Hey everyone!

David and I have made it back to Lima after a week long research trip in the department of Huanuco.  We left last Sunday and made the drive from Lima out to the city of Huanuco in a record of 8 hours.  Traffic was very light and I think the police only stopped us to check our documents once.  We spent the night in our destination city and hit the road for the "country" in the morning.  We traveled around all week in the west section of the department.  We were traveling with team member Christine Jackson- REAP North's best researcher and learning the ropes from her and leaning on her Spanish- which is better than ours:) 

Basically we traveled from tiny pueblo to tiny pueblo asking people if there were evangelical churches in the town, how many people attended and how many people live in the town.  We talked to pastors when we could, but many times the pastors were out in the fields working or didn't live in the towns they ministered in.  It seems like a simple task but its really not.  We are searching for places that have little to no evangelical presence in the area.  We didn't find any Baptist churches but found a lot of Assembly of God and Alianza (a sort of pentecostal church- but pretty close to Baptist).  Our days were long- and we went on some roads that really weren't roads.  At one point we were driving up a stream and it was still the "road".  Yikes.  David has done an amazing job driving- I am so grateful for that- however, there are still times when I shriek and close my eyes.  I'm working on it ok?  I'm not quite Peruvian yet. 

We were out in the middle of nowhere most of the week, though every night we made it to a larger town (2000 people) and stayed in hostals.  We saw some amazing places- that I doubt few gringos have ever seen.  We ran into a lot of road work- they are paving a section of road (gracias a Dios) and we found an alternate route to Lima.  Its quite a bit longer from Huanuco - about 12 hours- but from a possible adoption site- only about 6-7 which would cut a teams travel down considerably.  Plus its a nice road!  David actually got to drive in 5th gear.  He was excited about that.

We also moonlighted this week as a taxi!  When you are out in the boonies- people flag you down for rides constantly- so we packed the backseat with all kinds of people, teachers trying to get back to the city for the weekend, a Quechua lady with a baby (who needed a diaper change) and a young teenager taking some produce into the city from his grandparents farm.  Don't be alarmed- we aren't picking up strange men- we are being careful-but its a good opportunity to help someone and talk to them a little.  I was able to explain what David and I are doing here to three ladies at one point.  It really stretched my spanish- but was good to try the best I could.   Peruvians for the most part are good about looking out for us- especially if you've helped them or bought something in their store:)  But we met an especially nice man who owns a gas station in a town we spent the night in.  We got some gas one morning and asked for some directions.  We came back through several days later and stopped there to use the bathroom.  He was kind in helping us with more directions, telling us where and why some places were not safe to go, offering some very good advice, letting us park our truck there while we went to a store and use the bathroom for free.  David tried to give him a little money for helping us- but he wouldn't take it.  Might not sound like much- but you don't get anything for free around here- its hard to get information, a bathroom and a parking place for nothing- not even buying anymore gas from him... We got ripped off at the hotel in that town and it really just made my day seeing the kindness of this man. 

We have a signed lease for our apartment in Huanuco now!  Horray!  I expect we will be moving out there in about a week.  We've got to get our Peruvian ID's this week and get some paperwork completed and then we are off.  I'm very excited- every trip to Huanuco has resulted in a higher level of excitement about living there.  Its a great city- and we are getting more and more familiar with it.  

Please pray for us!  We are so blessed that you go to the Father on our behalf!

Prayer Requests:

• The ever-present homesickness for me
  
• Language!!!!!  Can't stress this enough
  
• A good relationship with our new landlords and neighbors
  
• An upcoming vision conference next month we are preparing for
  
• An abounding love for Peruvians
  
• Praise for our new home, safe travel and new friends
  

Love you all- please let us know if we can pray for you!!!

