Teams, Open Doors, Relational Ministry

Okay, okay, okay... I KNOW it has been over a month since I posted. Honestly - I'm terrible at this! Sometimes I think I have something good to write about, but by the time I actually get home and have time to post it, it just doesn't seem so interesting anymore... at least not interesting enough for other people to read. And then there's my "awesome team members" that keep bringing up the fact that I haven't posted in so long... Thanks, Guys, for being my constant accountability partners and reminding me of how behind I am in the blog world! :)

So, what have we been up to??? Well, we had a couple of awesome teams come to Peru to do some short-term mission work over the past few weeks!

The team from McDonough UMC, Georgia came down and spent a week doing a two-part mission -- they spent their mornings working in a local orphanage leading Kid's Club and loving on the children, and they spent their afternoons working with the pueblo of Cochas leading Kid's Club and helping the town to open 3 new Kid's Clubs of their own. To say that it was an incredible week is a gross understatement! It was beyond incredible and they really opened many doors for us "full timers" who will now follow up on their work and further the ministry via the groundwork they laid.

We also had a team from the University of Georgia - Wesley Foundation. They spent a week doing various ministries... they worked with a local Christian school leading chapel each day and teaching in the English classes, they performed in several concerts during the week, they helped with small groups, and they helped us work with a new ministry to local prostitutes. One of the things that this particular team did that was a real treat and treasure to us was they came with the desire to pray over and speak blessings into the lives of the Peruvian workers that work with us in the ministry, and to encourage and pray for us - the full time missionaries on the field.

Both teams spent time learning culture and working to understand more about the ministries here, the people here, and how God is working in lives here in Peru. Relational ministry is all about building relationships with EVERYONE... with your team, with the missionaries, with the locals, with the cooks and translators and neighbors, etc, etc, etc. As short term team coordinators, we feel that a VITAL part of our job is to facilitate and foster these relationships.

We have had a wonderful few weeks and God has opened many doors for us. Now we say goodbye to short term teams for a while (until mid April) and we work to walk through those doors God has opened and build upon the work that the short-termers did while they were here. It's a full-time job, but we are so happy to have "part time team members" that come in and help us... they round out our team and our lives. Thanks, McDonough UMC and UGA-Wesley!!! We loved hosting you and we truly love what you have given to Peru and to us! Rest assured, we are watering the seeds that you planted! Thank you!!!!!