Our God is so Awesome!!!

Hey Guys,

I know we weren't supposed to come back to Huaraz until the 31st, but Tommy's plans changed, so he came to get us early. Hurray for hot showers! The plan is to NOT come back to Huaraz again, so after lots of running around today we were able to get everything done and in order for the rest of our stay in Tapacocha before the team comes.

Well, I have some very exciting news to tell all of you. After almost 2 months of wondering if God was even working in Tapacocha at all, one of the families that we were having Bible studies with decided to follow Christ with their whole hearts and to share Him with their neighbors and friends! Their names are Loucho and Claudia. If you've been on one of our trips to Tapacocha you probably remember Francisca, the older lady who is always so nice to our teams. Loucho is her son and Claudia is her daughter in law. Claudia runs the only resturant in town. (And her food is SO good) They were both already believers in Christ when we met them, but had gotten far away from God and never really grew up in their faith. We started going to their house to read the Bible with them and everything just took off from there. In our conversations we've been talking to them about what the Bible teaches us to do as believers. After reading a passage of Scripture and discussing the meaning, we ask them to think about what God is telling them to do.

First they wanted to invite the kids in the village to their house once a week for a Sunday school. We have now had 3 meetings and have an average of 15-20 kids every week. They also wanted to invite their neighbors to come to their house for Bible studies and we've been doing that for about a month and a half. For both the kids Sunday school, and the adult Bible studies, we've been teaching Loucho and Claudia how to teach on their own when we go back home. In one of our study times they told us that neither of them had been baptized and both agreed that they needed to obey God in that way. So, we will have our first baptisims in Tapacocha sometime next week! The picture at left is where we'll have the baptisms. It's an irrigation pond owned by the village of Tapacocha that fills with water about every four days and is drained by removing a rock that covers a hole. The water flows to the fields below to water the crops. Of course it's freezing mountain water, so we're going to heat rocks in a fire and put them in the pond to help warm the water!

Then, just last week Loucho told us he felt God was telling him that he should legally marry his wife Claudia! Most people in the mountains never marry the person they live with, because its usually very expensive. So, for them to choose to get married now is a huge encouragement to us, because it shows us that God is truly working in their hearts and they are choosing to be obedient followers of Him.

In addition to all that, we've made good friends with Pastor Jose in the town of Cotaparaco, right below us. We were able to attend one of his worship services and meet the group of believers there. They believe the same way we do, and it was nice to see their genuine love for God and spend some time fellowshiping with them. Pastor Jose has agreed to come up to Tapacocha once a week to encourage and continue to teach Loucho, Claudia, and anyone else that shows up after we go back home. We also plan on him marrying Loucho and Claudia. We don't know when yet, but Loucho and Claudia want Zeke and I to be there if at all possible, so it will have to be soon!

We're thrilled with how God is working in the lives of the people in Tapacocha. We've talked with several people who are used to the kind of work we're doing and all of them said that its very rare to be this far along in teaching and dicipling in such a short amount of time. Only God can do that! Praise the Lord!

Now we can hardly wait for the LifePoint team to come the second week of November! I'm so excited! We'll have Louise Becker, Gail Hershey, Abe Kobylanski, Mike Benedetti and the leader of the group, Jonathan Taylor.

Please pray for safe travels for the team coming to Peru on Novemeber 7th. Pray for Loucho and Claudia to continue to be filled with a fire for God. Pray for Pastor Jose as he goes out of his way to support us and the believers in Tapacocha. During the rainy season he'll be walking up the side of the mountain, in the mud and rain, in order to teach the Word of God. And pray for the rest of Tapacocha, that God would open their eyes to the truth, so that they might have a relationship with the one and only true God, and Jesus, His Son.

Peru in the Springtime, or Autumn for you guys!

Hi Everyone!

Here's what's going on.

