December Madness

I first would like to say I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year. This being the first Christmas away from my family made this time of year a little more difficult. But it was really awesome to see how God provided people in Peru to be here and encourage me in the absence of my family.
December was by far the craziest month I have had since being here. God blessed us with so many opportunities to serve this holiday season. This past three weeks have been a blur and I will try my best to make sense of it all.
On the 15th we were in Canto Grande working with a woman from the church who hosts a children's program every Saturday. We served hot chocolate and served paneton ( Peruvian fruitcake, but its actually good) to over 60 kids. When the kids were leaving we passed out a little gift to all the children. What we gave them might not sound like a lot to you and me but these are some of the poorest kids in Lima and it really brightened their spirits. Seeing their faces light up over something so little reminded me how much better it is to give than receive.
That night my teammate's parents arrived to spend the holidays here in Peru. They were here for two weeks and encouraged me so much to just keep on going. I find it amazing how God uses his huge family to encourage each other at just the right time.
On the 21st running on 3 hours of sleep we went 3 hours south to Chincha. If you you remember Chincha is one of the cities that was damaged by the earthquake in August. Their is a lot of poverty there and many are still recovering from the earthquake. We started off the day by retelling the story of Jesus and then my teammates and I acted out a skit showing the importance on what God thinks of you. We then passed out gifts to the children and then gave 70 families a month supply of food. In November one of the women from Chincha said that "Christmas wasn't going to happen in Chincha this year" but God gave us the opportunity to bring some Christmas spirit to those people and remind them of the greatest gift of all.

On the 23rd we had the 3 churches in Lima all come together and worship in Comas. The youth group and our team worked together the week before to wrap 65 presents for all the kids of the church. After church on Sunday we passed out all the gifts to the kids. After the gifts were passed out to the children one of the leaders of the church called Brent, Bryson, and I to the front of the congregation. He looked at us and said: " We just want to thank you for leaving your country and families to be with us in Peru. You have helped us more than you know and have given us a smile when we couldn't find one." Many times I question if what I am doing is really helping anybody and God gives me moments like that to show me that He is working and using me in ways that I will never be able to completely understand or see.
Looking back on this past month I see a lot of great works that God did which includes 7 baptisms in Chincha and another baptism in the youth group in La Victoria. Being able to serve the church here and watch God grow the body of Christ is a huge blessing and I am very thankful to have this opportunity to be here.
Thank you all for your love and support and please continue to pray for me. I love you all and I am thankful for each one of you.
With love,
Brandon Wyatt

To the Middle of the World and Back!

This blog is titled "To the Middle of the World and Back" because that's where I went. Not like digging to China - middle of the world, but the Equator (picture above). I just got back last week from a two week trip to Ecuador which was very uplifting. We did a lot of things and saw a lot of different places in the two weeks but I will try and fill you in on the highlights. The reason for taking this trip was we needed to renew our tourist visas by leaving the country and then returning. My teammate Brent had taken some previous mission trips to Ecuador and his church is very involved with the work that is going on there, so Ecuador was an easy choice for which country to visit. We arrived in Quito, Ecuador on the 22nd of Oct. We were met at the airport by two missionary families: Kent & Sharla Marcum who have been working as missionaries in Ecuador for the past 19 years, and the other family was the Marcum's daughter Jauna and her husband Justin. The Marcum family have an amazing legacy of mission work. All three of their children went through AIM and are now all full time missionaries in South America (Later I will tell you a little bit more about all the great work God is doing through the Marcums.) On the day we arrived we traveled to a smaller town named Cayambe, which is an hour away from Quito. In Cayambe Justin and Jauna work as camp directors. They have a lot of work during the week with after school programs at the camp. Also on that same property there is an orphanage home and also a school that is run by a family of missionaries. Our team had the privilege to come up with a skit and then perform the skit for the children of the school. Another big blessing from Cayambe was spending time with the kids of the orphanage home. One of the pictures above is with Dianna one the girls from the orphanage home. The scenery of Cayambe reminded me of camping in Colorado with my family.

