On A Mission

Operation Christmas Child Packing Party was a lot of fun this past Saturday! We had 70 people show up to pack up boxes. Thanks to everyone who participated in this project by donating the items we used in the boxes, the boxes themselves, packing and organizing the donations before the packing began.

Don’t forget to sign up for Kids Day Out [Bethlehem Village] - December 5th’s 1st Saturday event. It will be a day you will not want to miss.

Contact sandi.grupe@princeofpeace.org or barb.vonbehren@princeofpeace.org for more information or go online to register your kids: http://www.princeofpeace.org/church/events/event_details/?event_id=29

“Was Blind but Now I See”

In life there are moments that feel like an eternity. It is times like these that you look for a hole to crawl into and maybe never come out. Or wanting to escape from the physical knotting of your stomach to the point of possibly fainting, while the heat rises in your face and moisture pours from your hands. You begin to blur as tears glaze over in your eyes from the overwhelming emotion of the situation. You feel lost and out of control.

I am standing within four dirty walls lined with beds, a room that is longer than it is wider. Helpless bodies lie on thin, worn mattresses. Men lying sick, side by side together and sometimes up to three to a bed. Above the beds, a fraying rope is strung from one side of the room to the other with metal hangers holding multiple IV’s. A few beds are lucky to have tattered baby blue mosquito nets hanging above them. A yellow hazardous waste basket is overflowing with contaminated syringes’ and gloves and plastic bags while the smell of urine, sweat and death engulfs my senses.

My legs are shaking while my heart is thumping. As I look around at the ill men, my throat begins to tighten. These men look at me for an uncomfortable moment, are they looking for hope? When I peer back into their eyes I feel despair. Is it mine or theirs? AID’s and common disease are destroying many of these men’s bodies. Another, like a burn victim, lies with his skin bubbling across his chest with open wounds torn open by infection. I see a man who lies motionless, his foot being eaten with gangrene, sure to lose it and with it his ability to work, eat, live or survive. Again, I feel despair.

For some people this place is no longer a refuge of healing but a prison. To my left sits a teenage boy and his aging mother. She tells me her story and her eyes show a hint of anger when she talks about the hospital but it fades as she speaks of her son. Her day is sitting and waiting for a miracle. Her son is well and is ready to go home after a surgey that saved his life but she has no money and she can’t leave until that changes and the hospital bill is paid. Her savior has become her captor. Multiple months of being cooped in this place is now considered their home; a home where both of them are now sick from being surrounded by illnesses. They ask this young American for help. Who am I? I am just a child. I am no savior. My knees become even more unstable. I am overwhelmed. I feel as if I am about to plummet off the side of an ocean cliff and fall to the rocky beach below.

I hear a familiar voice shout my name and break the confusion.

“Sloan, come here.”

I need to focus and find solid ground for in front of me lies a man that is dying or at least looks like he is. He is fighting for each breath and his body is shaking while his head is rising up as if trying to catch that breath. The rhythm of gasping for oxygen and then choking while the cool air hit his lungs and then letting out a rough cough hurts my ears.

My father standing over the convulsing man says in a stern but gentle voice, “Sloan, we need you to sing.”

My eyes begin to fill with tears not knowing what to do. Thoughts began to rush into my head…some serious and some stupid. What do I sing to a dying man with his family standing beside him? What would be the song I would want to hear lying on my death bed? Who am I to be singing anything right now? I feel unworthy to sing anything and I am convicted of being a spoiled white teenage girl from America thinking that she was going to make a difference in Africa. My throat tightens up.

I could run out of the hospital. Do I turn and sprint to the nearest door or do I stay? At that moment I made a decision. I wanted to leave and get air but I had to stay, now my mind races for the song to sing. Drawing a blank, appropriate songs evade me. All notes to any tunes and lyrics to any song escape my brain except that one song.

My voice begins to shake as I let out the first note of the beginning verse, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” His breathing became a soft lullaby. I continued to sing, watching my father pray over him while his head lay on a thin foam pillow. His wife seemed weary but continued to dab water to his mouth with a small sponge. Finally, his restless movement became calmer and after twenty minutes of serenading this man with an endless song of grace, he seemed calm.

I become calm as well. The very words that were to ease his pain and usher in the healing presence of our Lord soothed my heart. “I was blind, but now I see” that the peace of the Lord is real and it comes to still the fears of his creation when crashing against the very gates of Hell and life or death.

I will never forget that hospital and often wonder what happened to that man and his family. I also can’t get the other men and children to fade within my mind. On that day my eyes were opened and though my heart was scarred, my love for God’s amazing graces abounds.

