Gradys On Mission Blog

Elias Update

2011-11-16T20:35:00.000-05:00

Words can't truly express how grateful we are for your prayers for Elias and his family over the past several weeks! As you all know, this situation was extremely severe and God has worked in a mighty way to bring healing to his little body.

He is now at home and is eating liquid foods and is gaining strength daily. According to a conversation with Ruben on Monday, Elias is now running through the house again playing like a normal little boy.

He will return to the doctor on 11/25 for a checkup and will hopefully be able to start eating regular food again. We will continue to update you on how he is doing, but for now, all is well and he continues to recover daily!

Recent Update on Elias

2011-11-02T11:11:00.002-04:00

First of all, we would like to thank all of you for your continued prayers for Elias. We haven't sent an update in a while mainly because we were traveling and in meetings, and so we didn't have much time or access to send updates. Also, Elias continued to progress during that time, but there wasn't anything major to report. Well, since our last update, Elias was removed from the ICU and was placed in a regular room. They began taking him off of the IV (his only source of nutrition), and slowly began feeding him formula through a feeding tube. He handled that change well, and so they completely removed him from the IV and he was only receiving the formula from the feeding tube. As of today, they have removed the feeding tube and he is now drinking liquids normally. He still can't eat regular food, but the doctors believe the he will be able to soon.

They have also allowed him to get out of the bed and are trying to help him regain strength in his legs and feet. Due to the fact that he was restricted to a bed for almost 3 weeks, he lost strength in his little legs and feet. As of Friday, he would just get frustrated and really couldn't do much. However, he can now walk again with help and is showing improvement daily. (Before this incident, nothing could stand in his way!)

They received a report several days ago that his hemoglobin level was low and that he may need blood. (I believe that the fear was possible internal bleeding.) Fortunately, that level hasn't decreased, which shows that there is no internal bleeding. However, it hasn't increased either. At this point, the doctors aren't real concerned about it, but are keeping an eye on it.

The future plans now are to continue helping him to regain strength in his legs and feet and to help him adjust back to eating regular food (with time). The doctors plan to do another MRI soon to see exactly how the internal wounds are healing and if it shows that all is well, he could be released as soon as sometime next week.

We really appreciate your prayers for this family and we truly believe that God has been hearing and answering them! At first, the doctors really didn't believe that he would survive. Now, they are all surprised at how well he is doing and how quickly his little body is recovering! While the doctors have done a good job, I believe that all credit is due to our Lord and Savior (and to each of you who have been interceding for him)! You all have been such a blessing to this family and they are eternally grateful for your prayers and generosity!

Please continue to pray for this family and for Elias! Hopefully our next "Elias Update" will be our final one letting you all know that he is back to normal and that the Lord is using this family once again to impact the Aymara people for His kingdom sake!

Positive Reports and Testimony of God's Power

2011-10-19T20:50:00.001-04:00

All day today, so far, they have received positive reports on little Elias!! He has had a slight fever, but it is lower than it was yesterday, and the doctors believe his body is fighting the infection.

They also decided to slowly start taking him off the ventilator, which is a good thing!

This afternoon, John was able to go in and see Elias, and he said that this was the first time that he has seen Elias awake and alert. Elias got so excited when his mom walked in the room that the nurses were doing everything they could to calm him down! They ended up making Luisa leave the room so that he would calm down some.

He is doing better than he was yesterday. Yesterday, it all looked grim. The doctor only gave him a 40% chance of survival. We sent out emails and prayer requests, and HUNDREDS, of people have been praying. Ruben and Luisa have been overwhelmed to see the messages and emails from people they don't even know!

After everyone started praying for a miracle, it was a amazing to see how God was working in his little body today!!! :)

This afternoon, a nurse rushed in to the unit and started telling everyone, "They are doing the procession outside with the little virgin. Go out there! She will make your family members all better." Literally everyone in the room (well, not the patients), but about 100 people, ran outside to pray to the little virgin and to give money, all with the hopes that she would heal and save their family member.

The only ones left were Ruben, Luisa, and John. The nurses asked why they weren't rushing out there too, because this would make him all better.

Ruben and Luisa have been a witness and testimony to the power of the one true GOD during their stay there!! They were able to share with the nurses today. They have been able to share with other family members that are there.

Praise the Lord for the work HE is doing! Praise Him for how He is already being glorified! May He continue to be glorified in all of this, and may He use this to be a testimony of Himself and to bring people to Him!!

Elias is still not out of the woods. They still consider these next 2 days as critical and say that if he is still doing good on Friday, then his chances of survival are really good.

Update: Elias

2011-10-18T14:24:00.002-04:00

The doctor just gave them really bad news. Elias has had a fever again. The dr. said, "This scares me to death." He also said that he has never seen anyone survive the surgery that Elias had. We are praying for a miracle!

Also, pray for Ruben and Luisa, as they are not handling the news very well!

URGENT Prayer Request

2011-10-18T12:42:00.002-04:00

Many of you remember us mentioning the names Ruben and Luisa, the pastor of the church in Huancane, where we used to live.

