La Luz de Cristo para Perú

Volume 6 Issue 4
April 2011

The Upper Room

I was recently reading a commentary on the last 24 hours of
Christ as he walked this earth, and I was struck by the chapter Alfonso are always ready to provide.
on the “upper room”. Beginning in Luke 22:7, Jesus tells two
of his disciples to follow a man carrying a pitcher of water to a And it hasn’t always been easy for them. Providing and giv-
house. The owner of this house will give them access to the ing has been a true sacrifice for them, both physically and
“upper room” where many thing will occur during the even- emotionally. They have at times suffered persecution from
ing… Jesus will take a last opportunity to teach and share and their neighbors for simply being friends with us. They have
build relationships with the disciples, he will eventually wash suffered through rumors and lies that the “gringos” pay them
the feet of the disciples in this room, and they will partake of great sums of money and that they are getting rich by help-
their last supper together. The commentary and author make ing the ministry. It has been tough, yet they continue to
a point of saying that, given the fact that Jesus has caused give.
quite a stir in the city at this point and that he is being sought
on criminal charges, the willingness of the owner of this house The most striking gift, and the most striking similarity to the
to give the disciples and Jesus access to the upper room is upper room story came in the past couple of months. We
quite a sacrifice on the owner’s part. If found out, the owner were forced to move out of the community building that we
could be in some trouble, too. And yet, the room was given had been using as a ministry base, and our team was forced
and the events took place. to decide where to move and how to continue. But Alfonso
came to us and said, “Why are you worried about this? You
This really struck me. I see so many parallels between this know that our house is your house. We give it to God to be
part of the story and the sacrifices of Mama Elva and Alfonso. used for Him. Move here, into our upper rooms. We have
Elva and Alfonso live in Patarcocha and are dear friends of the two upper rooms. You can hold all of your classes here, you
Kuyay Talpuy ministry occurring there. But the similarities to can hold church here on Sundays, you can have youth
the upper room story are striking… group here every afternoon and tutoring times. Move here
When our students needed a place to eat lunches and stop worrying. This is God’s house.” And with that,
each day, Mama Elva opened up her kitchen and a room in they gave us the entire upper floor of their adobe home.
her home. She began to cook for 20 children each day, as
well as the abandoned elderly in the community whom she I don’t know exactly what Jesus’ upper room looked like, but
feeds daily. ours is drafty with crude adobe walls with exposed wooden
When we were seeking a place to house two mission rafters and crude wood-
interns last summer, Elva and Alfonso gave the girls a room in en slats for a floor. And
their home and fed them daily. And again last month when we it is a sacred gift, given
hosted 7 young missionaries for a month, Elva and Alfonso by precious new believ-
gave up two rooms in their home and rearranged their lives to ers who live to sacrifice
host them. for Him.
When the ministry has needed anything, Mama Elva
and Alfonso have been there… to cook and feed missionaries
and visiting teams, to care for our students, to help our teach-
ers, to stand up to the authorities on our behalf when the per- Laurie & Mama Elva →
secution was great and we were so oppressed… Elva and
 What happened to Kenny?
And who is the new kid?
Every school year brings change… sometimes teachers change, classes
change, policies change, etc. And almost always, there is a turnover and
the students change for one reason or another. It’s the same in Perú.

Our new school year began in March. In the Kuyay Talpuy programs, we
have some return students who are with us for another year of classes, we
have some who graduated and only come to us in the afternoons for tutor-
ing, some have moved away, and others have stayed. And some disap-
peared… This is the case with Kenny.

Kenny was one of our 6th grade students in Tinyari. Tallest in his class, ex-
tremely bright, polite, and a smile that would melt even the toughest of
hearts, Kenny was a standout in the classroom. We knew that he would
graduate in December and we prayed that he would go on to the secondary
school system nearby. So when we returned, we asked, “Where’s Kenny?”
We wanted to keep in touch with him and go visit him in his new school. But
the answer was not what we wanted to hear. “Kenny has gone to the jungle
to work on a plantation.” Heartbroken, we listened to the rest of the story.
Kenny had been living in Tinyari with his grandmother. His parents had
been working on the plantation in the jungle for several years. But they work
so far back in the jungle that putting their children in school was impossible,
so Kenny lived with his grandmother so he could attend school. But now,
Kenny is “old enough” and has been “properly educated”, so they called him
to the jungle to begin working and helping to earn money for the family.
Kenny’s formal education is over. Billy wept—this had been his star student.
The silver lining? Kenny accepted Christ, loved to study the Bible, and is
somewhere out there carrying that knowledge and love in his heart.

