Grace

It is winter here in Lima, Peru and I have been here for a month.  I am so thankful to the Lord that I was able to come for Alonso's birthday, and be here with his family as it's been now almost 9 months since he's gone home to be with the Lord. 

   Vanessa my very good friend has asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding which is about 3 weeks.  Also my friend Darci is getting married this coming Friday.

   Please join with me in prayer, as the Lord appears to be opening doors for me to stay here in Lima for longer.  Please pray with me for the Lord's perfect will.

 

 

Shalom, Hola, Hello!!  (Don't forget to check out the words in fushia below)

   Well I have been back in the USA for almost a month.  And it has been a whirlwind of excitement. 

 First of all thank you so much for all of your prayers as I left Peru.  It was very difficult to leave all of the absolutely amazing brothers and sisters that I made there.  The work is continuing strong and I know that the Lord had me there to start the work that He wanted and now He is working through other leaders there. 

  So great to remember that all along it is God's work and only He receives all of the glory for the success!  Praise God!

  Coming back to the dry, hot desert was also shocking as in Lima it is extremely humid.  So for about three days it was very difficult to breath.  Not having driven for over a year it was nice to get behind the wheel although with gas being so high i try not to stay there to long *smiles*

  A great blessing my dear friend Kate whom I met while I was in Peru came here to Arizona for a week and we were able to go to Phoenix and meet with and encourage some other people that had been previous students in Peru as well.  It was lovely to see them and be encouraged by what the Lord's doing in their lives. 

  Also the day that Kate left my best friend of 24 years, Kathryn flew in from Oklahoma with her 2 year old and 11 month old.  It was so refreshing to see her and her beautiful children.  We went to California to see her in-laws and also to Oceanside where we have other friends that have been praying and supporting me.  It was just an incredible time to come back and be able to touch base with so many of the people that are so important in my life. 

  I will be sharing all about this past year and what God has done on

Thursday,

June 5th 

6:00-8:30

at Calvary Chapel Bullhead City.  (1690 Newberry Dr.) 

  Please come I would so love to meet you and talk with you. 

There will be food and drinks provided also I will be showing a video that I made so you can actually SEE how it was!

If you have any questions please contact me at gracehensley@hotmail.com

If you are interested in continuing to support me as I am a missionary here in the USA.   I will be starting a Christian ESL school here in Bullhead City,AZ and reaching out to the Latino population.  You can donate online through... http://www.sgwm.com/missionaries.php?id=143  There will be a little button on the right hand side that says "donate to Grace Hensley"

Thank you so much for all of your prayers!

See you on Thursday!

In Jesus, Grace

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. Psalm 9:10

I can not even begin to describe what a blessing this month has been, but I will try. 

A little background….My parents were divorced when I was about 3 years old. My mother has been an absolutely amazing example to me of a Godly woman. She raised me with a strong foundation in the Lord and for that I am eternally grateful.

During my time here a Peruvian family has befriended me and it has been such a blessing to spend special occasions with them…Christmas, my birthday, their birthdays, New Years, Easter. Well it just so happens that this last week was the parents 30th wedding anniversary, so all their children and I planned a surprise for them. We took them out to Friday’s for dinner and then got them a hotel room for the night. They weren’t believers when they got married, and they’d never spent the night at a nice hotel. We decorated the room and they were so surprised! Pedro even carried Juanita over the threshold. I never got to do these kinds of things for my parents, and this family wouldn’t have had the resources to do this themselves. I know that they were blessed and so was God’s heart in seeing 30 years of faithfulness and obedience. So thank you for being a part of that special day!

English classes: As of this date we only have two more weeks of English classes until the end of this semester. I have seen the Lord’s hand in this program since its foundation. People are getting saved and growing closer to the Lord.

It is difficult to leave something that I love so much, but I know that this is God’s timing as He has raised up another director of the school. Rachel will be taking my position and teaching 3-4 classes, also another American missionary named Natalie will be teaching a class and the Lord is still raising up national bilingual Peruvians that would like to be part of this ministry.

With all of that said and done I will still miss each and everyone of my students, some I have spent more than 180 hours with so we are all very close. The Lord has done more than let me be an English teacher he has made these classes into families and friends.

Last night I threw a costume party for all the English students and Bible college students. It was a great success. There were about 50-60 people here. I took all my furniture out of my room and everyone was dancing together. It was beautiful to see the interaction and fellowship shared in the body of Christ.

The end of the semester party for the students at the Zoo is next weekend!! Please pray as many of them will be bringing unsaved friends and family and this will give us an opportunity to reach out to them and show them the love of God.

Returning to the mission field…I will be going to another mission field called Bullhead City, Arizona in three and a half weeks. There is so much that the Lord has put on my heart to do there. Please join me in prayer as I would like to reach out to the Latino population in my town. There is a huge barrier in our city dividing it racially through language, culture and economic status.

