Peru 2011 - Marilyn & LTI students - Blog #2

Debie Phillips!
soo...where to begin...well Tuesday was spent traveling, I think we spent like close to 10 hours traveling! Everything went smoothly overall, other than on the flight from Panama to Peru...there were like 6 guys standing in the middle of the isles on the plane, talking and laughing quite loudly. So Emily asked them politely to move in Spanish and they didn’t, so I asked the flight attendant if she could ask them to move because I didn’t like the man’s behind in my face....but apparently I used an improper word in Spanish for “behind” lol the lady laughed at me and proceeded to tell the men to sit down.
We arrived late and just went to bed, we were all so exhausted!
Wednesday, we woke up early and pretty much worked all day long. Emily and I spent most of the day painting several rooms in the church.
Then on Thursday, we cleaned out the entire church. The boys moved stuff into storage while us girls....dusted...lol it may seem strange that we would spend almost an entire day dusting but this place is like one huge giant dust ball lol we are surrounded by little mountains of dirt and rocks, there isn’t any grass really and plants are few and far in between. So EVERYTHING gets soo dusty so fast and even more so in the church since they just finished doing a lot of work with dry wall. We wiped down all the chairs in the church that were covered by layers of dust. Then we spent the afternoon cleaning the floors.....it seemed like a never ending job to be honest. They don’t really have traditional American mops here and even if they did, I think an American mop would cry at the thought of cleaning these floors. So we poured water and soap on the floor and scrubbed it with old brooms...then collected all of the excess muddy water with a small dustpan.
Thursday night was our first service at Iglesia Vida Peru. The children of the church led us in a few songs then jason and dillon spoke about being a true disciple of Christ. It was an awesome service. The people here are so hungry and ready to receive. I was supposed to share my testimony but somehow there was a mis-communication and I didn’t get to.
Friday we woke up early and walked down the hill to a nearby public school. This school was huge and very nice for this area of Peru. We spoke to about five groups of elementary kids, each group having like 30 kids in it. We performed our drumline, which they absolutely loved and we gave out salvation braclets along with a salvation message. I really enjoyed being there! Next Friday we will be going there again to speak to the older kids, Im looking forward to that, David Hodges told us that many of them are involved in gangs so im excited to bring the light of God’s word to them!
After we returned from the school, we had a couple hours of preparation for the kids retreat that evening. We started out having about 60 kids there, but as it got later, many of them left because they had to walk all the way up the mountain to get home. We had a campfire and smores with the kids after dark, it was such a great time. Most of them had never had smores before and we just sat, laughed and sang worship songs. After the campfire, we had a time of prayer and worship with the children. This was sooo awesome! Just to see these kids crying and worshiping the Lord, was so touching. We laid hands on them and washed their feet as they cried out for the salvation of their parents and friends. It was such a sweet time in the presence of God!
Today(Friday) , we got to sleep in! Yayy!! We woke up just in time to take the kids to Mcdonalds in the city. I must say, it was very interesting traveling in the dirty city, on public transportation, with 15 kids! But This was a huge treat as only a couple of them had ever been to mcdonalds. As soon as we walked in, every single one of them RAN to the playground and went crazy. They absolutely loved it! They all had happy meals and ice cream cones thanks to the kids from Life Church Ft. Myers for raising the money for them to have this experience!
Anyways....I’m really enjoying it here a lot, although yesterday I started missing home a bit. It brings such fulfilment to know that youre sharing the love of God with people who need it badly. I’m so glad to be a blessing here and to be apart of what the Lord is doing here. We are told that this area is growing fast and I know the Lord has huge plans for this church. Its awesome to even be a small part of that process!
Well I think thats all thats going on here....I miss everybody at home!
I love you mom and dad! Give Eli a hug for me!....and email me!
ANNA- I read your email today, i’m so glad youre having a good time in Louisiana! Miss you!!
CEDRIC!! I also read your email, so glad your doing well! I miss you soo much :-( love youuuuu!!! <3
thanks for reading!!! God bless!! :-)


