Buenos dias.

[I'm back from Peru! It was amazing and I learned so much! But I learn a lot every day, so... :) Here's bits from my prayer e-mails.]

Quick nutshell of what we did:

June 2: Travel to Lima by airplane. Spend the night in a hotel in Lima.
June 3: Travel to Chavin by bus. 10 hours.
June 4: Rest and visit to Chavin ruins. Wednesday night church at Martin's house.
June 5: First day of ministry. Prayer walking and inviting people to the Jesus film at night. Free time in the afternoon. Jesus film.
June 6: Same as above.
June 7: Same as above.
June 8: Sunday. Hiked up to the cross for worship. Walked to Migali's dad's house for corn.
June 9: Another Jesus film day.
June 10: Helped with construction of the Chavin church. Debrief.
June 11: Travel back to Lima by bus. Spent night in hotel.
June 12: Shopping and midnight airplane departure.
June 13: Arrive back to Houston early in the morning.

We'll start with answers to prayer.

1. I asked for a love for the Quechua people. This was certainly answered. May I share a story? We visited a village called Catayoc. The missionaries told us that it is a very dark place spiritually. We could certainly sense the increase in distractions during the film that night. But anyway, we were prayer walking and inviting people to the film that morning, and we visited an old lady that the medical team had helped the week before. She couldn't walk when they came, but she could a little now because of the medicine. She said she was in a lot of pain and she wanted more medicine. Through our interpreter, she said that a gargoyle would visit her every night and it really frightened her. I think it is highly possible that it's a demon. This woman said she just wanted to die because she was in so much pain. She was constantly sobbing and her voice was so sad. But she is also very afraid of death. Verna, the missionary wife, said we need to tell her about Christ. We tried asking her about what she knew. She said that she is Catholic. She didn't really respond to anything, and when we read her the tract and prayed with her, she was constantly talking or praying herself. At the end when we left, Verna suggested we all (there were about eight or so of us that visited her) give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek goodbye. I was one of the first, so I was able to watch everyone else doing it. I stood beside Verna and started to cry. "It's not fair..." She said, "No, it's not." God broke my heart for this woman. She is so afraid and does not have the peace of Christ, and Satan is tormenting her with frightening things at night. There was nothing we could do but love her. And that was so powerful to watch each person give her a hug and a kiss and see her so sorrowful. But our love made an impact, I know... it watered the seed. That is probably my favorite story of the whole trip. Other than that, the smiles of these people just make you fall in love with them. I had forgotten how happy Peruvians and Quechuans get when they see Gringos (that's white people). :) The children absolutely adored us, the people were so thankful for everything we did, and God whispered His love to me for these people through the words of others, the Bible, songs... and just His voice to my heart. Especially during the Jesus film when we would pray for them. LOVE is a big thing that God reminded me of this trip. We didn't lead anyone to Christ or have spiritual conversations. But we loved them. And that breaks down barriers. And that makes them wonder. It is a huge tool.

2. I asked for a right attitude. God definitely increased my humility. And one of my roommates, Liz, would go have her quiet time every morning or afternoon and it really held me accountable to do the same. I believe I spent time with the Lord every day this trip. :) The constant praying and relying on God helped me to realize that... ha, we really can do nothing. It is up to the Lord to work in these peoples' hearts. My roommates and I also prayed almost every night for eachother and for our team's work. Every day our team had people assigned to pray in the morning. Prayer was... enormous.

3. I asked for team unity. I cannot tell you how magnificently this prayer was answered. There was only one person I felt slightly uncomfortable around, and that was kind of my own personal problem. Our team came from all different areas. We had a group from a church in Corpus Christi, one boy from North Carolina through the IMB, and a group of us with Go Now Missions. Then of course, we had the wonderful missionaries, Ted and Verna, with their son, Kurt, and the two journeymen, Courtney and Lindsey. I heard a little bit of gossipping toward the end of the week, but it was very minimal. We all learned from eachother and worked well together. It was pretty amazing. I don't doubt at all that God kept us together. It was crazy how well we all got along and worked in unity. :) A story that comes to mind about this is the last night in Chavin when we debriefed with the missionaries and journeymen. Kurt led us in "O Praise Him" by the David Crowder Band at the end, and he said that when he sang it, he thinks of singing it to the nations. Here are the words:

Turn your earTo Heaven and hear
The noise inside
The sound of angels' awe
The sound of angels' songs
And all this for a King
We could join and sing
All to Christ the King

How constant
How divine
This song of ours will rise
Oh how constant
How divine
This song of ours will rise
Will rise

O praise Him
O praise Him
He is holy
He is holy

Turn your gaze
To Heaven and raise
A joyous noise
Oh the sound of salvation come
The sound of rescued ones
And all this for a king
Angels join to sing
All for Christ the King
How infinite and sweet
This love so rescuing
Oh how infinitely sweet
This great love that has redeemed
As one, we sing

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
He is holy
He is holy

Oh, La la la la la la...

Here's something I wrote in my journal: I could just feel the unity again... that everyone was giving glory to God. I could see in people's faces and just... feel... we were all admitting our inadequacy, our weakness, our impossibility without Him. I love this team.

4. I asked you to pray for my dad. The house still hasn't sold, the car still isn't certain, and Nate and Mom are arriving within about a week. Daddy is definitely still a little stressed, but when I hear him talk to other people about it, I can see his faith and trust in God. Keep praying?

5. We didn't end up doing that whole Garden of Gethsemane thing. But I read the story from all four gospels I believe. Or atleast two, I dunno. It was a while ago. :) But it was good to read them... it's amazing how Jesus prayed for us. Mm. Y'all should read them! ;)

6. Okay. Hands On Africa, that prayer on the side thing... the trips STILL aren't up. My heart sank soooo much when the results for Africa 2009 came up as zero. I will call the IMB again on Monday and see what's going on. Please pray for my perserverance and encouragement. I just like to be able to know these things far in advance... especially if it's, ha, 5 months long. That's a big chunk of time. I want to keep the right attitude of opennness, not frenzyness! :)

7. On some of my brochures I sent out, I asked for insight into my future as a missionary. This was definitely answered. I am slightly considering being a journeyman when I get out of college (this, of course, depends on the possibility of marriage and how soon I need to start working in a hospital), so I was able to see what that was like. And this is my first mission trip where there were actual full-time missionaries in the area, which is what I want to do with my life. :) It was so good to see Ted and Verna's amazing witness. They are amazing leaders and full of joy and... oh, they just love the Quechua people. God helped me realize, however, that missionary life is not as glorious as it's made out to be. It is very sacrificial. And difficult. That will take me a while, and probably more experience, to realize.

So a couple post-mission-trip requests:

1. Please continue to pray for my quiet time. I realize I did not ask you to commit to pray for me for the rest of my life, haha, but this does apply to my mission trip because I was able to set aside time for Him every day and I am already struggling with wanting to.

2. Pray for my team to remember all we have learned personally. And for us to not forget the Quechua people. That we would remain faithful in prayer for them and for Ted and Verna.

3. Speaking of Ted and Verna, they are having trouble deciding whether or not they will leave the field in October. I get feelings sometimes and I really have a feeling that they are supposed to stay, just because of th conversations I have overheard and the reasonings behind their possible leaving. Pray that they would really listen to the heart of God and follow His direction.

Okay, so some journal entries!

June 2
I am weak. On a mission trip. I am scared.
"When you are weak, child, I am strong. Let Me show Myself to you. Will
you be My broken pottery? People can see that I put you back together
again."
And what does that mean?
"You'll see. Restoration. Joy. Peace."
How?
...He just smiles. Knowingly.

June 3
God is flooding my heart with love and excitement. I dearly miss those in Carhuaz. Little Marggi.... dear Misrael... :( I am longing to see them.

June 4
[God told me to read Leviticus 1:27. It only goes to 17, so I read that. It says...] "He shall tear is open by the wings, not severing it completely, and then the priest shall burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord."
Wow. I read the context, and obviously it is about how to offer certain sacrifices to the Lord. But God, You've given me this verse... I am the dove or young pigeon. I've been torn, but not destoryed. The High Priest, Jesus Christ, is burning me... and... God, is it pleasing to You?
"Yes."

Tonight we went to church at San Martin's house. We sang some songs, in Spanish and English. The kids did too. :) One lady sang a song in Quechuan. It was so pretty... almost like a chant mixed with a song. Beautiful. Like that eerie beautiful. We met kids today. :) Betsi, Liset, Isabel... I love them already! San Martin had his eyes closed when Ted was talking about how much they appreciated us being here. So much emotion in those eyes.

