Well today i had the time of my life! I started my day by having a prayer in my bed,and one of the things i asked god for was to help me get more close to the chilldren and to help me have the strength to dig the swimming pool. well when we arrived to the vbs location i felt soo happy! i didnt think i would be that good about communicating but luckly there are translaters. So there i was acting for the little children for god,i didnt know how much fun that would be until i did it, and usually i am not that good at acting but i feel so welcome here with my church family, that i wont get juged on what i do or what i wear or anything,thats why i love it here.the little kids dont care what you wear or do. They just love it that your servin god and havin fun. i am soo glad that god choose me to be on this mission trip,the thing that i love is that god doesnt choose random, so he put me on this trip for something. And that is what i am trying to find., so god, give me your eyes!
-caleb batson
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
I was so happy to be in Peru again, and to see Ola Grande! It probably helped that I literally had to run into Ola Grande when we first got here because I had to go to the bathroom so bad...but either way... haha. I am now affirmed to the truth that my Lord led me back here, even when I had other plans. God showed me that He still had Peru set before me, and He got me back here. Even though it was only the first day of work, God is already at work in my heart and in the hearts of those around me, stirring us to do things and say things for His glory. And giving us what we need to do so.
As soon as we left Ola Grande to head to Hannah's home, we were already bombarded with a moment to trust our Lord and His hand in our mission. For some reason our bus had to stop at a check point (I still don't get why because last year we didn't have to...) and we got stopped for awhile. When Amy came back on the bus and said that Mike wanted us to pray, I knew that it was going to be yet another opportunity for God to prove Himself to us. He never lets me down, so as soon as we started praying I was just waiting for Mike to come back in and say that we were free to go. After the third person got to a close, sure enough, Mike came in and told us that we were good. My heart litterally jumped, because I love it so much when Jesus comes through for us, and I know He smiles when He does it, too. We later found out that our bus driver's permit expired May 31 and that our bus was very close to being taken from us...but Mike was prompted to tell us to pray. Lord, thank you for rescuing us again today, in a very tangible way.
Another moment when I saw God's hand today was during our work. Jerry (aka Herry b/c the Peruvians can't pronounce J's) and I didn't have any shoes because they were in our suitcases, so because of safety we got our job switched from constuction to painting at Hogar de Ninos. About halfway through our day, we finally figured out another reason why God decided to have our suitcases take a detour. Jerry, Annessa, Eli and I were painting the top of the orphanage. If we had our shoes we probably wouldn't have had that job today, and it was such a blessing for us. We got to interact with the kids the whole day, and I met two very special boys, Jordin and Michael, who helped us paint...well they helped us paint the wall, their clothes, our faces...haha. I watched as Annessa communicated patiently with them through painting, and I was encouraged. Also, I got to play with the kids a lot and form relationships with them as their joy from the Lord overflowed from their hearts into mine. I was reminded of the beattitudes in Matthew and I watched the poor in spirit be blessed. I love it!!!
I am so excited for God to reveal the other things He has for us to do for His glory this week. I love being a part of what He is doing in Peru, and I am so blessed to be a part of a church that acts out God's word. I love getting to know those He has also chosen to be here and I am encouraged by their stories.
If you want to laugh, listen to this story...
As I am sitting here writing this, there was a waterfall in the lobby! The tube busted out of the water box and Mike got soaked. Hahahahaha just picture it...
He is marvelous, beautiful, glorious, matchless in EVERY way. I love Him and He is the holder and the healer of my heart.
P-nut, AJ, mom, dad, Shelley, lk and hoi, shurl gurl, alis, chris, ashy...I love you and miss you. I can't wait to tell you all He is doing in Peru.
~Kailey Jones
Psalm 37:4
As soon as we left Ola Grande to head to Hannah's home, we were already bombarded with a moment to trust our Lord and His hand in our mission. For some reason our bus had to stop at a check point (I still don't get why because last year we didn't have to...) and we got stopped for awhile. When Amy came back on the bus and said that Mike wanted us to pray, I knew that it was going to be yet another opportunity for God to prove Himself to us. He never lets me down, so as soon as we started praying I was just waiting for Mike to come back in and say that we were free to go. After the third person got to a close, sure enough, Mike came in and told us that we were good. My heart litterally jumped, because I love it so much when Jesus comes through for us, and I know He smiles when He does it, too. We later found out that our bus driver's permit expired May 31 and that our bus was very close to being taken from us...but Mike was prompted to tell us to pray. Lord, thank you for rescuing us again today, in a very tangible way.
