February Prayer Letter

Dear Friends and Family,
The time is flying by, we have been extremely busy this past month. I just got back from my fourth week at Camp Buenas Nuevas which lies a couple hours north of my home in Lima. This past month, we worked in Pastor’s camp washing a lot of dishes and doing games for the kids and whatever other thing we were needed for. The next week brought missionary’s camp. It was really enjoyable to be with the Baptist Mid-Missions from the different parts of Perú and being able to teach their children. The ARRIBA group taught VBS every morning for all of the children. The third week of camp was Niños camp. We had a camp full of kids from the age of 5 to 12. I was able to be a helper in one of the cabins, I also taught the 5 to 8 year old class every morning.
This past week of Intermedios Camp was a lot different than the previous week. We had around 80-100 kids from the age of 11-17. I could really see a lot of how the world has affected these kids, things that they learn in school, clothes they wear, etc. They have learned a lot about “life” by basically learning from their friends or on the street rather than in a Christian home or in their churches. I really enjoyed working with them as a counselor, and God really used this week to show me His strength. After almost six weeks of non-stop going, going, going without a day of rest, I was completely worn out. It is sad that sometimes it takes times like these for us to remember how much we really need God’s strength. But He showed me once again that I can rely on His strength. At times in our lives we feel like we don’t have any strength left, and that is because we don’t have the strength in and of ourselves to get through this life. God has the strength and we must rely on Him to carry us through the good and the bad.
No matter how drained or frustrated I felt at times in this past week, I saw a change in some of the girls in my cabin, in the way they thought about things and reacted to different situations. I saw them make decisions to be a light to the world, at home and far away, and I pray that they will carry through with these decisions as they go back to their homes and schools where not everyone will think the decisions they made are good. Seeing God work in this way made everything worth while.
I have one week left out at camp, Ladies Camp. I will be working as a lifeguard and using my spare time to study for an upcoming Spanish test that we have to take in order to get our college credits for our time down here. I will also be using my time to prepare some lessons for our two week trip to Iquitos that we will be going on. We are planning on holding some kid’s clubs and working with different churches up there.
Our church down here is still looking for a Pastor house. The owners of the house that Pastor Evelio is using right now are being very difficult and even though the money to buy the house is there, the owners are not willing to sell it under fair terms.
We have been meeting up in Manchay on Thursday evenings for a while, trying to start a new church in that area. We have found a place now where we can meet, and we are now trusting in the Lord and taking offerings at church for the money to rent the small store that we will be using. I should be able to use the building for the kid’s club in which I work up in Manchay. I think it would help a lot to have a place where the kid’s can come to without a lot of distractions and things.
A praise: my Peruvian family safely arrived back from their month long trip to the jungle. While they were out there, they were able to lead Nordid’s uncle to the Lord. They had left with the intentions of witnessing to their family, and it was neat to see this answer to prayer.

Prayer Requests:
-Pastoral house
-Last week of camp/trip to Iquitos
-Kid’s club and new work up in Manchay
-The kids who made decisions at camp
-Spanish learning (tests coming up)
-For God to continue to work in my heart and mold me into the servant He wants me to be
-The financial support that I need to finish out this year, I still need over $2,000 to pay for the rest of this year