A cord of three is not easily broken.
It´s so cool to look back and see God working things out that you could never do. Really, it´s incredible. I am blown away. So, specifics.
I honestly thought this week would be a challenge because it is the first week of having a changed vision and still figuring out what all that vision entails. Lauren and I were talking about how different this year has been even so far…last year, we were teaching 5 or six grades per week, working in 5 outside schools, doing 8 or 9 house bible studies with the kids in the community, and then house church on the weekends. Every moment that we did have free, we always felt guilty for not doing something else, because when you live with 800 kids, there is always something else that needs to be done.
This year, we don´t live in the orphanage. We are not teachers, but house planters. We are learning the value of spending the time praying and in the Word before we go out. Lots of changes, and change is not always easy.
So Monday, we stayed in Lima and took care of some shopping for the house. You know, kitchen utensils, sheets, pillows, stuff for the bathroom, etc. It´s kinda weird for me, because this is the second time in about three years that I have bought stuff to ¨live on my own¨...looking back, if you would have told me three years later I would be here living, doing this, part of me would have thought you were crazy, and the other part would have thought…¨FINALLY!!¨=)
So that was Monday. Tuesday, I spent a lot of time working on my monthly newsletter that I will be sending out soon (send me your email if you would like to be added to the list. (lane.nancy@sbcglobal.net) Then I headed over to Alvaro´s house to meet up with him and Lauren.
For those of you who don´t know, Alvaro was the high school religion teacher at the orphanage were we taught last year. Alvaro was a Catholic when we first met over a year ago. He and Lauren started meeting for weekly discussions over the Bible in about June of last year, and through much prayer, tears, arguing, and the Holy Spirit drawing Alvaro to Himself, Alvaro became a follower of Jesus Christ in October of last year. The Lord revealed Himself to Alvaro while he was in his house one day and he surrendered His life to Christ. I don´t know if I´ve mentioned Alvaro´s story before, but if you don´t know, it´s really really interesting and really funny.
Alvaro grew up in Peru and at a young age decided to begin to study to be a Catholic monk. He went to school, and studied and labored years to become a monk. However, love changed his mind when he fell for a girl who was studying to be a nun. So the two of them left the school to start their lives together. They couldn´t get married within the Catholic church, because imagine how that would look….a monk and a nun getting married. Fantastic. So in reality, I guess they are common law now or something…not really sure. Anyways, they now have two precious kids of their own and a whole bunch more that live with them. Alvaro had been a high school teacher for years, teaching history, Catholic religion, and I think a few other things.
So, when he became a Christian, it was definitely a work of the Holy Spirit, because this was a man with 40 plus years of Catholic upbringing, teaching, doctrine, etc. Maybe he would have been the equivalent of one of the religious leaders in the Old Testament because of how much he knew about the Bible and stuff, but the relationship with Christ was not there.
Anyways, so these last 5 or 6 months of watching him grow as a follower of Christ have been incredible to watch. But, the pinnacle so far for me, was what happened on Tuesday night. We had been talking about church planting with Alvaro (he is also working with us as a part of our team several days a week) and so he went out this last weekend and bought video about the lives of Peter and Paul and about the early church. Let me tell you, it was SOOO good. Tuesday night we watched it. It was such a sweet moment too, because Alvaro made pan roasted popcorn for us and the other kids that live with him and his family. We were sitting in the living room eating our little bags or Tupperware dishes of popcorn watching a movie about the lives of Peter and Paul. A moment I hope I never forget.
Anyways, after the movie finished, we were talking, and Alvaro started talking about how important the Holy Spirit is in one´s ministry. He was talking about how none of this can be accomplished without prayer and the Holy Spirit. We talked about our vision to see the little districts surrounding us come to Christ. For the first time since we´ve been here, all three of us were exactly on the same page. Lauren and I are sitting there watching a man who just became a Christian a few months ago talking about a ministry to reach the city and develop house churches. A man who was not a Christians year ago is now encouraging and uplifting us with his enthusiasm and vision. This was truly an act of the Holy Spirit. Forget the book…that was only the tool God used to turn my heart. Plus Alvaro didn´t even read the book. Only the Holy Spirit could have brought all three of us together in perfect agreement that night, with a passion to share intentionally plant ourselves in different parts of Ventanilla and ask God to raise up house churches.
