Witnessing in the marketplace

Our students have been involved in many opportunities here in Peru. As a chaperone, it has been a blessing to see our students engage in sharing the gospel in the marketplace. They sang, gave testimonies, did skits, and prayed with individuals who had specific needs. The local church people accompanied us and had this chance to invite people to join with the local Christian community.  Today a lady whom we prayed for gave us a fresh papaya as a thank you gift, and the kids were delighted. We are seeing God at work and at the same time we are growing in our own spiritual lives. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  I thank Trinity for the chance to participate.. Boyd Dimmock

Day 3: Peru

Hola everyone! This is Emma Keeter and I am a rising senior within the youth group. Today has been slightly different because it is Sunday and we helped lead local church services within Cusco. I went to the the church of Ibroamericana. It is a very small church with just enough space to fit 3 work groups and the members of the church. The service started with music in Spanish lead by one of our translators named Luis. Even though it was all in Spanish, we all sang along and tried our best with the pronunciation. As the service continued, fellow youth group members stepped up to share their testimonies, sing music in both Spanish and English, preform a skit, and preach the word of God. It was extremely moving for the locals to see us involved with sharing our faith by action and words. At the end of the service the members of the church gave us hugs and kisses as a farewell and a way of gratification.

 Following the church service, we ate lunch and planned out specifics for Vacation Bible School. We then drove to the VBS site of Tombomachay and played with the kids for about an hour. The kids love to play soccer, throw frisbees, blow bubbles, jump rope, and love to be tickled. After about an hour of play time, the translators call the kids to sit down and VBS begins. The first activity we begin with at VBS is the music. The Spanish version of Jesus is My Superhero is a favorite among the kids! After a few songs and cool dance moves, there is a skit preformed to show and tell the bible story for the day. The bible story for today taught the kids about Queen Ester. Next a memory verse is held up on individual poster boards and the kids read it aloud all together. To help with memorization, a few words are taken out and finally all the words go away and they attempt to recite it. The kids get real excited after all the words are gone and a few individuals are chosen to see if they can recite it all from memory to receive prizes such as a sandwich or juice box. The final activity for the day includes the craft. Today the kids made a clay necklace representing the royalty and bravery of Queen Ester. Once everyone was done making their necklaces, the kids exit VBS by making a train and running under adult leaders and youth forming a tunnel. 

I saw God today throughout my day but specifically in the church service this morning. Watching my friends give their testimony, sing a song, or even perform a skit shows me and others that God is  working in them and has a true purpose for them. And to get the amazing feedback from the church members makes it exciting and thrilling. Hope you enjoy this update!

Days 1-2: Peru

Hey everyone, I'm Rachel Langley, a senior on the TBC high school ministry team in Peru. Wow! We've been in Peru for 48 hours, and we finally got wifi to work in the hostel. After about 24 hours of travel (aka 24 hours of no sleep), we had a quick nap before we headed out to our first day of VBS. We basically went around to the houses around the parks inviting kids to play with us. Some of the translators even made us invite the kids ourselves...in Spanish! As we played, more and more kids showed up and joined right in. 

Later, we went back to the hostel and had dinner--a fabulous dinner I may add. We have some locals cooking for us and they feed us well! It's delicious and filling and I'm trying to find a way to sneak some if the bread and jam home! We also have tea available at each meal, including coca tea to help with altitude sickness. When we first arrived, some people were feeling the effects of lack of sleep and change in altitude, but as of today (Saturday) everyone was out working, doing well, and sharing God's love with the people of Cusco!

Today, we played with kids, fed elderly people, played bingo, dug trenches for a wall, held multiple VBS's, and went door to door sharing the gospel. As we shared during devotion tonight, people shared some things they had struggled with. The language barrier was definitely a common issue, but everyone seemed to be able to communicate with the people. As one person said, even with the language barrier, the people knew we loved them and we knew they loved us. Others struggled with being in situations that made them uncomfortable or that they weren't prepared for. Door to door evangelism was definitely one ministry many people were anxious about. As we went out, Brooks Warren reminded us to pray that God would give us the words to say, and I think that really helped those groups. One person shared that their group didn't really know what they were doing, but by the end of the day they had a major God moment. They had been sharing with one girl and one of them randomly thought to ask the girl if she had any questions. She asked them how to pray. She knew that she needed to, and she wanted to, but she didn't know how. They really felt the presence of God in that moment and knew they were there for a reason. Any anxieties they had were relinquished. 

