Home

Missions trips don't end, you just change locations.- Pepper

That was Pepper's exhortation to us at the end of encouragement time. What a sweet time. We all said wonderful things to each other. It was great to speak life to each other and have a team mate do the same. People said things to me that I would've never thought they noticed. Full heart!

Last night we had our last debrief. Like I said in the last quick post we talked about the four areas of missions. Each area we talked about we had a chance to share. I am going to try and recap some answers so that you have a tiiiiiiiiny glimpse of how we are coming back.

First of all I need to interrupt this message to say I'm on the plane right now and one of the dudes next to me just farted. Gross.

Serve:

Pepper- we are not the ones loving these kids. It's God's love through us that is loving these kids.

Good service is invisible. Ryan said this during this area of missions. He explained that when a person is served well they just have everything they need and are not in want. Like a good waiter at a restaurant. It needs no prompting or praise.

There was a cook at the church. They made breakfast and lunch everyday for us. Claudia was trying to help her on the first day and she refused her help. She told Claudia that all she wanted was to serve us. These people were full of that mindset. It touched our hearts because of course we wanted to serve them.

A connection to that story comes from Lia. She went to the kitchen to say thank you to the cook. I think she may have been the only kid to do so. This woman was endlessly thankful and moved by Lia's grateful ness.

For some reason this reminded me of the story of the ten lepors. Only one went back to Jesus to say thank you.

One of Noah's realizations was that service can be fun it doesn't always have to be getting his mom a glass of water.

We shared difficult moments that were hard to serve. 

Jason mentioned that some times kids would be messy and snotty and they would ask for hugs. That was a struggle.

Lynn got peed on.

Sometimes the kids would ask for something and we couldn't give it to them bc there were too many of them. 

JD had this problem with his Smarties and the kite.

Vicky mentioned taking little girls to the bathroom to do #2 was tough. I remember passing her as I was going into the bathroom and she just shook her head and told me to hold my breath.

We were clearly exhausted on this trip. Noah confessed that there was a moment when a kid ask him for water he sent them to Rodrigo instead bc he couldn't muster the energy.

Another comment he made was that he feels like this is the missions trip that he feels he was served the most on.

Learn:

This could've been anything about the people about the culture about the place.

Rodrigo said he learned that those kids there weren't afraid if failure. They would just pick up and try again. I thought that would be a great way to live. Just trying my best. Win some lose some as long as I learn from my failure and don't let it ruin me or place my identity in my success as we often do.

Jason learned how to pursue people. There were kids that on the first day didn't want to talk and he just kept after them until they eventually warmed up.

Ryan in talking to some if the locals found out that one of the guys there has to spend time away from his family to go to Lima to make ends meet. 

The same guy mentioned that tourists in Mancora can smoke weed and be obnoxious in the streets but if a local does that the police have no problem going after them. That double standard hurts.

What Victoria noticed was that these people we were serving live 7 mins from the town circle and never go hang out there. They were admiring our henna tattoos and hair decorations that we got. They thought it was so cool! They've never done it for themselves. I remember last year that we took a kid to the beach for the first time. Mancora IS a beach town. How is that possible? It's a walk away. The contrast between tourist and local is stark.

The first tuk tuk came to Mancora in 1998! I was 8 or 9. Just a fun fact Ryan shared.

Grow:

Jason said he found a heart for the lost. 

Jonathan encouraged the team to find ways to use what they've been given. Speaking of their gifts.

Fia was sad to leave the people but came to the conclusion that they left God there with them and that's what makes it all good.

Rodrigo shared some of the future plans that God was stirring in his heart. Most of it was about skateboarding. He says that skateboarding brought him to Jesus.

Being served helped Cane understand serving better. I thought that was insightful. There were moments when the people there would do things for us and it brought them delight to do so. That was awesome.

Carla got to talk a little too. Carla is wonderful. She has been going to Mancora since she was 14. She is now going to be a junior in college. The only year she didn't go was last year. I remember talking to her before we left last year. I asked her why she wasn't going and she told me she thought it was time for her to make way for others.

Carla came this year to do just that! She doesn't know where God is going to lead her in the future but she needed to come back to know that she wasn't needed anymore and that it was okay to let go. She reproduced and left a legacy. I am impressed.

Continue:

I'm sure we mentioned this too that night but I don't remember what stories went with it. I do know that today we gave each teammate a sheet of paper to write a letter to themselves. They should write down what God did in their heart and in their lives. In a month they'll get it back.

