Mary Saves Freeze Tag

A lot has already happened since we left on Saturday morning. God has been feeding me so richly with Psalm 37 and I’ve had some amazing connections with our group, one of the staff here and the local children. But I want to focus my post on just one small event:

This after noon a group of us went over to the orphanage to tutor and then play games with the kids. Although my subject, math, turned out to be harder than I expected (there are a lot of different symbols here), playing with the kids afterwards was wonderful. The kids were so happy and inviting and the entire group engaged well with them. But at one point I realized I and the majority of the kids were playing tag, while a lot of our group watched. I stopped the kids and explained we were going to play freeze tag and I invited our entire group to join in.
Everyone started running, but after just a few steps one of the girls next to me stopped me and pointed at Mary who had tripped and taken a hard crash on the concrete. I was instantly scared Mary (who is by no means elderly, but could be my mom) had really been hurt bad. The kids were all concerned too and started helping her up. She said she was ok (though her hand was bleeding and she had hit her knee and chin as well) and I translated this to the kids but they were still worried.
Mary, who later shared she wanted everyone else to get back to having fun, started to dance to show that she was fine. And it was a little like the mad-hatter dance, I was really impressed at the fluidity! The kids lighten up and we all laughed. The game started up and Mary even got back in before the end.
This was a small thing I suppose, but we were all having such a good time and her dance set aside her pain to rescue that joy in such a creative, spontaneous way. It struck me as heroic.

-Jake Taylor (www.jakeincroc.wordpress.com)

How I Saw God Today

Today the group all walked out to the church in the town Pucusana. The service started out and I dident know what to realy expect. It was all diffrant than i was used to doing in church. I wasebt used to having a translater to translate everything to me. I dident know that it meant something and related something to me. But latter i relized that it atcually did relate to something. I could relate the priest to God, and the translater to randome people in life. because God (the priest) can say something to you and you not understand untill someone in ur life (translater) comes along and they do something that just makes it clear what God is trying to say to you.

-Brenton Leighow



PS- We've got a trivia challenge for our followers! What's a windjammer? We've been playing Catch Phrase and that phrase has us stumped.

First day in Peru!

This was a full day. We walked to a local church where were each greeted by the pastor at the door while the service was going on. It was amazing how he incorporated strangers from Missouri in the service. He asked the leaders and translators to come to the front and he prayed for them. He picked several from our group to come up and share. He asked us to go hung someone that needed a hug. The people were so lovely and happy to see us. It was so cool!

After church we went to a local fishing village on the ocean and had an authentic Peruvian meal, complete with rice and fries. We sat outside with a view of the ocean that came through a small passage in the hill. We climbed the hill to view the ocean. It was so beautiful!

We came back to sort all the donations and supplies. Tomorrow is our first day of "work". I am ready get busy!

Dana Holt

my heart is smiling!

...today has been an incredible day! We had about 5 hours of sleep then hit the ground running...we had the opportunity to walk to church today..taking in the sights of the neighborhood we are living in. We were able to worship in a Peruvian Church with a congregation full of amazing people whose Love of God and Love for God was pouring out of their hearts full of worship.

Pastor George spent over an hour bringing several of our team up to the front, and asked us to share our simple story. What would be blank stares...were faces of smiles jumping up at the opportunity...one lady even said tonight "had Joey Butler asked me to do that, I would of passed out...yet I wanted so much to be a part of the joy that was in this place!" (So there you go Joey...you have a team full of people to call on now!) Tristan Anderson even had the BEST Birthday early ever...Tristan and James were prayed over and greeted by the entire church...all because Tristan is turning 50 Tuesday!

There are many incredible stories that came from our team time tonight....I love to sit back and hear how God is moving in hearts and light bulbs are going off...and its only day 1~~~WOOHOO!!!

Our hearts are full...our mission lies ahead...this is one incredible team!

Tomorrow starts our service opportunities...and we can hardly wait to see what God has in store for us! As I type this....I hear in the background nothing but laughter....my heart is smiling!

Amy Hayward

The Climb

This afternoon we learned how important it is to choose the right path. After lunch, many of us decided to climb a hill that overlooks the ocean. I say hill, but in our opinion it was closer to a small mountain. We were faced with two paths up the hill, one was very steep, but was a more direct route. The second path was longer and appeared to be the easier route. We talked with people who had climbed the "mountain" and listened to their opinions on which route to take. After some deliberation, we decided to take the longer, safer route.

As we began our climb, we were on very sandy ground. It was difficult and we started second guessing our decision. We continued on, and were soon on more stable ground. While the ground was more stable, it was also steeper. We quickly began relying on our group--both in their words of encouragement as well as the path they were taking. Once we reached the top, the struggles were definitely worth it. This climb reminded us that without Christ and the help of others, we're on sandy ground.

Beth and Anna Tabler

This morning we went to a local church, which was an amazing experience. As soon as we walked in the door we were greeted with hugs. Everyone got out of their seat to come greet us and made us feel very welcome. Even though we don't speak their language, I still knew the love of Christ was flowing from their hearts. This really encouraged me to be more welcoming at church, so that everyone who enters the doors knows they are loved. I also really enjoyed the worship. Right when they started singing the first song, I could feel the Holy Spirit and it was so neat to know that we were all worshiping the same God together.

After church we went to Pucusana to eat lunch and to see the ocean. We climbed a very steep hill to reach the top where we could see the ocean. It was breathtaking. Climbing the hill was hard and I was afraid I was going to fall, but it was so worth it when we saw the ocean. It reminded me of our journey with Christ. Sometimes we have to go through hard times, but it is so worth it when we see God's beautiful plan for our lives.

We also sorted donations today which was the first time our team worked together. It was neat to see everyone working hard together and we got finished very quickly. I look forward to a great week with a great team! Thank you to everyone back home who is praying for us!

Shelby Malick

Peru Team Has Arrived Safely!

It's been 24 hours since the first group was up and ready to head to MCI airport...and we have all made it safe and sound to Hogar de Hannah, our home for the next week. We had no trouble with the flights and all 68 checked bags made it safely! Praise God and thank you for praying us through!

It's a blessing to be able to stay here onsite at Hannah's Home...we actually are very spoiled as the accomodations are far beyond what I think we all expected! Thanks to the teams that have helped prepare this place for us!

We are all weary...but hearts are full and we are ready for the mission God has for us!

Talk to you soon!
Amy Hayward