WEEK 1

Friday 27/07/18
Not the most exciting day to report on! But praise God for a safe and smooth journey to Lima, where we greeted by the wonderful Turners, who we stayed the night with, eventually getting to bed about 24 hours after we set off!

Saturday 28/07/18
We flew from Lima down to Arequipa, landing on a stunning runway overlooking mountains and volcanoes. We were greeted by some of the amazing Latin Link Peru team, and spent the rest of the day settling in and being orientated into Arequipa.

Sunday 29/07/18
Our team’s first experience of Peruvian church! We were overwhelmed by the welcome and people’s excitement to see us, and it was amazing to be thousands of miles from home and still be able to worship as a part of God’s family!

Monday 30/07/18
Our first day of camp with the families from Shalom. Camp was about an hour and a half out of Arequipa, a beautiful setting, very dusty and dry, surrounded by hills on all sides. The Shalom children, siblings, mums, dads, and grandmas were all so excited to see us. After arriving late morning, we had praise and bible time til lunch, then games in the afternoon, followed by an entertaining talent show in the evening. It’s amazing to see how the Shalom children, some of whom can do nothing for themselves, are included in everything and given so much care and love by their siblings as well as parents.

Tuesday 31/07
Our 1st morning at camp we had our devotionals sitting out under a tree with the sun rising.
We had a bible session with songs and a short sketch acted out by the Shalom team, this lead on to being split into groups, we stayed with the Shalom students doing pictures etc. Before lunch we all went swimming, after lunch it was the second half of the talent show, each family took part with a short act of there choice. In the evening we sat round a bonfire singing and a testimony being said, followed by marshmallows and sausages, a cold but starry night!

Wednesday 1/08/18
God is able to take our pride and replace it with freedom, was the theme of the day. We helped children from Shalom in their small group, whizzing about in wheelchairs much to their delight! Lots of mess with crafts. The afternoon was spent playing competitive Uno!

Answers to prayer:

  • We’ve all stayed healthy, which has been a huge blessing, especially on camp and has meant we can be fully involved with everything!
  • Have been able to communicate and build relationships across the language barrier.

Prayer requests:

  • That we can build on the relationships formed at camp as we get the opportunity to visit some of the families in their homes and also see the students in shalom next week.
  • That we would have the words to say as we have extra opportunities to share testimonies etc in various church meetings over the next few days.

Thank you everyone at home for your prayers and support, we feel very blessed!