The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentence.
2 Peter 3:9
Gracious, is anyone else a little overwhelmed that the reason that the Lord hasn´t come back in glory is because He is patient toward us all? All. Not just me, not just you. All includes my sweet friend Nicolasa who runs a little bodega on the ¨curve¨ in Chacapampa, Peru. All includes my friend Erika who knows how to dream big dreams. All includes sweet baby Annalee who always has a smile on her face. All includes the sassiest Quechua woman living on the mountain who finds joy in calling me gringa.
God´s love... well, its for us all. I´ve always known that, but it is a whole other thing to experience the Holy Spirit going before you like He did for John the Baptist to open hearts so that people would seek and savor His presence.
The people of Chacapampa are absolutely beautiful and funny and sassy and caring and hospitable.
They welcome us, three really tall gringas and our incredible friend Edher, into their homes and feed us and listen to us. And it is a beautiful picture.
So, here is what my week generally looks like:
Monday: Sabbath day. This generally includes a lot of reading for me and washing my hair. (YES!) Fun fact of the day, we don´t really have a shower... so it may have been 3.5 weeks since I had taken a shower when we got to Huancayo for mid-summer break. Oops.
Tuesday: I get up REALLY early and go work with Nicolasa in her bodega. Basically, that means that I sit there and talk to her while she cooks, act as a waitress for the people who come in for their 3 sole breakfast, and read the bible aloud if we have downtime. For her, she cooks and tries her hardest to find me a Peruvian husband so I can stay in Chacapampa forever. She is absolutely incredible and has the biggest heart. Please join me in prayer that the Lord will open her heart to want to grow in His Word even after we leave and that she would find mercy and grace in her time of need. Tuesday afternoons we get on a super sketchy bus and head up the mountain to Anticocha where our friend Rita lives. We teach english at the school, share a bible story at a knitting meeting, and freeze our tushes off at night. Rita is so hospitable to let us stay with her on Tuesday nights- but let me say, there is just something strange with going to the bathroom in 35 degree weather with sheep staring at you. (Toilets arent exactly common here.) Please pray that more women would feel led to attend the knitting meetings and that their hearts would be open there. They need a community to grow with, please pray for that to rise up! Rita also has the 4 most beautiful daughters. (Nicole, Karen, Anita, and Emily) They are all really young and call us ¨hermana,¨ my heart melts every time. And Anita, well she is pretty much exactly like my sister as a child- too cute for her own good and super mischevious. Please pray that those sweet girls would grow up in love with our Savior!
Wednesday: We leave Anticocha on a combi (like a van) and head back down to Chacapampa. One week, Aubrey and I missed the combi and so we had to hike down the mountain for about an hour and a half to get home. The Holy Spirit fell down and we were speaking Spanish that we have never learned before with these 2 women that walked with us. It was... breathtaking. In the afternoon, Aubrey and Hannah coach volleyball and at night we go to the library with the beautiful and humble and amazing Peruvian missionary, Liz, and help the kids learn how to read. I don´t know that I´ve ever read Peter Pan more times... and I love it.
Thursday: I spend my mornings with Nicolasa again, which is always an adventure. In the afternoons, we are supposed to teach the oldest grade at the high school- but we have yet to have a chance because something always comes up to where they get out of school early. Please pray that the Lord will open doors for us to minister there! Thursday nights we are back in the library. I guess I should mention that the sun goes down at 6 and there isn´t a lot to do after that, so we are typically asleep by 8:30 pm and awake by 6:30 am or 7. For about a week and a half we haven´t had electricity, so we go to sleep earlier because there is only so much you can do with a flashlight. But, its not too bad. Please pray that we have electricity soon though, because we don´t have a good way to keep the meat that we are bringing up from Huancayo.
Friday: BUSY DAY. We teach in the morning and early afternoon the first 4 grades of the high school. Last week, we were able to share the gospel in each class. It was amazing. God is so faithful to provide. After school, we have a few girls over to study the bible and it might be my favorite time of the week. Please pray that their eyes would be open to scripture and that they would thirst to know Christ more! We want it to be a conversation, not us teaching them the whole time- so please pray that they wouldn´t be shy to ask questions and share opinions! Friday night we head off to another knitting meeting and Liz shares a bible story. I love knitting meetings... and I am in the process of knitting a scarf. We´ll see how that goes...
