The Plan

Today, Christen, Cristian, and I met with Edson, the North Lima area director. We came up with a plan for my time here while Christen and Cristian are in Florida for the Young Life All Staff Conference.

Starting Thursday, I will spend the day with leaders from San Martin, the neighborhood where I live. Weekends are fairly open. I am free to choose where I go to church, but will probably go to Calvary Chapel Lima with several of the leaders most Sundays. Edson also suggested that I spend the weekends with families in different communities, learning the culture and building relationships. I'm not exactly sure what that will look like yet.

Mondays will be my days off. They are for resting, running errands, doing laundry, and exploring Lima.

Then the plan starts over, with Tuesday through Thursday being spent with a specified club each day. The idea is that I will help with contact work, Young Life slang for spending quality time with kids. The staff down here has found that when they can tell kids that they have a North American friend visiting, more parents will let their kids come in hopes that they will learn English. This allows the Peruvian leaders to engage kids that would otherwise be disinterested. My hope is to lead several games in English, possibly teach a little bit of guitar, play soccer or basketball, and point kids towards the leaders that live here with them in Peru.

I'm also hoping to spend a couple of mornings at El Refugio with Doris's kids. If I understand correctly I should have time to do this on most Fridays. Saturdays will probably be spent with Samuel and Janeth at the orphanage with Capernaum.

Tomorrow I start learning bus routes. Cristian will help me learn how to give directions to a taxi driver, how to get the right price, where to catch a bus, and where to get off. It will most certainly be an adventure. But it's time I learned how to get around this city on my own.

Thank you all for the prayer and support over the last couple of days. I have needed it greatly. Please continue those prayers along with prayers for safety as I learn to navigate the public transportation system. Pray that I can be an encouragement and a resource to the leaders living and ministering here in Peru. Pray that I would be used for His plans, and not my own.