Peru Eve

It is the eve of my 7th departure for mission in Peru and I am preparing to leave. The preparation this time is much different than any other year, this time I am leaving my husband and two children behind. This is a first for me. I have never gone to Peru without Ben and I have not been since we had our 2 daughters in 2007 and 2008.

Florida Keys, June 2012

It all started with something our pastor Chris Dolson said during a sermon in 2001, "Everyone should go on a short-term mission trip." It was settled, I was going to go on a mission trip. Pastor Chris has no idea how many lives have been changed by those 8 words!

The first trip that worked in my schedule was a trip to an Amazon village in Peru with Food for the Hungry (www.fh.org) and our church, Blackhawk (www.blackhawkchurch.org). Ben couldn't imagine telling my father that I went to the Amazon jungle alone so he signed up too! What followed was several years of leading people from our church to this same community, La Merced, and now to two new communities, Todos Unidos and Monte Rico.

Pucallpa, Peru - Monte Rico and Todos Unidos are on the outskirts of Pucallpa

An oxbow lake in Pucallpa (Ucayali River)

So many wonderful things have happened in my life and the lives of the various team members over the years. The ripple effect of these trips will never be understood on this side of eternity. Our worldview has been drastically changed and that is why I continue to lead teams to Peru. What an honor and privilege it is to reflect God's love and grace to our team and to the families in Peru. 

VBS in La Merced - 2010 

Ben and I with our sponsored child, Richard, and his family - 2010 

2010 team in front of the church in La Merced 

Me visiting Monte Rico during our 2010 trip

As our partnership with La Merced came to a close in 2010, I wondered if we had done any good at all. During our team debrief with the Peru country director, I was fighting tears because I felt so conflicted about our work there. The verse "my ways are higher than your ways" came to mind. I grabbed my Bible found these verses in Isaiah 55. This chapter reminds us that God's word does not return to Him empty. He has a way of working in our world that we cannot understand.

Isaiah 55:8-11
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”declares the Lord.⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways    and my thoughts than your thoughts.As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,and do not return to it
    without watering the earthand making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

I start this new partnership in Monte Rico and Todos Unidos with these verses from Isaiah 55 ruminating in my mind. We will continue to reflect God's love and mercy knowing that we may never understand exactly what He is doing but trusting in Him anyway! Viva Peru! - Sara Zimmerman