Krystal and Morgan to Serve in Peru

Dear Friends and Family,
      This summer we, Morgan Smith and Krystal Harrington, are going to Collique, Peru to work with a Christian organization called Operación San Andrés (OSA). OSA’s mission is “to combat the effects of poverty in the community of Collique in a holistic (spiritual, emotional, and physical) and sustainable manner by demonstrating the love of Christ in practical ways.” Our first experience with OSA was in the summer of 2012 when our youth group went on a mission trip to help OSA serve Collique through a sports camp and helping the local preschool. Ever since that trip, we have desired to return and serve in Collique for an extended period of time.  For the past few months, we have been working to answer this call on our life with the OSA Board of Directors and Dr. Luis Campos, founder.

     We plan to serve the people of Collique this summer by leading general health education classes for young mothers in the community surrounding the OSA house, including early stimulation for their children. Collique is an area of low socioeconomic status and the needs for education that we have identified are child development, child and adult nutrition, STD prevention, basic first aid, and general hygiene. We will be utilizing surveys to gauge the depth of knowledge on these socioeconomic issues before and after our health courses. This project will be a large part of the work that we do in Collique. Morgan will be using this project for her Honors Thesis at Baylor University.

     Other projects that OSA has identified in Collique include the continuation of their water filter project, assisting the local preschool, and supporting the student program at OSA. The water filter project involves providing education and delivering new water filters to families in Collique to reduce bacteria and parasite levels in the water, as well as gathering data about the effectiveness of the filters from families who have already received a filter.  At the preschool, we will provide assistance to the teachers as well as lead sessions in the summer educating the children on basic hygiene with an emphasis on oral hygiene and hand hygiene. OSA currently has a program that helps elementary, middle, and high school aged students through an educational enrichment program. We will assist the OSA instructors and lead special developmentally-appropriate sessions with each age group.     With every mission trip comes the need for financial support. We cannot fund this trip on our own so we must rely on the generosity of fellow Christ-followers for our funding. The total cost of our mission trip will be around $6,000 dollars.  This sum includes airfare, transportation in Peru, living expenses, supplies for our projects, and general traveling fees. While we appreciate any support that you can give, whether it be prayer, spreading awareness, or financial donations, we thank you in advance for helping us to follow our call to serve the people of Collique this summer.
     Please visit http://operacionsanandres.org/ to learn more about Collique and Operación San Andrés.  Thank you for your time and we ask that you please join us in praying to prepare the people of Collique’s hearts as well as our own for this summer.

Blessings,
Morgan and Krystal

"Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." ~Matthew 5:16