Each evening the small group of Adventist believers in the community of Nueva Esperanza in Lima, Peru, gathered to level the ground, by hand, for their very own church building—one they could not possibly afford to build. It would be named Eben-Ezer.
The little group of believers had prayed for a church and petitioned Maranatha for one. Maranatha leaders came to check their tiny piece of ground but said they did not qualify. At that point the little Adventist group in Nueva Esperanza formed a week-long prayer circle to ask God to help them acquire a church building. Members prayed continually around the clock for seven days. And God answered their prayers when Maranatha was able to help with the building after all.
Thirty-one people, including 19 high school and Gem State Adventist Academy students and 12 adults from Idaho, under the direction of John Bryson, Idaho Conference youth coordinator, traveled to Peru to help with this project during spring break.
The cement floor and girders were already in place when the workers arrived, and their task was to put up the walls. Maranatha would add the roof and stucco later. The walls were put up in just seven days, and the Eben-Ezer church was dedicated on the last Sabbath before the workers returned home.
Beyond the work, however, it is the friendships formed, and the memory of the people they loved and left behind, that will stay with them forever.
The Idaho mission group stands with the members of the Eben-Ezer Church in Nueva Esparanza in Lima, Peru.
Casey Michel of Caldwell, Idaho, with a new friend from Peru.
Ryan Herbel and Larry Michel lay blocks for the Eben-Ezer church in Lima.
Sundown worship on the beach in Lima, Peru.
