February

Baptism
VBS
2 converts in CHURCH
Thieves and deception
It’s been a couple of busy weeks.

We had our first baptisee from Circunvilacion on February 13th. 10 year old Manuel has been an enthusiastic disciple and has grown leaps and bounds since his conversion at the beginning of January. His mom and grandmother are huge a support to him as well as Ana and I. Christians who have been worshipping privately from their home (due to the cost of travel to and from church); they are quite excited to have a Place of Worship close by. Manuel’s grandfather, Faustino, is a riot! He is not yet a Christian, but is not object to it. He has a lot of questions and is eager to learn. Faustino is so funny, and absolutely dedicated to establishing the Church of Nazarene in Nueva Esperanza.
Any way, back to the baptism. INSERT BAPTISM MATERIAL

We had an incredible turn out for VBS. 47 kids the first day, 49 on the second. With only Ana and me teaching, it was the perfect amount to show up. We did not have the 2010 VBS lessons, so we made up our own material. Our theme was obedience. We talked about Abraham the first day, and Sodom and Gomorra the second. We had songs, work sheets, and a special craft for each day. We had snacks and gave out little rewards to encourage good behavior. We decorated the walls. We did the same thing for all 3 of our locations, and on a budget of about $75. It was a BLAST!

Ana and I like to involve as many people as possible— it gives everyone a sense of purpose, as well as relieves a bit of our work load. There are 5 kids that are a part of our janitorial staff. They arrive early and sweep, get the chairs/benches in order, and settle the dust. (It’s so cute!) I would like you all to be praying for their safety whenever they are there. They use the space to play on a daily basis, and, like I said, arrive early to clean. This zone is not exactly the safest, and the caretaker’s house was broken into and stolen from in the middle of the day not too long ago. (Ana and I talked with the thief before it happened. (A manly woman if I ever saw one)

Our services are being held on Tuesday and Friday evenings. Tuesday is dedicated to prayer which is normal in ALL of Peru. We have had a steady attendance of 4 adults as well as two others that come off and on. Ana and I are really enjoying the encouragement of the people. There are about 10 kids who are coming to our prayer services as well. They do a good job during our devotional message, but have we have yet to figure out how to teach them to sit quiet during the prayer time. It does run a little while (about 20 minutes of solid verbal prayer)…But, it’s a process. And they’re kids…so…what do you do?