A Big Prayer Request and a Huge Praise

This past week has presented us at Scripture Union with some difficult problems, and I appreciate your prayers for wisdom in decisions that are going to have to be made in the coming months. You may or may not have heard anything about the flooding in the Sacred Valley in the past week. CNN has been following it because the record flooding has taken out a significant part of the train line to Machu Picchu leaving 2500 tourists stranded in Aguas Calientes. Below is a link to a news story covering the flooding followed by pictures of the flooding:

More than 23,000 left homeless by torrential rains in Cusco, Peru

Pictures of the flooding in Urubamba near our boys' home

Anyways, the floods have been incredibly violent, and they have completely washed our boys' home away. There is basically nothing left of the building. The good news is that for months and months Hector (the house father for Cusco) has been saving money from his budget because he really felt like God had placed on his heart to take all of the 42 boys plus more volunteers and staff workers on vacation to one of our other campsites just south of Lima on the Pacific Ocean. Most of the children had never before seen the ocean, and Hector really wanted to see it. The vacation was originally planned for the first two weeks of January, but at the last minute a situation came up that forced them to change it to the last two weeks of January. Praise God for his timing. I know  that it was Him that put this vacation on Hector's heart, and He is taking care of the boys. The water arrived at our boys' home in a flash flood in the middle of the night that almost immediately covered over the bottom level of all of the boys bunk beds. Eventually it rose to the top level of the bunk beds too. The building is made out of the traditional mud adobe bricks, and it has now been washed away. I can't imagine the tragedy that would have happened had the boys not been on vacation. Praise God for his protection over our kids!

A few days ago Billy Clark (my boss) had a meeting with the person who donated all of the money for the construction of the boys' home in Cusco. As you can imagine Billy was not looking forward to telling this man that his entire investment in this boys' home had just been washed away. How did the man react? His words to Billy were, "Well, it's just money. We will have to rebuild--this time with cement and bricks instead of adobes." He has agreed to donate the complete amount to rebuild the home. Praise God for his provision!

Please join me in praying for the situation at the boys' home. It is a difficult situation, but what an awesome testimony to these boys of how God's hand is protecting them! Pray for wisdom as we begin to plan for the work team season in Cusco. Pray for everyone who is involved in deciding how and where to reconstruct our home. Most importantly pray for the lives of these boys who are temporarily without a home (they are currently staying at our campsite on the ocean where they came for a vacation). Also join me in praising God for his faithfulness, his provision, and his protection!

A Visit from Aaron and Lauren

Only a few days ago two of my friends from IWU, Aaron and Lauren, were married. Living in Peru there are a number of things that I have had to give up, and one of those things is the opportunity to attend most of my friends weddings. I was really sorry that I couldn't make it, but there is good news. They have decided to travel around South America for their honeymoon, and Lima, Peru is their first stop. Over the past couple of days I have had the honor of showing them around some of the sites in Lima and taking them to Kawai--one of our boys' homes on the Pacifc Ocean.

I know that it sounds kind of funny that I have been hanging around with them during their honeymoon, but we have had a great time. They have been an encouragement to me in the middle of some busy moments. It is always a comfort to see some familiar faces from back home. Yesterday we had the chance to go and see some of Lima's most common tourist attractions (the main square; the main plaza; a Franciscan monastery and catacombs; and a park filled with large water fountains). Today we spent the entire day at Kawai. In addition to enjoying the beach and the pools on the property, I had the pleasure of introducing them to the boys in our Girasoles program. We had a great time spending time with the boys and the house parents. It was a neat experience because Aaron and Lauren will soon be starting a job as house parents for at risk children. They enjoyed listening to the wisdom of Scripture Union's house parents here.

I have had a great couple of days catching up and relaxing with old friends. I love showing people around Peru and sharing my ministry experience with anyone who wants to listen. I love to see friends. If you are reading, consider yourself invited anytime!

 

Aaron and Lauren Cloud

 

At the water park

 

Aaron and I

A Trip to the Ocean with Girasoels Ica!

Earlier this week I had the joy of going to the beach with all of the boys from the Casa Girasoles in Ica! I was incredibly surprised to learn that even though Ica is just a short drive from the beach, many of the boys had never actually gone to the beach. It was a beautiful day, the swimming was great, and we enjoyed spending the time together.

It was also a great way for me to say goodbye to the boys in Ica. My time working in Ica has officially come to an end. From the end of this month through the end of February I will have another month full of work teams who are coming to support us here at Scripture Union Peru. After two and a half months working with the boys in Ica, it was hard to say goodbye. It was such a privilege to work with these kids, get to know them, and share God's love. I was blessed by the kids, and I was happy to help at the home and share some of the kids' burdens as some of them began to open up to me. They remain in my prayers, and I look forward to a number of opportunities that I will have to visit them in the year to come.

Here are some pictures from the beach:

In the bus excited for the beach

Augusto and I on the way to the beach

At the beach with the boys

Goodbye to Scripture Union Peru's old Lima center

As many of you already know, Scripture Union's old boys' home in Lima and main office building is being demolished soon. Scripture Union has decided to invest in this very valuable piece of property in order to financially support our ministries throughout Peru. In it's place will go a brand new shopping center. We have moved our boys' program and our offices out to Chosica (a beautiful place just on the outskirts of the city of Lima).

