"Apparently there are places that even during the day it’d be common for a Peruvian to be robbed and so if you throw a gringo into that place, it’s like a walking target."
Hola!!
I landed in Lima and flew to Iquitos on Tuesday afternoon.
Despite my lack of enthusiasm toward the jungle humidity, it’s not as bad the
second time around :) I have described Peru as similar to Thailand...yet, the
empty spiritual presence (or lack there of) I found in Asia doesn’t seem to be
here. There is definitely an influx of other deformities of Christianity with
Mormons and Jehova Witnesses running rampant. There’s also a majority of
Catholic superstition and animism too.
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| Mormons, military bases, prostitution. Jesus would be here! |
My first impressions are good. I like it here (so far) and I pray
that only grows as I continue to live here. There is a constant whirring of
motorbikes and mototaxis driving down the street outside my window but about
once a day so far the rain picks up as does the wind and IT FEELS MARVELOUS,
but you (or at least I) find it as a time to just wander off and clear your
mind. One of these days a morning run I have started with the guys will
encounter a shower and I may not like it as much as under shelter.
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| Click the photo for a bigger size! The military base across the street. |
For anyone wondering what exactly what I am doing (or am preparing
for) I will explain. In Youth With a Mission we have a school that is kind of
like Basic Training for a missionary. You can go to many bases around the world
and participate in the school which includes 3 months of lectures and 3 month
of application or outreach. Most of you know (if you don’t, feel free to see
the older blogs or my youtube channel) that my school took place in New Zealand
and my outreach went to do anti-trafficking work in Thailand. From there there
is an option to continue on to other schools within the organization such as
focuses in counseling or filmmaking.
So, why Peru? Why Iquitos? Por que?
If you haven’t heard my shpeel 900 times, one more won’t hurt!
(If you have heard it 900, feel free to skip down to the bold text, which is a
scripture.) God has done a big work in my life through forgiveness and healing.
He has opened up a whole new world of working with kids through friends, the
Ignite children’s ministry at my church, as well as the encouragement and
prophetic word of others. Last year, the Lord spoke to me through a vision of
the Amazon river (which involved kids) and one morning I woke up to
“Deuteronomy 4:9” which I have shared below. Through confirmations, a lot of
prayer, trust and support from everyone I am now here with a goal to work in
the children’s orphanage ministry at the base. Here is that scripture...
“Only be careful,
and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your
eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live.
Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Yes, it caught me by surprise too! :) So, flash forward. I’m
here. I’m excited to start this journey with ACT ONE: Staffing a Discipleship school. The school will work in
many exciting environments, including with kids, and I knew I needed something
to expose me and integrate me into the culture to be effective once I transfer
into ACT TWO: Orphanage Ministry. Now,
if you are already familiar with the game plan, you know that there isn’t a plan in Peru after that... so
you may be asking yourself, doesn’t every good story have THREE acts? Tres
partes? (Hey, I’m trying, okay?) Well, all I can say is I’m trusting God will
give me a vision for the future and I will work in some capacity with kids from here on out. I have learned to be
cautious with my plans... Proverbs 16:9 says this:
"A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps."
But the Lord directs his steps."
Joe is my wonderful leader and he is from St Cloud, MN. His wife
is Peruvian and they met when she did her discipleship school in Minnesota! He
has a great heart for this ministry. I just met my three teammates (co-staff)
today. Magly is from Iquitos, she has done a DTS as a student in 2009 and a
staff last year. She will be on the lecture phase only. Caleb es mi hermano y
he is a missionary kid from the southern jungles of Peru. Bielgui (bee-ull-gee)
is the other female staff, who is from Cusco (just south of Machu Pichu and one
of the places we will do outreach.) Magly will be seeing us on our way to
continue her schooling here and a female staff will join us from Wisconsin for
outreach.
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| Magly and Joe have some preliminary meetings to determine how we will torture our students :) |
Speaking of outreach, we will be going many locations for a few
weeks at a time. A few will be in the jungles (north, south and east, I
believe), a few locations in Bolivia, such as La Paz and at least one stop in
Cusco at the new YWAM base there, etc. It sounds as though from day one we want
this to be a very practical missions school where we will be serving in various
ministries (some connected to the base, some not) from day one. Joe has had it
placed upon his heart to build connections for future schools here.
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| First meal I cooked: Chicken, plantain and salad with tea. |
A lot of this has been information overload for me and I am
barely introduced to the culture and my own surroundings...so it’s going to
lend for an interesting experience being that I am the only
staff who is not bilingual. I feel like in the last three days I
have learned more spanish that in the last few months on Rosetta Stone (or at
least things like sentence structure.) Pray for me that knowledge
of Espanol will rain down on me like tongues of fire...supernaturally!
The Enemy would love for this to discourage and isolate me, so I am going to
annoyingly follow these Espanol speaking amigos y amigas of mine to pick up
every breadcrumb I can.
Also, my other prayer requests would be for every day needs. That
God will give me what I need each day. Whether that’s strength in preparing the
SECRET I CANNOT TALK ABOUT YET INCASE MY STUDENTS ARE READING THIS (but will be
VERY physically demanding on my body), wisdom in what to watch out for in the
jungle, knowledge of the
language/culture, discernment of where to be careful, etc. Apparently there
are places that even during the day it’d be common for a Peruvian to be robbed
and so if you throw a gringo into that place, it’s like a walking target.
 | |
| Passionfruit is usually made into juice. It tastes more sour than | a verde manzana with the texture of inside a pumpkin. |
My next blog will hopefully be posted soon and will describe to
you my responsibilities. At one point during the school, I would like to write
you a journal blog in which I share A Day
in the Life of Sam. I love you all. If you haven’t heard from me yet, you
will. (Messaging me is also a great idea!) At some points, logistically, I’m
going to need internet access... but before that can happen, I need to learn my
way around. (not just Iquitos, but simply walking outside and knowing what to say
to a taxi) At some other points, I will not be with access for weeks,
especially during outreach. (May thru July) These are things I have
communicated, but want to reflect them again so you don’t think I don’t care.
:) I think of you often and will be in prayer for your needs as well.
Muchos gracias for all your support! I would not be on this
journey with out each one of you!
~SAMWISE~
