Walker Family Missions Reports

"Returning With Purpose "

As Isaac and I prepared to travel to visit our missionary friends, the Howes, and participate in their work of sharing the gospel in Peru, we asked ourselves these forward-looking questions:

• How will I steward with gratitude and faithful prayers the experience and investment of time and money to learn about God’s work in Peru?
• What can I do to nurture the change so that it sticks with me?

Many people prayed. Many people gave. God united our hearts with purposefulness, joining our dear missionary friends in their daily lives, and then wove our hearts with the people we met in Peru. I experienced God’s tremendous peace and presence as we encountered places and circumstances very different from the United States.

As grateful Christians, aware of our own poverty of spirit and called to join God in His mission to call sinners to salvation, traveling to another part of the world widens our view of how God does this in different cultural settings. Traveling to another part of the world reveals who we are as people, and what we value.

I love this question from Kevin DeYoung that my friend Cindy Henderson shared in relationship to a recent Genesis Bible study passage, “When I wake up each day, is the beating of my heart to make much of Christ no matter the cost, or is the honest beating of my heart that my life would make sense to the people around me?”

What I learned about myself on this trip is that I like to know what to expect. Laureano and Kamicha (the Ashinkika pastor & wife team) literally live from day to day. Joining God on His mission is full of surprises, contentment, challenges, and waiting. It is supremely about His glory and being satisfied in Him. God’s mission is about making me empty so that others see Him and not me. People need Jesus, the Rescuer!

In Peru God taught me satisfaction in Him; depending on Him for cues of how to respond and what to say or do next. Could it be that in my familiar circumstances there is a temptation for self-reliance? God is calling me to experience the same joy of moment-by-moment dependence on His Holy Spirit.

As I was and continue to be amazed at answers to prayer in the lives of the dear people God allowed us to build relationships with in Peru, I find myself asking: am I expectantly looking for His goodness and mercy and wisdom to invade the everyday relationships of those closest to me?

As God helped me to build relationships with others of a different culture in Peru I wondered: am I expectantly looking for how He is at work in unbelievers around me in the U.S.? Am I willing to cross cultural differences of thinking to build relational bridges for the gospel?

Lord, lift up my eyes to see and awaken my ears to hear and be attentive to Your purposes! 

Ephesians 2: 17-18 says, “And He [Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him, we both have access in One Spirit to the Father.” Traveling to another country widened my view of how big God is and how He builds His church with living stones of people from all nations.

Perhaps God is stirring your heart to learn more about how to use your gifts within the body of Christ to bring the gospel to unreached people. Just like the questions Isaac and I considered before we set out on our trip, perhaps you, the reader of this blog post, can ask yourself each day— am I empty for Christ to fill and lead today? Do I expect him to knit my life together with those doing his work around me, or around the world? Who is someone in my life, different from me, that I pray for an opportunity to reach?

If you would like to know more about the work we were a part of, I would love to share more with you, or provide contact information for you to receive regular prayer letters from the Howes in their ministry to the Ashinkika people in Peru.

We also invite you to attend a Lunch & Learn in the Multipurpose Room at 12:00-1:30 Sunday, April 14th. Bring your own lunch and I will bring authentic Peruvian dessert. We will share stories from our time along with pictures and answer any questions you may have. A time of prayer will conclude our lunch.

Katrina Walker

 

“Isaac’s Insights” 

Thank you all for your support in our trip. I was really able to see how powerful prayer is, and how it affected us in Peru. As I get back into my regular rhythm of life, I hope that I won’t forget the many things I learned and the experiences I had in Peru. One thing that helped me fix my eyes on Christ throughout the trip was the times of prayer and journaling. I would like to share two experiences that changed me while I was there.

The first experience that changed me while I was in Peru, was seeing the connection we had with the children there through the shared love for God and his word. While we were there, my mother and I went to a Bible study that happens every Thursday evening. We led “All Creatures of Our God and King” in Spanish to engage the hearts of the children there. It was a beautiful moment to be able to worship God in a different language. Even though I did not personally know any of the children there, I was still able to connect with them through our love for our Savior. Despite coming from poor families, they were content in their earthly possessions and were hungry for God’s Word. 

The second experience that grew my faith was listening to Laureano pour out his heart for his children. Laureano and his wife are the Christians leaders in the tribe. They spend time teaching others in the tribe about God, the gospel, and encouraging them to turn away from their sins. He truly showed a fatherly love for his sons when he asked us and our supporters to pray for them. He asked specifically to pray that they would turn away from their sin and find their joy and affection in Christ. 

Those experiences tie in perfectly with the impact the trip had on my life—prayer is powerful. I want to focus this last paragraph on specific things to pray for in Peru. 

• Although the community of Peru seems welcoming and relational, they are lost and they are not obeying Christ or his commands. Pray for God to save Peruvians!
• The Howe family specifically wants prayer to see fruit from their labor. Even though they have lived in Peru for ten years now, the locals still treat them differently. 
• I specifically have a burden to pray for Laureano and Kamicha in their work in the remote village. 
• Pray for Laureano & Kamicha’s sons to give their lives to Christ.

 

Janelle's Summary from Quito, Ecuador

The focus of my trip was to work with both victims of human trafficking and the at-risk population within Ecuador. We had the opportunity to serve at a variety of different ministries; a safe house for young girls who have been rescued out of human trafficking, the Henry Davis Orphanage, and Light in the Darkness, which provides care, meals, and school tutoring for impoverished children. 

The ministry that was the most personally impactful for me was a safehouse for young girls under the age of 18 who had been rescued out of human trafficking. The safehouse is known as “Casa de Alegra,” meaning “House of Joy.” It absolutely broke my heart to see girls as young as my younger brother pregnant or with their own little newborn babies. Many of these girls were forced into trafficking by family members desperate for money. Getting the chance to personally see and work with these young girls truly opened my eyes to the horrors of human trafficking, but I also saw the light and hope of Christ, even in the darkest of situations.