My Parents' Visit to the Amazon

Last week was a great time of relaxing and enjoying the company of my parents. It was great to see them after almost an entire year of being away. We enjoyed a few days exploring the Amazon jungle from a lodge. We also got to visit a number of different projects that Scripture Union has here in Peru. Below are a few pictures to tell our experience.

Canopy Tour Zip Line -- After a 120 foot climb into the canopy, we got to zip-line and rappel back down!

Dorilla, the monkey, enjoying some bananas in our boat

Swimming in the river with my dad and with the pink dolphins!

Dad caught a piranha. He was happy until he realized that they were going to kill it and cook it.

Mom, Dad, Gerlo (our guide), and I

The family plus Kate taking Christmas pictures at the mall.

Arriving to Iquitos

In Iquitos these grubs are a highly sought after snack.

Mom, Dad, and I in front of a huge tree.

This frog tried to escape, and it ended up attached to Mom's leg. I wasn't sure if the frog was going to end up in the water or if my mom was.

Also, I just wanted to take a chance to make you aware that you can now sign up online for recurring donations to support me and my ministry here in Peru. Hopefully this new tool will make the process of signing up for monthly donations a little bit easier. All you have to do is click here to go to my missionary profile page on LAM's website. From there, click on the "support this missionary" link, and follow the instructions. Please prayerfully consider participating in this ministry through your financial support.

Christmas Around the Corner

I can't believe how fast this year has flown by! It seems like just yesterday that I was helping out with our January summer camps on the beach. This year I have been busier than ever, and I am so blessed to be a part of Scripture Union's ministry here in Peru. Apart from the camps at the beginning of the year, I have also continued to support the work at our boys' homes across the country (two of which are brand new this year)! I have taken some sign language classes and participated in our ministry for the deaf. I have traveled with Pastor Emilio to help in the distribution of Scripture Union's daily devotional guides. I have hosted numerous short-term missions teams that have helped with construction and maintenance of our homes, medical outreach ministries, vacation Bible schools, and so much more! If you want to learn more about my work here in Peru, I encourage you to visit my new LAM missionary profile by clicking here. You will find more general information about me as well as a link to my most recent pictures.

Now we are approaching the Thanksgiving season. Most of us will take a moment to stop, reflect, and thank God for the blessings that he has given to each of us. We serve a great God who is worthy of all our thanksgiving! He freely gives us his love even though we are all undeserving of it. God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to those around us.

This year we are once again raising funds to provide a nice Christmas dinner and gifts for the children in each of our homes. While many people enjoy family time this season, many of our boys are reminded of the family that they never had, or worse--the family that didn't want them. While the boys are in our care we take our calling very seriously. We are their family, and we want to show the children that they do have value. We want to be reflections of the Father's love in their lives.

If you are interested in supporting our efforts, then please click here for our full letter with further information on how to partner with us. If you have any questions, always feel free to email me (bgreenman@latinamericamission.org).

Girasoles Christmas in Ica

In addition to financial support, we would greatly appreciate your prayers. Below are a few prayer requests:

- Construction is underway at our Cusco home that washed away. Pray for the project to run smoothly so that our boys can move into their new permanant home as soon as possible.
- Scripture Union will have a new general director at the beginning of the new year. Pray for the transition process, and pray for wisdom for our new leader.
- Pray for our schools ministry. This work is expanding, and we are hoping to start schools work in new regions of Peru's jungle and mountains.
- My parents are coming to visit Peru for Thanksgiving this year. Pray for a safe and healthy trip. Pray for quality time with my family this coming week.

Yems

Yesterday morning I found myself sitting in a small office as I was anxiously waiting to meet Yems, one of the children who I have been sponsoring through Compassion International for a few years. What will the day be like? What are we going to do? I hope he enjoys the day. I have been living in Lima for two and half years already, and I figured that I needed to take advantage of the fact that Yems and I are living in the same city. I contacted Compassion in the States, and they were more than happy to set everything up for me.

