A Reason to Hang Out at the Beach

We have officially been in Lima for 3 months and 1 day! There's a lot going on here...

We are going on a retreat with the Peruvians this weekend
Thanksgiving is coming up
We have family groups meeting
We have been learning new songs to use in worship and in Villa Maria
We have started a few Bible studies
We've been forming relationships, and more!

As for our reason to hang out at the beach....
About two weeks ago Carolina was taking a nice little nap after some quiet time with God on the beach when the tide started coming in and she was overcome by one of the waves. She managed to get almost completely soaked (iPhone, Peru phone, journal, and Bible included) and was befriended by a guard nearby who helped her get away from the tide and over a wall onto dry ground. Ok, ok, enough of the story-telling. Carolina, I tried to make it sound as graceful as possible!

Anyways, before this all happened, Carolina had been reading in the gospel of Matthew where Jesus began to preach, like John the Baptist, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."(4:17), and basically felt the desire to use this exact phrase to share the gospel with someone. Enter: previously mentioned helpful guard. Carolina took this opportunity and started a conversation with "Baltazar Ugkuch Petsa". As it turns out, Petsa is a 21-year old Christian from the jungle and wants to study the Bible more, as well as learn English. So Carolina and I have hung out with Petsa twice now and are really excited about his hunger for the Word.

We would love your prayers for our studies with Petsa! As well for our ability to speak/teach English! Do you know how hard it is to teach someone how to speak English when their own language does not have the sound "shhh" or "thhh"?! Actually so far it's been more amusing than anything, for both him and us.

As well, let me just take a minute to encourage you to be like Carolina! This girl is an incredible evangelist and is letting God use her where she is. Drenched from head to toe, her belongings ruined, she listened to the Spirit of God leading her to talk to someone about His Kingdom. 

Sometimes I think it's easier to talk to a person about your faith in a different language because you're pretty limited on what you know how to say. But if you're stuck in a rut and you've been looking for the words to say to a friend or a co-worker or a stranger, trying telling them "The kingdom of God is near" and see where that leads you. And if you're still searching for the right words to say, open your Bible and you'll find pages upon pages of examples of phrases you can use to share your faith! My suggestion? Start in one of the gospels and pick a phrase. Be prayerful for God to give you the boldness to speak truth, and be encouraged that our job is to plant the seed and water it while God's job is changing the heart!