Brazos Abiertos

Thanks to God and the good performance of the teachers of the “Brazos Abiertos” school, we managed to carry out our internal school Olympics, it was an incredible time; Seeing our school children compete and give their best, striving to win and deserve an award, as a school team it fills us with joy and satisfaction to see future athletes who will represent Peru and above all will carry the name of Jesus up high.

In these Olympics all our children from 1st grade to 6th grade of primary level participated, each school group represented a country; Mexico, the Netherlands, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru and Argentina, the competitions were in both the women’s and men’s categories in the sports disciplines of: basketball, athletics (100 meters and 4×100 relay) and soccer.

All the winners of both categories (female and male) of each sports discipline in the different individual and team competitions were awarded.

The inauguration was an incredible time, seeing the children parade and representing the country that corresponded to them with dignity, hearing the joy of all those present and the cheers of the parents, it was a time full of emotion and a party atmosphere, it is worth mentioning when the children made the journey of the olympic torch, carrying a torch with real fire, it caused one more emotion for the spectacle of those present, at the end the cauldron was set on fire, the children enjoyed that experience a bit similar to the olympic games .

In the course of the day, during the competitions we experience different feelings on the part of the children; joy for winning, some cried with joy for winning, while others cried with sadness for losing, there were few children who expressed frustration during the game, when their team was losing, but we always tried to see for the good of the children in encouraging them and Motivate them, our job as educators is to guide and teach them to reflect, to know how to lose and win in a game and without forgetting the importance of respecting the rules of the game, referees and the opposing team.

On May 11, we received the visit of 9 young people from the YWAM Foz de Iguazú base, in the state of Paraná-Brazil.
We have previously received teams made up of YWAM DTS students from different countries, but this was the first team from Brazil that we received at our base.

At first we thought that the language barriers and the absence of translators on both teams would represent a great challenge, but once again God glorified himself in the midst of this, reminding us that languages ​​and cultures are not a barrier for Him. But rather bridges and opportunities, nations are part of the heart of God.

The team was a great blessing to our church and community. They assumed the leadership of the different programs and services that we offer as a church and foundation. Ministering in prayer services and Sunday services, praying and blessing the families of the church with their visits and participation in the cell.
Its impact was not limited to our “four walls”, in the afternoons the team dedicated itself to community service by cleaning public spaces, parks and sports fields. On more than one occasion we saw an immediate result: children from the community, seeing them clean, also joined and became aware of cleaning and caring for public spaces. This also served to be able to share the message of hope and love with the neighboring neighbors who visited the parks or who were around.

The evangelistic heart of this team burned with passion. Every night we make impacts in the streets with evangelistic dramas and fire shows, in public squares and places in Cieneguilla and Manchay.
We also had the opportunity to visit the “Casa Don Bosco” program for a whole morning inside the “Maranguita” prison for minors in Lima. This time was very impressive, both for the boys in the prison and for us, we could see the hand of God, moving and once again loving the lost.

Our young people from Medellin Colombia, during the days they were in Open Arms, worked on home visits, doing children’s events in Estrellita and Tolentino. We worked with the cell groups of The Lighthouse, Tolentino and Alamos. It was a nice time to fraternize and teach the word of God according to Matthew 28:19-20. And they did practical work in the Lighthouse, the church and gardens. They were a great blessing for the Open Arms ministry.

We give thanks to our Lord, for providing in our needs! Because of this, we finished Stage 2 of the construction project; 3 preschool classrooms.
Last Sunday, we had a beautiful time of celebration, with our team, invites, students and their families.

The Theme was the Circus of Life. We have worked with a team of 20 people. 115 children have come this week.
The children actively participated in each of the stations and many were challenged by the power of God’s word.
70 children accepted Christ into their hearts. This Bible school was a great blessing for many children. God is no respecter of persons.

https://youtu.be/-xrs7IfWrvg

This week we had a special experience with our Teenagers. It was a week that opened with Sports accompanied by the USA FreedomHouse team, which also supported us with crafts, games and with the wonderful news that 4 boys received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
After a week learning more about the word, we close with a very fun full day at the pool, all to honor and glorify Heavenly Father.

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It’s a huge blessing and joy to have teams visiting us!

Southbrook Church, Wisconsin came with 9 men and dismantled our pre school, built up every part of wood in another place, gave out a hundred of children’s Bibles and did so much more.

The Mexican Mazatlam DTS visited us for a couple of days with 14 young people serving God in our community by outreaches and practical work and soon, Freedom House Church (Charoltte NC) will be visiting us with a team of 25. We’re so looking forward and we praise God for the blessing they are.

If you’d like to mobilize your church/group as well, let us know, we’d be happy to help you organize.   

At this moment, we are finishing our stage 2 of the construction project. So far, 150.000,- USD has come in, which we’re very grateful for. 3 Classrooms have been constructed and with the finishing touch, this next weeks, we will be ready for classes on March 6th! About 60 children will have their daily classes in these class rooms.