LIMA, PERU — The boy’s eyes stayed unfocused, his face blank, even as volunteers fitted him for glasses. Something in his posture made Scott Schallock, one of the U.S. volunteers at the vision clinic, pause. He gently held the 14-year-old’s arm and asked him to sit back down. This time, instead of adjusting lenses, Scott spoke words of life.
“God made you in His image. He gave you purpose. You are beautiful in His eyes.”
The boy’s demeanor shifted instantly. His smile lingered as he moved on to the next station, where he heard the gospel explained again. What began as a vision test became an encounter with God’s love that changed everything.
This single moment in a crowded clinic captures what happened across Lima during Serve Tour: compassion brought relief, and the gospel offered hope.
A Movement of Compassion
Over seven days, Send Relief’s Serve Tour Lima brought together 99 U.S. volunteers from 27 churches in 18 states, alongside 149 Peruvian believers from 11 local congregations. Together, they launched 12 projects across the city, serving 7,608 people.
During that time, 1,210 gospel conversations took place, and 151 people made decisions to follow Jesus. Seeds of faith were planted in countless others, and local churches are now walking alongside them with the hope of Christ.
The Spiritual Landscape of Lima
Lima is a city of striking contrasts. Skyscrapers rise over the city, but not far away, sprawling hillside slums hold families living without reliable electricity or plumbing. The streets pulse with color, music, and art, yet a fine coat of dust lingers on everything. Lima sits in one of the driest regions of the world—the second largest desert city after Cairo—and the spiritual climate often feels just as parched.
Across Lima, Catholic rituals are often blended with folk traditions and spiritual superstition. Churches and shrines are filled with candles, statues, and icons, while incense drifts through crowded streets during festivals. Each year thousands of pilgrims gather at the well of Santa Rosa de Lima, slipping written prayers into its stone opening in hopes she will answer. Yet idols cannot save; year after year, many people return to the same rituals, still searching for hope.
The gospel offers a different reality. As Paul wrote, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). In a place where eyes are often blind to hope, Serve Tour bore witness to the One who opens eyes and gives sight.
Healing the Body, Restoring the Soul
Every morning in the vision and medical clinics, patients waited for help. They came with blurred sight, aching joints, untreated conditions, and heavy burdens of the soul. Volunteers and doctors worked with local believers, offering care that met both physical and spiritual needs.
John Holston, a retired physician with decades of experience, reflected on the opportunity. “Every patient I saw was willing to listen to something spiritual. Many told me they believed in God but did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. To share that faith in Christ alone justifies us, not church attendance or rituals, was a blessing. Patients left in tears, and the local church was there to follow up.”
One man in the clinic listened as Pastor Eric Thomas from First Baptist Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia, and a teammate shared the gospel. His hands shook as conviction overtook him. The next day his wife returned to thank the volunteers for the change she had already seen in her husband. Later, he sent a voice message inviting them back to his home for ceviche, a classic Peruvian dish—a simple but powerful gesture of newfound joy.
Another man, 62 years old and grandfather to 25, was encouraged by volunteers about the influence he could have on his family. He began to weep as he realized the impact God had given him. After hearing the gospel, he left with new joy, his heart stirred to share Christ with the generations following him.
From teenagers to parents to grandparents, the clinics became places where compassion cleared the way for the gospel. Physical healing was important, but eternal hope was the true gift.
Empowering Families with Dignity
Not all projects focused on medical care. In a small apartment, down a dark, narrow hall, a mother who cares for her profoundly disabled adult son had prayed for God to use her life. “God, I’m here. Do whatever with my life so that I can help others. I’m Your daughter. I’ll do it.”
Her prayer became the seed of a vision. She had longed to start a sewing workshop in the front room of her house, where families caring for disabled children could find both income and community. Through Send Relief, industrial sewing machines and sturdy worktables were provided. Volunteers painted walls and prayed over the room, dedicating it to God’s purposes.
“I never imagined one day there would be so many people here,” she said, surrounded by her pastor, Send Relief missionary Matt Waldraff, and Serve Tour volunteers. “I’m so thankful to God because they have come to encourage me to share the gospel and help families of children with disabilities.”
Her daughter added with tears, “I hope this will not be the first or last time we see you. This is a small house, but it will always be your home.”
The workshop is more than fabric and thread. It is a place of dignity, opportunity, and gospel witness, birthed from the prayers of a mother and strengthened by the compassion of God’s people.
Safe Spaces for the Next Generation
At Pastor Walter’s church in San Juan de Miraflores, volunteers helped host a Bible Month parade where 280 children filled the streets, carrying banners, singing songs, and celebrating God’s Word. Inside classrooms, little hands decorated crosses, listened to stories of Jesus, and laughed through games.
Susan Moss, a volunteer from Wylie Baptist Church in Abilene, Texas, admitted she felt out of her comfort zone at times. “I thought I was coming here to bless them, but they blessed me. The children’s joy, the school’s welcome, the church’s hospitality—it was overwhelming. We came to teach, but we left encouraged.”
At another site, volunteers painted and repaired a hillside basketball court, making it safe for children to play. In neighborhoods marked by poverty and crime, the presence of a safe space for kids is more than recreation. It is protection and a place where people can gather, and the gospel can be heard.
