I did not want to leave their world!
A parent’s testimonial

Charlotte Ingalls, who has been min­is­tering in one our Peruvian cen­ters for almost a year now, has wel­comed her mom, Anna Lee, and her brother Victor. Here’s what poured out from her mom’s heart after the visit.

“Having the good for­tune to travel to Lima, Peru to visit my daughter Charlotte was a grace I will cherish always. I told many of my friends and family that Charlotte was hap­pier than ever and per­haps the hap­piest person I had ever laid eyes on!

There she was as we arrived in the air­port jumping up and down with Ceci. Then off to the cab ride to Barrio Altos, a new world unlike the com­forts of my home, yet in a sur­prising way full of more joy that I have ever expe­ri­enced. The sights and the smells of the unat­tended streets were pun­gent to say the least and their Heart’s Home dwelling was modest in everyway. Ben met us at the door with a big smile and there we were enveloped in the warm hos­pi­tality of three mis­sion­aries. The days we spent with them poured out the Holy Spirit in every aspect of their lives.

Their will­ing­ness to spend hours with Jesus everyday reminded me that I needed to do more of the same. My wit­ness of God’s final touches on their hearts and their aspi­ra­tions brought me to tears with a greater aware­ness of His pres­ence. It was so com­forting that I did not want to leave their world.

Charlotte made Victor and me a part of her daily living which intro­duced us to a variety of people with extraor­di­nary chal­lenges yet always a beau­tiful smile, a warm greeting and self respect. This was a stark con­trast to poverty at home. Some had des­perate living con­di­tions, others des­perate hearts and still others, espe­cially the chil­dren were lost and eagerly looking for a way. And in the midst of it all was Charlotte, Ben and Ceci who were always there living out their mis­sion of com­pas­sion and keeping hope alive for all of their friends. Somehow I have to believe that every person in the neigh­bor­hood saw the face of Christ in His three ser­vants. It was hum­bling.

Heart’s Home affords Charlotte and so many more a tremen­dous oppor­tu­nity to grow spir­i­tu­ally and intel­lec­tu­ally, while being pre­sent for the sake of their com­mu­nity. First hand, I saw the wor­thi­ness of her life half way around the world and left knowing, without a doubt, that Charlotte’s chosen “time out” in life would change her forever. And that made me very happy!

May God always abun­dantly bless the Heart’s Home mis­sion!”