Last week Tapacocha had their Spring Festival. A little strange since we're used to going into Autumn this time of year. Haha! It was a fun day of games and sports. They had a mummy wrapping contest with toilet paper, a best food contest( Are you hungry for some guinea pig? Pretty good looking, huh?), a potato sack race, and even a guinea pig race. Zeke was part of the fastest eater contest, but lost by one bite.

We're really getting to know the people here better. What seems to work the best in Tapacocha is going into the people's homes and bringing the Bible studies to them. There are two families we've picked out to focus on, but even though we're putting extra effort into them, we're still reaching out to the whole village by having an open Bible study in the evenings, once or twice a week and getting together with the youth whenever possible.

One of the families we're focusing on is the family of our much loved friend, Francisca. I first meet Francisca in May when our team came to Tapacocha. Right away she was very welcoming and friendly to us. She and her daughter in law, Claudia, own and run the only restaurant in town. Now, we go to their house a couple times a week for lunch or dinner and have gotten very close to the whole family. They are the most supportive of our work here and treat us like their own children. We've had 2-3 Bible studies with just Francisca and Claudia, and one with Claudia and her husband, Lucho. (Francisca's son) Francisca's husband is mostly deaf and can't be a part of our studies, but he spends a lot of time reading the Bible. All have professed to be Evangelical Christians, and Lucho and Claudia even asked us how they could teach their children, Jack and Jesus, the truths of the Bible to counter the religious teachings in the school. So, they seem to be on the right track, and want to learn more. Only thing is, Lucho drinks (I'm not sure if any more of the family does or not). He says he knows he should quit, but we showed up to have Bible study with him one day and he was sleeping off a hangover. We had a good Bible study with just Claudia, though, and I taught her some Bible stories to teach her kids. Please pray for the whole family, that they will see the truth, want the truth, and choose to live for Christ in their daily lives.

The other family that we're focusing on is the family of one of our favorite kids in Tapacocha. Anyone who has ever been on any of our trips to Tapacocha knows Pablo, the little boy who constantly hangs around and wants to follow you everywhere. Since coming here in August we got to know his older brother and sister pretty well and eventually their parents. The whole family is very nice. We go over to their house a couple nights a week to play chess, tell jokes and play guitar. Most of our time with them has been relationship building. We've just begun to add spiritual conversations to our time with them. And just this past week we went to their field to help harvest wheat. It's so cool how they do everything by hand. They use a sickle to cut the wheat, then pile it up and have a horse walk over and over it until the wheat separates from the stalk. Then they use a pitchfork to toss the wheat up in the air and let the wind carry the chaff away. Finally, after hours and hours of work they gather up all the grains of wheat and take it back home. Its amazing how many dishes they can make out of wheat! So, please pray for Layo, Alipia, and their children, Elicel, Ester, and Pablo.

Tomorrow, Zeke and I get to meet several of the missionaries serving in this part of Peru. They're having a going away party for one of the missionaries who's term is ending and a welcoming party for three new missionary families. We're having hamburgers(Yippee!) and I'm going to try and bake cookies for the occasion.

Next week is the anniversary of the school, so that will be a three day party. Most of it will be music, dancing, and drinking, so pray everyone stays safe.

We only have a little more than six weeks before we'll be coming home. Please pray that God uses the rest of our time here to make a lasting impact on this village. I'm excited about coming home to family and friends and going back to our awesome church, but I will definately miss Tapacocha.

So, in conclusion, I think everything is moving along and there have been many good things come from Zeke and I being able to stay this long, but I believe our church won't be done in Tapacocha by November. In the future, I can see Francisca's family being the spiritual leaders in Tapacocha, inviting people to their nice big room for Bible studies, with Pablo's family a strong leadership support. Pray that God has His way in everything that we do, so that in the end He gets the most glory from this little village on top of a mountain. Praise God!

This is important! Jk!

Hey Peeps,

I've run out of time to give a detailed report of our past 2 weeks, since its after midnight and we leave for Tapacocha in the morning, but we'll be back in Huaraz on the 26th and I'll post pictures and write out a full account of our adventures at that time.

The most important thing you need to know is that you can make a pizza without an oven. If you have any questions on how this can be accomplished, just ask, and I'll be glad to show you.