Yems and his mom walked through the door, and they were presented to me by some of the staff workers here in Peru. It was a surprise to them that I was able to speak Spanish. They were worried that it would not be very easy to communicate through a translator. We had a really nice day. I was able to take them out to the "Parque de las Leyendas," a very large zoo / archeological attraction here in Lima. After our very full morning at the zoo, we went out to lunch. As we walked around I had the opportunity to learn more about his family and his dreams. Yems wants to study to be a translator. He wants to learn English and Italian. He also really enjoys art. Time flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to say our goodbyes.

Throughout my travels in Peru I have noticed a similar quality in many people here who are living in poverty--they often don't believe in themselves or think very highly of themselves. In a way they begin to accept their place in society. They begin to accept that they are sub-par human beings. One of my greatest joys in life is to help people recognize those lies and to tell them about the hope that they have in Christ. In Christ we are heirs to the throne (Gal. 4:6, 7), we are free from condemnation (Rom. 8:1), and we are more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37). I was greatly blessed by the opportunity to spend time with Yems and his mother yesterday. It was a perfect opportunity to affirm them and build them up, to encourage Yems in his studies, and to remind them that they are loved.

Yems, his mother, and I

A Life Transformed!

Wow, this summer (or winter here in Peru) has flown by. So much has happened. Since the end of May I have hosted 10 different work teams from the United States and Scotland. I have been all over the country to our various boys' homes, and I even made it to Quito, Ecuador for a few days to translate a wedding for my good friend Katie. I have been busy hosting teams, translating church services, helping out with some construction projects, coordinating VBS programs, translating for medical doctors, and sharing the work of Scripture Union with all of the visitors that have come. It has been such a great blessing to be a part of, but last night something extraordinary happened that will stand out for me as a highlight of my summer and of my entire time here in Peru thus far.

I actually want to backtrack a little bit before I get to everything that happened yesterday evening. At the beginning of June I was visiting Kusi with a work team. As is customary here in Kusi, we have a bonfire with the group and all of the boys near the end of the group's time in Peru. It is a great moment of fellowship with each other. We sing praises in English and in Spanish, and anyone from the group or any of the boys that live here are free to stand up and share a testimony of what God is doing or what he has already done in their lives. I was sitting at the dinner table with Miguel, one of the boys who lives here at Kusi. I asked him if he had anything that he wanted to share with the group. He thought for a minute, and he said to me, "Not tonight, but when the last group comes in August I will share my testimony."

I left it at that, wondering if he really meant that he wanted to say something in August or if it was just his indirect way of saying that he didn't want to share anything in front of the entire group, hoping that it would be forgotten before August came around. I would just have to wait and see.

"I am going to give my testimony to the group tonight at the bonfire. You are going to translate for me, right?" Miguel said me yesterday morning. I had been wondering whether or not he was going to say anything for the last two months. It turns out that he did have something that he wanted to share, and I was excited to see what he had to say to the group. But come dinner time Miguel approached me again. He said, "Billy, I don't think I can share tonight, but I promise I will the next time a work group comes, and we have another bonfire." I told him that no one is pressuring him, and that we are happy to hear what he had to say when he was ready to say it.

We finished with dinner, and put on all of our warm clothes on to head out to the fire. On my way out, Miguel approached me one more time. He told me that Angel, the house father here at Kusi, had also approached him and asked if he wanted to share anything. Once again, he changed his mind and decided to share. We sang a few songs, and a few other people shared testimonies of God's work in their lives first, and then it was Miguel's turn. I have known Miguel for a number of years, and I know that he has passed through some very difficult moments in the streets, but I had no idea what he was going to share. He stood up beside me so that I could translate, and he began to speak to the group of 20 Americans and his 40 other brothers here in Kusi:

"My story starts when I was six years old. I lived in the town of Tingua, and my older brother abandoned me on the streets. I spent my time on the streets. I went wherever I wanted to go, and I did whatever I wanted to do. Two years later when I was eight, I came to the town of Yungay. I found my brother here, but he abandoned me again. I continued to live on the streets until one day I met a lady named Liz. She approached me, and asked me where my family was. I told her that my mom, my dad, and my brother had abandoned me, and I didn't have any family. She was the one who told me about Kusi, and eventually I came here.

