August Prayer Letter

Dear praying family and friends,
So many things are happening and the time is going by so quickly! We just finished our Media Class and I learned about making videos and powerpoint presentations. We did a lot of hands-on work with these two things and we also learned some about taking good pictures and things. We made a video for the ARRIBA! Program, and Lord willing you will be able to see it sometime. I only have two more classes left, Latin American History and Personal Evangelism in a Hispanic culture.
Kid’s clubs are going well. Seth and I are in Paraiso again this month. We now have a little building in which to have the club. We met outside before, but now we have four walls around us. I really enjoy working the kids a lot, and I am able to help in the club by leading the songs and helping with the other things like games or the lessons that the kids do. Many of the kids come from broken homes. Many of the parents are not believers, and we are the only ones to show them a good example. Pray that we can show them Christ’s love that they need so badly and pray that we can help them grow spiritually.
I am still trying to learn Spanish. Sometimes it goes pretty well, and other days it seems as if I don’t know anything! Thanks to God, He has been helping me learn and He has given me the understanding that I have so far.
I am still trying to keep in contact with the girls that I mentioned earlier: Anabel (age 13), Auntonela (age 12), and Noemi (age 17). They have all attended Jovenes (our church’s youth group). Pray that I would have opportunities with all three of them to share the Gospel clearly. Pray that their hearts would be softened toward the message of Christ.
The Arriba group is starting to prepare for a trip that we will be taking in a little over a month up north to Trujillo. We will be visiting a whole bunch of schools and presenting a short twenty minute program before a Pastor gives a message to the kids. We need to come up with a program to present. This will include a couple of dramas, some songs, and perhaps an object lesson or a testimony. After the program, we will be handing out Christian cassettes and things to the kids.
I am still working in the Chispitas class for Sunday School. There are around 10 kids, all under the age of 5. It seems as if every Sunday with them brings a different struggle and joy. It is amazing to me that I can be so frustrated with them sometimes and yet love them so much! I am very thankful for them. Pray for them to continue to come to church and make the decision to accept Christ’s gift of salvation.
There are many things that I could share with you all that God is working on in my life, but I think that this letter would be quite lengthy! I do want to share one specific thing, though. I am learning what true ministry is, and the reasons for ministering. I have been thinking about this a lot, and I have had several good talks with some people down here about it, including Pastor Evelio, the pastor of my church Buenas Nuevas here in Musa. God is working in my life and challenging me to think about my motives for ministering. Am I doing it for myself, for others, or out of my love for Christ. Pastor Evelio preached on this subject one day using 2 Corinthians 5:11-21. He said that we should serve out of the fear of the Lord, the love of Christ, and because Christ has told us to. I was also reading in Galatians 1 for Jovenes, and Galatians 1:10 talks about doing things for the praise of me or doing things for the praise of God. Just today I was talking with a friend who helped me see ministry a little better for what it really is. Ministry is not made ministry because it is done in front of people. I was feeling a bit like I wasn’t doing much because the only thing I do for some Sunday School times is hold a baby. This friend said something that made me realize that it is probably more effective for me at this point to hold the baby rather than try to stumble through teaching a Sunday School lesson. It is better for me to let the others teach for now and hold the baby so that the baby’s mom can learn and grow and in turn teach others. I am learning that ministry is not something huge and glamorous, but down to earth every day life, serving Christ in the way He wants me to serve Him and with the opportunities that He gives me.
Thank you for your support in prayer and in money. I appreciate it so much!! You are a very important part in the ministry down here. Please continue to pray for me and the people down here. Thank you!!


Things to pray for:
*Faithful attendance of the kids to kid’s clubs
*Language learning
*Anabel, Auntonela, and Noemi
*Wisdom in planning for Trujillo
*The kids in the Chispita Sunday school class
* A house for the Pastor and his family
* The rest of the money needed for my time here in Peru