Team Members:

• Jeff Surrett
• Daniel Barr
• Hilary Dum
• Kevin Jackson
• Chelsy Jackson
• Andrew Henry

June 13, Monday

• Meet at Mr. Surrett's at 8:00
• Drive to Baltimore (BWI)
• Baltimore (BWI) Depart 12:00 pm to Atlanta (ATL) Arrive 1:51 pm (Delta Flight: 1893)
• Atlanta (ATL) Depart 4:55 pm to Lima (LIM) Arrive 10:25 pm (Delta Flight: 335)

June 14, Tuesday

We have arrived safely and are getting ready for the rest of the time we are here.

June 15, Wednesday

Yesterday we had a hard day of work over in Via Juanita as we helped them mix and pour concrete to lay the foundation for the wall of the new church location. We also helped clear some of the land of rocks and place five pillars (very heavy steel pillars with poured concrete inside) for the new building.

When we got back in the evening we practiced for the school presentations that we would have the next day.

June 16, Thursday

Today we had the opportunity to have two public school presentations which seemed to be well received. We had all of the secondary (grades 7 - 11 as they do not have a 12th grade here) in an assembly where we were able to sing some songs, have some skits, and present a gospel presentation. We then had a short session with the upper grade to challenge them with if they have made plans for their future. Many of them are thinking towards what kind of careers they will have but I asked if they could promise that they would be doing what they thought five years from now. They all agreed that they could not guarantee that they would. I think asked them to think of their eternal future and if they had made proper plans for it. We gave them information of who to contact if they had further questions or needs.

This night’s church presentation was to begin at 7:00. We arrived at 6:30 and walked around handing out flyers to advertise the meetings and helped the church set out the benches and lights. It was an open-air meeting as it is the church location where we were building the day before. There is still much construction work to be done, as there are no walls at this time, just the foundation and the columns.

People slowly started arriving and we started promptly on time at 7:58 (Latin time that is). We had a good service singing doing some skits and then talking about the fruit of the Spirit. I had several people comment on how they had not really thought before about how it is only one fruit that is produced by the Spirit and not something that we can produce with our efforts. At best we can just produce imitation fruit that may look good on the outside but would be like trying to taste a wax apple instead of the real thing.

June 17, Friday

So far this morning we had the opportunity to have a chapel service at Fetzer Memorial Christian Academy, a school for missionary kids. We are having a quick break before lunch and then heading back for a presentation at another Christian school. We will then return home to prepare for another evening service at the same place where we were last night.

Please pray that God will continue to use us here. So far we are all healthy and are all getting along well. (Even the two siblings haven’t hurt each other yet. :-) )

We went to the School of Tomorrow, a Christian school, where we had a presentation challenging the students to trust God to produce His fruit through us. Afterwards, the school director called us into his office and talked to us about the need for English speaking teachers here in Peru and asked if we knew of anyone who would be interested in a short-term or full-time missions opportunity. If you know of anyone who is interested in this, email me for more information.

After returning back to the Seminary where we are staying, we got ready and left for church. We had a good church service and an opportunity to talk many of the young people afterwards.

June 18, Saturday

Saturday morning I had an educational seminar with about 10 individuals who are looking towards starting a Christian school. We talked about the need to have a clear vision and plan for the school and to think through their philosophy of education.

We then went to the Tourist Market where we were able to buy some souvenirs and haggle for some good deals. After returning to my parent’s house for supper, we were able to play soccer and volleyball with some of the people from the church that we had ministered in on Thursday and Friday.

June 19, Sunday

Sunday morning we had our presentation in a church that was just started this last year. We visited the Sunday school classes and handed out some bracelets and then had our presentation during the main service. There was one gentleman who seemed especially attentive. I thought he was one of the regular members but after talking to the pastor, we found out that he was visiting with his wife and may not be saved. Please pray that God would use the presentation in his life.

Sunday evening we had a presentation in Puente Piedra. The church was full and very attentive to the songs, skits and the message.

June 20, Monday

This was the day for sightseeing. We went to the main plaza where we were able to see the Presidential palace, the main cathedral, and other governmental buildings. We then went to a typical flea market (commercial center). It is amazing the pirated movies that are available (we did not buy any).

So that we could see the contrast, we then went to Larco Mar which is an upscale mall overlooking the ocean. We could all see the vast price difference between the two places that we had been.

We then walked down to the beach and gave everyone the opportunity to stick their feet into the Pacific Ocean. We also had fun hunting for rocks for some people and throwing other rocks into the ocean. After eating supper on Pizza Street in Miraflores, we did a little more shopping before returning home.

June 21, Tuesday

Today we had the opportunity to visit a hospital singing some songs, handing out tracks and talking to some of the patients and doctors. It is hard going into the hospitals where there is so much physical need.

We then went to the top of a mountain where they have the cemetery. It is a wake-up call to see the vast number of graves which represent people who have entered eternity. There is so much more that we could all do to help make sure that people have the opportunity to hear the gospel before it is too late.

