Monday, July 12, 2010

Its been awhile

So it has been awhile since I've updated. Quite awhile. Almost two months? Weird. It got to the point in Peru that I just didn't have time to think of a witty way to put my thoughts in order, and I just prayed when I needed to vent. I think my parents were the only ones that read it anyway....and I think I Skyped them enough to keep them well-informed.
Here's what I'm thinking: I'm going to copy and paste the letter I'm sending to the people that supported my trip to Peru and that way you and I can both have a nice concise wrap-up of the last three weeks in Lima. Enjoy.


Dear friends,
                First of all, thank you so much for the support you have so generously given me, and the trust you offered me so readily.  I don’t have the words to describe how much the trip to Peru meant to me personally and spiritually.  After a few weeks of being home and being able to relax with my family, I felt it was very much time to send you all an update on the adventures I had this summer in Peru.  As you know, the trip to Lima was organized by the Spanish department at Harding University, specifically Ava Conley, department chair.  She and her husband Bill, along with Bob Brown who visited for ten days and led a conference at the church, have been some of the strongest Christians and most influential examples in my life. Their leadership and calm guidance throughout the trip was a learning experience in itself, and I am glad to have had the opportunity to work with them.
 The most important lesson I learned about missionary life was the necessity to be flexible and patient at all times. Your work depends on your relationships with the people, and a lot of times we had to change our expectations to fit other people's needs. Our team trained for about 16 weeks to prepare ourselves for presenting basic Bible studies to Spanish-speaking non-Christians.  We came to Lima with the expectation of following up on 22 World Bible School contacts that had been previously established, and then hopefully creating more connections and studies with the help of the members of the church.  However, once we got there, it soon became clear that our plans needed to change drastically.  Very few of the contacts responded to our invites, and of those that did, even fewer came continuously to study with us throughout the 5 weeks we were there.  After initial discouragement, our passion was renewed with the arrival of Bob Brown and the beginning of the conference (very similar to a gospel meeting) held the 27th through the 30th of May.  Bob is one of the most dynamic people I have ever met, and he preached with such an inspiring passion that we had a baptism on that Sunday, a man named Julio who had been studying and worshipping with the church some months before we arrived. 
Bob and Ava had many discussions about what we as a mission team were going to do next; few of us had reliable Bible studies in the evenings and it left us feeling like we should be doing more.  They made a decision to refocus the goal of the trip, and we shifted our objective to the teaching and revitalization of the congregation.  They seemed to have few practical tools for evangelizing, so rather than conduct the Bible studies ourselves, we began to teach the Peruvians what it had taken us a semester to learn.  They loved talking about the Scriptures and learning what questions were appropriate to ask, and how to broach tough subjects like infant baptism.  We prayed a lot about this shift in focus, and came to the conclusion that it was much like the old saying, “If you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day, but teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”  Our hope is that the San Isidro congregation will continue to reach out to the community around them and grow even more in the love that we saw demonstrated so graciously during our stay.
It may be common for a missionary to feel this way, but I saw my own personal spiritual life grow and be positively affected by this mission trip almost more than I felt I had affected others.  I know we made an impact and did the Lord’s work with a spirit of humility, but simply being in an environment where everyone’s focus was God’s purpose and God’s will 24/7 was more uplifting than any experience I have had until now.  It’s difficult to explain the strength of the relationships that were formed, both within the team and among the members of the congregation, because the time we spent together was so unique.  Even at Harding, where the vast majority of people believe similarly and have God’s will in mind, you can’t get the same experience as I have had being in such a different culture with what seems like few allies, away from family and friends and our familiar comfort zone.  We expanded our horizons in so many ways, through visiting museums, trying a fraction of the enormous variety of food (a month is not nearly long enough to experience all the types of Peruvian food), shopping in Inca markets, taking pictures by the ocean, and just hanging out with people of a different culture.  I wish I could take up more of your time telling some of the anecdotes and interesting things that happened along the way, but I’m sure you don’t need a novel.
Thank you again for the chance to experience this wonderful country, and see God’s glory in a whole new way.
Que Dios te bendiga, y muchas gracias otra vez!
In Christ,
Molly Brooks

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