Blessed by ACTIONs

So let me fill you in on the title. ACTION is a short-term missions program run my MBMSI. On July 10th an ACTION team from Winnipeg arrived in Lima. I was at the airport at 2am waiting to greet the team and help them around the city for the following two days. Anyway, to make a long story short, they left Lima and were in Piura (a city in northern Peru) for 1 month working with the MB churches in the area. Well they arrived back in Lima last Monday morning while en-route to Canada again.

The time that they were here in Lima I was able to just relax, let my hair down and be Canadian with a group of University age people. It was like the biggest breath of fresh air that I have breathed since my parents were here in March. We didn’t do anything super special. We shopped, drank coffee, saw some sights, and walked, ate and most importantly laughed. We laughed a lot. It was just for two days. But two days was like medication for 4 months.

When it came time for them to leave and go up to Piura. I wanted to go with them. But I know my work is here and my relationships are here, and well, let’s face it, this is where I was called to. But one can still dream. Anyway, they returned and were in Lima for about 12 hours. So we spent the day together again. It was wonderful! We got connected with a Canadian family working here in Lima for the Embassy and they fed us too (thanks so much Friesens!).

I guess what I am trying to say is that I felt super blessed, refreshed, and energized by the Peru ACTION Team. Way to go guys (That’s Jeremy, Amber, Dave, Carolyn, Matt, and Miriam).

I have about two months and a half left here in Peru. This weekend I leave for my last trip up to Piura. I’ll be there visiting the church, participating with Otto and Lidia Funk in their ministry, and visiting some good friends. It will be nice to see them again before I go home. And I welcome the chance to travel and get out of Lima for a few days.

Anyway, thanks for your love and prayers everyone. God bless,

Nate

Peru in August

So I know I haven’t exactly been the star writer lately. I feel like I keep waiting for something to happen. I keep waiting for a new event, trip, or change in ministry that I can report on or write about. But it would seem that waiting like that only serves one end: You, the supporter/reader never actually know what’s happening until something big comes along.

Therefore I write you today with no news. Nothing is happening. Well, at least nothing new and big to write about is happening. Let me give you the low-down on a week in the life of Nathan:

Monday:
- During the day I usually try to catch a sermon on iTunes (either from my church back in PG or from some other famous preacher–or sometimes both). I like to work worship music into the process too. It makes me feel like I’ve gotten a small taste of church. Church is one of the biggest things I miss from home. I never expected it (because I work for an MB church right now), but I miss it a lot.
- Monday is also the day I grocery shop and do my laundry (I figured you needed that information).
- Every Monday night I go with José Manuel to a bible study/small group that meets in the home of one family from our church.

Tuesday:
- This day is usually filled with whatever it is that I happen to be working on at the time. This can be anything from the latest sermon, bible studies, personal writing projects, reports for the mission, communication with home.
- Tuesday nights at the church is the weekly bible study that José Manuel teaches. Basically he has invited the whole church but specifically the leadership to come and study doctrine, church function, ministry, and other valuable things about ministry life.

Wednesday:
- This day is also used (as are most days) to work on whatever projects I have on the go.
- Often I hang-out with one of the three guys I am informally discipling.
- Wednesday nights are currently free for me. So they usually are filled with Skype calls to friends and family back home, phone calls (yeah, I still use the phone), and occasionally I spend the night relaxing with a book or trying to watch TV/A movie.

Thursday:
- I usually consider this day to be one for whatever happens. Things are quiet in the church during the mornings on Thursday. And so if there is nothing chaining me to my desk then I try to get out and go to the park, grab a Starbucks, or sometimes I also use this time for those discipleship relationships.
- Thursday nights are also free for me and therefore often fill with communications from home.

Friday:
- Friday is my admin day. Or at least I try to make it that way. I usually try to handle any lose ends from the week on Friday. Sometimes this means finances, other times it means emails, and sometimes it even means blog posts (today I’m ahead of the game)
- Friday night is the church’s weekly prayer night. So I spend my time with a group of people who come to pray and then afterwards we visit and swap war stories from the week.

Saturday:
- I try to sabbath on this day. It’s a hard thing to do here. But I feel a strong need to do this. Normally I am very extroverted. But in Peru I am very much the opposite. This strongly plays into my need to sabbath. So on Saturday I try to sleep in, rest, and not do much. But occasionally that doesn’t happen.
- Every last Saturday of the month at 10AM is our church leadership meeting.
- Some Saturdays something special is happening and I try to be around for that.
- Saturday night is the youth group.

Sunday:
- Of course in the morning we have church.
- Church is usually followed by lunch with people from the church and then we spend the afternoon visiting, playing cards, or doing something special until evening… or sometimes until late.

That’s a typical week in Peru. But keep in mind, this is Peru, so a lot of things happen that change my week and keep my on my toes.

Anyway, there you have it. Nothing is happening. But now you know exactly what nothing looks like.