(REMEMBER YOU CAN CLICK THE PICTURES TO SEE LARGER PHOTOS!)
I now conclude the difficult task of
describing the crazy period that took place in June and July. We spent June in
two locations and July in three. The first blog included the first three
(below) and now I will finish with our two locations at the second half of
July. You may have received my update in the mail. It, however, will be quite
brief and these two blogs are to elaborate on only a few of the amazing
experiences my team had this summer. Again... you must know that in this time
the Lord continued to press on my heart various places in the world, as He does
now. Details are slim, but I can tell you I’ve decided to continue on the
mission field. This
brings a load of new challenges, so I ask for your prayers and continued
support. I seek His confirmation before I make
any more details public. Anywho, onto the blog...
LA PAZ, Bolivia
La
Paz was our 4th stop in total and our second in Bolivia. If we thought
Cochabamba was big or cold or surrounded by mountains, La Paz is so much more!
It was definitely cold, the hot showers were nice though... A
simple fond memory I have is walking to the nearby market with my co-leader
Hannah and having the luxury of making fruit smoothies or soup for our whole
team, a little taste of home...ahh!
(You know, it really IS
hard to write this silly blog. Sometimes it just flows out of me, other times
my mind is elsewhere, like now... all that’s on my mind is the next two months
of recording music and teaching... and whether I’m going to enjoy it or not and
before I know it... I got nothing. But at least I’ve accomplished one thing:
Awesome. Run-on. Sentence. or. Comedic. Relief.)
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| Moises encounters snow for the first time. |
Both
teams thoroughly enjoyed their time in La Paz, the other team was in the central
part of the city and preaching in the main plazas, which is a big victory, in
the capitol of a country who’s government is turning away from God and pushing
Andean beliefs. My team had the pleasure of working in a school, which also
functioned as a church. We were able to work with people of every age. It
really was beautiful, because our team was all ages! (16-40‘s) Our days were
full. We worked with small children in the mornings and often did prayer walks
(one was in a red light district) or door-to-door evangelism. In the afternoon
we were in the classrooms with the teens and most evenings we had a service in
the church or shared with various groups at homes.
Working
in La Paz was very important for my team. But it was even more important for
the group of teachers and ministers we were working with, as they really had
been praying for a team to come for a long time and they were running on thin
air. These are
the kind of people that really benefit from short term teams...
those that are working so hard and need a burst of fresh air... a group to
encourage them and remind them that what they are doing is not in vain. I
assure all of those in La Paz, Addy, her family, Laura, etc... THERE ARE MANY TREASURES AWAITING YOU
IN HEAVEN! (¡Hay muchos tesoros esperando para ustedes en el Reino del Cielos!)
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| Performing Rey de Corazones |
Before
I give my favorite parts, let me touch on one of my least favorite parts. Now,
I don’t know exactly why this happened, but it happened in the school in Tingo
Maria to a lesser degree as well. Maybe it’s the fact that there are a bunch of
gringos on the team... maybe it’s the dancing, the songs, or the fact that we
are from around the world... I don’t know why exactly, but kids 12 and under
were FANATIC about us. I signed so many autographs, I didn’t know what to do
with myself. Part of me wanted to turn these fanatic children away, we weren’t
there for fame or notoriety, we were there to share about and glorify our
Maker. I obviously didn’t have the heart to say ‘No’ so I always wrote en
Español that they needed to read Romans 8. Haha.
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| We were famous... I guess. |
The
worst part came one morning as we were doing a children’s program. The kids had
heard about us all week and for whatever reason, could not contain themselves
and in the middle of one of our dances, they trampled over each other just to
reach us! Apparently, one or two kids actually got hurt because of this and
although I wasn’t there, it really frustrated me to hear about this. Most of
this particular group likely missed the real purpose of why we were there.
FAVORITE
PART(s) of
La Paz
1) Going
house-to-house to tell people about Jesus or your church is ALWAYS interesting,
no matter where you are. For a lot of us it can be rather intimidating, in some
places it is frowned upon, or even illegal. For all the weird theologies or
doors-in-our-faces we encountered, Bolivia had the most genuine reactions. I
was with two of my students, another team of three was across the street (for
safety) and as we passed by a store (or tienda)
and I thought to myself, ‘Why are we passing by? Everyone needs Jesus!’ (He did
leave the 99 sheep for the one after all.) We went back and spoke with the
woman behind the counter. She quickly noted that the family that owned the
tienda used to go to the church we were working with and that the mother would
love for us to return and pray with her. We went about our business and then
returned, only to be thrust into a situation we didn’t see coming.
