Silverdale Baptist - Peru Trip - Day 5

Today is Harrison’s birthday, and it started with a bang.  He and Terry went for a 5 mile jog.  Harrison seemed a little tired this morning, but I didn’t know just how bad it was until he returned. Eventually he told me that he was feeling bad enough that he didn’t even go to the center.  He stayed at the Hetzel’s house all day – Krista said he slept 6+ hours. 

Meanwhile, Susan and Kristen were also feeling badly, so as of today, 6 of our 17 have experienced sickness of some sort.  It doesn’t seem to last long, but – long enough to be annoying.  Why God allows these difficulties, (other than for our maturity in Him) I don’t know, but I do know that He isn’t surprised by it.

The team walked to the church, ate breakfast, and then had devotions.  From there we headed off to the center in 3 different vehicles.  Vehicle 1 had the nationals and the Haef’s – they were going to get ice cream and cake (to celebrate the second floor being finished, and as an aside, Harrison/Harold’s birthdays).  Vehicle 2 had most of the adults and Richard – heading off to get supplies needed to finish the wall.  Vehicle 3 had mostly kids and 2 adults and we were going to the center.  Van 3 arrived at the center to see over 150 kids bouncing off the walls ready for us to be there.  We played with them. Took pictures, sang songs, whatever we could for a little over ½ an hour until we assumed the others would arrive.  Then I asked the kids to sit down and the only thing I could think of was to sing some songs with the guitar – the only problem was – the guitar was in van 2.  So, I counted kids. Seriously, it was the only thing I could think of that would keep them sitting down for a little while as I counted to over 145 kids (and many were standing around and talking with the other team members). 

Eventually the rest of the team arrived, and we got to work.  The wall was finished, the kids were taught bible lessons (and they listened very well due to the sound system that this team brought to Richard and the projector that they gave him).  The team did crafts, played games, sang songs, and eventually served the kids meals and cake and ice cream for the celebration.  We had a great time.

After lunch, we went outside and played volleyball and soccer with the older kids.  They really enjoyed us spending time with them.  I think the team enjoyed playing with the kids and just spending time caring for them.  This stuff is critical, because it shows the kids that we care for them – we are not just here to get them to listen to us, we want to listen to them as well. 

Around 4:00 we headed off to the church for dinner, had cake (after singing Happy Birthday to Harrison – who is now feeling better) and then wrapped up the day with our usual discussion time lead by Richard.  It was a full but wonderful day!

Tomorrow we go to Buen Pastor – the other AMG center in Lima – and start the process of building relationships all over again.  I am looking forward to spending much of the day with Norma – she is a treasure!

Silverdale Baptist - Peru Trip - Day 4

It was a beautiful morning and we made our way to the church for breakfast at 8:00.  We arrived at the church and had breakfast, followed by devotions.  We had a 2 that were not feeling well, so 4 of the team went back at the hotel due to sickness.  Joseph (an AMG missionary) also was sick, so he stayed home as well. 

Regardless, the “show must go on”, they say, and that is what we had to do.  The rest of the team made their way to the child care center and they ministered to 3 groups of kids – teaching, singing, doing crafts and games.  As one of the team members described it, it is like a VBS atmosphere – a little disorganized and crazy, but we are having a wonderful time presenting Gospel truths to the kids.

Speaking of which, the team is doing an excellent job using the children as props for the lessons, allowing them to lead the singing and do the motions for the songs, I think the children are really enjoying the things the team is sharing because they are involved in the process.

The builders actually finished the wall today – well, at least the brick portion.  Tomorrow we need to put the counter top on the top of the wall and it will be complete.  I have really enjoyed watching the men put the wall together, and today, we took group photos around the completed “kitchen” and we included the kitchen staff in the photos.  I know they really enjoyed being part of that celebration.

Speaking of which, tomorrow we will be celebrating the completion of the second floor of the Spiros Center.  It should be an excellent time of reflection of what God has done.  It will also be a celebration of Harrison and Harold as they both turn 15 this week.

After we finished our work today, we drove back to the hotel, got cleaned up and went to Sarcletti’s for dinner and ice cream.  We went to Wong afterwards to give the team a “shopping” experience where they were the outsider in a “walmart” style store. 

We returned to the hotel for the wrap up – Susan went right to bed as she was not feeling well this evening. 

It was a good day in all – we are praying for the health of the team, and that all would be back to 100% by tomorrow.

Silverdale Baptist - Peru Trip - Day 3

Monday morning – seems like Tuesday – because we went to the center yesterday.  We are looking forward to seeing the kids today and seeing what God is going to do.  We began the day with a 30 minute walk to the church, where we ate breakfast, did our devotional time together, and then prepared to leave for the center.

We arrived at the center to a group of kids awaiting our arrival.  They were as excited to see us as we were to see them.  The team jumped right to work.  Some of the men began working on the wall, including a missionary friend of Richard’s who was visiting for the day.  The rest of the team broke into two groups – one upstairs doing songs and Bible stories, and one downstairs doing crafts and games. 

The team did an excellent job on both fronts as they sang songs and taught about the fruit of the spirit.  It wasn’t easy since the kids aren’t always paying attention, but I am confident that they are receiving some great teaching.  The craft people did some water paints for the kids and had them unscramble letters to Spanish words – talk about difficult.  It is hard enough when the scrambled letters spell a word you know, but what about a word in another language…  regardless, the team did an excellent job!

We didn’t have lunch today – just a snack time as available.  We were busy most of the day. We ended up doing 3 groups at each station.  We also played soccer, volleyball, and dodgeball with the kids.  The men working on the wall completed about 3/4ths of the project, so we anticipate them completing the wall tomorrow!  Praise the Lord.

