Welcome to my long overdue post about Peru. To say that Peru was amazing would be an understatement. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment there and let's be honest, a part of me was not prepared to come back to reality. Nonetheless, getting readjusted to this place has not been all that bad either. Before I go any further, I want to thank you all for praying for me and this team! Thanks for your faithfulness and for everyday writing and thinking of us.
There are plenty of things I could tell you, but I wanted to sum it up into these few points. To be honest, I really don't have the words to sum up anything , but wanted to make a point in sharing what the Lord's been teaching me. It's truly interesting because the entire time I was in Peru, I kept waiting for Him to tell me something while I was there and I desperately wanted it. Now that it's long over, I'm realizing He's slowly revealing everything in His time. So with that said, these are the things I've learned as a result of this trip and things I'm learning post-trip (if that makes sense). Also, I want to say that it didn't have to take me-traveling-to-Peru to learn all of this, but it did and I want to share it with y'all. Hehe.
1. Living on-mission doesn't always mean overseas.
Duh, right? I think we confuse ourselves sometimes because we think "I'm not made for missions." Truth be told, I've thought that exact same thing before and I even secretly thought it during the trip. (Crazy, I know!) It's even crazier how the Lord can turn those things upside down! I thought to myself, "Oh, gosh. This is definitely not my calling! I can't ever imagine myself living in places I don't know." But really, He commands this of all of us. Our contexts may look different, but we ought to be mission-minded wherever we are. I left Peru incredibly encouraged to keep living on-mission in the contexts that I'm in. Currently, that's with this church here and the people that I get the privilege of walking with.
Towards the end of the trip, I remember telling Jeffrey that if the Lord ever calls us to go out of the country, I would go. Maybe not in a heartbeat because let's be real - but I wouldn't be so close-minded about all of it.
Towards the end of the trip, I remember telling Jeffrey that if the Lord ever calls us to go out of the country, I would go. Maybe not in a heartbeat because let's be real - but I wouldn't be so close-minded about all of it.
2. Faithfulness = Fruitfulness
And vice versa. When I was young, I used to think of all the possible ways to bear fruit, but I was thinking about it totally wrong. Instead of walking through the process, I kept looking at the end goal. We don't need to worry about the fruit bearing because if we're faithful in His name, then the fruit will come. I used to get so caught up on the actual fruit of things that I'd miss out on the process itself and the "staying faithful" part in the midst of things. It's not up to us to get the fruit; it's up to us to simply be faithful and remain in Him. In Peru, we got to partner and work alongside the staff of Inca Link Peru and to me, they are a beautiful example of faithful workers. Their entire lives are spent for the gospel because they're convinced of that truth! So much so that they wake up each morning serving the youth and go to sleep knowing that that's what they're going to do again the next day. They aren't focused on the fruit, but needless to say, there's fruit as a result of their faithfulness to the Father.
I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. he cuts off every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be more fruitful. You are already clean because of the Word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as also I remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. - John 15: 1-4
3. Be here now.
There are so many instances in which I find myself thinking ahead whether it's planning the future or even the next thing I'm going to do. I'm such a planner and sometimes it gets the best of me. In all of my planning, I feel like I either find myself in a season of pure contentment or in total lack of it. I've come to see that in my heart of hearts, I'm always searching for the next thing. At first, it was graduating high school. Then college. Then getting married. Then moving. Then jobs. Then this or that. There was just always the "next" thing. It's much more than that though. Many times, I don't want to be here now. Often times, the reason I'm looking forward to the next thing is because I want to be there instead, wherever that is. And what a scary place to be in when you don't realize what the Lord is doing in this moment and time and what He's specifically placed you here for.
4. Instead of making excuses, make room.
Being in Peru encouraged me to walk in boldness in the current place I'm in. If I'm being totally honest with you, a part of me wanted to keep making excuses or even looking for ways to have an excuse so that I could get away from things that scared me; so that I could run away from my insecurities. When I was in Peru, I was so encouraged by the leaders there. Encouraged and also convicted of the things in my personal life. I was in a season full of excuses, but it's just time to get over it, ya know? Something that I heard over and over again while we there was this particular line: You just have to do it - out of obedience.
5. Be for people.
The Lord has softened my heart for people. Somewhere along the way, I started to not care for others anymore; I started to resent this idea of being with people and staying within community. It's crazy, I know. It felt like everything I did was a little forced. I want to clarify by saying that it's not as if I hated everyone, but I couldn't be truly genuine. I'm so thankful that the Lord would intervene and move my heart to be for people though. Again, being in Peru was truly like a breath of fresh air. This fresh air that I've been seeking and needing! It took me 3.654 miles to and back from Peru to realize that God wants this for His people - to be for other people. He calls us to love Him and to love others also.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these. - Mark 12:30-31
So yes. I'm so blessed and humbled to have gotten to go and see what God is doing and to just be a part of that. There was no other motive other than to partner with what God had already established in this place with the people there. It's neat and so refreshing when you come across people like these who have given their entire lives for the sake of the gospel. I love what John writes in 1 John 1:1-4
Thanks for reading what I've learned from Peru. Stay tuned for the next post that'll be full of pictures!
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and we testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and His son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. - 1 John 1:I'm convinced that this is what the Peru leaders are living out. They have tasted and seen the goodness of Christ and want the same for the people of Peru; that one day when Christ comes back; we'd all get this same fellowship with the Father.
Thanks for reading what I've learned from Peru. Stay tuned for the next post that'll be full of pictures!
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