We had a short term team down here about a month ago now and it was a huge blessing to the work we are currently doing here. Jessica and I started working together in January and have had some challenges. Not only did we have to adjust to one another but we also had to adjust to starting with nothing; no contacts, no leads, and actually no idea where to start. I then burned my feet and we were out a month where I could do little to nothing. It has been hard but with this team in May it really helped us get some things moving.
There were many different ministry events going on along with some intense prayer times during this short term trip. Jessica and I were in charge of the Prayer times, the Flash Mob, and Cultural fair. The Flash Mob was a fun event that caught a lot of attention. We weren't sure if we were going to connect with anyone since this was way out of the box evangelism, but since this event we have had a lot of luck meeting with people so we can start investing in lives. It has been awesome to meet so many young women who are generally interested in what God has for them. Here is a link to the Flash Mob we did and if you are confused about what a Flash mob is you can catch it here - http://vimeo.com/68932393
The Cultural Fair was an event that was born out of many different ideas. We had 2 other pairs of 40/40's plus Jessica and I working to put on the event that included photos of famous people, dance workshops, baking workshops, carnival games, English lessons, and an evangelism station. So once people started showing up we had people going through all the stations ending up talking to Pastor Elvin who was able to lead them through the salvation message. His table was never empty for very long.
Finally Jessica and I were able to organize all the prayer times. We started with a journey through the city that allowed the short termers to get to know the city and be able to lay the groundwork of prayer for the events we were going to be doing. Prayer walks can be challenging as prayer is very intimidating for many people and can be very frightening for some to take part in. Jessica and I had been reading books and looking up many different resources for prayer that we wanted to present in a fun and interesting way. We wanted to be able to impact lives not only here in Arequipa but the lives of the Short Term Team and those people within their personal ministry areas at home. Our goal for the time the short termers were here was that they would pray for a total of 24 hours and that was accomplished. God worked through this time; on the people of Arequipa, on the college students that were here, and in my personal life. One thing that was said over and over by many people to be "Praying with Expectation." That means praying that even in the rain (when no sane Arequipaeno will leave his or her house) that there is someone out on the street. That means praying that this little flyer that most people would throw away gets someone to come to an event that changed their life. That means praying that even though a baking workshop that started out with 3 people can become an event that fills the church to the top. Praying in faith that God is and will already be working in the lives of everyone. I was stretched and moved by the people that I was trying to stretch and move. It was an amazing and powerful experience.
I have been a part of many different short term projects that have always impacted me in some way. We have said as a church that prayer is the foundation of everything we do. I can now honestly say that it is a foundation that everything needs to be built on. That is the impact that this team has left me with, they believed that prayer changes thing and there is no way I can doubt that now. So thank you to this team and I am super excited to see what God is going to do as we get closer to Love Extreme.
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