After four days in Cayambe we returned to Quito to meet up with Kent, Sharla and Brent's parents who had come down with another family from the United States. It was really good to see some Americans and be able to communicate in English. One of the biggest blessings from the trip was the time we spent in worship together in English. Worshipping God in your first language is something I didn't realize was such a necessity until I didn't sing in English for a while. I believe that the work that is going on in Quito is one of the biggest ways God is evangelizing South America. In Quito there is a school of preaching much like Sunset school of preaching in Lubbock, TX. Right now there are 47 full-time students in Quito from almost every country in South America. The training takes three years and then the school sends the students to different mission points throughout all of South America. It was such an encouragement for me to see the work God is doing there.

After a few days in Quito we boarded a plane and headed to Quayaquil, which is located in the south of Ecuador. The church my teammate Brent went to in the States supports two mission teams in Guayaquil. We went to encourage the Christians there and see the work that is going on. I was blessed to lead the church in taking of the Lord's Supper on Sunday. I told them that today while I take of this supper I am thinking of my church family in Lima and my immediate family that will take part of this Lord's Supper. Even though I am separated by thousands of miles, to know that I share in honoring and remembering the life of Christ in Spirit with my family makes me feel close. Lately I have been missing my family from home very much. I miss starting days off around our kitchen table with a morning devotion before we started homeschooling. Seeing their faces throughout the day and knowing that all I had to do was go to next room and ask Dillon to play basketball when I needed a break from my day. With parents and brothers back home and sister in Afghanistan I feel very far from them at times. God has given me such an amazing family and that's why its so hard for me sometimes because I miss them so much. Since getting back from Ecuador last Monday I have been struggling with staying positive. Please pray that my trust, faith, and love of God can be strengthened so I can operate more efficiently here. I talked to my Grandfather yesterday and he said that Satan uses fear against us and we can use our faith against him. Satan has been throwing a lot of fear at me recently and so I ask for your prayers of protection and that God protects me with his peace. I thank you all for your love and concern and that I have Christians like you back in the States praying for me.

With love, Brandon

Encounter with Darkness

I am writing today to tell of my close encounter with darkness this past week. The sins and the darkness that exists in this world are unbelievable. When you hear of the sins that people commit and their evil actions it makes your stomach turn. There are many people of this world that are so good at painting over this sin and pain and making everything seem "ok". But the truth is we are in a fallen and dying world. Everyday we walk past people that are separated from our Father and without Him they continue to stumble around in the darkness searching for meaning and significance in this world. They must come to the light of Christ or they will wander into even deeper darkness. This is a subject that I don't like to think about for it makes me so sad to think about those that are completely lost. To know that the majority of the people in this world will never go home to our Father. So a lot of the times I don't focus on the fate of a person that is without Christ. I would rather rejoice in my salvation and the comfort of knowing I will soon be gone from this world and be with the ones I love FOREVER! It is good to focus on these blessings that we have in Christ but we also must stop and think of others that are not one with God so we might be inclined to reach out and tell them the good news that we have received.
Last week I encountered someone that was very lost in sin and darkness. I left my house on Friday morning to go pray for a little while. When I got outside a lot of my neighbors were in the street and something was up. I walked over to my next door neighbor and asked her what was going on. She pointed across the street from us to the corner where there was someone laying on the ground groaning. She said that the person was drunk. All I could see was the person legs because he was behind a car. It sounded like a man's voice and since I could only see the legs I assumed it was a man. A minute or two later the person stood up and physically it looked like a woman. She was dirty from head to toe from the dirt on the street. I thought she was sick since she had such a deep voice. The person started trying to walk and kept running into walls. I asked my neighbor if we could do anything and she said: "I don't know". So I asked if we could pray for her. And so we prayed together for the drunk person. We then followed her because she was walking towards a busy intersection and we didn't want her to get hit. I said something to my neighbor about the drunk person being a woman and she stopped and said to me "you know that is not a woman but a man". It was a transsexual man that had been changed to look exactly like a woman.
And after hearing that in the past I would have casually walked away from that situation but God gave me strength to stick around. I told my neighbor that I was going to try and ask if I could give him anything. I crossed the street and got about half-way to the man when the desire to flee hit me. I thought to myself "I need to turn back this is not safe". But then God instantly reminded me of Heb 10:39 "we are not the ones who draw back". God did not promise me comfortable life but he did promised me comfort and that is what he gave me. What do I have to fear with my Father at my side? Absolutely nothing! I stopped about three feet from the man that was a good 6'2" (without the heels). I asked him if I could get him some water or coffee. As he turned around his eyes danced back and forth and I don't think I have ever seen a soul so visibly lost. He replied with "did I call you?". He then began to walk towards me. I repeated my question again and then he said: "did someone send you to me?". I said: "I don't understand". Then with heel in hand he raised his arm to me as if to hit me and then I turned and walked away.
The poor man's life was so sin infested. In his pursuit to fill the void of God he had become this thing that was neither man nor woman. His pursuit of his desires had carried him into the darkness of sin. I have never had so much pity for a transsexual. I thought about how years ago as a child he was pure in the sight of God. What happened to the boy that caused him to become this? Sin.... that's what happened. I had never looked into the eyes of someone and seen so much confusion. I was able to see in his eyes how lost you can get when you stray of the path. That day reminded me so much of my purpose of being here. I am here to serve and love but also to fight. Not to fight the sinful people but the darkness that is pulling them down. The enemy is pure evil and darkness is his home. But we have been saved by the light and been put on lampstands to shine into the darkness. Pray for my light and that it will not dim in this battle.
The team and I will be going to Ecuador for two weeks to renew our visas and for some time to get refreshed. I love you guys and sorry if this blog wasn't so encouraging. I just wanted to share this story that really impacted me. Have a good two weeks and I miss you mucho.

