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Campaign and more
From Monday, April 23, until Friday, April 27, there was a group from Texas in Collique for the spring campaign. This time there was a medical team and a construction team. Kees coordinated the construction part of the campaign and Elizabett served as an interpreter for one of the doctors in the moments she wasn’t teaching, because the children in our after school program had their normal schedule.
Blanca, OSA’s program director, asked a Peruvian to be available before and during the week to help me with the purchases of materials and the transportation of these to the construction sites. She specifically planned him to help me out with my Spanish. Finally, I did it all by myself, due to the documentation of former campaigns, which helped a lot. Last year, I asked the one who trained me if it was possible to make deals and order materials prior to the campaign, but his experience was that this doesn’t work in Peru. Well, I gave it a try and it worked for me. Tuesday before the campaign I ordered the wood, which I wanted ready to pick up on Friday morning at 10 am; it was because of the line at the bank, that I wasn’t on time, but they already called OSA that they were waiting for the tall Dutch guy. So when I arrived, we only had to load the truck.
During the campaign, I walked many times up and down the roads of the community to check on the teams. In this way, I have more interaction with the people and got to know new people. I always try to listen and examine the needs. I was able to guide several of them to one of the doctors and from others I got name and address so we can visit them.
The construction team finished two bedrooms, a small house, a water tank completely installed, roof repair, and replaced half of the roof of a house. In this second campaign for me, I learned again and we hope to improve the process with the next one.
Kees with the resident at one of the construction sites.
As I wrote, Elizabett taught her normal classes and hours during the week, but in the time she normally uses to prepare her classes and to visit families in the community she served as an interpreter. She had lots of funny moments with the doctor, who was Indian, and a Russian nurse. It was her first real experience translating for a doctor and she just didn’t know most of the medical terms he used. So after a couple of patients they start talking something what I will call simple English. It made it easier for all, also the patients.
Elizabett with Maria instructing a patient.
For more photos and stories, visit OSA’s Facebook page.
Elizabett’s mother.
Elizabett’s mother is doing much better since the surgery, almost a month ago. Last weekend, we spent in Collique, after all the weekends of April with her. We thank you all for your prayers!
God is good!
“All the time!” is possibly what you think… We can tell you that we never doubted about God’s knowledge of our needs and His provision during difficult times. He provided the finances we needed to pay the hospital bills!
Prayer
Since our first weeks in Collique, we acknowledge that Satan is not too happy with our work here. He uses different arrows to stop us from doing what we are doing. Sometimes he has been successful, for a while, as we experienced sickness, but we are victorious and conquerors, because of Jesus. We have victory over all principalities, powers and dominion because of the work of the cross!
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 15:57 (NIV)
But we would really appreciate it if you pray for us regularly! And we want you to know that we pray for you as well.
Who am I?
The more I walk through the barrio here in the 4th zone of Collique, the more I ask myself, “Who am I?” You might think of the song of the Casting Crowns with that same question as title, but that song has nothing to do with economic situations. My main question is: who am I, that I was born in the Netherlands in an average income family?
I asked myself the same question when I was living in working in Cameroon for Wycliffe Bible Translators. Part of my job there was maintaining the houses and apartments of the other missionaries. There I repaired things which the neighbors couldn’t dream of. Yes, it changed me. When I returned to the Netherlands, it took me a bit to adapt back. Partly, because of another culture shock I got shortly after my return, because two weeks later I flew to the USA to meet Elizabett for the first time.
I missed my connection in Chicago, so I got to spend some more time on O’Hare Airport. There I was, for the first time on US soil, excited to meet Elizabett for the first time in a couple of hours, but also overwhelmed by all. It was September 2006, and for the first time I saw a guy walking and talking aloud with nobody close to him and without cell phone. It was after the third person, that my eye caught the little black “ear cover.” Little did I know…. In these first hours in the US, there was so much more “for the first time.” Yes meeting Elizabett, but that’s not what I am talking about here.
