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| A number of young members of our new church family being baptized. |
Wow, where has January
gone??? This month has flown by for me. I was in Cusco for New Years, which was
quite an experience. One thing that was really fun about it was that they set
fireworks off everywhere, and they were not very concerned about pedestrians.
Someone would just set some down next to a crowd of people, and as soon as they
started going off, the crowd would back off. It was exciting, and something completely
new to me. A couple of days after we headed to Machu Picchu and all that stuff
that I mentioned in my December post, the trop finally ended with a day and a
half excursion in Lima in-between my flights. I made it back to the mission on
the 9th, and life quickly returned to normal.
When
I got back, there was a youth program going on called “Caleb.” Every year in
January, because that’s when school is out for the summer, they have a countrywide
youth rally. They pick a different city in Peru to hold this rally every year,
and this year it was here in Pucallpa. This youth rally really isn´t like any
other I have seen in the states. They send the youth out into the community by
day to help in all different kinds of community service and outreach projects.
Some work on cleaning up dirty streets, others plant trees, and some go door to
door handing out books and giving bible studies. They all have their different
jobs. Then throughout the week they would have different meetings in town with
all of the groups from around the country. The group that was assigned to us
helped with medical clinics and evangelism. They also had a number of meetings
in the evenings with the whole group. It was an amazing week. We really focused
in on a small little community not far from us. This community has not had any
real Adventist presence until we started going and working there in the
November. We had been doing a number of bible studies there, and while we were
all off at the end of December to renew our visas, we hired a bible worker to
keep these studies going. When the “Calebs” came, we held a week long
evangelistic meeting there, and the result was a brand new group of believers.  |
| Other young member of our new church that are being baptized. |
It is
really amazing to see God work. The first couple of nights that we were having
our evangelistic meetings, we really only had the community children showing
up. However, by the third night, these children had started to bring their
parents. The children brought in the parents who had an interest, but did not
want to venture out on their own. It really taught me to never get discouraged
when you are doing God´s work. At times you may not think you are being
successful, but it you are willing, God will use you in some way, even if you
do not see the results at that time.
After
the Calebs returned to their homes, we returned to our work here at Amor. We
are a little less thinly stretched right now because with it being summer, all
of the schools are out. A lot of what we do here is associated with schools, so
it really has slowed down. The dental school is out, and the doctor who had
been helping me went back to be with his family in Lima this summer. So my
dental work has almost completely stopped for these two months. There are other
things too that have slowed, but it has allowed us to focus on our bible
studies, and me to on focus training in my replacement to keep the books here
once I leave. It has been a nice change of pace, I stay busy, but don´t feel as
over worked as before. In another couple weeks it will start picking up again, I
will be running hard till the end I´m sure.
It
really has been nice to be back. After leaving and coming back, I have realized
how much Peru has made an impact on me, and it really has started to become a
part of me. It felt like home when I came back. Last week we had the
opportunity to go over and help Peru Projects, another local Adventist mission
about forty minutes from us. There were a number of people down for a couple
weeks from the States, and it was refreshing to listen to them talk, and see
that American Culture. However, it seemed a little strange. All of us SM´s
immediately were saying, “Wow, they are so ‘American.’” It is amazing how in
only five months you can become so accustomed to a completely different way of
life and culture. It´s not hard to believe that it has been five months
already, but it is hard to believe that I only have three more left. I am
definitely excited about going back and seeing people that I left behind, but
it really leaves a bitter sweet taste in my mouth. I have learned so much about
life, and have grown so much here. 