The Peru team made it safely home to Ocala just a little bit ago. Thanks for following the blog and praying for the team.
Stay tuned to the blog to follow the Canada Mission Team as they travel July 2 - 6.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Here in Lima...
Our team has arrived in Lima after a long, long journey down and up and down and up and down and up the mountains. We realized during the travel through the mountains, with the help of a gps, that we left our villages with an altitude of almost 11,000 feet to climb mountains a little under 15,000 feet.
We continue to pray for our summer missionaries that we left behind in the villages. It was hard to leave them but at the same time it was very exciting to wonder what God is already doing through them. It has been a privilege to spend time with David, Kelly, Kim and Shane. God put together an incredible group of young people and we believe that He will use them in mighty ways this summer.
Our plane leaves around 11:30 tomorrow night. We would appreciate you praying that we are able to rest well during the all night flight. We will arrive at noon on Monday and then we will all be back at work on Tuesday.
Thanks again for your prayers!
We continue to pray for our summer missionaries that we left behind in the villages. It was hard to leave them but at the same time it was very exciting to wonder what God is already doing through them. It has been a privilege to spend time with David, Kelly, Kim and Shane. God put together an incredible group of young people and we believe that He will use them in mighty ways this summer.
Our plane leaves around 11:30 tomorrow night. We would appreciate you praying that we are able to rest well during the all night flight. We will arrive at noon on Monday and then we will all be back at work on Tuesday.
Thanks again for your prayers!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Another good day.
Please pray for our team in the morning – if you get up early! At 6AM (7AM Florida time) the summer missionaries will introduce themselves to Cabana through the public address system that is heard throughout the village. Can you imagine 4 college age summer missionaries getting up at 5:15 to do this? They must be called of God!
We continue to see God open doors and build relationships. It has been a very, very good week. It has also been a hard week as we all struggle through what it means to reach this village with the Gospel. Please pray that God helps us all to focus on Him and the ways that He works. It can all be very overwhelming at times.
The team from FBC will start the drive home tomorrow after lunch. We will try to go about halfway and then stop for the night. Please pray for us as we travel – a couple of the folks are still struggling physically and we are hopeful that they feel better for the trip to Lima.
We continue to see God open doors and build relationships. It has been a very, very good week. It has also been a hard week as we all struggle through what it means to reach this village with the Gospel. Please pray that God helps us all to focus on Him and the ways that He works. It can all be very overwhelming at times.
The team from FBC will start the drive home tomorrow after lunch. We will try to go about halfway and then stop for the night. Please pray for us as we travel – a couple of the folks are still struggling physically and we are hopeful that they feel better for the trip to Lima.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Wow...
We have just finished witnessing God work in some amazing ways. Your prayers are having a huge impact in this village!
This evening we are in awe of how God is opening doors here in Cabana. The summer missionaries were discussing what they needed to do next and Shane Hess said, “it would be great if we could announce over the loud speaker that we are going to have a Bible Study. A few minutes later the summer missionaries spoke with a lady who had inquired what they were doing. They shared that they are missionaries who are hear to share spiritual knowledge from the Bible. She said that she would be interested in the Bible Studies (wanting to know when they were going to begin) and just happen to say that she thought it would be good if they announced it over the loud speaker system that the entire community hears. She can make it happens since she owns ½ of it!
The team also met with others who are interested in the Bible Study and were actually pushing the summer missionaries to say when the studies would begin. This is all happening much faster than anyone has anticipated!
There is a great sense of openness here in Cabana to our presence. We believe that God is causing that to happen and we are praying that he will help these Bible Studies to begin soon with the people that He is calling.
Please pray for us all to have God’s wisdom and strength. It is a privilege to be here and we thank you for partnering with us by praying for us and leaving comments on the blog.
This evening we are in awe of how God is opening doors here in Cabana. The summer missionaries were discussing what they needed to do next and Shane Hess said, “it would be great if we could announce over the loud speaker that we are going to have a Bible Study. A few minutes later the summer missionaries spoke with a lady who had inquired what they were doing. They shared that they are missionaries who are hear to share spiritual knowledge from the Bible. She said that she would be interested in the Bible Studies (wanting to know when they were going to begin) and just happen to say that she thought it would be good if they announced it over the loud speaker system that the entire community hears. She can make it happens since she owns ½ of it!
The team also met with others who are interested in the Bible Study and were actually pushing the summer missionaries to say when the studies would begin. This is all happening much faster than anyone has anticipated!
