Author: revkevjr

This morning we had breakfast at 7am, followed by devotions, then at 8am we loaded the bus and drove an hour along the scenic route through Lima, along the coast, to the Pachacamac Ruins. We had a neat tour and climbed to the top of one of the pyramid temples. Unfortunately Steven Benz responded badly to the pizza last night and was throwing up and unable to join us. We have a wonderful American missionary named Cheryl here who mothered him while we were out. As of this writing he is feeling much better and has stopped vomiting, thank God. We drove back to the church, had lunch, then took our team out on the street to do ministry. We made balloon animals, did our dances and dramas, and handed out flyers inviting people to the church. We then went to a park, made more balloon animals, did face painting, and played soccer with the kids. After a while we called a timeout and invited everyone to come over and we did our dances and dramas. Some teenagers were in the park break dancing, so we invited them to come over and dance to some of our music, which they did along with Ren Jainarine from our team. I closed by sharing a simple gospel message, and a man from the church invited them to come on Sunday with their families. Got home about 6pm. Ate dinner and read the blog comments and messages to the team. About to have our group devotions. Thanks for your continued prayers. Other than a few people getting minimally sick, everyone is in good spirits.

See all the trip pics here.

This morning we had student-led group devotions at 7:15am, breakfast at 8am, then at 8:30am half of the team went to another school across the street from the church. Some of the kids painted a small wall while the others went to classrooms and interacted with the elementary students in the classrooms. They also made balloon animals and played with the kids during recess. The other half of the team stayed at the church and finish painting the outside doors and handrails of the church and painted a gate for the community. After lunch they cleaned their rooms, the bathrooms, all the chairs of the church, and the floors and entire stairwell. To celebrate the 4th of July we had Domino’s Pizza and played some fun group games. We then ran through all of our skits and dramas then had our group devotions. Tomorrow morning we are getting up early to go and visit the ruins of Pachacamac. After lunch we will be going around to several parks near the church to do street ministry.

A few prayer points. Aaron woke up with a fever this morning. We took him to the doctor and he received some antibiotics. He spent the day resting and is feeling much better, praise God. Adriana also felt a bit warm this evening, so pray that it does not turn into anything. Finally, today at the school I was playing basketball with the kids. The cement outdoor court was wet from rain, and when I went up for a layup, my feet came out from under me and I landed smack on my lower back very hard. I had back surgery down there a few years ago. Please pray nothing was damaged. Right now I am very sore, but it feels like deep muscular pain. Thanks for praying for us all!

Celebrating the 4th of July

To see all the pics from the trip, click here.

This morning we were up early and to student-led devotions at 7:15am. At 8am we had breakfast, then at 8:30am 2 groups headed to a school 10 blocks away, and the other 2 groups stayed at the church. The groups that went to the school painted a schoolyard wall, and some of the team members went to classrooms and conversed with the elementary students, answering questions about America and helping them practice their English. During recess everyone went to play with the children. Basketball, soccer, parachute, balloon animals … We found ourselves surrounded by seas of children, all desperate to get a balloon or just touch us. Seriously. Next they all came running up to our team with notebooks asking for — you’re not going to believe it — autographs! lol! It was complete pandaemonium. The groups that remained at the church also did painting and Jimmy and Aaron worked on re-tiling the baptismal.

Everyone ate lunch at the church, then the school groups returned to do more painting and classroom interaction with the middle- and high-school students. Unfortunately, the vice-principal of the school decided to go on a power trip and stopped our students mid-class from conversing with the students, in spite of the wonderful interaction that was taking place and the pleas of the teachers. This kind of thing is rather typical in developing countries. Despite prior clearance from the administration, this fellow decided to flex his muscle for whatever reason. We have our speculations. In any event, some of the students helped with the painting, and some others returned to the church to do other things. After dinner we had a little free time then had a church prayer service at 7:30pm. Only a few folks from the church showed up, but we had a powerful time of prayer for the people in attendance, Pastor Jorge, the church, and those outside the church who need to know Christ. After the service we had a nice treat of some local pastries then our small groups and a team debrief.

The boys finally fell asleep just after midnight. I’ve been waiting for the pictures on this post to upload for over an hour-and-a-half. Finally done. Off to bed. 🙂

Praying for the people outside the walls of the church who need Jesus.

This afternoon we sorted out our team supplies – toys, tools, children’s ministry curriculum, clothes, and school supplies. We then put together ziplock baggies of toys which we will distribute to children throughout the week. After that we practiced our dances and dramas, then went for a walk and enjoyed some ice cream. For dinner we had a delicious typical Peruvian dinner. After dinner we had a team meeting, then had about an hour of prayer and worship followed by small group gatherings. We’re off to bed now. Up early in the morning to begin our ministry.

The gift each of us was blessed with when we arrived … drinks, snacks, and a bag from Peru.

Boys’ room

Girls’ Room

Well, last night we loaded our plane fine in New York. We didn’t get in the air until an hour after we were supposed to depart, so that made our Mexico City connection a fun race through Immigration, Customs, rechecking our bags, going through security, and straight to boarding our flight to Peru. It was an adventure, but everyone did a great job sticking together and we made our connection. The flight to Lima consisted of everyone sleeping. We arrived early, everyone got all their luggage, and we got through the airport fine. Jonathon Edwards and the pastor met us and we loaded the bus and enjoyed very much the traffic on the way to the church. New York City traffic is nothing! lol!

We are now settling into our rooms, sorting team supplies, and getting money exchanged. Everyone is in good spirits. Thanks for your prayers!

Mexico City

All luggage received in Peru!

Jonathon Edwards

The church we’re staying at and working with.

So we are now at our gate at JFK. Everyone made it to the airport and through security – mostly uneventfully. We’re flying through Mexico City and will arrive in Lima, Peru, Lord willing about 6am

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

While packing for our Peru missions trip today my friend Laurie Crowley Bolton Tweeted that she had read an article I contributed. Turns out it was in Group Magazine. I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had time to read this issue. I’ll be reading it on the plane to Peru. In any event, I found the content of my piece so timely as it relates to missions trips. Enjoy.

I was in the pizzeria picking up 5 pies for our team last night when I saw a guy walk in with a great t-shirt on. It said, “Champions are made in the off season.” I could not agree more. In fact, for years I have preached preparation to our students — especially when they want to go on a missions trip. Our trips are not just 8 days. They are usually at least 4 months! Four months of team meetings and practices.

Last night our Peru team held its final team practices on U.S. soil. On Sunday we will be prayed over and commissioned at our Syosset campus. On Monday 41 of us will be departing for Lima, Peru. I’m so proud of our students! I know this is a first for many of them to prepare as extensively as we have, but our goal is to fill our ministry tool belt so that no matter what we encounter we can step up and serve. We have now trained to share testimonies, make balloon animals, do face painting, perform skits and dramas, lead group devotions, and we even have musicians to lead worship. We are also taking tools with us to do some work on the church we are working with. Please keep us in prayer as we go to love and serve people in the name of Jesus.