We are just back in Lima for a few days now, enjoying the warm humid weather and the occasional sunshine! We had a great past week in San Jose de Quero and Usibamba with our home church, Grace Community Baptist, and some guest visitors from Asheville, NC.
After a night in Huancayo, we set out for the higher altitude of 13,100 ft of San Jose. This trip's purpose was discipleship and we saw God do some amazing things this week! Teammate Mindy McCord and I were the only ladies on the trip and we were able to spend some great time with a few of the women. We went through a few old testament stories with Maruja, one of the key people in town (store and hostel manager, mayor's sister). It was wonderful to see her read the stories for the first time ever, her excitement about the Word, and her insight into application! We were encouraged with her eagerness to share the stories with others, without any prompting from us. God really used us despite our limited language skills and spoke through the power of His Word. We also spent a few evenings with Arminda in Usibamba. Arminda has been difficult in the past due to her tendancy to dominate the conversation and overwhelm us with unrelevant questions. She has also expressed in the past a lack of regard for Mindy's and my ability to teach the Bible because we don't have kids. Yeah...
Well this time, we really saw a softening in her and more gentleness for which we were grateful. We had two great nights working through some discipleship material. God taught me a lot through this- showing His power in my inadequecies. It constantly amazes me when I give it all up to Him, readily admitting that I am not able to do anything, how sufficient He is and how gracious. The men had a great week as well, spending very concentrated time with Teodoro, Godofredo, Rolando, and a new member of the group, Manuel. They had great results in teaching them to lead a Bible study using a passage of scripture and 3 simple question, what do I like, what do I not like, and what can I apply? I think the leaders were encouraged through this week and we are looking forward to seeing what is going when we return next month. We had a Sunday night Bible study in both towns, and both went really well. We were blessed to have 2 of the very best translators with us: Hector and Mijail, and they not only translate, they minister and pour into the people as much if not more than we do.
We are thankful for a wonderful time that was refreshing and encouraging. God highlighted this time with 2 clear nights where we saw His handiwork in the stars! You've never seen stars like this back home- trust me! You look up into the sky and you get dizzy because you see so much!
We will be in Lima for a few days until Saturday when we travel with a church to Jauja to help out with a baseball camp! Looking forward to this! We will leave this team early and head up to Ambo to see College Street ministering there before heading home to Huanuco for a few days. Ahhh home.
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