There is a great sense of openness here in Cabana to our presence. We believe that God is causing that to happen and we are praying that he will help these Bible Studies to begin soon with the people that He is calling.
Please pray for us all to have God’s wisdom and strength. It is a privilege to be here and we thank you for partnering with us by praying for us and leaving comments on the blog.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Day 1 in Cabana
We made it into Cabana today and we have continued to see God at work all around us. When you come into town the rooms at the hostel are available to those who arrive first. We were able to find rooms for everyone and the summer missionaries were able to get rooms right next door to each other. To our great surprise, they had upgraded one of the rooms which now has its own bathroom – with hot water. The two young ladies serving on our summer missionary team were awarded the room. That indeed was a treasure – the toilet even has a seat – very uncommon for the villages!
We were able to reconnect with people that we met on our earlier trips. This is critical to the strategy of building relationships. They seemed pleased that we returned. One relationship that shows great potential is with the local banker. He was happy that we had returned and has offered to help the summer missionaries if they are in any need during the summer. He actually gave me a hug when he was leaving – again this has been very uncommon during our previous trips.
We prayer-walked through the village this afternoon and God opened some great doors for the team. The principal of the secondary school was standing outside the gate to the school when we were walking by and he invited us inside. I reminded him of our previous trips and he remembered us, too. He asked for help with teaching the students English and then asked what else we could help with. We offered to help teach English by using stories from the Bible. He is going to meet with the teachers and officials on Friday to find out what we can help with. Please join us in praying that God opens that door for the summer missionaries.
Shane, David, Kim and Kelly make up the summer missionary team. Our team is working at helping them settle for the summer but we are also learning from them. Please continue to pray that God will use all of us in reaching the people here with the Gospel.
We were able to reconnect with people that we met on our earlier trips. This is critical to the strategy of building relationships. They seemed pleased that we returned. One relationship that shows great potential is with the local banker. He was happy that we had returned and has offered to help the summer missionaries if they are in any need during the summer. He actually gave me a hug when he was leaving – again this has been very uncommon during our previous trips.
We prayer-walked through the village this afternoon and God opened some great doors for the team. The principal of the secondary school was standing outside the gate to the school when we were walking by and he invited us inside. I reminded him of our previous trips and he remembered us, too. He asked for help with teaching the students English and then asked what else we could help with. We offered to help teach English by using stories from the Bible. He is going to meet with the teachers and officials on Friday to find out what we can help with. Please join us in praying that God opens that door for the summer missionaries.
Shane, David, Kim and Kelly make up the summer missionary team. Our team is working at helping them settle for the summer but we are also learning from them. Please continue to pray that God will use all of us in reaching the people here with the Gospel.
Pictures from Andamarca
Our team at lunch - minus David.
A precious little girl sitting on the sidewalk.
Shane getting ready to share with the assembly. 
Andrew - our man of peace.Our plans vs. God's plans
Our team ended up spending another day in Andamarca. One of our Summer Missionaries, David Jacola from Ocala, got sick and had a fever for part of the day. He is doing much better. We were all encouraged by him today as he endured the sickness without ever complaining. Please continue to pray for us all as we adjust to the altitude and different food.
We woke up yesterday morning with the plan of resting a little so that we would hopefully be strong for the rest of the week. We were going to leave for Cabana around lunch time. God, however, had a very different set of plans for our day.
We were standing outside of our hostel when a man walked up and said (in English), “Hello, my name is Andrew. I am the English teacher at the secondary school and would like for you to come and speak to my students. I am a Christian like you.” I asked him what he would like for us to do and he responded, “talk about God.” Well that was pretty obvious! You don’t hesitate in those moments to respond to God’s activity. We made arrangements to meet a short while later to go teach his English class.
When we arrived at the secondary school we were ushered into a meeting with the principal and all of the teachers. They welcomed us with the typical welcome here and thanked us for coming. As we walked outside of the room we realized that they had brought the entire school out to hear from us. There were around 200 students standing ready to hear from the gringos.
Shane Hess had agreed to share in the English class so he stepped up and shared a story about Creation and God’s provision of Jesus for all of us. He did a great job! We were able to share the Gospel with over 200 people on our very first morning.
We spent the rest of the day interacting with the people in the village. We found a few of the people that we had created prayer cards for so it was great to let them know that they are being prayed for by people in the United States. It was encouraging to find that the people do remember us from the other visits and that we are building relationships and trust that will help us as we share the Gospel.
We appreciate all of your prayers and comments. They encourage us more than we can express with these words. Please continue to pray for our focus, strength and wisdom as we walk through the days. Please also pray for our families at home – they are all missed more than they know!