All for Him,
Zeke and Joy :)

Update

Well, we've only been gone a week, but a lot has happened in that short amount of time. We were supposed to come back to Huaraz on the 10th to exchange translators, but Mijail agreed to stay with us until the 17th, so we came back for more supplies.

Mijail brought his guitar with him. He and Zeke have been playing all the songs we do at LifePoint Church. It's great! We also learned how to sing Tomalo (Take it All, by Hillsong, in Spanish) We're working on learning One Way in Spanish next.

Last Friday we had a Bible Study with the vice mayor, Franklin and his girlfriend, Flor. It really opened our eyes to how little these people know about God and the Bible in general. We gave them each a Bible in Spanish and marked some good places for them to start reading. I'm told that the average Peruvian doesn't like to read, so pray that God puts a hunger in these people's hearts to read His Word.

Last Sunday we took a cake to the clinic for Doctor Jose's birthday. He turned 25. None of his family were able to come, because of a sick grandmother. Doctor Cynthia, a good friend of Jose's, traveled 4 hours to visit him for his birthday. She made lunch for us and we spent 8 hours at the clinic talking to Jose' and Cynthia. A lot of our conversation was centered around God and the Bible. We were very encouraged by their questions and were able to point out some Bible verses to help them. Pray for Doctor Cynthia. She's a young woman, working in the small village of Paraden, without any family, friends, or spiritual leadership.

We had a group Bible Study, this past Tuesday with 5 people from the village. We 're still trying to figure out the best time to meet, so the most amount of people are able to attend. Please pray that many people will be interested in God's Word and that nothing will hinder them from coming.

Wednesday was interesting. A drunk guy got mad at the mayor, grabbed another man's cane and kept waving it around, threatening people. With no police around the only thing the people could do was close all their doors and stay away from him. Alcoholism is a major problem in Tapacocha. Whenever we talk with the older women in the village their greatest worry is that their children/grandchildren will start drinking when they turn 18. Pray that God will flood Tapacocha with His Spirit and the people will no longer have the desire to drink alcohol constantly.

Also pray that God will keep all evil out of Tapacocha. We've been told by the doctors that the people sometimes go to witch doctors. Please pray that they will stay out of Tapacocha and away from the people here.

While visiting one of our favorite women in the village, Francisca, we found her husband, who is deaf, reading one of the Spanish Bibles we gave them. That was a thrill! He told us he wants to read the whole thing and then ask us questions about it. We're planning on going back to visit them and hopefully study the Bible with the whole family.

To end this update on a lighter note, I would like to inform you all that Zeke and I had the pleasure of tasting one of Peru's greatest delicacies, Cuy. Aka Guinea Pig. (Apologies to any of you that keep them as pets.) We thought it tasted pretty good until Zeke looked closer to find he was eating the mouth, teeth still attached!

God has set His heart on Tapacocha and we plan on loving them with everything we've got these next few months. We love you guys and are very grateful for all your prayers.

Joy and Zeke

Don't Fall!

Well, we left Tapacocha in Tommy's truck, about noon, on Monday, taking with us a construction worker, two Quechua women, a bundle of wood, a dog, and a cat. Thankfully the two women and their pets only needed to go about half an hour down the road, cause we were packed in so tight that Zeke had to ride on top of the truck! We made it to Huaraz about two hours later, where we are spending the next couple days grocery shopping, catching up on emails and Facebook, exchanging translators, and going out for pizza. (Oh, yeah!)


In the past two weeks we've taught English in the school (grammar, ahhh!), played volleyball with the kids and teachers, and made lots of new friends. We had our first Bible Study last week with the village nurse, Jessica and one of the teachers, Rosie. (Her name is actually something a lot longer, but I can never remember it.) We hope to have a few more people the next time we meet.


We are also in the process of starting a Kids Club/Youth Group. The kids are definitely the most interested in us, and like home, there are always two or more of them hanging around all the time.


