Peru Compassion-August 9th-16th

Today Aden and I had the wonderful privilege of meeting our Compassion child that I have sponsored for the past 3 years.  As we traveled to the location where we were meeting, I was a little apprehensive, not sure what to expect.  As Erick walked towards us and realized who we were, I saw a big smile on his face and he had questions ready for us.  What a beautiful smile and laugh this 12 year old boy had.  Today was Friday and he found out this past Monday that we were coming.  His mom said that he had been counting down the days.  When I mentioned that Aden and I had gotten married this past December, Erick said, “on the 22nd!”  He remembered when we got married and said that his family had been praying for and thinking about us on the day of our wedding.  How humbling!  We had a wonderful day, playing ping pong and frisbee (both for the first time) and foosball.  Aden and Erick played on the jungle gym together and I stood back and watched as they developed a very tight and special bond.  Erick’s mother, Mirasol, was so thankful and happy that they could be there and she was very pleasant.  They traveled between 6 and 7 hours on a bus to be there with us.  Before meeting Erick, it was very easy to put him out of our minds in between letters, but now we will never be the same.  He is so real, and so special to us.  I am excited to develop our pictures and send them to him, to continue receiving and writing letters, and being a part of this beautiful child’s life.  Most of the children traveled with their mothers and to see the appreciation and hear how much Compassion has made a difference in their lives is eye opening.  I now realize more than ever how important it is to be a part of this fantastic project and to maintain communication with our Erick.  ~Emily and Aden Wertz

We have added some post dated posts and pictures. Our internet connection this week has been inconsistent. Please take some time to scroll back through to catch up on what is doing here this week! Be sure to click on Previous/Next page at the bottom :-).

We did some follow up visits today taking some warm clothes to a family that we first met in January. There are now eight of them that live in this thatch and tarp shack. A grandmother who is ill, mother and father, three daughters and an infant son.

We also made a quick stop at our young friend Luis’s home. We received a warm welcome sweet hugs from Luis, precious smiles from his parents, and grubby kiss from his little brother Javier.

His father is a fishermen and it is not fishing season here so they are struggling. Luis has a red rash, we check it out and invited them to visit for some cleansing clothes and ointment.

James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”

I’ve lost track of the days, but I’ve been informed that today is Thursday, August 14th. We held VBS this morning for 800 children at a public school in Chilca. Yes, 800 children. (I’ll be honest I was pretty excited when I found out that my morning would not include a shovel, seeing as Monday & Tuesday included a lot of ditch digging and filling.) The school was across the square from the church we attended Sunday morning & very near Lomas de Machon where we held VBS twice already this week. It was amazing to see children’s faces light up the moment they recognized us from previous days.

My step of faith today was during the VBS craft. All the children were sent back to their classrooms and we split up amongst the rooms. I decided to venture upstairs where the older students’ classrooms were. The first room I walked into had about 25 students and no teacher, so I decided to get them started on the craft. As I quickly surveyed the room I began to realize I was in a room of young teenage boys. So in my very, very limited Spanish I decided to take this challenge head on. I’m sure I provided many laughs for those boys, I think I explained, through many motions, what to do and many of them did eventually sit down and begin drawing. This was definitely a time I was able to let the Lord lead me to smile through my trials.

This afternoon I again picked up a shovel and filled yet another ditch. We were rewarded well, though, at dinner with Sylvia’s chifa (chicken fried rice). Delicioso!

~ Bethany Fisher

…look he dances, too! This was at our VBS today which was at a public school in Benjamin (800 children) where Pastor Jorge’s church meets. We miss you, Kate!!

Green is my favorite color. During this time of year in Pennsylvania, where I am from, I am surround, if not engulfed in green. Green grass, green leaves, green plants… Aside from the blue sky, the most prominent color I see is green and it is such a sign of life… perhaps that’s part of why I am drawn to it.

This area of Peru is not green. On the horizon, I see brown peaks that stretch up to the low lying cover of clouds and sprawl down to the sandy valley where we have been working. Today we took this sandy mix of dirt to fill in trenches, leveling the ground to prepare the way for children and young mothers. Later we walked on a muddy mix of this sand in the streets of Lomas de Marchan calling children and their mothers to come learn about Jesus. An empty street exploded into life as children appeared from their flat roofed homes. I can only imagine what draws these children to an afternoon Bible School lesson… a free gift? candy? a fun craft to make? to be entertained? to be held by someone? to be loved?

This evening we talked about faith, about how we stepped out today, not in our own strength or security or knowledge, but into something out of our control to allow God to do His work. There were many touching stories and all of them led me to think one thought: Only when I stop holding onto myself are my arms truly free to embrace someone else. As I held the folded hands of two boys praying a prayer of salvation, I saw a color more beautiful than green. A color disguised to the world in the brown dirty sand of Peru. I saw hope in life through salvation.

Aden

On Monday and Tuesday afternoons we held a mini-Vacation Bibe School for the children of the small community of Lomas de Marchand. The kids got to see a Bible story drama (The House Built on the Rock and Peter Heals a Lame Man), learn a Bible verse, sing several funs songs (with lots of hand and body motions, hear an invitation talk, pray for Jesus to come into their heart, and do a craft. The kids were very enthusiastic and we enjoyed putting it all together and then letting the Holy Spirit do the work.

Hermana Sarah from our partner church in Chilca, Iglesia Evangelica Pentecostal Missionaria, is wiping seats to prepare for the mom’s small group time that we hold while the children are doing their crafts. Lomas de Marchan now has a cell group from the church hosted at Hermana Gladys home and led by Hermana Sarah and her husband Cecil. It meets on Monday nights. Our VBS is held right outside this humble home. This week the women painted small wooden cross necklaces on Monday, and on Tuesday we did hand exfoliations and painted our fingernails together as we talked about serving one another. There is almost nothing more satisfying than holding the work-worn small leathery hand and massaging it, praying in my heart for the life and and soul of a woman who is precious in God’s eyes. ~Tony Kay