Tomorrow marks my five-year anniversary of moving to Peru. What a lot the Lord has done over these past five years! I am so grateful the Lord made it obviously clear that He wanted me to move to Peru to serve Him there. I feel I have grown and changed so much more than I have been able to serve, but God knows exactly what He is doing and I wouldn’t have changed anything!

After my first two years in Peru of the Lord breaking and humbling me, I much more clearly see the beauty of truly relying only on God for our strength and sufficiency! Of course, I constantly try to control my own life and “have all my ducks in a row,” but I pray the Lord continues to grow me in this area to truly come to full submission to Him and not constantly try to take control back of my life.

This last year though has been very different from the previous four, as I’m sure it has been for many others. Soo many things happened in my life including:

- The Lord led me to change to a different mission agency,

- I became a member of a new home church in the U.S.,

- COVID outbreak,

- Having limited to no access to my students in Peru due to the quarantines and very imperfect mandated virtual school platform,

- COVID wiping through Peru causing so many families hurt at the loss of loved ones,

- Peru closing their borders delaying my travel back to the U.S.,

- Repatriating back to the U.S. at the end of August due to the closed borders,

- Fundraising,

- Getting to know my new home church and being integrated well with them,

- The Lord blowing me away with His faithfulness and generosity through it all!

As I look back, I wouldn’t change one bit of the craziness that happened last year. It is a year none of us will forget any time soon, but it has drawn so many to Christ as they have felt hopeless and realized how NOT in control they are of their own lives. As frustrating as many situations were last year, and continue to be, I am so grateful the Lord gave me opportunity to practice and grow in my reliance and dependence on Him. My prayer is that in this next year, we all continue to constantly remember that our hope is solely in God, that He is in control, and that we are here to glorify Him and make Him known even more. I wonder what we will all be saying this time next year about how God grew us!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Praise Him all creatures here below!

Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts!

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

Amen!

(The Doxology)