Peru Trip from Jim's Perspective

Jim another member of our leadership team to Peru tells you about his experience.

As we left for the airport I was still wondering why God might be sending me on this trip. We arrived early in the morning and got to our very simple but beautiful hostel. Over the next couple of days we would go through orientation and preparation to do our work among the young people of Lima. There just seemed to be something in the air that was simple and beautiful. Many old structures and architecture they showed a great appreciation for the culture and history of this land.

Each day we drove through the poorer parts of Lima to get to our church of destination to do the work of playing sports and teaching art to young people. What I found was young people excited to play and create. They didn’t care if it was a traditional sport like Soccer or a brand new sport like American football. They just wanted to play and enjoy the game.

In the afternoon we would do art work and again it was less about the activity and more about the opportunity to create. God clearly showed his face through playing and creating in community. Sport and art surpassed all cultural barriers. God created humans to be in community. No matter the culture the need to belong is in all of us. For these five days that is what I saw. People who couldn’t even speak to each other clearly learning from each other, praying, playing, creating and eating together. Then closing each day with a message that shared how God is active in the lives of humans, both young and old.

For myself I was once again invigorated to do youth ministry, my prayer life and desire to pray with others came alive again. I spent much of my time saying little and discerning where and how God would want me to pray among these people. It has been a long time since I have felt such a clear direction in how and when to pray.

This trip also reminded me that no matter where we go in the world, young people and leaders of young people wrestle with the same issues. Many adults are stretched in different directions and that can make it hard to connect with the young people. Trying to get adults to see the depth of what a youth ministry can do in the hearts of young people can be difficult. And some young people may be apathetic in their spiritual lives or frustrated with adults not taking them seriously enough. But what God set before us this week was a beautiful group of young people who wanted to be together to play and create and both see and hear the message of God.

In this poor neighborhood where houses look like they are falling apart, where you can find garbage and litter in the streets, you will also find a brand new basketball court where games can be played. In the middle of this park many different people pass through, talking, walking buying a snack, smiles, looks of tiredness and worry. For one week 40 young people and a slew of adults played in this park and created art in the church. But mostly we shared lives with each other. People that couldn’t always verbally communicate, yet somehow got along to be in community in the name of Jesus. God is the God of all time and transcends all cultures, he has given all of us the need to play and create in community and to belong to something bigger than ourselves. We found a clear presence of God in this place. We found the God who weaves us all together in creative patterns. I found a new love of cultures, prayer and Christians.

Ben's Peru Experience

One of our leaders on the trip to Peru was Ben who tells you about his time at San Mateo.

Visiting Peru was an amazing and enlightening experience. I was in charge of teaching the children musical (more precisely percussion) instruments for the arts portion of the camp. Our group was able to purchase 10 hand crafted cajons for the church at San Mateo and for the Anglican Diocese of Lima. The cajon is a type of hand drum that is native to Peru, and the children were very perceptive and excited to learn to play the drums.

The staff and youth leaders at the School at San Mateo were very hospitable and served snacks and lunch each day at the camp. One of the best parts about my week here was the opportunity to connect with the kids and form relationships with them. Despite my lack of knowledge of Spanish, we were able to show the kids how to glorify God and how to love and respect one another through the simple and non-verbal activities in sports and arts.

Peru Journal Entry 4

January 20th - 22nd

The camp went on as planned we played ultimate frisbee, basketball and volleyball to end the sports camp. The youth had the opportunity to draw and paint portraits of each other as well as sculpt objects and paint them.

The youth responded really well to the camp, we had about 40 total youth show up and many different leaders participate. On the last day we awarded the campers of the day, with a gift. They were given the opportunity to choose one of the sports balls that we played with this past week, they could choose an American football, futbol/soccer ball, basketball, volleyball or a frisbee. Five boys and five girls were chosen and four of the girls selected volleyballs (its very popular among the girls here) and one chose a frisbee and four boys selected American footballs and one chose a futbol. I really like the fact that the boys took so well to American football, they really enjoyed it and actually a few them made art pieces that contained American football in them.

Last night we went to Lima’s fountain park which has something like 13 water fountains and a fountain show at the largest (its similar to the fountain show at the Baligo in Las Vegas if you ever have seen that on TV or in person). The whole park was very beautiful, the event was the first touristy thing we have done since we’ve gotten to Lima.

Peru Journal Entry 3

January 19th

Wow, today was another great day. We taught (more so played) futbol/soccer with the youth today. It was a lot of fun because of course they love futbol. It is always a bit strange to me to see how much other cultures embrace futbol and in the US we just kind of run past it to other sports. Maybe its because we have lots of options but I think it would be really great to see the US embrace futbol the way the rest of the world does.

Please pray for 2 of our teammates who are struggling with stomach illnesses, we really want them and need them at camp but we really want them to be well while they are here in Peru. Due to the fact that one of our teammates missed today, our high schooler stepped up big time. Josh led one of the arts station today where the youth play the cajone or the box drum. Its a pretty difficult task and Josh struggle through bits of not wanting to do it but he totally took over the class. It was great to see him step into that role as we as a team have been encouraging him to step out in leadership.

