The Peru Highlands trip this past summer was a new location for AIM’s Ambassador Pogram. For many years the Ambassador teams had taken trips to the Amazon jungle in Peru. This year would be the first trip to the town of Musho in the Andes Mountains.
(Ambassador team)
The town of Musho had not seen any AIM teams since the World Race had been through more than a year ago. The World Race spent a month living in the town of Tumpa and ministering in the surrounding villages. They had partnered with the same church that the Ambassador team would be working with. As it turned out our translator Richard was also the translator for the World Race teams.
It was on our first day in Musho that a group of young girls came up to us and asked if we knew Kim. As they described Kim I realized that Kim was one of the people on the World Wace that is now living in our community in Gainesville. The girls talked about how much they love Kim and how Kim had taken the time to build a relationship with them.
(Kim Martin and Pillar family)
A couple of days later as we were walking the streets of Tumpa meeting people and praying with them, we came across a mother and her daughter. As we spoke with this mother she talked with us about her faith and her daughter’s faith. She shared with us about how a young woman had come and spent a month with her daughter. How this woman had played with her daughter, read scripture, and prayed with her. This woman was… Kim Martin.
Many of the people that we had encountered in Tumpa remembered the people from the World Race team. As I reflect on our trip, I am thankful for the seeds that were planted by those who had gone before us. I am grateful that while they were there they invested in people and loved them with a Christ like love. I am thankful that they walked in a manner that was worthy of the Gospel because they opened doors for us that may have been shut had they conducted themselves in a different manner.
It is a bit humbling when you think about the fact that you are just a piece of the puzzle in God’s story. It is important that we are always thoughtful of those that have gone before us. We also have a great responsibility to conduct ourselves in a manner that will not ruin ministry for those that will follow after us.