We drove from the center to the church and had dinner – Chicken, rice, vegetables and a mashed potato sauce.  It was very delicious.  Then from there we walked back to the hotel, cleaned up and went to the Hetzels for cake, coffee and a wrap up session.  However, the team brought surprises as they blessed the Hetzel family with gifts from home – everything from candy and snacks to clothes and a baseball bag.  They gave Richard a projector that he had requested as well.  It was wonderful being part of a blessing ceremony where a supporting church lavished gifts on a missionary couple and their two children.

We ended the day with a wrap up session that Richard led.  They talked about the day, the children, the things they were learning, and were challenged to ask God to continue to teach them.  It has been a good day.

Tomorrow we will be going back to the same center and doing much of the same work – Lord willing we will finish the wall.

Silverdale Baptist - Peru Trip - Day 1-2

12:30 PM on Saturday, October 4^th, and the whole team is ready to board the bus from Silverdale Baptist Church to the Atlanta airport for the beginning of our Mission Adventure to Lima, Peru.  The team is made up of a family of 5, a family of 4, a family of 3, a family of 2, and 3 individual team members – 17 people in all.  We have 9 adults and 8 young people.  We have 7 males and 10 females. 

We boarded the bus, drove to Atlanta, and after a brief wait at the airport, we loaded up for our direct flight to Lima.  Flight 151 leaving around 5:25 PM and scheduled to arrive in Lima around 11:20.  The flight went well, and we ended up arriving in Lima a little early.  We went through immigration, and then customs, and then headed out to catch up with those who were planning to pick us up.

Jose Apon was the first person I saw – waiting on the second floor looking into the customs area.  He and Joseph Haefs were talking together and as I gained their attention, Joseph waved.  The Hetzel family met us outside – obviously very excited to see the group from their home church. 

We boarded the various vans with all our luggage, and headed to the hotel.  By 1:30 in the morning we were headed to bed and had a very early morning planned for tomorrow.

6:00 AM, the alarm sounded and we were up and getting ready for a great day.  We left for the Spiros Zodhiates Center at 7:00.  The team wasted no time.  As the women were preparing our breakfast, the men were talking about and planning the building of the kitchen area.  The kids were playing together and just getting to know each other (or know each other a little better). 

We ate breakfast when it was ready, and then we spent some time in God’s word.  Brenna helped lead us in a worship song, and then we discussed the book of Philippians.  We finished with a word of prayer and then we all got back to work.  Some of the men were working on the wall, while others were working on table tops.  Some of the team were working on the music for the afternoon program, while others were helping clean and set up.  There wasn’t a lot of structure to the day, as it was originally planned to be church and then acclimation to culture of Lima, but due to the elections, the schedule was changed. Anyway, we completed a lot of work, and everyone did their part.

The kids began showing up early, so the younger team members went upstairs with them and played a variety of games.  Some of the adults joined them as well.  It was great to see the team interacting with the children.  Some of the kids asked to play soccer outside, so I took a group of them out to play soccer.  We started with a small 5 on 5 game, but quickly it turned into an 8 on 8.  I think the kids had a great time – and it was good to see our team members playing with the kids (as many locals looked on).  Harold came by after a while and he joined the team opposite me – Harrison came by a little while later, and he joined Harold’s team.  I really enjoy watching those two play together.  They are so much alike, and yet live in two very different worlds.

Eventually it was time for the service, and it seemed like we had 150 kids.  They were everywhere.  We sang with them and Terry taught them some things about the fruit of the Spirit.  It is our theme for the week, so he encouraged them to be prepared to learn more as the week goes on.  He did a great job – even though the kids were a little noisy.  The team did an excellent job singing as well – all of their songs were in Spanish – which isn’t easy since no one on the team speaks Spanish.

The day ended with chicken at La Hacienda, and then a wrap up time in the courtyard at the hotel.  We are calling it an early night (10:00 PM) because we are all tired.  Tomorrow is another day of service at the Spiros Zodhiates Center.

Good night!

MT View Baptist Church - Guatemala Trip - Day 6

Another day, much like the last few days…  That is typical for this type of team.  Breakfast, devotions, off to work.  The group is making great progress.  We were excited to see the cap on the first half of the walls we were building for the ladies room.  When we arrived at the site, Angel and the other guys had already mixed the concrete and had begun laying the blocks for the first row on top.  By the end of the day, the guys had completed the wall, and we took a group picture as the last block was put into place.

While they were doing that, the rest of the team was helping with twisting wire (used throughout the entire building to help keep the rebar in place), breaking out the area of the wall for the rebar to be tied into it, bending and preparing the rebar for the support beams, moving scaffolding, moving block, and a variety of other odd jobs.  They have been working hard all week!  We are hoping to have all 6 rebar areas ready and forms prepared for pouring by the end of the day tomorrow.  It is our goal, and Lord willing, we will achieve the objective.

Today also had a few other highlights as we spent the evening playing soccer with men from Otto’s church, and then we went to Pizza Hut for dinner.  The soccer game was a blast!  We actually scored a number of goals (yes, they did too) but as expected, no one kept score.  It was a wonderful relational time.

The night ended late as we arrive back at the hotel around 10:00.  We decided to forgo the evening meeting as most of the team will probably be asleep by 10:30.  It was a long hard day.

Tomorrow is more of the same, but it is our last day on the job.  I pray that God gives us the strength to finish well as many are sore, struggling with head congestion and other minor health/medical issues.