Their little boy, 2 year old Elias, is in critical condition. On Friday evening, he swallowed a flat battery, about the size of a penny. He had to be transferred by ambulance 5 hours away to a better hospital over night and arrived there early Saturday morning. That afternoon, they performed surgery to remove the battery, and also to repair the hole that was made in his esophagus as the battery acid leaked out.

He was told that he would be in the ICU for at least 10 days and then the doctors would know more. John flew to Arequipa to be with the family during this time, and just this morning, the doctor let them know of the very serious state Elias is in right now.

Yesterday afternoon, Elias had a fever. This is a sign of infection, which is not good. Today the fever is gone (a praise!). However, the doctor told him that the 5th and 6th days are the critical points (Thursday and Friday). Basically, the dr. told them that he if can live past Friday, then he will have good odds of surviving. The dr. said that right now he has a 50% chance of dying and a 40% chance of living. (I'm not sure what the other 10% are?) The fear is that an infection will set in from the acid and saliva that leaked out of the hole in his esophagus and spread to the rest of his body.

PLEASE PRAY that no infection will set in! Pray that his little body will be strong enough to fight off infection and that he will heal fully and quickly. Even if he survives now, the dr. explained that he could still have future problems (scar tissue closing his throat, etc). Pray that he will heal completely and not have any further problems! Pray for guidance and directions for the doctors and wisdom in knowing how to treat him. Pray for GOD to be glorified in all of this!

Ruben and Luisa have been told how many people are praying for them and they are very encouraged by that right now. Luisa said that she has , "full confidence he will heal because of all the people praying for him."

These next few days are critical. When you think of 2 year old Elias, please remember to pray for him!

Thank you!

Laguna 69

2011-06-22T15:24:00.001-04:00

Well, as most of you know, we have had a team of 3 college students from GA with us for the past 6 weeks doing some research in the Corongo Quechua and Southern Conchucos Quechua areas. Not only were they able to gather some important data for us, but they were also able to go from town to town encouraging local evangelical churches and believers along the way. As a reward for all of their hard work, we decided to bring them back to Huaraz for their final few days and allow them to relax in a nice and comfy hotel here in town. This also allowed them time to go out and do some excursions from this area. On their first full day in town, they decided to stay around Huaraz and do some souvenir shopping. On their second day in town, they decided to take a day excursion out to a famous glacier lake a few hours outside of Huaraz.

On Monday morning, we woke up early and headed out at about 6:30am to drive up to the trail head for Laguna 69. The road isn’t pleasant, but the scenery is breathtaking along the way. Therefore, we drove up past the Llanganuco lakes and parked at a nearby campground to begin our hike. Everything we read said that it would take about 3 hours of hiking to make it, and so we knew that we would spend most of the day hiking up, enjoying the lake, and hiking back out. Therefore, we set out and began the trek up to Laguna 69. Along the way, we passed several waterfalls and other beautiful scenery. After about 1.5 hours into the hike, we leveled out into a flat area and were very thankful that the climb was over (or so we thought). Unfortunately, we had one climb left that would lead us to the lake. I say unfortunately, because after all of the other hiking and climbing, it was exhausting to climb that last part (but well worth it!).

Richard and I finally made it to the lake after about 2 hours and 15 minutes of hiking. Coming over the last little ridge and seeing the spectacular blue color of the lake made it all worth it! After resting for a while and taking some pictures, Patrick and Phillip made it up to the lake as well. We let them catch their breath as well and then started charting out our next trek up to the glacier above the lake. We were told that it couldn’t be done, but we were too close not to reach the glacier. Patrick and Phillip decided to sit out on that part, and so Richard and I began our trek up to the glacier.

Unfortunately, we made a bad decision on our first attempt and ended up backing down a pretty tough to climb mountain. After regrouping and charting out another path, we set off again. The second attempt proved to be more fruitful, but equally as difficult and dangerous as the first attempt.

Once we finally reached the glacier, we snapped a few pictures, ate some ice (we left our packs with our water down at the lake with our friends), we decided to head back down. While there near the ice, we could hear it breaking loose and see pieces falling, and so we didn’t want to stick around any longer than necessary for the fear of being caught up in an avalanche.

All in all, it took us about 2.5 hours (even including the first mistake that we made) to get up to the glacier and back down to the lake. Once we returned to the lake, we met back up with our friends who decided (after we left) that if we actually made it to the glacier, then they would jump in the freezing cold water and go for a swim (not to be out done by us reaching the glacier). We showed them the pictures that we took as proof and they set out for a private place to change into their swim trunks. Surprisingly enough, they both jumped in and went completely under the water. And about as quickly as they jumped in, they jumped right back out, dried off, and changed back into warmer clothing.

After all of the fun at the lake, we started our descent. Fortunately for us, it was mostly downhill, and so we just let gravity do the trick to get us back down and off the mountain. Patrick and Phillip were “rejuvenated” by the cold water, and so they didn’t have a problem with the descent. However, Richard and I were totally exhausted by the additional climb to the glacier, and so the descent was about as painful as the climb up!

