Peru Update #1 - January 31, 2007
Peru Update #1 - Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Greetings from Peru! We are at the temporary women{s home and I am using a Peruvian computer with different keyboard and symbols---so please excuse the errors.
We are safe and healthy (I am feeling much better today - still having voice problems but that may be a blessing for the rest of the group). Our group is conducting a service and Sheryl is speaking this morning. The women are so receptive to any expressions of love and to the gospel. It is an awesome experience to worship with them. You should hear them sing "You are Good". It is inspiring to see their passion for worshipping God in spite of their circumstances.
We are still not certain of the damage from the vandalism at the construction site, which occurred early Tuesday morning. The workers are scheduled to be back on the job today with two armed guards. Several of the workers were taken to the hospital with injuries from the beating but I think all of them have been released. They would not let me go to the site yesterday due to safety concerns but we are planning to go as a group this afternoon to assess what needs to be done for the dedication. The two armed guards are on duty and we will be extremely careful. We will not put our group in unreasonable danger.
Pray for Pastor Lilliam. She is discouraged but this morning, God gave her a word of encouragement that He would bring justice and peace. We reminded her that that no major victory was achieved in Scripture without opposition. The power of the mob cannot compare to God{s Power. To me, this is a clear sign that we are doing what God wants us to do. The enemy is not happy that we are erecting a lighthouse in the midst of darkness. However, we cannot let the enemy dictate our decisions and reactions. Even though the threats against Pastor Lilliam (that she would be stoned) and her granddaughters (that they would be raped) are serious and cannot be ignored, we cannot let fear keep us going forward with God{s Plan.
The Dedication service WILL proceed as scheduled. We will probably spend most of the day on Friday assisting with the preparations. There is still much work to be done and we still need to raise additional funds to complete the process. We feel that the entire building must be complete before moving the women into the new building. Hopefully, that can be accomplished before our team arrives in August.
I met with Oscar, the Church Administrator, this morning and we are meeting again next week to try to project the timeline and the monies that will be needed to finish the project. The first contractor did not help the situation by cutting corners and not completing the work as planned. Much of what has been done in the last month has been to correct those errors. The team here has worked very hard to facilitate this project.
You would be extremely proud of our nine-member missions team. They have been wonderful to work with and they have done anything that is needed or requested. We served a meal to the women on Monday night, topped with American ice cream sundaes for dessert. It is hot here and the ladies loved the extra treat. To have meat and dessert with a meal is a rarity for them. Most of their meals consist of either rice, potatoes or a single vegetable (and sometimes nothing). We served them a quarter of roasted chicken, french fries, a vegetable medley, and all the soda they could drink. We then gave them treat bags with candy and assorted goodies. There is no way to describe their response.
The team attended the opening session of the Camino de Vida conference last night. The service was excellent. It is held outdoors and will continue throughout the week. Many visitors are here from all over the world. The conference is being televised to many different countries but I don't know where it is available in the US. If you have Sky Angel or other religious channels, check them tonight to see if it is being broadcast. Lisa and John Bevere are speaking tonight.
There are three small babies here at the home - eleven days old, twelve days old, and several months old. This adds to the expense of the home. One of the stories is mind-boggling. The mother of the eleven-day-old baby is fourteen years old. She is an orphan and has lived with various relatives and friends. She was raped by a policeman (her friend's step-father), filed charges, went to court where the DNA evidence had conveniently disappeared from the file, and he was acquitted. The friend's step-father then took two other policemen, found the girl, and all three raped her. The baby was conceived that night so one of the policemen is the father. This week, Pastor Lilliam was served papers that the policeman has charged the 14-year-old girl with aggressive behavior toward an officer because she cut him with a broken piece of glass in trying to fight him off!!!! She now has to go to court to DEFEND herself in front of this policeman. Pastor Robert is trying to notify some of his political contacts of this situation. Please pray for this girl and this situation.
That is just one story of many. We know that God has sent us to be more than involved in this ministry. It is our calling. Thank you for your prayers and support, Continue to pray for God{s protection, health and wisdom during this important week. We will try to keep you updated.
