Peru

Good morning!

This will be Peru 2010’s last post of the summer. BUT, we are SO EXCITED to return home to share our stories with our families, friends, churches, youth groups, and anyone else who will listen to what great things God has done this summer!!

We spent last night sharing with and hearing from the other teams about the journeys we have all been on with each other and the Lord this summer. This morning we had a truly lovely time of worship, and then discussed effective ways of telling our stories so that God is the one who gets the glory.

To our family and friends who have faithfully prayed for us, followed our blog, and even posted many encouraging comments: Thank you!!! We are so grateful to you for the blessing of leading your loved ones this summer. We are all so much better for serving with them.

To borrow a line from our talent-show-winning original song co-authored by several of our team members:

“The Peruvian Team of 2010, oh, we are an epic win. Yeah!”

Love,

Jesse, Jo, Kenny, and Lauren

Buenas tardes family and friends!

Well, after an eventful night and morning of travel, we are BACK!!! We have had lunch, showers, and the team is enjoying resting and sharing with the Three Frontiers team, who arrived before us this morning! It will be such a sweet time, this next day and a half, to share with each other all that God has done!

Our flights went very well. Our only travel glitch was a back-up in Atlanta Customs, which resulted in us missing our plane by about 30 seconds! However, we really saw God work even in this, as Delta re-booked our team on a flight very quickly. This way, we arrived only an hour later than we were scheduled to; PLUS, all our bags made it through! Woo hoo!!!

We are SO PROUD of this team. The way they moved through the airport, quickly and focused, the way they were fluid in going with the changes. Ahh, we are SO PROUD!!! It has been a summer of amazing growth for each of them – each of US -  and we could not be more proud. We can’t say it enough!

We await the arrival of our last team – our friends in Venezuela. Please pray for them as they are traveling in the air even now to get here! We will all gather for dinner and worship together tonight. We can’t wait!

Love,

Kenny and Lauren, CCs

Hola, family and friends!!!

This will be our last update from South America! We just finished dinner (pizza two nights in a row was a fabulous thing!), and have already packed up our bags.

This afternoon we finished our time of affirmations and just enjoyed spending time together. This evening before we head to the airport, the team will be performing a talent show, full of original songs and skits they have written…

We leave for the airport at 8:30 pm and our flight leaves Guayaquil at 11:10 this evening. Please pray for safe travel and that we would be able to rest during our last long night of travel. We should arrive in Dallas tomorrow morning by 9 am, and we are so looking forward to seeing you all very soon and sharing with you what great things God has done this summer!!!

Love,

Kenny, Lauren, Jess, and Jo

Good Evening!!

Let us just tell you, it has been a FANTASTIC day. What a blessing this place has been to us! Casa Alianza was started as a haven for missionaries to come rest and recuperate and relax… It has certainly been that haven for us!

We began our day with breakfast at 9:30. Our late sleepers loved that. We spent time with Jesus and in His Word, and then it was time to split up for ¨Man Time¨ and ¨Woman Time.¨ We loved it! The men spent their time engaged in various physical activities, learning spiritual truth about taking up their manhood along the way. The ladies spent time talking and studying Scripture about desiring God above all else, especially relationships.

After Domino’s Pizza for dinner (mmm!), we moved to the garden area and put all our chairs in a circle. Then we began a time of affirming one another with the things we have seen God do in each other this summer. Among a team who has loved each other so well already, this time was very precious and uplifting. We truly believe God is using the way we have been encouraging each other to speak His truth into the lives of each person, and urge us even deeper in relationship with Him!

Parents, family, and friends, we ask you to prepare yourselves, for you may find it hard to recognize some of the changed hearts – lives – ADULTS! – who are coming home to you in a few short days. We pray God makes your hearts ready to hear what He has done in theirs. They are so eager to share with you!!

We love you, and are so grateful to each of you for entrusting us with your precious ones this summer. We are so much better for knowing them and growing with them.

We will update you once more tomorrow before we fly out of this city – homebound!

Kenny and Lauren, CCs

We have arrived at Casa Alianza in Ecuador!!!

As soon as we arrived, we were able to sit down to a delicious dinner of beef, vegetables, rice, and fries! We met another team of Christians who ate at the table next to us, and the students enjoyed talking with people in English! The team is now spending time in their MOM and POP groups, and we foresee a soccer game and some swimming pool time in our near future!!

Thank you for all your prayers for our team thus far. Please don’t stop – our time here is not over yet, and we look forward to the relationship-building and discipleship that we have planned for the next few days.

Love,

Lauren and Kenny, CCs

Hola!

