No news is good news

It sounds like a good excuse for not writing on our blog. Actually, we don’t need an excuse, because we have just been busy in our first month at Operación San Andrés (OSA). And like my mother wrote, “Better busy, than having nothing to do.”

What has been going on in our first month at OSA? Of course, the first week we had to familiarize ourselves with OSA’s schedule and working methods. But not only that, a new job and a new place of living means new people. At the moment, from Monday through Friday, twenty-seven children come to OSA after school for lunch and extra classes in mathematics, reading and writing, spiritual development; on the weekdays they are here from 1-6pm. The mothers of these children are required to cook lunch three times a month. The first days it seems hard to get to know them, but after this first month we are more familiar with the children, their mothers and even some other family members.

This semester, Elizabett teaches three times per week mathematics to the 6^th graders, which is a group of seventeen children. On Friday afternoon, she is preparing them for a Christmas musical, which will be performed for the OSA family and in one of the schools here in Collique in December.

On Saturday mornings we have a devotional/Bible study with a group of teenagers. These teenagers left OSA’s program last year, when they went on to the first grade of secondary school. In the afternoon, we offer with the Lutheran church in the next street and in cooperation with the Scouts of Peru a program from 3 till 5. We have had a couple of meetings and training with the Scouts to get acquainted with their material. Elizabett and I didn’t have any experience with the Scouts, so it’s all new to us.

At the moment, our spiritual focus is on the teenagers and their families. We will also implement more prayer and Bible study time with the OSA personal. At BUA and Harlandale Baptist Church in San Antonio we have had positive experience with prayer ministry, although we always hoped a better response. A church without prayer is without power, we believe this is the same for a ministry like OSA. Also, prayer unites, which is important for a small group of workers.

These weeks we have also been busy with the Marco Lógico (ML) (in English: Logical Framework Approach) of the organization. We had a special workshop to teach us the ML. For the coming three months we had to set our objectives and goals for our activities. We experienced this as rather complex as we hardly knew where to start working.

Beside all the work that already was scheduled, the first weeks of our stay in the apartment on the third floor of the OSA house there were painters painting the apartment and two guys working on the roof because of some leaks. I was helping the painters moving the furniture and preparing the rooms. As an electrician it’s easy to take the switches and outlets from the wall to make the work of the painter easier and to keep the switches and outlets clean. Last week the painter finished his work and the roof has a new layer.

As I am still working on my Spanish and not able yet to have a conversation, I was asked to update the OSA website and work on a database with all the information of the children and families. I thank God for this opportunity to use my experience from BUA at OSA and be useful to OSA.

We just received an email that my resident’s visa is almost ready. We hope to get it all done this Monday. The office that helped us told us the last time that it is not necessary for me to go to a Peruvian embassy in another country.

I started this post about excuses, finishing up this post I think to myself “busyness isn’t an excuse not to write as well!” If I continue to write regularly, as we state on our blog, it will be once a month, but I plan to do it more often.

Thanks for your support!

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

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!