1. They play little league in this soccer-dominated country! Warms my heart…
2. You’ll notice the interesting native dress. Many of us plan to dress this way on a daily basis. As I understand, JM and Tara have been dressing like this since arriving in January. ;-)
3. Lima is a mixture of history and newness. Of ancient culture and modernity. Of rich and poor.
4. Peru is home to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca (the world’s highest navigable lake). Since this lake forms part of the border between Bolivia and Peru a common saying exists regarding this body of water. Word on the street, at least those in Peru, has it that when this border was determined Peru was granted the “Titi” side whereas Bolivia received the “caca” side. If you don’t know what “caca” means, feel free to google it.
5. Cuy, or guinea pig, is widely eaten throughout the country.

Hope you enjoying seeing a little more of our new home!

Good question. Our first instincts were to say, “Of Course!!” We had heard it from experts of South American Missions before we arrived, and we felt the need after numerous conversations with the Limeños. We did not have anything tangible, however, until a couple weeks ago. A local newspaper just published an article discussing the religious atmosphere in Lima entitled, “Los misioneros del siglo XXI (Missionaries of the 21st Century)”. Here is what their research indicated…

Lima is the second largest city by population in the continent of South America (Click here for a list of the world’s largest cities). The books indicate that Lima has 7,605,742 inhabitants, but in reality it is closer to 9 Million as many are not included in the census due to non-registered communities. If we take the conservative number of 7,605,742 inhabitants of Lima, than the survey indicates that 836,631 (11%) people do not claim any religion at all. Of the 6,769,110 people who claim a religion a whopping 4,196,848 (62%) are hardly religious, 338,455 (5%) are not religious at all, and only 676,911 (10%) people consider themselves very religious.**

If we add up all those who claim no religion, and those who do but are hardly and not religious, the number surpasses 5 Million people. That is a lot of people. More than the countries of Singapore and Norway, and more than the States of Minnesota, Louisiana, and Alabama. We know, because they themselves stated it, that these 5 Million people go to bed each night without a relationship with Jesus Christ. Over 5 Million people wake up each morning and do not know God’s grace and mercy. When times are tough, these 5 Million people do not have a community of faith that can help them though the storm. Over 5 Million people…!

To add to our case, we recently had a conversation with a Peruvian familiar with church planting efforts in Peru. She indicated that Lima, in many ways, has become a “forgotten city.” Most mission teams coming to Peru, according to our Peruvian friend, are headed to the jungles, the mountains, and the remote villages and there is not a lot of new work in the nation’s capital.

We pray that God will use us here in Lima. We pray that we can join in on what he is already doing in the hearts of Peruvians, and be a part of their spiritual transformation by pointing them to Jesus. We pray that these 5 Million people who claim little or no faith will come to know the grace, mercy, and peace that only God can provide.

“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.”
Eph 3:20-21

** - I understand that some may point out that there is a difference in many ways between religion and faith. That difference has been noted. I understand that Christianity in many ways is less about religion and more about relationship, and that one can have great faith without necessarily being “religious.” This being said, however, I feel that when this survey uses the word “religious” it encompasses the ideas faith and relationship with God as well.

Justin, Alison, Cailyn, and JM at the airport in Lima, Peru

Trying to fit all the luggage into the van

Considering that Alison, Cailyn and I only spent 10 days with our church family in Shelbyville, I didn’t want to have any regrets about not getting to see the people we wanted to see, and more importantly, see the people that wanted to see us. Thankfully, we were not disappointed.

We stayed in the home of our liaisons, Russ and Natalie Countess, along with their three children, Marissa, Grant, and Seth, who immensely blessed our lives. They were a huge reason why our time in Tennessee was so wonderful. Their love for Cailyn shone so brightly, and they were patient with us as we reminded them of what life with a 2-year-old was like! Having anyone in your home for more than a week can be stressful, but we never felt like we were imposing, and they were extremely encouraging to be with. Thank you Countess family!

We have been very blessed. We just wrapped up our time with our supporting congregation in Tennessee (the Fairlane Church of Christ), and now that I am relaxing in Abilene, it is very apparent to me how truly blessed my family is.

