Click on Clayton's picture to learn about his U.S. and west Africa ministry in the past.
Clay now leads St. Andrew's Global Mission team.



Below is Winner Patra, member of St. Andrew. He is preparing to become a pastor missionary back to India. If you would like to help with his seminary scholarship, please call the church office.






The following is the text of Morgan Mark's sermon on Sunday, August 20, that was part of the Mission Peru 4.5 report. (We called it "4.5" because it was an "extra" trip between our larger-group trips "4" last summer and "5" next summer.) Other speakers included Clayton Mark, Jerry and Dolores York, and Marolee Smith. The other members of the team included Mark Barton, and two Via de Cristo friends Donyce and Abigail Brown from First Lutheran in Northridge.

Ministry Partnership in Peru, Summer 2006

First, I want to tell you all of you, "thank you!"
I had an amazing 6 weeks in Peru. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced, or anything I could have imagined. As many of you know I have been involved in Mission Peru since the start in 1999. Every trip has a similar effect on me. I do believe it has a similar effect for most - a sense of overwhelming humility accompanied by a desire to be more thankful for what we have. I imagine most of us who have ever been surrounded by intense poverty would identify with these feelings.
Every time I have gone to Peru, I have come to realize that I am truly blessed, beyond what I can put into words. And throughout all of my trips to Peru I am constantly reminded of these blessings. I learn to be more grateful by the mere fact of seeing how these people survive. This trip had a different element to it. I was able to live more like they do. Albeit they took wonderful care of me, but I definitely got a deeper sense of how their lives are. It is slightly surreal. Even after I had been there for a while, and began to adjust, things that I would see, would break my heart - in good ways and bad. In a bad way---being invited into someone's home and just being dumbfounded at what these families have or don't have. But in a good way--- these same families wanted make you a special guest in their house, feeding you, giving you gifts, offering the nice chair etc., all of which we can clearly see they can't afford. What a joy I had listening to a devotion one night about how they decided to focus the whole evening strictly praising God for their numerous blessings, not asking for anything. It was so awesome to see and be a part of that worship.
Living among the people was eye opening. I came to realize even more so, how good it is to take in God in every breath - to live, walk, and breathe his goodness. The people of Pachacamac live on far less than what we consider to be the bare necessities, but yet they are overflowing with the goodness and radiance of God. Any time I was in Pachacmac I was able to take in a sense of happiness and overall just joyousness. The community exudes a thankfulness and a constant praise to God, for his abounding gifts to them. Being in Pachacamac, going a few days with only a moist towelette shower, eating crackers for dinner, the occasional flea bite, endless sand in my shoes, and being surrounded by amazing people who breathed God all the time, made for an eye-opening wonderful experience. That has changed my outlook on life forever.
I continued to witness the people of Peru taking each moment for what it is, being grateful for it, and making the most of it. Because if you don't, what is the point. Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." He goes on in verse 56, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in Him."
The kids of Pachacamac might not have actual bread in their bellies every night, but these kids are living a life full of the bread of Christ. They live their lives in a way that fully reflects God's goodness, regardless of their physical hunger. The idea of eating the flesh of Christ was at one point kind of bizarre to me. As I was reading about the bread of life, I learned that Christ promised that in this meal we would be partaking in the goodness of Christ. He promised it. He didn't explain how it works, but what matters is that he promised it. When we partake in the body of Christ, we remain in Him, and He in us. That is a promise that we can all take comfort in.
God sent His Son so that we might have life; so that we may receive Christ. The greatest thing I learned from the people of Pachacamac was this: it was to receive Christ, not just in word or in Communion but in all that I do. I need to receive the bread of life, Christ, in my mind, in my speech, in the steps I take, in the people I meet, in the work I do, in all I do, not only in the pews or the altar, but in my daily life.
I have a favorite memory from Pachacamac. I walked away from the rest of the group for whatever reason for a couple minutes by myself. As I was walking back to the "casa de los ninos" (house of the children) through the sand roads, surrounded by houses barely standing up and a few people doing stuff outside their house, I got a huge smile on my face, for no reason but that I was soaking in the goodness around me. God is there. God is at work and in full effect. God is here and is doing the same. He wants us to take him in, breathe him in, partake in him.
Today's Psalm, Psalm 34:8 says to "taste and see that the Lord is good." By taking in as much as I can in as many ways as possible allows us to receive the good news that Christ loves us and is with us, which is a good good feeling, knowing that God loves me and will never leave me.
Although I want to talk to you about the people of Peru and how you have helped and changed their lives, today I wanted to share with you, how they have changed mine. I encourage you to take Jesus' words here in John and apply it to your life. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. The bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in Him." I'd like you to attempt to take in the goodness of the bread in all you do, the goodness of Christ Jesus in as many ways as possible. It might take a minute to sit and listen or sit and watch. But God's work is all around us, and we are like a sponge just waiting to soak it up. As you watch the video now, see the smiles of the children and the joy of the Lord in their faces.