This week brought us a new student, but under grossly more difficult circum-
stances. Juan Carlos is 10 years old. He has only the clothes he is wear-
ing. He is starving. He is very timid and doesn’t trust anyone. He has been
on the street until recently. His mother remarried and, as is so often the cus-
tom here, the new husband does not recognize the existence of children
who are not “his”. So he beat Juan Carlos daily until his mother finally took
him to an orphanage and left him as “abandoned”. But the orphanage found
out that he wasn’t truly an orphan (because he had a living parent), so they
kicked him out to go back to his house. Instead, he lived on the streets for
awhile, until he made his way to Tinyari to live with a grandmother. But,
Grandmother can’t take care of him because of her own economic issues.
He is living in her home, but she can’t feed him or clothe him. This morning,
he drank water boiled with nettle because that was all she had. His teacher,
Miss Leni, fed him this morning and is taking him home to her house tonight
to help him with his lessons and feed him dinner. The Kuyay Talpuy staff is
making sure that he comes to our lunch program in the afternoons so he can
be fed a hot lunch, he can come to our youth program in the afternoon, and
he can receive tutoring. Darwin, our director, will be following up with his
grandmother and trying to get more information about how we can come
alongside her and Juan Carlos… they need all the love we can give them
right now.

Sometimes, our job is not easy or pretty or fun. Sometimes it is painful and
complicated and culturally difficult. But we know that in sharing the love of
Christ with our students and their families, lives can (and will) be trans-
formed. Please pray for Kenny, wherever he is right now. And please pray
for transformation in the life of little Juan Carlos as we begin to love him.
DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO...
I was reading in my novel yesterday and the main character was surprised to find out that a friend of
hers in Bible study hadn’t ever had a birthday party or a birthday cake or a birthday present. This didn’t
surprise me, because such is the life we live here. But it made me wonder if you know the reality of the
people whom we serve… have we given you the big picture?
Do you know someone who:
 Hasn’t ever had a birthday party or a birthday present or a birthday cake?
 Is the first person in their family tree to learn to read?
 Hasn’t ever received a Christmas gift or seen a Christmas tree?


Hasn’t ever had a bed to sleep in?
Doesn’t have indoor plumbing, or plumbing of any sort, for that matter?
Prayers & Praises
 Hasn’t ever owned a refrigerator or an oven or a dishwasher?
 Hasn’t ever seen a Bible or heard of Jesus Christ?
This entire list applies to the vast majority of the people with which we work in the communities of Is- Praises for transformation! We are
cos, Patarcocha, and Tinyari. Does this list make someone “civilized”? No, not by a long shot! We so excited by how much the communi-
serve some of the most genuine, happy, loving people I have ever been around in my entire life. They ties and people are changing due to
know how to show love and celebrate life without material goods… they don’t buy happiness and they the relationships being built in the
don’t believe that “stuff” or money will bring them joy. They care deeply and they show their affection Kuyay programs. Go God!!!
via physical touch and laughter and via spending time with others.
Pray for Kenny and Juan Carlos and
Now, out of the list above, many of those things are also true of some people in your own community in all the other children who fall through
the USA. When I taught school, I knew many students who didn’t have indoor plumbing or a bed to the cultural cracks and lead difficult
lives. Pray that they learn about the
sleep in, who hadn’t ever had a birthday present, and whose parents and grandparents couldn’t read.
love of Christ and find hope in Him.
These people ARE in your community… have you met them? Can you reach out to them? Are you
ready to spend time with them and build relationships with them? Maybe you will be the one to share
Pray for the elections this weekend in
Christ with them and give them their first look a at a Bible.
Peru.

