Holy goodness, this last week has been incredible. Charis and I have been overwhelmed by new blessings, new people and new places in the last few days and I would love to share those with you:
Sunday- In the morning Charis and I taught Sunday School at one of the local churches (andof course by "we" I mean Charis spoke and I colored:), and were then picked up by a couple friends to head out into the countryside for a baptism service. The spot was out a little ways from town at the mountains' foothills, surrounded by fields and farmlands and covered in a brilliant summer sunshine. The wind kept us cool as we sang and rejoiced overthe new births taking place in the "río pequeño" below us. One of our closest girlfriends and the pastor's son were both baptized, as well as a couple others. Afterwords, we shared a "small" picnic together under the startling blue sky, singing and laughing and simply rejoicing in what the Lord has done. It is a memory I will never forget :)
Monday- Charis and I headed out to a city a few hours away to take part in the last few days of a missionary conference which the Crouse family (our host) has been taking part in the last two weeks. We arrived Monday night and took part in all of the seminars on...
Tuesday- It was powerful to be "surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses" as we learned, shared and celebrated together about all that God has been showing us in the past two weeks. We talked mostly about cultural values and how to not only step into another country, but also to learn from their culture, recognizing how we often taint Jesus' message with our own background and perspectives, and learning how to avoid that. So many things that were shared helped Charis and I pull together the different things we've observed these past few weeks, both about Tarma and also about ourselves. I realized that part of my American mentality is to be defined by what I do, what my job is, and that when stepping into another culture (aka Peru) it has felt crippling to not have something specific to be doing. But as I recognized the fact that that is okay in the past two weeks, I've also come to realize that it is a really good thing that we are not necessarily needed for something specific here. Thats healthy. We need eachother as brothers and sisters in Christ, to learn from, to grow with, and to work alongside, but other than that, these past few weeks have been about relationships with the people around us more than us doing anything for them. And it is in that kind of relationship and connection building that we really begin to see the face of Christ. An incredible mosaic built of innumerable broken, tainted pieces, which only begin to show the grand beauty when they are placed side by side. Alone these pieces are only fragments, but together, they create the closest imitation of Christ we will ever be priviledged to see here on earth.
Wednesday- Tonight at church Charis, myself, J.R. and Becky have been invited to share what we learned from our time at the conference. A little nervous to speak in front of a congregation in Spanish but I pray that through my broken attempt at least God will recieve the glory we're trying to give Him.
One more thing- I just wanted to share something the conference speaker finished our last session with. God is so good and I am feeling more encouraged by His correcting and guidance every day. Thanks for reading and please continue to keep us and Tarma in your prayers!
"Though I speak in the dialect of the people I serve and can preach with the eloquent power of a fiery evangelist; though as a surgeon I can operate with skill; though as an agriculturalist I can raise high-grade river rice; though as a teacher I can deliver spell-binding, learned lectures, but do not have love, my message is empty...
Love, if it is genuine in the life and work of a missionary, is patient and constructive; it does not seek for position and prestige. Love is glad to see a competent national in charge, and envies not. Love seeks to train an indigenous leadership; it does not cherish inflated ideas of its own importance; it is never anxious to impress. Love tries to identify with people and is never arrogant or ethnocentric...
Unless we are prepared to adapt and change, we shall have defenders of an old system but no new voice; institutional caretakers but no truth seekers; we shall have preachers but no prophets. We shall keep the bush primly pruned by hired gardeners using expensive equipment, but within the bush there will be no burning fire...
Love that trusts like little children never fails. Large institutions may cease; even heavily subsidized schools and colleges that impart knowledge may close. And if wisdom gained there fails to lead students to Christ the Savior, it would be better to entrust such education to the government; for our knowledge is always incomplete without Him who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." Love that has no other desire but to trust, never fails...
Be sure of this: institutions will pass away, but labor wrought by hands which have shared with those in need, and proclaimed the message of the saving love of Christ, who died and rose again and lives as Lord of Life, will never, never pass away. In this life there are only three enduring qualities: Faith, Hope and Love; these three. But the greatest of these is Love."
-Meditations of a Missionary, by Blaise Levai
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