The sun is out full force today in Huanuco and it is great to be here. We are soaking up these last few days here- visiting with friends and enjoying the best weather in the world.

We've been hopping around a little this past month, but not so dramatic as the last post!

Crossroads came to do ministry in the form of a vet clinic- which is always fun and an adventure. This year Edmin took us way out to the boonies to work, out to where Quechua is definately their primary language. We saw a lot of sheep, pigs, mules, horses, chickens and guinea pigs. We also slept on a dirt floor- all 12 of us in the same room. It was interesting...

David and I could only be with them for 2 days and then we returned to Huanuco. Shortly after that, we headed to Tarma for a Pastor's conference there. This time I escaped kitchen duty and got to sit in on the ladies' sessions. It was a good conference and we love Tarma. After Huanuco it may be one of the best mountain towns to live in. After the conference, we spent a morning witnessing in a small near-by town. The following day we headed into Lima and dropped off our first truck full of stuff at the Holder's house. We have begun the move...

We headed back to Huanuco and rested for a few days, then set out to do some research and got into a fender bender with a bus on a blind curve on those mountain roads. His fender didn't bend at all. Our truck is still in the shop. Thankfully everyone was fine and we got to see the Huanuco police in action (had to file a report). So we rested a few more days and then went up to Panao again, this time for the dedication of the Quechua de Panao New Testament! After 26 years of work- they had a celebration and distributed the Bibles. It was a neat weekend and really special for us to be able to to attend.

So here we are, back at home and getting ready to head out Thursday night to go to Huancayo to meet up with our home church and go to Quero for a few days.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers, we found out last week that we have been approved for a second term! That means we will go home this winter for 2 months stateside and then return for 2 more years, putting us here in Peru until early 2013. Thanks for praying for us!

Miss ya'll!

Whew! Its been a whirwind that's for sure. You won't believe some of the things I've done this week! But more on that later. We left Huanuco and researched our way to Cerro de Pasco and from there we drove to Huancayo and parked our truck at the church-bought our bus tickets for the overnight bus to Lima, saw a movie and took the bus all night. That was day 1. We arrived in Lima early morning saturday. David took care of 1 team's needs and in the afternoon we received the van for the New River team. The team arrived that night and the next morning we set out for Jauja. David did a great job driving the bus and we made good time. The hostel we stayed at was a treat! Very cool Colonial style with really hot water. We attended the church service that night. The next morning we started ministering in Molinos. We set up the medical clinic but the crowd wasn't coming. So we did a house calland the rest of the team went out tell people to come. By the time we got back from the house call they were lined up outside the clinic. Its difficult to share what all David and I did during the clinic. Generally we helped keep order, translated, brought lunch, coordinated the upcoming day, etc. I even translated a little in the doctors office and I can now say "do you have blood in your stools" in spanish. Of course I couldn't at the time, so you should have heard me try to "talk around" that one! We left this team early Wed morning and did some coordination for the upcoming medical trip this next week. From there we went to Huancayo and picked up a few things for the students in Quero. We made it up there and brought tears to their eyes when I told them that I'd brought stiff to make hamburgers for supper. Larry arrived that evening and we spent the next day visiting around Quero with them. Friday morning we drove early in the morning to the Jauja team, picked them up- left our truck there- and drove them to Lima. We spent the night and following day there in Lima, and that night we took another overnight bus to Jauja, picked up our truck, drove to Huancayo and then crashed for a few hours before church. We met the group from New Orleans at church and spent the day preparing for the week's upcoming pastors conference. I'd like to say the conference went well... but I don't know. I spent 15 hours a day either in the market or kitchen, helping ladies from the church prepare meals for 200 people. What an experience. I got lessons in my different types of ajis (pepper sauces), an even faster way to cut up a chicken (or 25 chickens to be exact) and the proper technique for cleaning chicken feet. Quite an adventure. I also had a major breakthrough that week. I had my first real dream in spanish- speaking and hearing in spanish. Of course it was about chicken... so I'm not sure if that was a breakthrough or just insanity... time will tell I suppose. The conference overlapped with the International World Changer's project in Huancayo- so we ended at 11 pm one night and started again the next morning at 7. Whew. We had a day of training and then we spent the rest of the week doing door to door medical visits. After this team, we headed into Lima to prep for our move there in September. We had a surprise awaiting us- some generous soul gave us a night at the Marriot- a cream of the crop hotel establishment located in the swanky part of Lima- every room with an ocean view. Very very swanky:) Of course we felt like the Beverly Hillbillies coming in with a very dirty truck and no clean clothes for ourselves. A little intimidating but a great time none the less. We got our errands done in Lima and then finally headed home to Huanuco, where we rested for a day. To celebrate this rest, the next day we took a 12.5 hour road trip to do some scouting for this upcoming week's vet clinic. So the past two days have been rest for the weary and now we have our vet clinic team in town and head out tomorrow. Please forgive the punchy note to this blog- but I think I just might BE punchy soo.... go figure ! Pray for us, our sanity and that the Lord will do great and mighty things here in Peru!

