It was a week full of smiles, laughter, singing, and sharing
the love of God! What a blessing
and special time for us here in Peru.
January 4 to 7, 2010, Twin Lakes and First Presbyterian Church of
Jackson sent a team to Trujillo and for the third year in a row we held a
summer camp for kids. Ages ranged
from 6 to 13 and we had 165 campers!
18 Peruvians were translators or counselors. 6 Peruvians provided music and singing for our
assemblies. We also had a Peruvian
Camp Director and assistant. It
was a wonderful time of ministering to the children of Peru and also building
relationships among the camp staff—both American and Peruvian.
The kids came from our 3 churches – Larco, Arevelo, and
Wichanzao – and also the albergue (orphanage) here in town. Finally, 13 missionary kids were able
to enjoy a taste of home with summer camping in Peru! It was a special time for our churches to work together
also. This is the only project all
year where we can work together – all churches – with a team from the United
States. It provides a wonderful
time of fellowship and growth as church members work side by side with their
sisters and brothers from other churches here in Trujillo as well as Americans. This year’s theme was David and
Goliath. We talked about how God
looks at a man’s heart—not what is on the outside. This was reiterated through object lessons at each activity,
the evangelism tent, and through our songs and lessons each day at
Assembly.
The kids began their day with Assembly (this includes,
prayer, singing, and having fun), then rotated throughout 5 activates and also
enjoyed lunch during one hour of the activities. Our activities included sports, pool, super fun games,
archery/face painting and evangelism tent/crafts. One day we enjoyed horseback riding also during the sport
period. Needless to say, the pool
was often the favorite of all the kids and counselors alike! Our Assembly time was great fun and
encouraging as we learned about Saul, David and Goliath. And how God used the kings, but Jesus
is king of our hearts.
It was a very special week and we are excited about the
growth of camp. Each year it has
been bigger and bigger. We are
already planning for next year here in Peru and in the States. It is a huge undertaking to pull off
this camp and it has been exciting to see how God prepares the way for
everything to fall into place and has continued to bless the camp each year.
On Friday after 4 days of camp, the team was able to enjoy a
tour of the ministries Peru Mission is involved in and do an impromptu VBS in
Clementina—one of our church plants from Wichanzao. It was incredible to see the turnout at Clementina. We think we had almost 50 kids in the
church to hear the story of David and Goliath, sing songs and enjoy a time of
playing futbol! It was a great way
to cap off an amazing week! Thank
you so much First Presbyterian Church and Twin Lakes for sending down 21
amazing people to minister to the kids of Peru and along the way, the
counselors and others involved. It
was a great start to 2010 and we cannot wait until 2011.
