Each month or so I try to take some time to reflect on what God is doing in and through my life and ministry here in Peru, then I try to share with you, through words and pictures, highlights of those reflections. This month I’ve been unsure what to share.
September has been a month of changes for FH/Peru: we moved our office (to a smaller, but more central and safer location in the city, although farther from the communities we serve in Lima), we started a new work schedule (starting an hour early), and I began my new job as the National Program Planning and Communications Coordinator. Along with these changes come adjustments for everyone like…figuring out new routs to the office and to the communities with the least amount of traffic, learning share space with new office mates, exploring the neighborhood for lunch time options, and for me trying to figure out what it means to coordinate FH/Peru’s program planning and communications.
In different ways we are all struggling to adjust to these changes, but for me I am most challenged by trying to figure out my role in this new position. Lately I feel as if I am stumbling through my work days as if I were walking about in a dense fog. I am doing things; I keep moving, but I am not quite sure where I am going or when I will arrive. However, I do believe that the Lord will be faithful in time, (of course in His time) to clarify to me and others in FH/Peru how I will best be able to serve in this new role. Until then I don’t want to become discouraged.
So this month, instead of updating my blog with photos of interesting activities and a commentary of the ministry I am part of with FH/Peru, I want to ask you to pray for these changes, the adjustments that need to be made, and that we at FH/Peru would not get discouraged waiting for God’s perfect time.
Please pray:
Thank you for your support and especially for your prayers. I am looking forward to the day I will write about how God answered these prayers.
Bendiciones,
Lauren
Wow! Has it really been over 3 months since I last posted something about life here in Peru? So you may be wondering….what happened to Lauren in March, April and May? What is interesting is that during those months I mistakenly thought that there wasn’t much was going on, and that there wasn't much to share. Perhaps in the process there wasn’t much to share, but from where I see things now, I can see that the Lord has really has been doing a lot in my life and ministry during this time.
Here is a quick glance at all that has been going on in the last few months. To read more click on each link.
In all of these things I ask for your continued prayers and support. I am so grateful for the way the Lord has used you in partnering with my ministry in Peru.
Dios les bendigo,
Lauren
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My current contract with FH ends in Oct. of 2009, so I have been doing much praying about my future here in Peru, and with FH. As of February this year, my responsibilities with our relief and rehabilitation work in Chincha had come to an end. But as I started thinking about the future, I began to sense that perhaps God might be leading me to extend my time here in Peru. The details of what this would look like though still seemed uncertain. For the last few months I had agreed to fill various support roles: helping with the long-term community planning process in Chincha, helping to lead teams to Chincha, and continuing to help with emergency issues and disaster mitigation training.
While I have been content these last few months serving the ministry of FH/Peru through these varied tasks, this time also helped me realize that if God were calling me to stay with FH/Peru beyond this year, He would also make clear a more specific role in which I could serve in the ministry of FH/Peru. So I began to pray and wait…..thinking that perhaps it would be until August or September before my future would be made clear.
As part of figuring out the future, I have had several conversations with our new Country Director about what the needs of FH/Peru, and about how my gifts and talents might be used in the future to meet some of those needs. The amazing thing about this process is that I have not had to wait until September. In fact just last week, I stepped into a new role with FH/Peru, coordinating and participating as a member of a committee aimed to strengthen FH projects throughout Peru (aligning plans and processes with FH and FH/Peru vision mission and values, writing proposals, assisting with reports, designing monitoring and evaluation tools, etc.). I can not fully express how good the Lord is in presenting this opportunity, and I am excited for both the chance to serve and grow in this role not only for the rest of this year, but also for as long as the Lord allows.
Along with this role I will continue to be apart of the FH/Relief Unit, serving the Latin American Region. Please pray for me as I step into this new role with FH/Peru, and pray that the Lord would continue to provide in order for me to continue in this role beyond 2009.
Me digging part of the foundation.
VBS Group - MVPC team members with Members of Local Church
Kids at the VBS program
One of those stories belongs to a man named Javier. Javier had been certified in reinforced adobe construction as part of our training project last year, and had been contracted to oversee the construction of the three homes currently been constructed by FH and another mission organization (ReachGlobal - part of Evangelical Free Church). For two days Javier worked along side the team pouring concrete, and at the end of the second day the team went to visit Javier's home so that he could show them a finished reinforced adobe home (so far the team had only seen the foundation of the homes they were working on). In his home (which he had built as part of the training project) Javier proudly explained to the team all the key components of the construction that make it earthquake resistant (the foundation, the well made adobes with straw, the plastic mesh covering all the walls...)...but he did no stop there. As he continue to explain how the training he received had made it possible for him to find work doing construction, he also explained that he had learned so much more from his work alongside FH staff during the training. Before he and others in his community believed they had no real resources and that he felt hopeless and angry about his life and having to cope with the destruction of the earthquake, but now he can see that by working together and using the resources available to them they can move forward and continue to rebuild their community. Javier also shared that through his relationships with FH staff and other missionaries, he learned of God's love for him and that God does have a plan for him. He shared about how his life had been transformed, that he was no longer as angry as he used to be, and that he had a new hope for himself, his family and his community. As Javier shared with the team his story, his smile grew wider and wider and with it his joy was so evident; a reminder of the Lord's promise to us:
I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow Jeremiah 31:13
Javier working with some of MVPC team members. I don't always get to see the fruit of my work with FH - but in hearing Javier's story, I was encouraged to see that the work I have been a part of with FH is being used by God to transform lives.
So what will I take from my time last week with the team from MVPC? Thankfulness. I am thankful for the challenges of my work and ministry here (working cross culturally, speaking Spanish almost all day everyday, having to learn to be a manager, accountant and networker in the midst of crisis and stressful deadlines) that have caused me to rely on the Lord's strength and direction more than ever. I am thankful for the Lord's faithfulness as he has through those challenges enabled me to use my gifts and talents in ways I never thought possible. And most of all I am thankful that the Lord brought me to Peru not only to be apart of a ministry that transforms lives, but that my own life has been transformed by the people and culture of this beautiful country.
I am so thankful for these experiences and thankful to the group from MVPC for helping me to remember these blessings and see my work with FH in Peru with fresh eyes. Thank you guys for your support, and for brining a bit of home to Peru.
Bendiciones a todos,
Lauren
Wow – what an awesome year it has been! Thanks be to God and thank you for your support of me and the ministry the Lord has called me to these last two years in Peru. Because of your generous giving, prayers, and words of encouragement people are experiencing the love of God in tangible ways as communities are being rebuilt and families and lives are being restored. I am so blessed to participate in this work, and I thank you for your willingness to be used by God to make this possible.
May the Lord bless you and your family with His spirit of love, joy and peace in the 2009.
Bendiciones,
Lauren
