Arequipa and an Update
Posted on Monday, July 20, 2009 by Dwayne
It’s been up and down for the past week. We were in a really great village even though we didn’t have the internet. We are all tired and I imagine that has something to do with all of the up and downs. The last village was Chuppa. There we got to go to the sports park every day and play with children in basketball, volleyball, and futsal. It was a great and lifted our spirits. Our main ministry in Chuppa was to the children and young adults. It was a nice change. The main soccer game was fun, except for the hardness of the field. It was just like concrete, and that made it difficult to play on.
Right now we are in Arequipa, this is our rest city and it is beautiful. There is a really big volcano right behind the city, and the city gives off a European vibe. It is huge, and much like the states. We have been able to go to the movies, eat BK, and have good internet. We will be here just one more day, and then we head off to Caravali. Hopefully. There is a possible strike occurring tomorrow, and we don’t know what that will look like.
Today we went to an orphanage. It was really fun. I also bought some new socks. Praise the Lord. I needed some. We only have a little over two weeks left. Please pray for renewed strength and that we will make the most out of the opportunities we get.
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Recent Pics Ayaveri, Chuppa, Arequipa
Posted on Monday, July 20, 2009 by Dwayne
This is Luciano! Our Peruvian friend and guide.
The view from a mountain in Chuppa.
This is where they sacrifice to idols. Crazy stuff!
I almost felt bad for these guys! But it was really fun.
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Thoughts on Missions
Posted on Sunday, July 12, 2009 by Dwayne
I had a great talk with one of my dear friends the other day and it got me to thinking. It got me to thinking that maybe many of us have a false idea of what missionaries are and what they do. I think most of us would say that missionaries are people who go to other places and share the gospel evangelically. This is all well and good but I would say that maybe we have missed the picture.
We are not here just to share the gospel evangelically. Why should we pick fruit and just leave it to rot? We do not want these people to rely on us for the word of God. No, they are smart and when they become Christians they too are called as we are. It is our desire to see these people come to know Christ in a real way, but also to be able to lead and disciple other Peruvians. We are not here to just teach, but also to encourage. We want these people to be able to teach themselves. Just as Americans taught us, Peruvians can teach Peruvians. This is vastly important so that we void creating dependencies. The people here don’t have, and they must learn how to share and teach the word without having. There are no projectors and few hymnals but they can still praise and teach. I don’t know if this makes all that much sense, but i hope to write more elaborately on this in the future. What is important is that you know that there is more to missions than the evangelist. Without discipleship and encouragement these people will just dwindle and be choked out, as the seed that the sower sowed among the thorns. Because here it is the thorns, just as it is in the states.
We had talked about all this with the REAP south team at our training during the first part of the summer. But I hadn’t really thought too much about it until now. And I hope that it will serve as encouragement to you, because we are all called. And though we are not all called to be evangelists, there is so much more to missions than that. We all have our part that we can play.
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We made it to Orurillo
Posted on Wednesday, July 8, 2009 by Dwayne
I don’t know how you are supposed to say that name. Anyways we made it and all it took was a 6 hour bus ride to Ayaviri, a night there, a Conbi ride which was stopped by a group of people on strike and a wall of rocks, and a 1.5 hour walk down the road. It was pretty cool though, the scenery is WOW!. There are flamingos right outside and the mountains are surrounding. I guess you could compare it to Montana. As I said all the people are on a transportation strike. It is a little weird, and we don’t really know how to take it. Please pray that we will be able to travel to the places we need to. The strike is supposed to only last 3 days, and hopefully that will be the case. Sharon added some more pictures to the photos album and I hope to post some more pics soon.
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It’s Easy to be a Christian When You Win!
Posted on Monday, July 6, 2009 by Dwayne
Lesson Learned! How easy it is to be a Christian when you win! How easy it is to be a Christian when people think well of you! It’s those times when things don’t go quick like you planned, that are disastrous. Though I don’t know that I would say today was disastrous.
So far we have been on a loosing streak. This is fairly frustrating. What’s is even more frustrating is how you loose. When you loose obviously b/c of the playing surface it’s pretty bad. When you loose b/c the ref will not call anything for you it’s worse. But when you loose b/c you get angry due to a rule that is made up during the game it is the worst. Today we lost b/c they got in our heads. We were beating them so bad and it was fun. But then they called a goal for themselves by changing a rules it was not.
