and the campsite is full again

This weekend the campsite will be full of high schollers. Its the first time that a high school has made use of the campsite for a camp, so please pray that everything runs smoothly and that God will give many opportunities during this weekend to witness to the kids and teachers, many of which will not have had contact with christians.
The team are organising games and helping out in the kitchen so plenty to keep them busy.
-Please pray that they get opportunities to chat with the kids and to share with them about the work of mision rescate and their faith.

The team have been based in the campsite for a while now, no jetting off to the big cities, and it can get pretty quiet in the campsite through the day. Chatting tot het eam yesterday Iw as really encouraged to hear that some of team have started a bible study together. We always have devotionals at seven in the morning, (i love 7 o'clock devotionals!) but it was great to hear how people are wanting to make the most of their last months and to learn as much as they can from God's word and from each other.
- So please pray that the team would stay focused and make the most of their days in the campsite, preparing for the work, with bible studies and in prayer.
- Mision Rescate is a time of training and prepartion so pray that God would continue to teach the teamthrough His word and bless the bible studies and conversations about our Lord each day

Many thanks
Jud

MR Part 2

Well everyone, MR is into it's second half. I have said goodbye to Peru for a while at least but the rest of the team are still hard at work! After our holiday in Arequippa the team returned to the campsite to begin preparations for Semana Santa or Holy Week. It's amazing that it's 7 returning to the campsite, that in God's perfect timing Judith has been able to join the team as it came time for me to leave. It's been a time of adjustment for us all and it hasn't been easy to say goodbye but with change comes new opportunities for God to teach us and use us, so please remember the team in your prayers, praying that these changes would bring an increased reliance on God, trust in his plans and that God would continue to correct and teach us.

Chatting to the team yesterday, they are hard at work weeding, cleaning the kitchens and washing the minibus, lots of jobs I'm glad I'm missing but it's all part of mission rescate and the manual labour keeps us humble. And why all the preparations? On Thursday the campsite was filling with people from across the south of Peru, with different churches coming together to celebrate Easter. Different Pastors from Tacna, Moquegua and Puno will be leading sessions through the week and there will be some healthy (or more likely vicious) competition as the churches compete through the week in quiz on the book of Acts. the team will be responsible for the kids club each day and making sure the lovely food gets to the campers at meal times, they will also be looking after Sunday school in Ite on Sunday afternoon and will be part of the Sunday service. After this the team will be returning to the various churches we have visited, being part of different ministries and renewing friendships with families and young people.

Prayer Points
- keep praying for each of the team members, Guido, Jorge, David, Daniel, Judith, Mary-Sol and Vanessa and for Trevor and Christine and Luz-Maria over Semana Santa
- for the kids club, for strong teaching and that the kids would listen, learn and have lots of fun!
- for the campers, that this would be a time of refreshing in the word of God, a time of encouragement and hope as they remember all that Christ has done for us in the Cross
- for the Pastors and their families, that they would enjoy the time of fellowship, that there would be new opportunities for partnership amongst the churches and that God would bless them and enable them for ever challenge in their work and give them renewed strength and reliance on Him.
- for Trevor and Luz-Maria as they organize the program for the team, that God would guide them and open many opportunities for the team to share the good news across Peru

Thinking about Holy Week and all that Easter Sunday means to us, the children of God, I was reading leviticus 16, about the day of atonement. The high priest had to wash, wear linen clothes, sacrifice a bull for his sins to enter the holy of holies and then sacrifice a goat and sprinkle the blood of the goat and bull on the alter for the sins of the israelites. It was a lot of work just to enter the presence of God and sacrifices that had to be offered year after year for the sins of the people. We can rejoice that we have the presence of God within us, through the HolySpirit and we have a high priest in Christ that has offered his own blood as a lasting sacrifice for our sins, because of the sacrifice of Christ the rules of lev 16 apply anymore but the grace and mercy of the blood of Christ covers all our sins. Heb 10 says

11And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Counting the Blessings

Well its finally happened, no i havn´t suddenly discovered that guinea pig is the delicacy that Peruvians think it is, but my time in Peru is finally drawing to a close.

In the last week we have enjoyed time with Manantial de Vida, Tacna celebrating their anniversary service and spending time knocking on doors and inviting people in the local area to the special service. it was indeed a special service with each of the local baptist churches present celebrating God´s blessings over the year and praying for Tacna in the year to come. The team had their hands full with about 30 kids for the service and after 2 hours with them i didn´t want to see another kid for a long time!

