Walking right on by

"Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." Isaiah 1:17

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18

http://tinyurl.com/3gqklgj

"He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses." Proverbs 28:27

"You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall." Isaiah 25:4

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained ^[b]by the world. James 1:27

"If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday." Isaiah 58:10

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners." Isaiah 61:1

Proverbs 31:8-9

Open your mouth for the mute, For the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.

"She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy." Proverbs 31:20

http://tinyurl.com/42a8xwy

I want to be this woman. The woman that opens her hands to the needy.

The truth is that I can´t even really find pictures on the internet that resemble the situations of the people I  am going to tell you about. None of these pictures are taken from the actual situations I am writing about. I refuse to take pictures of them in their situations because that would only mock them, so I will do my best to tell you about some of the specific people that have touched my heart over the two months.

Sachi

http://tinyurl.com/3gkeh3g

Sachi apparently was robbed of her most important worldly posessions within the last year and now lives on the street. She tells us that she had a good job as a some type of social worker, but that that she lost her job somehow around this same time. She has been living on the street for some time. Several well-meaning people have tried to take her a nursing home, but she always ends back up on the street because she says they mistreat her in the nursing homes. Sachi is about 50 I think, but looks like she is 70. She apparently has two families with which she sometimes stays, but many times she is on the streets through the night. She works for about 10 soles a day (equivalent about $3) by watching a street vendor stand. A cheap meal in the part of town where she is costs about 10 soles. Sachi told us that she had surrendered her life to Christ about 2.5 years ago, but I honestly have not spent enough time with her to learn more about her story.

Samuel

http://tinyurl.com/3g62ca8

Samuel is a blind man who sells candy on the streets of the rich touristy part of Lima. I met Samuel when I was walking with Lauren one night, and stopped to talk to him. I only talked to him for a few minutes, but in those few minutes, Samuel told me that he had given his life to Christ and was a follower...yet still he is on the street. He might sell 10 soles worth in one day, I really have no idea, but I know it´s probably not much. My heart goes out to this man.

Rimac Teens

http://tinyurl.com/3vvj2q9

Rimac River

Then there are the kids that I have only heard about but never seen go to river Rimac in Lima and hang out there doing drugs and just spending life there. I want to talk to them, and tell them there is hope beyond Rimac River. Lauren was the one who found out about these kids, and I am so glad she did. Several of our guy friends have said they would down there with us and spend some time with these kids. We plan to go there sometime soon, the Lord permitting.  Please pray for God´s hand to touch the hearts and lives of the kids there.

?

http://tinyurl.com/3f7q2me

Then there´s the man with only one leg. He sits on the bridge and ¨rents out¨ his scale. No, he doesn´t sell scales, but for 10 cents, you can weigh yourself on his scale. People here many times only have enough money to live for the moment. Which means you don´t buy a scale...you weigh yourself for 10 cents when you have the extra 10 cents. I have yet to talk to this man. I pass him every time I go to Puente Piedra to go to the market or the grocery store.  He is someone who God loves and who, everytime I pass, wonder about him- his story, and if I should share the gospel with him.



I walk by these types of people every day. And so do you. They may not have limbs missing or be blind, but they are desperate need. Need of love. Of Christ´s love. Need of physical things. Need to hear the gospel. Need of a hug. Need of a warm meal. Need of a million different things. I ask that the Lord shows you who is in need and what their need is. Don´t walk right on by like I have done countless times with the man on the bridge. They have faces and names. Why do I not know them?


Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ Matthew 25:44-45

http://tinyurl.com/3tfp6bx

Please pray for us as we seek a way to help the homeless, poor and needy. And please pray how you too can be a part of helping the people of Ventanilla / Zappallal   Lima, Peru.

These Days...

Here are some pics from our Biblestudies and other events we have been doing. God has been so good to us...we now have five weekly meetings with different groups of people where we study the Bible. Call them Bible studies, house churches or missional communities, they are something that we are so thankful for and hoping they will grow and multiply.

The kids outside the market in Ventanillia. They don´t like to listen sometimes...but they sure like to play soccer!!

They all love having their own Bibles though, and reading from them (or if they don´t know how to read, sometimes they just pretend)

Teaching.

Scratch my back, PLEASE!!!!!

Nearly every Bible study at each of the locations includes at least 4 kids.

One of our friends invited us to an event he was doing at a nearby school. It was so cool because like 50 kids showed up...on a SATURDAY!!! We got to play with them, talk to them and study the Bible with them. There are some amazing kids that live in my city.

Playing ¨The Hand Game¨ It´s a game that tells the story of Christ coming to earth, dying for our sins and then rising again. 

Human knot.

Playing basketball.

Playing volleyball. I´m kinda upset I didn´t play sports as a kid...it´s hurting me now  ;) In the states, you could always be a ¨cheerleader¨ on the sidelines if you weren´t playing...here, you´re just weird if you don´t play. hahaha. 