My hope and my prayer is that those of them that came on this trip to explore new depths with their relationship with God would make provisions and changes to keep going deeper. For our other teammates I pray that their love for God's people follow them wherever they go. I pray they keep making disciples and following God's voice to serve.

I'm done for now. It has been a pleasure to share with you guys our stories. In the book of Nehemiah when he goes to build the wall it says that he tells the people what God did and that strengthened the people to do the good work (Neh 2:18). I hope and pray you are encouraged today.

Thank you for you support, love and mostly prayer.

-Esther

I'm going to upload a little more on Instagram but not much. Thanks for following us!

@mancoraperu2014

Quick Update

Today has been a great day. We got to Guayaquil at 8 am left our things at the hotel went out for breakfast and walked around the Malecon. Then we came back to the hotel showered took naps. After that we went out to dinner and then had a long needed debrief. 

We talked about our four areas of missions. Serve, learn, grow and continue. I wrote a bunch of stuff down... But I will share them later.

Tomorrow: 

We reveal our secret friends

I love that bc it is a time of encouragement and fun to guess!

We fly out tomorrow! 

Pray:

Safe travels

We can't wait to see you all and share more stories... After we catch up on sleep. Haha.

Later,

Esther

Go check us out on Instagram.

Instagram.com/mancoraperu2014

@Mancoraperu2014

Seriously our Instagram is the bomb!

All done

At Nicaugua church lasy night Ryan spoke. It was great. I say that because he's a gringo and when they speak Spanish I catch like 80% of it! Woot.

We did worship first but after the sermon they did worship. Acapella and handed a tambourine to Diego. Classic. Reminded me of my days in Haitian churches. The kids were using all their self control to keep it together. They did good!

After that they called up a series of "elders" each of them had about three of us that they had been praying for specifically for the last month. Then they prayed for us in person. So wonderful.

There's a little boy here named Jil, I think. He has a joint deformity. I met him last year. At BFC we found out that he hadn't had lunch. Victoria decided to take him and buy him lunch next to the church. If you know Vicky you know it doesn't take long for her to get to the deep stuff really quick. She asked him about Jesus. He said he prayed to Jesus every but never accepted him. Victoria gave him the opportunity. They prayed right there. Unreal.

Morgan- I just love hugs I don't know how you live without them.

Jonathan- Hey Victoria, you know what? The love of Christ is amazing.

Today was a good day. It was long but sweet. We watched Frozen at night with the church ate Thai food for dinner. Shopped at the Malecon. All after two BFCs and 4-5 hrs of sleep. We are on our way to Ecuador now. I can hear sobs on the bus. CBC has built this long term relationship with this community here and every time it's hard to let go. We left the church at ten and the people walked to the Hostel and waited for us to leave. We had to say bye to Marta. It's been great to have her here on the ground.

I'm gonna try to get some sleep.

Tomorrow:

Ecuador

Epic Debrief awesomeness

Pray:

Safe travels

Long term impact in our team hearts

Later,

-Esther

Go check us out on Instagram.

Instagram.com/mancoraperu2014

@Mancoraperu2014

We are going to regret this in the morning

The quince was...

The church was decorated impeccably. You couldn't even recognize it! At first a lot of ceremony. Change the shoes. Put on a purity ring. Pray. Give gifts. Take pictures. But let's talk about how every part had a special section just for the Panamanians. So to us the night felt like: up down up down up down.

This girl waited THREE months to have her quince so that we were here. Wow. We clearly mean a lot to these people.

THEN the Hora Loca started. We were trying to sneak out. It was 12:30 at this point. The clown busted out the balloons and oversized glasses. Then a clown in stilts came in. Then the reggeaton. We were stuck! Four bags of confetti and 6 cans of foam later it's one in the morning and we are walking out if the door. We were the life of the party. More specifically Noah was the life of the party.

Off to find tuk tuks. We have to be out of the door at 8 am!

Tomorrow:

Last BFC!

Nico leads devos

Family movie night at Nicaugua church

AND we leave for Guayaquil at 11pm. Ahhhh!

Pray:

For all those things that need to happen on very little sleep.

Pray for safe travels through the night.

Oh it has been fun!

-Esther

Go check us out on Instagram.

Instagram.com/mancoraperu2014

@Mancoraperu2014

Auto Pilot

One of the comments yesterday was to share some stories of Manora people. I get so caught up with our team and excited about what God is doing in their hearts I forget to share other stories too. So here are a few.