Sorry its been so long- but we've been on the go go go here. About 3 weeks ago or so, we left on a vet clinic trip with Crossroads church from KY. David, I and 2 translators: Mijail and Reuben headed out from Lima to Huanuco on Saturday morning. This was David's first driving adventure over the mountains. He did a great job and I think he might be part Peruvian. I made new rule that if I have to shut my eyes for more than 20 seconds he shouldn't be doing that. We saw a lot of snow on Ticlio and when we passed through Pasco (a very high section) we all fell deep asleep (except David of course) curtesy of the altitude.  We arrived in Huanuco after about 8 1/2 hours on the road.  We stayed in our familiar hostel and did some apartment hunting.  The next morning we attended the Baptist church and then picked up the team from the airport.  We headed straight out to Panoa, about 2 hours on dirt roads, yet another driving challenge for David.  We made it into Panoa- but the town was so busy that it took us a while to make it to the hotel.  The streets are only big enough for one vehicle and they are two - way streets.  They are also full of people.  But we finally made it and checked into the Hotel.  That evening we met up with Edmin and Maura for dinner and got ready for the next day.  Some of the team was having some trouble with altitude and we turned in early.  

The next day we headed out to a smaller village and set up shop.  The team did a lot of house calls and stayed pretty busy de-worming sheep, cows, pigs, horses, donkeys, and probably a few others that I am forgetting.  We did this for 3 more days in different villages.  It was a neat way to minister to the people there and most of their animals were in surprisingly good condition.  David jumped right in like he'd been doing it his whole life.  I liked doing the sheep especially.  

The last day we saw more chickens, dogs and guinea pigs than we had earlier and I spent most of the day explaining in my rotten spanish how to administer the medicine to their animals that they couldn't bring to where we were working.  That proved challenging.  I also held a few pigs, so I could say that I did.  But I don't really like pigs.

After we finished that day, we headed back into Huanuco for the night.  We had Italian food, but it still tasted Peruvian...

The next morning David and I and the translators headed back down the road to Lima.  Traffic was a little slow coming down some of the mountains and we hit Lima right at Friday night rushour.  It took us about 9 1/2 hours to get home.  We dropped Reuben off and we and Mijail made it to the hotel to give the team their luggage and supplies for their trip home the next day.  

We checked into the Martinika and got as much sleep as we could.  The next morning we woke up and greeted the team from our home church who arrived late the night before.  David's brother Daniel was part of the team and it was a huge blessing to see some family.  That morning we packed up the trucks and vans and got back on the road, heading this time to Huancayo- about a 6 hour drive if you don't stop.  We stopped.  So it took about 9 hours to get there.  The first part of the trip is the same for going to Huanuco, but the road forks at one point and if you go north you get to our city, if you go south you get to Huancayo.  We spent the evening in Huancayo and attended church the next morning.  We then headed out to San Jose de Quero and got settled into Maruja's hostel.  That night we prepared for the "True Love Waits" presentation the following day.  The next day we went to the high school and presented to the older kids.  I'm still not sure how I feel that this went and how well it was received.  I think overall we all agreed that the gospel presentation needed to be more clear and central.  

That night we had Bible study in SJQ and a small group held one in Usibamba as well.  The group was using storying and I felt that the study went well in SJQ.  It was good to see familiar faces and have some people remember us.  It was also really great to be able to talk to Maruja this time.  The next day we presented again in Usibamba and held Bible study again.  The last day we spent prayer walking in Usibamba, exploring a new area, visiting people in SJQ and having the last Bible study.  

We had unusual weather, including rain and 2 hail storms.  We woke up one morning to white peaks- beautiful.  That morning David and I got up very early to drive into Huancayo (we left our computer charger in the hotel) and it was a pretty drive.  I had my first driving lesson on the way back so I can now say that I've driven in Peru.  We picked up a man and gave him a ride- so that was a little intimidating, but I made it through! 