I had the opportunity to go and visit the building one more time a couple of weeks ago, and I thought that I would post some of these pictures for any of you who have been to our center in Lima. It is sad to think of all of the memories in that building, but at the same time change is sometimes necessary, and I am excited to see what lies ahead for Scripture Union in Peru.

The building from the outside

The old auditorium where groups used to sleep on the floor (now with no ceiling)

A pile of rubble on the 5th floor looking toward the Centro Civico

Some of the Girasoles left their mark on the walls

To see all of my pictures visit me on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/billygreenman

Some short videos from Kate

This Christmas, my friend Kate Bruder, her mom, and her brother all came down to visit some of Scripture Union's different street boys' homes. They arrived in Peru on Christmas evening, spent a few days in Ica where I got to see them, and then they traveled to Kusi to bring in the new year. It was a blessing to be able to see some friends from back home, and it gave my family a chance to send some cookies and other Christmas gifts from home!

Kate is a great photographer, but this year she spent more time taking video shots of they boys at the different homes. She posted them on Vimeo, and I thought that I would pass some of them on to you guys!



Sleeping from Kate Bruder on Vimeo.
After a long day of adventures, these boys from Girasoles Ica were exhausted and ended up falling asleep at the dinner table.



Playing from Kate Bruder on Vimeo.
Juan Carlos and Sanchez playing with Billy in the courtyard of the Girasoles Ica home.



Sanchez and Pampachay from Kate Bruder on Vimeo.
Sanchez being silly with Billy while Pampachay practices in the background.



Sanchez Greetings from Kate Bruder on Vimeo.
Sanchez, from the Casa Girasoles Ica home.

Happy New Year and a Million Thanks!

Happy New Year to everyone reading this blog. I pray that 2010 will be even better than 2009, and I pray that God would continue to do great works this year. Here in Peru I spent New Year's at Scripture Union's Casa Girasoles in Ica. We had a really fun time with all of the kids. Augusto hired a clown, and he did a great job with the kids. We set off a bunch of fireworks as did the rest of the country of Peru. Right when the clock hit midnight the whole city of Ica was filled with the booms of fireworks. It almost sounded like we were in a war zone. After the fireworks and the clown show Augusto opened 2010 with a short Bible study. He talked to the kids about the importance of loving each other, helping each other, and encouraging each other as a family. One other tradition here in Peru is that they make a big doll out of old clothes that represent the old year gone by. Sometimes they decorate the doll with symbols that represent the old year, but our doll was simple. He didn't even have a head! As we begun to burn it, though, the boys had the perfect idea for burning a symbol of the old year gone by. All at once they ran and got all of their old homework and notebooks and set them ablaze on top of the doll. It was a huge fire! To finish the night we sang a few praise songs together, and then it kind of turned into open karaoke. I lasted until about 3:30am, but some of the kids stayed up singing until 6:00am! I have posted a few pictures below, but I encourage you to take a look at my entire photo gallery on Flickr by clicking here.

Clowning around for New Year's

Lighting the doll on fire

Goodbye 2009!

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to think of me this holiday season. I arrived back at my apartment yesterday for the first time since Christmas, and the doorman greeted me and said, "Billy, thank goodness you're back. Your mailbox is overflowing and we don't know what to do with it all." In total I received more than 40 Christmas cards from the USA, Canada, and Scotland! My mom reminded me the other day that I have now spent pretty much all of the big holidays away from home this year for the first time. It wasn't easy, and I missed friends and family. But what a blessing to have friends here in Peru to celebrate with and to have friends from home constantly encouraging me with cards and notes! I was really overwhelmed as I stayed up until 1:00am last night opening and reading all of my Christmas cards. Thank you so much!

I also have to give props to my mom and sister for sending me the most creative Christmas greeting of the year. They sent me shortbread Christmas cookies, and each cookie had a letter on it made out of sprinkles. I had to promise not to eat any of the cookies until I decoded the message. My sister didn't trust me, though, so she sent on blank cookie to eat while I was working on the message. You can see what it says below!

Thanks Mandy and Mom!

Prayer Request
As I reflect over the Christmas season and the great encouragement that I have received from friends and family, I cannot help but think of the kids in Scripture Union's homes throughout Peru. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this time of the year is particularly difficult for the Girasoles because as everyone begins to focus on family, the boys are constantly reminded that they don't have a regular family. For me it was difficult to spend Christmas away from family, but I can't imagine the heartache of having to spend Christmas knowing that you really don't have a family that loves you. Some of the boys have been noticeably depressed over the last month, and I know that a few of the boys in our homes have chosen to leave the program over the past month--at least in part, due to the depression that comes with the season for them.

Pray that God would give the children strength to continue to move forward this year, and pray that God would work in mighty ways in the lives of these kids--even the ones who have chosen to leave to program to go back into the streets. Pray for me and even more so for all of the full time staff at our boys' homes. Pray that God would use us to speak truth into the lives of these kids as the world around them fills them with the same old lies-- "You don't matter to anyone;" "You are worthless trash;" "No one cares about you or about what happens to you." Pray that God would break these lies in the lives of the children, and they they would be filled with His unending love. Pray that they would find true healing in the only possible place--a personal relationship with Jesus.