Even in a project as simple as sanding and painting a church classroom, volunteers saw God at work. “I felt useless at first,” admitted Kelsie Littles from Cross Pointe Church Duluth, Georgia, on her first international mission trip. “We were just sanding walls while others were out sharing the gospel. But when the pastor told us he would use that room to teach children who would grow into preachers and missionaries, I realized God had given us purpose in every brushstroke. The enemy comes after the next generation, and it is so important to protect these kids. That room will be used and filled with the Holy Spirit week in and week out.”
From parades to playgrounds, from classrooms to courts, the next generation in Lima was touched by compassion and the Word of God.
Generations of Faithfulness
Among those participating in Serve Tour Lima were twin sisters with a unique history in the city. Sherry Smith and Cherry Himstedt are International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries who lived in Peru from 1961 to 1969. From ages 9 to 16, they lived in Lima, watching their father help start a church and lead a seminary, both of which still stand today.
“Even as children we understood why we were there,” Sherry said. “We, along with our parents, had a deep, deep love of the people of Peru. I come back because when I’m here I feel like I’m home.”
Cherry added, “The church our father helped start is still here. We feel so blessed to see the growth of the Peruvian church. The missionaries were our family. We called them aunts and uncles. The community continues to be family. We still stay in touch. There is a special bond.”
Their connection to Peru has never faded. Over the years, Sherry has returned on short-term mission trips five times and Cherry three. Each visit deepened their bond with the country and its people.
Sherry grew emotional as she recalled meeting another IMB missionary who told her, “We’re standing on your father’s shoulders.” Their parents, now in their 90s, are still alive. At one lunch, Sherry snapped a photo of her Peruvian meal and texted it to her parents, smiling as she explained she wanted her parents to share in the experience from afar.
For the sisters, returning to Peru is more than nostalgia. It is a call to keep investing in the next generation of leaders. “To see the Peruvian church still growing gives us hope for what God will continue to do here,” Cherry said.
Unity Across the Church
Serve Tour is powered by partnership through the local church. In Lima, 27 U.S. churches came alongside 11 local congregations, serving hand in hand. They painted, cooked, built, prayed, and evangelized together.
Kelcie reflected, “I thought sanding walls was small, but God showed me it mattered. Even when we couldn’t speak the same language, we felt the same Spirit.”
The security lights project in the Caja de Agua neighborhood revealed the strength of unity. For the first time in 60 years, the community gathered to celebrate. The mayor, police chief, and community leaders joined in. Traditional dancers performed, music filled the street, and volunteers were presented with a Peruvian flag in gratitude.
The very next day, when an unexpected fire broke out, those same neighbors rallied side by side, passing buckets of water and helping the church recover. The bonds formed through compassion had already begun to change how people cared for one another.
Beyond these moments, Serve Tour volunteers poured themselves into projects that may have seemed ordinary but carried extraordinary impact. Teams built a set of steep concrete stairs that now connect an isolated hillside settlement to the wider community. City officials had promised that once the stairs were complete, they could finally extend water and electricity to the neighborhood. This was a game-changing step for families who have gone without.
Other groups carved out the first green space the community had ever seen, painting and planting until children had a safe park to play in. In partnership with Vidas que Valen (“Lives That Matter”), volunteers served families affected by disabilities, offering joy, dignity, and reminders of God’s love. At a city jail, fresh coats of calming paint and Scripture verses turned stark cells into spaces where new partnerships were formed. These efforts even opened the door for a local church to co-host a soccer tournament with city leaders this fall.
The Gospel Response
Numbers tell only part of the story: 1,210 gospel conversations and 151 decisions for Christ. The true weight of Serve Tour Lima is carried in the lives forever changed.
For the boy at the vision clinic, God opened his eyes not only to clearer sight but to living hope.
For the husband who embraced Christ and the wife who rejoiced in his transformation, God began writing a new story for their family.
For the grandfather of 25, God awakened a vision for the spiritual legacy he could leave to generations.
From hillside slums to crowded markets, from teenagers to elders, the gospel is advancing in Lima. Only God brings living water to dry places, and that well never runs dry.
Beyond the Tour
At the closing rally, voices rose in Spanish worship, tears flowed freely, and pastors rejoiced over what God had done. Volunteers left tired but renewed, determined to carry the momentum home.
Matt Waldraff, IMB missionary serving as Send Relief Area Director of the Americas, captured the moment. “You came not knowing what to expect, but God was already at work. You represent 27 churches, and because of your faithfulness 12 projects were launched across Lima. But this is not the end. This is the beginning of what God will continue to do through His church here. Please, do not stop sharing what He has done. Tell your churches. Stir the hearts of others. Keep praying for Lima and keep coming alongside us.”
Serve Tour Lima was one week in one city, but its impact will ripple for years. New believers will be discipled in local churches. Children will grow in classrooms painted by strangers who became friends. Families of children with disabilities will find dignity and provision in a small sewing workshop. Communities will gather under new lights, not only safer from crime but also drawn toward the light of Christ.
Compassion offered help for today. The gospel brought hope for eternity. And the work is not done.
As Matt reminded the volunteers, “This week was just the beginning. God has bigger plans. Go home and tell what you have seen. Encourage your churches to come and join us. Pray for Peru. Serve your communities. And keep sending relief that leads to Jesus.”
Send Relief, a collaborative ministry between the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board, is Southern Baptists’ global compassion ministry. For more information on future Serve Tour trips, visit servetour.org/trips.
Click here to view photos from Serve Tour Lima.
Published September 26, 2025