Last weekend we had our first youth retreat. We had 22 teenagers from the ages of 12-18 years old. About 10-11 of them didn't know the Lord. We were able to share God's Word with them and give them lots and lots of love. They had time to swim, play soccer, volleyball, and other yard games and then we had a campfire and roasted marshmellows, they had never done that before

Morning devotionals were fun. You gotta do something to get the attention of 22 youth that went to bed way to late and you ask them to get up at 7am.

The last day was the most amazing. The guy who helped me thoughout the retreat had the idea to give hugs to the youth. I thought that he was a little crazy and that they wouldn't let him. Well I was proved wrong. It took a little coaxing for some of them, but the Lord begin to work and kids begin to come for their free hugs. Kids that were the worst amongst the group broke down crying after being hugged. Wow the Lord is good! We also gave an invitation to receive Christ and 6 of them prayed. Pray with us that this will be the beginning of a fruitful relationship with Jesus Christ for these 6 youth.

Hugs, hugs, hugs! Giving a hug to one of the toughest of the tough!

Youth retreat coming up!!

Just got back from the beach, celebrating my wife's birthday. Good times, will post some pictures soon. Now it is time to prepare for our upcoming youth retreat. We begin tomorrow at 5pm and end on Sunday morning at 10am. We are going to a place here in Ica, that has a pool, soccer field and some nice grassy areas to play in. Looking forward to some fun time with the teenagers. Please pray for Marco Cordova who is leading the retreat and for Mario, Paola & me, those of us who are leading and taking care of the youth.

a month of firsts

This has been an interesting month so far and we have only just begun. This month is full of firsts for us. At the end of Feb. and the beginning of March I officiated my first funerals, two right in a row (both came to our church for a time until their sickness wouldn't allow them to come). Last week we were robbed for the first time at the church, after a year in our new space. Yesterday I had to ask someone to leave the fellowship, a first for me as a pastor. And at the end of the month I will be officiating my first wedding as a pastor. Exciting, emotional and difficult times. The Lord is doing or getting ready to do something great amongst us, because there is ton of spiritual warfare. Please pray for the believers here in Ica, they are experiencing many family problems here recently. Lots of marriages in turmoil and inner family problems, also some drama amongst the church body. The good thing is the enemy is attacking, which means the Lord counts us worthy to be able to resist the woes of the devil. Give us strength Lord to continue on for your glory. Amen.

Midnight surprise

Last night we were falling to sleep at about midnight when all of a sudden we heard a trumpet begin to play and then some other instruments, it was a 7 piece Mariachi band. They were playing in the street in front of our neighbors house. We later found out that is a Peruvian tradition to hire a Mariachi band for a fifteen year old's birthday. The band started exactly at midnight, which is the beginning of the kids birthday. I guess they like to get a start of the day and the celebration. We laughed at the absurdity of the situation as they continued to play until about 12:30am. Imagine being serenated at midnight on the day of your birthday. Just a little part of the culture that I didn't know about after four year on the field. Always a little more to learn.

church robbed.

Hi! I am hoping to find you all very well. I am writing to tell you the events of this evening (thursday March 3) and to ask for your prayers. Mario, one of the guys in the church who is starting to serve, was at the church and the church got robbed. Today was to be his first Thurs to start leading worship at the evening service. We were just recently given a guitar for the church so now he has one to practice on and play on. He came by the house to pick up the guitar and headed over to the church to practice ahead of time. A young couple came by asking for Pastor Robin. He told them he wasn't there at that time and that the service started at 7:30. They said they'd come back later, but the girl asked to use the bathroom. He let them in and then the girl pulled a gun on him. They took them in, made him get on his knees, put the gun to his head and demanded the money box "with all the gringo dollars." They found the tithe box and apparently busted it up to take the money. They went around the church looking for other things of value. The only other thing of real value in the church is the sound equipment. They didn't take anything else saying they couldn't get it into the mototaxi. In the end, they only took the money, Mario did not get hurt.
I praise God for protecting Mario and for protecting our family. We are sometimes seen as big fat dollar signs because we are American. We always have our eyes open, taking every precaution to safety, but not living in fear. We trust the Lord in all circumstances, even when things do seem to go terribly wrong. He is always there with us. I ask for your continued prayers for our safety, peace in our home and protection over the church. This seems to be happening a lot in Peru lately. Just about a month ago some guys robbed the church in Lima, entered during a service with guns, made everyone get on the floor and so on. There are constant robberies in my neighborhood and all around us in Ica. But again, we do not live in fear. Thank you so much for your love and your prayers.
Tracy

Funerals and New life

We recently got back from a visit to the states. We came back to a full schedule. We started with a sickness that had me (Robin) in bed for several days and many other days of just sitting around with head full of snot (gross). Anyway, after about two weeks things got better in that area and the ministry opportunities begin to pour in.
In the last few days two members of our church went home to see the Lord. Martin a 39 year old dad of two (12 year old son Brian, 15 year old daughter, Lucera) went to see his Maker after battling cancer for about two years. About a year ago he began coming to the church and he just couldn't understand why his sister was so interested in Christ, he said it was boring. Then the Lord captured his heart and gave him a different perspective. Martin came in as an athiest and left as a God fearing men with a love relationship with Jesus Christ. Praise Jesus. Martin's funeral was the first that I had ever officiated and things went well. I shared the hope that we have Jesus, and how even though his body was before us, his soul and his spirit went home to their maker. The service was nice and everybody was blessed.
The funeral was on a Saturday and on Sunday, some of Martin's family and friends came to the church and two of them gave there life to the Lord (Narda and Carman) Please pray for them, that their new life with Christ with blossom and that they will be able to resist the wiles of the devil. Amen.
Mariela a 35-40is mom of two, having lost her husband two years earlier to an untimely death, also went home to worship Jesus. Mariela came to the church about 8 months ago, she was unsure of whether to accept Christ or not. She battled with the traditionalism of the state church and knew that accepting Christ meant being rejected by her very religious family (different religion). Two months later while I was visiting with her she decided to give her heart to the Lord and become His child. Amen. Sunday she went home to be with her Savior, after battling cancer for about 5-6 months. She left behind two young daughter (Sandra 8, and another that I don't know 16-17 years old) please pray for these lovely girls to come into a relationship with Jesus, who is the father of the fatherlesss. This was the second funeral that I participated in as a Pastor. The family wasn't too excited about me sharing, even though they knew that Mariela didn't share their religion they insisited that the funeral be traditional according to their religion. It was a bit excrutiating to sit through about hours of them praying to a false god. Then I ask the sister to give me two minutes to share, she agreed. I had prayed that the Lord would open the door. I shared from the book of John 11 where Jesus says that he is resurrection and the life. I shared that Mariela went directly to be with her Savior and that she is not in some holding cell waiting to be prayed in. She is there just like to theif that was next to Jesus on the cross. I was able to share the gospel with a bunch of people that are chained to religious practices and have no real relationship. Thank you Jesus for the opportunity. Please pray for the family of Mariela that through this tragedy that some of them will come to know the true Savior and mediator of our faith.
A rather emotional weekend and quite busy. Today we are taking it a little slower, trying to catch up on some writing and some personal time. I will try to be better writing the blog as many have requested.
Robin