Right by the cemetery there was a soccer field where around 10 boys had gathered to watch the foreigners. We sang a couple of songs for them and gave them some tracks and the gospel was presented to them.

We then walked down the mountain to my parents house where we had dinner before heading back to the Seminary. As we went to the main road to catch the bus we were able to hand out many tracks to the people that were walking down the street.

June 22, Wednesday

As we left the house, the weather was colder and there was a mist in the air. We have had more sun this year than the last couple of years so the weather for this day was more typical of the winter here. We headed out to Via Juanita for another workday. We had to help the bricklayers as they worked on building the walls of the new church. We moved around 3000 bricks from a couple of large stacks do different locations spread throughout the new building so the bricklayers would be able to have quick access to the bricks. After the bricks were set in place and the cement had a chance to dry a little, we would use a board with a nail on it set to the proper height to scrape some of the cement from between the bricks to give the wall a finished look.

We also helped in the digging of a hole which will need to be around 12 feet deep for the temporary bathroom. We did not finish the hole but made good progress especially considering that we are not used to using the pickaxe and shovel. Keep in mind that we do not use machinery. It is too expensive. It is much cheaper to hire labor than to rent machinery.

We then returned home to get a little rest and get cleaned up for the evening service. After eating dinner at my parent’s house, we headed down 2 blocks to IBB La Pascana where we had the service. There was a good turn out and the presentation went well. Afterwards, several people stayed to talk to us and fellowship with us.

June 23, Thursday

Sometimes even the best of plans get derailed (not that we necessarily had the best plan). We were scheduled to be in a couple of schools today but the teachers of the school went on strike so there is no school today in most public schools including the ones we were scheduled to be in. We will be using the afternoon to go out and hand out tracks to the kids that now have the day off.

We were in IBB Los Sureños for four presentations for their anniversary campaign. The service this evening got off to a typical late start and attendance was a little lower than expected possibly due to the transportation (bus) strike. We were still able to present God's Word to those that were there and start building relationships that would carry on through the rest of the trip.

June 24, Friday

We went to Los Sureños at 4:00PM and helped them prepare for the evening service. As it is very dusty in Lima, the main auditorium needed to be dusted and swept even though it had been cleaned just the day before. After getting the auditorium ready, we divided into two groups to go around the church area and hand out tracks and invitations to the special services of the week. After we ran out of invitations and tracks, we returned to the church to prepare for the service. Once again, the service went well as we communicated the love of God for us and how we need to love God and others. When we returned home, we were able to play some volleyball with the Seminary students.

June 25, Saturday

Saturday was to be a day of fellowship relaxing at the Seminary where the annual church soccer tournament is being held. A couple of families that we have been in contact with throughout the trip also invited us over for lunch. It has been encouraging to all of us to be able to build relationships in a deeper way than we have on previous trips. After returning back to the Seminary and playing a little soccer, we prepared for the third night of the conference. We arrived early once more to help hand out some more flyers. The church had invited a few other churches from the area to participate with some other specials so our program was a little shorter. We sang two songs and had a skit which compared sinning to literally falling down. How awkward it would be if every time we sinned we literally feel down. We should feel just as awkward when we realize that when we do sin we are falling in our relationship with God. The message was about the other parts of the fruit of the Spirit manifested by how we are on the inside (joy & peace) and how we act outwardly (longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance). (Love was Friday and Faith was reserved for Sunday.)

June 26, Sunday

Sunday morning we were not scheduled to do a presentation so we visited IBB Puente Piedra where we had been the previous Sunday night. We then went to meet my parents and the pastor of Los Sureños to go to a family's house who had invited us over for lunch. It was about a mile walk from the church but we were able to enjoy the fellowship with the family and the pastor.

We got home from lunch later than expected so we had to rush getting everything packed and cleaned since we would need to leave to go to the airport right after the evening service.

We arrived with time to help get things prepared for the evening service since this was their special anniversary meeting. After our songs and skits, the message was about faith. "For by grace are ye saved through faith..." Abraham grew in his faith as we also should grow and realize that we need to be a living sacrifice for God. During the invitation, several people came forward to pray and seek to place their faith in God.

The church program was not over yet but we had to get to the airport. As we were getting ready to leave, we were called back up to the front where we were each given a keepsake to remember the church. We appreciated all of what they did for us and the opportunity that they gave us to minister to them throughout the last part of the week.

We rushed home to pick up all of our luggage and then took off for the airport. Some of the people that we had befriended throughout the two weeks meet us there to say goodbye. After standing in several long lines, we were on the plane ready to come home.

June 27, Monday

The flights home were uneventful and we arrived safely in Baltimore at 1:30PM. All of our belongings arrived safely as well.

God has been good to us on this trip and we would all like to thank you for your prayers while we were away. Thank you also for you financial support as we were able to cover all of our expenses as well as contribute some of our funds to the works in Peru.