Hello family and friends,
The months spent in quarantine sometimes seem like a dream, but it is a reality that we have all been or are living, full of emotions, losts and miracles.
We have a mighty God who knows our trials, not one is hidden from his eyes. He said in Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” For sure He knew about the quarantine, because He said in Isaiah 45:2 “I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron.” His promises are true, He is going before all of us right now.
Starting in January we were looking for an aviation project where we could help, this is how we came to Peru Projects as missionaries in training. In February we returned to Bolivia to look for some things that we had left behind.
On March 15, without knowing everything that was coming, we left Santa Cruz by bus on 2-day trip to Lima, Peru. After crossing the border, we heard that the next day the borders will be closed and it would be the last day for the buses to operate; we were in a hurry, because we needed to get to Lima. In Arequipa we had to take the next bus that would take us to Lima, everyone was nervous. To get the ticket to Lima we had to make a long line (normally there is no waiting line). At the bus station there were 5 different bus companies, but only one was open and it was the last bus to Lima that evening. We didn’t understand what was happening. Throughout the trip we continued praying for wisdom, for help: “We have to be in Lima”.
Trying to get in touch with the Pastor’s family where we will stay for 3 or 4 days while we will arrange immigration and aviation papers, trying to keep our cell phone battery charged to be able to communicate with Lima and our daughters, helping some tourists who didn’t understand the language to get a ticket, and also taking care of all the bags was really a challenge.
Finally, the company added another bus so that all the people who were waiting could travel.
On Monday at midnight, we arrived in Lima, half an hour before the police stopped all the buses because the quarantine would begin. With a lot of stress, we arrived at the La Rosa family house, but at the same time with so much gratitude to God for coordinating the entire trip so perfectly to arrive exactly half an hour before the streets were closed. PRAISE GOD!
Everything in Lima was closed, there were no buses on the streets. The government offices were closed, we couldn’t do any paperwork and going to Pucallpa (Peru Projects) was impossible because all the roads were closed and so the weeks began to pass. All we could do was pray and ask God what was next. There were days when we were emotionally at the top of the mountain and others at the bottom of a well.
One of God’s promises is in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “…God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
He will never give more difficulties that we can bear. We were at the limit of our emotional strength, helping the La Rosa’s family in every possible way, praying together because for them the situation was not easy either.
On Saturday morning, the third week, Miguel received a message from a couple (friends of us) who were in another country and had no idea of our emotional situation. “It will be okay for you and Mirta if we rent a place in Lima for you to stay? We were thinking that in this difficult time you and Mirta need privacy.” What a bless!, we never imagine this; God can change things in the blink of an eye.
We were stopped in Lima for 4 months and 25 days until the domestic flights in Peru were opened. During those months God gave us privacy, food, and He touched the hearts of friends and family to help us move forward. God took care of us in a foreign country! In exchange for all the blessings we received, we decided to share our bread with someone on the street in need every time we went to the supermarket.
In Exodus there is the great story of the Israel and their journey through the desert, God was with them all the way. Exodus 13:21-22 “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.” Finally, we want to remember Romans 8:32. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
These quarantine miracles change our life, we now can say: we have a Powerful and Present God. He is alive and His Promises are True!
Are there tests that weaken your faith? Situations that disturb your peace? In your daily life, circumstances can destabilize you or face problems that seem to have no solution. But you must not forget that in the Lord you have a safe haven, a place of peace and calm. And the best thing is that you can go to Him at any time, in the most difficult or even in the least opportune. Prayer is the best way to wait for appropriate answers. Wherever you go and even in the most difficult circumstances, He will be with you and His love will manifest in your life!
Romans 8:37 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
To God be all the Glory!
Miguel & Mirta Farias
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