I lived here for a couple of years, but it was really hard for me to get used to life here with all of the rules. They were hard to follow, and after a year or two I began to think about leaving and going back to the streets. I convinced myself that the freedom I had on the streets was something that was good for me, so I left. I went back down to Yungay, and I began to rob to make a living for myself. I also worked on a transport route going from Yungay to the town of Yanama on the other side of Huascaran. Sometime I worked all day and all night. I rented a room for myself in Yungay, but after the first month I left without paying the landlord. I found other friends in the streets, and we continued to steal. One day my old landlord found me, and confronted me with what I owed him. I told him that I would pay him when I had the money, but I wasn't really planning to ever pay him.

Then the day came when I stole something, and I was caught. I was taken to the police station. I told them that it wasn't me, even though I knew that it was. I was there for awhile, and then eventually they got in touch with papa Angel. They called him and asked him to come down. They wanted to send me back to Kusi. Angel came, but I really did not want to come back here. They left me to think about it for five minutes, and I began to reflect on my life. I thought about where my life would end up if I didn't come back. I agreed to go.

I have been back for one year now, and I am thankful for my family here in Kusi. I ask you all to continue to pray for me because tonight I want to make the decision to give my life to Jesus."

Miguel broke down in tears along with many of us who were listening. We prayed with him, and celebrated by breaking out the marshmallows to roast over the bonfire. What a beautiful story of God's redemption and the seed planted years ago that has finally come to bear fruit in Miguel's life, and what courage Miguel had to share the Holy Spirit's work in his life to such a large group of people! The truth is that Miguel just chipped into the tip of the iceberg as he told us of the pain and suffering that he has experienced. He has passed through some situations that would be hard for most of us to even fathom. But that is now all in his past. In Christ he is a new creation. The old is gone; the new has come!

Please join me in rejoicing in the work that God has done in Miguel's life, and the work that he continues to do in the lives of the boys in all of our programs throughout Peru. Pray that Miguel would grow in his new faith and that God would place people in his path to encourage him and help him to move forward.

We closed the evening by singing these words last night. I think it is an appropriate ending to this blog entry as well:

"Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."

Scripture Union Peru Videos

It is hard to believe that April has already come and gone. Time here in Peru is flying by. April was a great month for me. I enjoyed celebrating my birthday with friends in Lima, I have enjoyed my continuing sign language classes, and I have really enjoyed having a little bit more time to get involved in my local church here in Peru. I have made some new friends, joined in on a service project to paint a school for children with special needs, participated in the recording of my church's live worship CD/DVD, and I have begun translating some of the Sunday morning services from Spanish to English. No, I don't translate in front of everyone, but each week we have a few English speaking visitors that would like to know what is happening during the service. They are given headphones, and I speak into a microphone in the back of the room that transmits to their headphones. It is a little bit more challenging than translating up front because there are no pauses for me to jump in and translate. I have to do it simultaneously. It is great practice, though, and it is a joy to be able to serve my local congregation. You are welcome to look at my pictures from the last few months. Just click here or look for them on Facebook.

Painting the School

I have also kept busy with Scripture Union. Last week our international relations team had an opportunity to meet with our board of directors. It was a good chance to talk about different ideas and visions that we have as well as a good opportunity to become better acquainted with the board. The week prior to the meeting was full of preparations for our presentation to the board, and I think that our work and preparation paid off.

In many ways the month of May is kind of the quiet before the storm. Our first work team arrives on May 22, and we will hit the ground running. I will be with teams almost nonstop between then and mid August in different parts of the country. Right now it is all logistics. Booking hotels, buses, and figuring out budgets. Thankfully my friend and colleague, Rachel, is in charge of most of these logistical details. She does a great job, and I am around this month to give her an extra hand where need be. Please pray for us as we make preparations this month. Also pray for all of the teams who are preparing to come and partner with us. Pray for the volunteers who will be coming to help host the teams and all of the full time SU staff who will be involved with the short term teams.

If you are interested in getting to know a little bit more about SU Peru, then I encourage you to look at these two videos below. The first explains our general work and the different options for work teams that come down. The second shows a little bit of our medical ministry on the Amazon River. If you are interested in work teams or medical missions, give me an email (bgreenman@latinamericamission.org), and I will get you more information.

Work Teams

 

Amazon Hope

"Abandoned" and How You Can Help

Lev Mergian is a friend of mine back from my days at Ward Church's youth group. He and I traveled together on a number of short term trips with church, and they were trips that opened our eyes and changed both or our lives. For me, God used the short term trips to solidify my long term calling to Peru. For Lev, the trips inspired him to film a documentary about the street children here in Peru to open the world's eyes to such an important social issue.

He has already done the filming, and is now in the process of raising money to cover the costs of producing the documentary. I encourage you to take a look at his page on kickstarter.com and consider being a part of this documentary. The funds raised will be used to hire translators, transcribers, colorists, editors, sound designers, licensing, multi-media formatting, and composers. It will also fund the submission fees to enter this picture into as many film festivals as possible. Below is the trailer for "Abandoned."

You can learn more about the documentary and donate to this project by clicking here.

So Much More than Sign Language

Just as I did last year, I have decided to enroll in the sign language classes that Scripture Union Peru offers for the months of March and April. Last year I had to enroll in the pre-basic class, and in that class we actually didn't learn signs at all. It was more about gestures and visual, non-verbal communication skills. This year I am now in level one, and I have only attended two classes so far. In the first class we concentrated on the alphabet, and in the second class we added numbers to the mix. I find myself walking around Lima and practicing signing the letters on street signs. Haha...I know I am a little bit of a nerd.

My teacher's name is Vanessa, and she herself is a deaf adult. As I walked out of my last class on Saturday, I was really moved. It wasn't so much the content that she was teaching but the way in which she chose to teach it. Vanessa does a wonderful job of incorporating her own personal experiences into the classroom. As she patiently spells words to us with her hands and teaches us new signs (10 times slower than she would with someone who already knows signs), she tells us bits and pieces of her testimony. She tells us how she was ignored at home because no one knew how to communicate with her. She tells us of all of the painful doctors visits and odd procedures that she underwent because of her parent's desire for her to be normal. She told us how her parents made her feel like she was guilty--somehow responsible for her own deafness. She told us of how she would be handed books and expected to read, or at least copy the letters even though she did not understand what the letters meant. She had a low self esteem, and she was so angry without any way to express it in a way that other people would understand.

Today she is so much the opposite. Vanessa is bright and outgoing. She is able to communicate fluently in signs, and she can read and write Spanish. She told us that as a child she could never have imagined that she would be in charge of a classroom full of hearing adults. She is so happy that by God's grace she has the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. Most of my classmates are parents of deaf children. To see the light in Vanessa's eyes as she urges the parents to make the effort to communicate with their children and to include them with the rest of the family is truly moving.

I thank God for Vanessa and her other colleagues who are working at Scripture Union's deaf program. Many deaf people in Peru end up jobless and living on the streets with nowhere else to go. They fall into a life of drugs and loneliness. Praise God that he is using people like Vanessa to make a difference in these peoples' lives. He is using her not only as a mentor and role model for other deaf children but also as a testimony and example for these children's parents and family!

Summer Camps in Kawai

For most of the month of February I am working in Scripture Union Peru's summer camps at Kawai. Kawai is a large campsite owned by Scripture Union right on the Pacific Ocean. While most of you readers are all bundled up trying to keep warm, I have the privilege of spending one month of my Peruvian summer on the beach working with all different types of kids and youth. This past week I had a special opportunity to help host a camp in partnership with another organization called SOS Children's Villages International. Forty teenagers came from the Esperanza home and the Rio Hondo. While the organization itself is not a Christian organization, I had the opportunity to spend four days with the kids and to share God's love with them.

We did all sorts of activities during the week. We spent hours in the pool and even more time on the beach and swimming in the ocean. We had relay races, skits, soccer and volleyball tournament, we slept in tents, and we had plenty more excitement during the week. One thing that amazes me working with kids and youth is how quickly you can begin to build relationships. What a blessing it is to become involved in the lives of people who you are just beginning to know. Working here in Kawai brings back years of good memories at Ward's Kids Kamp. I loved going to camp and enjoying life as a camper, but I also remember that God worked in my life through the counselors and other role models that he placed in my path.

I now have the opportunity to be one of those role models for these kids. For me the highlight of last week was the very last night. We had a bonfire on the beach and we went around the circle talking about our experiences from the last few days. We had a few laughs thinking of the funny things that happened during the week. We toasted marshmallows, and we enjoyed the beach. As the evening was coming to an end each of the counselors had a chance to say sometime. Paul, the director of the camp, shared how he made a decision for Christ in Kawai a number of years ago. When my turn came I felt pressed to share that one of the great things about God's love is that he chooses to continue loving us even in the midst of our broken condition. I shared that we can come to God just as we are with all of our problems, and he will accept us with open arms. The other guides continued to give a few words, and then the evening was over. We started to go back to the campsite, but I noticed that one of the older kids, Antony, just stayed sitting on the beach looking at the fire.

I approached him, and asked him if he was alright. "God really loves me in spite of everything I have done?" he said. Wow. I was not expecting that question--especially not from him. Antony was the oldest and one of the most difficult to work with during the week, but the gears were obviously turning in his head. I sat down with him in front of the fire, and we stayed and continued talking late into the night. How awesome it is to be in a situation where I know that God is using me. Antony still has lots of questions, and I encouraged him to continue to ask and to continue to search for God. I know that as he begins to search, God will be faithful in answering. Pray for Antony and the other kids who are coming to Kawai all summer long. God is at work here in Peru!

I leave you with a few photos from the week. You can see all of them on my Flickr page.

Games on the beach

My favorite thing to do at camp--SWIM!!!

Pie in the face

The group

Paul, Joca, Erica, and I (the leaders)

Alex, Julio, Alex, and I

Ideally the eggs were supposed to sink!

Update on Jacob

I just wanted to post a quick update about Jacob from my last blog post.  He is healing very well, and we are continuing to take care of him. It looks like we may take him to our boys' home near Iquitos. Either way, we will definitely work to make sure that he is in good care. It is great to see how God can work--even in the midst of a snake bite. Thanks for all of your prayers!

Earlier this week another group from the UK visited the boat, and they were able to meet Jacob. The following video was taken by one of the group members. If you can't see the video, then click here to go the the YouTube page.

Jacob and God's Perfect Plan

Recently I had another opportunity to spend a few days on our medical boat in the Amazon jungle. This particular voyage took us far from the city of Iquitos fairly close to the border between Peru and Brazil. If you want to try to find it on a map, look for the city of Pevas (sometimes spelled Pebas) in Peru. It is amazing to see how God can use the boat and the team on the boat to minister to the people in the jungle in very tangible ways.

One case in particular stands out in my mind, and I want to share Jacob's story with you. It was my last evening on the boat for this particular trip, and we had changed plans at the last minute. We were supposed to be heading to a town close to the Ampiyacu River, but instead Dr. Ronald (the doctor in charge of this voyage) decided to head a couple of hours farther down the Amazon to the town of Cochiquinas. Just as we were tying the boat up in the town's small port and finishing dinner, a man from the town approached our boat looking for help.

"I know that you are not planning on attending patients until tomorrow morning, but please, this is an emergency." he said.

Indeed it was. The man was carrying a young boy in his arms. He explained to us that the morning before he had been bitten by a snake in the ankle, and he was growing weaker and weaker. As we brought the boy down into the medical room, we noticed that he was bleeding from a number of different places on his body. I know nothing about snake bites or tropical medicine, but the doctors explained to me that it is common for snake venom to act as an anticoagulant, meaning that wherever this boy has a cut or a scrape, the blood wouldn't clot like normal--it just continued to bleed.

Immediately, the doctors and nurses went to work. I did my best to stay out of their way and just be available to translate as needed. Thankfully our boat travels with a general snake anti-venom in stock. I was under the impression that once we gave him the anti-venom medicine, then he would begin to heal, but the doctors informed me that his case was much more serious.

"Theoretically speaking this anti-venom will do no good if the bite occurred more than 24 hours ago," Dr. Ronald said, "and this boy was bitten more than 36 hours ago. The only other treatment for snake venom only treats the symptoms--not the problem."

"So what are we going to do?" I asked, worried that the boy might not make it.

Dr. Ronald replied, "There are only two things that we can do: give him the anti-venom anyway and pray that God will take care of this boy."

We did just that. We administered the strong medicine to this boy through his IV line. At first he reacted quite strongly. He began vomiting, and he became quite sick. As I stood in the room and witnessed this, I began to think that I was going to witness this boy's death that very night. The doctors and nurses seemed quite worried, and I was so impressed with the way they cared for the boy over the next couple of hours.

While they were in the room taking care of the boy's immediate needs, my mind turned to his family. The man who brought this boy to the boat was just a neighbor. I asked the man where Jacob's parents were. He explained that they are separated, and neither one lives close by. The father never comes to visit, and the mother has a new family now, but she comes to see her children about once a month. The neighbor told me that this boy is now living with his grandparents, but they leave for four or five days at a time to go out to work in the coca fields. The grandparents were home when Jacob was bitten, but they just left him in the house and left for work as if it were any other day.

I continued making small talk with Jacob's neighbor until the doctors came out to say that his stomach had calmed down, his bleeding had stopped, and miraculously, he seemed to be stabilizing. What a praise! He was just going to need some rest, and he was going to continue to receive antibiotics to fight off any type of infection that might follow. As things began to quiet down for the night, I volunteered to sit in with him until he fell asleep. We talked for awhile. I asked him a little bit more about it life and his family. I found out that he was the oldest of three. He explained to me that they are on their own most of the time, but grandma and grandpa come by the house every once in awhile. As we continued to talk, I learned that he did not know his age or his birthday. I would guess that he is about nine years old. Jacob didn't even know what his last name was.

We continued to talk. "So you are the oldest? I guess that means that you get to take care of your younger siblings."

"Yeah, but that doesn't scare me. When am I going to be able to go home? I'm getting bored here, and I want to see my brother and sister." He responded.

I was amazed at the way this boy talked. He was taken from his home by a neighbor to a strange medical boat full of strange doctors and nurses. He was bitten by a snake, incredibly weak, and on top of that we gave him medicine that made him feel even sicker. Not once did he shed a tear, and as soon as he began to stabilize he was worrying about his siblings. I sat with him awhile longer, and he drifted to sleep.

I slept very little that night. I could not stop thinking about Jacob on the deck below. I spent time praying for him and his family. Praying that God would bring healing to his body and redemption to his family. Praying that through all of these difficult situations that God would make himself known.

Morning came, and I went straight back downstairs to see how Jacob was doing. He had slept most of the night and was just receiving his second round of antibiotics. He was doing better, but he was going to need antibiotics for a number of days. We needed to get him to the hospital. Jacob's neighbor kindly volunteered to go and look for his grandparents, but when he found them in the fields they communicated that they were not going to be able to leave their work, and the would not take Jacob to the hospital. I couldn't believe that they just ignored the problem, knowing full well that if he didn't get to a hospital he could still die. With no legal guardian to take him, we did the only thing that we could do--keep him on the boat.

This was my last morning on the boat. I had to accompany my group back to Iquitos so that they could catch their flights back to the UK. We left Jacob under the care of our very highly qualified Peruvian staff of doctors and nurses.

So many thoughts were racing through my mind as I made the six hour speed boat trip back to Iquitos. I spent time wrestling with this situation, questioning God, and wondering why all this had happened. Even if Jacob does get better, what kind of home is he going back into? As I spent time in prayer, my mind wandered to Joseph in the Bible. I was reminded of how so many difficult things happened in his life. He was sold into slavery, thrown into jail, and forgotten about for years. In the end, he becomes second in command only to Pharaoh himself, and he saves countless numbers of people from starving to death during a great famine. What others meant for evil, God used for good!

I am encouraged as I am reminded that God also has a plan for our Jacob. I am not sure what it is, but I trust that God knows what he is doing. I am reminded that we weren't even planning on going to Jacob's village that evening. I am reminded that our doctors were able to stabilize Jacob even though we were more than 12 hours past the deadline to administer the anti-venom. I don't know exactly where Jacob will end up. We are doing all that we can to find a safe place for him and his siblings. First we have to try to locate family, and if that doesn't work out then he may be a candidate for our boys' home near Iquitos. Either way, join me in praising God for his perfect plan and in praying that God would continue to lay his healing and protecting hand over this boy's life.