Q & A with Mark
Favorite food and drink?
“Lomo saltado and a variety of fruit juices.”
A special memory so far?
“Our recent 15.5 hr round trip to Colca Canyon was a very special family experience. We also had a very meaningful time in February at the Kid Alive Missionary retreat in Lima. On both occasions, observing the simple delight in our children at play in God’s creation was a gift. Other memories that I will carry with me from Arequipa include the normal pains and pleasures of learning and loving together in a new culture.”
What would you like to show your friends from the US?
“Throughout these almost seven months, it is at our kids’ Peruvian Christian school where I most often find myself wishing that our friends and family could be here…both to see Caleb, Jacob, and Rachel diligently and daily stepping out into a different world, and to hear them exchange happy greetings among new friends from a world not that different than our own.”
Why are you grateful?
“I am grateful to be here in Peru – sent by our Father, family, and friends to be joined to family and friends in this land too. There is a shared sense of awe of how God has worked and is working throughout His kingdom, and to be positioned in a way to connect so many from one place to so many in another place is humbling. Life is focused and full, and being a family in this place is a reward. The understanding of “intimacy and mission” (follow this link for a series of teachings on this theme) is a treasure chest from which Kristin and I along with our children and community continue to gratefully receive gifts to share with others.”
What is God teaching you?
“The mission God has given to His people on this earth is impossible. Yet His presence among us is the key. As Jesus said, “all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). We continue learning to daily depend on Him for what only He can make possible.
What are you looking forward to?
“Increasingly communicating meaningfully in Spanish – both hearing and speaking – about life in the kingdom of God.”
Praise/Prayer request?
“I praise God for His presence among us. For Kristin and our children – what a reward! I also praise Him for our community of partners, a growing circle throughout His kingdom. It is humbling for us to connect our community with the Kids Alive International community of servants carrying out a mission that only God can make possible. Practically, we are in the midst of a preparing to move from Arequipa to Pucallpa. In all of the logistics and the continual goodbyes/hellos, we treasure your prayers for God’s protection and provision.”