Betty and I first came to Peru in January of 1988. We had spent the year before in Mexico learning Spanish and preparing for the field, then arrived in Arequipa with our four young children and hearts full of faith. We didn’t know exactly what God would do, but we knew He had called us. Over the next twenty years, we watched Him plant churches, raise up pastors, and send missionaries across this beautiful country. Peru became home. Our children grew up here, learned the language, and fell in love with the people.
Even after God led us back to the States to start a church, a mission agency, and a Bible college, a part of our hearts never really left. Our family’s roots run deep here. Our son David and his family continue serving faithfully in Arequipa. Our son Chris and his wife Andria gave twenty-five years of their lives here. And now our grandson Joshua is here for the first time. It is his first flight, his first trip overseas, and his first chance to see the country that shaped our family’s story. Watching him take it all in has been pure joy.
We arrived in Lima late on October 2 and went straight to our Airbnb for some rest. The next three days, I preached at Pastor Rubén Effio’s church in Callao for its 22nd anniversary services. The church was full each service, the people sang with all their hearts, and God’s presence filled the room. It felt like coming home again.
After the anniversary services, we traveled to Arequipa to be with David and his family. Their home sits about 8,300 feet above sea level, surrounded by mountains that take your breath away, literally. My oncologist had warned me not to come because the medicine I take affects my oxygen levels. He said the altitude could make it dangerous, and he was right. My oxygen levels have dropped at times into the high 60s and low 70s, so I have had to rely on supplemental oxygen most of the week.
I have preached sitting down, with clear oxygen tubes running under my nose. It feels funny and a little embarrassing at times, but I so desperately wanted to be here. I wanted to walk these streets again, see these faces, and preach God’s Word in the place that will always feel like home.
At the start of the week, my oxygen saturation was very low. But on Sunday, God worked a miracle. I preached all day, three full services, without needing oxygen at all. That was nothing short of His strength in my weakness. I am still sleeping each night with my oxygen concentrator beside me, but I am grateful beyond words for the breath, the strength, and the grace God has given me to be here.
On Monday, I spoke at a pastor’s meeting hosted by Pastor Pablo Villegas. Over a hundred pastors, leaders, and students gathered for the service. Even though I preached from a chair, God’s presence filled the place. Then David preached, and what a message it was, one of the best I have ever heard him preach. Watching him lead this work with humility and love fills my heart with joy and peace.
And this morning, I finished preaching in chapel at the Bible college we started back in 1989. My message was simple: love God because He loves us, and then love people. That is what it all comes down to. That is what brought us here in 1988, and it is what still drives us today.
This has been one of the happiest weeks of my life. I have seen God’s grace on display and had the joy of sharing with my closest friends what He has been teaching me, how His love for me is changing me every single day. I am so glad that I am not who I was and that every day He is making me a little more like Him. I can trust the One who saved me to finish what He started.
I have had a sweet time with our family. I have watched our grandchildren laugh and play in the city where their parents once grew up. I have seen God work a miracle in my health and breathing. And over and over, I have remembered all the goodness and mercy that have followed me all the days of my life.
Betty and I have celebrated God’s goodness almost every day here. It feels a little like heaven touching earth. After all, eternal life does not start when we die. It has already begun. Jesus said eternal life is to know the Father and the Son. And to know His love, right here and right now, is life itself.
Every breath is mercy. Every day is grace. And every moment here in Peru has been a reminder that God’s goodness never stops pursuing us.
With love and gratitude,
Austin