About three weeks ago, feeling somewhat awkward and unsure, friends and family gathered alongside members of our team in my living room for a prayer meeting. My dad, the courageous and all but golden-piped David Lane, was about to lead us in singing an old hymn that maybe three people in the whole group knew. We did our best to limp through it, sounding pitiful, but I didn’t realize in the moment how glorious it was to be able to lift our voices together in exaltation of the Lord of the Universe, the Lord of our lives, and the rightful Lord of Peru. It has been only two weeks into our trip, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has blessed us with so many reasons to sing. While I could talk about the hours spent drying dishes and singing (perhaps annoyingly) for my teammates here, or about how the people at the church here look for any kind of excuse to sing praises to God, I will refrain. But fear not, there have been many other opportunities and reasons to sing on this trip, of which I will share four.
So there we were, sitting in the park waiting for someone to come around for us to talk to. We saw them approaching, and knew immediately who they were. We sat in awe as Bob Marley and Michael Jackson strode into the park, Michael carrying a guitar and Bob toting a cajón (a Peruvian percussion instrument). Incredible! In the flesh! Not dead, just thirty years younger and (alive) in Peru. At least, that’s how they’ll remain in my mind; in reality, they are local musicians who go by the names Andres and Carlos. We met them and told them we were missionaries, staying at the church down the block. Michael (or Andres, if you’re no fun) handed me his guitar and I played and sang for them, and felt so proud when they acknowledged my small amount of skill. Bob didn’t say much, but that was okay because Michael seemed intent on figuring out exactly what three young Americans were doing in a park in Peru. Many people want to know why; and it is a joy to communicate the answer to them.
A couple days later, at the same park, the beautiful sound of music once again flowed our way. The songs we heard being played were familiar to us; they’d been played and sang at the church here in Ica! We quickly went over to the guys who were playing, sat down close to them like the weird Gringos we are, and listened as they played and sang Christian songs boldly right there in the park! Their names were Paul and Jhosper. They were music students at the university here in Ica, but on top of that, they were Christians. It was a pleasure to worship with them right there in the park, and we walked away encouraged by their faith and their passion for singing His praises.
Two more instances of this past week gave us more reasons to praise our Father. First, we were able to meet and have breakfast with a team from the church in Texas we are partnered with in reaching the village of Cordova. This was an encouraging and exciting meeting, as they reported to us that many of the Cordovans they connected with longed to see our leader, Eric Turner, again very soon. I am excited to be a part of the reunion of Eric with the people of the village in a couple weeks.
The second reason to rejoice is answered prayer. We begin every morning with team prayer, focusing on a specific topic to pray over. On Friday, our topic of prayer was a father and son that Matt, Luke, and I had seen in the park a couple times over the past two weeks. The father’s name is Christian and the son’s name is Sebastian. We asked the Lord that morning to let us see them both and talk to Christian at the park that day. The Lord answered that prayer a few hours later; Luke was able to spend some quality time playing around with Sebastian, and Matt and I were able to talk (just a little bit) with Christian. What a reason to praise God!
The key to our park ministry being effective is repeated encounters with the same people. We will be there almost every day this summer and repeated meetings are bound to occur. This is why connections need to be made so that relationships can be cultivated where sharing the Gospel and inviting people to church hold the most weight as possible. We hope you will all join us in praying for repeated meetings with Andres and Carlos, and perhaps that we may use songs of praise to most effectively reach their hearts with the Gospel. Let us also be in prayer for Christian and Sebastian. Sebastian is not your typical six-year-old boy; he has Down’s syndrome, and requires strong, godly parenting. Pray that Matt and I are able to communicate with his father Christian effectively, and let us praise God that Luke is blessed with a strong passion for loving kids with special needs. Finally, let us adopt the Peruvian church’s belief that no time is a bad time for singing praises to our Father in heaven. Whether it be in your living room, in your kitchen drying dishes, or in a park in Peru like our brothers Paul and Jhosper, making a joyful noise to the Lord is never out of place, even if it is out of tune.
— Nelson Lane