Emily

OK Sooo I don’t remember where I left and I have Jason and Dylon rapping behind me which does not help. Lol at the moment the question as been raised about what rhymes with McDonalds... suggestions are welcome.
Starting with Friday we had a day that was packed from morning to night. We were able to go down to the school that is at the bottom of the mountain and speak to over 4 groups of kids, different age groups about what the living Word of God says...Amazing opportunity. Iglesia Vida Peru is taking territory just like Life Church Ft. Myers! That’s exciting. We were supposed to get back in time to have a couple hours to rest but as we were all well aware of...plans change. Our first part of the kids outreach at David and Ceci’s was supposed to start at 3 and we arrived back to the house at 2:45. FUN! We quickly had a campfire meeting and started to get things ready for the Kids.
After the first part of the program we had a dinner break and which then led into a campfire where we were all able to sit and have SMORES! The kids here have never had it and they couldn’t get over how good they were. It’s the little things like that I will remember most! We were able to sit and talk and worship god with a bunch of great kids who understand the meaning of worship and are not afraid to express that. We were also able to get some free classes from Pastor David Hodges on How To Roast A Marshmallow 101 &102. It was truly life changing and Dylon and Jason have now mastered both!
Once we were done with the campfire we headed back inside where we were able to shared some stories from the bible of who and how certain people knew Jesus. We then we went right into a worship and praying and we did foot washing with the kids. WOW... How exciting. The things that we were able to see. God was truly being glorified. These kids know all about crying out to God. Really crying out. They could teach most adult back home how to really pray and cry out to Lord! Just to be able and available for God to use each one of us to be able to speak life into the lives of these kids has truly been a blessing!
Yesterday Dylon and I were able to share a message with the youth out Romans 12:1 & 2. It was great to be able to both share on something that God had placed on both of our hearts. I actually had something totally different planned to share but the Holy Spirit had different plans. To be completely honest I freaked out a little about having to come up with another sermon in less than 24 hours but God help me get through it. Praise God! Today was great day full of the hardest physical labor I have probably ever done. Ever. It felt great to get so much accomplished. The boys finished up in the enclosed garden as Debie and I cleaned up the court yard and make a new pathway leading up to the latrine (outside bathroom) hopefully I spelled it correctly. Dinner was amazing and full of carbs!
Well I’m done for now. I’ll be back soon. I love all of you and appreciate all the prayers. Mom, Jose, Sherelyn love you guys. Cant wait to see you and tell you all the details. Give my girls a kiss for me and tell them Titi loves them!!!


Jason

Saturday we took the kids to McDonalds. The children enjoyed it very much. There was a homeless girl that was outside, Marco gave her an ice cream cone. We took a very crowded bus to McDonalds, it made me feel like I was in New York again, but on a much smaller bus. That night we had a youth service. The youth span from age 3-45, yes you read that correctly, age 3-45. Service was great, we did our cool drum line, I shared my testimony of how I came to know the Lord and Dylon and Emily tag team preached about giving yourself fully to God. Afterward an altar call was given and most people responded. The Holy Spirit was moving heavily. One girl even said that she felt as though she was being lifted up by her hands into the sky. Praise God. Today was a great day.

Sunday started off great, because it started off with pancakes. After pancakes, Pastor David put Dylon and I to some hard slave labor. I liked it, I was smashing rocks and throwing dirt all over the place. So much fun. We got a lot accomplished, the courtyard looks great. We laid some gravel down and finished some work we started a couple days ago. Lunch was tasty. Tonight we had service at 5:30. Debie and I tag team preached about suffering. It was great. I went long, but that probably was because I used almost every verse in the bible that talks about suffering -_-. Afterward people were invited to the altar by Pastor David, many responded. These people really know how to press into the presence of God. I prayed with a man who had been heavy laden with life, work, etc. I hugged him for about 20 minutes while he wept as the Lord ministered to him. Glory to God. Keep us in your prayers. Debie is feeling sick and I am feeling sick as well. I cant find my deodorant, pray that I can find it. Im not even kidding by the way. I really cant find my deodorant and I really want you to pray that I will find it. I really miss my beautiful fiancee Bethany Wolff (soon to be Bethany Edouard). P Nasty, wat up homie! Hi Wolffpac I hope your air condition is back in order again, shocking... If you are reading this, thank you for keeping up with the blog, and thank you for your prayers. Asta lavista baby


Dylon

I was supposed to write this blog last night but I fell asleep as Jason was typing. It is Monday morning and it is our off day. Breakfast is being prepared before we head into the city to visit with Pastor Augustine (know to Dr.D as AuggieBucks,) have lunch and do some exploring at a location unbeknownst to me.

