Peru Update 4 - Final Week of ministry

Iglesia Cristiana Concordia

On Tuesday and Wednesday we had the opportunity to return to our friends at Concordia (whom we hadn’t seen in a couple of weeks). We continued to serve them through work projects during the days (helping scrape old paint and adding a fresh coat) and on Tuesday night our girls got to lead their second women’s Bible study of the summer. They again taught on our Identity in Christ (for more details, check out Blog #2!) but this time around we found ourselves without a Peruvian translator. It was only about ten minutes before Bible study that we discovered our translator had “called in sick”, but our very own Gisella stepped up at the last second and translated for the entire event. She did an amazing job! The Peruvian women also shared about the deep impact that Iglesia Cristiana Concordia has had in their lives and community; it was such an encouragement to hear the ways God has been using our church partner in the lives of its congregation.

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School Assemblies

On Thursday we facilitated school assembly programs at two different schools for both elementary and primary grades. This means we led four different programs in about as many hours. Our team did an awesome job initiating conversations with the Peruvian students before our programs began, showing enthusiasm and joy throughout their performances (dance, drama, and puppets), and courage by sharing their testimonies. Though it was nerve-racking (this being our largest group with whom we’ve shared), Nora, Katelyn, Simone, and Winnie all got the opportunity to share their stories with the students and they knocked it out of the park! 

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Arequipa English

We spent our third and final Thursday night with the local Arequipa English group and it was a wonderful conclusion to our time of ministry in this city. It was also the final study in a six-week series (pre-dating our arrival, obviously) on who Jesus Christ is … culminating in a focus on Christ as King. This allowed our team to focus on the core of the Gospel and invite their groups to prayerfully consider whether they would choose to follow Jesus. It led to a lot of great discussion and examination of our hearts: pondering what it actually means to be a Christian. Anna even shared her testimony with her group and surprised a professing believer when she talked about how being a Christian does not mean you are a good person - that it is only by God’s grace through Jesus that we claim our salvation. 

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Family Camp!

On Friday afternoon we traveled back into the mountains (though a different direction than last weekend - this time we decreased our elevation by a few thousand feet!). We spent our last two ministry days at a camp in the wilderness serving our friends from Cristianos en Accion. Family Camp is an opportunity for the local church to take a short respite from daily responsibilities and enjoy life together as a family - in a camp setting. This was our second summer serving at Family Camp and this is a ministry that the church was never able to do before without a team of people who would be available to serve and make it happen!

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Our Royal Servants served by washing dishes and cleaning up after meals; playing at the pool and in the yard with the kids while the parents got some time with the Lord out in creation; our team curated crafts for the families while they waited to go horseback riding; and after an all-camp bonfire (accompanied by acoustic guitar and toasted marshmallows) some of our students hung out with the Peruvian teens late into the night playing musical chairs and Never Have I Ever. Stella did a particularly great job building relationships this weekend and Sarah was excellent that night sharing her testimony with the youth. On Sunday afternoon, we departed family camp and headed to the airport to fly to Lima and begin our last leg of the trip - debriefing.

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