All in all, it was a great day and a fantastic hike! If you are ever in the Huaraz area and have an extra day, I highly recommend that you take the climb up to Laguna 69! I won’t say that it is easy, but I will say that it is well worth the effort!

Summer M Update

2011-06-13T14:57:00.000-04:00

Only 1 1/2 weeks left! The guys have been here just over 4 weeks, and now they are beginning to wind up their time here.

Here's a summary of their journey so far this summer:

long drives over BUMPY roads
speaking in many churches
encouraging the believers
making friends in new areas
investigating areas we knew nothing about
sleeping on the floor (and 2 of them decided NOT to bring a mat with them!)
sleeping on a dirt floor
no hot water and no showers
being invited into homes
eating with locals
getting sick
attending a wedding
attending a few combined church services
hiking mountains
sliding down mountains
staying in run down hostals (and a few nice ones)
trying new foods
improving their Spanish
asking many, MANY questions
gathering lots of useful information

The guys have done a great job so far!! This week they will be staying in Huari again and traveling from there to another area that we don't have much information on. At the end of this week, they will return to Huaraz for a few days. Here in Huaraz, we hope they will have a time to relax, enjoy a nice hotel and some good food, use the internet, and to have a chance to debrief. They will have the opportunity to do a couple of touristy type things in the area.

On June 22nd they will travel by bus to Lima, and then fly back to the states that night.

Only 1 more week left of work. Please pray for continued health for them and for encouragement and endurance to finish the race strong!

All of the research and information they have been gathering with be useful in making strategic decisions for our team for the future.

Thank you for your faithfulness to pray!!

Orientation & First Trip

2011-05-22T08:37:00.000-04:00

The 3 summer missionaries arrived safely in Huaraz on Monday afternoon. We then spent the next few days in orientation training. This time included a tour of Huaraz, practical skills of cooking and hand washing clothes, along with teachings on topics like bible storying, research, contextualization, culture shock, and basic information on Peru and the Ancash area.

These are a great group of guys, and they are all excited about this summer and what God has in store!

John, Richard, Patrick, and Phillip before they left on their first trip

John and the 3 guys left on Friday morning to drive up north to Corongo. This area is currently considered an UUPG--Unreached, Unengaged People Group. They will be getting "on-the-job" training as John stays with them and trains them on how to do research and what information is needed. They will be there for 4-5 days.

So far, John reports that the area is much better than he was expecting-better roads, better hostal and health facilities. The people have been very welcoming and friendly. They are gathering good and useful information. All of this is an answer to prayer!!

Summer Missions 2011

2011-05-15T11:18:00.001-04:00

Well, if you have been following our blog for at least a year, then you would know that we had a team of 13 summer students last June and July to help us in our work among the Aymara. They all did a fantastic job and it was such a pleasure to get to know them and to work along side them! They truly made an impact on the Aymara people for the sake of Christ and I trust that they are doing the same this year in another area of the world (even if it is at home!).

Well, we had such a great experience, that we decided to invite another summer team down. This year will be a bit different though. Due to the fact that we are in a new location and a new position, our situation has changed. Therefore, we have invited down one team of 3 students to come and do research in the Conchucos Valley. We and our coworkers have been assigned a huge task and without proper research, it is difficult to know how and where to focus our efforts. This team of 3 students will go into some remote areas in search of information that will help us to know where churches need to be planted and in what language.

Please join with us in praying for these three guys as they tackle a huge undertaking! Please pray for their safety and for wisdom in their journey. Pray also that the Lord will do amazing things in their lives and through them in the lives of others. Pray that they will make an awesome impact for the Lord in the Conchucos Valley.

As always, Thanks for your faithfulness to pray for the Lord’s work in Peru!

2011 Medical Mission–Huari, Peru

2011-05-10T16:06:00.001-04:00

We spent last week with a team of US partners from Port Neches, TX ministering to the people of Huari, Peru. Actually, we were working in the district of Cajay (part of the province of Huari). We teamed up with the local government in Cajay and ministered in 4 locations through a medical clinic. On the first day, we traveled on an awful road for about 2.5 hours to arrive in a little community called, Queroragua. On the way to that community, we crossed over a point that is 4,508 meters above sea-level (about 14,790 feet above sea-level). We had a beautiful view on the trip, but the roads were beyond awful! Anyway, the first day is always the most difficult, but the team did a fantastic job of getting set up and ministering to the people there. Because we were so far out, we were doubtful that there would be an evangelical church. However, much to our surprise, we found that there were a few evangelical churches in the area (some were miles away, but still “in the area”).

On the second day, we traveled to Huaritambo and had a great day of ministry by serving the people from their very nice health facility. While they have a nice facility, they have very little personnel to run it. Therefore, they were excited to have medical professionals there to give them attention that they almost never have the opportunity to receive (without traveling to a larger town in Peru). Later that night, we returned to Huaritambo and shared God’s story in the Catholic church. Much to our surprise, there were more than 75 people there that night. They were so interested that we went back the next night to share more with them.

