Update Letter

I got a facebook message from my 5th Grade Sunday School teachers. They said, “So proud of you as you serve the Lord”. It started me thinking. What if I didn’t have David and Tina Smith as my childhood Sunday School Teachers? What if they didn’t have curriculum to help them teach me God’s Word? What if they had had no support, training or personal experience to help them minister to me? What if their only experiences when they were children consisted of listening to lectures in straight silent rows? What if they didn’t have chairs for me to sit in, a roof for me to be under, a place for us to meet? What if David and Tina Smith’s passion for kids had died in the church pew because they had no support, no resources, and it was just too hard to change a child’s life for eternity?

Would I be here? Would I still wake up every day with the fire in my heart to reach the thousands upon thousands of children who need the Lord? God has asked me to help countless children in the world have someone in their life like my Dave and Tina Smith. That work has started already in Peru. Now we are setting out on a project. A project that with God’s provision and guidance will impact thousands of children with His love - transforming the lives of children all over the continent of South America. A couple months ago you got a mailer from us reporting on our first 3 years and asking you to join us for our next project – expanding our mission from just Peru to all of South America. (Please find all the details at www.johnandheather.com)

We also have to let you know that the financial situation of our ministry fund is putting these plans on shaky ground. In order for us to continue following God’s leading, reaching more and more children throughout South America, our ministry fund needs $3000 per month more than what supporters are giving now. That means that this next 3-year project in South America requires $100,000 of additional giving. While the enormity of that number is daunting to us, in our hearts it’s balanced by the enormity of the need and our calling to it. We believe that God will continue to show His faithfulness to the children of South America through you.

We’ve been thinking about what it means to be in need. We find ourselves in need of a large increase in ministry funding. Even as we consider our own need, we are continually humbled by the need around us. Children all over South America are in need of the Lord and the Life He offers them. They need Every Generation Ministries to equip and empower their church leaders to minister to them and see their lives transformed. A little child is vulnerable, needy, completely dependent. Christmas reminds us that Jesus chose to enter into that reality and now, I’m sure, never has forgotten what it’s like to be a child in need.

We come to you, humbly sharing our need, to ask that you would partner with us as we stand with the Christ child and with children all over South America. Thanks for reading, and know that we’ll be praying for God to provide for all of your needs as well.

Serving His Children in South America,

John and Heather Chapman

Financial Support:
Every Generation Ministries / PO Box 891179 / Temecula, CA 92589
www.egmworld.org (Click “Donate Now” then “Ministry Purpose: Support an EGM Missionary: Chapman”)

Personal:
John and Heather Chapman / Valle Riestra 556 / Pueblo Libre, Lima 21 / PERU
949-226-8553 / www.johnandheather.com

Meet Katy

I haven't told you about KATY!!!
She is awesome. I am continually amazed by the dynamic and gifted teachers i see in Peru.
Katy grew up in the Children's ministry at her Church. She is now a young lady and LOVES to serve the children at her church. Her church is a small storefront, her pastor is an amazing servant of God who has attend numerous trainings of EGM and implementing them in his work with his Sunday School teachers. Katy has never attended and training but is learning from her pastor and making a difference.

Despite her obvious God given gifts to work with children, she is still struggling. She struggles with a basic outline of how to structure her time with children. She doesn't just want to read the Bible, sing a song and color a coloring page. She wants to learn new ways to make the Bible real and alive to the children in her church and community. that is why we are here. That is what we are doing. Helping teachers like Katy to make the Bible come alive to the children that she has contact with.

Leadership Program Summer 2011 in Peru

Pass this info along to someone who might be interested. Only 4 spots!

New Mailing Address!!!

We have moved! We still live in Lima Peru, but in a different house!

Address-

John and Heather Chapman
Valle Riestra 556
Pueblo Libre, Lima 21

We love mail! We love Christmas cards!

Amazed by God's People

We received maybe one of our most humbling gifts in the last month. It has taken us a while to get our hands on the actual invite, but here it is.



