Santo Tomas: Mission trip with OMPC

(This blog is a bit overdue, I have just been able to load some pictures on this blog. Enjoy what you read and see!!!)



As we get deeper into the winter here in Lima, the days are cool, gray, and overcast. Very rarely does the sun come out, and very rarely can you see the outline of the sun through the clouds. It is a thick ceiling of clouds. I was quite excited to join the OMPC mission trip to Cusco then to Santo Tomas Peru, where both are in the Andes mountains. The trip to the Andes to this village reminded me that, yes indeed the sky is blue, and yes, there are green fields to run in or hills and mountainsides to hike up. Bright colors in the landscape of Lima hardly exist, and what a joy again to behold the creative work of my Creator. It was also quite nice to have some breaths of fresh air, as in Lima I breathe in a lot of smog-air.



We did some "light construction", which essencially was painting the church in Santo Tomas.



The majority of our time in Santo Tomas was with children ministry. Two schools opened their doors to us, letting us run a VBS type program with their children various mornings. The kids were so cute!





Our last morning we went to a school for special needs kids. The teachers invited us to come, and they shared with us how the handicapped kids are not valued in society here, and are not treated well at all.





In the afternoons we went to a local park and played with kids. We also set aside some time for bible lessons. It was fun to hang out with the kids, but often very chaotic!! One day, however some of the girls had some questions about Christ and went to Sara Davis, who is an intern working in Cusco this summer. They started talking, and I saw them across the park and had a feeling they were talking about Christ. I went over and joined them. They were asking some good questions. Then the moment came and they wanted to pray to receive Christ. Right after that, when we said "Amen", we opened our eyes and there were a few more kids there. The process started again, and ended the same! More children accepting Christ! We said "Amen" and there were more kids. We started writing down names and ages for the pastor there who had joined us. He shared as well, and more children accepted Christ. We had a total of 14 children who accepted Christ that afternoon!! It was so amazing to be a part of!







One afternoon a doctor on the team and I made a house call to one of the church members who was suffering from a herniated disk. I have been on other mission trips, the majority of them being medical. This was my first time in a home visit to serve as a translator and a nurse! I truly enjoy home visits, although I do not get to do that often here in Lima yet. Hopefully the time will come for that.

My time with the team was such a blessing! It was great to have a "bit of home", and it was great to get out of Lima a bit to see ministry in other parts of Peru.

Juan

Juan is a 6 year old boy, who just started in the diaconal project in Huaycan in February. When I met him, he was still quite disobedient and getting into trouble all of the time. He is from a broken family. He has 6 siblings, some from different fathers. One of the fathers is now in prison due to his involvement in the terrorist activity in the 80's, and his father is almost nonexistent in his life. His mother had to make the hard decision within the last year to place two of Juan’s siblings in an orphanage type setting because she could not afford feeding all of her children.

Juan is in the program for such reasons. Like the other children, he receives a well-balanced meal, a toothbrush and tooth paste, help with homework, devotionals, and playtime.



He used to misbehave during the devotional time, probably to avoid the lessons. So we’d take him into the other room alone, where he got the devotional anyways.

He has made such a difference, now he is praying with the children too, and his mom says that his behavior at home is a lot better, and it is so much better at the program. I have seen a huge difference too. I love working with this precious child!