…But the Summer is Short

Friday evening we bid farewell to our beloved Casona Moya, our hotel and home for fourteen nights and our base of operations in the city of Arequipa. We filled our coach bus with 26 blue packs, just as many daypacks, and our excited but tired bodies, and we headed west off into the sunset. Not because the trip was over (though it is now winding down) but because our final act of organized ministry was at a campground helping facilitate a family camp this past weekend. We existed almost exclusively outdoors for the first time since Training Camp, and boy did our team love it. Morning quiet times (John 18-21) were spent sitting in the grass (grass! in a desert!) and gazing up at the surrounding mountains while reveling in God’s Word. So what was our purpose here? Well, as has been the case with most of our organized ministry opportunities, we were partnering with a local church, Cristianos en Accion. Whereas most events are focused singularly on the men or the women or the youth, they wanted to strengthen the family unit and give them an opportunity to make some memories together. There were some events that included the whole family (morning devotions, worship and s’mores around a campfire, and mealtimes) but there were other times where our team was able to come in and help during the children’s events. We assisted the kids in creating a craft, we helped them to swim and played water games, and we also got to help them ride horses. Not only were we showing love to these children but perhaps more so to the parents who were then afforded the opportunity to have quiet times alone in creation with God or enjoy a cup of coffee and a conversation with their loved one, while having no concerns about the whereabouts or safety of their children. My favorite image from the weekend was of a married couple from the church lying in the grass with each other staring at the sky while their children played on the nearby swing set with our Royal Servants. This family focused weekend is something this church has been hoping to do for a long time but never could until God brought us along as a way to care for the children and teenagers. And we had a blast doing it!

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And now we are on to Debriefing. You might call this the ”Training Camp for going home”. We have spent the first couple of days deep in reflection of what God has done in us this summer as well as preparing for what is to come. We finished the Gospel of John which we have been working through all summer and are now spending our mornings in Scripture with focused topical readings on Courage, Fear (our fears tied to going home), and Obedience. Our afternoons have been spent in teachings (what to expect when going home) and working on assignments (a personal letter to self, group reports highlighting different aspects of our team’s experience, and small group coaching for at home ministry). And while it has certainly been a lot of sitting and thinking, there has also been some chill time. We did treat the team to a late night showing of The Emperor’s New Groove (some of our team chose to build a fort for this experience!). And tomorrow we will be taking the team into the Mira Flores district of Peru for one last opportunity to buy souvenirs, get an authentic Peruvian meal, and explore this beautiful country.

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I stated in my first blog this summer that the days are long… and that is true. We fit a lot into them and went to bed exhausted most nights. But as I sit in our hotel in Lima two days away from our flight back to the states knowing that our time as a team is almost over, it’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that this summer is nearly complete. The days may be long – but the summer sure is short. It wasn’t that long ago that most of us were complete strangers (about 40 days or so), some of our team may not have had any spiritual disciplines as habits (now daily quiet times, nightly prayer, and weekly Scripture memory are the norm), and we couldn’t tell the difference between a llama or alpaca (and we’d never heard of a vicuna before!). These students and staff have grown immeasurably over the last five weeks as God has taught them new insights into His character and their identity, as He has challenged them daily to step out of their comfort zones for the sake of His Kingdom. It has been an incredible privilege to lead this team and to share community with every individual here.

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To Ivy, Lily, Evelyn, Bergen, Airlie, Izzie, Caitlyn, Noah, Nathan, Ransom, Soren, Cade, Navarro and Liam: Well done. Thank you for obeying God’s call on your lives this summer. I eagerly look forward to seeing the story our Father is going to author in the rest of your lives. And it was a joy to be a small part of your story this summer. Never stop following the true Jesus.

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Jack Becker

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