February Trip, Part 1

[Jeff Surrett]

Sunday AM Speaking at Camp Bunco In Arequipa

Made it to Peru When I made arrangements to fly to Peru on February 17th, I neglected to realize that a holiday weekend was on hand. The flights were booked solid and I was having difficulty getting out on the standby list. I did not make it out of Philadelphia on Thursday and it was not looking good for Friday either. I searched for another option and was able to obtain a ticket for Friday going through Dulles Airport in Washington DC. Debbie came back out to get me Thursday night and then took me to Dulles Friday morning. The flights went well but I was an hour delayed out of Houston as they had to fix the bathrooms before we could leave. When I arrived in Lima at around 12:30pm,  I had to try and get my luggage that had come the night before but since we were delayed, nobody from American Airlines was available to help. Lessons on Humility and Speaking Opportunities After getting a few hours sleep, I went back to airport to get my luggage which had arrived though I had to wait a couple hours at the airport as the office workers had gone on break. While returning home, the pastor I am staying with and I swung by to pick up his wife from a meeting at a school where she works. I was driving a car that I have rented a few times now when I come to Lima and felt that I was getting back into the hang of driving in Peru (I got my Peruvian drivers license when I was 18 and drive all around when I lived in Peru back then). Let he who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. On a bumpy dirt road where there aren't really any lanes, I did not notice a motortrike that was trying to pass me very closely as I swerved and we had a scrape. I dented part of his reflector and he scraped up the side of the car (no dent, just paint). It was both our faults but I am the American so culturally I am expected to make it right. I did wind up paying the driver of the bike around $11 for repairs and to one of his passengers that got bumped (no visible marks and she had full motion) another $7 so she could buy some pain medication. I will also have to get the car fixed before I give it back. If anybody complains about Pennsylvania roads anymore, they can come try the roads here. Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to speak 4 times. Saturday evening, I taught the youth group at Los Sureños and then preached at their morning Sunday service. Sunday evening, I had two churches I would be speaking in. I went to the first one, and then realized I needed to get my camera to take a couple pictures. When I reached for the keys to unlock the car to get the camera, the keys were not in my pocket. I looked in the car and there they were in the seat of the car. I guess I did not quite push the keys into my pocket all the way and they fell out as I got out of the car. I was supposed to use the car to quickly get from the one service to the next. We called to see if the owner of the vehicle had another set of keys and if somebody could get them and bring them to me. Here again I had to learn a little humility in admitting my mistake and asking for help. I think it is good for the Peruvians to see that Americans (at least me) are nor perfect and that we do dumb things too. After finishing preaching in the first church, I was taken in a motortrike to the other church since I could not drive the car. We did arrive and I was able to preach to the small congregation. When we arrived back at the first church, someone had brought a spare key and we were able to use the car to return home. Pastors Camp Monday through Wednesday, I participated in a pastor's family camp as a speaker as well as a director of some of the games and activities. We divided the group up into four teams and had them compete in some team building exercises and gave the winning team some American candy bars as their prize. We also played BUNCO which they really seemed to enjoy and commented how they planed to use the activity in their church groups. I also had the opportunity to speak to them twice. My first message on Tuesday night was on using Biblical principles in decision making. I had started coming down with a cold but made it through the message with out too much trouble. Later that evening my throat started hurting more and I started getting chills and realized that I needed to get some rest. I went to bed and was a little better in time to teach Wednesday mornings class on Pride and Brokenness. After getting everything cleaned up from the camp, we returned home to get ready for our trip to Arequipa. Traveling to Arequipa Our flight to Arequipa left at 5:00am so we had to be at the airport at 3:00am and so had to leave the house at 2:30am. After our 1.5 hour flight, we had about a 20 minute taxi ride to catch a 2 hour bus ride to arrive in the city where we will be ministering through Sunday night. With the lack of sleep, still fighting the cold, and the pressure changes of flying, I arrived without having much of a voice and not feeling well at all. I was supposed to preach last night but I stayed in all day and night trying to get some rest and recovering. Today, I am feeling better though I am still coughing and my voice does cut in and out from time to time. I will be preaching tonight at around 8:00pm (Eastern time). Prayer Requests That my voice will continue to get stronger as I get over my cold so I can more effectively minister while I am here. That my father-in-law who had a negative reaction to some pain medication as he awaits surgery for his back and is now in the hospital will recover quickly from the reaction to the medications For Debbie and the kids as they are currently at her parents house

Sending Church Emmanuel Baptist Church 4681 East Trindle Rd. Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 717-761-7000 www.ebc-ebca.org

Contact Information 225 Gettysburg Pike Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 717-791-9116 www.surrett.org je...@surrett.org

Mission Agency Open Door Baptist Missions 1115 Pelham Road Greenville, SC 29615-3603 864-297-7890 www.odbm.org