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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
