Goodbyes Are Hard! - Days 5 & 6

"I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come." (Ephesians 1:16-21 NIV)

Tuesday was a wonderful and unique opportunity! Some of us left the job site and went to pushase books for the library we were buildings! We went to a market full of book vendors of all kinds and were able to purchase almost a thousand dollars worth of books! Thank you to our wonderful brothers and sisters at St. Luke!

Here is a vendor who makes and sells already completed science and school projects that parents can buy for their kids! We asked Viviana if this wasn't cheatings...she said indeed it was!!

Yesterday was our last day in the community. It was wonderful and sad....so emotional! The homes and libraries were blessed. And we even had money left to present to the community to go toward building bookshelves for the library! AND Linda, on behalf of the entire team presented a laptop to the library as well!

As we left, children were waving and crying...including our own! They are a beautiful people and I ask that you continue to pray for them! Thank you for praying for us as well!

Blessed,
Paola

More pictures soon!

Help Is Here - Day 5

John 14:16 says, "And I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever"

I have noticed that the more self-sufficient I become, then the more I start to think that depending on God is a sign of weakness. But the truth is that by drawing on the ability of the Holy Spirit, I can accomplish more than I ever could on my own!

I think God created us so that while we have our strengths, we also have weaknesses and we need His help!

And sometimes that help is in the form of Christian brothers and sisters serving together. So in my "service" to others, I am also being served as I learn to depend on my team mates as well as my Peruvian brothers and sisters!

Help is always here.

In Him,
Paola

Service in action? Amen Amen!

Day of Rest...not so much! Day 4

Got to sleep in this morning! We were off to church at Potential Church...great fun! The church is doing an 80's throwback theme for the summer so the music was cool!

After church we walked to the park for lunch...Loma Soltado, a regional favorite! Then we walked to the coastline as some of our group wanted to paraglide. Alas, there was not enough wind so we walked back the way we came (and then some!) to the Indian Market. If you like to bargain, this is heaven!

Check out Josh working that price down!

And then we walked some more! Here are sights along the way...

Here's one that I bet Jack can translate!

We are all walked out now, so off to bed! Back to work tomorrow!

Love you all!

Dia Tres!

So Day 3 was supposed to be a work day and we were to be off Sunday and Monday. But Alfonso worked some magic and arranged for our group to get a tour of the Presidential Palace. So our "off" days were swapped. As we were waiting in line, a group of school boys had to have their picture taken with our pretty girls! Sorry dads, but they're awfully cute!

Fear not, however, our boys were not to be left out!

The palace was beautiful and as we were leaving we were invited to the side of the courtyard to watch a special event taking place for some dignitaries. Regional dancers in costume were performing. They were beautiful!

Look at these dancers!

For dinner we had lots of choices at Larco Mar...the beautiful mall built into the side of the cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean. Guess what Molly, Maggie and I ate? Anticuchos...otherwise known as cow heart! Delicioso! Wish I had taken a picture!

Church tomorrow! Love to all!

Day 2

I slept well last night!

We all did!

Yesterday was more difficult labor but much fun as well! We had the honor of praying for those in need as well as playing with the kids!

Continue the prayers and God Bless!
Paola

Day 1

Hola Amigos!
What a great first day of work! We passed countless bags of sand up the hill...we passed every imaginable size of rock down the hill and carried walls back up. We held babies, played soccer and loved on everyone. And guess what? They loved on us back.

How often are we guilty of focusing on what we don't have rather than reflecting on everything that God has blessed us with? If you're like me, too often! But here in the Santa Rosita community, I see a people who don't have. Yet they give their hearts freely and love so big!

So today I give thanks for so much but I especially give thanks for the reason I am here:

"Lord, I pray with thanksgiving for all who offer prayers for me, my team and this entire trip. I realize That I don't even know some of those people, yet they are enveloping me in prayer. Bless their lives and their faith, Father. Pour out your Spirit upon them today. And I also thankfully praise you that at this very moment you, dear Jesus, are also interceding for me. That so encourages and steadies me! Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen." "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV)
Lord,

Up, Up and Away!

As I sit here waiting for our final flight to Peru, I am thinking about our mission trip and what our team will be doing in San Juan de Lurigancho. I look back on the past two years of work, preparation and fundraising and I think, "How awesome are we! We raised all this money to go and do all this good work! God must really be smiling down on us."

Prideful? yep. Boastful? yep. Shameful? you betcha.

The worse part is that it never occurred to me how prideful I've been until I read this today,
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV)

Did you get that part about "works"? I did...big time. It's not by how much I do in service to Him...it's through grace! Nothing we did!Our mission is a co-mission. God called our team and he blesses us through partners in prayer and gifts. He sends us, empowers us and goes with us! He joins us in mission with himself! Yep...nothing we did.

It's Him...all Him.

Blessed,Paola

In a few short days...!

I can't believe it's almost time! In less than a week I return to the beautiful people of Santa Rosita in San Juan de Lurigancho, Peru! Though it has taken our mission team two years to return, return we shall! St. Luke's 22 team members have spent the last two years fundraising and praying, praying and fundraising. And thanks to the support from our wonderful church, St. Luke UMC our team leaves this Wednesday!! To say we are excited is an understatement! Those of us who have been before can't wait to see our Peruvian brothers and sisters again! And those of us who are going for the first time, well...their anticipation is filled with great joy!


St. Luke Peru Mission Team 2010

So I ask that you continue to pray for us as we continue to prepare. I, for one, am anticipating God showing up in a big way! While I know He is with us always, I am looking forward to seeing what my Lord has in store for us! And I can't wait to share that with you all! I love you all!

Carrying panels for home up the hill! Whew!





St. Luke team members bless newly built home.