Northampton Presbyterian Missions Trip - Day 7

Today is our final day of ministry with the children here in Peru.  We will be seeing over 150 kids, we are looking forward to a tiring yet profitable day.  We started the day after a good night’s sleep, with breakfast and devotions at the church.  We talked through James chapter 2, and recognized the necessity to see people as God does, and be willing to offer mercy where judgment would be a “normal” thing to do.  We practiced a few Spanish songs and headed off for the Spiros Zodhiates child care center in Saul Cantoral, Lima.

When we arrived, the kids were sitting down waiting for us.  They welcomed us with a “good morning” chant, and we were off and running.  Since they were sitting, we sang the songs we practiced and sang “Every Move I Make” with the kids helping with the “na-na-na” part.  They were having a great time, and so was the team.  Juliann and Ryan shared their testimonies, and the kids listened as well as kids can.  They did a great job presenting the gospel.  I love hearing these kids talk about God with the other kids.

After they shared, the chaos began!  We separated into 3 groups – one went outside, one worked on coloring pages, and one sat at a table and played some games.  Anthony, Kelly and Jeremy were also painting kids faces, but today it was a little more organized and a lot less chaotic – none of the team members had their faces painted today.  The outside group was playing football, soccer, and generally just hanging around.  The kids were asking all kinds of questions to the team members and they did a great job answering as many as possible. 

I had told the team in advance that these kids are like a bunch of leeches – hanging on to you at every turn, and boy did they find out I was right.  At one time, Ryan had 6 kids climbing on him, sitting on him, dragging him to the ground.  They were having a blast.  Juliann, Kelly, and Jenna seemed to constantly have 2-3 kids climbing on them.  Kevin was walking around outside with a kid on each shoulder.  He was like a mobile jungle gym for the kids.  The kids brought out a rope and one of the team tied it on the soccer goal – the kids took turns swinging on the “rope swing” – it was hilarious to watch.

At lunch time, we gathered all of the kids inside the small building – the number of kids would definitely not meet a fire code in the States for that size of a building – kids were almost sitting on top of each other as we served them lunch.  It is a holiday here in Peru, so they had no school.  As a result, we didn’t have 2 groups today of about 80-100, but rather 150+ all day long! 

After lunch the chaos ensued.  More games, more activities, more talking and sharing, more pictures, more interaction with the children – and the team was spectacular!  They were tired.  They were hot. They were worn out.  But they continued on until it was time to gather all of the kids and hand out certificates.

One by one we said goodbye to the children as they came and had their picture taken with their certificate.   

The kids were really proud of their accomplishment, and the team made them feel special for the work that they did.  I have said it before, but I really love the fact that these kids met the challenge to finish the books!

We headed back to the hotel and Jeremy had a migraine headache – bad enough that he slept all the way back to the hotel.  As a matter of fact, when we arrived back at the hotel, he had some weird tingling in his hands and face.  We did some “internet” searching and found that it was probably linked to his head ache – so he drank more water and slept until dinner.

As we walked to dinner, we were in for a real treat.  Due to the holiday, most of the restaurants were closed!  After all, people aren’t supposed to eat meat – just fish.  Anyway, we walked past Bembo’s (a “fast food chain”) here in Lima, and the kids voted against it.  We ended up eating at a Chinese Restaurant!  Food was delicious – especially for a Chinese-Peruvian meal. (Just ask Kelly about that one).

After dinner we went to the Wong store – actually it was the right store, but it is named “Wong” – to get a cake for Anthony’s birthday.  The ladies at the center had sung happy birthday to him in Spanish, but we needed to get him a cake.  So we did – double or triple chocolate cake!  Way too much for me to handle.  We only ate ½ of it, but Anthony assures me he will make the rest of it disappear.

After the cake, we had our “hot seat” time where the team members encourage one another by sharing with them the things they saw God do through the other members this week.  It really was  a wonderful time of hearing the kids encourage one another and build each other up.  It is one of my favorite times of the trip – and this group did not disappoint me.  They said some really good things to each other, and then they prayed for each other.  I was honored to be part of this interaction with them.

Within 24 hours, we will be on a plane home.  We have much planned for tomorrow – the beach, shopping, a trip to the “water park”, and I am certain some more eating!  This will be a well deserved break for the kids, but also a time of encouraging and ministering to one another.

Thought for the day:  I saw Mrs Mirtha today – and even took a picture of her and 6 of her kids.  She is scheduled for surgery sometime soon as she has a tumor on her head.  Seven of my friends back home raised the money to pay for the surgery in just a 24 hour period.  I am so blessed to be part of helping this woman. 

As I talked with her, she asked me to sponsor her child.  I told her that I already sponsor 2 children here in Peru and 1 in Guatemala.  I would have loved to have been her child’s sponsor, but there is only so much a person can do.  I know that soon my wife and I will be sponsoring another child – my wife says it’s her turn to pick one – but for now, we are limited in our ability to do so.

However, I have been so encouraged by the last 2 teams and their desire to join the ministry here by sponsoring a child.  I know that these who have been here know the benefits for the children who are sponsored.  They get food.  They get help with their education.  Most importantly, they hear the word of God!  Sponsoring an AMG child is more than just a wonderful thing to do, it changes lives!  Yeah, it helps the kids and their families, but just as important, sponsoring Norma and Harold here in Peru has changed my family forever!