We are in town for just a few days and are heading out again Tuesday!

We just got back from San Jose de Quero where we spent the last week. Our team is grateful to have a team of students staying in Quero for 2 months! Our job this week was to get them started: familiarizing them with the people and area and strategy, teaching them how to cook, and as always enjoying being up there. The student team is GREAT! Go - getters and very grounded in the Word. We are confident God will use them mightily this summer. I enjoyed holding "cooking classes" every day and teaching them to shop in the market in Chaquicocha. If anyone needs some tips- I found a much faster way to cut up a whole chicken. I'm a beast.

Please lift these students up in your prayers as they minister "on their own" these next few weeks. We will be up to check on them in a few weeks with Larry Pumpelly, but until then they are holding down the fort.

We are enjoying Huanuco and the warmth very much today! We had a great time of worship at church this morning and had a visit from our friends Lindor, Zoila and Samuelito this afternoon. What a blessing to have been able to live here and make friends. We will surely miss Huanuco come September. However, we are excited about living in Lima as well- being close to our team will be good and make us more helpful to them. Please pray for us as we say goodbyes these next few months to our friends here though.

Our schedule peaks this month and I've listed it below so that you can be praying for us in "real time". I may not be able to update the blog again until mid-July. Your prayers are definately needed and we earnestly ask for them. We can not do the work here- we desperately need God to do it for us.

Tomorrow is David's 28th birthday and I have made Betty's famous Mocha Chocolate Torte Cake to celebrate the occasion. We are glad to spend the day together and in a warm climate:)

Here is our schedule- please be praying for us~

June 15-18: Research in Pasco area

June 18-20: Travel via bus to Lima to meet New River Team

June 20-22: Minister in Jauja with New River

June 23-24: Meet Larry Pumpelly in San Jose de Quero

June 25-26: Return to Lima with New River Team and Stay the night in Lima

June 26-July 2: Return to Huancayo with team from New Orleans Seminary for Pastors conference in Huancayo

July 2-July 8: International World Changers Medical team: I will be leading a team to the Quero/Usibamba area and David will lead one to the Jauja area.

July 9: Return to Huanuco.

As you can see its a lot of traveling and a lot of work- so lift us before the Father that we may have the endurance and right attitude to do all this well.

Thanks! Love to you all! Please send us updates on how you are doing and how we can be praying for you!

These past few weeks have certaintly been busy ones! We waited in vain for our new tires but the daily excuses added up to zero & so we left town and headed for San Jose de Quero. We made it with only 1 flat tire-not bad considering. There we met up with Mindy, Larry Pumpelly from our home church, and 10 South Carolina college students. They had already been there for five days or so. It was a great trip and a great team. We did some painting in Usibamba and some discipleship in Quero. We attended/led Bible studies in both of those towns and met with believers in Porvenir again. It has been a true blessing to be able to be in this area so many times this year. David and I are really seeing the difference that consistency makes in our relationships with the people there. We are looking forward to going back in a week or so to help get some suumer missionaries started. They will live and minister there for two months.
David and I had a really neat thing happen this past trip-the believers from Porvenir attended a Bible study in Quero one night and one of the couples wanted to dedicate their child that night and asked us to be godparents! So we are now godparents to a beautiful baby girl named Thaiza. What a sweet blessing for us!
Straight from Quero we along with translator JP split off from the Lima-bound group and headed to Huancayo. There we coordinated details for the upcoming pastors conference in June. Afterwards we went to Jauja to coordinate upcoming June and July trips there with our friend Miguel. We also enjoyed another flat tire (3rd of the trip) so we spent the night in the very nice Xauxa House and headed out the next morning for Tarma. There we met with Pastor Paul and planned for their upcoming pastors conference in July. We also awaited the arrival of the Southside Baptist Church team. We spent the next few days with them ministering in a town called Huasahuasi (wasawasi) focusing on evangelism. Now we are back home in Huanuco enjoying some much needed rest before we head out again.

Post from Lima:

Just a short note today! We are in Lima for a few days for meetings and training and are having some fun hanging out with our team here. We just got back from 4 days in San Jose de Quero, Usibamba, Chaquicocha, and Santa Rosa. We had Pachamanca twice- a traditional Peruvian special occasion meal. We met with believers in Por Venir (near San Jose), San Jose and Usibamba. We spent some time in discipleship as well. Here are some prayer requests for us these days...

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for encouragement for the believers in these areas, especially for Arminda (Godofredo's wife). Pray for us as well as meeting with her can be very discouraging.

Please pray for us as we make decisions about the future- it appears an extension is very probable in our future.

Please pray for the intense months ahead of us! And the exciting work ahead!

Well, we are back home for a little while anyway! We just finished up with a GREAT trip. A group from the South Carolina Baptist Convention came to provide medical treatment and counseling and widespread gospel sharing. We spent a day in Cansejos...

A camp of about 20-25 tents for the victims of a recent mudslide that completely destroyed this small town. Dr. Mark said that some of the older people had probably never had medical attention their whole lives. One young boy decided it was safer in the tree than seeing that doctor- poor fellow. We should have told him we weren't giving shots...

