Village Tour

This morning we finished our village tour and we are so excited to get back to the church with our report. We are back in Lima and preparing for a debriefing with Arnold Austin (our guide and IMB missionary) this afternoon. There is so much to tell and so little space on the blog!

Monday we visited our first village, Carampoma and were completely caught off guard by the beauty of the village. Winding cobblestone-ish streets and welcoming people greeted us as we got out of the truck. The city treasurer's wife opened her home to us and cooked for us three days - it was such a joy to be granted entrance into her home.

Tuesday - Wednesday we visited three other villages: Laraos, Huanza, and San Juan de Iris. Each village welcomed us with open arms. The most exciting aspect of entering the villages was seeing God bring specific people into our path with which we were intended to speak. In Laraos, a man named Carlos saw us from his window and took us on a tour of the city. In Huanza, the city manager saw us ride into the city square and spent all afternoon talking with us and showing us the "sights" of the city. San Juan de Iris was the most welcoming village - the people nearly ran up to our truck when we arrived. The president (the first woman president the village has had) provided us with a small breakfast and also toured the city with us. The people of San Juan de Iris stayed close by our sides as we walked around making sure we visited all the sights. Each city had its specific needs - and perhaps we will have time to make a more detailed blog entry.

Thursday, we had cause to celebrate. As we entered into the village of San Pedro de Casta, the missionary personnel said this particular village was a very difficult city to evangelize. It is home to a tourist attraction and therefore, the locals are accustomed to foreigners invading their city and uninterested in any interaction. and as we walked the city in search of men and women of peace, it seemed this was true. But the Lord had specific plans for us. One of our team members suggested we walk down a different road and as we turned around we saw a missionary alliance church (which is very close doctrinally to Southern Baptists). We found a man working outside the church, stacking food products on his roof to dry. It turned out he was a believer and put us in contact with the pastor of the church. This morning we met with the pastor, an elderly man who desperately desired help in evangelizing his city but has been unable to do so for a variety of reasons. He also wanted to have additional bible training. We prayed together and sang together and it was obvious that the Lord was with us as we stood in his one-room house with a dirt floor. In the same city we also found another believer, a woman who kept a small store in the city center. We made sure the gospel message was presented and prayed with her in her store. San Pedro de Casta turned out to be a gold mine for us. Isn't that how the Lord works? He gives us undeserved gifts in the most unexpected of times.

Friday - The Lord knew we would need this encouragement as we visited our last village, Huachupampa. We met with the secretary of the village and found no point of entry for interaction. She seemed very closed to us and declined our offer of bible teaching in their schools. And as the Lord has designed it, Huachupampa is close to the village San Pedro de Casta. We are hoping that if we strengthen the church in San Pedro, that local Peruvian evangelists might be able to penetrate Huachupampa.

In each city, the Lord provided housing, meals, and friendly faces. We could not have asked for a more successful trip. Hopefully in the next few days we can post more specific information and some photos (we've taken 800 photos!)

Thank you for all your prayers! We have been safe, healthy, and completely amazed by the Lord's activity. (although a hot shower sounds nice!)

Love to all,
the Peru Vision team