Glowing!

Exodus 34: 29 says, ‘When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD’.
This week I had the privilege of seeing a modern day version of that story. I’m currently in Peru with Mike Caffull visiting areas impacted by last August’s earthquake and checking out The Salvation Army’s humanitarian response.
On Wednesday Mike and I headed south east out of Pisco to the smaller town of Ica. In a small suburb just outside of town live about 700 families whose rural homes suffered. Most of the houses suffered some damage, many were completely destroyed. SA relief teams were there very quickly and set up community feeding kitchens. Here we are 6 months later. The kitchens have all but shut but, far from being the end of the story, it seems things are just starting. People in this village didn’t know The Salvation Army before the disaster; there are no corps in this area. So officers and soldiers came in from outside. A team even came for a couple of weeks from southern USA. They used meshing and poles to construct a temporary shelter for the kitchens. It also became a base for starting worship services. Amazingly, people were drawn to the meetings because they saw in the lives of the relief workers something special.
A soldier couple have agreed to stay here for a year. They have a full SA programme going. How about this for statistics:

Adult attendance at Sunday worship – 45
Children and youth at Sunday worship – 30
Soldiers sworn in – 20
Junior soldiers enrolled – 11
Recruits for soldiership – 11

Other weekly activities:
Home League
Junior Soldiers class
Sunday school
Discipleship meeting
Prayer meeting

I quote the numbers because they quantify things, but numbers don’t tell the story. I met with Mari Lou who is the community leader. She and her grown up daughter have become soldiers. As she told me her story, her face positively glowed with a radiant smile. She's in the photo behind Major Alex Nesterenko (seated). Coming to the services has introduced her to Jesus and given her hope for the future. She’s desperate for the Army to stay – no longer giving freebie food parcels but lifting people’s spirits, introducing them to a real and living faith and giving them hope.
I wish I could bring you all to see this group – it would so inspire you. It’s Salvation Army mission at its best and I’m so proud to play a small part in it.