Greetings all from Lima, Peru! We hope this message finds all of you well.
Over the past few weeks, Clever was able to travel to Trujillo and Puno to participate in a wheelchair distribution with new local church partner that we were able to certify with the Free Wheelchair Mission training program that we offered in November of last year. When he was there, he was reminded of how this journey with this church started with a conversation and an invitation.
4 years later, it was a full circle moment where he was able to participate in these churches’ first distribution!!
We know that many good things take time to develop. We are so excited to see the beginning fruit of the seeds that were planted 4 years ago! That same day 3 other recently certified churches from different parts of Peru ALSO had their first distributions ! It is our hope that through the distributions these churches will become more welcoming to those with disabilities! Will you join us in praying for that as well?
The Saturday before Palm Sunday, our church does a churchwide serve day. We led an event that welcomed over 50 volunteers to serve at an orphange for kids with special needs. This orphanage is one that we have a team of volunteers who mentor the teens with disabiliites on a monthly basis for the past 3 years. With the team, we were able to spend time with 25 children/teens doing crafts, face and nail painting, teaching a bible lesson about Easter, and then a special lunch with the intent to honor each one as kings and queens at God’s table. It was a really impactful time for all of us as we continue to pour into these kids in a very special way.
PS: Sorry for not posting more pictures of them, but by law they are not allowed to have pictures of them posted.
We also hosted avery impactful simulation of what it is like to experience being placed in protective custody. Over 60 people from the church attended this 2 hour simulation and were incredibly impacted by their experience. Our hope is that simulations like this will make an impact for those who continue waiting for their forever family.
Lastly, this past Sunday we closed the doors to one of our beautiful campuses that we have been using for the past 9 years. The owners have decided to sell the space to investors who will knock down the building that was an old theater to build a new high rise apartment/condo complex. We are sad to see it go, but excited to see what lies ahead for us. Starting this Sunday we will return to a space that we rented over 12 years ago! It was the very first campus that I started to serve at when I first arrived in Peru. We are excited about the return, but also curious how we will fit all the people and kids into a much smaller space. We would appreciate your prayers for that, as well as volunteers to serve because with this change of address it appears that not everyone will be able to come to that campus to serve because of distance. On top of all that, we ask for prayers as we enter into a season of training new volunteers and finding a new leader for our special needs area. We ask specifically for energy, endurance, and wisdom as we temporarily lead this area on Sundays from 8 am until 6:30 pm.
On a personal level, Kaleb was able to attend his very first overnight summer camp at the end of February. It was a good way to end summer and help boost his confidence for the upcoming school year. Kaleb is now 2 months into his 4th grade year! 4th grade seems to be a bit harder with a lot more expectations. He has many teachers so it has been quite the adjustment to get to know so many teachers. His new interest is basketball and he enjoys watching some NBA games. He says he likes the Lakers! Clever got to baptize our nephew who is 16 years old! Physically and mentally, I am getting stronger and able to do much more in a day than I have been able to in the past few years. We praise God for His continual care and kindness towards us. Clever and I are doing well. We are working hard at trying to keep a healthy rhythm in our life to balance us out as it is easy to always find something to do or someone in need.
We need your prayers!!! The week of May 11th we will be headed to Cusco to participate in the 3rd annual summit focused on care for vulnerable children put on by the organization , Peru Por los Niños, that Clever is a board member on. This year we have 4 special guests and dear friends of ours from the US who will be talking about disability and the church! Also, this year both Clever and I will be presenting separately on topics of adoption and disability ministry. We are honored and excited about this opportunity to continue to encourage and inspire other churches and organizations to join in caring for vulnerable children. Please pray specifically for safe travels and an easy adjustment to the altitude and extra energy for all of us since the summit begins at 9 am each day and ends at 7pm! We also ask for prayer that the number of attendance is the biggest yet in all 3 years it has been put on. Lastly, prayers for Kaleb to enjoy his time with other kids whose parents are also participating in this event! If you want to see more about the event you can go to https://www.ppln.pe/ .
As you know, we are missionaries who work full time on mission to help vulnerable people including those with disabilities and orphans find a place of belonging and acceptance in the church body and have a personal encounter with Christ. Thank you for supporting our mission through prayers and financial support. We can not continue to do the work of serving in this way without your support. If you feel led to give towards our finances to continue to do what we get to do, we ask that you please click on the give button below. If you know someone who wants to learn more about what we do, we ask you to share with them the way to subscribe to our newsletter below. If you want to begin partnering with us, we ask that you also reach out so us for more information. With sincere gratitude. Clever and Lisa