Sharing Some Photos from Facebook Pages

MONDAY: Some Up, Some Down!

Today a lot of our team did not feel well.  Many of us have been victim to the stomach bug, chest colds, or just pure exhaustion.  We took a smaller team to church today to continue the painting of more rooms and Bruce Carter continued his kitchen renovation.  We ate Peruvian spaghetti at the home of one of the church members and arrived back at our house for early devotions.  

After dinner tonight, we visited the Plaza de Armas and admired the beautiful Cathedral and many of the colonial styled buildings. We walked a few blocks to an area where they have several pastry and dessert shops.  Everyone chose a traditional Peruvian dessert and shared many of the different sweets with each other.  We are hoping everyone is feeling better tomorrow, so keep the prayers coming for good health and strength.  We are having some great experiences sharing the light of Christ with the local people here.

SUNDAY: Church Services and Lunch with Orphanage Children

Today we attended church with the wonderful people we have met.  It was an uplifting service with a lot of singing and special music by two of our youth.  Ashton Edwards played the flute and Logan Spitzley played the clarinet for the congregation. This was a small church in comparison to Beulah, but there was so much love and happiness within these walls!  Everyone was so welcoming to us and appreciative of the work we have been doing to beautify their church home.  After church, we visited the Orphanage where they house about 16 children.  We took the children and workers to a restaurant to enjoy a lunch of salad, chicken and fries.  While we were there, we were able to help celebrate the 13th birthday of one of the young girls and all the children had fun singing and dancing during this special celebration.  These children had not eaten meat in nearly 3 months.  The budget at their home has only allowed for vegetables, so they were very excited to eat every morsel that was put in front of them! 

 Sunday night dinner was a special one.  We visited some street vendors and enjoyed some real Peruvian cuisine.  Today was another busy, yet rewarding day.

SATURDAY - A Full Day!

Today we went back to church for more painting.  We painted the outside of the church, and added trim around the outside and sanctuary.  After working at the church for several hours, we went to do "Dump Ministry".  This is a large dump in town where many families live and rummage for items.  We enjoyed playing soccer with the children and singing songs with them.  Our team helped all of the 20+ children make a "treasure box" craft to remind then that they are all treasures from God.  This was such a moving experience to see these families and how they live, but also to see their happiness and appreciation for the little they do have.  After leaving the dump, we returned home for quick showers and dinner.  The Beulah Youth then went to the youth group at the church we are painting.  They were able to do fun activities with the young people and pray over them.  Many of the youth exchanged their prayer bracelets with a special person who touched them today.  These were given to them to let them know someone in America is praying for them.

FRIDAY: And The Work Begins...

Friday, June 20:
This was our first official work day at the church - Iglesia Bautista Independiente "Vida Nueva."  We painted the sanctuary and four of their classrooms.  Both our lunch and dinner were served to us in the home of one of their congregation members.  Our team was able to play a game of volleyball at the neighborhood park with some of the local Peruvians after we finished working for the day.  Tonight our team went to the beach and enjoyed a bonfire, s'mores, games and songs with the Youth Group in Salaverry.  It was a great experience to see these youth and adults interact with each other, even with the language barrier.

Many of these young people have already started to form friendships and will keep in touch through their newly found Facebook friends.  God has been present in even the smallest details throughout this trip.  He has made sure we have the exact number of items needed so far to touch many lives.  Everyone here has been so welcoming and appreciative of our work.  Please continue to pray that we will be the light and salt for the people we meet and serve.

THURSDAY: Arriving at Home Base

Thursday, June 19:
The group arrived at Casa Hogar Amor en Accion, where we are staying during our time in Trujillo.  Our team was able to visit two of the mission organizations, both of which were medical clinics.  After visiting the missions, we were able to see the Pacific Ocean and enjoy some of the seafood indigenous to Peru.  After lunch, we toured Luz de Vida, a transitional home for girls who have aged-out of the orphanage.  The group enjoyed dinner on the streets of Trujillo and then went back home for our rooftop devotionals.