Who am I, that I have a nice apartment on the third floor of the OSA-house here in Collique? Okay, this apartment has room for a family, like the family that lived here before us with their two little boys. But still. Back in September last year, we returned from our first visit of a family in the community. The house of the family of five is about one third of our apartment. I asked Elizabett, did you ever dream to live in a penthouse? Well, here we are in penthouse Collique. Out of our living room window we oversee the first four zones of Collique and now during the summer months we can even see the Pacific. We have running water and a boiler, washing machine en dryer, etc. Compared to so many around us, we are living in wealth.
How easy it is for a human being to complain? I can tell you, easy. If it is not the heat, it is the dust, or the cold (because we don’t have central heating), or the dogs, or the music, or problems with the water system, etc. It’s easy to forget the circumstances in which the people around us live.
One day, we visited a family, who at that time where reconstructing the house because of property issues. The master bed stood in the living room, which was also the dining room, television room, play room for the children, and whatever other room we can think of in the western world. When we asked where the two children were going to sleep, the mother said on a mattress on the floor. There was hardly room for the mattress, so we offered the children our guestroom. That night, each one slept in a bed (instead of together in a single-persons) in our guestroom, which was bigger than their house at that moment.
These weeks, we are preparing for the group that will be here in the last week of April. We are planning on helping four families with the construction team. When family’s is in a really bad shape, so we offered to construct a new. The family of five lives in a house of 16’ by 16’. That’s the size of our living room! Who am I?
At the moment, I am reading a book, which I had for several years without touching it. It is called “Revolution in World Missions” Why I didn’t pick it up before? I think that I was not ready for it. But today I am. In this book, Dr. K.P. Yohannan is teaching me what I already was thinking. It confirms that everything I do needs to go hand in hand with the Gospel. He encourages me to work harder on my Spanish to better communicate the Good News with all people. If you haven’t read it, you can order a free copy online. Or download a pdf version of the book here.
The struggle with the difference in the economic situation in which we live will continue, but I know who I am in Christ. This is the most important thing I have to share, so that soon I can sing the song of the Casting Crowns together with my neighbors!
Who am I, that the Lord of all the earthWould care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart Not because of who I am But because of what You’ve done Not because of what I’ve done
But because of who You are I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I’m calling
Lord, You catch me when I’m falling
And You’ve told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours
Our first summer in Collique
The people here have been talking about it since we live here. And as the months went by it came closer and closer. Three weeks in The Netherlands didn’t help in preparation, because when we came back we had a twenty degree Celsius gap to overcome. And now, almost at the end of it, I can say that they didn’t say too much… summer in Collique.
What’s a summer in Collique like? Sun and dust! Well, almost every day sun. If you want to look for the sun at noon, turn your head ninety degrees backwards and you’ll look it in the face. Did I say dust? Well, let me first mention the breeze that blows between the mountain ridges in between which Collique lies. It takes a fairly nice breeze from the Pacific—which we can see out of our window this time of the year—all the way up to the fourth zone of Collique, where we live and work. BUT this breeze is not plain air, no it seems to collect dust from the first, second, and third zone before it blows through our mosquito screens. Every day a swipe of my finger on the dining table shows me the evidence. Anyway, we are here to serve God, the Creator of the sun and the dust. The other day I read 1 Thes. 5:18. That’s what I do, thanking God for the breeze and don’t bother too much about the sun and dust.
While we were missing air conditioning in the first weeks of the summer, these last weeks, our bodies seem to adjust to the circumstances.
Well, enough about the summer in Collique. What’s been going on under Collique’s sun?
Since January 9, OSA is running it’s after school program. This year, we have a group of second graders and a group of first and second grade middle school students. While the schools in Peru still had their summer break, the children were eager to come. The children are not all going to the same school; some have classes in the morning and others in the afternoon. For this reason, the group of middle school students is split in half. Since February 13, we have nine in the morning and eleven in the afternoon. This year, Elizabett is teaching Bible and Microsoft Office to the group of middle school students.