We headed back to Lima the next day- and we went the "back way".  Last year we took this same shortcut that more than doubled the driving time.  However this year we were assured that the road was more than half paved and was a lot faster.  So we decided to try it out.  It is one of the most beautiful drives with awe-inspiring views and a lot of llama herds.  But we got to the exact same spot that we had our first flat tire last year, and they were in the process of paving the road and we had to wait for over 2 hours for it be drivable.  There goes the "faster" description.  We enjoyed the layover though and David went swimming in the river there- freezing cold, but you know David, he said it felt wonderful:)  Some of the other guys got involuntarily wet, but thats another story for another day.

We made it into Lima and enjoyed a shower and dinner out with the team.  The next day was spent typically in the Inca Market, eating Papa John's Pizza, and all that jazz.  The following day we got some errands done and then took an overnight bus (our truck was in the shop) to Huanuco with Daniel and a translator friend of ours, JP.  We were planning on apt hunting.  We arrived early the next morning and after a few mishaps (like falling in a hole in the sidewalk) we made it to the hostel and started the search.  Long story short, we've found an apartment and have a deposit on it.  We are waiting for the office to work out the contract and hope to move in Sept. 1 or near to it.  We spent the rest of the time walking around, price checking appliances and furniture and scoping out new places to eat.  We found one restaurant we will not be returning to.  If I told you about it- you would swear I was making it all up.  Daniel and David ate cuy- which is guinea pig, and JP bought us emoliants- some sort of tea with alfalfa in it. Not too bad...

We took another overnight bus back and arrived in Lima yesterday.  Since then we have been doing some errands and remarkeably... resting!  AHHH!!!!!  wonderful.  We are supposed to be heading out on a research trip Saturday for a week or so in the Pasco area.  After that- hopefully we will be moving to Huanuco.

Please pray for us :

for continued language learning

for relationships with nationals

for the paperwork on the apt to go through

praise God that we were able to get plane tickets home for Christmas

We love and miss you all, please keep sending us updates on whats going on with you and how we can be praying for you.

We've just made it back to Lima after our first foray into the Huanuco area! It was an adventurous trip! We met with the team of 3 ladies from Crossroads Baptist Church, and 2 translators: Tula and Salomon Sunday morning to work out the plan and details. That night, the translators and us took the overnight bus to Huanuco- about an 8 hour trip. It was a rough trip for me, the altitude got me pretty good- so I spent most of the night being sick. We arrived in the city around 6:30 AM and rested for a while in a Hostal. We picked up the ladies from the airport, packed ourselves and about 400lbs of luggage into 2 taxis and bumped our way up to the town of Panoa- about 2 hours from Huanuco. We arrived late afternoon, settled into our hotel, ate supper at one of the many pollo restaurants (chicken and fries) and turned in early. The next day, we met Edmin and his wife Maura- who are the on the ground people for Crossroads and they were a huge help to us for the next few days. We discovered that they live both in Panoa and in Huanuco- so we will be seeing more of them in the future, hopefully. We took a few taxis about 10 minutes down the road (sometimes down the road means literally DOWN) to a small area called Molinas. We broke into two groups- Ramona, Salomon and me with the ladies and Debbie, Marci, Tula, and David with the kids. Ramona did a great job teaching the ladies, and they especially seemed to enjoy the crafts she brought for them to do. The kids had a great time listening to some Bible stories, coloring and eating candy- sounds good to me! We paused for lunch which was prepared behind the church by the pastor and few other men: fried trout and potatoes and rice, which was good! After lunch they held a second session for those who couldn't come in the morning. David and I played with the kids who didn't want to go home- but had already participated in the morning. We had an english lesson, played volleyball and took pictures. Kids here are so sweet and welcoming- all you have to do is smile at them and immediately you are friends. We left in the early evening to go pack to Panoa (pronounced Paw-Now). We ate supper and headed to the church that we were to work in the next day. We had a time of worship with them and David shared his testimony. It is fun to watch people respond to him, his love and friendliness come through so clearly. The next day we arrived at the church and held the morning session. I had the opportunity to do some translating- though not in the way you might think! Salomon is an excellent translator, and Ramona is a great teacher, but sometimes that Kentucky is hard to decifer! So I translated a few things from Kentucky to Spanish. 

