Let me introduce you to our friend….

There are just those kind of friends that have the gift of helps, a big heart, and willing spirit. This is just the beginning of a description of our friend. Let me introduce you to….Martin Fernando Velasquez Levano. This young Peruvian Christian man is also bi-lingual so we have no doubt God put him in our lives to help us as we live and work in this Spanish speaking country!

Martin lives with his Mother and elderly Grandmother (who is blind). They were living in a cardboard and used lumber one room, lean to with a dangling light bulb in the center of the room, and a set of bunk beds for the 3 of them to share. His heart’s desire is to serve the Lord and he is a great asset to the American Teams when they visit. Friends from N/C began to sense the Lord speaking to them and they wanted to do more for Martin than provide him with a love offering every year when he translated for them. Over a period of time, the N/C Christians had fundraisers and provided the finances for Martin to hire a contractor and to work along side of him to build a home for his family. He has put hours and hours into this house, and welcomes friends to his home to share what God has done for him!

Martin translates for us regularly at meetings, conference calls, and sometimes when we are at church and need some help with the language, he shows up just at the right time. Since he is employed part-time, he is available during the day when most of our business meetings are held. He’s been to Lima, Callao, and Lurine with us. He does errands for us all the time going into the city of Lima to save us the time. He places phone calls for us and makes appointments and secures taxis when we are struggling to do so ourselves. Martin is a computer graphic designer, prepared our colorful brochure about our ministry, made the DVD from Don’s photos, and added the music. I could go on and on, but that’s not the point.

The point is that God knew we would have problems as we journeyed this way. He also knew the solution to those problems. We met Martin about 6 years ago and a friendship developed as we returned to Peru each year. This past year he has become like a family member. He drops in on occasion to use our internet. He does most of his computer design for the Americans at our house. (That’s why we save up our computer questions and tap into him as a resource when he visits.) A glass of juice, piece of fruit or cheese sandwich keeps him mighty happy and we are only too glad to share such snacks with him.

Just the other day, my computer was not charging properly, and I discovered the power cord had a cable that appeared to have been bent in half. I remembered the little girl running through the airport lobby at the Delta gate who ran behind the seats we were sitting in, and tripped over my cable as it was plugged into the wall outlet as I was working. Not sure that was the problem, but the connection is very loose and the cable is getting hot when in use. Sure enough within 24 hours my computer was no longer able to access power as the cable needed replacing. After a quick call to our friend, as we have done many times, we caught a bus (after the half mile walk to the bus stop!) and met him at a local place to give him the power cord. He happened to be on his way to Lima to meet a friend. He called later in the evening to tell us the ‘damages’ to our wallet and purchased a replacement cord for us, returning to our apartment the next day with the solution! If it were not for Martin, this week’s BLOG would not have been written or sent, because I was unable to use my computer. That’s a friend. One who has the gift of helps, a big heart and willing spirit. Thank you Lord! Thank you Martin!