Operación San Andrés

Operación San Andrés (OSA) is the organization for which we will work here in Lima, starting this Monday, August 15. The past weeks, we had some meetings with the director of OSA and discussed our expectations by phone with the founder of OSA, Dr. Luis Campos.

OSA exists to provide holistic aid to the indigent and underserved people of Collique, a shantytown in the north of Lima. In addition to regular medical and dental care campaigns, OSA personnel in Peru provide continuous medical, educational, nutritional, and spiritual help to the poorest residents of Collique with an emphasis on assistance to children and their families.

Dr. Campos started this ministry in 2003. When he and his wife were looking for a place to start a ministry like this they drove through Lima and finally felt God called them to Collique. After much prayer and meditation we feel the call to join them in their effort to improve the lives of the people of Collique.

In the beginning, the ministry was focused on the medical needs of the people, with medical campaigns. OSA continues with these campaigns, but since 2006 the OSA house came in existence when OSA bought a house in Collique and reconstructed it to a three level building. Now, from Monday through Friday a group of eighteen 1^st graders and twenty 6^th graders come after school to OSA. There, they get a lunch, which is prepared by four mothers. After the lunch the children get classes reading, math, and science. Classes also emphasize spiritual development, recreation, and crafts. The reason for these classes is because the poor education the children receive.

Over the last years, Dr. Campos recognized a strong spiritual need in the families represented by these children as well as in the community. That’s why OSA was looking for a couple that can help with teaching, but also work with the families and reach the community with the Gospel. It’s nice when two dentists help more than 400 children get a beautiful smile, but it’s better when this smile represents the joy in Jesus Christ.

The third floor of the OSA-house is an apartment, where we will move next week. This is another transition in three months time, but we are excited that we can start serving God in OSA.

For more information about OSA, visit the website at http://www.operacionsanandres.org/.

In the next post we will share some more details about our work.

At the moment, we applied for a resident’s visa for me, which will take a couple of weeks. When I have my visa, I need to leave the country and go to a Peruvian embassy in another country to get a stamp in my visa. This visa is for five years, after which I can apply for permanent residency.

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Please, pray for

• us as we prepare to work and live in Collique.
• the visa process
• the children and families at OSA
• a smooth transition

New Logo and more

This blog, as well as our social media, was launched with a logo that was not original. We found it on the World Wide Web, but we didn’t want to continue to use this ‘stolen’ logo. Since last week we have our own logo. We thank our friend Marco for his time, energy and idea! We are really content with the outcome, a logo that represents our “Heart for Peru.”

Our search for a place to serve continues…

Last week, we saw two missionaries of Latin Link in action. On Monday, we visited a training for children´s ministry workers. It was encouraging to see about 120 in attendance. This training is given every Monday for three months and each session the participant needs to pay an amount similar to two dollar. The missionary explained that most pastors and churches don’t really support children’s work that much, so many participants pay the fee out of their own pocket. The topic for that night was ‘prayer and praise.’ The missionary shared many ways to teach children to pray and praise God. She also had great ideas to create cheap instruments for worship. This missionary works for an organization that writes and creates material for children’s ministry in Spanish, which is also sold outside Peru even in the USA.

On Thursday, we went with a missionary to a church she planted south of Lima. (It was good to be in a rural area for a little while.) This missionary does mostly evangelism, discipleship and church planting. She shared with us some testimonies of the thirty years she has been in Peru. The church we visited has been there for several years, but it took quite some years before it was the church it is today. This afternoon we heard again about the importance of prayer.

We will continue to visit some projects. We feel and know that God directs and guides us through these projects and meetings to the place that He prepared for us. We put our trust in Him and know that He will show us.

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We apologize if some pages are not up to date, but it’s just difficult to do all this and our email traffic in an internet café.

Many impressions…

The last blog I finished by mentioning about the meeting with the team leader of Latin Link Peru on Tuesday last week. This meeting was very informative about the work of Latin Link in Peru in general and about the several missionaries specific. The missionaries from different European countries do a variety of work and that’s what we are looking for. We also like the idea of having a mentor during the two years of their stride program.

