Almost home!

YAY GOD!!  The team has landed in Newark!!  :)  Can't wait to welcome them home this afternoon!! :)

Estamos en Lima

We made it into Lima yesterday and spent our last day in ministry.  We joined the Alianza Cristiana Misionera for fellowship last night and several of the students sang, rapped, and did a skit.  Jessie and David tore up the mic with an amazing rendition of ¨Got Paper¨ along with team INCA.  Two performers surprised me last night, because I didn´t know they sang:  Andrew Fortney and Molly Luger.  I gave a gospel presentation last night and heard about several great conversations that followed.  All in All it was a great end to the ministry portion of our trip.  Today we are going to go out in style, in a double decker bus, to go sight seeing.  We are going to the catacombs which is what I am most excited to see and than to the Inca Market.

The students are doing well with the exception of some stomach junk and that virus that is going around.  Praise the Lord for Nancy and her hard work on this trip.  We will spend the next two days living it up in Lima and then we will board a plane to Newark.

Prayer Requests:

1.  Pray for continued health.
2.  Pray for life change in the students after having spent a whole week in ministry.
3.  Pray for life change in the leaders.
4.  Pray that Browncroft would leave and indelible mark on Peru that reflects the love of Christ.
5.  Pray that the Peruvians we came into contact with would have a different picture of what American culture looks like.

Peru update from Nancy

A note from Nancy regarding students health:
"As Patrick already said, this is a 24/48 hour bug. Symptoms include fever, headache, chills and body aches, but those who have gotten sick have recovered nicely. Some students did not effectively drink fluids as instructed and required extra fluids by intravenous. These are the following students: Katie Seeger, Alyssa Irish, Megan Farrell. There are several other students that have the typical travelers diarrhea, but are doing well with pepto bismal. I can talk further with you when we arrive home, but be assured everyone is doing well." ~ Nancy
If anyone has questions, please feel free to contact Heather at 817-575-7401 as she has been talking with Patrick.
Please bear with the team. The internet is very, very spotty. Patrick is updating as often as best he can. The team is currently on the bus to Lima and will be arriving there this evening.

Travel Update

We just made it to Lima. We should be at the hotel in about a half hour. Students are doing well. The students who had to get fluids have all recovered nicely. Thank you for your prayers. If you have any direct questions please email me at pjanson22@gmail.com. I will check my email this afternoon.

Prayer Request

There seems to be a bug going through the group and a few students have gotten sick.  It seems to be a 24hr bug, but we would appreciate everybody's prayers.  Nancy thinks she might have picked something up from the plane ride.  Thanks for your prayers and we will continue to keep you all posted.

PJ

A Student Blog - Pt. 2

The first half of the mission trip has been more amazing than I ever thought it would be.  God has been working in us and through us in ways that are completely indescribable.  A couple of days ago I was given the opportunity to go to Sister Rosa's AIDS clinic...an experience that I will NEVER forget.  When we arrived at her home, there were little kids running around outside waving at us and I could immediately tell that God was going to shine through us while we spent time with the kids.  The pure joy that was radiating from the children (who had next to nothing by the way) truly humbled me and made me think about everything I take for granted.  We played volleyball in the street with a group of girls for while and I wondered how that really was going to make their day better.  I came to find out that we were the first people to play with them and pay attention to them in a very long time.  They were practically in tears when we had to pack up our vans and leave and I wish we could have done more for them.  I was also able to play catch with a very young boy named Arno, who was so precious and thankful that my friends and I were spending time with him.  He'll never know how much of an impact his contentment with having so little had on me.  I'm so glad I am on this mission trip and I can't wait to see what else God has in store for us.

Rachel Theodorou
 

Johnstown Trip - Days 6/7 (Thursday and Friday)

     Our time in both of the programs (Basketball Camp and Adventure Camp) ended Thursday, but we're all in a state of both agreement and excitement about what's next for our kids. We were given just three days to know, love, and speak truth to them, and it was such a demonstration of God's ability to get things done despite limitations. At the morning basketball camp that my own team ran, we were happy to see a few new faces. Our basketball drills turned into a game of kickball. Watching them connect with the kids as they played, I was so impressed by the talent that some of the people in this group have for sports ministry. Over at the Roc Salvation basketball site, the team got the chance to present the Gospel by way of the "flipper flappers," and the kids understood and opened themselves to the message, some even sharing things they already knew about Jesus. The team was so thrilled to see how well some of them already knew their stuff! I'm glad to know that New Day will be running the program all summer, providing the opportunity for continuing growth.
     Rheeme Zayed, Claudia Masters, and I had become friends with a girl our age named Elizabeth at Adventure Camp, and Wednesday brought the opportunity to answer some complicated questions she had, resulting in a great discussion. After learning that she didn't have access to a Bible, I promised to get one to her, so, during the lunch time in between camps on Thursday, I went to a local Christian bookstore with Erica Schiller and Emily Fonseca to pick one out. We found the perfect one for Lizzy, and it meant so much to her. It brought Claudia, Rheeme, and I so much joy to see the work that was started in her, but on a larger scale, I'm amazed at what was started in all of the other kids during this one-on-one buddy time. Where they lacked love, God filled the need. If they felt like laughing, singing, running around, or talking, then they were free to do it. When they were confused, Kaitlin Barnello was armed with an ingenious comparison of the Trinity to Transformers.  By the end, the kids even began to connect with each other. The stories of how people were impacted on the Roc Salvation side were so similar to ours that it's boosted my hope for what comes next: different teams will come in and out, but whoever they are, there's no question that God will carry the process through to perfection. Before they went home for the day, we invited everybody to the "Thursday Night Lights" weekly basketball scrimmage at New Day. Man, were some of those little kids unbelievably skilled! Back at the church, we had a great worship time, discussed this week and the future, and prayed over our wonderful AIM leaders, who did the same for us. It wouldn't properly be one of our trips without dance parties or serenading on the last night, so we did plenty of both. 
     Cleaning and goodbyes this morning were so tough. We got Crucified Ministries back in order, and after lots of pictures and hugs, Beka, Rae, Larry, and Steve (the AIM leaders) waved and danced on the sidewalk as we drove away and left Johnstown for our cultural day in Pittsburgh. We went to an outdoor mall where we shopped and ate, rode up an inclined plane and saw the view from a balcony, checked in at our hotel, and went to the PNC Park for a Pirates game. Such a busy, fun day! It was great to bond with the entire PA team one last time, and a perfect send-off for our time here... even with the excessive heat, humidity, and sweat we got to enjoy. What a blessing and a surprise it's been to see how God has chosen to use each of us.

-Jen