Our mission trip to Peru was amazing! We partnered with Make a Miracle to build a second floor onto the home of a family who went through our sponsorship program. Another day, we had a baby shower for Jacky. She is receiving an education in Cosmetology through our sponsorship program as well! We were also able to have several business meetings about Freedom House, including a meeting at the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations where we were given all of the information and steps to legally open a refuge home in Peru. You can read more about those things in Part 1 of this post! 

 

The Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations, or El Ministerio de la Mujer y Poblaciones Vulnerables, is also known as the MIMP. Our meeting at the MIMP was even more amazing than we could have imagined. God had gone before us and set everything up! We were able to sit down and talk extensively about refuge homes and how to open one in Peru. We learned that in all of Peru, there are 39 refuge homes for abused women. In Lima, there are only 8 homes for abuse victims. Usually, those homes house between 8-10 women and their children. That equals 64-80 slots for abused women in a city of 11 million people. 

 

We also learned that there are no homes for human trafficking victims, and that all trafficking victims are sent to a temporary home in the jungle which is a home for abused women and doesn’t have a curriculum for the restoration of trafficking victims. Also, there are no government programs for abused women after they leave the home and it is up to the refuge home itself to teach the women a trade or find a way for them to be educated so that they can find work after they leave.

 

Freedom House will be the first home for girls rescued out of sex trafficking in Peru. After our meeting at MIMP, we are much more equipped with the knowledge needed to open a refuge home in Lima, and we were also given documents explaining the legal process and requirements to do so. We had several connections with the woman that we met with through other people, and it was so great to see how God has been working behind the scenes over the past 6 years, since we went to Peru for the first time in 2010.

 

Throughout the second half of the week, we also had several other business meetings. We also went shopping at the Inka Market for handmade items to sell at our Missions Gala on November 3, which will raise money to buy the land for Freedom House. On Sunday, we were able to visit Centro de Fuego church and share about Freedom House as well as reconnect with all of our dear friends there. We also had the opportunity to go into a women’s prison with a team and share with the women there.

 

We are dreaming big for Lima, Peru, and the beautiful thing is that God is dreaming big for Peru and we are just joining with Him to bring His dreams to life. Isn’t that what missions is all about? It’s about being God’s hands and feet. It’s about being the influence that changes the world for His glory. It’s about letting His dreams become our dreams and His heart for a nation and a people become our heart.

 

Thank you for your prayer and support, and thank you for dreaming with us for Freedom House. 

 

In His infinite love,

 

Ellyn Hunt