We had trout and potatoes again for lunch- and talked to the Pastor of the church for a while. We rested up in the afternoon and visited the church for the next day that evening. Thursday we had a session in the morning and then headed back to Huanuco. We got the ladies set up in a hotel, checked into a hostal ourselves. Tula and Salomon were taking the overnight bus back to Lima that night- so we enjoyed the afternoon talking to them and getting some help with our Spanish. They are great! They headed out that night. The next day we took the ladies to the airport- made sure they got off alright- and then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Huanuco. We tried to get to know the city a little bit, and we found some of the areas that felt good and safe, and some we weren't so comfortable with. We met some missionaries who have lived in the city for about 12 years and were grateful for their advice. The task of finding housing is overwhelming as there are no real estate offices there- its all word of mouth. Please pray for us as we continue to try and figure out where to live and how to live in this city. It will take a lot of adjusting- though it is a nice city with a wonderful climate- very warm in the days and cool at night. There is no grocery store- only an open air market. I'm fine buying the fruit and vegetables that way- but the meat....I'm not so sure. Especially since we saw a whole pig hanging on a hook as soon as we walked in. How do you order bacon from that??? Just kidding- I don't eat bacon. Anyway- it was a challenge being on our own because of our spanish- that still needs a lot of work. Oh boy. But we are confident that God will provide ALL that we need.
Please pray as we struggle with not having a place to call home. Living out of a suitcase is getting a little old-it will be nice to be settled somewhere and have a base. I am having a really hard time with this, and feeling overwhelmed with figuring it all out. We are missing home and Guatemala and look forward to the day that Peru feels as comfortable as those did. Please also pray for my grandfather who is still having health problems and is in the hospital. Please send us an update on whats going on with you soon. We love hearing news from home, it helps with those hard days when we miss it so much. We'd love to be praying for you in anyway we can. We appreciate your prayers so much- they are a sweet aroma that is pleasing to the Father and vital to our ministry here.   

Hola from Peru!  What happened to the sunshine?????  Somebody stole it from Lima!  

**Left is our last day at school in Guatemala!**

We arrived to our destination country on July 4th.  We started our day by leaving San Juan at 2:30 AM.  Our host parents insisted on getting up and seeing us off- Domi looked like I felt- about to keel over into a coma, while Oralia chatted away like it was 2:30 PM.  Our trip to the airport and from then on out was super easy- no hiccups at all in the trip and all our bags made it.  Once we arrived, our supervisor met us at the airport and hauled us and the million pounds of luggage (actually only about 250lbs) to a hotel.  We rested up and then headed to a Independence Day party at Jeff and Liesa's home (our supervisors).  There we met several of our teammates, tried valiantly to make conversation- which wasn't easy after 4 hours of sleep the night before!  The next day we were moved to the IMB guest house here in Lima- where we are currently.  The guest house is very comfortable and we are living in a small apartment on the top floor.  I've finally got a kitchen again!  We've been here for about a week now, and we've spent the week asking questions about what we are supposed to be doing now...

We spent a few days on paperwork for visas, having orientations with our Language and Cultural acquisition coordinator and business manager, and going to Interpol (international police).  There we got our mug shots taken, fingerprinted, and had our teeth looked at.  All very serious business!  Don't worry, no crimes have been committed, everyone has to do this to get a visa:)  Since then we've been studying for our drivers license test (a whole new vocabulary in spanish for us) and getting to know our team here and Lima itself.  I have to say that we are definitely not cut out for big city living!  Thankfully we are heading out tomorrow for a trip with a sc church to Huanuco!  So we will get to see our city that we will eventually live in!  We'll come back for about 10 days and then head out again on 3 consecutive trips, have a few days off and then one more trip for August~!  Whew- we will be busy then!  But we are looking forward to it!  

