San Genaro Dos Results

The Prep When we originally planned this event with the people in Pacifico, we knew it was going to take a pretty large sum of work and finances to make it happen.  In a matter of a couple of weeks, so many people from the US and UK donated that we were able to go above and beyond any of our expectations.   To prep the event we were able to get a t-shirt, candy, cereal, toys, hot chocolate, and panetone for every single child that came to the event.  The final number was over 730 children.  On top of the presents, we were able to purchase 50 various gifts for moms and dads.  These gifts ranged from diapers to food boxes to a huge gift basket as the grand prize.

The Arrival When we arrived to the site, we were so surprised by a number of things.  First, the dirt "soccer field" we were supposed to have the stage on was being used for an all day soccer tournament.  "Where were we going to do the event now?"Miscommunication... Right before we arrived, a car full of wealthy people showed up and started passing out random gifts to people.  This caused complete disorder, and definitely had me concerned because of the amount of begging and "mob" attitude that began to take place.  Scary... Then I looked over to a downed concrete post and I did a little jig on the inside.  The post was lined with people from the Pacifico community, waiting for us, ON TIME, ready to help out.  People that I did not expect.  People that had never done any sort of outreach before.  These were people that had become Christians within the past year or so, and they were highly motivated.  Exhilarating...

The Event After having several moments to plan things out with the group, and put on our Christmas hats we were ready to go.  The show started and we began organizing the communities that we were going to reach out to.  As we called the people for each community, it was breathtaking to see leadership qualities begin to come out of these people in Pacifico.  We have always said that they have so much potential, but it has been hidden under generations of being shown and told that they are "less than" their neighbor. At points, because it started to get a little warm, some people in the crowd started to get a bit cranky.  It happens.  However, right when those moments would begin to occur, God's grace would shine through, and a skit would start, or we would do one of the giveaways. As each community was grouped together, we walked around and gave all the mom's and dad's blue tickets which would enter them into the "Blessing Raffle."  As per usual, some people decided to be a bit sneaky, and they were able to get several tickets.  If we chose to focus on it, that could have been a game ruiner.  Yet again, God's grace lit up the day! When we did the drawing for diapers, guess who got the prize?  A mom with a newborn baby.  (The diapers were for a new born).  To fast forward to the grand prize of the day... it was a 45 lb. basket full of food, drinks, etc.  The kind of stuffthat most of these people would have to save several weeks worth of income in order to buy.  We called out the number, we looked around, and one of the ladies from Pacifico started jumping up and down screaming "we won, we won!!!!"  In ourheads we are thinking, "Ok... remember guys, this raffle isn't for you."   Then she moved out of the way and began holding the hand of an elderly woman.  She was by far the oldest lady in the entire crowd.  (The picture you see here was the second oldest Señora in the crowd.) When the crowd saw who won, they started screaming for joy.  All these people that had "lost" began clapping and screaming words of joy for this elderly woman that so clearly needed this basket.  I can't express to you the feeling of knowing what God had just done in that moment.

The Moment Before we began to handout the hot chocolate, panetone, and gifts, Lili stepped up on the stage which was provided for us, for free, by the district mayor.  She picked up the mic hooked up to the sound equipment, also free.  She had drawn up huge posters, with the following symbols: She went through each symbol explaining God's love for us, our sin, Christ coming (the reason for Christmas), His death on the cross, the tomb that could not hold Him because He was resurrected, and the question that each person might have in their hearts and minds. As we have expressed many times before, we are not interested in saying a prayer, patting someone on the back, and saying have a nice life.  So we all stood inanticipation over what God might do in that moment.  This moment, for many of the leaders, would show us exactly what God might have for San Genaro Dos in 2012. There is no other words to describe the moment of prayer, other than to say God's presence fell.  That expression has become quite common, even cliche, in the Church, but for us it was real.  Mark actually stepped a couple of steps back.  God was doing something.  People were loudly crying out to God, unashamed, ready to give their lives to Jesus. Of course there were several people that were more interested in the soccer game or the gift they had just won.  And if you looked at those faces, a moment of doubt or a "why" could creep into our minds.  But then again, all we had to do was look at those innocent little faces of the children, the moms, and the dads that were praying with voices high, asking God to reveal Himself to them as they made the decision to follow Him.