You know how you make a decision in you mind to show someone who is boss and then your decision ends up being a moment of humbling. That was today. I think it’s safe to say that, it was today for all of us boys. Today we were clearly better, but today we were clearly humbled. We lost because there first goal got in our head, and our focused changed. It went from being just for fun, to I really want to win. I won’t go into much detail, but it’s safe to say we lost.
It was a lesson learned. We defiantly have to remember to remind ourselves before we play of why we play. And we defiantly have to make a predetermined decision of how we will react. If we have our heart set on humbling the proud before we play, we will surely try. We have to be determined to take each circumstance as a grain of salt.
Just so you know the ending was good. We didn’t get so mad it destroyed our fellowship when the opposing team. But I would say that it was more upsetting then it needed to be. The best thing is, God is bigger than all of us and he has chosen to use us despite our failures!
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A Few Prayer Requests
Posted on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 by Dwayne
Please pray for Awareness. Pray that Sharon and I are able to be aware of how our team perceives us. That we handle success and failures in a way that builds respect. It’s easy to get caught up in a moment and just react to situations. Pray that we can remember to think it through.
Pray that our team will take pride in our work. Not vain pride but that we will do their tasks to the best of our ability and spend time making our talks and presentations as good as they can be. Our team is full of talent, and we hope that we can use them to the best of our ability.
Spanish. Again please pray for our language skills. We now have no translator but rather 5 or 6 people who speak some Spanish. This can be frustrating b/c we try to teach each other. It also makes it hard to speak Spanish if front of the group b/c saying something wrong is embarrassing and so many of want to help make the communication go smoother. I believe that a few of us genuinely want to learn Spanish and if we never speak it we will not learn how to communicate. I believe what is necessary for us is to allow each other to attempt and wait for a cry of help so that we are not ashamed to try.
Work. Pray that this next month I am still able to complete as much of my work as possible at Bacone. I want to put more time into my work than I have b/c this trip is kind of a determination of the next. I want to be able to go above and beyond what is expected.
Also please pray that God will continue to reveal his calling on Sharon’s and my life. We are having doors open and please pray that we get a clear vision for what God is calling us to do. Sharon is so good at fitness, please pray that doors open so that she can use her talents in fitness.
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Some Pictures for Mom and Dad
Posted on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 by Dwayne
Here are some pictures that I thought you would enjoy. And a couple of the pictures are just bonus.
Dad, I saw this scene and had to take some pictures for you. This is apparently the best way to build roads. Sarcasm. I think Peruvians could use some of your expertise.
Mom I though you would appreciate the horse stuff.
This is the saltiest cheese you have ever tasted.
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Sandboarding in Ica
Posted on Thursday, June 25, 2009 by Dwayne
For $12 you can go sandboarding and ride one of these for 2 hrs. It was fantastic!
Some where pros while others…
Need I say more?
Wacachina!
Water!
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Pachamama
Posted on Sunday, June 21, 2009 by Dwayne
Well, the Photos Page finally has pictures, sorry that took so long. I know, it was about time. Tomorrow, we are going to Huaytara. I didn’t really take any pictures in Santiago de Chocovos, it looked pretty much the same as Cordova. Except one thing, the Soccer field, which I should have taken a picture of because it was little tiny pea gravel, glass, and bottle caps. I didn’t not particularly enjoy this, especially playing keeper. My arms were already torn up from playing in Cordova. However, despite my attitude the turn out was awesome. We shared the gospel with about 80 people, which makes it all worth it.
There was one more thing in Santiago that happened. It was very crazy. They had a worship service for Pachamama, which basically is the goddess mother earth. At this service there were two male witches who made covenants with the devil so that crops would grow. I was asleep for this, but one of the missionaries explained to me what I had missed out on, and honestly I am kind of glad I did. It’s hard to believe that stuff like this would still exist but it does. There are so many people here who are lost in tradition and animism. It’s kind of scary too, just to think about witches and the like. Please continue to pray for these people.