December 2006 - Beck Prayer Update
This letter can be read over the Internet at the following URL.
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/06dec/
Link the Prayer Letter
- December 15, 2006
September 2001 Prayer Letter - Banquet For The Barrios
The two pages of this letter can be accessed and read over the Internet at the following URL's. There are links at the bottom of each page so you can jump directly to the other pages.
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/01nov/page1.htm
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/01nov/page2.htm
Link to Page 1 of the Prayer Letter
Link to Page 2 of the Prayer Letter
- Saturday, November 17, 2001
August 2001 Prayer Letter - Banquet For The Barrios
The three pages of this letter can be accessed and read over the Internet at the following URL's. There are links at the bottom of each page so you can jump directly to the other pages.
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/01oct/page1.htm
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/01oct/page2.htm
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/01oct/page3.htm
Link to Page 1 of the Prayer Letter
Link to Page 2 of the Prayer Letter
Link to Page 3 of the Prayer Letter
- Monday, October 29, 2001
May 2001 Prayer Letter - Banquet For The Barrios
The three letter pages can be accessed and read over the Internet at the following URL's. There are links at the bottom of each page so you can jump directly to the other pages.
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/01jul/page1.htm
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/01jul/page2.htm
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/01jul/page3.htm
Link to Page 1 of the Prayer Letter
Link to Page 2 of the Prayer Letter
Link to Page 3 of the Prayer Letter
- Monday, July 9, 2001
December 2000 Prayer Letter - Banquet For The Barrios
The two letter pages can be accessed and read over the Internet at the following URL's. There are links at the bottom of each page so you can jump directly to the next page.
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/00dec/index.htm
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/00dec/page2.htm
Link to Page 1 of the Prayer Letter
Link to Page 2 of the Prayer Letter
- Tuesday, January 16, 2001
November 2000 Prayer Letter
Four Pages of Photos and Text from a Recent Medical Trip to the Mountains of Peru
The letter pages can be accessed and read over the Internet at the following URL's. There are links at the bottom of each page so you can jump directly to the next page.
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/00nov/Page1/index.html
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/00nov/Page2/index.html
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/00nov/Page3/index.html
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/00nov/Page4/index.html
Link to Page 1 of the Prayer Letter
Link to Page 2 of the Prayer Letter
Link to Page 3 of the Prayer Letter
Link to Page 4 of the Prayer Letter
- Saturday, November 25, 2000
September 2000 Prayer Letter - Banquet for the Barrios
The letter can be accessed and read over the Internet at the following URL:
http://www.mtwla.org/people/pbeck-pl/00sep/
Link to Prayer Letter
- Friday, September 15, 2000
Julia--Child of the Streets
Her gentle face, her velvety baby skin, and her delicate features could not betray the harsh suffering she had experienced in her short 6 years of life. Standing there, her back to the squalid slums constructed of scrap metal, yet practically in front of the luxurious high rise hotels filled with affluent businessmen from across the globe, Julia's black eyes stared out at two worlds. One world she could never dare to touch and the other she could hardly hope to escape. One eye shone of a child's faith and hope, a pleading for love, salvation, and a better life to come. The other eye, bruised and swollen, bore witness to the brutality of her days. As she dared to speak to Gretchen, haltingly at first, she testified on behalf of her street brothers and sisters to the neglect, violence, and scorn they experience. Julia had been through war - not the kind fought on a field between two armies, but the kind she and millions of children fight daily, in silence, on city streets.
Our Burden for Ministry
I met Julia 13 years ago in Guatemala City where I was working with street children as a combined missionary service/study project for Wheaton College. The stories of the street children to whom I ministered touched my heart and left me forever changed. Since then, it has been our heart's desire to demonstrate to street children the grace and mercy of Christ, to teach them the Word of God, and to see them transformed by God, their perfect and loving Father.
Our New Ministry
In October of 1999, Peter and I were appointed as missionaries with Mission to the World to minister to some of the 250,000 street children of Lima, Peru and to the families from which they come. We will serve on a church planting team which seeks to establish and strengthen the church among the poor through Word (teaching and preaching) and Deed (acts of mercy) Ministry. Our team's motivation for ministry is our experience of the grace of God. Because we know we are sinners, unsightly, decrepit, unclean, saved by grace alone, our hearts are filled with love and we are prompted to generously embrace the outcasts of Peru. As we look at the street children, their abusers, and the families who have pushed them to the streets, we realize that we are looking in a mirror. The impoverishment of God's Son on our behalf makes it inevitable that in response, we pour out deeds of mercy as we simultaneously share the Gospel of Christ. Our team's ministry will include church planting, outreach to street children, micro-enterprise development, theological training for Peruvian pastors, and medical outreach.
The Situation of Street Children
We are often asked why there are so many children living on the streets of Peru. The problem begins and later is aggravated by social, economic, and political crises that effect problems in family dynamics and disintegration. The pressures of grinding poverty often lead to hunger, alcoholism, drug abuse, and physical abuse. Children as young as 3 or 4 are forced to leave their homes early each morning to beg and steal in order to support their families. Often, the children arrive home only to face physical abuse and to have their money taken from them. Gradually, children begin to feel safer and more "at home" in the streets than they do in their own homes and they begin to spend more time on the streets, stealing food, sleeping under bridges and in doorways, and joining gangs to fill their need for family. Eventually, they stop going home altogether. Life on the streets is not easy, however. Because street children survive by begging and petty theft, they are despised by Peruvian society; harassed, beaten, and murdered by police; and taken advantage of by adult predators. In order to numb the pain of cold and hunger, street children often sniff glue and paint thinner. Despite their painful lives, street children are eager to respond to the Gospel message and the hope of an eternal home with a heavenly father.
Our Family
Friends have expressed concern for our two girls - their adjustment to a new culture, and their exposure to the pain and poverty in Lima. We are excited, though, for how God will work in them. This past summer, before we had discussed the possibility of moving to Peru, God was already tugging at Kendi's heart. One day, Kendi and Kaylee were playing happily in another room of the house when I turned on the evening news, something I rarely do. The news anchor introduced a story on the street children of Romania. The word "Romania" brought Kendi running. "Romania! Romania! They're talking about Romania! That's where Justin and Cristina live," she exclaimed. (Justin and Cristina are the children of friends who are missionaries in Romania and Kendi has prayed for them nightly for years.) She stood transfixed in front of the TV, watching the segment. When it ended, she turned to me, tears dripping down her face, and said, "Mommy those children live on the streets. They could get run over by a car while they are sleeping and they don't eat everyday. And they probably don't even know about Jesus since they don't have parents to tell them He loves them! We need to move to Romania and take care of the street children." As Peter and I move to Peru with our daughters, we recognize that although the girls are small, they have enormous hearts and feel deeply about problems and suffering in the world. Rather than fear the shock they may feel at the poverty, we rejoice that God has given our children hearts of compassion; tender hearted, straight forward, and honest prayers; acceptance of others; and an unwavering faith. Their ministries of prayer, compassion, and friendship with Peruvian children will be significant to our team.
- Friday, February 18, 2000 at 07:05:10 (CST)
|
