Cineguilla

On Tuesday Jose and I went out with a guy from church to an area close to where we live called Cineguilla (I am totally guessing on the spelling there.)


This cute little lady was very proud to have her picture taken


and when I say she was little I mean it. I had to contort my body to stand next to her and I'm barely 5' 2"


We also met a lady who runs what is called a wawa wasi. It's a government program to help single mothers work. They put together 8 moms. One of them watches the kids and the other 7 work. The ones that work pay the mom that watches the kids S/. 2 a day to pay for their water etc...(the exchange rate is about S/. 2.78 to $1) And the government pays her S./ 180 a month. That's about $67 a month. She also gets a little bit of money from her child's father but NOTHING like American child support.
While we were talking to her we really felt God impressing on our hearts to bless her. Like I said above she watches 8 kids including her own and only owns 6 toys and they are old and broken (things like a naked barbie - they don't own any barbie clothes, and an old stacking toy that we would have thrown away,) She also had an 8 year old son with one toy of his own. An action figure that he was super proud of.

Aside from that her home is a shack built of things like cardboard and plywood. Her front door is like a gate that is held shut by a large stick propped up against it. She has no running water but is proud to have electricity.
These are some pictures of her "house" from the outside and some of the other "houses" around hers


We want to help this lady and we need your help to do that. There is a list about a mile long of ways we could help her and we know that we can't do everything but here are the things we can do.
1. Secure her front door.
2. get toys for children ages 6mo-4years
3. get toys for her 8 year old son.
4. get some shoes for her kids
5. give her some teaching materials. Wall decorations etc... she tries to teach the kids and all she has is her own voice.

If you would like to help with any of these things send me an email at jkmission2peru@gmail.com especially if you want to send a package for her. If you want to help financially you can use the link to give through our church (just email me at the above address that you want your donation to go to blessing her) or through paypal. Next time we go we will get some pictures of her and her kids. Jose had the camera when we were there and he was the one talking ;)
We cannot take pictures of the kids she takes care of though. There are very strict laws here about that.


After we left her house we came across some kids playing. All of them live in homes where the parents are not married. We are finding that is extremely common here. It creates an environment where the mother is insecure and the father is unstable. It also makes it difficult to track the divorce rate here. People really don't have to get divorced because they rarely get married


Anyway, the kids stole my heart. The girl in the blue sweater wanted me to take a million pictures of her. She managed to get into most of the pictures I took.

I also think it is very important that you know I climbed up this mountain in what I used to think of as sensible walking shoes

There are "stairs" carved into it but you can't even see them. unless you are right there looking at them.
I am so thankful for paved roads and construction. And don't even get me started on how thankful I am for my home.

You live in a blessed nation. No matter what the news says or how you feel about the current political or economic situation. Next time you spend $67 think about what your life would be like if that was your entire months paycheck

Daily Thoughts “My Light”

Isaiah 60: 1 Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.

2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the LORD will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

3 The Gentiles shall come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

4 “Lift up your eyes all around, and see:

They all gather together, they come to you;

Your sons shall come from afar,

And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.

5 Then you shall see and become radiant,

And your heart shall swell with joy;

Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,

The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.

As I read this morning I begin to understand that darkness, deep darkness is what covers the earth. The strong man oppressing Peru is not a lack of men; it is a strong man of Machismo and Matriarchy. Let me explain

When the Spaniards came over to Latin America it was not a migration full of families coming over together to start a new life, it was a conquest and for 200 plus years all that came over to this land were men. What began to be a common thing is that the men would kill the Indian men and then begin to have relations with the Indian women. Because the children being born of these relations would be despised of their fathers and rejected of their fathers they would come under the protection of their mothers. The children being left without a father would grow up only being cared for by a mother. So as it continued for over 200 years those children boys would grow up and instead of defending their mothers would actually reproduce what their Spanish conquistador fathers would do. This vicious cycle of conquest would make the men reproduce a machismo attitude that would enjoy the pleasure but would never take the responsibility of a father. This epidemic today is evident all over Latin America. Boys are not raised by a father but instead a mother takes all the Responsibility. It is evident on the streets and in the church. The men do not hang out with their sons, the moms or even in most dual working families the female maids take care of them.

I am so privileged to grow up in a church that has actually began to reverse the curse of fatherlessness. I was mentoring my timothy yesterday and as I was sharing with him our vision and mission here it became evident how we should see this work. We are ambassadors not only of Christ but our spiritual father and family back home. We came as Acts 17: 6 “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. 7 Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” How evident it is that we bring something that is so foreign even to Christians here. The Fathers affirmation! I have had the opportunity to affirm about 4 men here so far and they are sticking to me like nothing before. They don't receive it, that’s why they don't do it, and that’s why they don't reproduce it

The beat goes on...

