As is the case with a lot of things in Peru, our church retreat started off being planned months ahead of time, and was only finalized in the hours prior to departure. We’re so thankful for the 21 people who were able to spend three days and two nights down on the coast. We stayed at a guesthouse that belongs to Paty’s family who is from Mollendo. That had an extra layer of specialness baked in because Paty and Lola are longtime hosts of the church, and getting to see them in their “happy space” where they grew up was special.
As is also the case with things that we plan alongside Peruvians, our logistics and scheduling don’t always work out like we planned them, but it always works out. We had special mealtimes together as a church, and also special times of spiritual formation and conversation. Highlights include Katie teaching the church about our identity in Christ—what our truth is in Christ and how that is speaking to each of us today—and how our identity in Christ leads us to bless others. As she so often does so brilliantly, she put this together in a way that all of the kids and adults were able to participate together, and it led into a craft—making bookmarks—that brought together Bible verses both for our identity and for our mission to bless others. Another highlight, as we focused on “the body of Christ: looking up, in, and out,” was studying through spiritual gifts and inviting the church to recognize each other’s spiritual gifts.
Time on the beach was so fun. Said’s family is from Venezuela, where they have beautiful beaches on the Caribbean Sea. But Said had never been to the coast before, because his family immigrated to Peru 7 years ago and have never made the 2-hour ride down to the coast from Arequipa where Said was born. Seeing his joy and wonder as Kinney and Said (best friends) played on the beach was life-giving. For half of our church that has only been a part of the church for the last two years, it was their first time to see a baptism by immersion (the Catholic Church practices infant baptism, typically on the child’s first birthday, which is sprinkling or pouring some water on the baby’s head), and Alexy and Tommy were baptized! This comes on the heels of months of study—Alexy having been part of our church for the last 2 years and Tommy, who we’ve known for 10 years, having been part of the church and in a discipleship process for the last couple of months.
There are some others, at various stages of their faith walk, who are also close to making a decision to be baptized. Thank you for your prayers for our church and please pray especially for Alexy, Tommy, and their families, as they continue to grow in their love of God and love of neighbor on the way of following Jesus.
Summertime on the beach led closer to Christmas time in Peru. That means the end of the school year and a special Advent season where most of society is thinking about transitions and expectant for the coming of Jesus. In this spirit of hopeful expectation and working toward God’s kingdom even as we wait, our church plans today to visit the children’s home that we work with year-round for a special Christmas cookie-decorating activity and gift some hand-sewn bags full of Christmas treats and personal hygiene products. Will you please pray for our small, power-house church as we do our best in our city to love God by loving others? A few of you have given throughout the past year to this ministry in the children’s home. If anyone else would like to, get in touch!