It’s
a long and complicated story and I do not plan on indulging in someone’s
personal business told in the confidence of their own home, however, on that
note... it was
a beautiful example of what can happen as a missionary.
There had been a lot of brokenness, separation, lies, hurts, pains, betrayals,
you name it... it happened in this family and the mother had practically given
up. As she told her story, it kept coming... like a never ending red carpet, or
an episode of Intervention,
by the end of it... my heart was torn for her, I think all of us felt that way.
Although we knew this was complex and involved speaking with other people, we
knew it was important to pray for her as she at this point was the head of
house and she had been hearing lies for so long she was beginning to believe
them.
Amidst
our prayer time, the way the Holy Spirit used me was to tackle these lies.
Whatever welled up in my spirit, I spoke out and it was translated to her. She
was on her knees, sobbing... and I believe this was the first step for her.
Other’s prayed new life for her, renewal, encouraging words, forgiveness and we
bound anything that was spiritually attacking her. As most of us left and went
on to complete our responsibilities, we left behind two of our best weapons. We
left a mother, who could continue to counsel, and a young adult who had been
through her fair share of family problems. She was able to share her story with
the daughter that was at rock bottom and there appeared to be some immediate
reaction of forgiveness.
The
true test began as, thankfully, this happened in the beginning of our time in
La Paz, and we began to see fruit! The mother, and eventually, her daughter
came back to the church. Before we left, they were meeting again with the
pastor. We don’t know the ultimate outcome, but we can only trust that the Lord
has this family in His hands and they will continue to walk toward Him.
Reconcile... what a beautiful thing! ¡Gloria a Dios!
This
wasn’t the only time something like this happened, after a girl had a seizure
in the school we were able to rush to her house and counsel the family. Again,
a can of worms opened, but again, also, a beautiful reaction: the family was
due to return to the church when we left.
2) The
other point was being in classrooms all week. We got to teach on morals...with
our own real life stories and experience and the Bible to back us up. My guys
taught on things like integrity and trust. One evening, my student finished
early. I was sitting in the last row and could see the lackluster reaction of
the teens. I wasn’t the only one, three of my guys proceeded to share parts of
their respective testimonies. I also went up there and laid out the facts, a
bit black and white for a guy like me, but Truth none-the-less! I threw out
Jeremiah 17: 5-8...
“This is what the Lord says:
‘Cursed is the one who trusts in
man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose hearts turns away from the
Lord.
That person will be like a bush in
the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it
comes.
They will dwell in the parched
places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
But blessed is the one who
trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in Him.
They will be like a tree planted by
the water
that sends out its roots by the
stream.
It
does not fear when heat comes;
its
leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
The
theme here is Fear
of Man vs. Fear of God. I told them point-blank what I saw in
their body language... that they could care less. The Holy Spirit reminded me
of what I thought was important at that age and that, in hindsight, none of it
really is at all. What clothes you wear, what joke you tell, what girlfriend
you had... none of it really matters when you die, does it? The Bible tells us
many times that the treasures we store up here are temporary and the only real
value is in the treasures we store up in Heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21) What holds value to
you that really shouldn’t? Your favorite TV show, your new phone or new
kicks... even your relationship with your significant other. Does it hold much
weight if it doesn’t glorify the Creator of All in some way?
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| Moises teaching the boys. |
Ponder
of that one for a bit, because we’re all guilty of it. Point is, six or seven guys committed
their lives to the Lord that night.
We
left La Paz with full hearts, as both teams had the surprise of our contacts
accompanying us to the airport. We knew the Lord had used us to leave a mark in
this beautiful city.
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| Addy and her family. |
CUZCO, PISAC and COMMUNITIES in the
ANDES MOUNTAIN
 |
| Not so sophisticated. |
As
I said in our first location of Tingo Maria, we were prepared to be flexible.
Now, I could dedicate about 5 blogs simply to these last 8 days of our
outreach. We went to Cuzco, Peru, the famous entry point to Machu Picchu, not
knowing what we would be doing. As we rehabilitated in the bus station, I was
informed to pass on the word to my team from my leader that we would be given
no rest and were set to go up to the mountains. This meant cold, high elevation, and a
totally different language!
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| These scarves and blankets can take up to two months to make. The beautiful community blessed us with different things. |
I
was one of three leaders for the red team (Equipo Rojo)
and at this point, all Hell broke loose. We were chosen because we had two
Quechuan speakers on our team and because we were simply put... stronger.