During this next year please pray about continuing to support me as a native missionary to my own home town. I will be entering a new culture once again as I face re-entry shock into American culture and reaching out to the huge Mexican population with the love of Jesus Christ


Thank you so much for all of your prayers and faithful support. I would love to come and visit each and every one of you. I will be creating a video and power point to share what the Lord’s been doing here.

Please pray for the Lords provision as there is a $100 tax when I leave Peru, also the airline that I am flying home with has a charge of $100 for my third piece of luggage. I still have 3.5 weeks here and there is a lot to do and a lot more that the Lord wants to do!

Thank you, I love you all so much and am looking forward to seeing you!!

En Cristo, Grace

This week has been so amazing!  Thank you so much for your prayers as I can see God answering them everyday!

First off...My dear friend Mrs. Bratt donated enough money so that We'll be able to have a party at the Zoo at the end of the semester for all the students! 

Secondly-The Lord provided a vechicle for me when I get back to Bullhead

Thirdly-A dear Childhood friend contacted me and she is now seeking the Lord.  Please keep her in your prayers her name is Jenny.

Fouthly-I was able to witness to a girl in the market.  I shared the entire gospel with her, and she is going to, Lord willing, come to church tonight. 

Fiftly- I bought my plane ticket home I will be leaving on April 30th and getting to Bullhead the evening of May 1st. 

This week the Lord has also taught me not to take things that have been entrusted to me not so seriously, not to make them "my own" 

For almost the entire time that i have been serving here I have been making breakfast at the bible college.  We only have an hour to make it for like 30 people...so it is a little stressful.  We also don't just make breakfast, but a huge fruit salad and we have been making smoothies.  Well this last week the person that is in charge of the students hours in the kitchen told me that He changed everything there will be no more smoothies and he changed the menu.  Amazingly I was kind of okay.  A couple of weeks ago I would have gotten really upset, but the Lord is helping me showing me that I am just a servant it's not my place or right to get upset about things as I am just in His service. 

  Well that's what the Lord is teaching me... if you want to contact me my e-mail is gracehensley@hotmail.com.  If you are interested in supporting this ministry please go to www.sgwm.com under Latin America there you'll see a missionaries tab I am there.  You can click on my picture and see what's going on here and donate if you'd like to.

I went to the beach today with some friends that are also missionaries here they are teachers at the International Christian School. 

  We drove through the McDonalds and grabbed some lunch...so funny to do that here...then about a 45 minute drive and we were there.  We also went with a missionary family who have 4 children, who are all white with blond hair...they said the funniest things...like

I know why m&m's are called m&m's..."why" I asked?  To which he said,"because when you eat them you go mmmm..mmmm..."  Hehehe...It was cute. 

  Then when we were coming back a song from Phantom of the Opera came on and he asked ..."Is this Ket Green?"  we all laughed....It was so nice to spend time with kids and just soak up their pure joy of the sun and the ocean...being all covered in dirt but loving it!

    Then i went to the Believer's night which is a bilingual service every Sunday night here....it was nice we watched the movie, "The end of the spear"  because the boy in that movie..Steve...He's going to come to the church here next Sunday night and personally share with us.  That's really neat I am looking forward to that.

    Please keep this coming week in your prayers...that the classes will go smoothly and that many students will be ministered to through the Word. 

   God bless you!~

En Cristo, Grace

Well my alarm might have gone off this morning, but if it did I didn't hear it.  I woke up at 7:00!  I am supposed to be at the Bible college at the latest 6:45 every morning, and it was 7:00.

  So I got all of my things together put my hair up and caught a taxi to the bible college...3 soles.  *smiles*  Only 1 dollar.  Still it would be better if i got up early and walked.  I wish i was more of a morning person. 

  Just as I was getting here so were the figs.  So that worked out really well because I made fig and plum juice this morning.  Everything got out to the breakfast table pretty much on time which was a blessing. 

   Then I got everything ready for the classes...as it was Deb's first day teaching.  She is teaching the highest level of English classes that we offer, so it is quite intimidating because many times the people that you are teaching have studied more English grammar than you have.  We did the class together and got through it.  *grins* 

    There are a lot of people that are coming that don't go to the church and that aren't believers which is so great as that means that we will be sharing the love of Jesus with them for almost 5 hours a week, and they are there to learn. 

   I was busy running around making sure that everyone had everything that they needed.  It was and is a lot to do to administrate everything.  But I have to give all of the thanks to God because I have never gone to school for any administration classes or anything like that, but He has helped me and the school is growing and more people are coming and more teachers are interested in teaching so that means that I must be doing something right. 

   Tonight I had my level 1 B class.  I have been with these people for 6-7 months now as their teacher, and it is exciting to see how much they have learned and are able to understand now. 

   I also was able to talk to a couple students for about 30 minutes outside just chatting and I shared with them the vision that the Lord has given me to open up schools like this in different areas perhaps all over the world.  

   Please continue to keep all of this in your prayers...as I know that.....

  "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it;  Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." Psalm 127:1

    There is so much that the Lord is doing here that is unseen and i couldn't even describe it to you if i wanted to, but just keep praying. 

   Goodnight....God bless!  Buenos Noches...Dios te Bendiga! 

