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Paul and Sarah Tester are our link missionary preparing to go to Peru. They are working for the South American Mission Society (SAMS).
If you want to keep up to date with Paul and Sarah contact Peter Rolfe our
SAMS link at St Thomas or regularly check out our Mission Link Page
(You can also listen to the podcast of Paul and Sarah speaking here.)
Here are some of the articles about their work taken from the Church Magazine.
2006 Preparing to Serve in Peru: Introducing Paul and Sarah
2010 Paul and Sarah Visit St Thomas'
2011 Equipo Lima -St Thomas' Team going to Lima
2011 Equipo Lima -St Thomas' Team preparing to leave for Peru
2011 Equipo Lima -St Thomas' Team return and report back
2011 Equipo Lima -What the Team did
Preparing to Serve in Peru: Introducing Paul and Sarah (April 2007 edition of magazine)
Paul and Sarah Tester visit St Thomas’.
If you remember in last month’s
magazine we were asked to pray
for Paul and Sarah Tester who
were preparing to go out to Peru with SAMS, (the South American
Missionary Society). SAMS is one of the mission organisations St
Thomas’ supports and we have ‘adopted’ Paul and Sarah in particular.
On Sunday 18 February 2007 Paul and Sarah came to St Thomas’.
They spoke at our services telling us a bit about their back
ground and what they will be doing in the future.
Both are from Christian families, Paul is from Aylesbury and Sarah
is from Nottingham. They met at Durham University where
Paul was studying civil engineering and Sarah modern languages,
including Spanish. Sarah felt a call to mission at the age of
14. She was praying about what subjects she should do for
GCSE and she felt God was telling her to do modern languages
because He wanted her to go and work one day as a missionary
in South America.
During one University holiday they went out to do mission outreach
work teaching English in Mexico City. However they believed
God was calling them further south, to Peru.
After graduating in 2001 they married and went out to Lima in Peru
for ten months with SAMS. Paul helped build a local church
and Sarah taught English in a school. They also got involved with
youth and children’s work in the local church.
On their return to the UK they still felt called to go back to Peru.
However they were advised to get some practical experience so
Paul has worked as a civil engineer for five years
and Sarah as a primary school teacher.
They are now training at Redcliffe Mission Training College,
Gloucestershire` in preparation for returning to Peru in August
2007. They are learning more about God and cross cultural mission
work. They hope to use their professional skills in God’s
service in Peru.
Paul and Sarah shared a Bible verse that spoke to them about
what they should be doing. It was John 4 v14:
Jesus said “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life."
The reason they felt this verse applied to them is because Lima is
a very dry and barren place. Nothing grows there naturally because
it never rains. The only way to get things to grow is to water
them. They felt God was challenging them in two ways.
Firstly to try and meet some of
the physical needs of people in
Lima as there is a great deal of
poverty.
Secondly, and through the physical
help, to be ministering spiritual
water, so that people may
know Jesus and have a relationship
with Him.
So with the skills they have they hope to meet both of these
needs.
Please pray for Paul and Sarah as they prepare to do God’s work
in Peru.
Paul and Sarah Visit St Thomas' (August 2010 edition of magazine)
Paul and Sarah are one of the Mission Partners that we support at St
Thomas’. They work for the Church Mission Society (CMS) in Lima, Peru. At the end of May they visited us whilst they were back in the UK for a few months. We were able to get to know them a bit better and find out what they have been doing.
Paul and Sarah spoke to the Editor of Ploughshare.
Editor: Paul and Sarah, the obvious question, how did you end up in Peru working for CMS?
Sarah: When I was a I teenager prayed and asked God what I should study. I felt God telling me to study languages so that I might be able to go to South America one day to do mission work. So I did study languages, including Spanish at Durham University and then trained as a primary school teacher.
Paul: I met Sarah at University where I was studying civil engineering. We went on holiday to Mexico and felt very much at home out there and called to mission. After graduating we went to Lima with the South American
Missionary Society (SAMS) for a year. This is when we felt we were in the place God wanted us to be. We then worked in the UK for a few years to get experience in our professional jobs and then went out again in 2007 until now.
Editor: What sort of things are you doing out there?
Sarah: I work with a play scheme which goes to various places in the shanty towns around Lima. I also help in our local church’s Sunday school with the young children and a ‘Compassion’ child sponsorship project. Paul works with the older children. He also uses his civil engineering experience to help with building, renovation and repair work.
Paul: I feel called to engage with young people and bring them to God. I lead a couple of youth groups in the local churches and am helping grow youth
mission and build up youth leaders in the whole Diocese of Peru (which is the whole country).
Editor: How did you come to faith?
Paul: For me. there was no blinding light experience, unlike my namesake. We both grew up in Christian families and were inspired by our parents who have been a great example to us. They have shown God’s love and presence in their lives and we felt it ours. We both went to praying churches where God seemed to be present all the time.
Editor: Have you ever had doubts about being a Christian?