On the third day, we went to Sharcu and held the medical clinic in a local dirt-floored school. This day was pretty challenging just because of the facilities, but the team made it work and did a great job serving the people in Sharcu. Much to our surprise, we found that, not only was there an evangelical church in Sharcu, but that the community is about 80% to 90% evangelical. This community is so evangelical that they don’t even have a Catholic church there.

On the fourth day, we held the clinic in the town of Cajay in their very nice medical facility. This was probably the nicest medical facility that I’ve ever worked in and was a great blessing for the team. However, as nice as the facility is, the people still can’t get the care there that they need. Although the care there is better than the other places that we went to, they still have to travel to larger towns for good medical care. On that day, the team served more people than on the other days and were a huge blessing to them all! That night, the team went back to Cajay and shared God’s story in the Catholic church there.

We praise God for the opportunity to serve along side our friends from Port Neches, TX, our colleagues that live in Huari and Chavin, and the local government of Cajay. Many people were helped physically and more importantly, heard the gospel message!

Volunteer Team in Huari, April 29-May 1

2011-04-28T07:08:00.000-04:00

Today (Thursday) we will travel as a family back over to Huari, located about 4 hours from here on the other side of the mountains. We will prepare for a volunteer medical team to arrive there on Saturday morning (the team is from Texas). This team will provide free eye care, dental care, and general medical care in 4 different locations--1 location each day from Sunday-Wednesday.

To be honest, we've never done a medical clinic in a different location each day; we didn't really want to this time, because it will be a logistical nightmare! BUT, obviously God has something else in store and this is how it all worked out.

The locations will be ranging in distance from 2 hours away to 15 minutes away. The overall goal and purpose of this is to share the love of Jesus with the people of these areas. We would then hope to do follow-up and see new groups started in these areas.

Please pray for:
-safety for us as we travel
-safety and health for the team as they travel starting on Friday, and that they will make it through customs with no problems
-smooth flow in transitioning the medical clinic to a new location each day
-open hearts and eagerness to hear the gospel
-follow-up efforts that will take place over the next few months

And one other request, not related to the clinic. Huari is one of the towns that we are looking at moving to by the end of the year. I, Sonia, and the boys will spend time in Huari each day, not traveling with the team. We will be focused on getting to know the town, and looking for possibilities of a house to rent in the future. Pray for a clear direction if this is the town for us to move to and for leads in finding a house.

We look forward to updating you in a week or so!

Thank you for your faithfulness to pray!!

Trip to Huari

2011-04-23T14:52:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, we took a family trip to Hauri. It's located about 4 hours from Huaraz, on the other side of the Cordillera Blanca, in the Conchucos Valley. This is a town that we are considering moving to at the end of the year.

One of our teammates, the Bredbenner family, already live there and have helped us look into the possibility of finding housing there.

We enjoyed spending time with them, seeing the town, and even looking at a few houses.

We also had an opportunity to have a family outing as we hiked to see waterfall Maria Jiray. Now, I will admit that Samuel started complaining right away, "I'm tired. I want to go back to the truck.", but he ended up doing did really good on the trail and enjoyed seeing the waterfall too! (Jacob was the lucky one and just got to ride in the back pack

Team Training

2011-04-22T17:29:00.000-04:00

At the beginning of this month we had a training in Huaraz on Bible Storying. Our entire team attended, along with 2 other families from south Peru.

During that week, we coordinated with a volunteer team from the West GA area to come and lead a VBS session for the missionary kids (MKs), while the adults were in session. They loved on those kids, kept them entertained, wore them out, and had so much fun all week! We really appreciate all of the hard work they did in preparing for this week and to lead the VBS. It was truly a blessing for us to know that our kids were well taken care of and that we didn’t have to worry about them, but instead were able to focus on the training. The team ministered to us, the adults, and ministered to the children.

The adults focused on a time of Bible Story training (well, actually the 3rd of this sort of training for our team), but this time it really "clicked" with many. Many families went away excited about bible storying again!

Please pray as the Northern and Southern Conchucos Quechua teams work on developing bible stories in order to better reach the people they are working with!

picture 1: some of the MKs leading morning worship
picture 2: Jacob holding the flag for the pledge
picture 3: a few of the MKs

picture 4: The Volunteer Team
Jeremy, Dan, Jamie
Donna, Carrie, Megan and Jessica

Lots of Traveling

2011-03-18T20:30:00.000-04:00

Well, we are finally together again as a family and hope to keep it that way for a while. Although the traveling isn’t over with yet, the next few trips will be family trips and not individual trips. We appreciate all of your prayers for John as he has traveled all over Peru and for Sonia and the boys as they have held down the fort in Huaraz. Here are some pictures from John’s most recent trips.

This is a waterfall outside of Huari. It is named Cataratas Maria Jiray and is an awesome day trip!

Worship service in Isancuyo.

John & Ruben at Lake Titicaca.

