8 de Diciembre (Baptismo y Fiesta!)

So, God is good. We’ve heard that one said a thousand times before, but this time I really KNOW that he is good.

Today we went down to Playa Santa Maria with our church to have a baptism. My good friend, Deivis, and our other friend, Ashleigh, were both getting baptized, and we were so excited to be able to witness such an event! We arrived at the Cineplanet where we attend church at 10:55 am; 5 minutes early! :) Jennifer was very proud of us. Haha.

*liz, bill, deivis, me
When we got to the beach, we got everything set up, said a prayer and headed out to the water! Bill and Jennifer escorted those who would be baptized to Steve and Josue who were waiting in the FREEZING ocean water. The girls went first, and we were so happy for Ashleigh when it was her turn! Deivis admitted that he was a bit nervous but told us that although his parents were unable to come, WE were his family and he was glad we were there. Aww, and so we watched our Peruvian brother in Christ participate in the symbolic act of his inward transformation. It was so wonderful, and Deivis looked so happy! Praise God for all that He has done and continues to do. Deivis has only been a Christian since April of this year and has seen but a glimpse into God’s goodness. I pray that God will keep Him faithful and focused throughout his life.

*deivis getting baptized!!*deivis, me, ashleigh, liz after it was all over! deivis shared a bit of the baptism with me by getting me wet!
*the group with pastor steve on the far left!

I had a good talk with Moises, one of our friends from the Lighthouse, while down at the beach. He told me that he’s met a lot of missionaries before from a lot of different places; according to him, the missionaries always seem to keep their distance and never really get that close to the Peruvians. One of the kindest things anyone’s ever said to me was that Liz and I were different. He said we are true friends and that he’s going to miss us. Right back at ya, Moises.

*moises and me

Bill and Jennifer were SOOOOO kind in taking us home after the beach baptism. Liz and I were stressed about going because we needed to be back at the Lighthouse for our Bible study by 3:30, and the bus wasn’t going to return to Lima until 4:45 or 5:00! But God sent the Marshall family to us, and we made it home just in time for our special Bible study!

We concluded our study on 1 Timothy. When Liz and I first began writing the study, it seemed like something so far off, and now it’s over! It was so crazy, too, because as we were reading I noticed that the title of the lesson was “Farewell.” Yeah, so Noemi was right in the middle of reading when I noticed that and I shouted, “Oh my gosh! It says ‘Farewell.’” It made me want to cry. Haha. (I later apologized for my outburst.)

Anyway, Saturday concluded our Bible memory verse contest!! We were SOOOO proud of our friends for memorizing their verses! All in all, we were able to invite TWELVE special guests to our special “Bible Memory Verse Contest Party!” :) That means that 12 of our Bible study friends memorized THREE verses in just THREE weeks!! The verses were:

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” Psalms 119:11

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

We promised to cook a meal for anyone who could memorize those verses in the three weeks. Liz and I even memorized our verses in Spanish as our part of the contest. I’m glad we were able to remember them because it would’ve been a shame not to be able to participate in the party festivities! :) Mexican food was on the menu, and it was a real treat for our Peruvian friends! Liz cooked enchiladas and I cooked fajitas. We served these dishes along with guacamole and Mexican salsa. They’d never had any of it before besides the guacamole! Haha. They kept asking, “Which are the fajitas? Which are the enchiladas?” It was funny. Julio requested that I take a picture of him before he ate his food so he could be sure and have one last photo before he died. Har. Har. :)

*ok, so i was cutting onions and the juice was making my eyes water. so i thought, hey. i'll put on my sunglasses! liz laughed at me. . . :)
*la comida!*julio's last picture. . .
*noemi, deivis, martin
*julio and rene. notice julio is still alive and seems to be enjoying himself. :)

In the end, they loved the food and we had a great time! After we ate, we sang Christmas songs! Liz and I taught them the echo part to “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer,” and we even sang some songs in Spanish that Deivis brought! In addition to singing those songs, we sang FELIZ NAVIDAD which just so HAPPENS to be my current favorite Christmas song. :) The version we had was all in Spanish, and even the Spanish speakers didn’t know the (“I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas”) part in Spanish. So, we just sang it in English over the Spanish!! Haha. It was so funny. Oh! And there was this version of “Jingle Bells” that was barked by dogs. . . random, I know, but it was Deivis’ cd! :) We barked that one about three times through. It was hilarious!

*(first row) me, deivis, arturo, noemi, carme, hernan, aulo (second row) martin, julio, rene, moises, jhon, junior

Ah. All in all it was one of the best days we’ve had here. There’s nothing better than good friends, good food, talk of our Father and the singing of “Feliz Navidad!” :)

Katrina

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.”

-1 Timothy 12-16

click on the videos below to hear us singing!!!



more pictures!