New Life Children's Home

For those of you wondering what New Life Children's Home looks like...
wonder no more!!
Here are some pictures I took from different angels and places to give you an idea of what my temporary home looks like.

They are currently adding more dorms to make more space for more children.
Praise the Lord!!
It currently houses 29 children but with the added rooms it can hold 60.
They are also building intern housing/apartments in the back of the orphanage so that interns who are coming to serve long term or short term will have a nice place to stay.

Pray for sponsors for the future children of New Life Children's Home.
Without sponsors... they cannot bring in more children.
And if they cannot bring in more children... they cannot tell them about Jesus.
Also, pray how you specifically can help this ministry.

It is a blessing to be apart of something so wonderful.

Mountains of Houses

I was amazed. 

I sat there staring in awe at the houses. 

Do people really live here? 

The hills went on and on. Beyond the fog that is present in this picture.  

The mountains literally looked like they were made up of houses. 

Like legos. Stacked up. 

It was a sight to see. And definitely something I have never seen before. 

I was told that some people never even leave the hills of houses. 

They live there and die there. 

My only thought was... are they dying without Jesus? 

Ah. The need is so great. 

The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few, my friends.

Please strive to be a worker that never stops, never ceases, never quits. 

There is no time to waste. Today is the day for salvation. 

an even greater loss...

There are not very many pictures on this post... and let me tell you why.

On Thursday, the group, the interns, and I travelled up a very narrow road to the top of a mountain to pray over the city of Lima. At the top of this mountain is a huge catholic cross and it is a place of prayer for the catholics as they come to pray to Mary.

As we were driving up the narrow streets, there were many people within arms reach that needed Bibles. So, we rolled down the windows and were handing out Bibles and taking pictures. At one moment, the van stopped so a team member could give stickers to the young kids (that is the picture above).

A few seconds after this picture was taken, a man ran up behind me and grabbed my camera.
He started pulling on it and my instinct was to pull back (of course!). The struggle lasted only 5 seconds, but in the middle of the fight the camera hit my eye and left me with a swollen eyebrow and black eye. Immediately afterward my eyes started swelling up in tears. It was scary and I was in shock of what happened for about 10 minutes. So many thoughts were going through my head: What if he did get away with my camera? What if I didn't pull back? What if it was worse?

Then, after the shock faded away... even bigger thoughts started entering my head.
That man didn't get a Bible.
That man is still lost in his sins.
That man does not have my camera to sell for food or whatever else he needs.
And most importantly... he does not have Jesus.

He is lost.

The very next morning Matthew 6:19-21 came up on my computer:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves teasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

WOW! I was in shock all over again, but in a good way.
Even if my camera was stollen, I still have a treasure that will NEVER be stollen by anyone. My soul is safe with Jesus Christ and that is something that will never be taken away from me. What a priceless, beautiful gift.

Please pray for that man who tried to steal my camera.
I may have a black eye, but he is at an even greater loss.

Blessed

I am not typically a home sick person. 
On trips, I have never been the type to call my family and friends every day or cry myself to sleep because I missed them. 
I am still not that person. 

However, I do miss them more on this trip than I have before. 

That is why I am immensely blessed to have three awesome interns, three awesome brothers, and a mother and father figure to be my family and friends as I am away.
God knew what I would need, and He gave it to me. 
I have so much joy in laughing with them, encouraging them, and letting them encourage me!   

I am finding myself stepping out of my comfort zone and doing things I have never done before, and they are doing it right along with me in the name of Jesus. 
I am blessed. 

A Gift.

Welcome to the fruit market in Lima, Peru!
A few days ago, three interns and I followed an evangelistic team from Virginia as they passed out Bibles in the fruit market.  
As we passed out the Bibles we gave them away with a smile and repeated the phrase "un regalo" which means "a gift".  

After we had finished passing out the Bibles, we walked back through the market and almost everyone was reading the Bibles! Then, four people came up to us and asked to receive Jesus Christ as their savior. After we had prayed with them to receive Christ, one of the ladies ran off and grabbed her friend who also needed Jesus. 

Praise the Lord! We now have five more Peruvian brothers and sisters. 

Later the next day, Sarah, Madison (two of the interns), and I had a Bible study to reflect on what God has been doing in our hearts since we have been here. As I was flipping through my Bible, I stumbled upon this verse: 

"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let you speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." Colossians 4:2-6

I pray that as Christians we would always make the most of every opportunity to share the gospel and to speak and act with the strength of Christ. 
Let us be devoted and alert in prayer.

Jesus is worthy of every moment of our day.  
He is a gift. Es un regalo. 

Looks like Arizona.

As I was looking at these Inca ruins I couldn't help but think of Arizona...
Am I still in Arizona?? It sure looks like it. 
Indian Ruins. Sand. Brown. and Dead Things. 
Ya. Its Arizona. For sure. 

Psalm 37:3-4

The verse for the day was Psalms 37:3-4...
"Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 
Delight yourself in the LORD, And He will give you the desire of your heart."

Amazingly... today was my first day of helping helping with a medical mission, "and He will give you the desires of your heart"....

My plan for nursing used to be selfish, until I delighted myself in the Lord. Then guess what happened? He gave me the desire to do nursing for HIS glory. He knew that I was helping with a clinic today, and He surprised me with one of my life verses. This IS my desire: to help people spiritually and physically... just as Jesus did.

Today I worked in triage which means I was taking blood pressures, listening to lungs, getting blood glucose numbers, and writing down complaints. I did not witness any healing miracles... however I did see MANY smiling faces and I received MANY kisses.
I prayed for healing over an elderly women with extreme knee pain and while her knee pain did not disappear, I still praise the Lord because she knows Him as her personal savior. 

That is something to praise God about. 

Today we saw over 200 people: 10 came to know the Lord for the first time and 60 rededicated their lives to God, and all received medication. 

Tomorrow we are having another clinic in a different town. Let us praise God for all He has done and all He is going to do.

Worth it all.

Right now I am sitting in the Miami airport waiting to get on my flight to Peru. 

SO many thoughts are running through my head (a lot of those thoughts have to do with how cold it is in this airport!!). I can't stop thinking about my family, my friends, and my church. I will miss everyone so much; my heart aches at the thought. But... even stronger than this.. are the thoughts toward my Heavenly Father. As I am sitting here in the airport, a song keeps running through my head: 

"I let go of all I have just to have all of You, and no matter what the cost I will follow You. Jesus everything I have lost I have found in You. When I finally reach the end I'll say 'You are worth it all' ". -Ben Cantelon

He IS worth it all. Every tear that was shed, every family occasion missed, every holiday forgotten, every hard day, every ridicule, every smack and slap.... He endured this and so much more for our sakes. So, I will be honored to do so for Him.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." - Matthew 16:24

I must remind you, it is NOT easy to be Jesus diciple. It is very hard. If you think being a Christian is easy... odds are you are not denying yourself and following Jesus. I am not saying this to judge or even sound like I have it together... but simply to remind that to follow Jesus will mean we have to deny our own selfish wants and needs (like spending the 4th of July with my parents in Arkansas, haha!). 

Today, deny yourself. Listen to Jesus. Love Him. He is worth it all. 

The New Simonton Home.

About 5 weeks ago my parents moved to Arkansas.
It was pretty hard at first... being without them and without my sweet niece. But, after visiting their new home.. I am so happy they moved.
It is perfect. For them. For our growing family who will be visiting. Its peaceful. Its beautiful...and it just feels like home.

I never thought I would say this but.... I kinda like Arkansas.