2010 Overview

Well, I thought I would be heading back to Peru last Thursday, but God had other plans, and while I would love to be able to be in Peru with my best friend who is there right now on a medical mission trip, it has been nice to have a few unplanned days here to get things done. So, here's a little update on life =)

As is apparent from my last blog, I really struggled with calling and where I was supposed to be for about the first month (well, maybe a couple of weeks within that month) that I was in the states. I came back in the middle of February as a planned to see fam and friends before school started again.

A huge part of my uncertainty was realizing how spiritually and emotionally dry I was, and that really it was my fault.  Let me tell you, it is so hard to balance ministry time with "getting spiritually fed" time and all of that. Sometimes I would feel guilty for doing the things to make sure I was getting filled up. But I realize that you can not give when you have nothing to give. (novel concept, huh!?) To be honest, I had forgotten who my Savior and Lover of my soul was. I had been telling people about the Jesus, but He wasn't even real to me anymore. And that is a scary place to be.

I realized that I had let more than several friendships (who were spiritually encouraging) fall through the cracks,  and that was something that was hard and painful to see, not because those people chose not to be my friends anymore, but because I saw I had missed out. But thank God for second chances, wisdom in how to "budget" time, and SKYPE!!


Basically, to put it into quick terms, I doubted whether or not I was supposed to go back to Peru for another year. It wasn't that my heart wasn't there anymore, it was just that I had been away from the States long enough to see it in a "fresher" perspective, and it was easier to picture myself living here and what my life what be like. But then on the other hand, it was extremely hard, because I knew that God was doing an incredible work in Peru, and that it was obvious that He had been doing something through me this last year.

To be honest, I really didn't struggle with the whole doubt thing until about a week or two of being here. So, about the third week in, I fasted and prayed for a few days and just asked God to show me what He wanted me to do. I was at the point where it didn't really matter if He told me to stay here or go back there; I just wanted to be in His will. So on the third day of fasting, I knew that God's will for me to return to Peru. After church this last Sunday (3.6.11) the Lord gave me a sudden energy and motivation to get ready to go back to Peru. (I was thinking wow, where has this been the whole time?? Oh well..our timing is not His :)

His call to go to Peru was so strong and made so obvious, so I knew that if He wanted me to stay, it would be obvious. And, that never came. And deep down in my gut, I knew I was supposed to go back. God is doing so many things in Peru, and I am so thankful to be a part of it.

Sometimes I wish I was a person who was always like iron-strong and never doubted or second guessed. But I guess if there wasn't any "not knowing" in my life, I wouldn't need trust and faith. This is a verse that really hit me hard...I heard it about two weeks ago and it made sense.

2 Peter 2:5-11

[5] For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; [6] and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; [7] and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. [8] For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Sometimes I get so focused on just "making it" that I don't even focus on the growing part, but here we are given the recipe for success...we have no excuse to be ineffective.

Something else I had dealt a lot with last year was fear. Irrational fear of many things.  This is something that God is freeing me from, and it's a process. I have been memorizing Psalm 139 and this has been a blessing to quote in situations where thoughts of fear enter my mind.

I know this is a long blog, but I really haven't blogged in a long time, and I feel like my readers have been "jilted" on knowing what God has done this last year. I just wanted to list a few things out (even thought it's a little late.) The Peruvian school year starts in the beginning of March, and so for us, we are still in the beginning stages ;)

So here it goes. Miracles of 2010

• Incredible ability to learn the language and be able to communicate the gospel and have many conversations about the Lord.
• Surviving typhoid 
• Two of the most influential kids in the community became followers of Christ; they have since moved on, and it is so neat to see their journeys
• We got to witness to about 80 volunteers from different countries, none of who were followers of Christ.
• We have met some amazing "gringo" missionaries that live and work in Lima, and have been so encouraged by them.
• We got to share the gospel with all of the teachers in the school where we worked and give almost all of them Bibles
• I got to share my testimony in almost all of my English classes
• Co-led 8-9 Bible studies per week and a house church on the weekends
• We got to pass out salvation bracelets and witness to hundreds of people standing in line to vote during elections this year
• About 120 kids came to Christ this last year and many of them want to be baptized
• Got to witness to and hang out with countless groups that came in to do programs with the kids on the weekends
• Got involved in 3 different schools outside the community and did VBS type programs with them weekly or monthly.
• Getting to develop relationships and share the gospel with the pharmacist, dentist and doctors and patients in the clinic.
• Getting to go to Cusco and getting to share the gospel with one of my student's mothers who was really sick. We also took her to the doctor and got her some medicine to help out with her stomach problems.
• Getting to go on the graduation trip with about 50 high school seniors. We hiked through the Andes mountains and got to witness to hundreds of people along the way (thanks to the amazing Southmonters who made the lightweight gospel bracelets). 
• So many groups / individuals from the states came down to see us and help us in our ministry... what an encouragement and blessing
• Got to be a part of several clothes drives and see the kids get new clothes.
• Every kid now has a Bible (except the new ones who have come in) and every kid's house a proclaimer (radio-like device with the Bible recorded onto it)

So, I am so thankful to God for what He has done this past year. This is only the "tip of the iceberg" so to speak. I can not describe all of the things God has done in our hearts and lives alone. He's given me a passion for the gospel like never before. He has given us the grace to live in a place that is impoverished with hunger, poverty, sexual sin, corruption and spiritual darkness. He has opened up doors we never imagined could be opened. He's given us incredible favor with Peruvian people. My prayer for this year is that the Holy Spirit would lead, and that we would follow. That others would see Christ so strongly in us and that we would be able to use our time and energy doing things bring glory to God and that we would let the other stuff just fall away.

Thank you so much for reading! Get excited about some crazy awesome stories for 2011!!! Yeah baby!