When the buses rolled into camp one had a sign taped to the side: “Thank you very much Twin Lakes…Please Come Back.” How many times did we hear this throughout the week? A team of 26 went from Jackson, MS to Trujillo, Peru to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the children of Peru and enjoy a week of Christian camping. The result? Request after request to please come back!
Our group arrived into Trujillo and began the work of preparing for camp. We met at the Arevelo Church with the Peruvian church members from three churches: Arevelo, Winchanzao and Larco. Many of us had been here just a year before, but it was so encouraging to see how the Lord is working in this community. The church is almost completed, including the fourth floor, and the neighboring clinic has begun construction. Last year, the roads leading to Arevelo were all dirt. This year several were paved. The mayor of that community was so impressed with the church and clinic and what Peru Mission is doing there that he made sure the road was paved to allow easier access to these buildings.
We spent the day before camp meeting with the Peruvian church members—renewing old relationships and creating new ones. It was a wonderful day of worship and preparation as we learned camp songs (the fifth and sixth catechism set to music) and reviewed the camp schedule and rules. The ladies of the church treated us to a delicious lunch of lomo saltado, a Peruvian dish that is quite tasty! In the afternoon, we traveled to Hogar de Esperanza (Home of Hope), the orphanage in Trujillo. The children were so excited as we played and passed out treats. One young lady, Juliana, was very excited to see us, but immediately shared how disappointed she was that she would be unable to come to camp due to her age. She was one year older than our camp limit. Juliana sang songs we taught them last year and hugged us and told of her desire to come to camp. We could not turn one child away—so we spoke to the orphanage director and all 41 orphans were invited to camp! What a blessing to reach out to these precious children who will devour any little bit of love and attention shown to them.
Camp was a huge success as we enjoyed four full days of sharing the gospel through each activity--whether it be the evangelism tent, crafts, sports, archery, horses, superfun games, the pool, or assembly time where we sang songs and listened as Paul Nasekos told of God’s creation.
By our last day, we were sad to leave. These people loved camp and asked several times if we were coming back. I am not sure of a day when I have been hugged by more people…even the staff that worked at the facility we rented gave hugs, took pictures and said thanks…everyone we came into contact with was impacted by what God had done that week. One of the Peruvian staff members was heard saying, "You people are changing our lives. Thank you."
Every day as the children arrived we would make a tunnel for them to run through…on Friday, as we got on the bus to leave, they made a tunnel for us to run through. I was asked so many times, "Are you coming back?” We hope so. We hope some of you reading this will join us next year. Peru Mission and the Peruvian churches would like us to expand this camp ministry to another city in the Andes Mountains of Peru as well as continue to run the camp in the desert. God has blessed this ministry in so many ways and we praise Him for what He has done.
Thank you, LORD, for allowing us to be part of this great work that you are doing in Peru.
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