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

First middle school youth meeting

Last night we started our middle school youth group. We have a group of middle schoolers between 11-17 years old. We talked about dinosaurs, the book of Job and creation vs. evolution. We ate some ice cream sundays and played spoons. We had a great time.

Our first service in the new space

before and after

The entrance and the children's rooms.

Today we had our first Sunday service in our new space. We had several new people today and pray that they will continue to come. God has been so good to us and has transformed a space that seemed useless into something that will be used to glorify His holy name. Just exactly what He did with us, transformed something that seemed impossible and useless into something that is useful for His glory. Ohhh Praise Him!

Sorry for the lack of post, but we've been really busy. I (Robin) have been working on the new building for the past month with a good bit of help of course. This weekend is the opening celebration. We are excited, but there is ton of stuff that still needs to be done. Please pray that it all comes together for Sunday. As soon I can get the time I will post some pictures.

A new church home

Well this is it. I know that it doesn't look like much right now, but the Lord has given me a plan for finishing out the space. We will begin contruction on the place this coming Monday, Lord willing. It will probably take two or three weeks before we can move in. Please pray that the Lord will continue to provide for each and every step of the project and give me wisdom in making decisions. When finished we think we will be able to seat about 100-125 people maybe more. We will have at least two Sunday school rooms and two or three bathrooms. We are very excited about the possiblities that this new space gives us. Another large blessing is that the space is located on the main avenue. Praise the Lord for He has already provided so much. We already have money in place to do a lot of the construction. The other incredible blessing is that this space is about a third of what everything else on the avenue cost. We were able to secure a two year contract and this means that all we invest in the space will be for the future as well. We are praying that if it is the Lord's will that He will open the door in the future for us to buy the space, currently the space is not for sale. He is Holy and oh sooo good to His children.

Another possiblity

A few months back we were praying for a new space and thought that we had found the perfect spot, but the Lord's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts, needless to say it didn't pan out. Now we are looking at a new space. In the traditional Calvary style, the place is a large open warehouse without anything. We will need to build rooms for Sunday school classes and bathrooms. We are excited about the possibility that this offers us as a church and the room that this will give us to grow. We have made an offer on the building (to rent) and are waiting on the Lord for the answer. Please join us in prayer for this new space.

English classes as an outreach

This month I began teaching classes in English pronunciation and communication. The class is full, I have about 25 students, some are from the church and some not. We are hoping to be able to minister to them as they come to the class. The point of the class is to reach out to university age students, which is exactly what we have. I have one problem, the church is overfull and if they come they will have no where to sit. So please pray for these lost souls and pray continually for the Lord to provide us a new church building. Our children's ministry is overflowing and people are standing outside in the hot sun on Sunday mornings. Please pray with us. We are currently talking to someone about another building on the main ave, it used to be a Radio Shack. Please Lord provide for your church.

Christmas 09

This is our Christmas dinner.


crazy eyes

Irma, one of the sweet saints in the church, her 90 year old dad is seated on the left.

the kids watching TV

The giant feast.

Sorry it has been so long for those of you who follow us here on the blog. Things are going well here in Ica and the Lord is blessing us abundantly. For Christmas we had a nice dinner on the 20th and about 50-60 people came out to celebrate with us. Free food always draws the crowds. We also had a special service on the 24th to celebrate Christmas Eve. The church was full to overflowing and we had a blessed time celebrating our Saviors birth. Lately the church has been busting at the seams, this past Sunday we had two people standing outside the door. We are desperate for a new space, but still waiting on the Lord. The place that my heart desires that many of you guys have been praying for is still available, but we have yet to hear anything. Now I'm looking into other options. I know that Lord will provide, I just pray He does so quickly.

Christmas eve service

Full house for Christmas Eve.

He heals

I wanted to share a great God story for His glory. We had a lady named Betty visiting the church for about 10 days while she was here in Ica, visiting her sister and seeing the doctor about cancer treatments. She didn't tell me what the sickness was only that she was sick. We had just finished our thursday night study in the book of John and I was ready to start Acts, but the Lord laid it heavy on my heart to teach on prayer and to end with James 5. After studying for the evening the Lord put it on my heart to take oil to annoint one that would come forward and ask for prayer. I taught, it was rough, I didn't feel that it went all that well that night, but when I taught about James 5 and annointing with oil anyone who is sick that they may be healed, I felt lead to ask if anyone felt lead to come forward to be prayed over. We were all preparing our hearts for communion. Betty came forward, we prayed over Betty and annointed her with oil. Many other faithful prayer warriors had been praying for her as well. Friday came and her sister came to bring our family some avacado and tell me that in the morning Betty got her test results and she was clear of cancer. The doctor couldn't find any cancer anymore. She still has to come back to the doctor for routine checkups, just in case. But she has been healed. Praise Him. Christ was glorified. Betty stayed a few extra days to be sure to assist our Sunday service, because she said that she feels at home here. I ask her at the last minute to give her testimony of how Christ had healed her and she went on for about 10 minutes about how great is our God, how mighty is Christ and He is to be praised. Thank you Lord for healing Betty and for glorifying Your Holy name.