We had the priviledge of meeting Pastor Jose' from the village of Cotaparaco, as well as his wife Gladys and three boys from their youth group. Cotaparaco is about an hour down the mountain from Tapacocha, (or half an hour for the locals!). Their church is new and small, and we hope to partner with them in reaching our villages.


Please pray that we will continue to have favor with the people of Tapacocha, that they will see the love of God in us, and their eyes will be opened to the truth of God's Word. Thank you for all your prayers.


Joy and Zeke

Tommy's House - Our home away from home...away from home

Some of you were wanting to see what Tommy Smith's house looks like, where we stay when we're in Huaraz. So here it is!

The shower has hot water! This is what we dream of for 2 weeks.

Our bedrooms.

The living and dining rooms.

Our God is able!!!

Thursday, two days ago, Shane gave me an update on Joy and Zeke - they are to call him on Mondays and Thursdays. They are teaching in the school not just two, but three days a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Religion and English classes. They are using Bible-based teaching materials and each class is one hour long, so that means that the children are being exposed to the truths of the Gospel for six hours every week!!! Also, Joy is leading two of the ladies in a Bible study - pray for the Holy Spirit to give them understanding!!! And pray for the men of the village to have their hearts softened and their eyes opened and that the Lord would give them a desire to know Him.

Our God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ever ask or imagine - so please keep asking and imaging that the precious people of Tapacocha would come to Jesus and that He would advance His Kingdom right there in the High Andes of Peru!!!!!!

Joanna

Funny side note!

After Zeke had 2 doses of NyQuil and LOTS of sleep, he got up Saturday afternoon, took a shower and ate pizza!!! Typical. Pray for Joy as she attempts to handle Zeke and J.B. - who she says acts just like Zeke!

Joanna

Here We Go!

Thanks for all the prayers everyone. Zeke and I are much better and will be leaving for Tapacocha in about an hour. We have an amazing God!

Another amazing thing is that Shane already set up for us to teach in the school twice a week. Once in the religion class and once in the English class. It should be fun. :)

Well, we've got to load up the truck and get on the road. Please continue to pray for me, Zeke, and our translator, J.B.

Love you all,
Joy :)

PLEASE PRAY!

We're still at Tommy's house in Huaraz. We should be leaving tomorrow for Tapacocha, but Zeke has come down with a fever tonight. Both of us feel a little queasy/dizzy. I don't know if it's from something we ate, or the altitude, or what. So, please pray for both of us, that we get over whatever it is quickly, so we can finally be in Tapacocha.

We were able to get all our shopping done today, for the next 16 days. That's how long it will be before we can get back to Huaraz to shop again. Shopping for 3 people for 16 days was very similar to shopping for 10 people for a week, so we had no problem. :)

Thank you, everyone who wrote cards with notes of encouragement for Zeke and I. We were very surprised and excited about them. We plan to tape them up in our room.

We'll keep you posted. Thanks again for the prayers!

Currently

Well guys, we met the rest of the team in Tapacocha yesterday, about noon. We were really happy to see them all.

The one day that we spent in Tapacocha was very positive. We renewed a couple of friendships that we had made on our previous trip last May, and already have some ideas for efficiently tackling our prime objective. (Which is teaching the people of Tapacocha the Word of God and training them to be disciples of Christ.)

This morning we left Tapacocha about 9:00 am and we are already back in Huaraz - chillin. The rest of the team left at the same time we did, going the opposite way down the mountain, to Lima and then back home. Today is just kinda a day to take stock of what we'll need for the next sixteen days stay in Tapacocha, until we can make another trip to Huaraz. Tomorrow we're planning on getting the shopping done and then Saturday afternoon we'll be back in Tapacocha.

I know a lot of you have been praying and it is much appreciated. I got to open some cards that some of you sent from home, and they were very encouraging.

