Lizzie helps young women find belonging in Peru

As Lizzie walks through the city streets of Lima, Peru she spots stickers on the ground asking, ‘Is your period late?’

These stickers, placed by abortion clinics, are scattered all over the city. “I see them everywhere, as I walk every 20 meters there’s another one” she says.

Lizzie, from Somerset, England, has been in Peru since 2014, wearing many hats in her role as an SIM mission worker. She serves with AIDIA, a local organisation focused on community development, Bible translation, church support, and church planting.

She’s also a water engineer, travelling high into the mountains to bring clean drinking water to remote villages, distributing water filters, teaching hygiene, and sharing Bible lessons.

Her time in the rural villages, where God has steadily directed her, has shaped the work she does now – discipling young women. While Lizzie still supports AIDIA, much of her work is now focused on her local Baptist church in Abancay, as well as two other large churches in the city.

Together, these three churches support small village churches, both spiritually and practically. Lizzie’s years of experience working in rural communities have made her a vital bridge between these worlds.

When Lizzie travels to remote villages, she visits rural churches that are often difficult to access. There, she has met many young women with steadfast faith but when they leave their villages to study or find work in the city, they step into an unfamiliar world; one where messages like ‘Is your period late?’ are plastered across the streets.

The city is full of distractions, temptations, and pressures that can pull them away from their faith. This struggle highlights the need for intentional outreach and Christian community.

There are three city churches in Abancay that do youth ministry, mostly reaching out to those who’ve grown up with a family connection to the church. However, it has been more challenging to reach the young people who have come to the city from villages.

“A lot of them are students, and education is understandably a priority. But it also takes up a huge amount of their time, leaving little space for other things.” Lizzie says.

Many of these young people are determined to work hard and succeed, but this can make it harder for them to engage with church and fellowship.

For all the strategies the team might come up with, Lizzie knows the ministry is deeply reliant on prayer. As Lizzie says, “The best thing we can do is pray.”

This Lent, which isn’t widely observed in Peruvian evangelical churches, Lizzie sees an opportunity to create personal space with God and seek His face.