More Than a Week
October 13, 2026
For Aaron Poulin, a childhood in Peru is becoming a foundation for a calling of his own.
Some of Aaron Poulin’s earliest memories of Peru are ordinary chores: watering the grass so it would grow and carrying water from the well to sprinkle over the dusty ground.
As a missionary kid, those daily routines were part of life in the place he called home. So were the people who shared his family’s house, sometimes for months or years.
“I thought that was normal,” Aaron remembers.
Growing up in Peru for more than a decade, Aaron learned that ministry happened throughout everyday life. His father taught him to see a purpose in whatever he was doing.
“Anything you do, it’s for God,” he says. “That’s the mindset Dad built for us.”
Today, as Aaron senses God leading him back to Peru as a missionary himself, those childhood lessons are taking on new meaning.
Faith in Everyday Life
One of the people who helped shape Aaron’s faith was Huber, the pastor of the church his family attended in Ica. Aaron would visit his home for discipleship, learning both how to follow Jesus and how to navigate daily life in Peru.
One favorite memory involves sitting on the roof of Huber’s rented house, near a sink, while the pastor taught him to wash clothes. It was a practical lesson, but Aaron remembers it as part of a larger investment in his life.
Looking back, he sees how ordinary moments can become opportunities to teach spiritual truths, much as Jesus used familiar experiences to help people understand His teaching.
The relationships surrounding Aaron also shaped his understanding of family. His biological relatives lived far away, but the people nearby became important to him. His best friend’s father, Victor, became someone he thought of as an uncle, and Victor’s wife became an aunt.
Those bonds have kept Aaron connected to Peru long after leaving.
A Difficult Goodbye
Aaron was 18 when his family returned to the United States. He was sick and spending considerable time in the hospital, and his health needs were the reason for the move.
The transition was difficult. Along with adjusting to a different country and dealing with illness, Aaron carried a sense of guilt about his family’s departure. At the time, he felt responsible for leaving the life they had built.
Returning to Peru later brought another wave of emotion. The place he remembered had continued changing. Dirt roads had become paved streets. Grocery stores had appeared where there had been none.
“I just sat there and bawled,” he recalls.
Inside the church, he found something especially encouraging: people were still faithfully serving. The ministry had continued after his family left.
Friends he had known as children had grown into adults with callings of their own. One boy Aaron remembered as a childhood troublemaker was now a missionary. Seeing people he considers family serving the Lord has become one of the things that most excites him about returning.
Recognizing a Calling
Aaron began sensing a call to missions about two years ago. As others encouraged him to learn to preach, he began preaching in his church and considering what God might have ahead.
On September 22, 2024, he shared his plans with his friend Emily, who lived in Peru, through a text conversation. She told him she had similar plans. Their relationship began that evening, and Aaron saw their shared desire to serve as an encouragement as he continued discerning his calling.
Now, as they look toward marriage and a future return to Peru, Aaron sees opportunities for more churches to be planted and more church planters to be sent.
Learning to Lead
Recently, Aaron returned to Peru as the leader of a Volunteer Student Missions team. It was his first time leading a team, and he questioned whether he could do it.
During one difficult stretch, the team could not find lodging. After searching throughout a small town and asking for help, Aaron reached the end of his own answers and began praying. Eventually, a woman opened an unfinished hotel for the group.
The experience strengthened his confidence in prayer and helped him recognize that God could enable him to lead.
Introducing students to Peru also gave Aaron an opportunity to share his own story.
“It didn’t feel like I was a tour guide,” he says. “I was telling them about my home.”
He hopes the students returned with a deeper understanding of the Great Commission, one that shapes short-term service, openness to long-term missions, and daily life.
“At home, at work, where you live is a mission field,” he says.
Preparing to Go
Aaron asks the BMA family to pray as he and Emily prepare for marriage, pursue her visa, and look toward serving in Peru. He also asks for prayer that he will grow in readiness, step outside his comfort zone, and become more willing to initiate conversations with others.
His own journey is still unfolding. But when asked what he would say to someone wondering whether God might be calling them to missions, his answer is direct:
“Go.”
For Aaron, that invitation rests in the greatness of the God who calls, and whose faithfulness he has seen in the place he hopes to call home again.