We have a new brother!

This morning my group was going to do a prayer walk.  The area that we went to has a bunch of different brick making factories, and by factories I mean a family makes each brick by hand and bakes them all together in a big oven fueled by eucalyptus branches.  When the high schoolers came a few weeks ago, they accidentally knocked over a man's pile of bricks.  They helped him work for a bit and then prayed for him.  So today Andy, David Lee, Marie Bailey, Lauren, Matt, Zack, and I went back to his little factory to see how he was doing.  We brought some clothes and shoes for him and his wife and their two young boys.  They boys were very excited when we gave them each a beanie baby.  The man, his name was Wilbur Puma, told us that since our last visit he had been feeling uplifted and encouraged and his business has been doing very well.

Wilbur molds each brick by hand and lays them out in the sun to dry.  When his area gets full, he stacks all the bricks up and begins the process again.  It usually takes him an entire day to stack all the bricks up, so we got to work.  There were normal size bricks that took us a little less than an hour to stack.  Then we got to the big bricks that, according to Wilbur, weighed 25 pounds each.  These bricks needed to be carried around a wall and up a little embankment to be stacked.  I can not imagine how long it would have taken him to do it by himself.  We formed an assembly line and got them all stacked in about 40 minutes and the best part was how much fun we had doing it.  At points we were chanting "si se puede" (we can do it!) and joking about what a great workout it was.  After all the bricks were stacked we all sat down in the shade and talked to Wilbur with the help of two wonderful translators-Erica and Mya.  He told us that since our last visit he has been reading a Bible and he even went out and bought a dictionary to help him understand some of the words.  He said that he had a dream where there was a big beautiful house with light glowing from it and when he tried to go in, he couldn't.  That's when he knew that he had to make a decision to follow God.  While talking to him we learned that he thought faith meant going to church and being baptized.  We explained that faith is about having a relationship with God, repenting of our sins, and believing that Jesus Christ came to save us.  That relationship takes place all throughout our lives, not just at church.  It can start right here, right now.  He said that he wanted that, so we prayed for him and at the end of the prayer he prayed the prayer of acceptance. Tears began to fall down his face and he said that he can not help but weep because that prayer touched his heart and he could feel God's presence.  This Sunday Wilbur, his wife, and his two sons are going to Mya's church to profess their faith and be baptized.

I can not begin to describe the feelings that washed over me during that time.  It was incredible to witness such a powerful act of God.  We are so fortunate that God allowed us to see the fruits of our labor.  God used the high schoolers to plant a seed and he allowed us to see it blossom.  It's crazy to think that two hours before I didn't even know this man, and now he is my brother, my brother in Christ.  Please pray for Wilbur as he is starting this journey of a lifetime.  Pray also for his family as he witnesses to them.

We are only half way through this trip and already God has done miraculous things, not only in the lives of the people we are around but in our own lives as well.

Many happy wishes from Peru,
Allison Holland