Playing ¨Senior Lion¨ after church. It´s like Red Light, Green Light.

Mili and I getting a quick bite to eat at McDonalds before heading to Camino De Vida...a church in Surco that we go to when we have the time. 

Mansfield Muchachos come to Peru!!!

Well, needless to say the last month and a half have been full ones...like our time here has pretty much been Wow...Sorry it´s been a while since I´ve blogged. There just has not been time to record all of the things that have been going on. Gonna take a bit to catch up!! First off, First Baptist Mansfield Church brought their team to help us out for week. We did events in 8 different public and private schools surrouding the area where we live. The events included a Bible story, skit, songs, craft and snack. Some days we did this repetition up to 12 times because of all of the different grades we worked with. It was something we could not have pulled off without this group and our Peruvian friends that helped us here. 

Preparation for the group started months before they came. Our Peruvian friends gave up weeks of their time to come and even live with us for a time and help us make fliers, put together the props, crafts, etc. 

Milagros, one of our dear Peruvian friends, also gave up two weeks to help us. She is so creative and knows how to serve like nobody´s business. She is incredible.

One of our other sweet Peruvian friends, Melissa, helping us out. She came in from over 2 hours away to be with us and help us out. 

Having a little fun with Pringles while we go to the different schools and coordinate events, busses, times, etc.

Trying on costumes...well...Nicchola trying to make sure the ¨wrapping for Jesus´body¨  (for the skit of the death and resurrection) would fit over a grown man...

More trying on costumes...Well, mine wasn´t exactly a costume...

SATURDAY JUNE 18, 2011 GROUP ARRIVES!!!! =)

Along with the group came some awesome suitcases =) My sweet mom packed one full of my favorite stuff...cheez-its and socks just happened to be in that suitcase...thanks, Mom! 

And the action begins. Monday thru Thursday we did events in the schools. We told a Bible story, shared the gospel, gave out arts and snacks. We got to minister in 8 different schools.

These are the signs we use most commonly to share the gospel here. The have been such a blessing to use. Thank you http://www.kingswitness.com/ for coming up with the great idea and for letting us use it here in Peru. 

One of the assemblies. This was held at a school that had just been built. Before this school, the teachers and students were meeting in wooden/ cardboard- looking shacks.

Tyler hanging out with some of the kids. Tyler used pretty much every second that the group wasn´t doing something to be with the kids. It was so sweet to watch the kids interact with him.

Josh and Jessica dancing around at the beginning of one of the programs. They were great with coming up with impromtu dances if we needed to fill a second of dead time. 

Nicchola and Jeanette being fishermen during the ¨follow me¨skit. 

Some of the kids working on the art project.

Kids in elementary school doing motions to the songs we taught.

Are you ready??? SIIII!!!!! =)

Well, this is Lauren and I looking like goofballs singing the ¨fisherman¨song.

Thursday of that week, we threw a huge city wide event. We invited about 12,000 people, but not near that many came. It was the first event (of this type and size) that Lauren and I had ever planned, so we learned alot from the event to say in the least. To be honest, about everything that could go wrong did, but the group was great in the midst of it all...they did the very best they could without even really being able to speak the language (Except for Kap-I-tan and Lourdes). A special thanks to the group for hanging in there with us to the end. The good news is that many people heard the gospel that night, and we may never know in this life how many seeds were planted. 

The group...Peruvians and North Americans working together toward one common goal. So cool. Wow. This is the body of Christ...the Church. Christ´s beautiful bride. 

The group left Ventanilla on Friday of that week to head back to Texas. We were so blessed to have them here for that week. One of the biggest blessings that happened during that week is that our Peruvian dad, Nicchola, became a Christian. He had been hearing the gospel for about a year from Lauren and I talking about it, and up to this point had not put his faith and trust in Christ. When he saw the sacrifices this group made (giving up their jobs, leaving their spouses and families etc. for a week to come tell people in Peru about Christ), he realized that he too wanted to be a part of the family of God. Nicchola gave his life to Christ one night in his hotel room (I think it was Wednesday night) and told us about it the next day. I was translating for him as he was telling the story to the group (I didn´t know about his decision at this point)....and when he said that he gave his life to Christ, I just stopped dead cold translating and looked at him. My mouth dropped open and I turned and gave him a huge hug. I think the group figured out by body language what was going on. Such a cool experience. So thankful God allowed me to be a part of it. 

God also gave me another brother the night of the event. His name is Carlos and he is 17 years old. He is a university student who came to the Thursday night event and ended up giving his life to Christ that night at our house after the event was over. Please pray for the body of Christ as God keeps adding to the number those who are saved. (Acts 2:47) Pray that God will show us how to be disciplers.