New Teammate

Big news for team Peru! As of last Tuesday we have a new team member. David Keith Dowell was born at 4:00 p.m. and weighs healthy six pounds (for all the moms reading this I know you want to know the stats). In the picture to the left is my missionary Paul looking at his first baby boy. Paul and Amy have two girls Helena(6) and Katelyn (3). We prayed with Paul the day before David was born and Paul said some very touching things. To hear a father pray "may you save his soul" pierced my heart. He also prayed "may you raise him to be a strong warrior in your army and fight the darkness". Those things really shows how Paul has an amazing perspective on life and what really matters. Please pray for baby David and the family's safety.

I also ask for prayers for another David here in Peru. Two weeks ago I started studying once a week with a member of the church that hadn't been coming very regularly. David is 27 and is the only member of his family in the church. It is a bible study but is focused on discipleship. I have never done any focused discipleship before this so it is a learning process for me. One thing about disciplining others is that you can easily get into the wrong mindset about who is the one that is teaching. God has shown me that I am not the teacher but only a brother who is directing the focus on the source of our power which is God and his word. It has been such a humbling experience studying with David. Something we have been studying these past weeks is worry and anxiety. So David tells me he struggles with worries and we begin to look up verses on peace and not worrying. And after going through all these verses David asks "what do you do"? And then it hit me that I have not been living out the same verses that I was showing him. God is doing just as much work in me as he is in him and I love it! I love that two brothers one American and one Peruvian can come together and read their Father's words and grow and be strengthened. I see so much potential for David to be a leader in the Church here. Please pray for him often because he is such a threat against the evil one that I am sure Satan will be attacking him in any way he can.

We have been planning for about a month to take the whole church in Lima to visit the church in Chincha. Chincha is one of the towns that was damaged by the earthquake over a month ago. We loaded up two charter buses on Sunday morning with all of the members from Lima for the three hour trip. Then met the members of Chincha in a park and a beautiful service together. There were 160 people worshipping together and it was awesome to see God bring us together as family in that moment. Even though it meant so much to me I know that it was more encouraging for those families that had been through so much. After worship we shared an amazing Peruvian meal and played soccer and volleyball. Before we left we distributed 12 care packages to 12 families. These packages will provide enough food for each family for a month. Being used by God to encourage and help others is such an amazing blessing. I feel like God is really using me here and that gives me so much strength. Pray that my heart will be completely devoted to him. Also please pray that I can learn this language. After trying to learn another language you realize why God used speaking in tongues in the first century to spread his word. Pray for me to have patience. I love you brothers and sisters and am strengthened by your love and support.

