Pastor Juan and Family in MN

I know this is extremely late in getting on my blog, but hey, better late than never!

Our time with Pastor Juan and his family (the pastoral family of our sister church in Peru) was wonderful! I will be completely honest and say it was VERY tiring as well, but it was definitely worth it!

After a late arrival (problems with the airlines lead to a late night call the night they were to leave Lima, which then brought us into a minor panic attack, and ended with them not leaving Lima until 24 hrs later than the intended time), we took off with the ball rolling full speed ahead. We had AWANA activities, pumpkin carving, visiting the Mall of America, the Zoo, Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, and the favorites: the Dollar Store and Goodwill. On top of all that was the services we had – Friday night, Saturday morning breakfast, Saturday evening, Sunday morning, and Sunday evening service. The week was jam-packed with activities, sights to see, and people and places to visit.

As I was the translator for the week and had the family staying at my parent’s home, I got to experience things through the eyes of this family. I knew there would various things that for us are normal, everyday events, but for them would be new and exciting. It was this that I was looking the most forward to, and I wasn’t disappointed. I was able enjoy having a personal car (when they are used to walking, taking taxis or mototaxis), the American streets (where this is less chaos, potholes, and garbage), shopping (everything is one convenient location), and a church that is completed (no dirt floors, a roof over head, a kitchen to cook, a gym to play, a nursery for kids). After having these things my whole life and living my whole life in the USA, I was ready to leave and be somewhere else, but it was fun being back and experience the things we all take for granted every day through new eyes and appreciate it all again.

It was also fun to see how involved people from church were. My heart and passion is to get other people EXCITED about missions, about what is going on around the world – outside of the little bubbles we put ourselves and to share what God has blessed us with others who have not been so blessed. So for me, having Pastor Juan and his family visit my church and help the people of my church to understand why I personally (and the dozen or so others who have been to Peru from my church) LOVE being there and want to help them, was the BEST experience of all. Then to see how the church responded, we had the highest attended, most involved and appreciated missions conference in YEARS, and then the love offering that was given to the family/church just topped it all off.

I am SO glad I was able to be home to experience all this and to play a small role in it. Thank you to everyone who was involved in making it all happen. I know you were publicly acknowledged in church, but I want you to know, and everyone who reads my blog to know, how blessed the church is to have you and how great was the work you did. I also want everyone to be aware of how blessed Pastor Juan and his family were by you and your thoughtfulness, and then through them, their church as well!! THANK YOU!!!!