Sloan Brandon

This past Saturday the drums were beating and sweet voices were raised to heaven during a traditional festival held on Prince of Peace’s campus. Please enjoy the pictures of the event!

http://picasaweb.google.com/arif.bhatti7/MELA?authkey=Gv1sRgCOOEyeGe65-7Qw&feat=email#slideshow/5383733952796796738

Wow, this was an amazing day! Over 90 people ventured out on a Saturday morning on a Labor Day weekend to love their community. We traveled one block south on Midway to the Tivoli Apartments (off Lina Street). We split into many different teams: prayer walkers, door knockers, gamers, crafters, foodies (pancake flippers and servers), and cleaners.

The manager was blown away by the amount of missionaries that should up for this event. She is ready to see changes in her community and the entire neighborhood off Rosemeade. The next event is a Women’s Game Night in the clubhouse at Tivoli. The Lutheran Women in Mission are moving their normal 5th Tuesday Bunco game to the Tivoli Apartments and inviting the community to join them. We are hoping to have a few venture out to enjoy some fellowship and fun!

Check out the pictures from 1st Saturday http://www.flickr.com/photos/popmissions/sets/72157622133882765/show/

It takes looking in the mirror and saying, “I’m a missionary”, ten times and then going out to the community and believing it. Sounds silly, doesn’t it? The point is true though. We are all missionaries and believing that is the first step.

We begin by looking at where our two feet are planted and realizing, God has put us here to share His truth. There are a few simple ways we can join the body of Christ at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church to exercise our missionary missionary muscles:

- Small group involvement in an on-going mission project

Small groups [families included] can become an amazing mission team regionally, locally or even internationally. If a team is ready to explore this step, they can request a brainstorming session with Beth Daugherty or another mission team member to discuss possible missions the small group would excel in.

- Try 1st Saturday…a great way for family and friends to serve together.

Every 1st Saturday our church breaks through the walls and meets our community where they are. We serve people with Community Carnivals at local apartment complexes, surprising local businesses with cookie baskets, hanging out in laundrymats  with quarters to feed into the machines, handing out water bottles in local parks and many more missions. These random acts of kindness and relationship building events are ways to break down the walls and begin having conversations about Christ. Turn this sheet over to see upcoming 1st Saturday’s.

- Join the Mission’s Group [ABF] on Sunday morning at 11am in Room 1067.

This is an Adult Bible Fellowship Class to be part of and if one wants to explore missions in depth. Keith Montague has seen short-term missions through the years at Prince of Peace. Don’t miss out on learning about missions, what the Bible says about missions and how short-term and long-term missionaries are expanding God’s kingdom.

- Invite your neighbors over for dinner or a couple neighbors for a BBQ.

We live in apartments or neighborhoods where we may be surrounded by people who have never heard the name of Christ or have been hurt by “Christians” in the past. Break through the isolation of our communities and try something new. Developing these relationships over some time will give us opportunities to share our faith and enjoy new friends.-

Chat with one of the Mission Organizations here Sunday, August 30.

We have about 15 different booths set-up of different local and international mission organizations ready to talk about how God is using people to share the gospel. Ask questions and interact with each representative to hear their story of ministry in action. Keep an open mind and spend time in prayer after working through the booths.

Mission’s Department

missions@princeofpeace.org

972-447-9887 ext. 483

The Peru Mission Team arrived home this morning! It is great to see all their faces and see the joy in their eyes from the Peru experience. There are so many stories of God’s goodness and grace.

We praise the Lord for safe travel and a healthy team back home! We look forward to all the open doors the Lord will have for us here in our neighbhorhoods throughout this year.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and intereste in the Peru mission!

Today is our last day in Peru. We will be shopping and touring the dowtown area. FYI: we all got a good night’s sleep and a hot shower. Praise God!!! We’re looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

For our final blog post, here’s a special story from Lori H. There are many stories like it from our trip, but this one seemed special and worth sharing as we prepare to come home!

From Lori H. :

Earlier in the week, when we walked into Filadelfia Iglesia to start our ministry in Huaycan, we were immediately struck by the presence of a particularly adorable 1 ½ year old Peruvian named Jesus. With his round, chubby face, twinkling, brown eyes and beaming smile, he quickly stole our hearts. Sometimes he’d be sitting in a chair munching on a cracker. Other times he was nestled in a Peruvian blanket strapped to his mother’s back. No matter what the circumstances he was always grinning from ear to ear.

