Much happens in the course of a week here in Yauyos. Praise the Lord! Each day is different. We have been taught together to rely on the Lord in prayer for His continued direction.  Here is what has been happening…
Last Tuesday, we visited TĂłmas for the day.  Most of the village was in a mandatory meeting for the night (which we were not expecting), so our plans for a Bible study were altered. We met at Pedro and Auria´s house and talked with them for a good while. Pedro is hard of hearing and his eye-sight is failing, so reading the small-print of the Reina Valera Bible is very difficult. Instead, he has taken to reading a Jehovah´s Witness booklet entitled, ¨What the Bible is ´really´ about.¨ We tried reasoning with him from Scripture about the deity of Christ, but he wouldn´t listen beacuse we didn´t have any large print literature for him to read. His wife is a believer. We prayed for them and sang worship songs together, and then left to visit another believer, Marina, who would greatly appreacite your prayers. She gets dizzy spells and longs for Christian fellowship. We prayed for her health together and then left to walk the 2 hour road through the moon-lit darkness.Â
Thursday night, we continued in Alis with our group study of 1 Peter. Nick shared a summary of ¨the priesthood of believers¨beginning with the OT sacrificial system to Christ as our priest and sacrifice, once and for all. We read 1 Peter 2 and discussed its riches together.  Praise the Lord, it was the first time the hotel manager, Jorge, came to join us.   Thursday nights are always a great time of digging in the Word and always encouraging!  Â
Schools teaching Bible…
Thursday morning we continued teaching English in the primary school in Alis. Now, since Ashley is here, we have two ¨fluent¨speakers, so we split into two groups. Nick and I taught 3rd and 4th grade. Chrish, Ashely, and Melva taught 5th and 6th grade. The school director, Johnny, said beforehand that we could use that same hour for a talk about the Bible. However, he did not communicate this to the teachers. Pilar, the 3rd and 4th grade teacher, helped Nick and I teach the Bible. Ashley was met with tension when the teacher heard her start teaching on God. The priest has a strong presence in the schools and any resistance to what he teaches can cause problems. We are hoping to start an after-school program soon where we are free to speak of the Bible.Â
Friday was a relaxing day of chores and sweet visits. We four gringos woke earlier than normal and started our day with a run. We didn´t last long in the altitude, but we were all happy for the exercise. Perhaps more exahausting…we did our laundry aftwards.  Later that day, we met with Juan and Delia to discuss storying, as method, to accompany Thursday nights. We modelled what storying looks like and discussed it together. At this point, we see storying to be a helpful method to get people engaged in the Bible and to think (from the Bible) what it tells us about God and man, and how we can apply it to our lives. Many questions still remain in our own minds, but we are seeking the Lord´s direction as we continue on. Our day ended with a sweet visit at a believer´s house, Margina, and her family. They made arroz con leche for us with pre-honey-ed bread. It was a treat!Â
Saturday, we left for Laraos (45 minute ride) to take part for a day in the IEP Evangelical conference. We went with the greetings of Alis. Upon arrival, we were split up into two groups. Nick, Chris, and Ashley joined the believers in a session led by a pastor from Huancayo (large city 3-4 hours north east). Melva and I were asked to join the Synod meeting (the gathering of the North, Central, and South Presbyteries and other joint organizations). We sat and listened to the reports and were able to report on what the Lord was doing in Alis and Tomas. In essence, I reported of the lack of workers and the need for faithful teaching to train the people to lead themselves. This is our mission, I told them. It was wonderful to be in the meeting, yet also sad to see the lack of workers in the whole area of Yauyos. The harvest is ripe, but the workers are few. We joined the believers for lunch and dinner. I shared with the believers a talk that Nick, Chris, and I prepared on ¨Guarding the good deposit¨ from I & II Timothy.  We guard the Gospel by guarding our doctrine, guarding our testimony, and faithfully entrusting the Gospel to qualified leaders. The Lord is gracious with my spanish. We ended the night with a large meeting in the town local center for a time of praise and a gospel message from a local leader.Â
The next morning we ate breakfast with them. I shared a devotion from Hebrews 10 on not forsaking the meeting together. Then we left to return to Alis. Our trip was fruitful and enjoyable! It was a blessing to be received with such kindness.
On the trip home, our bus broke down which the Lord used to bring two young children to himself. Nick and I shared the Gospel with Darwin and Kevin and they professed faith in Christ! Pray for these two, as we will not be able to disciple them.Â
More to come on this last Sunday´s service. Pray for us we go to Tomas today to share with them.