The sports & arts are working so well here, its working better here than it does in Ambridge, which is really surprising me. I really hope that the leaders at San Mateo (the church we are working at) can see how easy the camp is to run if you have the right leaders in place. Hopefully this will become something they can use to minister to the youth in the community for years to come.

Peru Journal Entry 2

January 17th

Today we went to church at San Mateo, where the sports and arts camp is going to be held. The church service was beautiful. The church sanctuary is basically concrete walls with an open celling that has a cloth tarp over it, that you can see through. Yesterday was Lima’s Anniversary, I believe 400 plus years, we went to the central part of the city and heard music, had dinner and watched people, it was good fun.

January 18th

Today the Lima Sports & Arts Camp started. We played American football with the youth and they really seemed to enjoy it. Quite a few became pretty good at throwing, catching and kicking a ball they had never seen or held before. The arts camp went really well too, the youth took to the box drumming very well (which should be expected the box drum or the cajone is from Peru), as well as the two physical art pieces where the youth are making a huge collage as well as individual ones for themselves.

Jim gave a piece of his testimony today and it was wonderful. He spoke about how in sports he had been pushed into leadership roles and he believes it was part of God’s plan for him to become a leader within the church later on in his life. Jim told the youth that they should step into leadership roles when asked because the responsibility will help them and God’s kingdom in the future.

I do have one more thing to write about but I will wait until we get back to visibly show you on video. I believe it will surprise a lot of you, its surprising me.

Peru Journal Entry 1

January 16th

Very early this morning around midnight we arrived in Peru, after going through customs & immigration, we finally met up with our host from Peru, Paul & Susan. It was wonderful to see then even though we had never met them before. We are staying in a hotel in downtown Lima, which took us awhile to get to from the airport. We finally got to bed around 230 am. Our flights and security all went on as scheduled and were very uneventful which was a huge blessing.

I awoke today with an eagerness to get started. I knew today that we would shop for the rest of the sports camp equipment and the arts supplies. For me getting those pieces together is very helps me have a clearer picture of what the week is going to look like.

We went to the Cathedral where Susan and her husband John work. We were given a quick tour and then we sat down with a few other leaders from the church we are going to run the camp. It is always humbling for me for someone to speak to me in english when the struggle with it so, it truly shows how much they care for you and desire for you to be comfortable. That happen again today, as we spoke with one of the youth leaders. She has a wonderful heart for the youth of Peru and many of the ways that she and the diocese desire to serve the youth are very similar to the ideals that I have learned through Rock the World. A couple of those are team leadership within their parishes, mentoring / discipling the youth not just creating converts and being aware that their leaders need constant attention and training.

During our conversation we came to the realization that Lima Sports and Arts Camp would work best if we can run the camps behind the scenes, putting the Peruvian leaders in front. This would give the youth the opportunity to see the Peruvian leaders in leadership roles and they would be able to focus on developing relationships with the youth.

We finally went to downtown Lima to shop and we got a lot of really neat things for the camp. We were able to buy 10 futbol/soccer balls, 10 volleyballs, 2 volleyball nets, 10 cajones/box drums and art supplies. It was a bit draining walking around the city, trying to find very specific items and also trying to get the best price. Thank God for Susan, she was a huge help as no one on our team speaks fluent spanish.

Leaving for Peru

Planning a trip out of the country has been one of the more difficult things I have done during my time as director of Ambridge Youth Ignite. There are so many details that have to be made, its a very overwhelming process.

This past weekend I spent it alone with Champ, one of our boys as Shea was out of town with DK (short for Donkey Kong) our littlest, I like the idea of nicknaming the boys for blog purposes (thanks Hols!). Anyway, Champ is struggling with transition recently and really really hates getting into the shower. So I waited all weekend to finally give him a shower. He fought me, screamed, said "no shower" repeatedly and "no clean". As much fun as this sounds it really takes the life out of you. But as soon as he hit the water, he was fine and smiling. He actually had a blast and stayed in until the water got way too cold for him.

The reason why I bring this up is because I had a moment of epiphany when I finally got Champ into the shower and saw how he loved it. The whole shower experience for Champ is how I am hoping Peru will be for me. I have felt like Champ, I want to stay comfortable here in the US, be here with my family and keep my schedule the same. But I know God has not called me to a comfortable life and he has made everything happen for us to go, so I have to go. Just like Champ knows at some point he is going to have to submit to the shower. My hope is like Champ that a huge smile will come across my face, when we reach Peru, as we are teaching the youth about sports and arts and how God is glorified in both. I am praying that our team brings glory to God through the trip and we have as much fun as Champ did once the water hit his face.

AYI Video

I hope this video gives you all a better look at Ambridge Youth Ignite and specifically the Sports & Arts Camp