Trip to Huancane

2011-03-02T10:27:00.001-05:00

On Thursday (3/3/2011), John and 3 other missionaries will travel back to Huancane (where we use to serve) to encourage the believers there and to lead a training for church leaders. They will be driving from Huaraz to Huancane (about a 25 hour journey), and so we ask that you please pray for their safety as they travel. They will be in Huancane for 5 days and will then make the same drive back to Huaraz.

We have heard reports of pretty heavy rains in Huancane as well, and so please pray that the guys have good weather while they are there so that they can travel out to villages and towns where churches our outreach groups are located. Also, if the weather is real bad, people won’t show up for the trainings. Therefore, please ask the Lord to provide good weather and that leaders from around the area will be able to attend.

Finally, please pray for Sonia and the boys as they stay at home in Huaraz.

As always, Thanks so much for your faithfulness to pray for our family!

Homeschool

2011-01-24T14:48:00.000-05:00

Today starts week 3 of a new homeschool year for Samuel. We are using the Sonlight curriculum for 4 year-old Pre-K with K readers. So far, both of us are REALLY enjoying it! We’ve read some really interesting books and articles; Samuel loves trying to write his name and letters; he is memorizing a bible verse a week; and we’ve had some interesting discussions.

Last week we learned about the seasons (which meant we had to learn how the seasons are opposite in Peru). We read about a bear going into hibernation during the winter. We then watched an actual bear in hibernation at http://www.bear.org/livecams/lily-hope-cam.html . (I have to thank my dad for the info on the website b/c he is one of the fans that follows the bear cam).

Today, we read a story about a Tiger being stuck in a cave when a big stone rolled in front of the cave opening. The other animals pushed the rock and helped the Tiger. The Tiger then wanted to eat Rabbit, and all the animals said that was not fair. They went to the wise tortoise who told them that he wanted to see the entire thing recreated. They put the Tiger back in the cave, rolled the stone back in front, and left him there. Well, after this story, the boys decided to build their very own cave and they put all of their animals in there.

Many have asked if we will homeschool, or if we will continue with national school. We will actually do both, just like we did last year. The only catch--it is summer vacation here in Peru (remember that whole thing about the seasons being opposite?). National school will start back in March. Until then, we will homeschool, and come March, he'll go to national school 3 days a week, and we will also homeschool 2-3 days a week.

Picture: the boys in their "cave"

Visitors from down South

2011-01-24T14:36:00.000-05:00

Last week we had a few visitors for a day. It was both a blessing, and very strange to have someone visit us from our former area of service.

Hermano Antonio is traveling throughout Peru with another guy from La Paz, Bolivia, named Walter. He is promoting and sharing about his ministry of producing free training materials in Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, and I’m sure other languages. He is the former president of the Aymara Baptist Union and John visited with him many times while we still lived in Huancane.

We enjoyed seeing a friend from our former location and making a new friend, and John enjoyed traveling with the 2 of them to a nearby ministry site for the afternoon.

Picture: Walter, Sonia, John, Antonio in the back yard

What are we up to?

2011-01-24T14:32:00.000-05:00

2011 so far has found us settling in more. Many have asked when we will move to the other side of the mountains, and as for now, it looks like we will probably be here in Huaraz for most of this year. Most of our teammates will go stateside by the end of the year. At that time, we will probably look into finding a house in our target area and starting to do renovations. For now, our main focus will be on helping our teammates complete the mentor program before they finish their first term. This focus will more than likely require John to travel at least 1-2 times a month.

For now, since we will be here for a little while, we decided to make a few changes. First of all, John killed the 100s of wasp nests that were all over the roof. He then focused on killing and getting rid of the LARGE rats nest that was in the backyard. I’m SOOO very thankful that he was successful at that project! Next, I decided to do a little more painting—I was getting tired of seeing the pink paint in my son’s room. :)

A Much Needed Break!

2010-11-30T14:10:00.001-05:00

Well, after a very busy 15 months, we are taking some time off and heading back to the States for the holidays. We have had a wonderful 15 months back in Peru, but are ready for a break! While we are in the States, we will obviously be visiting with family and friends, but will hopefully get some personal time as well.

Thanks so much for your prayers for us over the past year and we appreciate your prayers for us as we travel! Hopefully we will see some of you while we are visiting around in the States.

God Bless and we hope that you all have a Merry CHRISTmas!

Huaraz

2010-10-11T13:12:00.001-04:00

It has been a while since we have written, and the reason for that was our relocation to Huaraz. As most of you already know, we have transitioned out of our work among the Aymara people of Huancane & Moho and have moved to the central mountains of Peru to join up with the Ancash Quechua Team.

Since arriving in Huaraz, we have noticed many similarities between the Altiplano and here, but have noticed even more differences. For one, the altitude is about 2,500 feet lower, and so that makes a huge difference in simple things such as breathing, walking, exercising, and more. Not only that, but it is MUCH warmer here! We knew that it would be a little warmer, but we had no idea that we would be able to pack away our winter clothes that we have used for the past 3.5 years and break out the summer clothes. Okay, well, maybe it isn’t warm enough for shorts (not all the time anyway), but it is warm enough for short sleeved shirts (which is a major improvement over the Altiplano)!

