Peru Bound
As I write this, our Delta flight is heading to Lima, Peru (we arrived last night). The last several weeks have been a whirlwind. The last 12 months have been a whirlwind.
Exactly twelve months ago, we were in the Outback of Australia. We had just learned that our 14-year-old was having double vision due to the tumor in her head. We had also received a couple of prophetic words from two kids in our church two months before leaving for Australia. They had seen that we were about to go through a hard time, but our family would be closer afterward. I wasn’t sure what they meant and really hoped they were not hearing correctly. Yet a few months later, we were leaving Australia early due to medical issues.
A couple of weeks after arriving home from Australia, Esperanza went through brain surgery. Recovery was tough, but she did amazingly. A few months after that, we headed to Jacksonville for her to undergo proton therapy (a form of radiation), and a couple of months after that, she underwent brain surgery again. This time, they put a shunt in her head to help relieve the pressure. Through it all, Esperanza didn’t just survive; she thrived. Her love relationship with Jesus has expanded, and her boldness to worship Jesus has grown. I have been utterly blessed as I have watched her grow and mature in the process. And if you saw her, you’d never realize she’s gone through all of this.
However, the intensity of watching my child fight this tumor had almost broken me. But I didn’t fully realize it. So when my daughter, Amara, and I went to Minnesota for a missions conference, I found myself having my quiet time next to their lake. As I sat reading the Word of God and talking to Him, emotions overwhelmed me. Convulsions of pain ran through my body, and I couldn’t stop the tears that poured down my cheeks.
A few weeks later, I again found myself sitting by a lake every morning for my quiet time. I was a cabin leader at our church’s youth camp. As I sat and continued to cry out to the Lord and process my emotions with Him, He gave me Psalm 23. “He would lead me beside quiet waters.” As I looked out at the lake, I realized the Lord had done that for me for a second time in two months. He had led me beside still waters. To restore my soul.
With this restored soul, our hearts are stirred for the next season of life in Peru for 9-weeks. We have ideas that the Lord has given to Bruce specifically for showing God’s true character and nature in Peru through photography and videography, but there’s more. Things the Lord has spoken to my husband and, to be honest, things we still don’t even know yet.
What I am excited about is just being present each moment and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead. We want to be ready if He wants us to minister to someone, sit and listen, intercede, and/or be encouraged by someone else. We don’t want to be so consumed by our own agenda that we miss out on what God is doing.
This last year has taught me that. I don’t want to “do ministry”; I want my soul to be restored by the Living God so He can use me however He sees fit. No preexisting agenda. No plan to come in and be a super missionary, but just to be. And follow the Lord one step at a time.
As we enter this next season, we would love for you to partner with us in prayer. Yes, we want continued protection over Esperanza and the rest of our family (God has provided the doctors we need if something were to happen in Peru and Esperanza needed her shunt adjusted). But we want more.
Back in 2023, after we had gone to Guatemala, someone from my previous church in Washington had a word that we were to go further south. Well, Peru is further south, and we want to see what He has in store for us here. We don’t want to see what we can do or accomplish for Him, but we want to be so consumed by what He is already doing and partner with Him in the process. We also want our kids to get whatever it is God has in store for them. We believe this trip is just as much for them as it is for us.
Please join us on this adventure with God, and please ask Him what adventures He wants you to go on or be a part of. For He is a God that restores our souls so we can walk through the valley of the shadow of death. For He is with us. (Psalms 23).
Practical Prayer Needs
No sickness while we are in Peru.
Funds for our trip (click here to partner).
Our home still needs to be rented out in August and September.
Our dog needs a place to stay for the first two weeks of September.