The Giving After each child received their gifts, we were able to give the extras to those that were not a part of the community lists that we had received.  We then packed up everything, and started heading home.  Then a little girl came up to me.  I want to sum up the day with our short conversation. As I waited for Mark to come back to pick me up, I began to watch the heated soccer game taking place.  It had been a good day.  A day that would require a ton of reflection.  As I stared off into the clouds, I noticed a little girl standing in front of me.  She had long hair, light brown skin, a white Peru shirt on, and some gifts in her hands. I smiled at her because she was already wearing the shirt we gave her, which matched her cute little white glasses. She turned her head a little bit and then she said to me, "you know, this year I have double the presents of any Christmas I have had before?" "Really?" I said to her, as I continued to smile. Her head straightened, and her little brown eyes looked straight into my eyes. They were full of thankfulness.  "I just want to thank Jesus for you guys because you came and did this for us." I was so dumbfounded, I had to make sure my mouth wasn't wide open sucking in flies.  I didn't know what to say, for the first time in my life.  My eyes couldn't even tear up because I was so shocked with her words. "How old are you?"  Good.  I got something out of my mouth. "I am eight." Yup, my words were stuck in my throat. "Well, I am about to go now.  I just want to bless you." Then she walked up to me.  She kissed me on the cheek, and began to walk home.

As we sit back and look at "reports" like this, we always feel overwhelmed with the fact that we get to do this. We can not overlook that people like you are such a huge part of the investment that we are making here.  Because of your investment, whether it be through prayer, finances, words of encouragement, or even opening this email, we are able to do what we do.  That is truly not just a Christmas blessing, it is a blessing we cherish year round.

Update on the 2011 Christmas Outreach

This morning was the follow up meeting with the president of 18 little districts in San Genaro Dos.  (If you don’t know what I am talking about “click here.”)  We arrived, and parked our car on a dirt soccer field in which the right side of the field drops off on a steep decline.  We then called the president of the area and said “Hey!  We are here!!!”

“I’m so sorry! I got called into an emergency meeting with the mayor.  We are talking about getting running water!!!  I’m sorry.  But don’t worry, my wife knows everything, she can give all the details.”

So we walked to his house and discovered his wife was not there, so we walked up the rest of the 380 stairs and began to look around.  


Mark, Ronald, Angela and I talked, thought, planned, and then we prayed.  As we prayed, asking the Lord to give us vision, direction, provision, and hope, we saw three beautiful butterflies flying around.  Then, as I typed “butterfly” into my online Bible, knowing there was no such reference, the following verse came up.  It was the only verse that came up.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” -2 Corinthians 5:17

Wow, what encouragement!  This is exactly what we felt God was putting on our hearts for San Genaro Dos.  

So we went down the mountain and began speaking with the president’s daughter, his wife, and their assistant.  They began explaining to us about the area and the needs.  They wanted to know our intentions, and our heart behind our words.  (They had been burnt in the past by people that wanted to come and “help.”)

We started out slow, and explained our hearts and intentions.  We understood their reservations.  It was so good that Angela was there because they saw we aren’t three crazy guys.  (Angela is such a lover of people, you could literally see them forming bonds in a couple of minutes.  To the point of Angela referring to a lady by a nickname that is common in Peru which means “belly.”)

These lovely ladies just opened right up.

Since God was showing us that they really were people of peace, we continued our conversation because there is a ton of planning involved.  To bless 800 children we were going to need to do a ton of work to make the event happen.  We have been asking for miracles over all of this because to Westerners, this is last minute preparation for something that is huge.

Well, today we saw God work.

Today, three woman who didn’t know us at all, are so comfortable with us that they are asking to be involved.

They want to team up with the people from Pacifico and make the hot chocolate.  They want to help pass it out.  They want to make sure the kids are in order.  They want people to know about God.  They want to show us their little work spaces that we might be able to hold celebration services in the future.  

I can’t explain to you how different this experience is, in comparison to anything I have done in a non-Christian context here in Peru.  Very often, when you give something that people want, they want it all.  They are not interested in helping or giving, they are interested in receiving.  And honestly, based off of what we have seen here in Peru the past two years, it’s not a surprise.  “Get what you can get, while you can get it.”  

Not today.

