It's hard to believe that we're rapidly coming to the end of our summer here in South America with Inca Link. Time is beginning to really fly. Our thoughts are turning now toward finishing well with our internship. With any project, it's easy to start strongly, and even to work consistently. It's rare, however, to find someone who always finishes well. It can be as true with a summer internship as with life. As we prepare to finish our time in Trujillo in less than two weeks, it's important to us to make sure that we're pressing forward with our work projects and goals. We've just finished the interior paint in the large multi-purpose building, and before we leave we hope to have the exterior paint done on the three main buildings. I (John) just finished up the majority of my creative project, and Katie's is finished as well. We'll post pictures soon!
We've just had another group finish up their time here in Trujillo. We thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with them. It was our second adult team, with two married couples and a younger lady. The two husbands were a supervisor at a nuclear facility and a personal injury lawyer, and the three ladies were all teachers. They had all sorts of different testimonies and great stories. They worked hard too, and with some real quality, and we got a lot done. Next Saturday, the next team comes. This will be the team that Marion and I are leading, and Katie along with me. It's actually two teams overlapping - the first this Saturday, then the second a few days after that. Unfortunately, I think we will be leaving Trujillo for our intern debrief before either departs. I'm really looking forward to taking some direct leadership with this team.
Katie and I have enjoyed taking a lot of leadership and initiative around the albergue too. Our director, Ignacio, has been under a lot of stress lately, and at the moment has been very preoccupied with his wife's visa application in Lima. In his absence, Katie and I have been able to step into the gap a bit. In addition to continuing to step up our leadership with the interns, something that Ignacio has really recognized and expressed appreciation for, we've started giving some direction to specifically the painting part of the construction. Katie is picking out most of the colors for the entire albergue, and we're putting together a master document with color guidance for each room and the psychology behind each color. We figured out a trick to paint a perfect line between two colors, but now we're having trouble getting the paint to stick to the primer and not come back up with the tape.
Thanks for your continued prayers! They are blessing us and it's wonderful to know that we have so much support back home. Our thoughts are with you all frequently and we can't wait to see you in just under three weeks to share more stories and settle back into life, somehow changed by our experiences!
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Limitations
Katie and I have been thinking about the subject of limitations recently. We've both found ourselves very limited in our work at various points during this summer. First it was washing out of the Amazing Race because we couldn't keep up. Then I (John) sprained both of my ankles in the span of a couple of weeks. I came down with a brief cold, then I found myself incapable of concrete work because of my nerve damage in my neck and shoulders. Then Katie came down with the flu, and then I was totally drained by some major diahhrea. We're both well from our illnesses now, but the staff here says it's an epidemic all over Trujillo because of the climate change (it's winter, we go nearly a week between seeing the sun, which means it stays pretty cold). We've passed seven weeks, past the half-way mark through our summer adventure, and clearly God is trying to say something to us.
Having so many limitations is very challenging when we're volunteering with an organization that really puts a lot of focus on manual labor and physical exertion. We've both struggled through feelings of inadequacy and feeling like we don't fit in here. Other than when we're in bed sick, we're pretty much finding good ways to pitch in and be part of the team as much as possible, but I think God is saying something to us. Whether we're here or back home in our jobs, every team needs a variety of skills and strengths. If we were all a team of manual laborers, we'd probably get a lot of work done, but we might really fail at ministering to teams that pass through. Back home in our workplaces, we need a variety of gifts to accomplish the missions of each of our organizations. It's way too easy for us as humans to get focused on our own gifts and compare others to ourselves, getting frustrated at them when they don't measure up.
It's a good message especially for me. Anyone who knows me back home knows that I'm a high-capacity, full-speed worker. I work hard all day, then go home and work hard all evening whether it's managing the home, doing school, or volunteering for some organization. I go 100%, and then some, constantly. Sometimes I'm arrogant with others about that, and put a lot of pressure on others to work up to the measure that God has granted me. Translated into this context, I'd be a construction foreman pushing everyone to go, go, go, and not let up. I'd have little compassion on those with different gifts, or those limited in some way in their labor. Learning this lesson here in Trujillo doesn't necessarily mean that I need to go home and drop a lot of my activities (although there may be a message about sabbath in there for me too), but it does mean that I need to have more compassion and encourage others in their own giftedness, not try to conform them to my own.
Having so many limitations is very challenging when we're volunteering with an organization that really puts a lot of focus on manual labor and physical exertion. We've both struggled through feelings of inadequacy and feeling like we don't fit in here. Other than when we're in bed sick, we're pretty much finding good ways to pitch in and be part of the team as much as possible, but I think God is saying something to us. Whether we're here or back home in our jobs, every team needs a variety of skills and strengths. If we were all a team of manual laborers, we'd probably get a lot of work done, but we might really fail at ministering to teams that pass through. Back home in our workplaces, we need a variety of gifts to accomplish the missions of each of our organizations. It's way too easy for us as humans to get focused on our own gifts and compare others to ourselves, getting frustrated at them when they don't measure up.