We woke up yesterday morning with the plan of resting a little so that we would hopefully be strong for the rest of the week. We were going to leave for Cabana around lunch time. God, however, had a very different set of plans for our day.
We were standing outside of our hostel when a man walked up and said (in English), “Hello, my name is Andrew. I am the English teacher at the secondary school and would like for you to come and speak to my students. I am a Christian like you.” I asked him what he would like for us to do and he responded, “talk about God.” Well that was pretty obvious! You don’t hesitate in those moments to respond to God’s activity. We made arrangements to meet a short while later to go teach his English class.
When we arrived at the secondary school we were ushered into a meeting with the principal and all of the teachers. They welcomed us with the typical welcome here and thanked us for coming. As we walked outside of the room we realized that they had brought the entire school out to hear from us. There were around 200 students standing ready to hear from the gringos.
Shane Hess had agreed to share in the English class so he stepped up and shared a story about Creation and God’s provision of Jesus for all of us. He did a great job! We were able to share the Gospel with over 200 people on our very first morning.
We spent the rest of the day interacting with the people in the village. We found a few of the people that we had created prayer cards for so it was great to let them know that they are being prayed for by people in the United States. It was encouraging to find that the people do remember us from the other visits and that we are building relationships and trust that will help us as we share the Gospel.
We appreciate all of your prayers and comments. They encourage us more than we can express with these words. Please continue to pray for our focus, strength and wisdom as we walk through the days. Please also pray for our families at home – they are all missed more than they know!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Technical Difficulties
Several of you have reported problems posting comments. Keep in mind that comment moderation is on so we have to check the comments before they will post. If you want to also send your comments to missions@fbcocala.org, I will make sure to post them if I don't see them in the comment moderation queue.
Thanks so very much for your faithfulness in checking the blog and praying for the team. It means so very much!
Allyson
Thanks so very much for your faithfulness in checking the blog and praying for the team. It means so very much!
Allyson
The Journey is long but well worth it...
I was reading this morning in Psalm 127: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”
We continue to realize that all we do is in vain here in Peru – unless God does the building. Your prayers continue to encourage and move us towards God’s goal of using our teams to reach the precious people in these villages with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Our team is doing well. We left home Friday morning and arrived in Lima around 10:30 PM. On Saturday, we joined up with our 4 summer missionaries who will spend the next two months in our adopted villages. We have been blessed with an amazing team! They each bring great depth in their walk with God to these villages. God has built a great team.
Yesterday we left Lima at 4 AM to make the long drive to our villages. It was a very long, hard day but God continues to show His faithfulness to our team. The roads are difficult to travel – not only because of all of the huge bumps and holes but also because of the traffic on the roads. There were a few times where we were surprised by an incoming truck coming around a corner but again – God was faithful to get us to the villages. The travel is part of the journey and we believe it is worth the struggle.
Please pray for our team members as we adjust to the altitude. We had a couple of team members get sick yesterday as we travelled. This morning is hopefully a time of rest that will help us to recover from the long day.
It is also cold here and that can make it tough for folks coming from Florida.
We are in Andamarca this morning but will be leaving for Cabana after lunch. Please pray that God helps us to reconnect with the people we met on our last trips. It is important that the people in the villages identify us with past teams so that trust will continue to build.
We continue to realize that all we do is in vain here in Peru – unless God does the building. Your prayers continue to encourage and move us towards God’s goal of using our teams to reach the precious people in these villages with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Our team is doing well. We left home Friday morning and arrived in Lima around 10:30 PM. On Saturday, we joined up with our 4 summer missionaries who will spend the next two months in our adopted villages. We have been blessed with an amazing team! They each bring great depth in their walk with God to these villages. God has built a great team.
Yesterday we left Lima at 4 AM to make the long drive to our villages. It was a very long, hard day but God continues to show His faithfulness to our team. The roads are difficult to travel – not only because of all of the huge bumps and holes but also because of the traffic on the roads. There were a few times where we were surprised by an incoming truck coming around a corner but again – God was faithful to get us to the villages. The travel is part of the journey and we believe it is worth the struggle.
Please pray for our team members as we adjust to the altitude. We had a couple of team members get sick yesterday as we travelled. This morning is hopefully a time of rest that will help us to recover from the long day.
It is also cold here and that can make it tough for folks coming from Florida.
We are in Andamarca this morning but will be leaving for Cabana after lunch. Please pray that God helps us to reconnect with the people we met on our last trips. It is important that the people in the villages identify us with past teams so that trust will continue to build.
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