There are two kids named Helen and Gregory here. Their parents split up and it is tearing them apart. Helen shared her heart with Lia and Sophia. Gregory shared with Steven and Andrea. It broke everybody's heart. They are so attached to this week we come and already are dreading saying goodbye to us. I just don't know what to make of that if I'm being honest. I am thankful that our students are able to give hugs and kisses and drop some truth into their hearts.

Last night at the end of service a little girl started expressing that she was bullied at school. Tears were streaming from her eyes. It was a tender moment. It opened the way to love on them and pray for them. This morning JD made her and her sister princess crowns to remind them of their identity.

Marta was explaining to us that the first night while we were going to church there was a girl who she saw running from her house. Marta asked what was wrong and she explained that her dad was angry. He was drunk and just broke a window. She was afraid that he would hurt her so she ran. Marta explained that this is life in this area. She will get out of her house for a while and go back home to the same thing. Life goes on. Cool that we get to be messengers of hope to these people. 

The team is always perfect.- Jonathan 

He was just reflecting about how the dynamic is different every year and it's always exactly what we need. God knows!

Today is Wednesday. Day three of BFC. It's the day when we are slow to get up, late to start everything, the little kids are crazier than usual and we run on auto pilot. That has been the case and today will be even longer than usual. We are currently at BFC #2 and we have night service as usual and after that we have a quince! The kids are exhausted. We all are. 

Despite that they are being rock stars! They jump and clap. They sing and dance. They spin kids around. They love well. 

Pray:

Super natural strength! I know some of you already are(MaAle :-)).

I was serious about the Claudia thing. Pray blessings over her! Make sure that she knows she's appreciated. You will never know how much she does for us here. It has always blown me away. I don't know if you saw this but her tee shirt says LA TIA. So appropriate.

Health

Good sleep

Open  and willing hearts

Go check us out on Instagram.

Instagram.com/mancoraperu2014

@Mancoraperu2014

I'll try to blog after debrief.

-Esther

Debrief #2

Debrief Question: 

What did God do in your heart today?

Jason shared more about adopting a kid. He shared that God has been using just the kids faces to move in his life. He shared that he has had plans for his life and God has been molding them and shaping them more and more in this place.

Noah shared that a story shared yesterday has been running in his mind all day. It broke his heart but he's sure God has a plan for her.

Pepper- it doesn't take much to impress them. I was writing down names in my notebook and a kid asked what I was doing. Shortly after I had twenty kids around me telling me their name.

Jonathan was impressed with the gifts and talents of the team and God has used them. It reminded me of something that God dropped in my heart yesterday. A gift makes way for the giver. All our gifts are to make way for Jesus. I shared that and then Jony encouraged to group to shine in their giftings.

One of the cool things is hearing different perspectives of teammates that have been here many times. Genesis shared about a family that she met years ago. A baby she once held in her arms was a big kid now. She didn't recognize them and the kids said that they had a picture with her at their house. It moved her!

I cannot tell you how much JD impacted the team today. 

We reflected on how he is just 14 and making a difference.

He talked about the impact of having a best friend that's a Christian. Nico left when he was in 4th grade and not having that support affected his life. Nico affected him he affected the room tonight.

We talked about how if you guys the parents could see it! Oh it would rock your world.

The verse he chose to use was a verse he got from Bible study he did with you Dan. I thought you'd like to know. :-)

Prayer:

JD wants us to pray for strength bc he knows the enemy doesn't want us to do this.

Nico-Thanks that no one is feeling ill

Steven- wants us to pray that this is deep rooted and not isolated in Panama

Thank you Jesus for Claudia for representing you all back home. She seriously makes this thing work! Pray blessings over her. She deserves it!!!!! When you see her after this trip but her a pedicure giver her a hug send her a thank you note. She is THE BEST!!!!

Go check us out on Instagram.

Instagram.com/mancoraperu2014

@Mancoraperu2014

-Esther

PS- I would like some feed back! What are your fave things about the blog and Instagram? What would you like to see more of or hear more about? Email me at estbru628@gmail.com or comment :-)

Full Hearts

I can't speak Spanish but I can braid hair! Got to braid some of our team's hair today which gave way for me to braid hair for a girl here. I struggle with this weird place I have on this team. But that's been my struggle since I was young on missions trips or on any team thing really. I've made my peace with it bc this never having a place has always made a way to fill unexpected gaps and use different gifts.

Rodrigo spoke this morning. Killed it! They did a drama to the story of Job. Jason was Job and Vicki Martin(lol) was his wife. These skits are killin me. I love them they are wonderful! They are fully equipped with a Nae Nae break down and everything. (I fully realize that 98% of you don't know what the Nae Nae is but I just had to mention it!)