Paul: Yes. During my teenage and university years I asked questions and often forgot about being a Christian. Deep down however I always believed there was a God and he could care for me. When I did go off and do my own thing I found God showing me, indeed challenging me, that I did need Him and a relationship with Him. And he sent Sarah along to show me!
Editor: How have you seen God directing your life?
Sarah: When I young I was surrounded by my relations and was very close to them. We did lots of things together including going to church on a Sunday. It was a surprise then when, as I described earlier, I felt God directing me to
mission. However I felt I had confirmation of God’s direction because shortly afterwards I read Matthew 19:29. [Everyone who has left houses, a brother, sister, father, mother, children or fields for my sake will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life.] I have to admit it was not a totally pleasant
surprise as I had expected to be closely surrounded by my family for the whole of my life.
Paul: God has directed me in lots of little things (and one big thing). I am usually quite successful in what I do. I was pretty good at school both
academically and at sport. However a couple of times I have ‘failed’ in my life and it has been a bit of a surprise to me. I applied to Cambridge University and made a hash of the interview and did not get in. At school I was the
leader of the RAF cadets. I applied for a University RAF scholarship but didn’t get that either! I did not understand why God had ‘allowed’ this. Only looking back can I see what a blessing ‘failing’ these two things was. I went to
Durham University where I met Sarah. There we started to explore our calling.
Editor: Have you a message for us at St Thomas’ and St Peter’s
Sarah: God challenges us all to become missionaries and move outside our comfort zones. Paul and I have gone thousands of miles away to Peru but you can be a missionary nearer to home, in this country, in Chesterfield, even in your street. God called Peter, an ordinary fisherman, to follow him and he obeyed. Our prayer is that with a bit of Peter and the power of the Holy Spirit, you can reach out and spread to Good News whereever God wants you to.
Editor: Paul and Sarah, thank you for coming to see us and telling us about yourselves and your work in Peru. God bless you both.
Listen to what Paul and Sarah said and see pictures here
Equipo Lima (Team Lima) (April 2011 edition of magazine) and (June 2011 edition of magazine)
Last year when Paul and Sarah Tester, our Mission Partners in Lima, Peru visited us they issued a challenge to church members: come out to Peru to see what it is like and help with a project. Some ten people have taken up the challenge and will be in Lima from 27 July to 18 August 2011.
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In about three months time on 27 July a team from St Thomas’ will be flying out to Lima for three weeks. They are Peter Rolfe, David Sanderson, Alison and Pippa Shemwell, Robin and Val Dawson, Joe and Marian Pateman and Michael and Catherine Mann.
Whilst out in Lima they expect to be doing various tasks including helping at a children’s holiday club, developing a play area, painting a mural and helping in any other way they can.
In preparation for the trip they are all learning Spanish. Some are also
improving their puppet and drama skills and they are all going on an
orientation day in June.
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Alison asks us to prayer for some specific things:
- Completion of the travel arrangements.
- The health of the team.
- That the team and Paul and Sarah can know what God wants each of them to do.
- Bonding and relationships within the team.
- That the team will be able to show the love of Jesus to the people they meet.
We look forward to hearing more about their visit when they return.
Read about the Bishop of Peru here -who comes from Brampton
Equipo Lima (Team Lima) (August 2011 edition of magazine)
In the last edition of the magazine we introduced Equipo Lima (Team Lima). Just to remind you they are Peter Rolfe, David Sanderson, Alison and Pippa Shemwell, Robin and Val Dawson, Michael and Catherine Mann and Joe and Marian Pateman.
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In the last edition of the magazine we introduced Equipo Lima (Team Lima). Just to remind you they are Peter Rolfe, David Sanderson, Alison and Pippa Shemwell, Robin and Val Dawson, Michael and Catherine Mann and Joe and Marian Pateman.
As you read this the Team will have just arrived in Peru. Before they went there was a lot of preparation. In June the team went to an ‘Orientation Day’ to get an idea of what to expect in Peru. The topics were wide ranging and covered, among other things, dealing with Peruvian immigration officials,
travelling around a field on a trailer to simulate flying in turbulence across the Peruvian mountains and being crammed in a minibus to simulate Peruvian means of road travel. They also were introduced to Peruvian food, customs and worship. There was quite a lot of role play and part of the day was
conducted in Spanish.
At the beginning of July the team had a 'Team Building' day -clearing some ground on John and Ann Small's smallholding, which was very much akin to the Peruvian jungle!
All of the team have been to Spanish classes. When asked to give a talk to their class to test their Spanish, some of the team gave their testimonies!
The team would like to thank everyone who has helped them make this trip possible by their prayers and generous gifts. They would also like to thank the St James Place Foundation for giving them a grant of £500 towards the cost of materials for the work they are going to do.
This is a summary of the team’s itinerary:
After a long flight (via Miami) the team arrive in Lima on the evening of Wednesday 27 July. However there will be little chance to rest as the next day happens to be Independence Day in Peru –with the associated Fiestas
Patrias! They then have a couple of days of introductions, buying supplies and visits to churches in shanty towns and to a Youth Mission. The first
Sunday, 31 July, is spent at their base church, San Juan Evangelista, before they start ‘work’ in earnest.