For me, the most awesome experience was speaking with a woman named Nilda, who works with a project called Chulla Sonqo which means one heart in Quechua. It is a program where they help kids who live outside Cusco with their studies so they can attend high school in the city. She was at the hostel, selling some crafts the kids had made, and someone needed a translator. I was the most qualified in the immediate area...even with my mediocre Spanish abilities. I translated for her and then we got into a conversation. Without even knowing each other's names, we connected on an almost spiritual level I've experienced only very rarely. And I think that encounter really sums up many encounters people on our team have had--whether it be the nonverbal communication of love with a child or someone being in the right place at the right time. God is definitely working here, and I think we realize that a little more each day as we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit's moving.

Preparation and Prayer

As is the case with any trip, there is much preparation to be done as your students make themselves ready for the upcoming Peru Mission Trip. Packing lists will be checked countless times to ensure that no essential item is left behind and many will spend time reviewing the schedule in order to know where they will be at all times.

However, in the midst of all the stress that comes with preparation, we encourage parents and students to put their packing on pause for a moment and enter into a time of prayer:

- Pray for the students: That the Lord would use them during this time to serve and that the experiences they encounter would allow them to grow closer to God.

- Pray for the leaders: That they would watch over the students and guide them in the ways in which the Lord has directed.

- Pray for the people we will encounter abroad: That they would be touched by our students and leaders and see the love of Christ in us.

We encourage you to pray as you prepare and to continue to pray while the students on their journey. We pray that our Heavenly Father would watch over this group and that the Holy Spirit would guide us as we go out and serve.

To Peru With Love: A Fundraising Effort Benefitting Trinity's High School Missions Team

Donate Here

On Faith + Doubt

A couple of weeks ago, our high school students, during Northbound, were asked to think of questions they were always afraid to ask in church. Many of our students wonder and often hesitant to ask difficult questions because they are not sure how adults would respond. They do not want to be judged so they keep the questions to themselves. What we desire for our students is that our homes and our church are safe places where they can ask questions.

Andrew Zirschky at the Center for Youth Ministry Training says, “If we are going to respond adequately to the doubting experiences of youth, we need to ensure that young people … have patient, understanding companions who can guide and care for them through the twists and turns of the journey of doubt.” Our parents and adult leaders at church are the companions Zirschky describes.

As parents and adult leaders, we often do not have answers to the difficult questions our teenagers sometimes ask. Brad Griffin of Fuller Youth Institute suggests we have four words in our back pocket for those moments: “I don’t know, but…” It’s ok to admit that we do not know but together, we can seek out the answers. To help develop the spiritual growth in our students, we have to be open for doubt-filled questions and respond with patient and loving responses. May the Lord place us in these moments as we walk with our teenagers through their spiritual journey.

- Andy 

A Good Friday Meditation

I'm just going to leave this here for you.  

Listen. 

Pray. 

Give thanks.

Humble and human, willing to bend You are
Fashioned of flesh and the fire of life, You are
Not too proud to wear our skin
to know this weary world we’re in
Humble, humble Jesus

Humble in sorrow, You gladly carried Your cross

Never refusing Your life to the weakest of us
Not too proud to bear our sin
to feel this brokenness we’re in
Humble, humble Jesus

We bow our knees

We must decrease
You must increase
We lift You high

Humble in greatness, born in the likeness of man

Name above all names, holding our world in Your hands
Not too proud to dwell with us, to live in us, to die for us
Humble, humble Jesus

We bow our knees

We must decrease

You must increase
We lift You high

We lift You high
We lift You high 

Humble

You are humble 

Make me humble like you 

We lift You high


"Humble" by Audrey Assad