Peru Update 3-Successful Witnessing

The Definition of Successful Witnessing is…    taking the initiative to share Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results up to God.

During Training Camp, our students get to hear teachings from several different Reign staff members throughout the week on a variety of topics related to their summer mission and I had the privilege of teaching all the teams on this subject: Successful Witnessing (within different cultural contexts). So, I’d like to break it down in the context of our ministry in Peru from the last few days.

Taking the Initiative: Well, that can be pretty hard sometimes, can’t it? Our own fears can get in the way about how we will be received; our doubts arise about whether we can speak clearly or eloquently (or even be understood when speaking to those for whom English is a second language). Our team took the initiative on Thursday afternoon by walking around the Plaza de Armas in Arequipa and approaching strangers with the goal of sharing the Gospel. We gave them survey questions to get the conversations started: “Hi, I’m Simone, would you mind if I ask you a few questions? What is your name? What do you love about Arequipa? What do you believe is the story of the world?” We start out by getting to know them and then ask a big philosophical question… one that we all must have an answer to but have perhaps never given any thought. Then, our team would ask probing questions to direct the conversation toward God’s story of the world. This was a tough activity for our team (the plaza wasn’t as busy as we hoped, or there was a fair amount of rejection before a conversation could occur) but our students faithfully took the initiative and the Gospel was shared multiple times!

To Share Jesus Christ: This is our primary job as followers of Christ, right? To be messengers of the good news! For the duration of our trip, we have the privilege of leading a local bible study called Arequipa English on Thursday nights from 7-9pm. This is a year-round group, hosted by our friend Armond, whose objective is to practice learning English through reading the Bible together and discussing it. While there are Christians who attend this Bible study, there are also very faithful attendees who hail from other religious or atheistic backgrounds. The point is that they are opening up the word of God. This past Thursday night we divided our team and the local Arequipenians into four groups and they had lively discussion about how Jesus Christ is like a lawyer on our behalf before God the Father. Our team also had to work to explain tough biblical words like advocate, propitiation, and iniquity. During our post-Bible study debriefing Anna, Nora, and Sophie shared about a fellow in their group (Francesco) who claimed to be an agnostic (meaning He believes there is likely a creator, but is unsure about who or what that is). Well, this was big news to Armond, because Francesco has been attending for over eight years and has always vocally professed atheism. It may only have been one step, but it was a step in the right direction!

In the Power of the Holy Spirit: On Wednesday evening our team was able to host a VBS at a local church in the community of Jose Olaya. Our students put together a whole one-day VBS program with a memory verse (1 Samuel 17:47, in Espanol of course), three choreographed Spanish dances, a David and Goliath skit, a craft project, balloons, puppet performances, a Gospel drama, a personal testimony shared by Seren (she rocked it!), and we finished with sandwiches and tea. We had about 16 children present (including my own gringos). This may seem like a small number, but for a pop-up program in a small community at a one-room church, we were pleased! I got to meet the leader of the church, Stan (who is originally from Wisconsin), and he was very grateful for our presence and willingness to support them in their efforts to reach the community. He also mentioned that one boy who came for the last portion of the program hadn’t entered the church in several years since he was maybe four years old… at which time he had told Stan that he served Satan. Whatever that boy’s background may be now, he entered a church because we were there for a VBS. That’s the Holy Spirit’s work, as is anything else that may take root from our time in Peru.

And Leaving the Results up to God: Ahhh, the hardest part. We must initiate, faithfully deliver the message, remember that our power comes from the Lord and not ourselves… and then we must accept that we have no control over the outcome. Sometimes we may not even know what good, if any, comes of our efforts. But that is the job. The disciples preached and preached and had no idea the global church that would come from their efforts. Some of our team may have made an eternal impact on a child in Jose Olaya, or a tourist in the plaza, or an agnostic at a Bible study… and they may not get to know until they enter the Father’s presence… but sometimes we do get to find out. On Saturday, part of our team went up to a village in the mountains of the Colca region called Canacota. Our team has visited this community with Armond for the last three summers. In 2023, one of our staff girls, Bethany, powerfully shared the gospel and her testimony (and chose to do it in Spanish!) and after our program had concluded she spent nearly an hour speaking with a local man named Iber. That was two years ago now. On our trip this summer, Armond mentioned that he has been meeting with Iber every month, reading the Bible with him, and answering his many questions. And in January, Iber gave his life to Christ, becoming the first person in Canacota to do so. Bethany got to be a small part of Iber’s faith journey and she doesn’t even know it yet (don’t worry, I’ll email this blog to her just as soon as I finish writing it).

If I am honest, there are days I doubt our effectiveness. We spend five weeks on a mission trip and sometimes it feels like we see very little fruit. What are we doing wrong? What could we change? But I come back to this definition we have for successful witnessing, and I am reminded that we are merely called to obey. And so here we are – ready to serve. Another helpful reminder is something Armond shared with our team recently about our purpose here. He said, “We (local missionaries) can get tired, and burn out, and you come in with a fresh energy. You guys open up doors for us to continue doing ministry.” We aren’t here because we want and need to be the ones God specifically uses to bring someone to Christ (although we would absolutely love that). We are here to support the local churches and ministries doing the hard, often grueling, years long Gospel work… and we are grateful to be a part of the story God is writing of his church here in Arequipa. 

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