Saturday, June 28, 2014

Berean Bible Church - Peru Trip - Day 4


Another beautiful morning here in Yungar, the sun came up and again displayed God’s glory. 
We began today with devotions in Philippians.  We talked about Paul’s prayer for the Philippians, and were challenged in the way we pray for each other.  After a time of prayer together, we broke for breakfast.
We left for the 15 minute walk to the church, and arrived around 9:00 ready to get to work.  Our objectives today – finish the painting in the sanctuary, the front of the building, the bathrooms, and the entrance of the building; finish the roof and clean up for the wedding day tomorrow.  
By the time the kids had arrived, most of the work was finished.  Some were left painting and working on the roof.  However, enough of the roof was finished for the kids to have their food and craft time in the classroom.  Praise the Lord!  While they were eating, Jordan brought some of the books that her and her father had brought for the kids.  They were English books, and it gave the team the opportunity to look through them and teach the kids some English words.  It also allowed the kids to teach the team some Spanish words.  This was awesome – very effective – and since Carl and Jordan brought the books to be left here, they will be a blessing and a help with the kids learning English in the future.
The team taught the story of the “good Samaritan” by reading the story in Spanish and then doing a drama.  The kids seemed to really enjoy it.  Jeff took some time (with Ana’s help) to challenge the kids and explain why Jesus told this story.  He clearly presented the gospel, and with the help of Richard (the AMG Missionary), I believe the kids understood what they were sharing.
During Jeff’s part of the program, some of the kids (one by one) were leaving to go to the “baño”.  After a number of them left for the bathroom, I decided to follow one…  Only to find that the whole group of kids that needed to go to the bathroom were outside playing with some of our roofing/painting crews.  I couldn’t help but laugh at them.  These kids are just like kids back home.  They had already sung, they had heard the story, and as they saw others of their friends disappearing, they had to find out what was going on.  And what little kid doesn’t like to play! 
After the older kids (who didn’t leave) broke from the devotional time, we had craft time for all of them.  The kids made “canastas”, little baskets to hold some candy and pencils that the team gave them.  They really enjoyed working with the kids.
As all of this was happening, we could hear thunder in the distance, and, since we are so high up in the mountains, we were able to see the rain all around us.  We knew our time was short, but we still had work to do.  We had to clean up our mess and help prepare the area for the outdoor wedding tomorrow.  We created an assembly line – including the children of the center – and moved a bunch of roofing material from the base of the property to a room inside the building.  The team and children alike had a blast as we worked together to accomplish the task.
We returned back to the hotel and after taking time to rest, shower and clean up, we gathered to view some of the pictures from the week so far.  Easton Baptist Church had provided me with a projector and this was the first time I was able to use it for a trip.  What a blessing it was for us all to rehearse the great things that God has done so far, and prepare for the rest of the trip.
After dinner we had our evening wrap up.  My favorite part of the day!  Hearing the teens wrestle with the day, with the things that God is teaching them, with the hard things, the fun times, the ways they were stretched, etc.  Some talked about their gifts and how God showed them they could be used.  Others talked about lessons God taught them.  I love knowing that God will use these lessons and experiences to shape the future of these teens.
After a brief leaders meeting we returned to our room only to find people in it – yeah, the kids were having a party in our room because we have the snacks and water in our room. For the next hour and a half kids stopped by the room to talk, get water, get snacks, etc.  I love interacting with these kids.  I am honored to be on another Berean Bible trip.  This group is a blessing to me.
Thought for the day:  As we were reviewing the pictures, some of the pictures were of the large mountains and beautiful views, while others of the pictures were close-ups of flowers with the minute details and beauty of the petals and the various parts of the flowers.  We have some amazing pictures, and although they cannot capture the full experience, they help remind us of our God.
The thought today is in reference to the verse in Psalms 8 where the psalmist talks about the “heavens, the work of your fingers,” and the thought that if the heavens were the detailed work of His fingers, what would the flowers be?   I mean when you think about the “work of your fingers” you think of the items of the greatest detail. For instance, you might shape clay with your hands, but when it comes to the finer details of completing the project, you change to your fingers and then to even more delicate tools.
Our God gave us a beautiful planet for His glory.  He showed us his creative abilities from the largest items we can view to the finest, smallest things we can find.  There is order, beauty, creativity, design… in all of it.  It screams that there is a God and He is amazing.
God help us take time to reflect on your glory in the creation around us, and especially in the creation you value most – the humans around us.  Help us to realize their value and worth because of their Creator.  Help us point them to your glory as we share with them the work of creation and the work of Jesus Christ on Calvary.

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