“Play with me” is one of the most common phrases out of Kaleb’s mouth these days. With it just being Clever and I at home with Kaleb, we are his playmates. I have noticed too, that playing with him doesn’t mean you can be multitasking doing something else “constructive” while you are playing. He demands our complete attention. He wants us to be fully present with him. I have noticed that those times are precious and to be treasured. It is in those times that build relation, trust, and a common bond. It got me thinking that God is like that too. He wants our time and undivided attention. In a world full of distractions, it is SO EASY to give Him a multitasking version of ourselves.
In this time of uncertainty of so many things in our world right now, the one thing I know is that God wants us to draw close to him. He wants us to be fully present and not distracted by any and everything that can and does take our eyes off Him. For me, it’s my too do list, stress, worry, and social media that distracts me….what is it for you?
What I’m learning is that when we are present, we aren’t wasting time. We are building relationship. With Kaleb we build a bond every time we chose to be present. The same goes for our God. Being fully present helps us take our eyes and attention off things that we shouldn’t be focusing on anyway and allows us to grow in love.
Update on Serving:
Clever completed his 3 month course called Beyond Suffering to learn about God’s heart for people with disabilities and their place in the church and in the community!! We are so thankful to have had the opportunity for him to receive this training that will help us continue to serve people with disabilities .
Clever also continues to coordinate all communications between the scholarship program called Laurie Schoendorfer Endowment for Education (LSEE). This includes coordination between the endowment board and the scholarship applicants. All these applicants have some type of physical disability.
We are excited to report that after 4 months of not being able to deliver wheelchairs, we will begin to distribute them again in very small amounts at this time to those in the most urgent need. Clever was asked to complete a small workshop to our current volunteers on what some of the changes will be in the upcoming months in order to comply with COVID-19 protocols. We are so happy to be part of the team to be able to be giving the gift of mobility once again to those in need.
Clever continues to lead a small group (virtual) of young adults with physical disabilities. None of these people attended church before the quarantine and/or before this small group. It has been a fruitful group over the past months as these young men are opening up more and hearts are being softened toward the Lord.
Lisa has been full steam ahead with all things related to the special needs area under the Children’s ministry in the following ways:
SMALL GROUPS
There are currently 8 small groups with kids with special needs in each group and many volunteers with hearts of gold who spend time each week preparing for their groups as well as praying for each child and their families. Over the past month we have gained 3 new kids with special needs who were not attending church before the quarantine! 2 of the kids are from provinces outside of Lima! We are so excited to have the opportunity to serve these families in a way that we never would have been able to if we were having services in person!!
ADAPTED CURRICULUM
The adapted curriculum video class every Sunday has been a great success! Every weekend see that there are over 300 views of the video which means MORE children with special needs are being reached in this new platform. We are so excited to continue on this project!
WORKSHOPS
We have been asked to provide a workshop to share with other churches and our own volunteers about how to include children with special needs into their children’s ministry. Lisa is currently working on this project with hopes to launch soon.
Other important news!!!!
This weekend Camino de Vida has begun offering 3/7 online services with LIVE sign language interpretation!!!!
Family life and prayer requests…
We continue and will continue to be Kaleb’s home school teachers until at least the end of 2020. Kaleb has adapted well and is learning a lot. We are so thankful to be able to teach a blend of Spanish and English curriculum!!!
It has been announced by our head pastors Robert and Karyn Barriger that we will not have in person church services for the remainder of 2020. We long for the day to be together in the physical sense but are so thankful for an incredible team of leaders who continues to provide the most amazing church experience online. That being said we will continue to serve from our homes the best way we are able.
Prayer requests:
There are 2 very important dates coming up that we ask that you be praying for.
On August 11, 2020 at 2pm central Lisa will undergo a surgery that requires a c-section type procedure to remove a large tumor. Please pray for negative pathology, against infection of any kind including COVID-19, wisdom and direction of the doctors performing the surgery and peace for our family.
On September 18, 2020 at 9am central, We will have our first audience before the judge (virtually) for the adoption process with Kaleb. Pray for favor with the judge. For a smooth and quick process so that by the end of 2020 we can legally and officially be Kaleb’s forever parents.
***As missionaries, we do not receive a paycheck for the church that we serve under here in Peru. We are here, able to continue this good work because of the kindness and generosity of others. We know that you have many options for giving to good causes and we are thankful that you continue to believe in what we are doing here. We also thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. ***