We have already taken full advantage of Cailyn’s wonderful grandparents here, and we look forward to her visit here soon with the rest of her grandparents. Alison’s parents and sister have helped to provide us with some relaxing times, and we have loved seeing Cailyn eat up all of the attention.

We will be in Texas until the 26th of this month, and we will be leaving Abilene (where we currently are) to go to College Station on the 19th. We are very excited to continue seeing loved ones that we have missed while being in Costa Rica, and we are still trying to get a hold of the fact that we will be in Peru in just two weeks!

Our teammates, John Mark and Tara, have been helping to prepare the way in many aspects for the rest of our team, and we know we will be in great hands when we get there. God has blessed them and provided for them in ways that have been fun to see, and we are asking that He do the same for us. There is no way we can deny the way God has guided our team even in just the past six months, and it is comforting to have the promise of His faithfulness as we continue to embark on this journey.

Thank you to all who have blessed us so far here in the States. We are forever grateful!

Here are a few photos we’ve taken so far:

We’re Here!

Justin, Geoff (the Fairlane CofC preacher), and Juan (the preacher of the Hispanic congregation at Fairlane)…2 vitally important men in our lives!

Playing the Wii with the McGills in TN (both of whom are in their 80s):

We got to visit with Alison’s grandparents when we flew from TN to TX…it was a great visit:

Mother-Sister Time:

Celebrating Birthday #2! a month early with friends and family:

By the way….Mark is already considered an expert in this style of interpretive dance. You’re going to have to come to Peru to see!

I remember well the events of that morning. We got up really early after going to bed really late. The last thing I remember the evening before was a prayer we offered for Sofia and then a deep sleep, albeit for only a few hours.

But, anyway, back to this thing about “blessing.”

So many of you have followed Sofia’s story…the hole that just didn’t close (that kinda sounds like a twisted nursery rhyme to me…you know, “The Little Engine that Could”). Anyhow…Sofia had a hole between the two upper chambers of her heart since birth that caused oxygenated and deoxygenated blood to mix (something that is neither normal nor good). To give you a reference for the size of the hole, it was about the size of a grapefruit. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating (lying in fact), but that does add some humor to an otherwise “downer” topic. For another morsel of humor, one of our teammates (one that will remain nameless…so, don’t worry, WES, I don’t plan on mentioning your name) once told me,

“You know, bro, this hole-in-the-heart thing could really be a great pitch you could make during fund raising. Imagine this, you’re on stage at a church, you invite Sofia to join you and have her say with a beautiful smile and delicate voice, ‘You see, I have this hole in my heart and we really need money to fix it and to go to Peru.’”

Needless to say, my unnamed teammate and I had a hearty laugh at the prospect….a laugh I really needed at the time in the thick of things with Sofia’s heart, moving from the Friendship House in route to Costa Rica, fund raising, etc.

But back to the matter at hand…

About two months ago, after learning that the hole had almost doubled in size during our time in Costa Rica (no exaggerating this time), Sofia had a procedure-one they consider minor (apparently they forgot that this is my little girl and that there was nothing minor about it)-to fix the hole in her heart. Thankfully, everything went very well that day and has since gone well. In fact, just days ago, Sofia and I made a trip to Lubbock for one of her various follow up appointments. Her doctor mentioned that the enlargement of her heart that was present for quite some time (due to over exertion) was now gone and that, in his words, “it looks like a normal heart.” I’ll remember those words for years if not for my lifetime.

Something that had been hanging over our heads for quite some time was gone in a matter of months. My little girl’s heart was normal looking (minus the shiny metallic implant visual on an ultrasound). Even today, I write these words with a knot in my throat thinking about the gravity of his words. The knot reminds me of the uncertainty of the previous years, the uncertainty of that morning when I “handed my little girl over” for surgery.

So we are blessed that our little girl is doing very, very well these days. You might be interested to see a short video on our blog of her dancing and showing off just how well she’s doing. Dancing is by far one of her favorite past times and her new energy level (which is quite notable) prompts her to do so much more of it these days.

