Dear family and friends, I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may his infinite grace and love be with you. It is a great privilege to share with you what the Lord has done during this recent trip to Peru.  I thank God for each one of your lives.  Your friendship, love, and encouragement mean a lot to me.  Muchas Gracias!

My brother Nicolas Ernesto and his friend James got to Peru on July 19^th.  They arrived a few days earlier to coordinate our schedule for working with the children in Lima and to arrange our accommodations   During this time they had the opportunity to visit the poorest neighborhoods of Peru as well as the richest neighborhoods and so they were able to see the different realities.  They also visited with my dad’s side of the family and witnessed to them.

The rest of the team (Julie, Willy, and I) arrived to Peru on July 23^rd and stayed at La Victoria Hostel, in Lima, not very far from the orphanages where we would be working.  Every morning we had a time to share God’s Word as a team.  We took turns leading the meditations on 1 Peter, and it was very interesting to see how God spoke to us each day according to the things we were facing. 

The weather in Lima was cloudy and chilly but not as cold as Chicago, of course.  While we were there we spent time with the children of two orphanages.  There was a home for girls and one for boys.  This is a ministry of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church of Lince in Lima, Peru.  Currently they receive help from a German organization, but they welcomed our visit to work with the children. The boys and the girls attend church regularly and are taken care of by godly people, even so we wanted to reinforce the teachings of God’s Word and offer them our love and friendship.  They were very grateful for the clothes and little toys some people in the U.S. gave us to donate to them. Thank you to all of you who helped us with that.

We began our ministry with the boys by visiting with them and playing soccer at a nearby park.  I treasure the time the Lord gave us to teach Christian songs and games to the kids; just holding the hands of the little kids while taking them to the park or giving them piggy rides was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. The last day we were with them, the guys of our team shared a special time and message with the older kids (teenagers). They challenged the boys to follow Christ and to set a good example for the younger kids.   Hugo was one of the boys living in the casa/hogar.  He is 14 years old and in one occasion he walked with us to our hostel.  On the way there, he shared with me how difficult his life had been before coming to live in the casa/hogar.  At first I felt that I couldn’t say much to him, but then I prayed and the Holy Spirit gave me words to encourage him to persevere in the Lord.  He had been involved in gangs and had seen a lot of cruelty and violence.  He also shared with me that many members of his family were still involved in that environment.  It is difficult for them to leave the streets and get used to living in a home with rules; at the same time is nice for them to receive love, care, and an education.  Many of them were left by their parents, and had addiction problems at a very young age. The youngest boys (Manuel and Alonso) at the home were 6 years old and the youngest girl (Sole) at the girl’s home was18 months.  The children are taken care of at the homes until they are able to work and support themselves through a career or a trade, and once they leave they are always welcome to come and visit. We had the opportunity to witness that when one young lady, who works as a flight attendant now, came to visit her “younger sisters,” because all of them are like a big family.

During our visit to the orphanages (casa/hogar), we got to talk to Ms. Carmen.  Ms. Carmen oversees both houses, but is mainly involved with the girls’ ministry; Mr. David is responsible for taking care of the boys.  I was very blessed by the conversations I had with Carmen.  She is a woman with a heart for children and loves the Lord deeply.  One day, she took us to Lurigancho, a really poor area of Lima, Peru.  We had nothing planned that day.  We thought we were just going to observe.  But just in case, we filled our backpacks with little toys, some inflatable balls, and the lesson book.  When we got there we were touched by the level of poverty we saw in that mountain.  People there don’t have potable water, and they live in terrible conditions. We saw some children, and told them to gather more children so that we could play together.  Pretty soon, many children showed up.  We played games, singed songs and then we had them sit and listen to a Bible story (Jesus Said I am the Good Shepherd).  We also gave them bracelets with beads of different colors and used that to explain the gospel message.  Many of them gave their lives to Christ after the message was presented.   It was so wonderful to see them sing the songs with us and memorized the verse of John 10:11.  I ask you to please pray for them.  The spiritual darkness in that area is disguised as poverty and social problems, but those children and their families need Christ.  Those that came to Christ need to grow in their relationship with the Lord.  That day in Lurigancho, was probably one of my best experiences in Peru.