We got more kids at the church by the beach today some if the Mancora veterans were a bit disappointed about the small turnout yesterday. They were used to seeing 100-150-200 at that location. So the bit of growth was nice even though it wasn't back to old times.

This part I am writing as we wait for service to start. We spent a little more time than we anticipated at the Malecon... Surprise surprise. Victoria Mumi and I just prayed for JD. I'll finish this when he's done...

Phil 1:12 What has happened to me has served to advance the Gospel.

This is the verse JD used after he shared his story. He explained that there's always a way back to God and being here and seeing the smiles on the kids' faces lets him know God is good.

After he finished there was just this aura in the air. God was moving. Hearts were moved to be vulnerable. Many sweet moments. The pastor's daughter was expressing some hurt to JD Mumi and Vicki. JD reminded her that she was a princess and child of God. Heart melted.

We are about to debrief hope to share more stories later.

Tomorrow:

Andrea is speaking in the morning

Ryan is speaking to the Nicaragua church

We have a quince at night

Pray: 

For our speakers

Carla will be speaking the next day

Restful nights

Stamina

Open hearts

Health

Thanks for covering us in prayer! We can tell it's making a difference!

Go check us out on Instagram.

Instagram.com/mancoraperu2014

@Mancoraperu2014

-Esther

The rest of today

I have all these bow tie head bands. Lynn and Morgan asked me why I have so many and I said, "bc they make all my buns look good." 

Clearly I was talking about hair buns. They laughed for a long time...

Victoria shared in youth tonight. Before service while we were praying Marta left and locked Vicky's room. Her notes and Bible were in there. Vicky took this as an opportunity to let the Spirit do his thing and that he did. She did great!

Got to talk to Nico a little after service and asked him about what he hopes God accomplishes in his life his week. He said he hopes God shows him his role in reaching people and sharing the Gospel when his family goes off to Africa. Wow.

We had our first debrief tonight. They were asked two questions.

Question 1 was: What has stood out to you since we've been in Mancora?

Noah mentioned how he has been a lot of places but Mancora is the poorest.

Cane said he thought that is was cool that these kids really genuinely look forward to seeing us and we are impacting their lives and will leave smiles on their faces.

Diego said the amount of change that he has seen in the area since he last was here. He also said that this growth would allow us to reach more people in this area.

Siah said the change in the dynamic of the teams. When he first was going to Peru it was all about music but now we have a team full of other talents that God is using.

Question 2: How has James chapter 1 come to play in real life today?

This question brought on a lot of tangents.

Mumi mentioned how this trip has made her get out of her comfort zone and has been eye opening for her.

Lots more talk about comfort zones. 

It's been a great day!

Tomorrow:

More BFC

Youth service 

Pray for:

JD he is brining the word tomorrow night! I AM PUMPED about that!

Multiplied rest. These are long days.

Heath

Praise The Lord for internet and connection with you! I am super thankful for that.

Go check us out on Instagram.

Instagram.com/mancoraperu2014

@Mancoraperu2014

Love and appreciate you all!

-Esther

The interwebs are working!

I kind of write as the day goes so that things are fresh in my mind. We just got internet. I have spammed Instagram! Check us out: Instagram.com/mancoraperu2014

It is well worth it!!

What you're about to read is from earlier today I will try my best to update you on the rest of the day later.

Day one of Bible Fun Club!

Carla led devos on James chapter 1. Jonathan mentioned the verse about a double minded man. That we should not just say we are going to stand up for God but we should then do it! It was powerful.

At Nicaragua on this first day we got about 100 kids! Wow. This church has grown in the last year with Marta here. The lady who Marta replaced here, her husband, has been buying equipment little by little. They now have a sound system and a keyboard and a drum.

As I type this Steven is brining the word. He told the story of Noah to a drama. Jonathan was God, JD was Noah, Genesis was his wife(lol) and Rodrigo and Andrea were animals. The star of the skit was Jason though! He was the bird that Noah sent out. Best. Bird. Ever. Fully equipped with fluttering arms, three-quarter turns and maybe even a pirouette!

Talked to Jason a bit on why he decided to come back for a second year. It was fun to hear him talk about the practical things like working as a team. He wanted to make a commitment in his high school years so he made this his commitment. He wants to adopt one day. Que cool! 

Some of our kids are off in the background like Sophia. She just is pretty much perfect. She looks gofer ways to serve. Engages with the people. One of the older girls even walked in this morning asking for her by name!