The first weeks it was hard to get all the laptops up and running. Since we have two sessions, I created user accounts for the students on the best eleven laptops we have and hope they will last the whole year.
This year, Elizabett and I are also in charge of the monthly Bible study for the mothers of the oldest group of students. Every Thursday, the social worker gives workshops about health, nutrition, lifestyle, etc. One the first Thursday of the month we do the Bible study. This year, the children and mothers all study the book of John. Every week, the mothers have the possibility to write their name on a list if they would like a study in their home. So far every week, we visited an OSA family and some weeks two. We are filled with joy now we realize the hunger there is for God’s Word. Several of the mothers requested these studies more frequently. At the moment, we are planning on a bi-weekly study at OSA. Please, pray with us that we may take the best decision.
At the end of January and the end of February we took the middle school students on a trip. The first trip took us to the Inca Kola company, and two museums in downtown Lima. The second trip took us to two museums in Callao. For photos of the first trip click here, and click here for photos of the second trip.
Another activity I want to mention is the VBS in the second week of February. It was all decided and prepared at the last moment, but God blessed it abundantly. Each day we had over forty children from the community. The theme was “Build your life.” The last day of the VBS we as team thanked God for even building our lives as we worked together, sharing the good news of Jesus with these children. It was such a joy to walk through the community the days after the VBS and hear children calling my name. Some came to me for a hug. Click here for photos of the VBS.
This is just a little bit of what happened during our first summer in Collique, where the Son shines his light in the darkest corners of hearts. Witnessing these moments make me forget the hot sun and dust; a cool breeze is what I feel…
Photos
Yesterday it was exactly six months ago we started working for Operación San Andrés in Collique. These six months flew by faster than the last semester at Baptist University of the Américas. We thank God for the opportunity to serve Him here and we are grateful for the many moments that we could open His Word to share with the people of Collique. The people are really hungry for the Word of God.
On our invitation for our graduation in May last year, we wrote: “Another Ebenezer…” That’s how we can call February 15th too. As we look back, we see that God has been faithful, ad as we look ahead, we trust in His faithfulness. God said to Jacob in Genesis 28:15, “I am with you and I will watch over you wherever you go” We know that He is with us when we visit people in the community and we see Him at work.
We know that our friends have been waiting for photos of the place where we live and work. Sorry that you had to wait for six months. Recently, we uploaded four albums to our blog. You can find links to the albums on this page, http://heartforperu.wordpress.com/photos/. You can also get to the albums via the top menu of our blog.
If you have questions, you can reach us at HeartForPeru@gmail.com or via the form on http://heartforperu.wordpress.com/contact/
A Glass of Water
During the first weeks in our apartment in Collique there was a painter in the house and there were two men working on the roof because of leaks. Here and there I put a helping hand and I kept an eye on them.
The first day, I offered the painter coffee or tea. He was in for a cup of tea, so I put hot water, cups, tea and sugar on the counter and with my beginners Spanish I told him that he could serve himself. At the end of the day, he hadn’t drunk. When I told Elizabett, she explained me that here in Peru I need to serve the people. Usually, they wouldn’t serve themselves, even if you give them permission.
When the following week the roofers started their work, every now and then I served them something to drink too. They always kept it by a glass of water. They really thanked me for each glass I gave them.
Some three weeks after the work on our apartment was finished, Elizabett and I walked down the street towards the bus stop. Halfway there is a small bar. When I looked through the open door I saw one of the roofers drinking anything but water. When he saw me he called me immediately, “Pastor!” Then he came out to thank me again for the water that I had served him. He told Elizabett that I was the first person who had given him something to drink on the job. He would never forget.
For me it was natural to give him something to drink, so I was accustomed to from home. However, here it is not a normal thing. Cultural difference, I would say.
I never thought to make an impact in someone’s life by being just myself. That something simple like a glass of water can do so.
Beside the glass of water I tried to make him know with the Living Water. My prayer is that he will yearn for it and when I encounter him again he will ask for that.
Jesus said, “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)