So its a good thing that the team are off on their holidays! I returned from tacna today (after teaching some english in hugo mitchell, a school named after one of our own Baptist missionaries) to pack my bag and try and work out what stuff i have lost along the way. Sorry mum but i have lost at least 3 socks! Tomorrow we leave for Arequippa for a few days and exciting news we will be joined by the other Judith. judith had been accepted on the team but due to family difficulties havdn´t been able to come, but with thanks to the Lord she´s able to come and be part of the team and its arriving tonight! After Arequippa i´ll be heading to Lima for my flight home, stopping for a bit of a holiday in America on the way home. Saying goodbye is never easy and yesterday at my farewell service in Ite I got my first taste of saying goodbye to the friends i´ve made here. The church were so lovely, the kids from sunday school came to say goodbye and while i loved my presents too it was the words of encouragement from the church that meant so much! i want to leave a few prayer points for you for the church in Ite

- Continue to pray for the kids in sunday school, even yesterday i was talking with one of the boys as he was looking for a memory verse in my bible , he was annoyed that his brother wouldn´t let him use his bible. Pray that they would continue to have a desire to read the bible and enjoy learning about Christ and come to know him as their Saviour

- Pray for the young people, there havn´t been as many coming to the youth meetings, so pray that God would work in their hearts and use the team as they continue to work in Ite in the next months

- Pray for Trevor and Christine as they continue the work in Ite, as they minister and are part of people´s lives in Ite

- Pray for Sally, she´s a young mum who has been coming to the church for a while and for baby Carmen, pray that God would bless their family and help her in the difficulties of being a young single mum.

So what´s next for me, I´m coming home but very much hope to be part of this years Mision Rescate as it continues. I´ll be keeping the blog going so really hope that you will continue with Mision Rescate in prayer. The team will be working until the end of July and it wont be easy adjusting to the change of one tem member leaving and another arriving.

- Pray that the team will adjust well and the changes would be a blessing for the team

- Prayed for a renewed focus, enthusiasm and love for the work as teh team return to the campsite

- Pray that we would put God first in all that we do, that we would love hime with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength, more than family or careers, and would continue to commit all things to Him.

For me, i´m returning to ireland trusting that God will show me His plans for the future, Peru is going to have a special place in my heart and for this i´m glad that i´ll still be part of the work here through this blog and in the firendship i´ve made here. I really appreciate how you´ve continued with me in this team, for the messages of encouragement, for the messages to let me know where and where people were praying for us and for all those that sent chocolate. Please continue with the team, and future teams in the same way. A few prayer points for me...

- That i would be able to leave with peace, in the knowledge that God´s plans are perfect and He will show me what he has next for me

- For safety as I travel and fly on my own

- That i would be able to adjust back to life in Ireland and have a good time with my family on holiday

- That I would be able to be part of Mision Rescate in Ireland and help while the team continues

and down from Puno we came

Above is a picture of Puno, it could be Ireland it it wasn´t for the thousands of houses still waiting on the second floor to be built! It was heard to know what to say for this post, Puno has been a wonderful experience, its a special place and the only place i´ve been to that i gueninely dont know if i could live there! the journey up took about 6 hours while we waited to see who would be the first to puke. Thankfully all arrived without needing the plastic bags and while a few felt the effects of the attitude the first night everyone acclimitised well. what i couldn´t get used to was the fact that everytime i went up the stairs in the church i had to take a rest afterwards, panting like i´d run a marathon, or that singing songs in church left me with a sore head, or that the lack of oxygen made the funky chicken seem like a crazy thing to do! there were benefits to being in the altitude though, sitting on the roof of the church at night, the stars were soo clear and filled the sky! Puno has its own crazy weather system and i could sit at night watching thunder storms and lightning flashing over Lake Titicaca and when it rained in Puno it sounded like the roof was going to fall in with the noise of the biggest halestones i´ve ever seen.

but what about the work....

well our first week was spent with the Alliance church in Puno and we were involved in a lot of street evangelism and open airs.

- Praise God for many opportunities to share the gospel and for those that listened and asked questions and for those in Jayllhuaya who gave their lives to Jesus Christ.

(Evangelism in Puno and in Jayllhuaya (pronounced Hulliaka)

(taking time out after a hard days work for some cake!)

Pastor Juan and his wife Estelle have recently moved to Pastor the church in Puno and would appreciate your prayers as their settle into the work and life in Puno, especially for Estelle, who is from the North of Peru, which has a very different climate, and is having health difficulties as she adjusts to life in Puno.

(the team after the youth night, jam session)

We took a morning to head out the the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, there are hundreds of families living on the various islands across Lake Titicaca between Peru and Bolivia, living in straw houses (you can see them in the photos below). It was great because I wasn´t the only ´tourist´ and for many of the team they were amazed as me and enjoyed the shopping as much as me. Many of the islanders are fishermen and as we were enjoying some local speciality of fish i heard the song, ´There´s Power in the blood´in Spanish of course, i headed off to investigate to discover a packed Adventist church on the Islands. There are in fact two churches on the Islands, one Mormon and one Adventist who also have a school. I dont know if there is any current evangelical witness to the Islands, I cant quite imagine a Baptist church floating on Lake Titicaca but its certainly something to pray for,

- Pray for the many families on the Islands who dont know Christ as their saviour, and for a christian witness in this very unique place

(taking a boat trip between the floating islands, ´Los Uros´)

(Trevor enteraining some of the kids from the Islands)

(From left: Kaiti, Luz, david, Kaiti, Marisol, Vanessa, Jorge and behind Danielle on one of the Island were about 30 people live, 5 families in total)

We then headed to Cristo Salvador Baptist Church were Paster Ramon and his wife Elvira minister. As a testament to God´s timing, i had just agreed to help with a BYE team in Grove Baptist over the summer and arriving at the church read that there is a pre-school held in the church called ´Pequeno Grove´which is supported by Grove Baptist. It was great to see this ministry in action and meet the teachers in the school as they were enrolling children for the year.