We are enjoying some things about being here in Lima.  For instance, we have internet in our apartment- so thats really nice, and I washed clothes in a washing machine yesterday!  Our jeans fit again!  

Please pray for us as we adjust to a new culture, and a new rhythm of speech, and try to obtain all our necessary papers for life here.

Please pray as well for the trips we will be going on that they will be fruitful and the teams will have a servants heart.

Please pray for my (Cameron)'s grandfather as he recovers from a recent fall.

Rejoice with us in the arrival of our 5th niece!  Sadie Lu Estes

Pray that we will ever fall deeper in love with the Saviour.

Thanks so much- love you all!

June 24, 2009

This will probably be the last blog update from Guatemala! We are scheduled to leave for Lima on July 4^th. We have mixed feelings about leaving, we have loved being here and the people and the food:) But we are very ready to get going on our job. Our group is now down to 4, the four going to Peru. School has been dragging quite a bit- I think we and our teachers are just bored now! But we are still plugging along, doing the best we can. We have our exit interviews (our final oral exams) on Wednesday of next week with the school's director. Today is San Juan del Obispo's birthday and they whole town is celebrating the birth of their patron saint John the Baptist. The bombas started last night at 12 and our family along was responsible for setting off 36 “big ones” as our host mother told us this morning. After about 30 minutes of bombas, they say a prayer as a family and come home and sleep. But not for long, because the band comes by our house at 4 AM. I'm not sure why- no one seems to know-it's just what they do. I woke up pretty quickly with the bombas- mainly because the bed and window were shaking with the impact. David said that some of them were actually fireworks, with lights and everything. I took his word for it. I couldn't get my eyes open wide enough to see 'em. The band I remember hearing but not for very long. I am learning to sleep through a lot:) And today they had a mass and processional and a little fair or carnival set up for the kids in the plaza. Needless to say there is a lot going on here today!
We've had an exciting door open these past few days. The pastor from the church we've been attending (in another town) has been trying to get us in contact with a man who lives here in our town named Moises who is a believer. We finally, after weeks of trying, met up yesterday and talked for a while. He is very interested in starting a Bible study in his home, but doesn't feel confident enough to teach yet. We are meeting with him tomorrow night for study and then will meet with him again in his home later with his friends and family. We are going to try and focus on teaching him how to read and interpret scripture and teach others. It will be difficult, David will need to lead and teach, but our teammate Candy has the best Spanish. It is going to be a hard job for her to translate some, and David will have to stretch himself to do this. It is no small task. Please pray for him and the rest of us as we prepare. Please pray for Moises as well, that he will grow in wisdom and knowledge and be able to spread the love of Christ with confidence in this town.

Thank you for your prayers concerning our house, we are pleased to report that we have a newly signed lease and deposit. Please continue to pray that these renters will enjoy our home for the coming year!
Again, we miss you all and love it when you send us updates on whats going on!
Praying for you!

June 8, 2009

Hello all! I hope you are all doing well! We are into week 9 here and today just changed teachers for the third and final time. Its hard to believe that we will finally be in Peru in just a few more weeks! It seems like we've been waiting forever. Well, it has been a year now. Anyway- we've been puttering along just fine here lately. We've dodged a few stomach troubles for the past week or so-but I hope we are on the mend now. We've ventured into the subjunctive voice in our studies and please don't ask me what it is yet! I haven't quite figured this one out yet, but supposedly it is the last gramatical hurdle and then we just do a lot of conversation. Another of our group departed this morning so we are now 5. David and the four girls. Poor David. Don't worry, I'm brushing up on my “man talk” to try and give him something of a reprieve. We've also been watching a lot of Clint Eastwood movies. We are still working out at the mission in Alotenango and enjoying that quite a bit. This past week we sang the silliest song about a toad. I'm still not sure what it all means, but all the kids knew it and you get to yell “Jesus” really loud at the end and of course they love that. We had around 100 kids this week and at times it is very overwhelming and hard to keep their attention sometimes. Not to mention speaking/reading/acting in spanish, leading music (those of ya'll who know us well, go ahead and laugh-its definitely worthwhile!) and just trying to understand 25 kids who are speaking at once. Whew!
We will not be able to go back this saturday because we are taking a trip to Panajachel and Lake Atilan. If you have time, google it a look at some photos! Its supposedly one of the most beautiful places. David's birthday is Sunday and we are looking forward to a little vacation to celebrate. Check out my facebook page for photos sometime next week!