Please step back and enjoy the awesome service of a precious child. This little girl sacrificed the opportunity to have fun gifts for her birthday because she wanted to help reach children in South America with the love of Jesus. Yet another confirmation of the famous driving statement in my heart. "Children are not the future of the Church, they are the Church NOW."

God used this precious young lady to make an impact around the world for Christ. I am blessed and humbled to have Cheyenne on my team, as I serve the churches of South America. I am not a big numbers guy when it comes to amounts but in this case i am going to share it. $350 was raised. Thank you Cheyenne for listening to the call of God on your heart and responding.

EGM's Impact in Punta Piedra

Puente Piedra is a “pueblo joven” (young town) on the outskirts of Lima whose residents live at a very low socio-economic level. Parents work in the city long days and children are often left without supervision or provision. In this town, one of EGM-Peru’s volunteers leads a children’s ministry of a local church. Lisset is an energetic woman who is passionate about serving among the poor, who (in her words) live “another reality.”



Every Saturday, Lisset and her team of volunteers minister to children who would otherwise have nowhere to go. Following EGM’s ministry model, they build a strong relational foundation with each child, having real conversations with them and group discussions. They teach the Word of God in an experiential way and always provide an opportunity for the children to respond to God.


Last Saturday we were visiting Lisset’s church to continue her volunteer training by observing and supporting her. An eleven year old boy in her class arrived late. When Lisset sat to ask him about it, he humbly confessed to her that he was late because he couldn’t pry himself away from the internet café. He cried as he explained that he feels horrible about what he’s seeing and he thinks he has an addiction. Eleven years old.


As an EGM “Model Teacher,” Lisset didn’t skip a beat as she and another boy prayed with him, talked and wept. It is because of the relational ministry that Lisset practices that this boy had someone to turn to. Rather than living in guilt, fear and addiction, he can find in Jesus a Life of forgiveness, restoration and true joy. That day Lisset’s lesson was on 1 John 1:1-4 “...concerning the Word of Life.” She taught about our “joy being complete” through fellowship with the Lord and each other.


EGM’s national ministry teams are equipping children’s workers to have ministry with children that, like Lisset’s, is biblical, relational, experiential and results in lives transformed by Christ. This little boy and many others are finding Jesus and beginning to live the New Life that He offers.

How was Project Two born?

At the start of 2010 we felt ourselves at one of the inevitable lows of missionary life. We were unsure, unsettled and feeling the losses that previously had been cushioned by the many joys of our ministry here. We spent some months just putting those feelings on a shelf, looking to the Lord for direction, and trying to be more objective about our next steps in ministry. It was working and we had a fantastic season of ministry, culminating in the completion of Project One.

Then suddenly we encountered a series of personal losses. John’s grandmother died. We suffered a miscarriage. Heather’s aunt died. John’s uncle died. And we realized with surprise that there was no emotional reserve to cover it all. We had been depleted like a quietly leaking tank and were left tired, empty, without vision and without the energy to pursue one. While we didn’t regret anything about our three years in Peru, we weren’t seeing or feeling any renewed calling to continue here. It seemed that our time in Peru might be coming to an end.

Then, in the same quiet and gradual way, we found ourselves healing and rejuvenating. During our visit in California, there were ministry conversations that affected our hearts like the prickling heat after your leg falls asleep. There were quiet moments before the Lord that felt like a heating pad on sore muscles. And little by little and with much surprise, we found ourselves dreaming again about South America.

EGM confirmed those dreams and dreamt with us of what we could do with another three years in Peru – the intimacy we could bring to our ministry partnerships, the careful guidance and training we could offer to the national teams, the new teams that could be formed with our coordination – so that more and more children could live a new life with Jesus. The Jesus who was, at that moment, healing, filling and inspiring us, giving us hope and joy in Him.

So Project Two was born.

OUR BIGGEST NEWS OF THE YEAR!