He provided us with contact information of some of the missionaries, who we would contact for an appointment to visit the projects in which they work.

The rest of the week we moved slow and rested some more. For a country boy like me, the city life of Lima is much more vivid and alive than life on the south side of San Antonio. Every time we take another bus or walk another street my brain gets lots of new information that needs to be processed. On a day we have been out I am more tired in the evening. I am sure I will get used to it, but for now a little more rest is most welcome.

Last Monday, we met with the founder of “Operación San Andres.” This is a project in one of the poorest areas of Lima. The last part of the roads that took us to the project were unpaved and the houses very primitive. The project is like an after school program for—at the moment—40 kids. The mothers are also involved by cooking meals a few times a month on a scheduled base. Beside this program they host all kind of activities and workshops for the community. They are looking for a couple that can focus more in the spiritual development and discipleship as they see a big need for this.

The visits to these projects gave us many impressions of what God is doing in Peru. Now, the question is where God wants to use us. At the moment we are processing all the information and impressions, praying and seeking guidance. We know that God has a plan for our lives and we sense this is in Peru for now. Pray with us, that God may open the door and direct us to the place He wants us to serve Him.

One more week…

At the moment I type this, I vision myself in Lima with Elizabett at my side. That will be the case in seven days from now. We can’t wait to see each other. Friday, June 3rd, around 11:15 p.m., my plane is scheduled to arrive at the Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima. Actually, my second entry in Peru. Then three years and one week ago, we arrived from Holland to celebrate our third wedding on May 31 of 2008. God has been good and I trust in His goodness and faithfulness as I get ready to make the move from the US to Peru. South America is going to be the fourth continent where I will live. If my ten and a half month experience in Africa is going to help me is the question for now. In my heart and mind I am ready for it, but what happens unconsciously… I will know in a couple of weeks.

Transition. That’s the word that applies to Elizabett and me these weeks. Elizabett is back in the place she left almost eight years ago. That may sound like an easy move for those who have never moved, but the ones who did move know that even this can be a big transition. I am looking forward to get to know Lima, the Peruvian people, the culture, and customs better. Yes, a transition, but hopefully a good one. At this time of the year it means also a move from hot San Antonio, to cold Lima. Lima is getting ready for winter and San Antonio where temperatures are in the high 90’s F/ 30’s C. and it’s not yet summer. For Elizabett this is a negative side of the move, for me it’s rather positive.

I have one more week to say goodbye to my friends and San Antonio. We will miss you, but the memories will always be in our hearts!

Instead of goodbye, let’s say: See you later!

Elizabett in Lima, Kees in SA

For the coming two weeks Elizabett will be preparing the home of her mother for Kees’ arrival and Kees is trying to clean the apartment in SA. It’s amazing how much paperwork (school work, magazines, postcards, etc.) we have collected over the last three years. It was a joy to read the cards again, but unfortunately we can’t take them with us, so they went through the shredder and are part of history now. We look forward to receive mail in Peru though; yes, we know that we try to make good use of social media, email, and internet, but a postcard or letter is still nice to receive.

Elizabett and her mom arrived safe and sound in Lima Wednesday night and all their luggage arrived unharmed as well. They had some issues with their carry-on baggage, but with their smiling faces they were able to keep it with them at all time.

Kees booked his ticket to Lima this morning. On Friday, June 3, he will fly with AeroMexico from San Antonio via Mexico-City to Lima, where he will arrive a little bit after 11 pm. On the following Monday, we will have meetings with the short term coordinators of Latin Link. With them we will visit and meet with the director of an other organization and visit one of the possible places where we can serve. Exciting times.

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Please pray for:

• Kees, who is finishing up in San Antonio
• the last weeks with friends in San Antonio
• Elizabett, as she prepares for Kees’ arrival
• Preparations of Latin Link for the meetings with us