Another moment when I saw God's hand today was during our work. Jerry (aka Herry b/c the Peruvians can't pronounce J's) and I didn't have any shoes because they were in our suitcases, so because of safety we got our job switched from constuction to painting at Hogar de Ninos. About halfway through our day, we finally figured out another reason why God decided to have our suitcases take a detour. Jerry, Annessa, Eli and I were painting the top of the orphanage. If we had our shoes we probably wouldn't have had that job today, and it was such a blessing for us. We got to interact with the kids the whole day, and I met two very special boys, Jordin and Michael, who helped us paint...well they helped us paint the wall, their clothes, our faces...haha. I watched as Annessa communicated patiently with them through painting, and I was encouraged. Also, I got to play with the kids a lot and form relationships with them as their joy from the Lord overflowed from their hearts into mine. I was reminded of the beattitudes in Matthew and I watched the poor in spirit be blessed. I love it!!!
I am so excited for God to reveal the other things He has for us to do for His glory this week. I love being a part of what He is doing in Peru, and I am so blessed to be a part of a church that acts out God's word. I love getting to know those He has also chosen to be here and I am encouraged by their stories.
If you want to laugh, listen to this story...
As I am sitting here writing this, there was a waterfall in the lobby! The tube busted out of the water box and Mike got soaked. Hahahahaha just picture it...
He is marvelous, beautiful, glorious, matchless in EVERY way. I love Him and He is the holder and the healer of my heart.
P-nut, AJ, mom, dad, Shelley, lk and hoi, shurl gurl, alis, chris, ashy...I love you and miss you. I can't wait to tell you all He is doing in Peru.
~Kailey Jones
Psalm 37:4
Life lessons
Relationships over finicial gain....that was my lesson for the day. Going into a small peru village and seeing such smiles and such love on such poverty. AMAZING!! The people of this village have close to nothing to speak of when it comes to material but they have so much love for thier neighbors it is inspiring. I have been able to get to know some of the ladies here and have had so much fun doing so, Jeri Dawn, Maryand I are rooming togather and it has been one laugh to another. We finnaly got our laugauge when we got back from our work today. So many lessons in the lauguage not being with us. Of course there is the lesson in re thinking what is truely a need, but the lesson I am taking is it's not about just one of us it's about working together as a team, one of us alone can't do the job that the team can do together. This team has looked out for each other and offered supplies we were missing because of the laugage being gone. Of course there is also the lesson of patience, God will Provide but it may not be on your time. I miss my kids and my husband Doug, but I am having such a good time. I feel like God is truely giving back to me parts of me I have lost along the way and it's only the 2nd night, I can't wait to see what the rest of the week has to hold....
Kristal Benjamin
Kristal Benjamin
What an amazing group of people! Flights were delayed, luggage misplaced, shampoo taken by airport security....and still no complaining. It is an honor to be on my first mission trip with you all!
We just finished up our first day of Vacation Bible School (VBS). I'm still trying to process everything. It is difficult to put such an experience into words. We wandered around the impoverished town and recruited children to come sit in the dirt road to sing, color, and play games with us. They welcomed us with open arms. I want to be like those children. Content, despite awful circumstances. Smiling even. So loving. The language barrier was not as hard as I had anticipated. Of course, it is great to have translators, but a smile and hug go a long way. Due to the misplaced luggage, we did not have most of our VBS supplies. However, it went rather smoothly and was a blast! Praise God! I was nervous about doing VBS and, so far, it has been my favorite service opportunity.
On Wednesday, fifteen of us will be marching in a parade. We had practice today, or should I say marching DRILLS. It was pretty hardcore! The children were way better at the marching than us gringos.
The hostel we are staying at is wonderful. The crashing ocean waves lull us to sleep. In the evening these flying creatures (possibly grasshoppers) come out to play. It is very entertaining to watch everyone jump up and scream when one lands on the dinner table.
Looking forward to another fun filled day tomorrow,
Leah McDonald
We just finished up our first day of Vacation Bible School (VBS). I'm still trying to process everything. It is difficult to put such an experience into words. We wandered around the impoverished town and recruited children to come sit in the dirt road to sing, color, and play games with us. They welcomed us with open arms. I want to be like those children. Content, despite awful circumstances. Smiling even. So loving. The language barrier was not as hard as I had anticipated. Of course, it is great to have translators, but a smile and hug go a long way. Due to the misplaced luggage, we did not have most of our VBS supplies. However, it went rather smoothly and was a blast! Praise God! I was nervous about doing VBS and, so far, it has been my favorite service opportunity.
On Wednesday, fifteen of us will be marching in a parade. We had practice today, or should I say marching DRILLS. It was pretty hardcore! The children were way better at the marching than us gringos.
The hostel we are staying at is wonderful. The crashing ocean waves lull us to sleep. In the evening these flying creatures (possibly grasshoppers) come out to play. It is very entertaining to watch everyone jump up and scream when one lands on the dinner table.
