There’s no way I can recap everything that the Lord did today, but I’ll try to hit some of the highlights. He blessed our mission team with a VERY productive day for His Kingdom purposes as we prepare for the teaching conference to begin tomorrow afternoon. So, without any further delay, here we go…
The day began with one of our very dear friends, Missionary Rolando, sporting his new Saints shirt Wendy and I brought him from the United States! Hey, I’m proud of the Black and Gold and trying to do my part to spread a little "Who Dat" fever. I'm also VERY ready for some football - anybody else?
Then it seemed like we were off to the races. As you can see from a picture I took when we got to the Church this morning, the busy streets of Huancayo outside were an accurate reflection of our busy activities on the inside of the Church.
What sorts of things did we do? It’s more like – what sorts of things did we NOT do! We first had to sweep and mop pretty much three levels of the Church. The Holy Spirit demonstrated an absolutely awesome servant’s spirit in the life of every mission team member.
Here’s Marci and Rob helping with some sweeping and bag-moving. And take a look a Bro. Bobby putting his back into a broom which he transformed into a mop as we cleaned the floors. 
Of course, once the books were unloaded, we had to sort and count them. This is Juancho surrounded by Bibles and discipleship materials!
Then there were tons of things to wipe down. Corey has a bucket of water, and he’s getting to work. Actually, I don’t think they wiped down a “ton” of things; I think they pretty much wiped down everything – chairs, pews, tables, the plastic wrappings over mattresses, etc. Wait a minute – did you say “plastic wrappings over mattresses?” Yes, indeed. 
Some of the people who come to the conference from the villages in the mountains definitely cannot travel back and forth because it would take too much time and money. So they sleep in the Church. Here’s Blanca taking some mattresses to a holding room. By the way, on this point, please pray for those who’ll be sleeping at the Church. It can get cold at night. Remember: It’s winter in Peru these days.
Now we also had a lot of other things to do. 
For instance, we had to set up things for the conference like children’s rooms. Here’s Debbie in one of the kids’ rooms. Also, we had to move pews down about four or five flights of stairs to set up seating for the women attending the conference. Take a look at Juancho handling one of these pews all by himself! Is there any doubt now why we call him “Juancho El Hombre”?
We also had to carry over 100 chairs and several tables up about four flights of stairs to set up the dining area. Well, here’s no surprise – it’s Juancho El Hombre man-handling some chairs all by himself again! 
You know, after watching Juancho do all this hard work, it’s no wonder that I found him sneaking a siesta at one point in the day. But all this effort paid off! Just take a look at this awesome dining area the team put together for those coming to the conference.
Of course, there were other things we did that were a little less strenuous. 
For example, we put together craft items for the children. We also had to make some items. Here’s the host pastor’s wife and others cutting cardboard for a kids’ activity. Take a look at Corey and J.B., one of our translators, setting up the video for the women’s meeting area. I think they might be having way too much fun for this to be called "work" - what do you think?
I mean, if it looks like we had some fun throughout the day in addition to our work, you’re exactly right. 
Here’s Corey and Debbie going to get some water. I don’t know about you, but I think Debbie’s going to get a little more than Corey – what do you think? Also, take a look at J.B. with this soccer ball. Soccer’s really big in Peru; I guess it's just that the soccer balls are sometimes a little small!You know, today we did a lot of things to serve the Church in Peru in a physical way. Tomorrow, we’ll begin serving them in another way – we’ll be teaching them more about God’s Word and His desires for their lives. I think this picture kind of sums this up well.
This is Cameron and David on the left. They are missionaries in Peru and work a lot in the villages. Then, if you look closely, you’ll see several broom handles – one of which is being held by the host pastor’s wife. Finally, by the pastor’s wife’s feet, you notice a couple of Bibles sitting on top of an envelope. This envelope contains copies of the sessions I’ll be teaching for the conference, my English Bible, and a Quechua Bible which Missionary Rolando gave me this morning as a gift.
The reason why I think this picture sums up mission work well is simple. We need to teach people God’s Word. Without the truth of the Scriptures, we have no message to share. But we also need people to go and make disciples of all nations. Thank God for faithful people like David and Cameron who labor tirelessly in Kingdom work in Peru and encourage and equip people like this pastor’s wife. And we need “brooms and dust-pans” in mission work. What do I mean? We need to serve the people, demonstrate God’s love to them, build a rapport with them as we reach out to them through service, and share the Gospel with them which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes!
What a day! What an awesome day! Thank You, God, for the absolute privilege to work in Your fields today, and may You be glorified in all things!
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