We are just back in Lima for a few days now, enjoying the warm humid weather and the occasional sunshine! We had a great past week in San Jose de Quero and Usibamba with our home church, Grace Community Baptist, and some guest visitors from Asheville, NC.

After a night in Huancayo, we set out for the higher altitude of 13,100 ft of San Jose. This trip's purpose was discipleship and we saw God do some amazing things this week! Teammate Mindy McCord and I were the only ladies on the trip and we were able to spend some great time with a few of the women. We went through a few old testament stories with Maruja, one of the key people in town (store and hostel manager, mayor's sister). It was wonderful to see her read the stories for the first time ever, her excitement about the Word, and her insight into application! We were encouraged with her eagerness to share the stories with others, without any prompting from us. God really used us despite our limited language skills and spoke through the power of His Word. We also spent a few evenings with Arminda in Usibamba. Arminda has been difficult in the past due to her tendancy to dominate the conversation and overwhelm us with unrelevant questions. She has also expressed in the past a lack of regard for Mindy's and my ability to teach the Bible because we don't have kids. Yeah...

Well this time, we really saw a softening in her and more gentleness for which we were grateful. We had two great nights working through some discipleship material. God taught me a lot through this- showing His power in my inadequecies. It constantly amazes me when I give it all up to Him, readily admitting that I am not able to do anything, how sufficient He is and how gracious. The men had a great week as well, spending very concentrated time with Teodoro, Godofredo, Rolando, and a new member of the group, Manuel. They had great results in teaching them to lead a Bible study using a passage of scripture and 3 simple question, what do I like, what do I not like, and what can I apply? I think the leaders were encouraged through this week and we are looking forward to seeing what is going when we return next month. We had a Sunday night Bible study in both towns, and both went really well. We were blessed to have 2 of the very best translators with us: Hector and Mijail, and they not only translate, they minister and pour into the people as much if not more than we do.

We are thankful for a wonderful time that was refreshing and encouraging. God highlighted this time with 2 clear nights where we saw His handiwork in the stars! You've never seen stars like this back home- trust me! You look up into the sky and you get dizzy because you see so much!

We will be in Lima for a few days until Saturday when we travel with a church to Jauja to help out with a baseball camp! Looking forward to this! We will leave this team early and head up to Ambo to see College Street ministering there before heading home to Huanuco for a few days. Ahhh home.

Blog Update:

So sorry its been so long! We have been on the move and when we stop- we still feel like we are moving...
So this blog is a recap of February!

After the great time with the team from College Street Baptist Church, we had a few restful days at home which were a blessing to us! I have been sewing and reading, David has been roof gardening and reading as well!
We headed into Lima around February 10 to meet an incoming team from Hesperia Baptist Church from Hesperia, CA. We arrived a few days early to meet with our bosses and discuss the near future and to sketch out our calendar for the next 6 months. We are going to be very busy- but are glad for that! More opportunities to see what God is doing here in Peru! We have also discussed the possibility of a relocation to Lima around September. While we love Huanuco so much, we have realized that it is not the most strategic location for us as our team changes. I would say that the move is pretty much a sure thing- but I wouldn't set it in concrete just yet.
We went with a team of 4 from Hesperia to a town called Tarma, nicknamed the city of flowers. Sounds pretty good huh? We drove into this mountain town that is located more or less between La Oroya and Cerro de Pasco, through fields of chrysanthemums, gladiolas, baby's breath and others! Que bonita! We stayed the week in the apartments above one of the Baptist Churches in Tarma. Hesperia is partnering with this church to reach a nearby town called Acobamba. Pastor Paul of Tarma was a great encouragement to us- to see his heart for the lost and for discipleship and training were remarkable. We spent the week partnering with Peruvian brothers and sisters from Tarma, evangelizing door to door 8 hours a day, for 4 days. At night we showed the Jesus film and the Hope film and had a Bible study.
They were one translator short for the trip, so David, Pastor Paul and I made our own team (no english allowed). We were stretched way beyond our comfort zone, in not only the language, but hey, the door to door thing. I think there are few who would say that is easy for them. But God was so faithful and was able to work through our shortcomings and fears show Himself powerful that week. David and I were able to share the gospel with over 50 people who received Christ as their Lord. As always its NOT about the numbers, but it was an encouragement to see their desire for a Savior. There are trained local leaders already in place for follow-up discipleship. WOW! Thats amazing! What a blessing to serve along side of these faithful brothers in Christ who desire to see their neighbors realize the love of Christ. We returned to Huanuco following this trip- thoroughly stretched, tired and refreshed. We spent a few days at home, during which time David helped a semi-local VBS by playing chauffer. So he didn't get a good rest from time in the truck. I did. Anyway. A few days later we headed back into Lima to pick up David's folks. We tried an alternate route which ended in a mudslide, detour, and a total of 13 hours on the road. But we made it to Lima nonetheless and spent the next day recouping while the truck had its day in the spa getting tuned up. We spent the next day on the beach! Rough huh?
That night Betty and Jim arrived. We spent 1 day in Lima, drove to Huaraz, drove to Banos, drove to Huanuco and stayed there 2 days, drove to Jauja, San Jose de Quero, and then to Paracas! Ahh Paracas! A day on the coast and we took a boat tour out to the Ballestas islands to see sea lions, pelicans, penguins and much much more! How fun for us! We went back to Lima and spent the night and got them on the plane the following morning. We had an adventerous time that morning, as our side mirror had been stolen the night before. So we set off on a quest to find a replacement. After 3 hours of fighting Lima traffic, we are not city folk by the way, we had the mirror replaced. We drove to the hotel to pick up the team from Santa Cruz from our home church Grace. I am writing this now from San Jose de Quero- but will post it in Lima- and will write more about this trip soon!

Pray for us as we go go go!