As the week progressed we learned Jesus belonged to Edith, a single mother of 6, who was striving to make ends meet by cooking meals and washing clothes for the church.  We further discovered one of Edith’s daughters, Deysi, was involved in a mototaxi accident 2 months before our visit and is still waiting for a much needed surgery on her arm.  Our hearts were beginning to soften for this family.

Later in the week we got an even deeper glimpse into their lives when we were invited into their home during our door to door evangelism visits. We were passing out milk and beans to needy families and engaging them in conversations about God when we knocked on Deysi’s door. She kindly let us in then proceeded to show us her humble home. Not only were the tiny rooms sparsely furnished but what burdened our hearts most was that the family of 7 only had 2 twin beds for all of them. Somehow a bag of beans and a can of milk didn’t seem like quite enough…

After laying hands on Deysi and praying for her we went to the next house but several members of our team couldn’t get Deysi and her family out of our minds. In the days that followed, Jesus’ beaming smile would remind us how precious children are to our Lord. We were amazed at how happy this beautiful baby boy could be and how much joy he brought to the whole team.

Today was our final day of ministry in Huaycan so we knew it was time to go an extra step for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. With God’s urging and direction, Prince of Peace purchased a sturdy wooden bunk bed complete with 2 mattresses for Edith and her little ones. While we weren’t able to personally deliver it I can easily imagine the looks of joy and relief on Edith’s face.

As our Peruvian friends would say, “Gloria a Dios!”

Day 6 – Part II (Sunday, August 2)

Yesterday we did our final mime performances for the children as we shared a Sunday worship service. The team enjoyed a shorter day with a lot of rest and a couple of surprises. The first surprise was a chance to walk around downtown Huaycan. Some of the team took the time to go to an internet café while others just took in the cultures sights and sounds.

The second surprise was dinner. Up to this point we’ve been eating a lot of Chifa (Peru’s Chinese food) and Chicken with fries. We thought the team could use a little break from this diet – so we went a little farther into Lima and found a Pizza Hut. It may be surprising, but towards downtown Lima we find many U.S. restaurants. Everyone enjoyed the pizza and many went to KFC next door to get some ice cream afterward.

When we returned to the retreat center, we had our regular evening “debrief” of the day, sharing our experiences – both joys and frustrations. We also talked about our emotional responses to the trip as a whole. Any cross-cultural experience can be emotionally draining. We do our best to monitor ourselves and each other during the trip so that we care for one another and pray for one another as we have needs.

Most of us were in bed by 11am and had nearly 8 hours of sleep!

Day 7 – (Monday, August 1)

On Monday we went back to the orphanage again to play with the children and work on at a few construction projects. We started painting in the dorms and also broke up some concrete for a renovation to the sanctuary at the orphanage. We also repaired some of the orphan’s bunk-beds.

Some of the older boys at the orphanage jumped in and helped on the harder labor. When we first looked at all the concrete that needed to be demolished, we doubted we could finish even in two days. The progress was slow until one of the orphans, Paul, showed us a faster way. He was a great worker and he worked smart and taught us as we went.

Half of our team will took the younger orphans to lunch and then shoe shopping - similar to what we did a couple of days ago with the teens.

It was a good day of hard work. After returning to the retreat center, we ended the evening with a special time of worship, prayer and foot-washing. It was an amazing experience of outpouring love for God, for one another and for the country of Peru.

Day 8 - Tuesday, August 4

Today is our last day of ministry in Peru! It has all gone so quickly. Today we will split into two teams. A small team will conduct a morning seminar for the church leaders of Iglesia Filadelfia. The main topics will be discipleship and family ministry. The remainder of our missionaries will return to the orphanage to complete construction projects and love on the kids some more.

After our hard work yesterday, the team is pretty tired. But we have just a short day today . . . we’ll be leaving Huaycan at 3pm, checking out of the retreat center at 4pm and off to Lima for our last night. We are staying in Miraflores tonight and experiencing the culture tomorrow before we get back on the plane.

As a side note, we have successfully contacted one of the long-term LCMS missionaries that is based in Lima. His name is Anthony and he agreed to meet us for lunch tomorrow and share about the mission work of the LCMS in Peru. Please pray that our meeting would go well and if God wills, that this contact would produce mission opportunities in the years to come.

We’re in the home stretch. Keep praying for our team and the people we will meet and minister to. At this point in a trip we typically see some frustrations come to the surface. Pray for honesty and unity in the team as we struggle with one another and with the Peruvian culture during our last few days here. Pray for us as we make the transition back to the US and our homes, families, jobs, etc.