(You’re about to see how kidding I am... Am I kidding? Haha.) One of my leaders
stayed behind under the care of a student because she was ridiculously sick, on
her birthday of all days, while we went up to the mountains. We did a program
in a little tiny pueblo church.
We slept all in one big room, guys on one side, girls on the other...
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| Cold cuy... aka guinea pig. |
When
we returned, I found out my leader hadn’t gotten much sleep at all. There was a
wedding the night before and the drunks all wanted a peak at the gringas.
Thankfully, my student had barricaded the room with
all our suitcases, or I cringe at the idea of what would have happened. She
wasn’t much better, but decided to continue on with us.
Set
to return to another mountain community, we were ushered into the back of a
semi. It was a holiday and difficult to find appropriate (and cost effective)
transportation. We soon found out the driver was celebrating too, a bit too
much and I ordered everyone to leave the semi immediately. After about 2 hours
of waiting, Papa Sam started to rear his (ugly?) head and I gave the pastor a
bit of an ultimatum, get
us there soon, or we would be getting a hotel on my personal debt.
(The tiny room the girls spent the night in was musty, really small, not
exactly safe and doomed to be our fate.) Eventually, we were separated amongst
4 or 5 sardine cans for vans. They were definitely Peruvian style, as people
were standing or sitting on laps... (You, my dear Reader, now have no right to
complain about mosquitos to me, but also about driving up winding roads!) We
flew up those mountain side roads... I contemplated all the possibilities of
what could happen to my sick, divided team. The worst was yet to come.
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| Glad the semi didnt take off. |
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| Some of my team in the mountains. |
We
spent a few days in this village, did programs in the street, saw a car come by
every few hours, ate potatoes cooked in the rocks and huddled together at night
sleeping on sheep skin and blankets. There are countless, upon countless
stories... but I know, while you are sitting at work, you should not be reading
this so intently as to forget your responsibilities, so I will cut to the
chase.
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| The women pile the potatos in the coals and then pile rocks on top of them to cook. |
FAVORITE
PART(s) of
the Mountains
Well,
I would definitely NOT say that my co-leader and some of my students being
shipped back to Cuzco for health concerns, others getting sick, the difficult
conditions, climate and living situation were good, or that I wanted them...
they were blessings
in disguise in some ways. After we watched the van
disappear with a few of the team, my co-leader and I sat and shared a tear. I
gave a coaching, or “Papa T Pep Talk”, and kept a close eye on everyone on my
team. I asked each 1-on-1 how they were doing. Some of my qualities really come
out in these situations.
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| Exhausted and taking a team nap. |
1) In
the first village I mentioned, there was a family that wanted their newborn
baby dedicated to the Lord and being the only male leader meant they asked me!
It was a beautiful moment and was a personal highlight for me bringing some
things full circle in multiple ways. When I was a child, I went thru a phase
where I wanted to baptize the kids in my neighborhood. I remember not only
doing it, but now I got to do it again and with a much better comprehension of
the meaning behind it. I don’t know how to put words to it, but of all the
requests we received and hospitality we were given... This brief moment tops
‘em all for me! It was one of many “winks” or “nods” I felt I got from the Lord
on my time here in Peru and Bolivia, letting me know that I was on the right
track. We all need that affirmation from our fathers. :)
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| What a moment... |
2) Leading Alone
was one of those blessings in disguise. It felt as though we were living out
the Oregon Trail and I had all sorts of thoughts go
through my mind... Where we may have gone wrong, should I have confronted the
pastor more on changing his mind every 5 minutes, or being so unsure of the
plans (which added to the stress level), etc. I had two leaders down, students sick,
my team was cut in half with a two mile walk between us and cell phone
coverage.
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| My sick co-leaders. |
I
encouraged the team to keep pushing for His kingdom. Some were worried, some
tired, some encouraging others... We finished a decent program in a futbol
field and slept one last time on the sheep skin-lined floor. In the morning, we
had prayer for the families that housed and fed us before departing back to
Pisac. I think my best decision was made at this point: I sent two students on
ahead to scope out a hotel.
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| No one sick here, just a drama. |
We
spent that day relaxing, reacclimatizing, laughing and reflected on the last
5 months we’d spent together. We did a program in a market where I talked
to a man with lots of questions about how to restore his family and have a true
(non-religious) relationship with God. So. Many. Things!
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| Hotel yayyyy! |
That
next morning we celebrated the birthday of our Norwegian counterpart (that food
never tasted so good!) and left for Cuzco to finish strong feeling well rested.
