Living Water: Peru Update

Here’s a blog about the Peru Team’s time in the jungle! Our time has been sweet, tough, and all of the things in between! Through it all, there was so much growth and so much to praise our sweet Jesus about! 

grace: be where your feet are 

at training camp, a friend told me to be intentional and be where your feet are. at the time, i appreciated this piece of advice, but i did not realize how important it would be while in peru. 

there are only two days left in peru, but i look back and reflect on two weeks where living in the present was vital to doing the Lord’s work. more often than not, i find myself wondering what’s next. i get so excited for the next ministry opportunity, the next adventure, and i neglect the present. the simple reminder to be where your feet are has been an anthem for me while in peru. 

living in the present is not an easy thing to do. so many times, i get caught up in things that have already happened or things that are going to happen, but the reality is that the Lord has forgiven my past and He knows my future, so i have no reason to not focus on the present. in ministry and on mission trips, it is so important to be where your feet are. God uses you when you are wholeheartedly focused on what He is doing in the here and the now.

there have been times on this trip when i have been focused on things other than the ministry i am doing, and the Lord has brought up the idea of feet in these situations. i have been reminded that God is doing marvelous things in the present, just as he did in the past and just as he will in the present. the Lord wants to use you and He will use you; you simply have to be present, and open to Him using you in whatever way possible. 

kylee:  This past week in the jungle has been the sweetest and most stretching time. I saw so many victories for His Kingdom and I learned so much in the process. 

  I’ve always had a passion for door to door ministry, but I have never been the one to take that leap of faith and talk to the people. I never felt like I had the words to say that would point them to Jesus. The first day of house to house ministry, we went to a 13 year old girl and I got the opportunity to talk to her. I was able to share the gospel with her for the first time and she gave her life to Jesus. What I realized is that it is not my words that point people to Jesus, but the Holy Spirit alone. I am simply a vessel for Him to speak to other people, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to have witnessed someone join His family. 

  The kids in the villages we went to are incredibly sweet and loving. Time with them is precious, and they taught me a lot in the short time I had with them. At one village, we made a jump rope out of a vine, and the smiles on the kids faces were wide as they jumped with us. They have mastered the art in finding joy in simplicity, and I hope to be more like them. The last day of VBS, it poured down rain. I thought this would stop kids from coming. Instead, as I walked in the village, kids were waiting for us and playing soccer in the mud. The rain didn’t hinder the joy they had. They made the most out of a rainy situation. The Lord revealed through that that in rainy seasons of our lives, we can still find joy in Him. 

  While our time in the jungle was short, the lessons I have learned and joy I have found will last a lifetime. The Lord is on the move in the jungle, and while we may not be there, He is still moving!

nyx: Life was simple at the river. life became bucket showers, and tarantula attacks. life became house visits, VBS, soccer, and prayer walks. i think that out of all the ministry that I did at the river house visits were my favorite. i got to know these people’s struggles and got to pray for them and i got to experience people give their life to Jesus. i also got to get baptized in the Amazon and i just thought it was really cool because I want to be like Jesus and I want to see the good in everything. i just thought it was really cool getting baptized in the Amazon to because Pastor Julio, Karla, and Sami baptized me; and Pastor Julio spoke spanish and Karla translated and I just thought it was awesome how their are no language barriers for God and how it’s beautiful to see people worship God in a different language because God understands all of it.

 Laurel: On the river we went to a village called las palmas to do house ministry. We stopped at a mans house and talked with him. He told us about how he used to live in the city, but that he moved out to the jungle awhile ago. He said that his friends visited him, and didn’t understand why he came to live in the jungle when he could be in the city with running water and a more comfortable lifestyle. He told us that his friends get caught up in material things, but he enjoys his life in the jungle. Our conversation turned to Jesus, and how he thought he couldn’t follow Jesus if he wanted to dance or drink. How he felt like he wouldn’t be a good christian if he did those things. We explained how Jesus loves him no matter what and how he has grace and forgives us if we ask for it. He told us he would think about everything we said, and was thankful for our visit. 

  I loved how thoughtful he was about everything, and how he didn’t rush into doing something he wasn’t sure about. A lot of people are in the jungle because they don’t have the resources to move to the city, but it inspired me how this man chose to live in the jungle even when his friends told him he was making a mistake. He doesn’t get caught up in material things. He was thankful for what he had and chose to live with next to nothing. I think we can all learn a lesson in this, how even if we have the ability to acquire more and more, it is not always good for us. Even when  those around us are telling us we need this and that, we need to remember how all we really need is Jesus. 

Kayleigh: when we went to the river i didn’t really know what to expect for ministry. i knew we would be doing a vbs, but i didn’t know what to expect with that. we ended up doing house to house ministry as well. my favorite memory from VBS was when the kids would run up and tickle me and then run when i turned to chase after them! my favorite memory from house to house was when a 13 year old girl who had never heard of Jesus gave her life to God after talking with us! 

hannah: Gracias a Dios por este día. I am so thankful that I have gotten the opportunity to go on this trip. I have met so many wonderful people. It’s crazy how i’ve only known these people for about two weeks and I already have so much love for them. I am definitely going to miss all the kids we are working with. They have so much joy. It’s really crazy to see how they have close to nothing yet they are so happy. It really just shows that God is the number one source of happiness and when we have objects that distract us from God then we aren’t as happy. One day it was pouring rain and I went to go play soccer with the kids. We were playing in pure mud but it was the most fun I have ever had. We were all covered in mud but the kids absolutely loved it.. except for one of the kids. There was this girl from Tennessee living in their community. She came up to me with a little mud on her hand and said “ew I got mud on my hand!! Get it off!!” As i’m standing there covered in mud, I told her that she could rub it on me. She told me that was too gross because I was wet and muddy. That really got me to think about how when you are used to having so much you find less joy in many situations. All the other kids were having so much fun and were super excited to jump into the river after. From now on I am going to try to find the good in things that I may not be happy about because there is never a wrong time to have joy. 

Emily– As I sit on the bus on the way back to Iquitos I am reflecting on my growth throughout my time in Peru. This past week in the Jungle has been one of the most eye opening times of my life. I have gotten to share my relationship with Jesus with children and people of many different communities. Never would I have ever thought I would be welcomed into people’s houses to share the gospel or dancing in the rain with children in a foreign country. Seeing the struggles of some of people I got to interact with has been heartbreaking, but also I have never seen people who are so selfless. I have never felt more loved or accepted and this is crazy to me because I am so different from these people. I feel this need to continue until everyone knows God and has a heart like His. This trip has been far from easy for me. I miss my family and the “comforts” of home. The odd thing is that I am comfortable here. I came to realize it was a different type of comfortable. I do not need all the “comforts” I would have at home to be comfortable. I feel safe in a way that no matter the struggle I am in God’s arms and He will never let me fall. I have the strength to do anything because I have my trust in God and this comforts me.