Our team just made it to Tumbes, and our bus leaves within the hour to Guayaquil. We´re all doing well, but certainly ready to be in Ecuador at Casa Alianza!!

After just a bit more travel, we should be there by dinner tonight.

Love!

Lauren and Kenny, CCs

Hola friends and family!!!

Today the team enjoyed a free day of shopping, going to the beach and eating not one, not two, but three meals cooked for us by Tito´s incredible wife!!! We are sad that our drama ministry is over but we had a great time relaxing today while still looking for ministry oppurtunities. We spent our last full evening in Peru prayer walking the famous Plaza De Armas here in Trujillo and our students had many opportunities to lead the people here to Christ even without our drama. We have packed our bags and now we are ready to ride to Tumbes and then from there Guayaquil,Ecuador. We will spend the next couple of days in Ecuador at Casa Alianza where we as a team will continue to grow together in unity and our love for each other. We are very sad to leave Peru but also very excited about all of the amazing things God has done through us and in us. Thank you all for your prayers, please continue to pray for safe travel as we make our way back to Ecuador and back to Dallas on Wednesday morning.

Our team is happy and healthy, we love you all!!!

Jesse and Jo (Peru Team Directors)

Good evening, family and friends!

What a day it has been! We began the morning with a delicious breakfast, thanks to Tito´s wife, Edith. It has been such a privilege to be in the hometown of our dear friends and translators, and not just for the food!

We began the morning with several dramas in a market, a plaza, and a school. Our team has been ¨looking for their stories,¨ and today was the perfect day to keep our eyes open to the ways God would show His power and use our obedience! We collected many response cards and heard stories of salvation and encouragement!

Later in the day we performed the drama a final two times in different neighborhood plazas. Some of the students even got to try out some new parts, which they had fun doing. After ministering through the drama, one of our students was able to use her Spanish skills to share the spiritual significance of the story. After the students ministered in their teams, they began a pickup soccer game with the neighborhood kids. We can´t be sure, but we´re pretty sure they lost…

But though dramas may be over, ministry certainly is not!!! This evening we had the opportunity to go prayer walking in Trujillo´s main Plaza de Armas. It is a very beautiful place, with a huge fountain in the middle and sculptures surrounding it. After spending 30 or 40 minutes here, the students were brimming with excitement over the things God had done with this time! Some of them were joined by Peruvian nationals who were Christiasn and wanted to prayer walk with them. Others had opportunities to pray with nationals, and still others led people to Jesus!!

We can´t say enough: We are SO PROUD of this team. We LOVE this team. We look forward to what God will continue to do through our relationships and willing hearts. We know He is not done teaching us yet!

Please pray for us as we get to do a little shopping and beach sight-seeing tomorrow! Pray for continued good health, focus on Jesus in these last days, and for love to continue to abound.

Love!

Lauren and Kenny, CCs

Hola!

It has been an excellent first evening in Trujillo. The team is really excited to be here, surrounded by the grandeur of a big city.

After resting from our bus ride, we spent time together as a team, discussing some of what we’ve been learning and encouraging each other. We love spending time together, even after all this time!

We were able to minister in three different plazas this evening, and the team is primed for making our last day of ministry tomorrow the very best yet!  We had the privilege of having dinner at Tito’s house, where his sweet wife, Edith, made us dinner. Spaghetti! A LOT of spaghetti, nearly all of which we polished off! We also enjoyed a time of worship together before going back out to our last drama for the evening.

There is one more story we wanted to share from Chachopoyas, as well. After our last update from there, the team went into a school for special needs kids to share the drama and spend time with them. Their time there was PRECIOUS. They met a little blind boy named Juan. A sweet lady sitting next to him further explained the drama for him, filling in the parts he couldn’t see with his eyes. He said he understood, and afterward told the team, “I follow Jesus.” As you can see in pictures, he spent time feeling their faces to “see” what they looked like. He even put his hands on their heads to see how tall some were. 

The team came back from that experience spilling over with joy and stories.

We are SO looking forward to tomorrow and what it will bring!!! Please pray for continued health and endurance so we can make this last day the very best yet.

Love,

Lauren and Kenny, CCs

We have made it to Trujillo!  We were blessed that our fourteen hour bus ride arrived almost an hour early!  The team is in great spirits, and this afternoon and evening will be out ministering in the beautiful parks and plazas here!  With tomorrow being our last day of drama ministry in Peru, the team is focused on the little time we have left here and expecting God to move in a mighty way!

Off to do ministry!!!

Lauren, Jo, Jesse, and Kenny