Saturday: We have generally been trying to work in the fields on Saturday morning/afternoon. I am basically a master at shucking corn, just so everyone knows. We try to share bible stories as we work alongside the people in the fields. Its absolutely incredible how relatable their culture and lifestyle is to most of the parables that Jesus tells. I absolutely love it. Saturday night we go to another kntting meeting. Please pray for the leader of that meeting to be encouraged!
Sunday: It usually depends, but for the most part we are preparing for church and inviting people to church. Church happens at 6 pm and last time we had 4 people come. Praise Jesus! Please pray for leadership to rise up for the believers in Chacapampa to have a consistent time to meet together and encourage one another.
So, that´s our week. I am so blessed by my team- Hannah has the kindest heart and knows the Word of God like the back of her hand, its beautiful. Aubrey has so much joy and her jokes keep me sane. She is so willing to follow Christ wherever He leads, even if she is scared. Goodness, I love them. Edher is our wonderful translator from Lima and we tend to refer to him as the MVP of the team. He is the only completely bilingual person on the team, cooks the most delicious food, and is hands down a better source of entertainment than any tv show. The way they all love the Lord makes me want to love Him more. Please pray for encouragement for us and that we would continue to grow together in unity through Christ!
Today we are heading back to Chacapampa to finish out the last half of the summer. In 3.5 weeks, we will be saying goodbye to our sweet friends. I am so ready to be home and see my family and friends, but at the same time... its hard to imagine not having Nicolasa scold me for not eating enough every day.
Not only has ministering to these people taught me so much, but in the mountains you have so few distractions that its hard not to get still before the Lord and let Him speak. I´m so thankful for how He has been using the gentle whisper, and sometimes a big fire, to speak to my heart and grow me to hopefully look a little more like Him every day.
Behold, I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.
Mary in Luke 2:38
I love Mary. I think I would have been having a major panic attack if I had just found out that I was going to be the mother of the SON OF GOD. But Mary, oh, she just answers in humble obedience. Jesus, make me more like her!
God is so faithful to uphold His word, its in His very nature. This trip has shown me that I need to take God at His Word, because chances are pretty good that He is going to fulfill every promise in the Bible.
In Isaiah 6, Isaiah answers the call of the Lord to go to the people and preach. We love this verse when we are going on missions- Here I am Lord, send me! But, how often do we continue reading and find that the people Isaiah was to minister to were never going to see the Lord. I honestly don´t know if I could answer that kind of call.
This trip, God has shown me the importance of faithfulness in ministry and not necessarily fruitfulness. Do I want every person in Chacapampa to come to know the Lord? Absolutely! But if not a soul gets saved while I´m here this summer, God is still sovereign and I am still here for a reason.
Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace; that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1 Corinthians 12:10
... we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God´s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5: 3-5
I´m trying to type something that explains how the Lord has used these verses to work on destroying my ¨doer¨mentality and my pride, but I just can´t find the words. It has been the biggest truth He has been constantly laying on my heart.
While I am relying on my ability to serve and read and talk and even walk, I am leaning on my strength. But when I get to a point where I realize that I can´t do a single thing without the Lord, then I can experience His overwhelming strength. With some pretty heavy knee problems and a really gross sickness, I am absolutely weak. Its hard to live in a mountain village. Its exhausting. Its overwhelming at times. Sometimes, I have absolutely no idea what I am doing or why the Lord has brought me here. I miss home and flushing my toilet paper down the toilet.
But, those are the moments when I see God work the most- when I am about 20 miles past my breaking point. When I am weak, then I am strong.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
And lastly, I have been learning to enjoy the simplicity of the gospel. God created man, we fell to sin and can´t break the habit. In order to be made right with the holy and perfect God, who is the source of all good things, we need a perfect sacrifice. Lucky for us undeserving sinners, God is love and sent His Son to live a sinless life and die a horrendous death on the cross for OUR sins. Three days later, He rose. He conquered death and He is reigning on high, patiently waiting to return.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