We all three prayed together, and it´s crazy, because although the prayer time was so simple, with each of us praying short, direct prayers, Alvaro said it was the best prayer time he´d ever had. It lasted no longer than about 6 or 7 minutes. Because he´d said recited or repeated prayers his whole life, I guess spontaneous prayer was something that he had not experienced. It is so cool to have the opportunity to sit beside a new believer and watch them discover the joys of salvation and experience that same joy over again.
Yesterday, Wednesday, was a really good day. We went to take hot showers (never been so thankful for hot water in all my life as I have this last year!!) and then we headed over to Alvaro´s house to go with him to find a map of the city so we could be strategic! =) Before we headed out, we went by our house to see how the floors were coming along. It looked really good! They finished up yesterday, and the cement should be dry in a day and we should be able to move in this weekend.
Anyways, we ended up talking to the owner (who lives in the first floor right underneath us). She is a widow who recently lost her 25 year old daughter who died of a brain aneurism, and is now taking care of her 2 year old granddaughter who now does not have a mom. Anyways, we ended up staying hours listening to this woman´s story. It was really cool because Alvaro was able to talk to her about what it means to completely follow Christ. She is at a very critical point in her life. She is at the crossroads of Catholism and following Christ.
So, by the time we got done talking to her, it was pretty late, so we went to the district to see if we could find a map, but to no avail =(. Oh well. This weekend.
We ended up buying pizza for Alvaro´s kids and taking it back to his house and having a pizza party while listening to Hillsong in Spanish. For about half of them, it was their first time to eat pizza. They were so cute sitting there- these little chicito kids with their big ol slices of pizza and little glass of inca cola. Again, another memory I never want to forget. After dinner, we just hung out with the kids and did puzzles with them and practiced English with them. Alvaro decided he wanted to give out the rubber arrow bracelets that we have, so Lauren explained the gospel to them and gave them each one. So precious to hear the gospel explained back to you by an enthusiastic 7 year old who has just heard it moments before as they point to each one of the symbols on their bracelet. =) Here are some pics
Alvaro and his son.
So, to sum things up, please be praying for Alvaro´s family. So far, I think Alvaro is the only one who has given his life completely to the Lord. He has such an influence on his family. Please pray for his wife that she will come to know the Lord. She is so precious and I love her so much. Please pray that she will not feel left out of what is going on, but that the Holy Spirit will draw her heart in His timing.
Please pray for Alvaro, and all of the ministries that God has him in right now. Please pray that he will be able to have time alone with the Lord, to grow, and that God would continue to speak to him and show him many things.
Irene and their two kids.
Also, please pray for Richard. He is a little boy that is 11 years old. I met him two nights ago when I was crossing the bridge on my way back home. Richard cleans the bridge over the highway each night. I´ve seen him and talked to him 2 nights in a row. Please pray that God draws his heart to himself and that he will become a follower of Christ.
Please pray for Sandra, a lady who we met at the pizza place were we got pizza yesterday. She has three boys, 13,11 and 8. She told me she was a Christian, and would be open to having a Bible study in her home. She is supposed to call me.
Please pray for Sarah. We met her last weekend after church service we went to at Camino de Vida. She lives in Pachacutec, which is very near where we currently live. She is not a Christian, but I believe God is working in her heart.
Today we are going to the community (orphanage) to talk to Miguel about being able to teach Bible studies, something similar to what we did last year. I also need to tell him that I will not be teaching English there this year. Please pray for grace, wisdom, opened doors, softened hearts, and truth.
Our team, (Lauren, Alvaro and myself) are all reading through the book of Acts. Please pray that God gives us a clearer vision and specifics and as we learn as much as we can from this book.
Peace, love, grace and joy!
Nancy
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