Baptism/ church picnic

We had a special service on the picnic grounds in a covered pavillion.

Some of the teenagers did some dramas we have been learning. This one is called the Lolipop drama.

Another drama, this one is the Chair.

Then we prayed for the three that were to be baptized.

Then we baptized Jorge (69) and Lucha (65), they are husband and wife.

This is Jorge.

Then we baptized Manuel (80), due to sickness he couldn't get into the water, so we just poured a handful of water on the back of his head.

Then we ate and had a fun time with all the kids playing in the pool. About 60-70 showed up over the course of the day. Many new people came and some that have recently begin to come to the church came and I think they feel a little more like part of the family. What a blessed time we had. Thank you Lord for your provision and for a beautiful day.

Bibles- God's perfect timing

This past sunday we had a full house, three people were standing during the service. Wow. Prayers are being answered. Two people prayed to receive Christ during the service, one of which we had been fasting and praying for. Wow, wow, wow. We are wowed by the awesome grace and might of our Holy God. With all the people we were in need of Bibles. As the service begin and I saw that there was not enough Bibles for the new people who had come, I thought what do we do and just then a lady who is visiting from the states for a couple of months came to tell me that if we needed more Bibles right now, that she had purchased a box of Bibles to give us. We broke open the box and used 5 Bibles right away, 2 or 3 ended being gifted to some new folks, especially those that had prayed to receive the Lord that day. Wow. Wow. wow.

Happy Birthday Nala!!!

Team, Calvary Chapel In the City, Boston

Calvary Chapel In the City, Boston came to minister with us for a few days. We had a blessed time together. We went into the center of the city to evangelize and pass out invitations, we went to minister to children in Los Pollitos, we did an outreach in a public school and we surfed the sand dunes in La Huacachina.


Tracy preparing goody bags for the kids in the school.


The team performing a puppet show in the public school.


We sang some songs and got the kids to do all the motions, even the bigger kids were participating.


The kids listened intently as the team shared a teaching about the ascension of Christ.


We performed a drama about sharing.


And finally we made a craft with the kids in their classrooms. We had an awesome time ministering in the public school system and we praise the Lord that we were able to share with the kids and plant seeds that the Lord will water in His timing.

Steve and Cassys last days

The church said goodbye to Cassy. Of course they fell in love with Cassy. Her and her dad Steve were here for one last Thursday night Bible study. We had some cake and soda and celebrated with a little saddness. Thanks Cassy for all your love and for being a godly example to all the young girls.

Earthquake Anniversary protests

Today as I was traveling back from Lima to Ica, I encountered a closed interstate in the small town of Pisco. Pisco was the epicenter of the 2007 earthquake (8.0) and the residents feel like the government hasn't done enough. Today is the 2 year anniversary of the earthquake so the people decided to protest by burning tires in the street and by blocking the only road leading to Ica from Lima. Hundreds of protesters gathered on either side of a bridge on the interstate so that no one could pass by. I arrived on the scene just as the blockade began. The police had yet to arrive. I knew from missions training and a little common since never to go into a gathered crowd that is protesting. I immediately turned around and found a safe place to park about 2 miles from all the activity. Soon the national police arrived with their machine guns and gas bombs and of course riot shields. Kinda movie like, unless you live in a country that this happens often. We waited about 2 1/2 hours, myself and several hundred other travelers some in buses and others in cars, as the police patiently allowed the people to protest. When the protesters began to leave and a few stubborn ones stayed behind blocking the road, the police decided to move in and free the interstate to let all the traffic pass. One lady was hurt in the police overtake and only a few cars were damaged in the whole protest, which is pretty good. There are usually a few burnt cars and beaten people when large groups come together to protest. Thankfully the Lord protected me and gave me wisdom to turn around, one truck tried to pass through in the early stages of the protest and it was damaged by the protesters.

Pray for the Peruvians, especially those that are still suffering effects of the earthquake after two long years. Also pray for the national Police that they would continue to handle these situations with the respect and dignity that they showed today.