- Pray for the school that there would have many enrolled for the academic year and for the teachers as they share the gospel with the children

While in Cristo Salvador we presented the Amazing Journey (the whole story of the Bible presented through story boards and with actors, a resource which also exists in Ireland!) to the children and young people associated with the church. We also got to help hermana Elvira as she feed about thirty kids lunch, who knew i missed peeling spuds. Its a great ministry and she gets to make sure that the kids have a good meal everyday and has the opportunity to encourage and guide the kids as they grow up enjoying her lunches.

- Pray for the kids that come everyday for lunch that they will know Christ and that they will be part of the church family

(some snaps from the Amazing Journey - Viaje Increible)

The weekend was hectic! Saturday started with a fast! Not sure how i managed to agree to a fast, i´m going to have to blame my dodgy spanish because i dont remember agreeing to a fast but praise God for the experience anyway. We headed off in a combi to the campo outside Jayllhuaya to meet and pray with 5 Baptist churches in this area. We sang and Danielle preached, while being translated into Quechua. We spent time praying for the churches, for the sick, and for new leaders for the respective churches. It was a great priviliege to share this day of prayer and to lift up the Pastors and the churches to God. May He grant more churches in this area and more people ready to serve him in Puno and in the surrounding countryside. Life in the country isn´t easy, there isn´t piped water which means no indoor toilets, its cold, people live in mud houses and can live long distances from schools, church and the larger towns. Travel is dangerous at times and some of the roads we were on weren´t much more than mud tracks, as we bounced along in the combi. I´m not sure how the early Baptist missionaries to Peru managed considered in those days there wasn´t even electricity.

- Pray for the 5 churches that we shared with, for Pastor Cesar, Pastor Feliz

- Pray for their assocation with Baptist Missions and the Missionaries that it would be a mutually encouraging relationship and for future partnership

- Pray that the believers we meet would come down to the Church conference in April at the Camp Centre and that this would be a time of encouragement for the believers

(Church in Hosanna - where we met to fast and pray) (with some of the believers before the meeting)

(sharing with the young people over soup lunch)

The fast ended with a soup lunch at 4 pm and then off to a youth meeting in Jayllhuaya with Pastor Cesar in his church in Jayllhuaya. They have a large youth group and it was great to share with them, play some games, sing and be encouraged at the young people God is raising up in the church.

- Pray that the youth group there would continue strong and serve in their area and the other churches

Sunday we headed off the countryside once more saying goodbye to Puno and after a 5:30am start we arrived in time for church at 9:30am, spending time with Pastor Oswaldo who ministers to many churches across puno and the countryside. The church was packed with believers from different churches across this side of Puno and we had a great time being part of a service in Aymara and I shared my testimony; at the end the Pastor asked if everyone understood and one guy said ´yea some of it´! The countryside in Puno is like a different world and the services were filled with a lot of joy and a feeling that the people here really looked after each and sared for eachothers needs. Sharing lunch after the services, enjoying the most amazing fish, you could see the community that surrounds the church.

- Pray that God would protect His church in Puno and the surrounding countryside and give strength to those who minister there

- Praise God for fellowship in the churches and the hospitality

- Praise god for Pastor Oswaldo and his ministry across the churches, pray that God would protect his journeys and continue to give him widsdom as he ministers amongst the churches

(enjoying the Lord´s day and the hospitality of the believers and the food!)

We head to Tacna in the morning to Manantial de Vida to help with their anniversary service

and to work with the kids and young people there. We will be there until Sunday and are then returning to the campsite to do some work in Ite, what we´ll be up to i´m not quite sure yet but will keep you posted!

Prayer points for Tacna

1) For Manantial de Vida that God would bless them with another year of growth in the church

2) For the two kids clubs we have responsibility for

3) For Pastor Abraham and his family as they minister in the church

For the Team

1) Unity for the team and mutual encouragement and support

2) For Guido, the team boss, he has fractured his foot and is hobbling around on crutches for two more weeks, for patience and strong arm muscles

3) That we would honour God in all our preparations, work, actions, words and free time

4) For me, that i would enjoy my last weeks in Peru, that i would finish well and that my leaving wouldn´t spoil the team dynamic