We also had the benefit of moving into a “move in ready” home, which was a major improvement over our move to Huancane over 3 years ago. As many of you will remember, we had to live in a hostel for 8.5 months while renovating/building a new house. Therefore, on this move, we have been a bit spoiled. However, this is just a temporary location, and so don’t worry, we haven’t wimped out! We will be renovating/building a new house in the town of Huari (4 hours from Huaraz) once we locate a house there that can be “molded” into a home for our family.

Well, we hope that you enjoy the pictures and we hope to post more about our new work in the near future! In the meantime, please pray for our team of 8 families as we prepare for a language conference at the end of this month and as we all begin to learn to speak Quechua.

New Location

2010-09-13T07:49:00.004-04:00

Many of you have asked, "where are you guys going?". This blog was written to try to answer that.

Our new assignment is on the Ancash Quechua Team. Our team will be working among 3 people groups, the Northern Conchucos Quechua, the Southern Conchucos Quechua, and in the future among the Corongos Quechua. All of these groups speak a completely different language.

We are looking at living in the town of Huari. This is a town about the same size as the one we currently live in, and it is located about 4 hours from Huaraz. However, we don't know when we'll actually make it to live in Huari.

We will first move to Huaraz, a large city in this area, but on the other side of the mountain range from where we will be working. The mission already owns a house here, and so we can just move it without having to make any major repairs.

We have already begun looking for a house in Huari with the help of 2 other families in the area. We will continue to look for a house suitable for our family, and then we will make the needed renovations/repairs in order to move in.

We are not sure of a time line for our 2nd move (our earliest desire would be by the end of Feb 2011). The problem is that means we will be doing most of the repairs during rainy season, and things can take 3 times as long during this time.

Please pray with us:
--that God would direct us to the house that he is providing for our family
--that we would quickly find the house, workers, needed materials, etc. in order to start renovations in a timely manner
--for peace, strength and extra patience and understanding as we will be in a limbo period for quite a few months
--for safety, as John will frequently be traveling (mostly alone) in order to meet with the other missionary families, and in order to work on our future house

Just a few more days...

2010-09-13T07:19:00.003-04:00

Before the end of this week, we will be driving out of the Altiplano of Peru and saying goodbye to this area that we have called home for 3.5 years.

To be honest, at the beginning of our first term, there were many times where I would have happily said goodbye to this area!!! But since then, we have seen God at work in amazing ways (including in our own lives), and we have come to call our nice little mud house, "home".

We are saddened in many ways to have to say goodbye. It is sad to leave the work here, where we have put in so much time, research, energy, and made so many relationships.

But, we also rejoice in what God is doing here! This is His work, and He will continue to move and work here with or without the Gringo missionaries living here!

We are excited that He has recently given us many glimpses of the future work already! In October (before we are even gone a month) 2 volunteer teams will be coming and working in this area. In November, 3 young men from Ecuador are looking at coming to live and work for a month. After this time, some Latino missionaries from other countries in Latin America will be coming to live and work for a time.

Additionally, John is making plans and preparations to be able to come back to this area next year, in order to orient the Latino missionaries and in order to provide more trainings for the believers here.

We are also excited and looking forward to our new assignment in a new area. We will be living at a slightly lower altitude (only 11,000 ft verses 13,000ft). It should be slightly warmer, and easier to breathe! (and easier on volunteer teams). We will be the leaders of a team of 7 other units, the majority of these being in the middle of their first term. We were asked to take this position in order to be mentors on this team with many first term missionaries. We have been leading them at a distance since the beginning of this year, but now to live among them, (or a few hours away) and to get to see other missionaries more frequently will be a blessing in our lives! We pray that we can be a blessing in their lives and that God will use us to teach, train, mentor and assist these families in reaching the Northern and Southern Conchucos Quechua.

Prayer Requests as we prepare to move in just a few short days:
- pray for health and safety for our family as we finalize packing and and preparing everything! (I really don't want anyone sick during this time, or with hurt backs!) : )
- the truck should arrive on Wed. night in order to start loading it on Thursday morning. Pray for a smooth process of loading the truck and for safe travels for all.
-pray for the Aymara believers, that they would be encouraged and strengthened in the Lord!
-pray that the Aymara believers would continue to reach other Aymaras with the gospel!

End of the Summer Trip…

2010-08-01T10:54:00.001-04:00

On Monday morning, all of our remaining 11 students came back together in Huancane for our final week together. We had two days of debriefing and activities here in Huancane and then headed out to Puno for some tourism. While in Puno, we ate great food, went on some awesome tours, and just hung out and enjoyed being in civilization for a few days. One tour we took was of the Uros Islands (floating reed islands in Lake Titicaca). We also took a tour of the Sillustani ruins outside of Puno.

Yesterday, we took 10 of the students to the Juliaca airport where we said our goodbyes and sent them on their way to Lima and then on to the US. To be honest, this summer was full of challenges, but the blessing of working with such a great group of students far outweighed any of the challenges we all faced! We praise God for these students and we thank you all for your prayers for them and for us over the past 2 months! We would also like to ask you to continue praying for them as they settle back into their lives in the US. Pray also that God will continue to use them in mighty ways and that HIS name will be glorified through each of them in all that they do!