With love,

Brandon

The Church splits! (in a good way)

I write to tell you of some very exciting things that are happening in the church in Lima. For the past two months we have been cramming 70+ people in a member's home on Sunday mornings. It has been different but I love the close family feeling that it gives me. Since Lima is so big some of our members were traveling an hour and a half to get to church. Our missionary Paul has showed a lot of wisdom in what he has decided to do with the churches here. He needed to split the church into two separate congregations but the problem was that there was no other home that would have the capacity to hold 30+ if the church were to multiply. So he asked if the six of the AIMers would use our contribution money towards renting a building for the other church to get started. We all thought that would be a wonderful way to use the money we have been blessed with. Being supported on the field makes you understand very quickly that it was never your money to start with. It took Paul a few weeks to find an appropriate size building in the right location but I think we got exactly what we needed. Two Sundays ago all the members of the church went to the other district to have an opening worship service. I was really tired that Sunday but seeing over 1oo people joined together in a new place worshiping our Father brought so much joy to my heart.

Last Sunday was really different since there were only about 35 members meeting in the house church. It is different now, but knowing that the body here is growing and spreading is so encouraging. I have been through a bad church split or two in my lifetime but now being involved in a "split" that brings glory to the Father makes me thankful to experience this. To all that made it possible for me to come here, your money made it possible for this growth to happen and your blessings has blessed others. I love you all and thank you for being concerned about my life and the work God is doing here.

Dios te bendiga,

God bless you, Brandon

A Light in Dark times

On the 23rd of August I was able to go on a relief trip to Chincha with 20 other members of the church from Lima. The picture on the left is the house where the church in Chincha had been meeting before the earthquake. Down the hall you can see where the roof has collapsed. The house now is considered structurally unsound and must be torn down. It is amazing to see first hand how God is providing for these people in such disastrous times. The Sunday before we went to Chincha the church in Lima took up a special offering for the church in Chincha. We then bought food and supplies and loaded four cars for three hour trip. When we arrived early that afternoon it was really hard to look around and see the kids on the streets that didn't have homes to go to anymore. A lot of random kids came up to the car and were asking for food so we gave them bread and some Coca-Cola. I was so blessed to be there and witness smiles appear on their faces. After passing out all the food we gathered up all the kids and played a friendly game of soccer in the street. It was the craziest game of soccer I have ever played. We were in the middle of the road with four rocks as goals and about 30 people playing in area about the size of a tennis court. There was approximately 300 minor aftershocks in Chincha after the main earthquake. So it is really hard for the people to relax and move on when they are constantly being reminded of the fear they had from the first earthquake. Being able to play soccer with those young guys was the best part of the trip for me because it allowed them to loosen up and have some fun. Before we left I was talking with this little kid named Piero who had been playing soccer barefoot. I told him that I had been studying Spanish for a month so he gave me a kids book in Spanish to help me learn. That was pretty special for me since I knew this kid didn't have much. When I left I told him I would want to come back soon and he said: "I will be waiting".
God has been working through the churches in the states to raise money to rebuild the church and some of the members houses. God really is doing some amazing things! All the money is raised and we will begin to rebuild the houses within the next month or two. After going to Chincha later that week I read Matthew 5. In verse 14 Jesus tells us that we are "the light of the world". Why? What is it in us that is so "bright" or "good"? Thinking more about it I realized that it has nothing to do with what I can do but understanding that it is him in me that is the "light" of this world. Without him I am in darkness and so is the world. In 5:16 it says: "let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." I am so blessed and thankful to have the opportunity to shine the light of our savior Jesus Christ in Peru. Thank you to all that made sacrifices for me to be here and to all who are battling for me in prayer.
Your brother,
Brandon

