To all those back home in Mount Vernon or other locations from where you might be checking in from in order to get your latest update or Step:Peru fix, our apologies for the last two days of "radio silence". Unfortunately, we stayed at a hostel in Cuzco that did not provide any internet access and were limited to a few minutes at lunch on Monday and about an hour at a coffee shop on Tuesday night, both of which were used to write a few e-mails and send a few Facebook entries on our STEP:PERU group page and neither of which were conducive to writing any personal entries by our student team members. We intend and hope to remedy this tonight with several shorter posts from the teens.
Currently, many of them are recovering from their most recent adventure, our exciting trip to the Incan city of Machu Picchu. I will not go into any details, as I am hoping that the students will take time to do that in their posts tonight, but instead, would like share one of the many blessings that I have been able to enjoy, as I have watched God do some wonderful things in the lives of these students during our time over breakfast.
Every morning, other than on our trip to Machu Picchu, our team has enjoyed a time together in the Word over hardboiled eggs, drinkable yogurt, fruit, corn flakes, rolls, coffee, etc. I spent some time before the trip picking out passages that I thought might be applicable to the students during various stages of our trip. However, I never imagined that God would use them in such a pointed way to encourage, challenge and convict us. The passages chosen included the following veses in order of time read:
- Monday - Psalm 27:1; Romans 1:16-17
- Tuesday - Matthew 25::31-46
- Wednesday - Hebrews 4:14-16; Jeremiah 33:3
- Thursday - Colossians 3:12-17
- Friday - Isaiah 40:27-31
- Saturday - Matthew 9:35-38
- Sunday - Hebrews 12:1-2
- Monday - Philippians 4:4-7
- Tuesday - Habakkuk 3:19
As a pastor, I thoroughly enjoy watching students see God's Word come alive as He speaks to them personally. Our time of studying and sharing became one of my favorite parts of this trip. As we reflected on the events of the previous day or saw God prepare us for what we were to face later that day, it was very clear that God was sovereign and His divine providence matched up scripture with our experiences! It was amazing to see the students' eyes open to the power of God's Word and prayer. Each of our team quiet times was coupled with a sweet time of talking to the Lord and praising Him for His greatness, love, kindness and faithfulness. The final "amen" to our time together came in the form of a song, hymn, or chorus. It was a fitting way to start every morning and truly gave our group perspective on the ministry we were doing for the Lord.
Pastor Matt
:-)
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