The Best Day Ever with My Gift From God

by Matt Stranks, West London Alliance Church

Well today I got to meet my Compassion child. Her name is Nayelli Fernandez and she is one of the cutest and sweetest girls you will ever meet. We met this morning in a local church called Por Venir and she was really shy at first, but with a little love and some high fives she started to warm up to me.

I had brought a backpack down full of everyday supplies she could use from pencils and pens to clothes and a frisbee that she could call her own. As she began to unpack these things from her backpack her smile kept getting bigger and bigger! It was the most beautiful thing ever! What really touched me in that moment though was when her mom broke down in front of us and wept! The words she kept saying are ones I will never forget. They are…”God Bless you, you are a gift from God and a prayer that has been answered”. All I could do was give her the biggest hug I could while trying to fight back tears. For a long time I just sat there and hugged her while I prayed to God and thanked him for bringing them into my life!

After we had finished unpacking and I sat there looking at everything on the table I realized that these things are so basic to us; like pencils, pens, crayons, colouring books, some toys, finger nail polish, hair elastics. They are all so basic to us yet to Nayelli and her mom they were so precious that it brought her mom to tears. The different perspectives at that moment was a slap in the face for me as I realized how fortunate we really are in North America to think that we have it rough is something I am now ashamed to even think about because in all honesty we don’t. We just live at the absolute maximum that we can afford, while people down here live on the bare minimum so that they can afford to eat, send kids to school, buy clothes, and still have enough to faithfully tithe. The passion and faith these people have for Christ is something I have never seen but something I want to be able to say I have…it is unreal! After we had gone through what is now Nayelli’s she decided we would play some frisbee, which she actually really loved and became very good at very quickly. We did some colouring in her new books she got and to finish the days activities off I was very happy to get to paint her nails before taking A LOT of pictures with her and Nigel’s and Andrew’s Compassion Children. By far this is and will be the highlight of my trip. To God be the Glory and may God continue to do his Will in Peru; and with the help and support of your prayers plus the never wavering faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, Anything is possible!

Comment

On Sunday, July 11, 2010, Janice Boyes said:

Hello Matt, I am a friend of your Grandma and she has shared your blog with me, what a blessing for you to meet the child that you sponsor, & what an experience to go on a Mission trip. I too sponsor a child from Peru & your blog has really touched my heart. Thank you so much & God Bless you.

On Friday, July 9, 2010, Carol Russell said:

Oh Matt, what can I say?? Your blog has brought tears to my eyes and I give thanks that the Lord has touched your heart so deeply, my dear grandson! I pray you continue to walk with Him daily and that the experience of this trip will remain with you always. I knew this trip was going to have an impact on you and everybody, but didn't realize how deeply. I need some pics for my scrapbook Matt! My prayers are with you always and I look forward to seeing you soon. Much love, Grandma.

On Friday, July 9, 2010, Dave and Deb Stranks said:

We're not even sure you will receive this before you depart this morning but wanted to leave you with some encouragement. We're sure that this morning is going to be emotional for all of you...saying goodbye to the Peruvians whom you have come to love and also saying goodbye to each other....whom you have gotten to know and work side by side with over the past several days. Remember that things don't happen by chance and that God brought you all together in Peru for a reason and a purpose. You all decided to go to Peru to help them, encourage them, bless them and do what you could for them while you were there. What a blessing to know that God took you to Peru to not only do that for the Peruvians, but also to encourage you, help you, bless you, change you, mold you and to light a fire in you that just can't be quenched. We have prayed fervently for all of you that God would open your eyes and your hearts to everything he wanted to show you in Peru and that he would change you all from the inside out. Praise God for his greatness and for allowing all of you to team together over the past 10 days to serve him and to show his love to the Peruvians through your actions, your love, your words and your selflessness. You are all truly blessed. When we blogged the other day about being the hands and feet of Christ and about how you were blessing the people there that others in the world might consider as the "unlovables" in life.....remember that they are all around us.....every day......in every country. It might be easier to talk to people, befriend people, love people and spend time with people who are dressed nice, drive decent cars, live in nice homes, etc. then it would be to talk, befriend, love and spend time with people who don't.....but God will use each and every one of you for his plans and purposes throughout your lives. Always be open to hear him and to be his hands and feet..and to love everyone. We'd like to leave you with a couple of thoughts before we say goodbye....one comes from our church....."Making Known the Greatness of God by the lives we live, by the love we show and by the work we share".....God has done that through all of you....we all serve such an amazing God !!! The other one is that we sometimes view people like the Peruvians as "poor".....but maybe they are the "richest". We will be praying for you as you depart this morning and head home. I'm sure we speak for all the parents that we are excited to see all of our kids again but we have been so blessed to have been part of this walk and journey with our son and all of you as well. We will also be praying for you as you all arrive home and process all of this further in your minds and in your hearts and as you struggle with the culture shock of returning home to our materialistic world again. May God bless you all richly as you seek to follow him serve him and live for him.

Mission Peru