Chachani Update

Just wanted to give you a quick update on how Chachani is going.  Earlier this month, we had a team from Northwest Nazarene University come to Arequipa to hold medical clinics.  The first medical clinic took place in Chachani.  I was able to go out and help out with translation, playing with the kids, and praying with people.  It was a great time.  117 patients were seen that day.

My favorite part of the day was seeing the excitement in people's eyes when we mentioned we were going to plant a church there.  They couldn't believe that we were going to plant a church there, in their community.  Their eyes lit up when they heard and you could see pure joy on their faces.  This was God's way of telling me that He will follow through on His promise to me to plant a church there. 

This is a community of great need.  During the clinic, I was called over to pray with a women who had been thinking about committing suicide.  I was very hesitant at first, and my first reaction was why me?  But, I said a quick silent prayer, and then went to meet with the woman.  I prayed with her, emphasizing that she was not alone, and praying for God to be very real to her.  I also told her that we were working on planting a church.  The sigh of relief on her phase was clear.

A few days later, the volunteers headed back out to Chachani to show Felix Vargas's testimony.  It was a cold night, but 30-40 people came out.  Between 15-20 people accepted Christ that night.  Praise the Lord!

The 40/40s, who will be headed to Paraguay in January, have now started the task of following up on all of these people.  They have also restarted classes for children, and had 15-20 kids on their first Sunday and one mother.  Please keep this team and this community in your prayers.