We’re so excited to tell you that our ministry is expanding!

After three years in Peru, we’ve completed Project One. It entailed first language learning and then facilitating the start-up of a Peruvian organization that partners with EGM: led, envisioned and funded by Peruvian Christian leaders who shared our passion for children. WE DID IT! We’ve found the right people, trained them and walked beside them as they discovered God’s vision for EGM-Peru. EGM-Peru is now established and working to see Peruvian children be transformed in Christ through His Church. The volunteer team is already providing leadership development events that cast vision, train and initiate a long-term relationship with children’s ministry leaders who also long to see children’s lives touched by Jesus. So we have to take a moment with you to stop, remember and celebrate what God has done!

And now God is expanding our vision to all of South America.

Project Two will entail:

· Encouraging ministry growth of EGM-Peru

· Supporting EGM’s established ministry team in Chile

· Taking the next steps of ministry team start-up in Argentina

· Facilitating ministry expansion into new South American countries

Our great desire has always been to see EGM’s ministry reach more and more countries so that more and more children will be transformed in Christ as a result of effective children’s ministry. We want to be a resource, a support, a spark for the flame that God will fan! Now, after seeing the start-up of EGM-Peru and the many children who are already being impacted by this baby ministry, just imagine the thousands of children who will be touched by Project Two – not only in Peru but in Chile, Argentina and beyond!

To do what God is calling us to do, we need additional financial resources.

Project Two is going to require $3,000 per month in addition to the monthly and annual gifts of our current supporters to fuel our new ministry and sustain our family.

We are completely aware of the fact that $3000 more every month is an outrageous amount of money, when there have already been so many who are giving sacrificially and consistently to fuel Project One. We would be happy to share with you the details of why this project is going to require such increase in funding. For this space, we’ll simply say -

There is no way we can ignore or deny the fact that God is calling us to be here, to stay here and to embark on this new journey. So without being able to see the road, we step out into the fog, holding our Jesus’ hand, believing that the bricks will materialize beneath our feet.

We’re thanking the Lord for giving us this new project and asking Him to call others to join us in prayer and finances.

Sunday School teachers

Sunday night I was invited by Pastor Daniel Leon Cuenca, one of our future volunteer trainers here in Peru, to come speak to a group of Sunday School teachers from his area. It was amazing. He had advertised on his one-hour daily Christian radio program and 50 teachers came!

I get these requests all the time and truthfully, i say no. I say no for so many reasons, but mainly because i want to empower Peruvians to do it. Because he is a future trainer of EGM-Peru, i wanted him to see me do it. I also wanted to give another Board member the chance to share about the ministry. So we went!

It was an incredible evening. The teachers were great and received the information very well. We announced EGM-Peru's big conference in March and they cheered. The begged and invited me to come to their individual churches to help them and I was once again reminded of the need that far too few people are addressing. There are thousands of teachers who want and need help. It was an encouragement to why we are here in Peru.

These are Pastor Daniel's kids. He has dedicated himself to ministering to children. He teaches values education in schools as an outreach and focuses his church ministry on children. He has a service of adults on Sunday nights and leads the ministry to children on Sunday morning. His church building is a small storefront that seats 6 people across. He lives with his wife and children in the one room above the church. It is humbling and a blessing to see his heart for children.

There are so many people who are dedicated to children, and they do so making huge personal sacrifices, with or without any support, encouragement, training or materials. It is these kind of people who are an inspiration to us and to our team at EGM. Our hearts beat to support them, help them and cheer for them! Making their ministry to children more effective, more long-lasting, more life-transformational - so that more and more children will know Jesus and live His New LIFE.

Toilet Paper

One of my most difficult jobs is trying to explain to all of you what i do. So here is another try:

Have you ever gone into a public bathroom and after you completed your business, found that there was no toilet paper? (That happens here all the time and here in Peru we have to carry our own.) What happens when you REALLY NEED something and its' just NOT there?