Even in the midst of suffering, these people showed their characteristic hospitality. After we had visited everyone, 2 men took us up to the hydrangea fields. Yes, fields of hydrangeas that they are growing to export to the US. He insisted on stopping to pick us "a few" and came back looking like this...

I think I might have swooned a little at these blooms:)

We were also blessed during the day seeing a group from Huanuco with our friend Edwin minister to the kids- they did a phenomenal job!

The next day- we enjoyed worshiping in the town of Ambo- site of the another tremendous mudslide that has left hundreds homeless and over 70 dead. We joined the congregation of the Alianza church and had a sweet time with them. After lunch we moved to one of the camps and shared the gospel and provided tent to tent medical attention. These days were challenging and sad, but joyful in being able to share the hope we have in Christ with these hurting people.

Monday was a travel day to Huancayo where we spent the night. The next morning we went to San Jose de Quero to minister there for 2 days. In this rural community, the house call method was more challenging and time consuming. But all around it was very effective. We know now where folks live and how to find them to check back up on them. We had a number of people pray to receive Christ and a full Bible study Wed. night.

One of my favorite stories is Elizabeth's mom. Elizabeth is a young mother we've developed a relationship with in de Quero. We stopped by to visit her and she asked if the team could see her mother who lived in a different town 15 minutes away. We agreed and picked up Eli. and her 3 kids later that afternoon. Her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer 14 years ago and had been living in fear of "death any day now" from it. The doctor was able to assure her that she did not have cancer and this relief opened her heart and she prayed to receive the Lord. What a blessing:)

We heard some sad stories these few days too. Please be praying for a 91 yr old lady who is still traumatized by the terror of the Shining Path, her murdered husband and disfigured daughter as a result of their terrorism. Also please pray for a young 8 year old boy who had fractured his thigh and received insufficient medical attention. He is now dealing with infections in his leg and chest due to being bed ridden. He has also become withdrawn and rarely will speak. Pray for his total healing.

This volunteer team was one of the very best I've ever worked with. They were truly hard working, servant minded and were a huge encouragement to us!

We welcomed a team from Crossroads Baptist Church to Huanuco yesterday. Today they headed out for a pastor's training in Panao- where we will join them later in the week.

But for the next few days we are going to kick back and catch up and sleep!

A piece of good news... we heard that there is a very high likelihood that we will be extended for another year! Thanks for praying about that for us!

Hey there! I'm writing this in between batches of muffins and cookies- Cameron's Bakery is open today folks! Actually I am getting ready for a team coming into Huanuco this evening. This is a medical and evangelism team that is coming to serve in Consejos & Ambo- locations very near Huanuco that have recently suffered from devastating landslides. Hundreds of people are living in tents, having lost everything. We won't spend more than a day in each location, but we are hoping to encourage and help the best we can in that time. We have been told that the greater need will surface in 2 weeks when government aid pulls out. David and I will re-evaluate needs at that time and plan accordingly. After the 2 days here, we'll head out to San Jose de Quero to work for a few days as well.

Maruja's hostal will definitely be our second home this summer, well ok, maybe our first home and our apartment will be our second home.:)
We actually just got back from San Jose, where we spent a great week discipling, leading and participating in Bible studies and teaching in the schools a little.

Going there is always an encouragement to us- its the kind of place you can just go walking around and not worry about safety or unfriendly people.

Anecdote: We went to visit Rosa, Maruja's mother. She and her husband live outside of town a ways. Eugenio usually rides his horse to the store to see us, but he was visiting in another town when we came calling. Rosa was standing in her doorway, hand on hip, peering out to see who the group of gringos was. She welcomed us warmly as always. I'm always taken aback at how short she is. I swear she only comes up to my rib cage! SO tiny- we could just pack her up in a bookbag and carry her around. I'll bet she'd love that! She always invites us in her house which is a big deal culturally, not at all common. We came in and sat down and Rosa began show and tell. We started with her football sized potatoes, which she insisted on giving us a bag of. Then she brought in an apron full of abas, beans that is, which she promptly put in the potato bag, insisting that it was only a few. It was more than a few. Then she tried to give us some of her freshly sheared- yet unwashed wool. Thankfully, we convinced her not to give us that. But she did show us how to spin with nothing but your fingers. In about 10 seconds she produced a string of yarn nearly a foot long. She then showed us old photos she had, one of her as a young woman- probably early 20s, her brother and a few others. That was really special. She is 78 years old, sharp as a tack. She remembered a joke she made back in January and added to it this time. She sent us on our way with detailed instructions on which way to go to avoid the mud and huge smiles for all of us. Rosa and I have the same hat. I love that.

The next, oh I don't know, 5 months are going to be a little crazy, but we are excited about upcoming trips.

Please pray for us:

As we still seek an extension,

Keep up with logistics for teams,

Ministry for the summer,

That our current renters will renew their lease or we will find new renters without missing a month

Thanks so much to all of you, we miss you and love you. Keep us updated on whats going on with you! We love hearing from folks back home or wherever this finds you!