Amy in Peru, A New Friend

I am excited to introduce you today to my guest, Amy.  An American dwelling in Peru with her husband and family, she is living out the call to shine Christ's light there.  Enjoy her story.

"Peru was nice for a visit, but I would HATE to live there!" Micah confided to me on the flight home from a 3 week mission trip in 1996. Be careful what challenges you whisper when you think the Lord isn't listening. :) Micah and I were 18 and 20 years old, one year raw out of high school and very much longing to be married. Obviously, we did not anticipate a return to Peru. ever.

We had more urgent things on our minds. The day after we got back to Portland, Oregon, Micah asked my dad for permission to marry me. Four months later, we eagerly began our new life as properly wedded folks. Young marrieds. Literally.

Recently, Micah had been seriously growing up in the LORD. He had started reading his Bible like nobody's business, memorizing whole books and even became known as 'the Bible boat' on the job site where he was an electrician. In those early years we frequented a certain Mexican restaurant and became friends with a handful of Mexicans who worked there. Ever eager to start our own evangelistic Bible study, it suddenly occurred to us one evening to ask 'Miguel' if he'd be interested... everything sort of snowballed from there. He invited friends, we bought bi-lingual Bibles, several of them trusted Christ, we stumbled along in broken Spanish. 2 years passed. We continued on. We bore 2 children. We bought a house. Life was exciting, but about to take exhilarating to a whole new level.

Reflective one evening, Micah stood on the deck of our newly purchased home, "I can't stand the idea that all I'm working so hard to build [wiring multi-million dollar homes] is one day just going to burn up. I want to build something that will last for eternity."

Those were the words that changed everything.

After a year of waiting, wondering, deliberating, in 2001 supported by our local church elders, we moved to Peru for a year. We were supported by our own savings and a handful of individuals who had faith that somehow God would use two youngsters who were shockingly ill-prepared for ministry. We were young and full of hope that in fact God would use us.

That year was hard. Culture. Language. Two small children... Need I say more?! But it was GREAT. It was absolutely delicious to trust God so extravagantly. It was life. God taught us so much about trusting Him with everything from finances to extreme traveling (36 hours on 6+ buses between two South American countries with little/no Spanish and two boys in diapers... yeah. never again.) We were hooked. We couldn't think of how we'd fit in our previous life after that stretching adventure. We went back to get things settled to move back indefinitely.

Over the past 9 years, we've worked with already established churches, doing TONS of evangelism, Bible studies, and leading/supporting new church plants. This last year we are taking risks again with our good God in the jungle! We're planting a church from the ground up! And oh, are we learning painfully precious truths even as I write!

It is such a strong passion of ours that people draw near to the Living God. We'd love to share our adventures with you! If you'd like to know more please read our blogs or e-mail us! We love making new friends! We love giving glory to God for what He is doing!

amy in peru

http://thetuttletribe.blogspot.com/ - ministry website/blog
http://apilgrimsproject.blogspot.com - my personal blog

Isn't it a great story . . . a family simply willing to follow Jesus wherever He is going and enjoying the adventure!

I'm thankful Amy was willing to take the time to share here, and I asked her how we could help her family.  I encourage you to take a look and see what YOU can do!  Come alongside and shine Christ's light too!  Support others where you cannot go.

Go bless!

Amy in Peru, A New Friend