Love,
Dale and the Team
Dale, Sheryl, Kristin, Michael, Stacy, Donna, Brenda, Bob and Gene
Greetings from Peru! We are at the temporary women{s home and I am using a Peruvian computer with different keyboard and symbols---so please excuse the errors.
We are safe and healthy (I am feeling much better today - still having voice problems but that may be a blessing for the rest of the group). Our group is conducting a service and Sheryl is speaking this morning. The women are so receptive to any expressions of love and to the gospel. It is an awesome experience to worship with them. You should hear them sing "You are Good". It is inspiring to see their passion for worshipping God in spite of their circumstances.
We are still not certain of the damage from the vandalism at the construction site, which occurred early Tuesday morning. The workers are scheduled to be back on the job today with two armed guards. Several of the workers were taken to the hospital with injuries from the beating but I think all of them have been released. They would not let me go to the site yesterday due to safety concerns but we are planning to go as a group this afternoon to assess what needs to be done for the dedication. The two armed guards are on duty and we will be extremely careful. We will not put our group in unreasonable danger.
Pray for Pastor Lilliam. She is discouraged but this morning, God gave her a word of encouragement that He would bring justice and peace. We reminded her that that no major victory was achieved in Scripture without opposition. The power of the mob cannot compare to God{s Power. To me, this is a clear sign that we are doing what God wants us to do. The enemy is not happy that we are erecting a lighthouse in the midst of darkness. However, we cannot let the enemy dictate our decisions and reactions. Even though the threats against Pastor Lilliam (that she would be stoned) and her granddaughters (that they would be raped) are serious and cannot be ignored, we cannot let fear keep us going forward with God{s Plan.
The Dedication service WILL proceed as scheduled. We will probably spend most of the day on Friday assisting with the preparations. There is still much work to be done and we still need to raise additional funds to complete the process. We feel that the entire building must be complete before moving the women into the new building. Hopefully, that can be accomplished before our team arrives in August.
I met with Oscar, the Church Administrator, this morning and we are meeting again next week to try to project the timeline and the monies that will be needed to finish the project. The first contractor did not help the situation by cutting corners and not completing the work as planned. Much of what has been done in the last month has been to correct those errors. The team here has worked very hard to facilitate this project.
You would be extremely proud of our nine-member missions team. They have been wonderful to work with and they have done anything that is needed or requested. We served a meal to the women on Monday night, topped with American ice cream sundaes for dessert. It is hot here and the ladies loved the extra treat. To have meat and dessert with a meal is a rarity for them. Most of their meals consist of either rice, potatoes or a single vegetable (and sometimes nothing). We served them a quarter of roasted chicken, french fries, a vegetable medley, and all the soda they could drink. We then gave them treat bags with candy and assorted goodies. There is no way to describe their response.
The team attended the opening session of the Camino de Vida conference last night. The service was excellent. It is held outdoors and will continue throughout the week. Many visitors are here from all over the world. The conference is being televised to many different countries but I don't know where it is available in the US. If you have Sky Angel or other religious channels, check them tonight to see if it is being broadcast. Lisa and John Bevere are speaking tonight.
There are three small babies here at the home - eleven days old, twelve days old, and several months old. This adds to the expense of the home. One of the stories is mind-boggling. The mother of the eleven-day-old baby is fourteen years old. She is an orphan and has lived with various relatives and friends. She was raped by a policeman (her friend's step-father), filed charges, went to court where the DNA evidence had conveniently disappeared from the file, and he was acquitted. The friend's step-father then took two other policemen, found the girl, and all three raped her. The baby was conceived that night so one of the policemen is the father. This week, Pastor Lilliam was served papers that the policeman has charged the 14-year-old girl with aggressive behavior toward an officer because she cut him with a broken piece of glass in trying to fight him off!!!! She now has to go to court to DEFEND herself in front of this policeman. Pastor Robert is trying to notify some of his political contacts of this situation. Please pray for this girl and this situation.
That is just one story of many. We know that God has sent us to be more than involved in this ministry. It is our calling. Thank you for your prayers and support, Continue to pray for God{s protection, health and wisdom during this important week. We will try to keep you updated.
Love,
Dale and the Team
Dale, Sheryl, Kristin, Michael, Stacy, Donna, Brenda, Bob and Gene
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