Day 4 – Part II (Friday, July 31)

For the next two days (Friday & Saturday) we are putting on a retreat for the teens at the orphanage(El Nino Emanuel). As our passion for these kids grows, we desire to provide not only for their physical needs but also for their spiritual needs.

After preparing at the retreat center we went to the orphanage and picked up the teens. They were all very excited to come with us on the bus to our retreat center. The retreat center has some large grass areas where they can play soccer (futbol) and it is just a safe, relaxing place for the kids.

We hired a band, led by Chino, and a speaker, Silvano, to lead the kids in worship and provide messages, etc. After the messages, we broke into small groups and discussed the messages together.
Other than that, the boys spent a lot of time playing futbol, while the girls enjoyed painting their nails, etc. A few of the children who were less interested in those activities sat with Shaun D. and looked at pictures of animals from our Africa trip.

It was a great day of bonding and pouring into the kids at the orphanage.
Here are some words from Todd S. about his experiences:

From Todd S. :
Worship was really the highlight of the day. At first the kids didn’t really want to be a part of the service, but then Lori suggested that all of us teenagers from the U.S. stand up in front and be an example for the teens from the orphanage. It was awesome to see how they responded to that, especially the boys. Those boys that originally stayed in the back soon came up front to be a part of everything. We jumped, lifted our hands, and went all out for the Lord and it seemed to actually have an impact on the kids. Even though we didn’t know the words to most of the songs, and for some, we simply sung along in English, we could still all be a part of the service even without knowing the words. In terms of the message, Silvano delivered a message about Noah his obedience to God and the need for prayer. It was a good message, and it felt awesome to be able to understand it as he said it, but it was still as powerful when Emmanuel translated it for the rest of the team.

After small groups, all the boys, save a couple, went and played soccer or rather, fútbol. The teams seemed to be a little mismatched — the adults and missionaries against the kids. However, the kids seemed to keep up with the translators and with Kelsey H., our star player. They all seemed to take pride in their sport and that they could keep up with us. We played a close game, with the kids passing it to everyone, simply running around us left and right, keeping it away. In the end, we eventually lost, but it was obvious that the boys who played had fun, and everyone that played had an opportunity to be a part of the game. In fact, I actually scored my first goal ever. It was cool to see how they wanted to show us what they could do and really did find pride and strength in it.
Day 5 (Saturday, August 1)
Today we continued the retreat with the teens from El Nino Emanuel. As we spend more time with them, the children begin to trust us more and share their thoughts, dreams, and prayer requests. And we’re able to pray for them and to share God’s love and forgiveness with them. And we also get to speak about our dreams for them and our confidence that with God’s help, they can be lights in this world.
After the morning message (on Moses and God’s mission for him) and small group session, we travelled to another part of Lima for lunch and shoe shopping. Silvano and the band joined as at Norky’s (the chicken restaurant) and the children enjoyed themselves as God used us to bless them with a good meal and a new pair of shoes.

Then we came back to the retreat center for one last message (on Daniel and his faithfulness despite persecution) and small group session, we played another game of futbol and then loaded on the bus and headed back for the orphanage.

After dropping off the kids, our team stopped for some Chifa and then returned to the retreat center.
We ended Saturday with an extended time of worship, prayer and sharing about the day. The Spirit of God was active in our hearts, compelling us to pray for the orphans at El Nino Emanuel. We have seen God at work in them and asked for His will to be clear for each of them. Our prayer is also that they dream of serving God in ways that exceed their present circumstances. It is possible, though they live in poverty and lack the daily love and mentorship of parents, that God can make them doctors, teachers, preachers or pilots. And more importantly He can make them into men and women who love their families and shine in their communities with the character of Christ. 

Day 6 (Sunday, August 2, 2009)
This morning we got to sleep in a little. And after breakfast we have devotions and then a little free time. Today we are travelling back to the orphanage at around 11:30am. We’ll provide lunch for the orphans and do a “mini-VBS,” with crafts and a Bible story.

 

This afternoon we’ll have a worship service at the orphanage and spend some time playing before we head home. It’s a full Sunday, but we will have a little free time to rest and decompress tonight – something the team needs after several full days of ministry.

Pray for our health and for the unity of the mission team. Pray for endurance as we “finish the race” here in Peru. Pray for the orphans at El Nino Emanuel and ask God to make His love and His will clear to them.

Our very own Marlene Dreyer has safetly arrived in Slovakia. Their team is rapidly preparing for the camp that they will be putting on for the children in a remote area. Pray for their team as they pour out their energy and faith in action this week!