Weekend Update

Saturday morning Anthony, Katie, and I went to Lunahuana for the weekend. As we sat in a restaurant eating our delicious Peruvian food (I’ll try to take more food pictures to give you an idea of what it’s like), we had some great conversation. A prominent topic of that conversation was how to share the Gospel with the people of Lunahuana. We shared the common fears of being rejected, saying the wrong thing, not approaching the subject in the correct way, etc.

It was comforting to know that my fellow missionaries have had some of the same thoughts and feelings I’ve had. We came to the conclusion that God will be with us, He’ll give us the words to say, etc., etc., etc. We paid for our meal, explored the surrounding area of Lunahuana, and then met with Pablo to further discuss the details of the English classes Katie will start teaching in October. After that, Anthony dropped us off at our house, and he went to his place to rest a little bit before the next item on our agenda.

When he came back to pick us up, he also found a Bible passage to share with us. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5: And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

How perfect! I got goosebumps as he read us this verse. What comfort to know that even the great apostle, Paul, feared and trembled as he shared the Gospel. And how did he do it? With a simple, but powerful message. Obviously, it’s still very important that we study the culture we’re working in, the language they speak, and good mission practices, but ultimately God’s Word and His saving grace will do the work.

Right after reading those verses, we went to visit Anthony’s friend, Jose Luis, and his family. It ended up that we got to celebrate his dad’s birthday with them. It was a very fun evening. The best part was that we were given a chance to share the Gospel message with the family. They are a Catholic family, but they said themselves that the person they most worship is the Virgin Fatima, one of their patron saints, I believe. Please pray that our relationship with them would continue to grow, and that they will fully understand the salvation they have through Christ alone.

Sunday we went to Lucumo, another town near Lunahuana. This town is much poorer. Many of the families do not have electricity or running water. We made about 5 or 6 house visits and gave the families Portals of Prayer after we visited with them. At one home, we discovered that the Jehovah Witnesses had already been there, and the woman of the house was going to Kingdom Hall to learn more. They’ve been preaching a lot throughout the area. This will be another interesting challenge - explaining why we’re different than they are and why what we say is the Truth. Prayers, por favor.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Katie and I can both tell a huge difference in our ability to understand Spanish. We love our classes, and they’ve helped us a lot. We just started our second week of them. The more we learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know. The Spanish in Peru has been significantly influenced by the Incan language, Quechua, so even simple words for vegetables and clothing are different here. Poco a poco. (Little by little.) I love learning something new almost every minute of every day.

Thanks for all your prayers. I’ll try to blog more often so that I don’t accumulate so much to tell about at one time. God’s blessings!