For us, “blessing” lies in the fact that this is now a thing of the past for our family. We no longer worry what the hole might look like….has it grown, has it shrunk, or has it closed like we had always hoped? There’s no need for these thoughts to cross our minds anymore. In fact, the only reminders we have these days are the faint memory of life before the mushroom (that’s what we called the implant to help Sofia understand what was going to take place) and the daily aspirin that Sofia always helps us remember she needs to take. “Blessing” also lies in the fact that we’ll tackle Peru with Sofia running on all cylinders. She is a healthy little girl that remains spunky and full of life. She remembers her surgery well but we can laugh about it now.

That, my friend, is a real blessing.

Many of you have certainly walked this road….health concerns for your kiddos. You know what I’m talking about….you know the blessing in having your child’s surgery as a memory rather than a daunting reality…you know the blessing in starting life afresh with a healed child. That’s what I mean by blessing. One more thing…for you guys that are interested to know exactly what they performed on Sofia, click here. This is a newer minimally invasive procedure via the cath lab that closes the hole without the need for open heart surgery. Again, a blessing.

One last memory if you’ll permit me. On our survey trip to Peru, I spoke with a Peruvian pediatrician about Sofia’s condition which, at that time, we had only recently discovered. Everything he mentioned was right on par with what our pediatric cardiologist in Lubbock said…the only difference (and what a difference it is) is that the surgery to fix the hole would have to be open heart in Peru. How thankful we are to have fixed it here, to have fixed it now.

Praise God for the blessings in life!

President Fujimori and his government were the very ones that put an end to the Shining Paths reign of terror.  And he is revered by many for saving Peru from that group as well as being credited with turning around the nation’s economy.  Only one minor problem… he’s been wanted for years and was finally sent to trial last year for the cruel and deadly methods of bringing about that reform.  Today the 70 year old Fujimori was found guilty for sanctioning the two massacres and 2 kidnappings in the 1990’s and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Here is the latest release from the Associated Press:

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori has been found guilty of murder and kidnapping for death squad activities during his 10-year rule during the 1990s.

Presiding Judge Cesar San Martin says the three-judge panel determined there was no doubt that the 70-year-old Fujimori authorized the creation of a military death squad that killed some 50 people.

Fujimori faces a maximum of 30 years in prison and the court was expected to issue a sentence later Tuesday.

The ex-president apparently anticipated a guilty verdict. He sat alone taking notes as the verdict was read after a 15-month televised trial.

He is the first democratically elected former president to be tried for rights violations in his own country.

The general population of Peru is quite divided over Fujimori.  I recently saw a survey that claimed that 64% of the population felt he was guilty.  However, many people don’t care.  They know that he ended the reign of the Shining Path and they don’t care about the methods.

Already today the police have been called in to break up fighting between Fujimori supporters and opponents in the district of Lima where the trial took place.

Another interesting note is that Alberto’s daughter, Keiko Fujimori (a member of Peruvian Congress) is planning on running for the presidency of Peru in the next election and has stated that she will not hesitate to pardon her father if elected.

For more information check out what wikipedia has to say about Alberto Fujimori, The Shining Path and Keiko Fujimori… because if Wikipedia says it, it must be true :)

Also, all the major news groups are running current stories… check out the latest from the BBC or CNN and Google News.  Also, the expat website livinginperu.com has a lot of information.

But what a hard lesson to learn. Personally, I want to feel like I am in control; that somehow I call the shots; that I have the most important say in my future. And right now, I personally want to know what the next five, ten, or fifteen years on the mission field will look like. I would like to know the people that will come to the Lord during our time in Lima; I would like to know exactly what ministries in which I will be involved; I want to know.

But God keeps reminding me that the future is not our to know through, and in the midst of, the uncertainty that surrounds our journey. That the details are in His hands. That my role is not to be the one with the answers or the correct path. My role is to be the one that follows where the Lord leads. I am supposed to be one who completely put my trust and faith in the God who never fails nor is unfaithful. I am called to walk by faith.

We live by faith, not by sight. - 2 Cor. 5:7

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. - Prov. 16:9