This past week we had the opportunity to visist a coffee farm very close to where we live. Fincas or farms here are more like old plantations. We visited the farm's school which had about 15 students (kids of the workers) hiked up a small mountain where they grow the coffee. Then we saw the dairy cow part of the farm, the farm chapel, one of the biggest trees I've ever seen, and the most amazing flower garden! It was the best field trip David and I could have imagined!
Please continue lifting us up in prayer in the following areas:
Team unity

Motivation and Endurance for language learning

Our work with the mission kids

Safety in travel

A renter for our house back home

Thanks for those of you who wrote us last time- it was great hearing from you- keep 'em coming!
Missing you all and praying for you!

Sorry for the delay~ I think I fell asleep on the job! In actuality, we've been pretty busy! We had our first exam 2 weeks ago and I 'm pleased to report that we both advanced to the next level. We also received some bad news that our renters are leaving. However, there are several families very interested and Jim is being our handler and lining them up! God also blessed us by selling our car so that takes the pressure off a little. Please pray that the new renters will really enjoy our house and take care of it. One of our team members left a week ago for Peru. Please pray for him as he changes scenery for a while and for us as the group changes and for David being the only man left. We had a week of celebrating his completion of language school including a very impressive surprise fiesta during class that Friday with all our teachers (who made the guacamole and several speeches) and a trip to Domino's for supper. We had an interesting cultural experience on our trip home from the restaurant. This was the lateste we'd ever caught a bus home before and didn't realize how full the buses were. We've ridden them when they were already unbelievable full- theya re old school buses with 3 people to a seat and people standing in the aisle. One time I was sitting and leaning a little forward and actually had a woman sit on the back of my shoulder for about 10 minutes. She was not a small woman. Anyway- this time it exceeded all precedents- when the bus stopped to pick us up, there were people hanging on the outside of it-but no worries, they had room for us 6 gringos. They just opened up the back door of the bus and shoved us in. I had no worries about falling down even though I had no handhold, because we were packed in there so tight. I could only bounce into those next to me. The speed bumps were interesting.
We've been returning to the mission that we've been working with. Last week we did a silly skit of the wise man/foolish man which they enjoyed. Unfortunatley at least 2 of their normal helpers need a break for a while and we've been recruited to replace them for the rest of our time here. So this week we stretched ourselves, and told a story in Spanish, made them answer questions and got them to act it out. We sang “gracias Senor”, “Allelu, allelu, alleluia...Gloria Dios” and Padre Abraham. They are sweet kids who just hug on us, and hold our hands and they discovered that I'm ticklish this week and look out Cameron:)
Last week I also visited a Malnutrition Center to play with the kids there. That was good but also very hard. I will probably go back- pray for protection for my heart. Please pray for David as well, he had a rough week health-wise and is still getting things back to normal. We only have about 5 weeks left including this one, so time is getting on and as much as I LOVE Guatemala, we are getting a ready to head to Peru and get started in our job, meet our team and our new city of residence and just GO!! Pray for patience and continued excitement and a burdening love for the people there. Please send us an update on whats going on with you all ! We don't want to be out of sight and out of mind and want to continue to pray for you specifically. Shoot us a line at cameronanddave905@yahoo.com.