We have just got back into Lima from another great trip in
Chincha. I am amazed at what is going on
in Chincha. We were able to work in the
same community as last time. On Monday I
was not feeling well so I decided to try and get some sleep and rest. On Monday one of our fellow workers, who came
with the short-term earthquake relief team, was injured while helping clean up
some rubble. He said that he breathed in
a cloud of dust and then had trouble breathing and his arms went numb. Nestor, the Pastor of the community who also
worked with us, took him into his home and prayed over him that a spirit of
death would be removed. Before coming
down on this trip Nestor had a dream in which there was a spirit of death; he
thought the dream was about his mother.
So when Duane, the member of our team, was experiencing this pain Nestor
immediately prayed over him. Well, Duane
ending up going home on Wednesday and it turns out that he actually suffered
from a heart attack. We found out that
he underwent surgery and the prognosis is good.
I was amazed at the discernment and faithfulness of Pastor Nestor to
pray over Duane. During the week we also
saw more people come to Christ and the church in this community is beginning to
grow. Pastor Nestor is beginning to
disciple the people of his community and it has been awesome to be a part of
what is going on in his community.
This is Pastor Nestor and his family.
I was asked to preach during one of the church services this
past week as well. I spoke about the
importance of community and being a closely knit family who showed love among
one another. I also talked about Jesus
words to his disciple: “Follow me.” After a difficult day I remember waking up
one morning with this phrase, follow me, in my mind. It was my first thought as I woke up. I recalled a couple of the passages one of
which Jesus told Nathanael, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no
deceit.” So I began to think and reflect
about this passage. Jesus knows
everything about us; he knows our strengths and our weaknesses, and he tells us
to merely follow him. There is so much
packed into those two words and I hope to discover what it means to follow him
and to live in faith, knowing He first called me.
I experienced my first earthquake as well. It only lasted for about 15 or 20 seconds but
I was ready to get outside if it got any worse.
It is a weird feeling having the earth shake underneath you, knowing
there is nothing you can do to stop it. Yesterday
I was able to meet with Alonso, the guy I met playing soccer. We had good conversation and ate dinner
together. Continue to pray that this
friendship with Alonso grows.