Looking forward to another fun filled day tomorrow,
Leah McDonald
Sunday, June 7, 2009
CrazyFirst Day
We started off on a plane at 11:30 last night running as they held the flight for us. Then we sat there for two hours while they unloaded the suitcases of passengers who did not make the flight. During that time I had fallen asleep and woke up half way through the flight. We landed about 3 hours later - without our check in luggage. We went to our bus that will be driving around the city for the week. At our hostal we settled in and had breakfast, then set out for the fishing village. There we had a late lunch and enjoyed the amazing mountains and ocean. After that we went to Hannah's Home and the orphanage. The kids and a group of us played soccer. They were happy we were there and we were happy to finally be there! We are looking forward to God unfolding the rest of the things He's doing with us here. Its been an awesome first day!! - Elijah Reynolds
the day God smiled on team PERU
Here we are, at the end of Day One on our mission to Peru...and I believe that today, God smiled on this team. I have heard it asked before, what do you get when you squeeze a lemon?...whatever is inside of it. Well, lets just say today we all got squeezed a little bit...and I do believe that God was very proud of what came out.
Our departure went very smooth from KC only to be delayed 2 hours in Dallas....and then to have our seats in Miami close to being given up...as we were running through the airport trying to make that connecting flight. We all made it on...a bit flustered at the thought of them thinking about giving our seats away, and then we sat on the flight for 2 hours...looking back, I do believe God was squeezing us a little bit.
One of many things I like about missions trips is that God strips you of who you think you are to show you who you really are, so He can bring about a change. On arriving SAFE in Lima, thank You God, we only received 3 of our 48 bags...meaning...waiting in another line to individually fill out paper work for each bag...a process that took close to 3 hours, and hoping that they will be delivered as promised tomorrow morning. I have to know that God was smiling...because my team did not complain...they were all troopers...their attitudes were awesome. I think we all realized that that STUFF we brought...well, maybe we dont NEED it as much as we think we do after all.
God showed me that all that preparation I have done in the last week for this team, all the papers and stuff for devotions...they don't need it right now...they just need Him, to be in His presence and Hear His voice.
Today was spent visiting Pucasana, a small fishing village, where we saw breathtaking views of the ocean. We had a great lunch by the water and enjoyed a nice little hike up the mountain to see the ocean. I do believe everyone enjoyed themselves greatly.
We then went to Hannah's Home to for a quick tour along with meeting the Peterson family and Dave Mosemann...missionaries to Peru. It is amazing to see all God has done here in just one year since being here last June. To see that many others have come and served and to see His work accomplished shows me the importance of the Body of Christ and how we each have a part in the bigger picture!
Next...we went to see THE CHILDREN!!! Wow, they have all grown a foot since the last time I was here, just a year ago! It was neat to see their faces light up as they recognized those from our team who have been here before. Adam M, Rob, Dakota, Dawn and many others were playing a game of soccer with the kids...which they loved! One team member told me over and over...I can't believe how HAPPY they are...yes, JOY was bouncing off the walls of that orphanage. If you ever are in need of a good dose of laughter, fun and smiles...Hogar de Ninos is the place to be! They were so much fun to be around! Even little Carlita was making silly faces and sticking her tongue out at us as we drove away, she was so shy last year! What a great way to end the day!
We found out tonight that 15 of our team will be joining the Hogar children in marching in a parade on Wednesday, costumes and all! Erika, mom of the orphanage, was trying to show Mike Stiles the march...lets just say he wont be marching! :) Our marching team will be having practice Monday and Tuesday this week so that they will be "parade ready!"
Construction and VBS starts tomorrow...pray for our VBS team, again I am so proud that they are diving in to the change in plans, seeing as we have none of our VBS materials...its all in the suitcases! They are doing a great job of being ready! I am so proud of everyone on this team. Friendships are being made, walls are coming down and God's presence is evident in each person's life.
We are tired and weary, but I'll close with this...God smiled today here in Chilca, Peru, and to top it off...there was definitely loads of laughter tonight as we were "attacked" literally by crickets at dinner! I've never heard so many screams, arms and legs and even food flying...for some reason there are a ton of crickets here! We all got a great laugh out of it!
More to come! Thanks so much for your prayers! Everyone is safe, healthy and having a blast!
Amy Hayward
Our departure went very smooth from KC only to be delayed 2 hours in Dallas....and then to have our seats in Miami close to being given up...as we were running through the airport trying to make that connecting flight. We all made it on...a bit flustered at the thought of them thinking about giving our seats away, and then we sat on the flight for 2 hours...looking back, I do believe God was squeezing us a little bit.
