Hey all,
Sorry it’s been a while since I last posted. Once we started traveling from Lima to Trujillo life got pretty crazy. We had one day to get adjusted to our living accommodations and then Friday, August 1, we began debrief until the following Tuesday. Debrief happens several times throughout our race and is a time to reflect on how the past months have gone, what can be improved, team dynamics, etc. Our Squad Mentor, along with our two Squad Coaches, flew out to be with the entire squad. We had times of worship as a squad which were really special. There is nothing quite like worshiping with your entire World Race family. We had one-on-ones with the mentor, squad leaders, and coaches, as well as debriefs with the entire staff and our team. For several nights, we had a time of vulnerability to reveal any secrets that have held us in guilt and shame. Basically, what all of this boils down to is A LOT to process. My head is still spinning.
The main thing I learned from debrief is that God wants to do work in my life, I just have to be willing to step back and let Him do it. Some of my squad mates have felt like they can’t hear the Lord while my problem has been that I have felt overwhelmed with how much I’ve heard. One of my squad leaders wisely stated that God might be allowing me to feel overwhelmed so that I realize I cannot do the work that needs to be done on my own. God wants to do the work in a gently way that doesn’t require tons of effort on my part. It’s difficult to explain all of this so that’s the best I can put it into words.
This past week we had our first week of ministry. Our ministry contact’s name is Joel Savage. His father started Savage Ministries and he took over after getting married to a woman from Peru. With our whole squad living in one compound as well as doing part of our ministry in the same compound, learning to live in community has increased rapidly. When we first arrived, we were told that we were going to have bunk beds…surprise, the bunk beds didn’t arrive until about a week after arrival. Nice to know that the sleeping mat was put to good use so early on. Some of us have even set up our tents on the roof. Our ministry will vary during our time here. Each team has a daily chore, one of which is to cook for 45 people. That is a ministry in it of itself. Last week involved leading a VBS. One team lead dancing/music, another put on a skit, our team and Rak Chazak did Arts and Crafts, another team led games, and another gave out snack. By the end of the week I had joined the dancing crew and it was an absolute blast. Joel told us that it was the best and smoothest VBS he had ever had a group put on. Fire up!
Intermixed with VBS were evening services at the church in our compound and El Yo Soy, which is another church that Joel helps pastor. My group was selected to lead the first service and I volunteered to preach. Yay for having a day and a half of time to prepare. It ended up going really well and I am in the process of trying to upload the video to my blog. Since internet is not particularly fast or cooperative here, this may take a while to actually make happen. Stay tuned.
This week we will be helping with a school which is also located in our compound, along with painting and leading different services.
Peru is proving to be quite different than Bolivia in many ways, especially weather and the number of people we are living with. God is at work and growing all of us tremendously. Well, that’s a brief update on all that’s been happening. I’ll do my best to post more soon.
Butterfly update: They are literally everywhere. There is a butterfly painted on the wall of our compound and we have seen several real butterflies every day. I even got to hold one for a time. My squad now knows that butterflies are important to me and they have kindly begun pointing them out when sightings occur. Thanks Abba, for all of the love 🙂
