Devenney Dispatch December 2020
Greetings from Lima, Peru
While Peru remains in a state of emergency (day #270, but who counts anymore?), the Lord has allowed us to slowly and faithfully realize different labors for the Gospel, the Church, and the camp property.
(Warning: this update will contain many more pictures than usual as I restrain my verbosity for the sake of sharing more effectively ;) )
One of those precious moments where we have enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine, while we have been mostly confined to our apartment for several months.
As a ministry, we have continued to work in new and adaptive manners, so that the Gospel would be proclaimed and our work in discipling young lives might carry on. One of the most innovative and fruitful efforts has been our "Restart" Virtual camp hosted by Palabra de Vida Internacional. Held over a period of three days, we carried out an online camp across three time zones, ten countries, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, and the participation of thousands of teenagers!
The gospel was continuously proclaimed and the counselors held private meetings with their "cabin" in ZOOM meetings. William also had the privilege of teaching workshops on the subject of Social Media Addiction and how we might use Social Media to the glory of God. (Below is a screenshot during one of the workshops)
Below you can see some of the projects we have been realizing on the camp property. William usually goes down every two weeks to continue working on tasks.
Unfortunately, the drastic outcomes of the pandemic have caused some individuals nearby to the camp to resort to larceny. In an effort to deter this, we have begun to build a small wall on the eastern line of the property, which will have barbed wire and a spiny vine called "Huaranguillo" to grow along the wall.
Another project was to add a lower portion to a handrail I had previously made. Below you can see some of the steps involved, including setting up the angles, notching the tubes to fit, test fitting the handrail, and the finished product, to be installed this next week.
This last week I was able to get a couple of top coats on the two lower portions of the handrail. The unique shape called for a unique solution to hang them for painting.
Another smaller project was to repair, strip, and refinish this set of doors for this small shed by our soccer fields. I also trimmed the bottom of these doors so they may now be operable after the cement floor had risen too high.
On a personal note, we were also overjoyed to finally have Mayra's father and mother come to visit; so that they might meet Liam for the first time!
Prayer Requests
- For continued health and wellbeing, especially in William's travel to and from the camp property
- For the remaining paperwork for Liam. We have finally gotten an appointment a few days before Christmas for him at the US Embassy here in Lima. Praise the Lord!
- For wisdom among the Christian pastors and elders, as they begin to contemplate how and when we may start meeting together to worship the Lord.
From the Devenney family, thank you for your continued partnership with our ministry in Peru! Your continued prayers and financial support are what allow us to serve the Lord.
We are aware of the innumerable sacrifices that many of you are currently making so that our ministry here can continue.
We thank you and pray for every one of you.
Please feel free to respond personally or reach out during these times!
We invite you to visit the Palabra de Vida Peru (Word of Life Peru) page on Facebook to be able to view more pictures of what we are doing as a ministry and see more photos from the aforementioned activities and events.