I didn’t tell you about day 3 in my last journal which I consider to be the most impact time of ministry thus far. I shared the morning devotion on the importance of our satisfaction in Christ from Phillipians 4. Verse 13 is continually used in the church as a means that anything accomplished, but in context this verse really has nothing to do with our achirevement, but everything to do with having Christ as our portion who will do things according to His will through us. I guess that was a side note. We headed to a secular school that is just down the mountain from Pastor David and Ceci’s. I don’t think anyone could have dreamed this school would be built so quickly. Eliel attends two days a week. Our goal here was to share the story of Jesus and the salvation story in an applicable way to younger kids. We thought we would be doing this through 4 programs with kids from the grades of 1st through 10th. Did you catch that? We THOUGHT wrong.

When we first arrived they attempted to have us go from classroom to classroom. Thanks to David this got changed to putting us in our own classroom and having about two classes at a time come to us. At the end of it, we went through our plan about 5 different times with Jason dressed up as an apostle to share the story of feeding 5k and wrapping it up with the gift of a salvation bracelet after all the “colors” of salvation were explained. One more time isn’t that big of a deal, but the excitement of the message lead to Jason and David temporarily losing their voices. Also, we will be returning on Friday to do grades 7-10! We are working on adapting a program more suitable to them.

We returned much later than anticipated from the school and, after lunch, had to immediately begin preparing for the arrival of many kids for an all night program. This was supposed to begin at 3, but to our advantage the culture runs about an hour behind schedule. We had games, bible stories, smores around a campfire and a great time of prayer and with everyone. These kids know how to cry out to God. They are taught that to be on their face before God is the best place to be in public prayer-- I’d have to say I agree.

Our program went well, just had to continually be adapted because of the schedule we were up against. The kids, all being well under the age of 12, needed to be in bed by midnight. We began to conclude about an hour before this by leading them in worship. I explained a few of the teaching of Christ and that as the greatest person to walk this earth He taught us to love and serve one another. I began to select some of the boys and wash their feet. I don’t really know how to explain it, but if you have never experienced a foot washing, it is a very emotional and intimate time. It was a lot of tears and a very bonding experience. By the time we were done everything, we all were exhausted and ready for bed.

Now for a fast forward... Saturday night was their youth service and Emily and I taught on commitment. During my times of ministering, I have been flowing more than I ever have before. My notes have not been a very good guide, as the Holy Spirit has spoken numerous things to me even during worship with instructions to take my teaching a different route. I am so glad He has given me the ability to flexible and operate with the word He is speaking to me. It is more important to me that I speak something specific and direct to the needs of the people than indulge in my own comfort. I finished with an altar call for the youth who wanted to display a greater commitment to Christ and as Paul said, “spend themselves.” The time of ministry at this time was very impactful and the Holy Spirit definitely ministered in the way He diesred. I have been told this reaction was not always the norm and I am glad that God used me as a means to accomplish His work.

Sunday was not a typical one for us. Jason and I were acutally reflecting about when service was taking place back home since our service here wasn’t until 5:30 PM. In the morning, Jason and I finished the tilling and irigation of the garden as well as prepared large holes with the proper soil and fertilizer for trees to be planted. (That explanation doesn’t give the work justice.) Jason and Debie taught on suffering for the Gospel and together they had a great synergy with their approach to what the Word says. I fell asleep very early after the conclusion of service and am feeling fantastic today.

The food has been awesome, the service excellent, the ministry powerful and life change permanent. I miss everyone at home. Love you Mom, Dad and Gma. I miss my pastors and time spent at the church. All is more than well here and I look forward to all the time we still have left.

PS- Pastor Jeremiah make sure the you know whats are ready for Wednesday night when I get back. :)


Pastor Marilyn

Thanks everyone for your continued prayers. Debie has been fighting a stomach issue - flu like. She has kept going but hasn’t felt well.

The kids have been working hard and ministering effectively. All of them have had an opportunity to speak and they have done a good job. They have labored hard. Yesterday, I helped with some of the work for the walkway to the dry latrine and did laundry - a necessary job for the team.
The team has spent three days of very hard labor and I am proud to be able to say that each one worked hard. Although we didn’t know there would be such intensive work to be done - it has been a huge blessing to the Church and to David and Ceci.

This morning Jason said he felt the hardest part was behind us and I would have to agree. They have all had experience working with an interpreter, they have worked together as a team and they have completed the hard labor. Although we have a busy week ahead there is more confidence on the part of the team as to how it will all play out.

I am not sure when we will be able to update the Blog. Things haven’t been like I thought they might but we will do our best although it could be several days before we post anything.

Love to all our family and friends.