Special thanks to all who sent out the #BreakthroughPeru2015 team with love, prayers & finances - below is a link to my photo album from the trip, along with a summary of events.
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[To enjoy the full captions & comments, which tell more of our story, click on the first image and then page through the album by clicking the arrow at the right edge of each photo, one by one.]
[To enjoy the full captions & comments, which tell more of our story, click on the first image and then page through the album by clicking the arrow at the right edge of each photo, one by one.]
The U.S. team, led by Ana Cuadrado, included David & Victoria Lebo, Betty Lockhart, Clare Lafferty & Gina White. Ana's brother Luis Alberto Pequeño (aka Beto or "Mr. Clipboard";)) coordinated a host of details in Perú with amazing skill, met us at Lima airport & helped to guide us through the entire trip. On Friday, Beto hosted a beautiful welcome lunch for the team (awesome Peruvian buffet!), & we all prayed together before visiting a local park, where we also shared prophetic encouragement with a young girl named Ursula, who prayed with Ana to receive Jesus.
We had rented a lovely apartment in a peaceful neighborhood of Miraflores for our first two nights in Lima (where our landlady also received Jesus before we left) & ministered Friday pm & all day Saturday at Iglesia Macedonia in Callao. Pastors David & Marita Salazar also shared their vision for sending teams to build a missionary center in the jungle - Clare & I each had business cards from "divine appointments" with South American missionaries we met on the plane from Miami, contacts we were able to pass along to the Salazars. (If any of you are interested in sending construction teams or resources to this project, email me for Pastor David's contact info.) Ana's longtime friend Liliana Alvarez met us in Callao on Saturday, a beloved addition to our ministry team for the rest of the week.
On Saturday night, we took an overnight bus to Trujillo, where a sudden downpour - completely unusual for this desert climate! - occurred just as we arrived... Of course we took it as a sign of spiritual outpouring coming with us! ;) We spent a lovely afternoon enjoying an outdoor show with Trujillo's famous stepping horses & marinera dancers, before going out for dinner with pastors from the region who have been meeting together for prayer. We shared gifts, prayers & prophetic words, over mountains of roast chicken & papas fritas. Each pastor & U.S. team member stood in turn & spoke words of greeting & encouragement, including Pastora Palmira - who had prophesied to Ana during a visit more than a year earlier, that Ana would return this year & "bring breakthrough to Trujillo"...
On Monday, we prepared for "Encountering the Father's Heart" May 18-22 at the Inca coliseum in Trujillo, praying together as the venue was being cleaned & set up for the first evening service. Worship included a team from several churches with a full horn section & tons of Latin energy! Young worship dance & drama teams added their enthusiasm, & our sense of God's presence & glory increased day by day. Our team from the U.S. plus Beto & Lili and the various churches from Trujillo & the surrounding region (one group had driven 4 1/2 hours to be with us, and attended every service) all flowed in amazing spiritual unity! Each service, every message & ministry time, brought a new facet of God's beauty & another harmonious layer of His glory... !!! Each of us felt we were stepping into a new level of spiritual authority & anointing, and there were countless testimonies of physical, emotional & spiritual healing - a baby whose pneumonia disappeared, a diabetic whose blood sugar went from 300 to 100 after prayer, many whose pain (both physical & emotional) left immediately after prayer... ETC!!
God is SO good, isn't He? we stepped out in faith, believing the word we were given about bringing breakthrough, prayed & simply made ourselves available to our great God, and He showed up with His amazing Love for all of us in Perú... On Friday night, Ana closed the service with prayer over the various generations - children, young people, adults & seniors from Trujillo - before closing praises erupted into a blowout worship dance party... so many kisses, photos & "see you next year!" goodbyes (I think we all felt sure we would return, & for me it was the only way not to cry!) as we hurried to make our bus back to Lima that night!
We spent a more or less restful Saturday in Lima (considering how optional sleep seemed to be - we were so energized by everything God was doing on this trip, it was hard to sleep even when we had a few hours!) - breakfast at our hotel, a walking tour of Barranco (Ana's birthplace & childhood home), another lovely Peruvian meal at Las Mesitas in Barranco, followed by a beautiful evening of prophetic ministry & fellowship with some of Ana's college friends in their home... then packing to leave for the airport early Sunday morning.
It's hard to describe all that God did in us, through us, around & among us on this trip - all I can say is, missions just keep getting better & better! ;) I think we all hope to return to Perú next year, possibly for a similar event in Trujillo and/or a trip to the mountains... Keep us in prayer. God loves Perú & so do we!!
It's hard to describe all that God did in us, through us, around & among us on this trip - all I can say is, missions just keep getting better & better! ;) I think we all hope to return to Perú next year, possibly for a similar event in Trujillo and/or a trip to the mountains... Keep us in prayer. God loves Perú & so do we!!
This past Sunday, I felt God was confirming to me that everything we sowed into this trip - time, effort, money, prayers, etc. - was a "good investment" which will continue to bring great returns... & reminding me of Isaiah 55:10-11, which tells us that God's Word will prosper & bring forth fruit wherever He sends it.
THANK YOU FOR SENDING US, & GOD BLESS YOU! Each of you who prayed & helped in any way will share in every heavenly reward [1 Samuel 30:24-25].
Love always!
Gina