That is a question we get every day. (Not people needing toilet paper,) but needing desperately something that they don't have.

Imagine standing in a room with 30 children with only a Bible in your hand. My mom would say, "easy, no problem." But most of the rest of the world would be lost. Most people would be desperate for help, (remember that desperate feeling I mentioned above?)

Many children's workers take for granted things we consider basic: materials that the church hands us to lead a Sunday School lesson, or the internet that we can go to and find help and resources for teaching Sunday School, other people around who have experience and confidence in children's ministry...

Did you know that some crazy number like 85% of the worlds materials for Sunday School teacher are for the Western World (US and Europe).

Children's workers all over South America are sitting alone in their bedroom on a Saturday night with a bible and a pencil in their hands, wondering what to do on Sunday morning, how to reach the children's hearts for Jesus. Alone and without resources or training, they have that desperate feeling.

it doesn't have to be that way.

Robi and Elita - why we are here

Robi and Elita are our best Peruvian friends. We spend Christmas and new years with them, we helped them through one of their sons having a tumor in his nose, two of their teenage kids have been john's language-helper. We love them. They are dear to our hearts.

I am going to talk about them more and more, not only because we love them and are grateful for them, but because they ARE the perfect example of why we are here in Peru.

They are a family, Elita (mom), Robi (dad), Jimmy (20 year old son), Tito (17 year old son) and Elsa (16 year old daughter) who LOVE kids. They love leading meetings for kids, loving on kids and investing in the lives of kids. They have started a club on Saturdays in a poor neighborhood on the outside of Lima, because they love kids. Robi has built a church in the area to primarily do ministry kids, because they love kids. This poor town is OVERFLOWING with kids. Parents leave for sometimes 14 hours to work for the day, leaving kids to fend for themselves. One 10 year old girl was in charge of her twin 3 year old siblings, because dad was at work and mom had abandoned them.

Robi and Elita have a heart for these kids in this area, BUT THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! They have no materials and little effective tools to minister. The entire family is coming to a private training in our home on Mondays for four weeks. They want an effective way to share the hope, joy and love of Jesus with these children. THEY are why I am living in Peru. Thousands upon thousands of people in Peru want help. They love kids and want to share Jesus with them, but don't know what to do. Every pastor or teacher I meet with wants more.

THAT is why I live here! questions? ASK!

Back in the Swing of things

We are Back in Peru and back in the swing of things.

Josiah turned 4 years old!

Josiah posing with his new Conductor Dress up from Mimi and papa!

Spent the day bundled up at the zoo.

Climbed our first tree (it is pretty hard to find a tree to climb in Lima).

Got to see a Parade with traditional peruvian dancers.

Had some great visitors! Cameron and his two girls - Grace (6) and Christiana (4).
Talk about an adventurous dad!

We have also had some great ministry meetings and are working toward some great ministry events.

A first...

Charo teaching teachers

Last Sunday afternoon marked an amazing first for the ministry here in Perú. The first workshop taught entirely by trained volunteer Peruvians. After attending an 8 week course in Feb and March of this year, we extended an invitation to 4 people who truly showed an understanding of the philosophy and a desire to volunteer with the ministry in the future to help Sunday School teachers in Peru. One of our Board member, Charo who also attended the training, decided to use the Model Teacher material with her teachers at church. She is hosting a 5 week course for her teachers and asked us to participate. Two of the five weeks are over, and Heather and I are done. I presented a little on the fist Sunday training, and the second training was done entirely by Peruvians. Daniel Leon, a pastor, experienced children's worker, and overflowing passion for children and their importance, jumped at the chance to lead the group through the first half of the Seminar. Charo took over for the second half and finished off the evening. Heather was sitting blessed and amazed as she saw the Peruvians lead in the ministry.

Below is Pastor Daniel Leon

Mother's Day photos

At the kids school they put on a large mother's day show each year. These are the kids performing in their numbers. Jail house rock, Sandy from Greece, and Mambo!

