart for the people and his concern for their well-being. I felt completely comforted knowing that the work we did in those 9 days would be carried on in the weeks and months to come. Having a relational leader like PG to lead this church gave us great confidence that the lives that were touched during our ministry there would have a great place to grow in their faith.

I have the same kind of confidence in Pastor Ben and I can hardly wait to get involved in ministry with him and all of you in the upcoming months. It is a great thing to have a humble, relational, and encouraging pastor to lead this church. Be encouraged Ben! I have great faith in you and fully believe that God is using you to build His work at SRC!

Su Madre
Ok, so you know I couldn't let this whole blog go off and not say something off the wall... One of our translators sold soccer jerseys as a side job. He took the orders early in the week and personalized each jersey to our specifications. So, each person chose what they wanted to have on the back of their jersey. Some went with their last name. Some used somebody else's. Initials were popular. I even convinced one kid to just put ?Donde estoy? (Where am I?) on the back of his jersey. I almost had myself convinced to put "Backing Up" or "How am I walking? Call 214-6119 for compliments or concerns" but finally decided that the title of this section would be most appropriate, "Su Madre", which of course means... Your Mom.