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Hello Everyone,
First of all, thank you so much for your prayers for the team, for our families while we were in Peru and for the mission trip. Also, thank you for your financial support to the mission trip and Called2Tell ministry. The whole team returned home safely and with much to tell as a testimony of what God is doing around the Titicaca Lake area. On this trip we had the opportunity to partner with Christian churches in the cities of Lima, Ilave and Desaguadero in Peru. I was so close to my hometown Cobija, Bolivia, but yet so far away. See if you can find Cobija on this map. Below is a map of the area we were working in:
The entire team was united in Lima on Saturday night. Mike, Jason and I from Tulsa, Andres Vera from Colombia, David Paima, Carla, Jeremy, and Dana from Lima Peru. On Sunday, on our way to Desaguadero we flew to the city of Jualica. We had plans to partner with some churches in Juliaca, Puno and others areas around Jualica, but at the last moment those churches canceled on us so we drove straight to Desaguadero from Juliaca . Monday through Wednesday we had plans to train Churches on evangelism in the morning and at nights, while in the afternoon we were to do a marriage seminar by request from the Pastor in Desaguadero. Those were our plans for the three days ahead, but the Lord had a different direction for us. We were all showing symptoms of altitude sickness due to Desaguadero being located at 12,500+ ft above sea level. Jason and Mike were affected by the altitude the most, so after evangelism training, kids program, sharing the Gospel and marriage seminar on Tuesday the team decided that it was best for Mike and Jason along with David and Dana to return to Lima were it is normal elevation. We had planned for one mission team, but God had it differently. Proverbs 16:9 says “ In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
We were able to train more churches in Lima and Desaguadero at the same time and were able to share the gospel with the people God had appointed. God reminded me to align our plans to His plans and be willing to follow Him wherever He might take us. The team in Desaguadero was pushed to its limits, but every time we had no more strength left, God pulled us through. On Monday afternoon after the evangelism training, some of us visited relatives of church members, especially the people that needed to hear the word of God. One of those families was going through very tough times. The father of the family had a car accident and one of his sons died on the accident. The father was very ill and he did not know if he was going to recover. There were 12 family members overall in the room that day. My understanding was that three of them were Christians and church members while the others were not. We prayed for them and for the father’s recovery and after that I was able to share the Gospel with the entire family. The Holy Spirit took over and many of them committed to follow Jesus. The dad was one of them who wanted to follow Jesus. I could tell that the death of his son and the whole situation was making him think about life and eternity. He was truly searching for God and I believe he found Him that day. The pictures below are of that family:
The next two days we trained six churches on evangelism with the evangecubes and shared the gospel with 40+ people. Wednesday night after finishing the marriage seminar, we had to say goodbye to the church in Desaguadero. We were ending the night service with prayers when the electricity went out. It was powerful to be in prayer with the whole congregation in candle lighting. We also ate in the church while we waited for the electricity to return. Here are some pictures of the congregation and dinner time:
On Thursday we traveled back to Lima. It took six hours total from Desaguadero to Juliaca on bus and then a flight to Lima. Friday we were reunited with the other team in Lima and we went on to do ministry work together again. We trained two churches on Friday and after the training sessions we went out to the streets and neighborhoods to evangelize. Saturday we had the last training session with one church and we did the last evangelism around noon.
Throughout the week, we had the opportunity to share the gospel with many people around 200+ total, 140+ of them committed to follow Jesus and to start being discipled. Throughout the mission trip God kept reminding me of John 13:34 that says “ A new command I give you: Love one another, as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. ” As Christians we are to demonstrate love to one another. It is not an option, but a command, “so you must love one another.” The outside world will know we are Jesus’s disciples if as Christians we show sacrificial love. This verse also implies that if there is not love between Christians, the world could also conclude that we must not be disciples of Jesus Christ. Sharing the Gospel audibly and demonstrating it by the love we have for one another goes beyond something we do, but it is attached to the core of who we are in Christ.
I thank God we are able to participate in His Kingdom work as Christ’s body. We all played a role in this mission trip to Peru and I thank you for praying and helping financially. I trust that what was done in Peru by the Holy Spirit working through us all will bear fruits and multiply for His glory and honor. In Him,
Gary, Mandy, Niko, and Ariel
“Preaching Christ where yet unknown, God’s worldwide love I show; And since for this Christ lived and died,
God’s will for me I know…” -Grace Wilder
Called2Tell Team-Peru 2018:
