New Year 2012!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone from Peru! We are already well into 2012, and I am excited for things to come this year. We already have a number of different short term work teams and medical teams signed up to partner with our ministry in 2012, and I know that God has great things in store for us.

We had a great holiday season here in Peru, but it is still funny to celebrate Christmas in the middle of the summer! Kate and I spent part of Christmas Eve at the beach! If you want to read more about our Christmas experience, then I encourage you to read Kate's recent post.

To bring in the New Year Kate and I headed down to our boys' home in the city of Ica. Augusto, the house father in Ica, really wanted to have a pig roast for the boys to celebrate. They had a turkey dinner on Christmas, and for New Year they wanted to do something different. Augusto set off in search of a decent size pig, and he did not disappoint; he came back with a 300 pound monster! They prepared the meat, and then they sent it off to a place that had an oven where they could roast it.

Augusto working on the pig--I'll spare you from seeing the other photos :-)

In the mean time we all headed up to the beach. Ica is a hot, dry desert city, and the refreshing water was quite a treat for everyone. Some of the boys jumped right in, others played making sand castles on the shore, and still others passed the day by searching for snails and muscles in the tide pools that they then used as fishing bait! They even caught a few fish.

Swimming at the beach

Sand castles

Agustito half buried in the sand

Kate and I

We came back to the house that evening ready to say goodbye to 2011 and to bring in 2012! Around 10:00pm we all gathered together in the dining room, and we had a great time of reflection over 2011. We discussed some of the hardships that the boys and the home had been through, and we spent some time praying for God's blessing and provision in the year to come. Around 11:00pm the roast pork came out of the kitchen, and we ate like kings! I wouldn't be surprised if they are still finishing off all of the meat from that huge pig! At midnight we celebrated along with the rest of the country by lighting off all types of fireworks, bottle rockets, and sparklers. It was such a joy to spend time with such a special group of friends. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Girasoles Ica!

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."