The Drums | HOW TO CONTACT US Prayers for the Kuyay Talpuy pro-
grams in Iscos, Patarcocha and Ti-
nyari. Pray for the families, students,
MAILING ADDRESS: LAURIE & BILLY DRUM...JR. SAN JOSE 278…URB. SAN CARLOS...HUANCAYO, PERU and the communities as they learn and
TELEPHONE: 979.985.5268 (TEXAS PHONE NUMBER—RINGS IN PERU) grow in Christ.
EMAIL: BILLY@[Link] OR LAURIE@[Link]
NEWSLETTER: VISIT THE WEBSITE AT [Link] AND CLICK “NEWSLETTERS” Pray for our Mission Society Peru
team (the Ivey family, the McEuen
SUPPORT US: USE THE FORM BELOW, OR GO TO [Link]
family, the Drum family, the Reeves
family and mission intern Theresa) as
DEAR BILLY AND LAURIE, we work to minister to the people of
 I will pray for you. Please send me your newsletter Peru. Pray for the Goshorn family and
by e-mail: ____________________________________ Louise Reimer as they prepare to be-
 As God provides, I plan to partner with you by giving come a part of the Mission Society
$ _________ Per month / quarter / year for _____ years. Peru team.
 I would like to donate a one-time gift of $ _________
 I would like to sponsor a child’s education for $30/mo. ($360/ Pray for our boys (Ryan and Miles) as
year). (Please write Special Project on your check)
they continue to live in the USA. Pray
for them to grow in faith and for God to
Name (PLEASE PRINT) ______________________________________
Address _________________________________________________ protect them and guide them through
City____________________ State__________ Zip _______________ their 20s.
Phone _____________________ Home Church __________________
Email Address: _________________________________________ Pray for continued growth in our
Kuyay Talpuy team… the team is go-
TAX DEDUCTIBLE GIFTS MAY BE SENT TO: ing deeper every day and growing
The Mission Society stronger in their faith and in their disci-
PO Box 922637 pling abilities. Pray for strength and
Norcross, GA 30010-2637 USA guidance and unity for them as they
DESIGNATE GIFTS: “DRUM—0321SUP” work to share Christ’s love in Peru.
The World Race came to Peru in March, and more specifically, to Patarcocha and Iscos! World Race is a missional journey… 11 countries in
11 months. The team that we hosted consisted of 7 young adults in their 20s. These seven left the USA in January is only a full backpack
and a desire to know more about God, about His mission in the world, and about how they might fit into that mission. They spend a month in
each country, working alongside ministries and missionaries who spend their lives full-time for the Kingdom. Before coming to Peru, our
team had spent a month in the Dominican Republic and a month in Ecuador.

While in Peru, the World Race team lived in Mama Elva’s house in Patarcocha. She cooked their meals and hosted them. During the day,
they worked in the Kuyay Talpuy programs - teaching children, prayer walking in the community, doing home visits and community relation-
ship building, teaching bible studies to parents in our program, working with youth groups in the afternoons, and teaching English as a com-
munity outreach. They even did a small construction project to help with Mama Elva’s house and helped community members harvest their
crops.

One of the World Race team members had this to say about It’s no secret that I signed up for the World Race expecting change. Desiring it.
her transformation while she served here: Craving it. But sometimes, change comes in unexpected ways. I knew when I left
for the Race that I would be giving things up. A steady job. Comforts. Connec-
tedness to the people and places that I love. But somewhere in the last month,
up in the mountains of Peru, isolated from anything remotely familiar, I realized
something: I have lost it all. Paul puts it this way: “Whatever was once to my
profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider
everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Je-
sus, for whose sake I have lost all things.” (Philippians 3:7). Here’s the simple
truth: whatever was once for my profit, even the very good things of life, are
somehow now worthless compared to knowing Christ. They just won’t satisfy.

SHARE THE LOVE OF CHRIST WITH THE PEOPLE OF PERU.

[Link] | 979.985.5268

The World Race team...

Laurie & Billy Drum

PRESRT STD
3907 Old Oaks Bryan, Texas 77802 USA US POSTAGE
PAID
BRYAN TX
PERMIT #102
E-mail: billy@[Link]
laurie@[Link]