What a boost to the morale! We hadn’t had any rest since the first day in La
Paz. What a feeling it was, to finally reunite the entire team and finish our
outreach!
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| Pre-graduation... with Lidia. |
GRADUATION was held on
August 8th back in Iquitos. The final week back in the hot and
humid city was a bittersweet one as the group I felt I had taken so long to
connect with had finally become my family and for my Red Team... “my kids”! :)
It’s always interesting to go from being so close to so many people and have
them all suddenly depart for 8 different countries. I handled it a lot better
this time around. I think being here has kept me focused, but I also know that
I’ve grown immensely since 2011. My next blog will be a bit shorter, but
highlighting what I did in the weeks to follow with the Grammy-nominated band, ROJO,
and a women’s camp.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jump forward to October, what a
crazy time it’s been. I’m currently living with the kids ministry family in
Iquitos, Peru and we are working on something just about every day. I’m going
to split the updates and prayer requests. This ministry is essentially my
family right now and I am just as affected by everything going on here as they
are.
Personal Updates:
-
Blessings at the Border - As most of you
know, my VISA upon my reentry in Bolivia was for only 60 days. I decided to
take advantage and use it as an excuse to take a much needed ‘vacation’.
(Although I did very little relaxing.) Your prayers are much appreciated. While
crossing back over from Arica, Chile to Tacna, Peru, there were a lot of
questions. It was the fourth time this year I have returned to Peru for
‘tourism’. With three people looking for specs of cocaine (it’s a joke) in my
Passport and wondering why I had a plane ticket for December. (Iquitos is on
the border with Columbia after all.) I finally broke missionary code and fessed
up. “I’m working with a church in the jungle,” I said. “Hmm,” the woman said. BAM!
I got the 90 days I needed! With a sigh of relief, I most definitely thanked the Lord and
felt, again, that I am supposed to be here.
- Mr.
Tindall: Maestro Numero Uno- Next week I will be set to start
teaching English & Photography! What a ten months... Pray the Lord will
guide me in the teaching (I’m quite nervous), as well as speak to me about my
future in this time.
- Mi Español - I was
impressed with my ability to understand and communicate alone on my trip to
Chile. I’m learning to accept that it takes time and has it’s peaks and
valleys. Just when you feel you’re doing well, there’s a moment where you feel
you have learned next to nothing. This is normal and should
be expected! If you embrace this fact and just keep pushing, you’ll get there
eventually. You can’t be afraid to make mistakes or you’ll never get it
right!
- My Finances & My Future. Despite
coming here dramatically underfunded, the Lord has proven faithful. Thank
you so very much to you all that have been greatly generous. My trip
here is hitting the final stretch and I’m seeking direction from God on my
future. As I mentioned at the top, I have decided, in uncertain terms,
to continue on the mission field. Prayer for direction and
monthly (or one-time support) are always on a missionary’s prayer list! :) For those that prefer PayPal, my email
address is stbtome@msn.com. You
can still buy the Duets for Peru Project for a donation as well. http://duetsforperu.bandcamp.com
Building Dreams Ministry
Updates:
- DECEMBER
KIDS CAMP - December is the climax of the ministry with the kids each year.
It’s also the end of my journey here. We will be having a 4 day camp for kids
at risk. We are raising money here in Peru, for ONLY
$30 you can cover one child IN FULL - transportation, food,
clothes, activities, etc. If you are interested, please send me the donation and note
what it is for. A BIG THANK YOU comes from my team here and I will be sure to
send you a photo of your kid(s) at camp!
- Recording
- Coming and going can be quite ineffective on a practical (not
necessarily spiritual) level if you don’t leave something behind. Well, I’ve
definitely done that this time around and it isn’t over yet. This
morning, we started underway on two-months worth of recording for at
least one, if not two, CDs worth of material. Prayer that this will be used to
help promote the ministry would be appreciated.
-
Expansion - There are certainly more requests, but I’ll pile them into this
vague sense of a title. We are three weeks strong into a new ministry location
for kids! We now split into 2 locations on Saturday mornings. We are running
around 140 kids combined. This all goes back to camp, so please, please, PLEASE
consider funding a child! It’s a few days without Starbucks, I mean... come on!
As
always, PLEASE send me your prayer requests. I will be writing next about
August’s concert, the Women’s camp and my ‘vacation’ experiences. My final blog
from Peru will likely be on part of why I came: to teach! Keep a look out.
The Journey Continues! ¡Bendiciones en Cristo!
Sam