The End of the Summer!!

2010-07-26T14:21:00.003-04:00

Wow! 2 months have flown by quickly! It's finally the end of the summer. Thank you, thank you, thank you for how you've been faithful to pray for these students!!

Today starts the last week in Peru for the summer m's. We will have a few days of debriefing in Huancane, and then we will have a fun, end of the summer retreat in a near-by tourist town, Puno.

The summer missionaries have seen many things this summer--many good things, and some not so good things.

They've faced A LOT of hardships and struggles along the way, which include:

LOTS of sicknesses
stomach viruses
an amoeba
shingles
parasites
visits to the local doctor
lab work
an ultrasound
trip to Lima for further testing
struggling in a different language
missing family/friends back at home
ministering to an apathetic people
suffering through freezing cold weather conditions
living conditions with unreliable water, electricity and hot water

However, I believe that any one of them would say that all of these things have been worth it to see God glorified in many ways:

1 salvation in Conima
2 salvations in Moho
5 salvations in Huancane
sharing bible stories up to 4 times in 1 day
sharing bible stories a couple of hundred times total
meeting people's physical needs during a medical clinic
minister to kids and teachers during VBS
building life-long friendships

God's word has been shared many, many times over these past 2 months!! New souls have been added to the kingdom, and we praise God for this!!

Now, another test comes. We will need to do some follow-up, but we are also moving from this area in 1.5 months. That's not a lot of time. We need to get these new groups into the hands of the nationals right away, and we pray that they will continue to meet, even without the summer m's or us.

Please continue to pray that the new groups that were formed will continue to meet and to study the bible. Pray that the interest will continue. Pray that they will share about Christ with their own people, and that God will continue to be glorified in the areas of Huancane, Moho and Conima!

Finishing the Race…

2010-07-19T10:12:00.001-04:00

According to the book of Acts, as Paul was leaving the believers in Ephesus, he addressed the believers by saying:

“But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I sent about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.” (NASB)

As our Summer Missionaries finish up their ministry among the Aymara this week, I ask you to please pray that they will be able to declare these same words to the people they have ministered among! They have all done a fantastic job and have worked hard (and suffered hardships along the way). However, nothing will compare to this week. This week is crunch time. This week is the most important week of their summer because this is the week that they wrap up and place the work into the hands of those they have been serving and teaching.

With that said, please also pray for their physical health and safety. Satan doesn’t want to see these guys succeed and if he can distract them with sickness or with an injury, then he will. Please pray that Satan will be bound and that the Aymara people will be freed! That they will be freed from the Spiritual bondage that they have lived in for so long! Pray that they will experience the freedom from sin that we have only in Christ Jesus – the freedom found in the message that has been proclaimed by our Summer M’s for the past several weeks!

Thank you for praying for them throughout the summer! We beg of you to not stop now! Please pray for them more throughout this week than you have preciously because they will need it!

Final 2 weeks!

2010-07-17T18:10:00.003-04:00

These are the final 2 weeks for the 12 summer missionaries!! My, how time has flown!!

This week will be the final week of ministry for everyone. The final week will consist of a time of debriefing in Huancane, and then a 3 day end of the summer retreat in Puno, a near-by tourist town.

Please pray for everyone during the final week. Pray for continued health, energy and stamina to finish strong!

Many new groups have also been started, and so please pray that these groups will continue on their own with minimal assistance from us (I say minimal because we will not be living in these areas as the students have been during this summer.)

Storying up a Storm…

2010-07-09T10:41:00.001-04:00

The Summer Missionaries that are working in Huancane, Moho, & Conima are storying up a storm! Just this week, more than 15 stories have been told to different people in these towns. We praise God for what He is doing through these students and in these towns. HE is the one providing these opportunities and preparing the hearts of those that are listening! HE is the one that has called out these 12 students to sacrifice their summer break to freeze here in the altiplano to tell His story to these people. And HE is the one that already knows the results of what will happen over these final few weeks and the weeks, months, and years to come with HIS storying being shared with these people.

Please continue to pray for Kayla, Maggie, Andrea, Jessica, Tim, Mindy, Jeremy L., Emily, Alison, Kelsey, Heather, & Jeremy S. as they continue to share God’s story with the Aymara people!

Please also pray for them as they begin to teach the people here how to continue on learning from God’s word without their help (since they will be leaving soon).

Pray that people will be saved and baptized and that churches will be formed from their efforts! (Can you imagine going home after 2 months of summer missions sharing that you helped start a church, or two, or several during your summer?)

Please pray that we will see this become a reality as we all seek to carry out God’s command to GO and MAKE DISCIPLES!