On July 31^st we headed out to Ayacucho by bus.  We left Lima at night and arrived in Ayacucho the next morning.  I was concerned about the altitude making us sick, but praise God, all of us were fine.  We rested during the morning and then went to church at night to meet with the pastor and other members of the church to plan the details of our time in Ayacucho.  Very soon we learned that our original schedule had changed, and that it wasn’t going to be possible to go to Cuzco.  I was kind of sad at first, but God used that situation to work in my heart and showed me his purposes. 

The following day we met Vivian, a young woman in charge of children’s ministries in Ayacucho.  After a time of sharing and prayer we had everything ready to start the Vacation Bible School with the children of the area.  The next day we passed out the invitations for the V.B.S. The pastor of the church decided to advertise the V.B.S. as Escuela de Valores (School of Values) to attract more children whose parents might be reluctant to send their children to an evangelical church. The V.B.S. took place from August 3^rd through August 7^th from 3-5pm.  Our lessons were based on the Jesus said I am (Knowing Christ) curriculum of CEF.  Each day’s program consisted of a time of worship and praise, games, Bible lesson, Bible verse, snacks, and arts and crafts.  The first day we had about 36 kids but towards the end of the week we had over 90 children coming to V.B.S.  It wasn’t easy handling the crowds, but it sure was a blessed time.  One of my favorite moments during the V.B.S. was when I was telling the children the many useless ways by which people try to get to heaven, and one boy raised his hand and said to me, “Then how can I get to heaven?” I thank God that he was eager to find out the way to heaven, and so I used his question to tell him that in our human efforts it is impossible, but that Christ is the only way. 

One Saturday while we were in Ayacucho we had the opportunity to visit a little rural town up in the mountains; the name of this town is Acocro.  We traveled 2 hours by bus with other members of the local church to see a baptism service there.  When we got to Acocro we went to the main square (The Plaza) and played with some kids; then we went to visit the congregation in Acocro. Pastor Pio is in charge of this congregation and it was great to see his love and zeal for his flock.  He preaches to them in Quechua because the people’s first language there is Quechua.  However, most of the young people and children understand Spanish.  Some families also dedicated their children that day. One of the hymns we sang together at the service was How Great Thou Art, and that was a very emotional experience for me.  Then we went to the river were seven people got baptized.  Afterwards we all went to Pastor Pio’s house for lunch, and later that day we distributed the clothes, toys and other items we brought to give away to the children and their families.  They were all very happy with the gifts.  Later that day, Julie, one of our team members explained the gospel to the children using the “wordless book” (a book with pages of different colors) and then gave them bracelets with the same colors to help them remember the gospel message. Right after that we said goodbye to the people of Acocro and returned to Ayacucho.

During our time in Ayacucho, we also visited some evangelical churches and had a time to share songs (English and Spanish), testimonies, and messages with the young adults of those congregations.  These special services took place at night from 7-9pm.  We visited the following congregations: Iglesia Alianza Cristiana y Misionera (CMA), Iglesia Restauración, Iglesia Asambleas the Dios (Assemblies of God), and Iglesia Presbiteriana (Presbyterian Church).  The last day of our stay in Ayacucho we went hiking to a mountain with some young adults from the Presbyterian Church and had a time to sing worship songs and share testimonies.  The capital of Ayacucho is Huamanga and that’s were the main part of our ministry took place.  The believers in Lima and Ayacucho were so nice to us.  I thank God for their love and commitment to serving the Lord. One of the ladies in Ayacucho, Maximina, came to help us with VBS every day despite her old age.  She is a woman of prayer and great faith.  Her testimony was a real encouragement to me.  She shared with our group how she wasn’t allowed to go to school as a little girl because she had to take care of the family’s cow, but when she came to know Christ as an adult she learned to read because she wanted to read God’s word.

This is a brief account of what the Lord allowed us to do on the mission’s trip to Peru.  Some of the members of our team got sick because of the water, but we praise God that they recovered quickly and had a positive attitude at all times.  The Lord blessed our team with the unity of his Spirit and he was faithful from beginning to end.  God is awesome.  Thank you so much for partnering with us on this trip with your financial support and prayers. Please continue to pray that the seeds that were planted will grow for the glory of God’s name.

   With love and prayers,  

   Angela  M. Ticona