After this meeting it appears we now have a place to hold the outreach, a place to cook the hot chocolate, people to cook the hot chocolate, leaders to help organize the children, a sound system, clean up crew, and fencing to keep the area secure.  Amazing right?

What do we still need?

Your support.

How can you support us?

Through prayer, and if you feel led, financial partnership.

At a minimum, it will cost approximately 9,000 soles ($3,400) to get 800 children a gift, hot chocolate, and bread.  They will hear the gospel this day, and they will laugh, and have their stomachs full of holiday food.  We know that.  God keeps showing us His plan.

What we are asking you, is if you feel like you can help be a part of that!!!  Can you help make an investment with the people of Pacifico, and Oikos Church?

If you are interesting in donating, click here, and then follow the links.  (Type in “Christmas” under the reference form.)  We know it takes a little bit of time, but it will be so completely worth it.

Thank you!

2011 Christmas Outreach

A couple months ago, Mark, Anna, Amanda, and I sat down for our weekly Monday night vision, and fun night.  Each week we sit down and laugh, talk, and ask each other what God has been saying to us in terms of life, ministry, and the communities that we work in.  The main topic that night was if we thought the Pacifico community would be interested in doing an outreach.  If so, where would they be interested in giving back to the community.

If we are realistic, we didn't really know what to expect, because the reality is these people are impoverished, and when they hear "outreach" they naturally assume "free stuff."  It is one of the biggest obstacles that we have in discipleship when working within shanty towns.  We are fighting against several years worth of government handouts, and ONG giving.  

However, we were optimistic about our community.  We have been seeing God work in miraculous ways amongst the people, not only during Church, but also in the small groups and in their daily lives.  So we decided to ask each small group if they were interested in doing an outreach, and, "who, what, where, and why." To say we were pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.  We were blown away.

They said they wanted to go to San Genaro Dos, where the "neediest of the neediest live."  We had never really heard of the place, but we were intrigued.  Doing some research we found out that it was on the adjacent mountain next to Pacifico.  It is one of the newer communities, and it is full of people coming from the provinces for work within Lima.  We found out that because it is so high up the mountain no one does any sort of outreach to the people.  It is too much of a "hassle" to do it.

The people in the small groups were fired up!  They plan to do a Chocolatada, which is a handout of hot chocolate, panetone (fruit bread), and gifts.  However, it was clear that there was something more here, within the planning.  As leaders, we didn't just want to do an event.  If we were going to go anywhere we needed to do it with the vision that the people in Pacifico could begin to disciple and teach people in San Genaro Dos.  Not only were we going to do skits, games, and an evangelical message, the small groups wanted to love on these people.  They wanted to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

"Are you serious???"  Yes.

They want to do it.

We know it will be messy, and require a lot of work.  We also know it is "last minute" even though we have been working on this for a couple of months now.  (Unfortunately for Americans, culturally we have to wait for certain things before a decision can be made here in Peru).  

The other day we spoke with the district "rep," Angelo, who oversees the communities on the mountain.  He personally has 18 communities he represents to the local and national government.  He explained to us that there are over 1,500 children on the mountainside, and there is roughly 4-5,000 people on the mountain.  Um, yeah.  And the closest church is not quite at the foot of the mountain, and they are unfortunately well known for not doing much in the community.  (We believe God will change that though!!!)

On December 18th, the day of the outreach, Angelo, expects approximately 800 children to come to the event.  He said this will be the kids that really need some love.  In fact, he is going to personally make sure the event tickets go to the right place.  Not only that but he will do the work to get a location from the municipality, plus provide us with sound equipment and a place to cook all the hot chocolate.  (This type of support from someone we have never previously met is unheard of in the two years that I have been in Peru.)

So where do we need your help?

Prayer and financial support.  

If you have observed our ministry at this point you know that our goal, if we do events, it is to give love, find people that need Jesus, and then we start working with them.  This opportunity is a way to further the discipleship of people in Pacifico, as well as share the love of Jesus with a mountainside that currently has zero outreach.  We need your help to plant seeds of love.

We are not setting an amount because the more we receive the more we can outreach.  However it will be a multiple thousand dollar project, and literally every penny will count, and literally every penny will go to loving this community!

So what do you think?  Can you help the Pacifico community bring the Good News, and some toys to these kiddos?

If so, "click here"!!!