Hey, I guess I'll catch you around,

Zeke

Hello, hello! Joy are you there?

by Joanna Lackey

They made it!!!!!! Tommy Smith, Joy, Zeke and the translator started from Huaraz this morning and arrived in Tapacocha around 1pm our time - Peru does not observe Daylight Savings Time, so they are one hour behind us right now. Joy emailed before they left Tommy's place. She said that the bus ride from Lima to Huaraz on Tuesday took 9 hours, but it was actually a nice, air-conditioned bus and they even showed a movie!!! She also told us that Huaraz is beautiful with snow-capped mountains all around. Then she called from the pay phone in Tapacocha this afternoon. We only talked for a minute or maybe two and the silly thing cut us off. Then she called back and it cut us off again. I guess that unlike pay phones here it doesn't give an option of inserting more coins - when your time's up it just disconnects!

We learned just yesterday that when the team arrived in Tapacocha on Sunday they found out that the school had been closed as a precaution for Swine Flu - although there were no cases in or around Tapacocha. I have no other details on that until the team gets back or maybe Joy or Zeke will report what they know tomorrow. However, I'm sure that development changed Shane's strategy for the team, as the children of the village have been quite open to the gospel being shared by our other teams.

Also, we were made aware today that Nathan Shireman, LifePoint's Connections Director, who was part of the team, became violently ill with motion sickness on the flight from Columbus to Chicago on Saturday. He was not able to continue the trip and rode a bus back to Columbus - so sorry for Nathan!

The team is to leave Tapacocha for Lima in the morning, spend the night in Lima and do the touristy thing - shopping - Friday. They leave Lima very early - 1:20am - Saturday morning and finally get in to Columbus Saturday afternoon. Joy, Zeke and the translator will drive back to Huaraz with Tommy. They'll have to let us all know when they are to return to Tapacocha for their first 2 weeks of ministry. Please continue to pray for the team, Joy and Zeke, the translator and Tommy as they travel. And pray that the kids will be able to indentify God's activity in Tapacocha and work with Him there!

Finally here! Well - almost

After a very long day riding on a bus, we are now in Huaraz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow we will be driving out to Tapacocha, and we'll be there for Wed and Thurs morning. Right now Joy and I are currently residing at Tommy Smith's house ( the koolest old guy on planet earth, besides oh dad). Tommy is a fulltime missionary here in Huaraz. He has a very nice house here, and every other week Joy and I will be coming back to Huaraz to stay at Tommy's and do stuff like shop for food for the next two weeks stay back in Tapacocha. This Thurs morning we will come back from Tapacocha to Huaraz to go ahead and do some shopping. Sooooooo... I'm getting ready for bed now. You should too.

Good bye for now,
Zeke

PS - And as always, same time, same channel people. We'll keep ya posted.

And They're Off...Finally!

written by Joanna Lackey - Mom of the Super Twin Team

We took Joy and Zeke back to the Columbus Airport this morning and this time we 1) gave them a cell phone - which they'll send back with one of the other team members - it won't work in Peru and 2) stayed at the airport until their plane left Columbus! We did neither of those things on Saturday. There have never been any "hiccups" with past trips and we assumed everything would go as scheduled this time as well. Little did we know that LaGuardia Airport in New York would have a bomb threat and as a result flights all over the country would be delayed and canceled. Joy went through about $10 using the pay phone to call us, Shane Tucker and Mackenzie Taylor from LifePoint Church, trying to find out how to handle the situation. Our family was already in West Virginia when we learned that the kids could not get a flight out of Columbus that would arrive in Atlanta in time to connect with the rest of the team and in fact they would be bumped until today. So Mark and I drove 2+ hours back to Columbus to get our extremely frazzled 22 year-olds. As it turned out Joy, Zeke and Grace were able to sing at my brother Todd and sister-in-law Leah's church yesterday morning and then we all attended their baptism last evening - that was a very happy time!!!