Welcome to The Jungle

There has been a lot of things going on here in Lima recently but first I want to tell of a much needed trip we took two weeks ago. Moving from south Alabama to Lima has been a little difficult for me. Partially because it is the middle of winter here. Its not to cold but extremely humid and gloomy. You can go weeks without ever seeing the sun. During the week of Peru's independence we decided to take a break from the cold. We traveled seven hours northeast over the Andes montains. I didn't believe this at first but the seasons are flipped on the other side of the mountains. So right now it is winter here and summer there. I didn't know this until I came here but the Andes are the second highest mountain range in all of the world. We arrived in La Merced late the first night and stayed in a very nice Hostal. The next morning I woke up walked out of my bungalow to find the jungle all around me. It was absolutely beautiful. Another thing you have to understand to appreciate this is that Lima is practically a desert on the coast. Lima receives less rain fall each year than the sierra desert. It is surrounded by mountains but there are not trees to be found. The color green is a rare finding in Lima. The picture above is of our team in La Merced with the Indian tribe that lives there. The way that I connect best with God in prayer is when I am out in his marvelous creation. I knew moving to a city of 8 million would be hard for me to get away and spend time in his wilderness. This trip was just so refreshing for me spiritually. To see God's creativity and power reminded me of what an awesome Father we serve. On our way home on Sunday we weren't going to make it back in time for church so we decided to stop somewhere on the side of the road and have our own service. So my team, coordinator, and a Peruvian brother stopped the cars in jungle and climbed a little hill on the side of a mountain. I will try to describe to you the beauty that surrounded us. We were completely surrounded by mountains, about quarter mile below us was a flowing river and across the gourge parallel with us was a waterfall that was hundreds of feet tall. In my spiritual life I have begun to see more of how Satan attacks us and the tactics he uses to weaken us. Its scares me sometimes to think of how he is so desperately trying to find a foothold in our lives. But standing on that cliff worshiping with my Father looking around and being reminded of how big and powerful he is. To know that I serve someone so faithful and strong in comparison it makes Satan seem so small. God blessed me so much on that trip and reminded me not to worry for the one who made all that is with me each day.
When we arrived back to Lima things have really started picking up for us. One big work that started up once we got back was the satellite school of preaching. Our coordinator has been searching for a building to house the school but had no luck. So he came to me and my two guy teammates to ask us if we wouldn't mind housing the school in our living room. How it works is there is a very high-tech webcam that is hooked up to the internet and receives streaming video from classes that are being taught in spanish in the states. The teachers in the states can see our classroom hear and answer question that our students have. The webcam has voice recognition so when a student has a question the camera will turn to whoever is asking the question and focus on that person. So we spent all weekend last week getting everything set up for school. The schools purpose is to train the men here to become fully capable preachers. It will be just like any preaching school in the states, I am really excited to see what might come of this.
Many of you have probably heard of the 8.0 earthquake that shook most of Peru. Its origin was southwest of Lima of the coast in the pacific. When the earthquake hit Lima I had just left my apartment to go get something to eat and then I started to hear something. It sounded like a really strong wind but I didn't feel any wind at all. I heard a gate beside me begin to shake very hard. I didn't understand what was going on at all. I looked up and saw the power lines above me dancing back and forth and then I thought "earthquake". I immediately ran as fast as I could back to my house. The rest of my team was there with some teens that had come for our small group. We got everyone out of the apartment and huddled up together in the middle of the street. It was eeriest feeling I have ever had before in my life. To feel the earth move back and forth beneath you and move you with it, and then it got worse. It became more violent and wondered if it were going to stop. The lights on our block all went out and then I saw three tranformers on the power line poles blow up. It lasted from beginning to end about two minutes but seemed like forever. It still doesn't seem like it was real. There was not any structural damage done to our apartment and no one was hurt. Lima didn't receive the worst of the earthquake. Three towns south of Lima were devastated. Chincha, Ica, and Pisco is where the earthquake was the worst. In the past week our coordinator had just established a church in Chincha so we were very concerned for the people there. The building that the church meets in collapsed partially. All of the members are OK some have lost family members and friends. So please keep the people of Peru in your prayers. The president of Peru declared a state of emergency and has requested help for the cities devastated by the quakes. Our coordinator and four of my teammates left to spend the day in Chincha to bring relief. They brought supplies to help with the needs and also just wanted to be there for encouragement.
Thank you for taking the time to read this really long update. I am sorry it has been so long since I have updated everyone on what has been going on. I love you all and thank you for the love and support you give me.