Grace Church at work in Iraq

My church has sister churches around the world, including the one in Callao Peru. We are partnered with other Christians in Vietnam and Cuba as well. One of our newest sister churches is in Iraq.

Please read the following story, written by Katherine Kersten of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/191/5571828.html

This is at the Pacific coast in Mira Flores. It reminded me of the Malibu area of California with the buildings on the cliffs overlooking the beach. I was standing in a mall where we ate dinner.  

This is a sign at the church advertising the many events in the evenings. 

Dustin Kelm performing on one of his unicycles...he is amazing on these things. 

My friend Dale, in the middle, sharing about some of his experiences during the trip. 

Abby in the park next to the hotel..she loves to pose! 

Our hotel in Lima, and one of the many busses we rode around in. 

This is the view from our hotel window. There is a park with the fountain, and across the street is the Ministry of Justice, or Supreme Court of Peru. 

Abby and Krista with Patty, one of the interpreters and now one of our friends. 

This is one of the poorer areas we went to. Scenes like this surround Lima, with no running water at all, and no electricity in much of it. 

The kids just loved having their picture taken. 

This is the front gate of the Callao church. A crowd was gathering for one of the many events. 

this is the arm stamp I received going into the prison we performed at. You must have this on your arm to get back out. 

sitting with friends Lucinda, Jen, and John waiting for the bus 

Here I am singing with the others in my group..learning the Spanish lyrics was easier than I thought it would be 

Me with my friend Jose Antonio, whom I met on my last trip to Peru in 2001. He works as a Pastor in a town outside of Lima in the jungle. 

part of the welcome included native dances...all in the parking lot of the airport! 

Part of the group of people from the Callao church that welcomed us at the airport at midnight 

Abby at the Lima airport 

Peru update

Yes, we have returned from Peru. I have been waiting to post about the trip until I had the pictures to go with it. Krista has a system for downloading and storing the pics, and so I do not want to try to do it and mess up. I will get her on it soon.

For now I will tell you that this was the best of my three trips to Peru. Part of that is my wife and daughter were there to share it with me, and part because I really enjoyed the ministry I was involved in. I was a part of a team of adults that did music in Spanish. Most times we performed along with the Flom family, a family from our church that do illusions. It was much fun, and served to draw some big crowds around town so that we could share Jesus with people and encourage our sister church.

I saw many people on their knees weeping, coming forward to acknowledge that they want Jesus. People from the Callao church were there to meet them and help them. One of the best things about working with our brothers and sisters in Callao is that they can continue the ministry to these people long after we are gone.

I really enjoy meeting more members of our sister church there. It helps me to be more a part of what my church is, a missionary church. We at Grace Church are big into missions, at home and around the world. We do this because we believe that Jesus does change lives, fulfill hopes, and save people from their sins. We encourage all of our members to not only give to missions with their wallets, but to give to missions with their time and talents as well. After being on three trips myself, I pray that all people at my church take the time to go at least once.

We travelled around Lima and the surrounding cities by bus, and we went to many very poor areas. One of the places we went to we arranged through a local mission to go in small groups into the homes of some of the residents. I went with three others and met a woman named Rosa. Rosa is divorced, as her husband left her. She has two teens and twin two year old boys. She was a wonderful woman to meet, so sincere in her faith in Christ. She lives in a very small home, made by her out of brick. She had a cement floor, which many there did not. The roof was a metal piece, with many holes. No doors. No windows. She served us some Inca Cola, the local brand in Peru, and some crackers. She spent money on them that she really could not spare, but she wanted so much to welcome and serve her American guests. We had a great conversation through our interpreter. We prayed with her and for her, and she for us. This is an area of Lima that has dirt streets, no running water, and only some have electricity. Sewage runs down some of the streets. Wild dogs roam about. It taught me a lesson in humilty, and thankfulness. Rosa was very thankful for what she had, as some were worse off than she and her family.

I will tell you of one other man I met. We performed at a men's prison one day. After our music and magic show I spoke with a man named Luis. I got to sit with him and speak with him through an interpreter. Luis had just accepted Christ, and wanted to pray with me. I was touched by his gentle spirit, and his willingness to be so open with me infront of many of the other inmates. We prayed together, and I tried to encourage him to read the Bible that had just been given to him. During the performance, one of our team spoke of how there are many kinds of prisons. Some are the kind with walls and barbed wire, others are prisons that we make for ourselves by acting against God's will for us. The sin entraps us like a prison. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, even those in a prison in Peru. God bless Luis. God bless Rosa.

I want to say "HOLA" to a few friends in Peru.

Jose Antonio: It was so good to see you again. Meeting with you and seeing pictures of your church and family were a big highlight of our time in Peru. Keep working my brother.

Joshua: Keep in touch as you return to your job with the cruise line. I can not believe it was way back in 1999 that we met. Thanks for helping us again.

Patty: Thanks for being so nice to my family. You are going to be very succsessful in life. Keep smiling that beautiful smile. Keep in touch with us.

More reflections on the trip to come, along with pictures.