Today their flight left Columbus right on time and arrived in Atlanta right on time. They found the gate to their connecting flight to Lima just like old pros and that flight left as scheduled and arrived in Peru about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. When Shane Tucker - bless his heart...he'll need to sleep for a week when he gets home - and the team arrived in Lima Saturday night, he scrambled to make arrangements for Joy and Zeke to be taken care of by our IMB (International Mission Board) missionaries of the REAP North Team. They have been absolutely wonderful! Members of their team have talked to both Joy and I today and they certainly made both the kids and the rest of the family feel much more at ease about the whole traveling to a foreign-speaking country alone thing!!! Shane pre-arranged for a taxi to take them to their hotel and one of the REAP North missionaries will be there to see that they are checked in properly. He also arranged for a Peruvian translator to meet them at the hotel in the morning and ride the bus with them to Tapacocha - can't wait to hear the stories about that trip. They will call me from the pay phone in Tapacocha tomorrow evening - we hope!

We are so thankful to the Lord for giving Joy and Zeke the opportunity to serve Him in Tapacocha. It's obvious to us that Satan is trying to stop them from reaching their destination. The events of Saturday were only the climax of a huge barrage of attacks on our family in direct opposition to this trip. But our God is faithful and we wait in great anticipation of what He's going to do to glorify Himself in Tapacocha, in Joy and Zeke, in our family and in our church.

This traveling thing really makes you tired. Oh wait. We're still in Ohio.

Well, yesterday Zeke and I spent more than 12 hours sitting in the Columbus airport, having delay after delay, changing plane schedules and airlines until it was too late to fly out. Now the earliest flight they have to Lima Peru is Monday, August 3rd @ 12:20pm.

We will arrive in Lima Peru late Monday night and stay in a hotel. The next morning we will meet up with a translator and take a bus to Tapacocha.

Even though we're both very disappointed that we're missing so much time with the team from our church, that's in Peru, we were able to go down to West Virgina to visit our grandma, and witness our uncle and aunt being baptized.

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers. This whole traveling alone thing is new to us, so pray that we actually get a flight to Lima tomorrow, and that we make it safely by bus to Tapacocha on Tuesday.

"Here am I! Send me!"

Isaiah 6:8
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

Wow! We're really leaving tomorrow! I'm so excited!

Shane Tucker, Nathan Shireman, Jonathan Taylor, Amy Workman, Nan Spivey, Brent Spivey, and Tess Yake will be going with us. Everyone except my brother Zeke and I will be coming back August 8th. The two of us will be staying in the village for 3 months, until the team from our church comes to get us in November.

We will have computer access every other week or so, whenever we go to the city, so we'll keep you updated.

Please pray: 1) that we have safe travels, 2) favor with the village leaders, 3) good translators, 4) and that the people of Tapacocha will hear, understand, and accept our message about Jesus Christ's gift of salvation.

Our History

For those of you who are unfamiliar with our church's previous trips, here is a summary of LifePoint's activity in Tapacocha.

August 20, 2008
from Shane Tucker's blog @ shaneandellen.com

What an amazing couple of days. I’m intimidated at the thought of capturing everything I’m learning and all that God is doing. And, equally intimidated at writing these things into words that express the goodness of God. I’m a little emotional even thinking of these things.

Here goes... I’m in Peru on a vision trip so that I can have “vision” on where and how to lead a team from our church when we come back this fall.

Earlier in the week I was reading in Isaiah: 40: 3-5. It says, “A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord: Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Typically in my life scriptures are not used so literally but in this case, I’m literally in the middle of the dessert where I need to prepare the way for the Lord. I need to determine a way for my team to make it back to Peru where the mountains are not such an obstacle, in other words, the mountains need to be made low and I need the cracks to fill up so that the glory of the Lord can be revealed to these people.

I’m thrilled to say that I feel like God prepared the way for himself to be revealed to us. Here are some of the highlights. After a few hours of driving away from civilization we (myself, Tommy and my translator Fernando) arrived in Tapacocha. Tapacocha is a small town of about 380 people that is strategically located close to three other small towns so as ministry expands from Tapacocha there are approximately 1000 other Peruvians who the Gospel can filter to. About 2 minutes after arriving I stepped out of the truck to meet two of the town mayors (or our equivalent to mayor), another city official and the town nurse. 10 minutes later I had a place to stay, the needs of the town, some Christian contacts, email addresses, and a clear vision of what is next. This is such a blessing and a relief. I often feel like you can’t make the wrong decision as long as you are deciding to do ministry but in this case I needed to make the more righter (yes I know this is not a real word) decision. The decisions made on this trip directly affect our church and ministry in this area for at least the next four years.