One of many things I like about missions trips is that God strips you of who you think you are to show you who you really are, so He can bring about a change. On arriving SAFE in Lima, thank You God, we only received 3 of our 48 bags...meaning...waiting in another line to individually fill out paper work for each bag...a process that took close to 3 hours, and hoping that they will be delivered as promised tomorrow morning. I have to know that God was smiling...because my team did not complain...they were all troopers...their attitudes were awesome. I think we all realized that that STUFF we brought...well, maybe we dont NEED it as much as we think we do after all.
God showed me that all that preparation I have done in the last week for this team, all the papers and stuff for devotions...they don't need it right now...they just need Him, to be in His presence and Hear His voice.
Today was spent visiting Pucasana, a small fishing village, where we saw breathtaking views of the ocean. We had a great lunch by the water and enjoyed a nice little hike up the mountain to see the ocean. I do believe everyone enjoyed themselves greatly.
We then went to Hannah's Home to for a quick tour along with meeting the Peterson family and Dave Mosemann...missionaries to Peru. It is amazing to see all God has done here in just one year since being here last June. To see that many others have come and served and to see His work accomplished shows me the importance of the Body of Christ and how we each have a part in the bigger picture!
Next...we went to see THE CHILDREN!!! Wow, they have all grown a foot since the last time I was here, just a year ago! It was neat to see their faces light up as they recognized those from our team who have been here before. Adam M, Rob, Dakota, Dawn and many others were playing a game of soccer with the kids...which they loved! One team member told me over and over...I can't believe how HAPPY they are...yes, JOY was bouncing off the walls of that orphanage. If you ever are in need of a good dose of laughter, fun and smiles...Hogar de Ninos is the place to be! They were so much fun to be around! Even little Carlita was making silly faces and sticking her tongue out at us as we drove away, she was so shy last year! What a great way to end the day!
We found out tonight that 15 of our team will be joining the Hogar children in marching in a parade on Wednesday, costumes and all! Erika, mom of the orphanage, was trying to show Mike Stiles the march...lets just say he wont be marching! :) Our marching team will be having practice Monday and Tuesday this week so that they will be "parade ready!"
Construction and VBS starts tomorrow...pray for our VBS team, again I am so proud that they are diving in to the change in plans, seeing as we have none of our VBS materials...its all in the suitcases! They are doing a great job of being ready! I am so proud of everyone on this team. Friendships are being made, walls are coming down and God's presence is evident in each person's life.
We are tired and weary, but I'll close with this...God smiled today here in Chilca, Peru, and to top it off...there was definitely loads of laughter tonight as we were "attacked" literally by crickets at dinner! I've never heard so many screams, arms and legs and even food flying...for some reason there are a ton of crickets here! We all got a great laugh out of it!
More to come! Thanks so much for your prayers! Everyone is safe, healthy and having a blast!
Amy Hayward
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Peru Blog...
If you are following us on our journey to Peru...you can read about our trip on
We will be updating daily!
Thanks so much for all your prayers and support! We are very excited for what God has for us!
~Amy Hayward~
I will follow HIM
Reading Mike's post I find myself growing more and more excited to get to Peru. I can't wait to see what God has planned for us.... I have been so nervous this is my first mission trip and the first time I have left my family for longer than 2-3 days. My prayers have been that I am able to completly surrendor to what God wants to show me while I am out of "my world" this has really helped calm some fears. I am so excited to be on this team and was on my knees this morning thanking God for giving me the chance to go on this trip there are so many wonderful people going on this trip some I already know and others I can't wait to get to know more. Working togather as the hands and feet of God, talk about forming ever lasting friendships. Knowing this mission and this team was picked from God what is there to fear?
Kristal
freely you have recieved freely give
Kristal
freely you have recieved freely give
Friday, June 5, 2009
He who waits...
I just spent my first day in Peru - laying the groundwork for what is going to be an amazing team. I've learned that you can't have expectations for any mission trip before you arrive because - well they are just not YOUR plans. I can tell you that this will be a unique experience for the entire team - rookies and veterans alike. Put your previous experiences away and be prepared to be stretched like never before. Wait for the Lord to guide your next step - you will run and not grow weary. After hearing what is happening in Peru I can almost go right down the list of team members and tell them exactly why they were placed on this team. Be willing to submit to what you are asked - not by me - but by Him.
Mike S
Mike S
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Gateway Church Sendoff....
God...You are the Leader of this team...and it is very clear to me Your activity in each life. Go before us, lead us, make the path very clear, and please use us to be YOUR HANDS AND FEET!
Thank You that You don't need us, but You want to use us...Use us...Consume us...and let us shine brightly ALL of WHO YOU ARE!
~Amen~
Gateway Church Send-off...May 31, 2009
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