Blog Archives
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.
Exciting week ahead of us
Tomorrow morning we will visit a church in Lima where we will meet the group of Americans who will serve in Collique the coming week from Monday till Friday. Among them, nine doctors, a gynecologist, an optometrist, two dentists, eleven ‘constructors’ (or do-it-yourselfers;)), a group for VBS and others. In total the group exists of over 50 people. Yesterday, most have them arrived in Lima and the rest followed today.
After the service tomorrow morning we will have lunch and then we all will come to Collique. In the afternoon, we will have a service for which the families of the OSA children are invited as well. After that some final preparations for the work that will start Monday morning.
The medical campaign is how the work of OSA started here in Collique. Each year there are still two of those weeks. One in March and the other in October. In October, the group is usually larger, we are told.
Last Wednesday and Thursday, people could register. The registration began at 9 a.m., but the first were already at the door at half past nine the night before. At 9 am there was a long line.
In a day and half the schedules of all doctors were filled, so we could post a sign that the registration was closed.
During the week, Kees will be involved in the construction work. In general, we look at the needs of the OSA families. This time we will build in three places. One bedroom on the second floor of a house, a bedroom behind a house that was destroyed by falling rocks and a bathroom behind a house that currently only has “walls” of plastic. Last Friday, we brought all material to the construction sites with a mototaxi. Unfortunately I don’t have pictures, because it was quite a challenge on the sloping unpaved streets of Collique.
First, Elizabett was planned to be interpreter for VBS team, but after today this has changed. When we asked whether there is a place where people can go for prayer/pastoral care, it seemed not the case. So now, that’s the place were Elizabett will be. Ultimately, that’s one of the reasons we are here at OSA…
For daily news about this campaign we refer to OSA’s Facebook page.
We also hope to post some news about the happenings during the week.
We ask you to keep this week in your prayers.
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 1st graders and twenty 6th 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
What a week!
During my time in Peru, I didn’t expect to have a wonderful week with International Crusades in Lima. In 1998, God permitted me to participate in International Crusades in Miami. It was amazing to meet brothers and sisters in Christ from different countries. We are a big family of God. Working in missions is a blessing, however, to work in your own country and neighborhood is not the same.
The last week of July, 18 churches from Lima received 47 people from the USA, 24 from Ecuador, 2 from Chile, 2 from Argentina, and 6 from Brazil. It was wonderful to share the Gospel with brothers and sisters from these countries. I think this kind of ministry helps the local believers to lose their timidity.
Eight Americans made up the team at Evangelical Baptist Church Ebenezer in Miraflores, Lima. This is my home church and we attend here at the moment. I helped the team as interpreter. During the first sermon on Sunday morning, God spoke to my heart and showed me the importance of sharing the gospel in my own neighborhood. For me, to share the gospel in other places is easier than in my own neighborhood, because people know me and I know them. So, to feel embarrassed is easy in this circumstance. However, God calls us to share the gospel first in Jerusalem, which is in our own family, neighborhood, and city. This International Crusades taught me to do so.
On Monday, I visited my neighborhood with two of the Americans. Some of my neighbors were not at home, others were not ready for the Gospel, others didn’t want to change their religion although we didn’t preach about religion, just the message of Jesus; but God permitted that three persons in my neighborhood accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. It was amazing!
The next days in the morning and afternoon, I was in different locations visiting families, homes, and the prison with part of the team. From Monday through Friday we also had evening services. At the end of the week, Ebenezer counted around 100 new believers and all the 18 churches in Lima together got over 1600 professions of faith. Saturday, we had a closing service with all the churches and missionaries. It was a wonderful experience to sing songs with people from other languages and cultures. It made me think of how it will be in the presence of God with people from different nations united by One Lord and Savior. Only God, our Creator can do this!
The team with some church members
Sunday morning we had to say good-bye to our new friends, which was not easy but they had to go back home, family and friends are waiting for them. We hope to see them again someday. The world is getting smaller with all the technology and new ways of communication, and maybe we can have another time sharing the Gospel together. The harvest was good and the discipleship got started. This experience is unforgettable; God blessed me that I was able to share His message of love with the people close to my home, and in my city. I believe every Christian ought to do it, although the prophet is not appreciated in his/her own region, however, God send us to do it and to share the Gospel with others. I felt very blessed, I think it was not a coincidence, God wanted to teach me that someday He will ask me for the people around me that I didn’t share the message of salvation. It is a big responsibility and we need to do it. May God help us to share His message everywhere.
One month further…
The first weeks of this month we prayed and talked a lot about the place God has for us. We felt that God guided us to an organization and are talking about some details with this organization. Both, the organization and we, have expectations and it’s good to know if we are talking about the same ones. As soon as we know more we will post it here.
At the moment, Elizabett is one of the interpreters for missionaries from the USA who are here for an international crusade. Since last Friday, there are many missionaries from the USA, Guatemala, Ecuador, Chili, Argentina, and Brazil in Lima for this crusade. Last Saturday, there was the starting service of this campaign in the church of Elizabett. I noticed that the average age of this group is at least above 40. After the service the missionaries were put in small groups and left to about ten different churches all over Lima.
In our church there are eight missionaries; six from a church from Dallas, one from Kansas, and one from Oklahoma. One man from Dallas is 84 years old. It shows that you are never too old for missions. Monday night I spoke with him. He was cold that day not out of the ordinary if you know that the last two weeks in Dallas it was above 100° F. and in Lima it’s around 60° F. They offered him to stay in the hotel the other day, but he said: “I am here to work; soon the day will come when I can rest forever.” These words still resound in my mind. Yes, these 86 years on this earth are nothing compared to eternity.
From Monday through Friday, there missionaries go two by two with an interpreter and sometimes a church member and visit families and friends of church members, prisons, hospitals and go door by door. In the weeks before the crusade church members had the opportunity to give information about family and friends to the committee. During the Sunday morning service, Elizabett knew God was calling her to visit the people in her street and neighborhood. Praise the Lord for three people who accepted Christ as their Lord, Savior, and Master; and two others made a recommitment.
One of the missionaries told the church in the Monday night revival service that she recognized the hunger for the Gospel in Lima. Halfway through the week many sinners prayers have been send up to heaven and joy before the angels. But also here… the harvest is truly great, but the workers are few!
Yesterday, we heard another amazing testimony of how God works unexpectedly. One group was going to an address by taxi. They were planning the visit and possibly talked about the great things they already had experienced without talking with the taxi driver, which is normal here in Lima. When they arrived on their destination and were getting ready to leave the taxi, the driver asked if they could tell him more about Jesus. After they explained the plan of salvation the driver prayed and accepted the free gift of salvation. He drove off with the greatest joy he ever had.
Tomorrow, 28 July, is Independence Day in Peru. This year it is also the inauguration of the new president, Ollanta Humala. Please, pray for a good day for Peru, that the festivities may without problems. Also, pray for the new president as he starts his five year term.
