Dear friends of WMF Peru,
As a community we want to update you on the progress of fundraising for the proposed WMF Peru Ministry Center and to share with you some ways to continue praying for and supporting this effort.
The WMF Peru ministry center will be the home for community activities. It will be the base of operations for the four integrated, holistic ministries of WMF Peru: community development, street outreach, day center programming, and family network care. Our vision for community ministry among the poor who live in street contexts is holistic in two very important ways. First, our commitment is not limited to one specific age-group; rather, we have age-appropriate programs from newborns to young adult age groups. Our commitment to practice and proclaim the Kingdom of God through personal love relationships brings us to nurture long-term commitments with young people living in street contexts.
By community development, we mean our efforts to raise up a body of local, lay believers who understand, and are committed to, Cultivating and reproducing the values and commitments of Word Made Flesh in the Peruvian, urban context. This happens in a variety of contexts: in local churches, on the street, and in our ministry center. With the purchase of a larger, permanent location, our community will take great strides towards sustainability and will multiply our reach by training and involving more volunteers in ministry.
Reaching out to populations of young people living in streets contexts is first done through our Street Outreach program. We view this as an extended hand inviting these precious young people to participate in the body life of the community. We are committed to going out to meet them in their environment, and we invite them to come in, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The greatest need for a larger, permanent location comes, however, from the following areas of ministry. The Infant Day-Care (0-3 years) program and the Adolescent Ministry (11-18 year olds) are recent efforts, that, through much community prayer and discussion, we have expanded into and in which we believe God is urging this community to focus on more intently. These, along with our micro-enterprise efforts (which began as an idea to make Christmas cards 4 years ago in our former drop-in-center's art Bible study meetings, Social Work interviews and follow-up, educational assistance and tutoring are some exciting current areas of ministry which we believe God wants to mature and grow even more through center-based programming.
What we have termed Family Network Care is taking shape as an integral part of a whole-person approach to ministry among street populations. The House of Reflection is a discipleship based effort to reach out to a small number of young men leaving street contexts through a long-term living situation with WMF Peru staff and volunteers. Additionally, making regular Home Visits to the houses of young people who have recently left the streets, and holding monthly Celebration meetings wherein local believers from area churches and young people who have left street contexts behind and are integrating into society are helping to our community to respond adequately to the continued needs of former street youth for fellowship and discipleship.
In order to adequately carry out these areas of ministry, we are considering the purchase of a 3,500 sq. ft facility with a small roofed warehouse attached. The asking price is US$160,000. As of October, 2006 God has brought in $22,320.
In addition to gifts given normally, we are creating two exciting ways for the purchase of this ministry center to testify as a community to God's faithfulness. Memorial gifts and Memorial funds are ways to formally recognize people whose dreams, commitments, and lives are a testimony of faithfulness to God's Kingdom, and in whose name their families, friends, or communities want to dedicate a memorial gift, or open a memorial fund, given to WMF Peru. These special gifts will play an important role as the community of WMF Peru proclaims that the young people among whom we minister are indeed “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” While many of these witnesses will never personally sit down next to a young person on the streets of Lima, their lives still have the power to speak and offer hope.
A one-time memorial gift can be given in honor of a family member, friend, or loved one. If more than one gift will be offered in someone's name, a memorial fund can be opened. A memorial fund will continue to be open for future gifts through the Word Made Flesh Peru Building Fund until the purchase of the ministry center. Contact information will help us to creatively honor these memorial gifts, to be displayed inside the WMF Peru ministry center.
Please pray for wisdom for us as we strive together to purchase this property. Please prayerfully consider partnering with the WMF Peru community to purchase this facility.
Thanks,
Lots of love,
The WMF Peru community