In Christ, Grace

p.s.  If the Lord puts it on your heart to support me please go to www.sgwm.com and look for me under the Latin America tab.  Thank you. 

 

Okay...so only a week ago the 7 week English classes ended.  There was a week long break, and the classes are starting again tomorrow, March 3rd. 

  Last semester there were 3 teachers.  Llubitza was teaching 2 classes, Marysol was teaching 2 classes and I was teaching 5 classes. 

   The Lord called Llubitza to serve in a different ministry here at the Bible college....so that left only Marysol and I.  But God is so so good.  Because in only one week he provided 5 teachers!!  Don-an American Bible college student, he'll be teaching 1 class.  Deb, she has been a missionary here in Peru for alomost 2 years, she'll be teaching 1 class as well.  Alejandro is a Peruvian that is graduating this semester from the highest level of English that we offer.  He'll be teaching 1 class.  Marysol-this will be her third semester teaching she'll be teaching 3 classes.  Yesmi-she is also one of my students that is graduating this semester, she'll be teaching 1 class.  Lastly I will be teaching 3 classes.

 All together there are aver 100 students in the English school now!  What an amazing ministry!

   The Lord also blessed me with the opportuinty to start teaching the Bible college students that were interested in learning how to teach ESL.  There are about 8 students in that class. 

    Please continue to keep the students and teachers in your prayers. 

 *Also please pray for me as i will be going back to Arizona in 2 months to start an English School like i have here in Bullhead City.

 Prayer requests...

1.  That the Lord will greatly bless this semester and bring many people to Himself. 

2.  That He will provide reliable transportation for when I am back in the States

3.  That He will bless the rest of the time that I have here in Peru. 

4.  That He will prepare the hearts of the Latinos in Bullhead to receive the Gospel. 

 

"For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. " Isaiah 61:11

During the month of October I was blessed with the opportunity to join a group of students from the Calvary Chapel Bible College on a mission trip to a town called Canete. This town was badly hit by the earthquake which happened on August 15th. 

                                                         


We were in Canete and the surrounding area for a week where we helped about 10 families by tearing down walls, moving huge mounds of dirt, doing puppet shows for the kids, and dramas as well as giving out food to hungry families.

The Lord opened the door for us to not only tell those precious people about His love, but show them with every shovel full of dirt that we moved and every hug that was given that He had not forgotten them. 
                                                                       
Upon returning to Lima the Lord blessed me with an opportunity to tutor a lady named Rosy. She was wanting a promotionat work and the interview that she would have to take would be in English. Although this meant that I would be teaching 8 hours a day and then tutoring her for 2 hours after that the Lord gave me the strength.

The second session she told me that she was a Catholic. So I didn't push anything I just taught her English and was friendly. After coming to the Bible College for about 4 days she started asking questions about what we were doing here and why was in Peru. I would answer her questions and we would continue with our classes.

On November 8th I asked her if she would like to read in English from the Bible. She said she would like to. Then she started asking me questions about the Bible and Mary and if I would explain the trinity to her and why do Catholics worship saints.

The Lord is amazing as He gave me every answer to her questions in His Word. And I saw a change in her...she understood and believed in what Jesus had acomplished for her, and that He wasn't on the cross anymore, but alive in her heart.

She now is coming to church and would like to take some classes at the Bible College. Praise the Lord!!

(I don't have a picture of her and I but this her mother and her mother's friend who were part of my English classes this semester.)

This last week many of my students graduated as they completed the first level of English classes. I have seen such amazing growth in each of them and am so blessed to have each of them as students and friends.

It was also my birthday on November 28th and so my students threw me several parties, as I teach six different classes. The last day of class fell on my birthday which worked out great because we had a double celebration. I have never felt so loved! They are all amazing people and I can do nothing but praise God for this opportunity.

                                                              


Evangelism here in Peru is amazingly easy. People already believe in God because of their strong Catholic base, but most don't go to church nor do they even understand what they profess to be.

For the last month or so a group of about 15 of us from the Bible College have been going to a huge park in a nicer part of Lima. There are always a huge amount of people. I have personally seen people on the brink of tears at the truth that we have shared with them from the Word. There are so many people just dying to have life!




Things coming up-

I will be leaving for Chile on December 13th-19th to renew my visa. I will be going with 3 other people and none of them know Spanish so I will be the only translator please pray for that. Also it is an 18 hour bus ride. Pray that the Lord will give us many opportunities to share with people.

The Lord is expanding the English classes as I was able to give the curriculum to a missionary in Bethlehem, Israel who will be starting a Christian based English school reaching out to Palestinians. Also there will be another missionary here in Peru that will start teaching using this curriculum within the next month.

Also one of my students that just graduated from the highest level will start teaching this coming semester. Her name is Llubitza and she would like to be a missionary in the future and so she will be able to use teaching ESL as a tool.

Please pray that the Lord will use this time of Christmas to open the hearts of the people here even more to the truth of our Savior Jesus Christ!

 Love to you all in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 Grace