A guest post by Paty Montoya (a Christian in Arequipa)
Two years ago we, as a church family, set out to be more servant-hearted and set a goal to do service projects together. Last year we worked at an orphanage fixing up their study room and dining room. From that service project we began further talks with the director of the orphanage (and of several other orphanages), Pastor José, about how we could continue to serve the kids and orphanages. Paty wrote about the way we have been involved with the kids for the past couple of months. (Katie)
Being "Servants in the image of Jesus" is a part of our Church’s mission statement.
Last year we met Pastor José Ingalls, a Peruvian, and his wife who decided years ago to make a safe place, full of love for abandoned kids. After talking about different possibilities to serve the kids in the orphanages, we decided to do a fun activity as a way to begin building trust between us and the kids. We know that building these relationships will take time, but it is worth it.
For several weeks now some of the church members have taken a small group of kids to the movie theater. For many of them it was their first time ever to go to the movie theater. Although the time to interact with the kids was short, it also gave us an opportunity to build trust with the caregivers at the orphanages that we took time to take the kids to a movie but also that we returned them safe and that our main purpose is to show them the love of God.
As a church we will continue to take opportunities to serve these orphanages.