Mother's Day Videos

Ministry Photos

Click on this link:
http://gallery.me.com/thechapmans/100009

Eliana 5th Birthday

Have you ever done anything for 8 satudays in a row?

For 8 Saturdays we had a Teacher Training. We had a group of almost 30 teachers who completed the training and are ready for the next step to become Trainers themselves. Most of the 30 were had picked and have extensive experience doing training for Sunday School Teachers. They are excited to see how god can use them in this new ministry in Peru. The Chapmans had a great time teaching, we started bringing the kids towards the end as well and gave them jobs of passing out and collecting papers, taking pictures and assisting in other ways. It was an incredible time for us to return to the world of teaching teachers and we felt the impact on teachers here in Peru. For those of you who pray for us we are grateful for your part with us in this ministry.

The teachers spent 7 weeks learning about how to make their own Sunday School lesson and then finally presented in small groups to the entire class on the final week. We had a wonderful time and loved the experience. The testimonies were amazing and the teachers truely grew in their ability and understanding of their ministry to children.



Teachers trying to write with their feet, as they are doing an activity to help them feel uncomfortable.


Teacher's acting out the application of a Bible Story for preschool ages students.


Teacher's singing a song and memorizing a verse during another lesson presentation.


Two teachers.


Heather teaching Sunday School Teachers.


Heather with two Board members. They hadn't coordinated their outfits.


Teachers working in small groups discussing as they learned and processed the new ideas and information.

We believe will one day impact thousands upon thousands

Is it strange to feel like one room is SOOO significant. This room (photoed above) is a very significant room for me. It started back in December of 2006. Heather and I with Josiah 3 months old (Eliana stayed in CA with family), and Ryan and Kelly Callaghan were visiting Peru for the first time, to get a feel for the need of a ministry like EGM. Our first Children's Ministry that we ever visited was right here in this room.

On returning to Lima in 2008 we began to attend this church.

In May of 2009 we had our first EGM work with teachers right here in this room. Where 100 Children's Ministry Workers from different churches and denominations came together to hear about the work of EGM.

In August of 2009. Nancy Matossian and Kathleen Chapman (my sister and mom) came to speak at this church, in this room (and other rooms) to 600 Children's Ministry Workers. And I taught to another group of teachers, in Spanish.

And after many meetings and conversations with a small group of key Christian Leaders, on MARCH 15, 2010. A group joined together (planned for another room, but they were cleaning it that day) to meet. We met in the only room available, a room that could seat 250 people, but we set up a table, a white board, and 8 chairs to start a ministry that we believe will one day impact thousands upon thousands of Children's Ministry workers in Peru.

I also have the privilege (when time allows) to go and volunteer in this Children's Ministry. On a Sunday morning I see 15+ Children's Workers give some of their lives to share the love of Jesus with a group of 75+ children. It is a blessing to just be in their presence.

EGM Publication Focus on Peru and Chapmans

You should get one of these in the mail, but if you don't, you can check it out here!

Catching Up: Christmas & NewYears

Our Christmas season started slow and contemplative, celebrating Advent as a family every Sunday.
Then we had the pleasure of hosting our friends the Gonzalez's (missionaries we met in Colorado and who now live in Ecuador).

As per Peruvian custom, we celebrated Christmas at midnight with gifts, fireworks and Christmas dinner (3 kids and all!) with our Peruvian friends the Castros.
Christmas day we stayed home, ate Mexican food, opened gifts and then went to dinner at the Langley's house. We are so grateful for the friendships we've developed in the last 2 1/2 years in Peru!
Dress up stuff- so fun :)
Tutus from Nanny and Uncle Mark!
Josiah with his preschool class dancing "Little Angel Rock." He spent most of the time trying to get the attention of the girls on stage.
Eliana was the star of the show in her end-of-the-year performance. She loves dancing. As a baby she had excellent clapping rhythm and now we can see she's 'still got it'!
(Doesn't she look so old in this picture?)
...always the cutie.