Volume 5 Issue 7 July 2010

La Luz de Cristo para Perú

Sheep, Wheat, and Bees | BIBLE STUDY Within the past week, I have sat on a mountain top and watched a shepherd tend his flock of alpacas, llamas, and sheep; I have watched farmers harvest potatoes, sort potatoes, and watched others gleen the leftovers from the fields; I have enjoyed the sunshine as it shone through the wheat that was being tossed into the air to separate the chaff from the grains; and I have been fed honey straight from the panel out of the hive, with bees still hovering close and sticky golden honey dripping all over the table. So what does any of this have to do with anything, you might be asking? A couple of months ago I began searching for a bible study to do with our interns while they are here serv-ing in Peru. The study is not only open to the interns, but also to other missionaries, so I wanted to find something that would be applicable not only to the lives of young col-lege-age interns, but also to sea-soned missionaries serving full-time in the field. A tough order to fill, for sure! But, almost immediately, a pop-up window on the internet sug-gested a study called “Scouting the Divine”… a study about the themes of shepherds, farming, beekeeping, and vineyards and their applications in the Bible both then and now. “Hmmmm,” I thought. “We have all of those things in Peru and we encounter so much of that every day in our ministry. This looks interesting.” So we began the study in the beginning of June. And we were immediately struck by how often these themes occur in the Bible. We were even more amazed at how much of this we see in our daily lives here. Practices that the author refers to as “from back in biblical times” are actually NOT completely lost in the past, but are still practiced here in Peru every day. For example, almost no one uses a tractor to farm here… everyone uses oxen and a long wooden plow “like in biblical times”. And people harvest everything by hand here. And grains are harvested by cutting them at their bases with sickles, laying them on large blankets or

tarps, beating them with wooden mallets or allowing donkeys to walk on them to break open the hulls and separate the stalks, and then throwing them into the air to allow the hulls and bad grains to blow away in the wind while the heavier good grains fall to the blanket. I’ve never in my life fully appreciated the work that goes into wheat bread or oatmeal until now!

We live and work with people who are shepherds and who know how to use the REAL “slingshots” like David used to slay Goliath… they aren’t at all like the little rubber tubing type slingshots that we use nowadays. We have watched shepherds gently whistle or call to their animals and have every animal turn toward their master. And we have watched good shepherds search for wandering sheep, as well as bad shepherds who weren’t doing a good job of tending their flocks. I have said before that I never fully

understood nor appreciated the references in the Bible that told about sheep or farming, etc. I began to understand a little more about the references to pruning and vines when Billy was work-ing in horticulture, which was very helpful. But the sheep and farming and honey… that was completely lost on me until I moved to Peru. And now, after finding this particular Bible study, I’m understanding even more about God’s Word and His references to these themes. And more importantly, I’m finding new and exciting ways to make the Bible come alive to the peo-ple of Peru that we work with, because the Bible is so REAL for them… they actually LIVE these themes and can see them and use them in the lives DAILY! I’m so grateful for the times that I get to be a part of these practices (shepherding, farming, etc) and the things that I am learning about God via the people who work in these jobs every day.

“We had so much fun! Every day we did something different. We went to places that were off the beaten path—definitely not tourist spots—we got to see the real Peru. And we were treated to native Peruvian dishes in Peruvian homes… we ate cuy, anticuchos, sev-eral different types of chicken, picaron-nes… it was amazing! One lady even fed us honey straight from her hives! We shopped in traditional markets and tried all kinds of fresh fruits that we had-n’t ever even heard of. The people that we met were so friendly, greeting us with hugs and kisses and feeding us even MORE food. We were so tired every night that we fell into the bed blissfully happy and dreaming about the next day’s adventures.”

This month’s edition of “You Might be a Missionary” is taken straight from the lives of our in-terns… You might be a mission intern if... • you live in a rustic adobe home on the side of a mountain in the Andes with no plumbing and

no heat and you love your cozy “home”... • if your nightly pajamas consist of 3 pairs of long underwear, 2 shirts, a sweatshirt, 3 pairs of

socks, gloves, and a Peruvian alpaca stocking cap and you wear all of these items to bed every night…

• if random shepherds trust you to watch their animals while they go off to do other things… • if you find it perfectly normal to trek out into a corn field to “take care of business” before

bed… • if you routinely eat food that you cannot name or if your meat frequently comes with the feet

and head still attached… • if your weekend off is spent swimming in jungle waterfalls... • if you see nothing wrong with stuffing 25 people into a minivan or putting 11 people into a

taxi, not to mention their sheep and chickens… • if a bus ride means sitting for 5 hours with someone else’s dog in your lap, listening to sev-

eral different salesmen try to sell you miracle cures, stopping at every house along the way to possibly pick up passengers, being entertained by a toothless singer, and sweating pro-fusely because the air doesn’t work and the windows won’t open…

• if a day’s work includes snotty noses, parasites, changing clothes every hour due to the weather, translating, teaching, walking up and down the mountain several times, filtering water, singing, dancing, crying, laughing hysterically, and falling into bed exhausted at 7:00 p.m., and your last comment of the day is “this was a great day”…

You might be a mission intern!!!

WHAT IS LIFE LIKE FOR MISSIONARIES??? TAKE A LOOK INTO THE DAILY LIFE OF LAURIE & BILLY DRUM... March to the Beat — Daily life with The Drums

Bibles needed: We have re-cently been given the opportunity to work in a community in the mountains teaching Bible to the teachers and students of a public school. There are 80 students and 4 teachers. The students do not have Bibles. We will begin our work on August 18th. We would LOVE to be able to pro-vide each student with a Bible on that date, as well as provide each teacher with Bible stories and teaching materials for the classroom. If you would like to be a part of this effort, please use the form on the next page to support our Bible purchase. A good paperback Bible in an easy-to-read translation costs us $10-20 in Peru. A classroom set of bible story books costs $12. Thanks in advance for your help!!!

