February

Hermana Lucha could really use your prayers. This past Sunday, on their way to church, they got in a motorcycle and motortaxi accident and were thrown from their taxi. If they hadn’t have landed in the grass like they did, they would have died. Instead, God protected them from receiving a single scratch. But Hermana Lucha and her grandkids were shook up from their experience.

We had an incredible turn out for VBS. 51 kids the first day, 25 on the second. The second day, it absolutely POURED down raining the whole hour before, the two hours of class, and an hour after. Being that these are all dirt roads, it becomes an absolute muddy mess. Typically, people do not leave their homes when it rains unless it’s a life or death emergency. We were completely shocked and thrilled with the turn out.
Ana and I were the only ones teaching, so it really was the perfect amount to show up. We did not have the 2010 VBS lessons, so we made up our own material. Our theme was obedience. We talked about Abraham the first day, and Sodom and Gomorra the second. We had songs, work sheets, and a special craft for each day. We had snacks and gave out little rewards to encourage good behavior. We decorated the walls. We did the same thing for all 3 of our locations, and on a budget of about $75. It was a BLAST! We officially begin Sunday School in Crosby on the 7th of March. VBS was a great way to invite the kids and get to know them a wee bit before hand.

Another praise

CROSBY

Hermana Lucha. Lucha means fight. She is a fighter. I would imagine she is about…55 years old minimum. I would say older, but her daughters are around my age…but she looks about 70. She has 2 darling grandchildren. Ana and I met her January 21^st. She is not very expressive so it’s difficult to gage if she’s annoyed by your presence, or is enjoying your company. We decided that with her, we were just going to give her the facts. The Gospel Truth from the get-go. God loves you so much, and has a special plan for your life. But there is a problem—sin. Sin has separated us from the wonderful love of God. Don’t worry, there is a solution! Jesus Christ came to this earth, died, and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins, that we may be reunited with God. All you have to do is accept Christ’s sacrifice, repent of your sins, and ask God to guide you for the rest of your days. Then you can spend the rest of your life and all eternity in the peace, love, and comfort that God offers as a gift. This does not mean life is going to magically get easy, but you will always have someone going through every difficulty with you, and providing you with the strength to move on. Would you like to accept that gift? She said yes that day. That’s not the surprising part, because that happens almost every time the gospel is shared. The part that knocks my socks off and makes me so happy and excited, is that for the past two Sunday’s she has come to church, bringing her grandchildren with her. PRAISE THE LORD!

The Search

Ana and I are still on the hunt for a 'local' to do our services in and work with the children. We thought that everything was going to be perfect when we found the pre-school where we had our "festival de ninos" but things didn't pan out the way we had hoped. We do have a lead however which we will be following today in hopes of brighter results. The 'president' of another neighborhood in the community is a prestigious engineer and thinks that what we're doing is fantastic....so we're hoping he can pull something out of the air for us:) We tried a local elementary school that was nearby, but understandably, the dean doesn't want to loan us the building because the teachers have left their materials in their classrooms and we can't garrauntee that the kids won't get into it. Please be praying that we are able to find something soon.
Also, be in prayer for the people that we are building relationships with in this zone. Specifically:
Victor Pareja (the engineer)
Carmelo Quispe Huaman
Celso Soto Ore
Margarita Pineda
Sandra, Geraldin, Fidel, and Betty

what´s happening in december?

As we walked into her small general store, we immediately saw Lucia. We were shocked! Was she really doing what it appeared she was doing? She was our very first contact in Puerto Maldonado. The very first place we entered. The very first person who prayed the prayer of repentance and acceptance. Was she really sitting there behind her counter, READING HER BIBLE?! YES!!! SHE WAS!
You can’t begin to imagine how excited and assured Ana and I felt this day. Walking in and seeing her reading her Bible without anyone telling her to...just because she wanted to know more about her Savior. It had been a month of ups and downs with her. We weren’t quite sure if she wanted us to continue coming to visit her. Sometimes she is very friendly, and other times she is surprisingly cold and harsh. This was incredibly encouraging.
Lucia closed her small store on this busy street and is going to be spending more time in her home. We were sad to hear this until she told us where she lives. She lives in Circunvilacion which is another of Ana and my communities. We need a place to hold services in each of our locations and have already secured one of the three. There is not a town meeting hall in Circunvilacion and have been looking to possibly meet in someone’s home. Lucia is currently talking to her husband (who is not a believer and a bit leery of us) about letting us use there home.
Saturday the 12th Children’s Play Day
It was a very rainy and an abnormally cold day. In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting anyone to show. But God had provided a room indoors for our Play Day, so at 3:30 our team arrived on site. 30 children and 7 mothers showed up. We played several games including pato, pato, ganzo (duck, duck, goose), and had the teens from the church do a hilarious “rompe de heilo” (ice-breaker). Our 40/40 team did a skit and that portrays the depth of Jesus’ love and sacrifice for his children. 3 of the mothers accepted Christ and all of the kids prayed as well. What looked to be a wash-out ended up being a very successful day!

in the first month

Heading towards the Center of town, where the streets have a better likelihood to be paved one day, and the people have steadier jobs, you will find the darling Plaza Bolognesi. November 13th, by the grace of God working in the hearts of willing people, we were able to show the Jesus film in the plaza (it’s a park) and people were gathered all around to watch. Typically it takes about 3 days to get permission to show a film in a plaza, but we needed to secure a location in a rather short period of time (someday I’ll explain the Peruvian method of planning…) so God pushed it through in a matter of hours! Over 100 people were exposed to the incredible sacrifice Christ made specifically for them, and 7 adults and 15 children accepted Christ. Also, because the Church of the Nazarene is relatively new to Southern Peru, it made local people more aware of our church.
We are currently discipling 6 people in Crosby, and developing relations with 5 others. Please be in prayer that we can find a place to have church services and activities for children.