It's a good message especially for me. Anyone who knows me back home knows that I'm a high-capacity, full-speed worker. I work hard all day, then go home and work hard all evening whether it's managing the home, doing school, or volunteering for some organization. I go 100%, and then some, constantly. Sometimes I'm arrogant with others about that, and put a lot of pressure on others to work up to the measure that God has granted me. Translated into this context, I'd be a construction foreman pushing everyone to go, go, go, and not let up. I'd have little compassion on those with different gifts, or those limited in some way in their labor. Learning this lesson here in Trujillo doesn't necessarily mean that I need to go home and drop a lot of my activities (although there may be a message about sabbath in there for me too), but it does mean that I need to have more compassion and encourage others in their own giftedness, not try to conform them to my own.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Creativity and Adaptation
This summer, Katie and I are getting to utilize a bit of creativity and adaptation as we settle into our short-term roles here with Inca Link in Peru. We came in with what we thought were very few expectations, but quickly realized that we had more expectations than we thought. We both have a bit of missions experience, and a lot of ministry experience, and that led us to start making some plans and ideas before we got here. However, we're adapting into our new adventure. All the construction has been an interesting change for us. It took us a while to change gears into it, but manual labor is not new territory for me (John) and as I've switched my mindset from one of doing ministry all summer into one of doing manual labor all summer with ministry on the side, I'm enjoying seeing the work progress. Katie is of course adapting into new experiences of living in a developing country, and she's enjoying seeing life lived in a different style than in Texas.
We also are developing what we call our creative projects for the summer. Creativity is one of Inca Link's core values, so all the interns come up with some initiative that they can do in the handful of weeks we are here to further the ministry from behind the scenes. Making meals and serving the other interns has become part of mine. I'm meeting with one of the other interns once to twice a week for discipleship and that's great too. I've also begun an experiment in composting. I call it an experiment because this is an unusual attempt, in the midst of a children's home, in the desert, in a colder climate. Humidity isn't a challenge, but heat is in the winter, and it's dug underground which limits air, and often people throw grass clippings in and there's no grass here. Regardless, if we can generate some compost, it would help to start some gardening here for the kids. The final part of my creative project is to do some home improvement on our living quarters, which will become the room for the children's caretaker in this building. Shelves, towel bar, toilet paper holder, paint, etc.
Katie has been finding ways to serve using her gifts creatively. In addition to leading worship for our team of interns, she's been leading worship for the mission groups that come through. She has been investing a lot of time in improving her skills on acoustic guitar, learning songs, and writing out song lyrics on large posterboard for people who need the words. She hopes to create a whole book of songs, chords, and lyrics for long-term use here at the children's home. In addition, she is helping Marion with the sewing and baking ministry to the women in the community around here. They're developing recipes to leave behind and hoping to develop a new leader to take over after September when Marion leaves. When mission teams are coming through, they're also making baked goods (banana bread recently) to sell to the North Americans, the profits of which will go toward shelves and equipment for the women's ministry.
A large team of 33 Canadians, mostly high schoolers, mostly girls, just left this morning. The Superintendent of the C&MA Canada was here with them, and one of the former Inca Link directors, Jeff, is here leading them. It's kind of a groundbreaking moment for Inca Link here in a variety of ways, one of which was a young adult gathering Saturday night where Inca Link was the focus of the evening. Inca Link hasn't been widely featured at this large church before, and the leaders here are hoping that the church will become a strong supporter of the ministry and outreach. Jeff, who grew up in Bolivia, is preached at all 5 church services there on Sunday and we believe that we'll see a lot of fruit from that.
Blessings to you all, and we hope you are feeling strong in the Lord and encouraged by each new day in His service and leadership! May you be spurred today to think creatively about how you can use your gifts to serve Him this week, and strengthened to adapt yourself to new and stretching situations regularly!
We also are developing what we call our creative projects for the summer. Creativity is one of Inca Link's core values, so all the interns come up with some initiative that they can do in the handful of weeks we are here to further the ministry from behind the scenes. Making meals and serving the other interns has become part of mine. I'm meeting with one of the other interns once to twice a week for discipleship and that's great too. I've also begun an experiment in composting. I call it an experiment because this is an unusual attempt, in the midst of a children's home, in the desert, in a colder climate. Humidity isn't a challenge, but heat is in the winter, and it's dug underground which limits air, and often people throw grass clippings in and there's no grass here. Regardless, if we can generate some compost, it would help to start some gardening here for the kids. The final part of my creative project is to do some home improvement on our living quarters, which will become the room for the children's caretaker in this building. Shelves, towel bar, toilet paper holder, paint, etc.
Katie has been finding ways to serve using her gifts creatively. In addition to leading worship for our team of interns, she's been leading worship for the mission groups that come through. She has been investing a lot of time in improving her skills on acoustic guitar, learning songs, and writing out song lyrics on large posterboard for people who need the words. She hopes to create a whole book of songs, chords, and lyrics for long-term use here at the children's home. In addition, she is helping Marion with the sewing and baking ministry to the women in the community around here. They're developing recipes to leave behind and hoping to develop a new leader to take over after September when Marion leaves. When mission teams are coming through, they're also making baked goods (banana bread recently) to sell to the North Americans, the profits of which will go toward shelves and equipment for the women's ministry.
A large team of 33 Canadians, mostly high schoolers, mostly girls, just left this morning. The Superintendent of the C&MA Canada was here with them, and one of the former Inca Link directors, Jeff, is here leading them. It's kind of a groundbreaking moment for Inca Link here in a variety of ways, one of which was a young adult gathering Saturday night where Inca Link was the focus of the evening. Inca Link hasn't been widely featured at this large church before, and the leaders here are hoping that the church will become a strong supporter of the ministry and outreach. Jeff, who grew up in Bolivia, is preached at all 5 church services there on Sunday and we believe that we'll see a lot of fruit from that.
Blessings to you all, and we hope you are feeling strong in the Lord and encouraged by each new day in His service and leadership! May you be spurred today to think creatively about how you can use your gifts to serve Him this week, and strengthened to adapt yourself to new and stretching situations regularly!
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