Father, thanks for helping me to perceive the new things you are doing as Isaiah 43 says and that you literally filled up the cracks and brought the mountains low for the sake of sharing Your gospel. Please continue to lead us in the right steps.

November 1-8, 2008
from Shane Tucker's blog @ shaneandellen.com

My primary goal of this trip was to establish a presence and gain some trust between our church and the village of Tapacocha.

Upon arrival, we unpacked, etc..., the first thing the next morning, I sent the team out into the streets of the village to begin prayer walking and to meet as many people as possible. While I was out, I took a translator and met with the town sub-mayor and the school director, we were able to make arrangements to meet with the whole school for two days, and were given permission to meet in the only building in the village big enough to hold all of us (which happened to be the local catholic church building), and the list goes on...too easy.

The next day we spent time playing soccer, hanging out with the locals, teaching about America, our church and why we are in their village, doing more prayer walking, and then closed out the evening with a worship service that the whole village of 380 people was invited to. As a pastor, it was so rewarding to sit back and let the people of our church operate out of their gifts and accomplish so much. We watched a video in Spanish that allowed us to communicate with the locals about who Jesus is and how His sacrifice makes a difference in our lives, gave some of our testimonies, sang some songs in English and Spanish, and gave them bracelets that represent the Gospel story.

The end results of the trip are that there are about 125 new believers in the village, our first Peru team did a fantastic job communicating the love of Jesus to this village and we’re very much looking forward to going back in May to see what else God has planned for Tapacocha.

I’m so thankful to God for allowing us to be a part of His plan to reach the unreached places of the world, that He went before us to prepare the hearts of his unreached people, and that he uses these experiences to help us love Him more.

Here are some things that we need to continue to pray about:

1) There are huge cultural barriers to these trips and even to their understanding of the Gospel. Pray for the 125 new believers that they will sustain their faith in the absence of faith leaders or Scripture.
2) Pray that God raises up leaders for this village and that these people will be willing to work with LifePoint to spread God’s love to this village.
3) Pray for future trips to this village, that we will have the same access (if not more) to the schools and government of the town.
4) Pray for resources such as Bibles, and discipleship materials that will help us bridge the language and cultural barriers.
5) Pray that God would begin to stir the hearts of LifePoint members to go back to Tapacocha and potentially provide summer or full time missionaries to this area.
6) Translators are crucial to the success of our communication, please pray that God blesses us with competent translators that not only know English but who also know Jesus.

May 2-9, 2009
Written by Joy Lackey

This was my first overseas mission trip with our church. It was amazing! You have no idea, until you go, what God is going to do in and through your life.

To start - we drove to the village of Tapacocha on a little dirt road that was cut out of the side of the mountain. You could look out the truck window and see way down into the valley. Very cool view!

While we were in the village we played volleyball with the kids, went to their school and told them about how we each came to know and have a relationship with Jesus Christ, told Bible stories, held meetings in the Catholic church building, etc. My favorite part was teaching them a couple of Christian songs in Spanish. They loved it and asked over and over to sing them. They even wanted to know how to sing them in English.

We were only in the village four days, but it was easy to see what is needed. They don't need material things like food and water, but they are starving for someone to lead them to Truth and thirsty for the Word of God. They wear the name of "Christian" like a good luck charm, and are relying on their good works to get them to Heaven. They don't understand the difference in a religion that's trying to earn them a seat in Heaven, and a relationship where you give your life to Christ and trust Him for salvation. Therefore, we all have realized that our goal as a church, as a team and as individuals must be to lead Tapacocha to true faith and maturity in Christ!