We did another BFC at the Church at the Beach. Usually this is our HUGE BFC but we did not have that turn out this year. We will see what happens tomorrow.

Tonight: we have youth service! Victoria is speaking. Pray for her!!!! She is going to do awesome. She's auper gifted in that.

We are having a blast. It has been a smooth ride. Thank you for praying for us and for the internet. I hope to get to you tonight.

Till later

Esther!

Sunday Funday

***** I wrote this yesterday before we for internet! I left it as is I will give you a current update soon. 

We started the day at Nicaragua church. This is the smaller church that Marta works with. We sat in on Sunday school. We danced, worshipped and played soccer!

I watched as our kids reconnected with the kids in Peru that they've seen before.

Today was about getting our feet wet literally and figuratively.

I watched as new kids, like Mumi, acclimate to the kids like she's lived here her whole life. Later she told me she wants to major in special education.

After we were done with Sunday school about to eat lunch Moran says, "I'm so excited I'm pumped so excited right now oh my gosh!" All in one breath.

I asked JD what he was most excited about this week and he said playing sports with the kids bc that's how he can connect with them. God will use anything and that's great!

We moved to beach initiation. All the newbies had to get in the water. It's kinda cold but they all did it. It was great bonding time for the team. 

I talked to Victoria most of the time. She told me about her burden for some of the team and how she expects God to move this week in their lives. Vicki is always expecting and it's refreshing.

We had dinner then went to the Church at the Beach  for night service. A pastor from Lima spoke and four of our boys responded to the call. I got to see God do some work and that was great. It was there that I began to see some mind sets shift. I began to see the wheels turning. I saw God stirring hearts.

Pray for your students. Pray that God uses this week to wake them up to His master plan. He wants them to be a part of it. Pray that they are keenly aware of that and take the steps to get there. They are all in different places with The Lord, and I want this week to awaken their souls to a more intimate place.

I realize that our team is here to minister but we all know that a lot of times God uses these times to minister to us. I feel that is esp for this team. I know quite a few of them came into this wanting exactly that. 

I'm sorry I haven't instagrammed. As soon as we got here the data dropped out. My phone says 3G but will not connect to the internet and Marta's internet isn't functioning either. I have SO many pictures to post and so many sweet moments I want you to see! Gosh. Pray we get internet. Please please please.

Last night we posted by using Ana's roaming data$$. I texted the post to Tina and had her log in. Wow. Struggles.

Tomorrow: 

Bible Fun Club

We do a whole thing about the fruit of the spirit! We do one at both churches. Pray that we exhibit the fruit just as much as we teach about it.

So much I want to say bit it's 11:47 and I have to bee ready to go at 8am. So till tomorrow!

Esther

Can I get a "Oh Yeah!"

That title is something I hope to explain to you via Instagram tomorrow.
A couple of things:
1. We made it!!!!
Thank you all so much for praying us through. We love you and appreciate you. We also need you to keep it going!
2. If you're not following us on Instagram you're missing out.
@mancoraperu2014
We are full of selfies and fun faces. We update pretty much as we go so feel free to creep on our trip.
3. I heard JD speak Spanish for the first time today. Haha
That wasn't important info I just felt like I needed three points here.

Story time:
Our plane boarded a little late.
Our bus driver threatened to leave us because we were taking our time at the airport. He didn't of course, I think he just had his crabby pants on this morning.
That's all I got for you.
No but for real! This has been an extremely SMOOTH trip. Praise The Lord! Usually there's a story of a glitch or a mishap or someone decided to be careless with something. Nope.  Sure that's because you covered us in prayer and The Lord is before us and behind us and beside us.

Tomorrow:
We hit the ground running. Sunday school, night service and our beach initiation (more on that tomorrow).

Prayer Requests:
Restful nights
Open hearts
Health
That the Internet shows up some where so we can keep you updated

Feel free to leave a comment and I'll be sure to share with the group.

Till tomorrow,

Esther

First Post

Hello World!

This is Esther Brunat. I will be blogging this year for our wonderful Peru team. I am excited to be a part of this team! I have to tell you first that I am not good with words. I'm a math teacher by trade and I tell you this to say that maybe this blog will not be so eloquent but I do like to share stories so I hope that's what this blog will do. Feel free to comment and repost and of course Pray!!

Pray for traveling mercies, a cohesive team, flexibility, health and for God to stretch our dollars. That's it for now. 

See ya soon!

Our team this morning during send off!

Last years memories!