We are starting to work out a rhythm to our life here. I don't know how other people do it, but when I get in a new situation I feel like I just need to get my routine down and then I can feel comfortable. Ok, I admit it deep down inside I'm really 5 years old. I like to have a bedtime and a schedule. I don't like winging it too much.
Speaking of schedule's. We started school last week. I'm loving every minute of it. Well almost every minute the one's where Logan whines about stuff are not my favorite. But we are working through it. Logan has 3 favorite things about school. Math (I'm pretty sure he gets that from Jose) art (all me) and Lego's (no idea) Yes, that's right Lego's are a subject in our school. As a matter of fact if kindergarten had majors my children would be majoring in Lego construction. The amazing thing about Lego's is the boys will play with them for hours and they don't even fight over them. If I was catholic I would nominate the inventor of Lego's for sainthood. But since I'm not catholic I will just thank God for them. I never thought I would say Lego's that many times in one paragraph. Really, I never thought I would have any reason to talk about them. Who knew?

I may have mentioned this before but our house is actually an apartment. There are 3 other apartments in our building. One below us. One across from us and one on the third floor. Our front door is on the second floor but we have 3 floors to our apartment. Anyway, on Thursday the boys and I were home alone all day. It was a normal enough day. Friday morning Jose's dad went out to get some stuff and saw our neighbor. They told him that the apartments on the 1st and 3rd story had been robbed during a 3 hour period on Thursday. Our doors here have these crazy locks that seem impossible to break into but the robbers had a tool that broke them. I NEVER HEARD A THING. We believe that the thieves heard me and the boys in the apartment and weren't sure which one we were in so they skipped our floor. We also know that everyday we pray a hedge of protection around our home that no one with evil intentions would be able to come near us. God protected us and our stuff. We are going to use wisdom and have another lock installed and I think our landlady will be installing electric fences around the exterior walls soon. Just know that your prayers are powerful! We feel them every single day.

Daily Thoughts "My Word"

Isaiah 55: 10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens

and stay on the ground to water the earth.

They cause the grain to grow,

producing seed for the farmer

and bread for the hungry.

11 It is the same with my word.

I send it out, and it always produces fruit.

It will accomplish all I want it to,

and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

The word comes down from God and stays on the soil of our hearts watering us. As maturity comes into our lives through discipleship, fruitfulness is the evidence of the word growing in our hearts. The farmer, who is at that time in our lives the beneficiary of the word, can measure and see the good fruit in our lives so that it can be used to benefit others and provide spiritual food for them. I see this time and time again in ministry. I have seen the positive and I have seen the negative. As a positive I continue to watch men of God being matured in a church that loves them and cares for them and disciples them. I see the evidence of their lives because wherever God places them they continue to produce fruit and God confirms it through prospering them in the ministry. Also, the farmer in their lives is like a skilled surgeon knowing the right balance and nutrition so that it produces good fruit that lasts and ministers to many. I have also seen the negative. The word is so powerful and it pierces the heart of the man, but either through not wanting to be tilled or corrected that it becomes more of a pit of hard and unfruitful soil, or it becomes a soil that looks to be muddy or over watered and like any immature person looks for any kind of spiritual teaching and becomes more confused than fruitful. Both do not work and it is sad to see Men of God called to ministry but get brought down because of lack of correction or not understanding the farmer as a tool of God to help them and see them as a lid and not a covering in their lives. In this case too, the farmer needs to truly understand the condition of his soil so that he knows how to treat it or through perversion, passivity or abandonment that soil becomes just another pile of dirt. Help us Lord to be trained up great to be a great soil so that you can fulfill the call in our lives. Also Lord help us when you make us a farmer to be one that inspects what you expect and to be one that is constantly looking to produce fruit through that soil that is healthy to feed hungry people that fill this world.

Ask yourself first if you are being watered by God daily? Are you allowing God to fill your heart with his word so that fruit comes out and helps so many out there. Second are you being a good sheppard? Are you relying on the Lord to help train up others so that his word does not return void but prospers everywhere it is sent.

Daily Thoughts 9/27 My Servant

Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance — all who seek the Lord! Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined. 2 Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor, and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation. Abraham was only one man when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.” as I read today such a beautiful pivotal point in the bible where Isaiah 53 describes the servant of God, Christ Jesus. I am having such a powerful time in prayer and meditation of God's word about how Isaiah sees our Lord Jesus as the sacrificial lamb for my sins. I don't even know how I could finish this or even start because I know the condition of my heart yet I rely on him so I can truly grasp what it means to be purified by the Lamb of God. It was my weakness, my sorrow, my sickness, my rebellion and my sin that were placed on him as the one and only offering for my sins. Such beauty of scripture yet my heart aches because we do not grasp this reality of how worthy Christ is everyday. Isaiah starts today's reading by saying that we need to remember the rock from which we were cut, to not forget the quarry which we were mined. Such as true today as when Isaiah wrote it. so many times we forget what God uses as a training ground for us to be multiplied. Dr. Cole says that everything in life is according to a pattern based on a principle of the Word of God. to help those that may read this: God tells you to remember. remember that he is using this time to form you (discipleship) where he placed you (church), with who he placed you with (pastor), so that he can use you for greater things (sent out). Three principles that you have to see in your walk with Christ. 1) God calls you 2) God blesses you 3) God multiplies you my prayer today: Lord mercy on us when we do not have a fresh revelation of your total obedience as a servant of the Lord. Mercy on us when we choose to be weak, feel pity, allow sickness, choose rebellion, and commit sin. Teach us to present ourselves in light of Jesus and his commitment level to the Father. God help us!