June 5
Courtney and Lindsey were saying that they love having different teams come because we get so excited and it helps them remember and step out of the mundane.

We helped a lady stack bricks in the Quechua village earlier. She said she was going to rename her baby after one of us. ... Can you believe that? We just helped her move bricks and that much of an impact was left...

The Jesus Film had a GREAT turn-out! We think there were about 50 people. It was FREEZING, haha. I was pretty much either shivering or praying -- or both -- the whole time. Dogs barked, babies cried, moths flew in the lens... I petitioned and petitioned and God removed all these distractions. They slowly went away, the more I prayed. And I think every time I said the name of Jesus, they stopped -- maybe. But the point is... the prayers worked! :) Other people were praying too. The Quechua people seemed very grateful. :) Ted explained afterwards that we had come out of love.

June 6
So there are all these sounds around me... cars honking, children squealing, people talking... God, You love these people. Way up in the mountains that no one knows about. You care ab out their hearts and their live and You want to bring glory to Your Name through them. And... You... You've placed that desire in us. In me.

...Catie and Lauren and I [prayed] last night before everyone arrived -- it was cool; we prayed for more to come and a whole stream of people came around the corner. :)

June 7
Lindsey pointed out a man who she said had been really cold -- he would want to debate with them and such. I'm so glad he was there [Jesus Film]! Quite a few men were there actually, which is something my prayer team particularly prayed for this morning. :)

June 8
Satan's power is very real to these people...

I experienced so much this week but I think the main thing God impacted me with was love. That's really been His lesson to me since like... September. He's growing my mercy even more. :) He's also been teaching me about the importance of knowing truth and... all that stuff that the spiritual gift of prophecy entails. I really struggle with reading my Bible because I get confused with like every other verse. He's teaching me about diligence in really meditating over a verse and looking up footnotes and other verses to help me understand. It is a struggle and doesn't always clarify things but I am slowly getting better. Hm. Still very lazy though. Maybe you could pray about that too? :)

Cool story: I met a guy named Joe on the way from Houston to San Antonio. He actually talked to me first, which is usually not how it works, but it was so cool. We talked the entire time. I guess it was about an hour. We talked about life... I told him how I had been on a mission trip and how I want to be a missionary. He's in the Air Force and has a wife and child. He was returning from a week long's TDY. I could tell you a lot about him, but the important part is that I do not think he knows Christ. He told me he grew up with a Baptist father and a Catholic mother. He went to his father's fire and brimstone church growing up, and then tried a Catholic high school and decided that kind of stuff wasn't for him. What little doctrine he did express was correct, however. I told him he should go somewhere this Sunday, and he just had that "I dunno..." look. However, I didn't push it. Ha, I've learned that pushing things does NOT glorify God. So I simply talked to him about all kinds of things, wanting him to know that I was interested in more than just his spiritual state. That turns people off. I have to say that this conversation was probably my favorite out of all random conversations I've had on airplanes. I'm always really scared to talk to people, but I make myself do it, and it's rewarding. Anyway, he said he "would make it back to church someday." He said to me that he hadn't gotten to meet people on airplanes in a long time because he had just been going back and forth doing things for the military, and it was nice to be able to talk to someone. He said that "You don't meet people like you every day" or something like that. Point being: I made an impact on this guy. And get this: he wasn't even supposed to be on that flight. His other flight got COMPLETELY messed up and this was the ONLY flight from Houston to San Antonio today. Divine appointment much? Yeah. God is good. And this totally made my day.

I was talking to my dad about it on the way home and I told him how I've learned that some people plant, others water, and others reap. So I watered. His parents planted a really long time ago. Whatever happens, I feel blessed to have been used by God. :) I'm like really really excited, I can't even tell you. His Spirit is like, grinning within me. :) Dang I am so sorry guys, I am way too long-winded and unorganized.

But will you pray for him?

One more story. Our last Jesus film night we went to a very high village, about 11,500 feet or something. It was below freezing. A lot of people showed up, but a man came up afterwards and told us that a lot of people hadn't come because they were cold, but he wanted to let us know that the village could hear it and they liked it. :) Cool, yeah?

-Rachel.