Lauren in Peru: 1 day, 3 beautiful servants hearts, eternal impact

At the end of July I had the great opportunity and privilege to work with 3 amazing girls from Tyler, TX. Christi, Deanda, and Rachael. Christi had come last year and worked 3 days with Soma Church here in Ventanilla. They were such an amazing group and helped us really get plugged into our neighborhood, and she decieded to come back again to Peru this year and bring 2 more friends. They were mainly working in Chorillos with my good friends Shaun and Amanda Wissmann and Nancy Lane, but Christi scheduled to come to Ventanilla for one day. I am so glad that they came! They were such an encouragement to me. They were so real and so genuine. I could so tell that they cared not only about the people here but about how I was doing as a missionary. In one day I felt like I had them known them so much longer because we had such deep real conversations. They really poured into my life, and it was so what I needed at the time. The Holy Spirit just so moved through each one of them and so ministered to me. More than that though they poured into so many people's lives that day in Ventanilla.

We picked them up in Chorillos at 8 am for a day packed with adventure. Once we got to Ventanilla 2 hours later, we took a little stroll through a local market so they could see what a typical market was like. We also bought some food for Aquillino's family (the man who was dying of cancer who we have been ministering to for 2 years).

Then we headed to go visit Aquilino and his family to pray for healing for Aquilino. It was a precious time with other believers to get to sit together and petition for this precious man. It was just a sweet time to watch these girl's care so much for someone that they had just met. Aquilino was in the back bedroom because he was too sick to be with anyone. Dora, his wife, Aquilino's parents, Nicchola, the girls, and myself just prayed for Aquilino's healing and for him to come to know Jesus if he already didn't know Him. It was beautiful when Deanda started leading us in amazing grace while we were sitting on the floor in Aquilino's living room, and we just got to enter into a time of worship.

I am going to kind of go off the path about the day with the girls and give you an update on Aquilino. He passed away at the beginning of August while I was in Columbia. This was very hard on me because I had gotten very close to Aquilino over the past 2 years. The Lord is so good, he had put it on my heart that I had to write Aquilino a letter explaining the gospel before I left. I had talked to Aquilino before about the gospel, but I knew I needed to explain it one more time. I was not sure if he had a personal saving relationship with the Lord or not based off some of the conversations that we had in the past. Aquilino had had cancer for 5 years, so it wasn't really expected that he would die the week I was gone, but the Lord just made it clear to me that I needed to write that letter. When I talked to Nicchola during the week I was in Columbia, he told me that Dora said he had read the letter over and over again and Aquilino told Dora to tell me that he said, "not to worry." When I talked to Dora later, she said that he was so excited that I had remembered him and he was so excited to open the letter and that he read it before he got really really sick, while he was still in his right mind. Although, I don't know for sure where Aquilino stood with his relationship with Jesus Christ, I am so thankful that the Lord gave him another opportunity to hear the good news and accept it if he chose to. Please pray for Dora, his wife, and his four children: Bryan, Arnold, Esneyder, and Linda. Please pray that God will provide financially for them and comfort them during this time of hard loss.

After our time with Dora and her family we came back and practiced the skit we were going to do about Adam and Eve. It was quite hilarious because I forgot since I was just going to be the tree and not having any moving or speaking parts that I could translate for the girls behind the tree. Sometimes I get so confused when I have to go back and forth between languages. For so long now there has hardly been anyone to talk to in English, so switching back in forth between the languages was difficult for me. Anyway, we had a fun time practicing the skit together. Nicchola was the narrator and had to talk in a girl's voice for Eve. Deanda was a hilarious serpent. Christi did a great job of being Adam and acting like a boy. lol Rachael was a great Eve. We ate a quick lunch and enjoyed some delicious fresh avocados. Then we started taking everything downstairs for the event.

We had a neighborhood outreach event for everyone in our neighborhood and invited a lot of kids from the 2 schools nearby. It was a beautiful time together. The Lord is so good. It could have been crazy because there were only 5 of us, but in the end everyone that could have come from our discipleship group also came out to help. It was just perfect because instead of all the kids coming just at once, they staggered in by groups after school had gotten out for them or after they had gone home and eaten lunch etc.. So it was never too overwhelming. We had brought out miscellaneous crafts that we had left over from other teams and let the kids do that. We had a GREAT turn out of adults come by (around 20), which was super great. They made string bracelets. We did the skit and gospel presentation twice, gave out snacks (a muffin and a glass of coke), and bracelets using symbols to explain the gospel. Since so many more people kept coming, I would take the new people aside and share the gospel with them using the symbol bracelets and then give them a snack, and they would go and make crafts. Everyone had a great time. The girls did such an excellent job communicating as much as they could since I could not really translate for them since I was the one in charge of sharing the gospel with all the new people that came. In total, about 180 people came, yet it was not chaotic which is a HUGE blessing from the Lord. The girls were so fun doing crazy dance moves to the Christian rap music that was playing, helping the kids with their art projects, played the hand game with them, and so much more. One special moment that I did not get to see was when Rachael was holding a little girl and praying over her. Beautiful. It was such a neat event to get to connect with people in my neighborhood and the nearby neighborhoods. It was great to get to connect better with some adults that live around as well. The Lord is so good and sovereign, I was worried that we would not be able to handle the amount of people that potentially could come, yet the Lord allowed the perfect amount of people to come in just the right way, so that ALL got to hear the good news of Jesus, yet it wasn't disorganized or overwhelming. All glory to Him.

Then after we cleaned up the stuff outside, we got ready to go to the Community. The girls wanted to work in the baby house, which turned out to be perfect because we only had about an hour. God is so good and we were able to show up just when it was time to help feed the babies. There are about 35 babies in the house, so the 2 on staff workers and the teens that help in that house have their hands full literally. I am not really a baby person, but it was so cool to hear from them how much the time in that house impacted them. They really loved on those babies, fed them, sang with them, held them, and loved them. I know some of the girls have a heart for adoption, and I can't wait what God does in that area in their lives in the future.

Then we headed back to Chorillos. We had a good time stopping to eat some Chinese Peruvian food and got to enjoy chatting on the way back home. They also prayed over me in the car and that was so special. The whole day was a glorious victorious day from the Lord. It was full of encouragement from fellow believers, making new friends, and full of ministering to many who do not know Jesus. All glory to God.