A Colossian Smile
KA Peru’s new Country Director recently commented, “I’m sitting here smiling about the success of the last few days.”
The Sting of a Closed Door
Sometimes doors close. As I write this blog, the plan was for me to be settled into a hotel in Bonito, Brazil, resting and preparing for a large conference that begins tomorrow, where I would have had the privilege to address around 1000 child welfare officials and workers in Brazil with the hopeful message of trauma-informed care, including some of our own family’s story of loss and redemption with our daughter, Victoria Grace.
Lessons from the Large Trees
In late spring, from a place of being worn out, we called out to our Father, trusting Him to speak and guide us to a place where we 
could begin to heal. We read Exodus 15:25-27, and He first called us to Himself as our healer:
“There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them. And He said, ‘If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.’ Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs of water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters.”
“Teaming” with Life
The Kids Alive Pucallpa ministries and our lives have been “teaming” with life over the past couple of months! Read More
Catching up with Kristin
If you were to ask Kristin what she loves to do, she would be hard-pressed to select specific things or activities. But this year we have been learning together how she thrives when she can “harmonize” with those around her. Harmony requires a melody, and what Kristin loves to do is come alongside and fill in around the service and work of others, which she does here on a daily basis. To catch up with Kristin is to do so constantly…
Marching Forth
“God will use any number of extraordinary things to chisel the detail of His ‘lily work’ in His children…He will use anything and 
everything, no matter what it is, and we shall always know when God is at work, because He produces in the commonplace something that is inspiring” (Oswald Chambers). Here is our family pictured on March 4, 2018, 10 years following our Victoria Grace’s passing from this earth into our Lord’s presence. Her living legacy of God’s victory by His grace marches forth. Here are a few glimpses of recent glordinary goings here in Peru…
To Cover Sin and Cast Out Fear
Only God Himself is pure, honorable, and powerful enough to cover sin and cast out fear. Because He is love, Peter and John tell us that His love both covers a multitude of sins and casts out fear (1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 4:18). John describes this love as “perfect” love, which carries the sense of completeness and wholeness. For the children we minister to through Kids Alive Peru, God’s love for the whole child casts out fear. It begins by seeing God’s love formed in our own lives as His servants, and it extends to children like the one in this story…
Our Shepherd’s “Kind” of Life
God’s kindne
ss is so strong that it leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). Repentance brings change. In surveying the pastures of Kids Alive Peru, over and over again we encounter changed lives among the little lambs, who were previously lost, scattered, broken, and sick (Ezekiel 34:16). However, joining in His search for the lost sheep, bringing them back, binding them up, and strengthening them comes at a significant cost. Our Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep (10:15), then showing His followers His wounds overcome on His resurrected body, He then sends them as He Himself was sent by the Father (John 20:20-21). Read More
“Monday’s” Mission
How appropriate that Christmas falls on a Monday this year. Christmas has become something in our time that seems to fit best on the “weekend.” Monday mornings are dreaded by many as the start of another week of work and routine, with the next weekend being so far away. Sacrifice does not really excite us, and the many comforts associated with Christmas try to shield us from the reality of suffering. But the manger will not allow us to escape this reality. The birth of Jesus marked the beginning of the only sacrifice that could make all things new, so rejoice with us as we reflect on the unspeakable glories we remember this Monday…
A census called to measure greatness in man’s most powerful kingdom
The pregnant virgin with her betrothed journey from their home Nazareth, or “Nowhere”
To the city of Israel’s royal hope for everlasting rule, still with no king enthroned
Until the Child laid aside eternal greatness and was laid in a feeding trough
And grew to hold in His own arms those He called the least of these
Until He opened His arms to be lifted up, cursed, and killed on a tree
And broke the seal of death through resurrection victory
From the trough to the tree and to the throne above
Heaven’s hosts declared peace, favor, life and a promised return
To those in fields and faraway lands who came and knelt
To those who lifted their heads from their nets and were left looking into the sky
Waiting for the King’s return while following Him as sent ones to the least of these
To receive one such child…the One holding…and the One sending
Merry Christmas,
Mark, Kristin, Caleb, Jacob, and Rachel Coté
Director of Discipleship and Development, Kids Alive Peru
mark.cote@kidsalive.org
kristin.cote@kidsalive.org
www.kidsalive.org
www.kidsaliveperu.org
Click here to partner with our family through support of Kids Alive, which sustains our missionary service. Click here for prayer requests related to our family and service. Click here to receive e-mail notifications of new posts on our Glordinary Goings blog.
Our mailing address:
Apartado 25
Pucallpa, Peru
A 10,000 Foot-Ground Level Perspective
When encouraging others to have a broader perspective, we might say, “Let’s consider this from a 10,000 foot level.” In such cases, the complexity and detail at ground-level can distract from seeing the big picture clearly. During our recent trip into the Peruvian Andes Mountains to the remote town of Andahuaylas, we literally flew on a smaller plane from an airport with an elevation of about 100 feet, and we landed at an airport outside of Andahuaylas at over 11,000 feet. At ground-level throughout our trip, we would once-again encounter first-hand the big perspective of the kingdom of God; and once again, children were at the center, called to His side.