Hey y’all! Yesterday was an eventful and exciting day. We got to worship with the congregation at Cristo del Restaurador (Christ the restorer), which was our first interaction with Peruvians. It was such a sweet, blessed, and partially nervous time since I did not want to break a social rule without knowing it.
Our group went to the Davenport (Scott and Julie) missionary family for lunch where we got to try some delicious Peruvian food and fellowship with a few of the missionaries and their families.
The highlight of the day was definitely when we got to meet the Peruvian staff.
We played games together, sang songs, and prayed for each other. There was also plenty of fellowship as we all had dinner together. Language barriers for sure makes communication harder, but it is only impossible if one doesn’t even try to communicate with them.
Knowing Spanish is by no means a prerequisite for this trip. There are people who know Spanish and English who are available to help.
Monday morning started early and we were all eager to meet the campers. It was a wonderful day full of activities, dancing, singing, food, fellowship, and prayer. I got to spend all day with a group of 23 ten-eleven year olds alongside three others campers: two of them being Peruvians. There were definitely times I wish I knew more Spanish to be able to talk to the kids more one-on-one, but I start to realize how much can be communicated by one’s energy and passion through one’s actions.
Our evening ended with dinner at the Johnson family (Josh and Elisabeth), where we were able to spend time with them and encourage them as well in their hard work.
The theme verse for camp this year comes from Ephesians 4:1: “Andad como es digno” or, “walk worthy”. Please be in prayer as we try to communicate God’s grace through this verse, and the famous story Pilgrim’s Progress as we point them to Christ.
We made a bracelet at the crafts activity today that had 5 beads: green representing creation, black representing sin/death, red representing the blood of Jesus, white representing the righteousness of Christ imputed into us, and finally yellow representing eternal life given to us as a gift.
Please pray that the kids may understand this: that they may understand their need of salvation because of sin so that they may indeed desire to know, love, and worship Christ.