The team are landscaping a garden for the children and helping to run a children’s holiday club (and the children are already excited that St Thomas’ puppets will be there!). David Sanderson is also delivering an evening course at a seminary.
From Wednesday 10 August, the team is back together to help with the local ‘Compassion’ project, giving food and support to the poorest children in Lima.
Before returning home they are having a few days holiday, some travelling to Colca Canyon, notable for its depth and a good vantage point to see condors in flight, while others visit the old Inca city of Cuzco or stay in Lima. They leave Lima Wednesday 17 August, landing at Heathrow next morning.
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Equipo Lima (Team Lima) return and report back (October 2011 edition of magazine)
In the last couple of editions of Ploughshare we have read about the Team as they
prepared to go out to Lima to help Paul and Sarah Tester, our Link Missionaries, who are
working at the San Juan
Evangelista Church.
Now that they are back each member of the team has written about their three week experience. Here are some selected extracts from what they wrote.
On the practical side we created and fenced a nice little garden space and as a by-product caught the eye and approval of quite a lot of passers by and
improved the relationship between the church and its nearest neighbour. We improved the exterior appearance of the church and provided a much needed splash of colour in the grey-brown environment with our mural. The interior of the church has been improved somewhat by the painting we did on the screens and door.
We achieved a high degree of usefulness in the holiday club, both in preparation and in assisting Peruvian staff during the club.
One of the team gave the people at the seminary some refreshing teaching about mission.
With God’s help our motley crew’s skills dovetailed together.
Our devotions achieved a greater openness than I had believed possible.
We, and I hope San Juan Evangelista, learnt more about being members
together of God’s family. I learnt a lot from looking at how San Juan functioned compared to St Thomas’. I think we learnt that leaving our comfort zones is always worst in anticipation than in actuality. And it became more apparent to me how much St Thomas’ and its members are going to need to leave comfort zones if we are to get anywhere.
Being the way we were -a really weird group of people who didn’t really know each other -we had to really trust God to knit us into a working unit.
I came to know a gracious Christian woman leader, Teophila. She is in my heart and I will hold there. Her gentle manner is such a witness for Christ and to have the church and the Compassion Project with all its noise and chaos literally on her doorstep week in, week out, is to me a miracle in itself.
It was a pleasure to be able to work alongside the Peruvian helpers and carry out my tasks with a good heart and enthusiasm -it was particularly nice to be accepted as part of their team and treated as one of them.
I felt a great warmth between the Peruvians involved in the church and us
gringos. I was very moved by our involvement in their church services, being part of a very welcoming worshiping community in a different culture on a
distant continent. The warmth and enthusiasm of the Peruvians transcended the fact that we were singing in Spanish with quite limited understanding of what we were singing about!
It was a privilege to be part of the team. We worked together harmoniously and got the jobs done. I learned to pray away minor hurts and irritations because I couldn't walk away from them like I can at home. We were living and working together for nearly three weeks and there was no alternative! I became more prepared to listen to, and appreciate, the others and to care about them when I gave my difficulties to God. I learned much from the warmth and easy acceptance of the Peruvians.
I had an amazing time which I will never forget. The impact that Peru had on me personally was unbelievable. It made me learn so much about myself.
Seeing Paul and Sarah working and their attitude towards everything was I
nspirational. God clearly shone through them both. I learnt a lot from them with their complete and utter trust in God: something I am learning to do myself more and more each day.The other thing I learnt is that
members of San Juan
Evangelista certainly make the most of what they have, and they go about their purpose with great attitude. I’m not sure I could say the same for us.
For me, having travelled very little, it brought the rest of the world and
especially the church much closer. I so much had the sense of one church. The congregation in San Juan Evangelista are as much a part of
St Thomas’ as we are a part of theirs. We did not have to speak the same
language to know that we were all brothers and sisters -and that is what they called us.
We reflected the body of Christ reaching across the ocean to them in a way we could never have done if we had stayed in England. No amount of money or gifts could replace our presence in their church.
We were embraced both spiritually and literally by the loveliest group of adults and children you could wish to meet. We went to them with a servant
mentality and they, in their turn, have asked what they can do for us at
St Thomas’. That is real partnership.
So, to sum up, we found that God knows best. We achieved all the tasks we had planned to do, we discovered brothers and sisters in a totally different
situation and we have formed a bond between the two churches for the future.
The Equipo Lima Team are Peter Rolfe, David Sanderson, Alison and Pippa Shemwell, Robin and Val Dawson, Michael and Catherine Mann and Joe and Marian Pateman.
Read about and see the altar front the team took with them
Equipo Lima (Team Lima): What they Did (December 2011 edition of magazine)
See and read about some of the things they did, including painting two murals, making a garden and helping at Holiday Club
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