It’s all in your perception... Two spins of the same trip “You cannot imagine this trip. Every

day we went somewhere different and we were just about run ragged by the time it was all over. They piled us into the vehicle every morning at an ungodly hour and took us off on wild goose chases. Every road is a 4-wheel drive nightmare… I’ve never taken so much Tylenol in my life. And the food! We were served guinea pig with the feet and head still on! One night, we went out to eat in a tent that was set up on a street corner and they served us heart-on-a-stick! And when that lady pulled a panel straight out of her beehive and started cutting up beeswax and serving it on plates—I was done at that point! If one more person slaps a big sloppy kiss on my cheek, I’m gonna lose it. I’m stressed and exhausted. I just want to go home.”

This is a true depiction of a recent friend’s visit and we laughed about how different peo-ple might see the same trip. How would you “spin” this trip? In reality, everyone had a wonderful time! Is your optimism or pessimism showing today???

PERU OPPORTUNITIES:

MEET OUR TEAM: TANIA

Please continue to pray for the Kuyay Talpuy school projects and for the communities of Iscos, Patarcocha, and the new project in Tinyari. Pray for the medical campaign that will occur in the Iscos area in July. Pray for the medical mission team that will join us soon and pray for the Peruvian portion of the team who will join us in the mission. Pray for the community that we will serve—that healing will occur and that the love of Je-sus will shine. Pray for the interns who have joined us for the summer… Emily, Rachel, and Taylor. All three have begun their service in Peru and will work in the ministries here during June and July. Pray for the Peru team of mission-aries as we work to share Christ’s love with the people of Peru. Praises for INTERNS!!! We have been blessed with wonderful in-terns who are here to serve along-side us this summer… they are a big boost to the ministry and to our spirits! Continue to pray for our sons in Texas, Ryan and Miles. We continue to pray for all of YOU as you continue to support us through your prayers and your financial support. Thank you!!!

Prayers and Praises

MAILING ADDRESS: LAURIE & BILLY DRUM...JR. SAN JOSE 278…URB. SAN CARLOS...HUANCAYO, PERU TELEPHONE: 979.985.5268 (TEXAS PHONE NUMBER—RINGS US IN PERU) EMAIL: BILLY@DRUMSFORCHRIST.ORG OR LAURIE@DRUMSFORCHRIST.ORG NEWSLETTER: VISIT THE WEBSITE AT WWW.DRUMSFORCHRIST.ORG AND CLICK “NEWSLETTERS” SUPPORT US: USE THE FORM ABOVE, OR GO TO http://www.themissionsociety.org/people/drum

The Drums | HOW TO CONTACT US

WE WANT YOU TO MEET THE PERUVIANS WHO WORK WITH US DAILY TO SHARE THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

DEAR BILLY AND LAURIE, I will pray for you. Please send me your newsletter

by e-mail: ____________________________________ As God provides, I plan to partner with you by giving

$ _________ Per month / quarter / year for _____ years. I would like to donate a one-time gift of $ _________ I would like to sponsor a child’s education for $25/mo. ($300/

year). (Please write Special Project on your check) Name (PLEASE PRINT) ______________________________________ Address _________________________________________________ City____________________ State__________ Zip _______________ Phone _____________________ Home Church __________________ Email Address: _________________________________________

TAX DEDUCTIBLE GIFTS MAY BE SENT TO:

The Mission Society

PO Box 922637 Norcross, GA 30010-2637 USA

DESIGNATE GIFTS: “DRUM SUPPORT 5/321”

Interesting fact… the pueblo that has recently requested our help in teaching Bible classes to their 80 students is named Tinyari. Tin-

yari is the Quechua name for “drum”. What a coincidence! ☺

Meet Tania! Tania is a Peruvian certified teacher who is currently working with us in the Kuyay Talpuy education initia-tive. Tania teaches children in our center in San Juan de Iscos. Her mornings are spent teaching our 3 and 4 year olds and her afternoons are dedicated to our tutoring program for older children… she helps them with homework and rein-forces concepts that they don’t understand. She is currently participating in an English class being taught by our USA interns. On the weekends, she is heavily involved with her church teaching Sunday School and traveling to surrounding pueblos in the country doing evangelism (her passion) and teaching bible lessons. She will serve in the Spiritual Area during the upcoming medical campaign. We are so fortunate to have Tania as a team member and friend!

SHARE THE LOVE OF CHRIST WITH THE PEOPLE OF PERU. WWW.DRUMSFORCHRIST.ORG | 979.985.5268

Coming Soon: Calendar for July-December

Laurie & Billy Drum

3907 Old Oaks Bryan, Texas 77802 USA PRESRT STD US POSTAGE

PAID BRYAN TX

PERMIT #102 E-mail: billy@drumsforchrist.org laurie@drumsforchrist.org

July 8th Mission Intern Meghann Lau arrives for 3½ months of service. 9th-17th Medical mission team from Roswell UMC (Georgia) 28-29th Peru Independence Day Holidays 31st Intern Rachel Robertson returns to USA August 4th interns Taylor Knapp & Emily Heinz return to USA 6th-15th Medical mission team to the jungle (Halltown—Missouri) 18th Begin Bible teaching in Tinyari schools 23-27th Community Health Evangelism workshop September 1-9th visit from The Mission Society office 19-25th Prayer Ministry (Riverside Church—Georgia) October 9-17th Children’s ministry team (Covenant UMC—Alabama) 17th intern Meghann Lau returns to USA November-February 2011 Drums return to USA for furlough

It’s not too late to submit recipes for the International cookbook!!! Send your recipes to my email at

laurie@drumsforchrist.org to be included.