El Redentor

The church we have been going to since September is called El Redentor (The Redeemer). It is part of the Evangelical Free Church of Peru. There are quite a number of youth and university students. As the months go by, we've been able to get to know people better and build relationships with people through the different activities we attend at the church.

There are 2 Sunday services and we attend the 11:15am service - and we've been going to a small group (home group, cell group...?) on Thursday nights. I've wanted to be involved in a bible study with youth and while there is a youth group on Saturday nights, we were told the small groups were all mixed groups. Recently the youth started another group to study the bible and we've been invited to go along... and now as a newly engaged couple, we've been invited to attend the group for married people too.

So weekends are pretty busy with church activities, today (it's Friday) we'll be heading to the bible study in the afternoon, then the group for married people at night and tonight there is also a pyjama party for the high school girls that I've been invited to share at.... then youth group tomorrow night and church on Sunday followed by lunch with our small group leader and his family.

Praise that we have been able to connect with people at El Redentor
Praise that the youth are keen to study God's Word
Pray for my sharing/testimony tonight at the pyjama party and that I will be able get to know some of the younger girls
Pray for some of the girls that I've gotten to know - Iris, Sayuri, Ivonne, Joanna, Judith... that I can continue to build the relationship that we have so that I can encourage them in their walk with God

And I said...

On Saturday, we decided to go out for sushi in Miraflores... it was the first day that Luke and I were both in Lima after about 3 weeks apart. Everything seemed normal, it was the restaurant that he took me to before we started dating and he made it sound like my idea to go out for Japanese. I got to order what I wanted (sushi rolls!) and when the food came out... it said...

I could only see "Will you" and I just looked at Luke... and he had the ring...And I said...

We'll be getting married here in Lima... that's all we know so far...

Here are some of the photos from our trip to Sydney and HK...

Please pray for us as we plan for life together, that God will continue to guide us. We are so thankful to Him for bringing us together in Lima, Peru... all the way from Minnesota and Sydney!

Spiritual Life Conference 2009

Every year all the missionaries from SIM Peru meets together for the annual Spiritual Life Conference. This year we went to Arequipa in the south of Peru on Monday and I got back last night.

It is always great to hear about what God is doing all around Peru. We learnt from the Servant Songs in Isaiah, prayed and praised God together and had a great time of fellowship and fun with other SIM missos from Lima, Arequipa, Abancay and Cotahuasi. (I really enjoyed catching up with the missionaries from Abancay!)

The missionaries with SIM Peru come many different countries (Switzerland, USA, Germany, Canada, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Korea, Hong Kong, Italy, England, Scotland, Austria and of course, Australia!), so Stacey and I shared about the multi-cultural team training workshops we went to last year. It went pretty well and hopefully helped people be more aware of our differences and how we can work and serve together.

The last couple of months have involved a lot of travelling. First to Arequipa in November to visit the short termers and the ministry there as part of my job as Short term Coordinator for SIM Peru and then for the multi-cultural teams training workshop in Korea. After that, Luke and I went to Sydney, HK and Minnesota to meet each other's families and then most recently I went to Arequipa again for Spiritual Life Conference.

I'm ready now to settle back into life in Lima, especially as we're getting to know a lot of the youth at El Redentor (the church we attend). Luke and I end up chatting to so many people after the service that we're starving by the time we get around to having lunch... I'm taking it as a good sign!! We've been going to youth group and a small group and I'm also hoping to go to a youth bible study and continue with discipling.

On a sad note, I found out yesterday that my grandmother (dad's mum) passed away. In my last newsletter, I mentioned that grandfather (mum's dad) had passed away so it's not the same side of the family but anyway... it's been hard to be away from family and it was a blessing to have had seen my grandmother when Luke and I were in Sydney and her love for Jesus.

So for those who pray...
Praise God for the time of learning and fellowship in Arequipa at Spiritual Life Conference
Pray for my role as Short Term Coordinator and that the time I spent in Arequipa and the training I received in Korea will be able to help me do my job better
Praise God for the time that Luke and I spent getting to know each other's families and that he will continue to guide us
Pray that Luke and I will be able to settle back and get involved at El Redentor
Pray for my family