Well, we made it back safe, tired, but very blessed. The whole experience was so crazy, but so good at the same time. There were times when Danielle and I were completely overwhelmed, and there were times that were so sweet they are hard to put into words. I know we have all heard it before, but we truly could not have done this outreach mission trip unless God was behind us, strengthening us, encouraging us, and providing the help we needed. We had an amazing group of loving servants that included 8 from CC Silverdale, several from CCBC Peru, and awesome man of God from CC Lima. We couldn’t be more grateful for all of God’s goodness, and I just want to touch on a few of the highlights.

We arrived in Chilete Saturday morning and the craziness began. We are in Peru, so of course we were an hour late, but everyone was so quick to help and things got going quickly. We had faithful people doing sign-ups, others setting up, one good friend locating electricity and working with the municipality, and our brother from Lima doing whatever he could fresh off a 12 hour bus ride throughout the night to come help us.

As things started we had people coming and going, playing soccer with team, and beginning to have their faces painted at our face painting booth when CC Silverdale busted out their 5 foot high planet sized soccer ball. We then immediately broke the pump… but thanks to the help of a few a local kids we were able to inflate it at the local gas station. We then proceeded to roll the ball through town, and make quite a scene. In a small Peruvian town with no “gringo” residents, a group of Americans rolling a gigantic soccer ball down the street was a sight to see. Everyone had a great time, especially the kids, and we kicked the tournament off shortly after.

One of my favorite parts of the whole weekend was watching the CC Silverdale team perform the “Everything” skit in front of a couple hundred people from Chilete, and then listening to my good friend Aron Diaz explain the play while weaving in his testimony of how Jesus changed his life. I had planned on being the one to invite people to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but as Aron and I were watching the skit I felt God had brought Aron to Chilete for a reason and asked Him to do it. Little did I know that God had been speaking to Him through Isaiah 25 and Matthew 28 about preaching the gospel all day. God put his hand upon Aron, and we got to see the Lord bless His Word and several come to the Lord.

I also loved seeing the group interact with the kids at the face painting booth and during the games, and a super cool part of the tournament was that both the kids and adults championship games went to penalty kicks. If you didn’t know, South Americans are passionate about soccer. To have both tournaments come to 3 kicks apiece after 4 hours of soccer was very intense and a lot of fun. Each team represented a country as we did a World Cup style tournament, and our winners were Peru and Argentina.

Next, Sunday morning was great as Danielle and Suelene led the Sunday School with the help of many from CCBC and CC Silverdale, while Aron led worship and translated the study for me so both Peruvians and Americans could understand the Bible Study. It was a new step to have separate services for the Adults and children as so far we have ministered to mostly children in Chilete, and we look forward to what God has in the future!

Finally, I loved hearing what God did in the hearts of the team from CC Silverdale when we returned. One high-school aged girl told be that she had the best experience of her life, and when she finally had to leave for the states she started to cry because she missed everyone so much. She believes God has confirmed her call to be a missionary, and we are hoping to see Rachel again soon.

Another young man shared how blessed he was to share the Word of God with a little girl who has become a faithful part of our church, and how he loved seeing her cherish the Bible we were able to give to her. He said he realized there was no other Bible teaching church in Chilete, and he was just so glad we were going to Chilete to teach the Bible and love these kids. He said he realized if we were’t going, that girl wouldn’t be holding her Bible with a big smile on her face. That comment was the biggest encouragement to me of anything that happened all weekend.

To close, God truly blessed our weekend and truly answered all of our prayers, and I thank you so much for remembering us in your prayers. We are so grateful for everyone who was a part of this outreach all over the world, and I truly believe those who pray back home are just as important as those who go out here in Peru. Please continue to remember us in you prayers, and we will try to do the same. God bless you all!

With love,

Cory and Danielle

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 19:14