Halfway mark…

2010-07-06T10:23:00.001-04:00

Well, this weekend was the halfway mark for most of the Summer Missionaries that are working with us. The students from Georgia arrived on May 30th and the Texas Students arrived on June 12th. We celebrated the 4th of July together and had some good fellowship over the weekend. Then most of them went back to their place of assignment. Unfortunately, one of the teams has been passing around a stomach bug since they arrived, and are still passing it around, and so they still haven’t returned to Conima yet. Please be in prayer for the Texas team. They’ve already had one student return to the US because of an illness (not related to being in Peru) and now the majority of the team is suffering with a stomach bug that they brought with them from the States. The virus has passed around most of the teams, but they seem to be the team that can’t get rid of it.

Thanks so much for your prayers for them! Please continue to pray for their health and safety. Pray also that they will be able to form groups over the next several weeks and see solid results from their efforts this summer. (Due to the fact that we are leaving a month and a half after the students, we would really like to see all outreach groups formed into churches that can function on their own – please pray for that to happen!)

ESL Classes

2010-06-18T16:42:00.004-04:00

This week the girls in Huancane began teaching english classes--one for kids, and one for young adults.

At first, they were a little nervous because not many came during the dates to sign up; however, at the last minute, we have all been bombarded with requests to allow "just one more" into the class. Both classes are full, and we are daily receiving more requests to let kids into the kid's class.

For now, the girls will have their hands full teaching the 2 classes twice a week, along with their other ministry activities. My favorite part of the classes is that they tell a bible story at the end of each class.

I know that these students have the desire to learn english. However, my main desire is that they hear the bible.

Please pray that these classes will be productive--for the students learning english, and as they hear the word of God.

Pray that the bible stories will penetrate their minds and hearts.

Conima Summer Missionaries

2010-06-18T16:30:00.004-04:00

This past week we put the 2nd group of summer missionaries through orientation. We covered the same topics as the first time around with the first group, all with the hopes of preparing these students for their work this summer.

These 6 summer missionaries all come from TX. They will be working in Conima, in conjunction w/ the church that has adopted this area, First Baptist Willow Park, TX.

The students will build relationships using a variety of creative means, all with the hopes of starting new outreach groups and eventually new churches. FBC Willow Park will also send down a volunteer team next month, and the summer m's will work with then for a week to reach the area of Conima.

Please pray for these students, (L-R, Kelsey, Emily, Sara, Heather, Allison, Jeremy) as they minister in and around the town of Conima until the end of July.

Pray for health, safety, and unity for their team.

Pray that the hearts of the people of Conima will be open and responsive to the Gospel.

Medical Clinic--Patascachi

2010-06-09T14:45:00.001-04:00

The month of January brought torrential rains and flooding to the Altiplano of Peru. Only 15 minutes away from our house, an entire community, Patascachi, was covered in water and over 500 families lost everything. Thank you for praying as we participated in Disaster Relief efforts in this area earlier this year!! "Food for our animals" was the most important need that was conveyed. Therefore, we were able to rent many fields for them in order to provide for them in the only way left--by caring for their animals.

On June 10-11, we will be doing a medical clinic in this community with the help of a volunteer team. It is our hope that we can not only continue to meet their physical needs, but also to meet their spiritual needs. Right now, there appears to be an open door into this community because of our previous relief efforts. Pray that God would use this upcoming clinic for the people to learn about Him and to draw them into a saving relationship with Him.

Huancane Team

2010-06-06T15:23:00.005-04:00

So it's officially been a week since the first group of summer students arrived. 3 of these students are living in the same town as us, Huancane. This past week they have been busy going through a few days of orientation and training and then the last few days they have been venturing out in order to start their ministries.

The main goal for these girls is to build relationships in order to start new outreach groups. One of the means they will do this is through teaching English classes to kids and to young people. They have been busy making and passing out flyers, planning the english classes and for a VBS in a school, along with starting to try to memorize a BUNCH of stories in spanish. Only 1 girl speaks spanish, and I'm sure the other 2 will learn a little bit before the end of their 2 months stay here!

Please continue to pray for these girls as they adjust to life in Huancane. This week they will assist the medical team that will be working in Patascachi, the community that flooded at the beginning of the year. Next week, they will start the 6-week long english classes.

Pray that people sign up for the english classes, and that this will be a good time of outreach.

Pray that the Lord would use them to bring people to Himself.

Round One is Complete…

2010-06-04T14:56:00.001-04:00

Well, we finished with round one of Summer Missionary Orientation today. On Sunday morning, John headed out bright and early to pick up 6 university students from GA to begin their 2 months of fun in the Peruvian Altiplano. When they arrived in Huancane, they were able to rest and relax, contact family, etc…, and then took a tour of Huancane. After lunch and taking their tour, we then started the orientation time with an introduction and a ministry overview to update them on all that is going on with our ministry. We then had an awesome time of worship and they were introduced to Bible Storying and participative worship for the first time.

After worship on day 2, they spent the day learning about culture shock and how to properly deal with it, team dynamics, village life, and other important lessons on living together. Day 2 also provided shopping and cooking lessons for them. They cooked a very delicious vegetable soup.

Day 3 was spent in worship, studying world view, Bible Storying, simple church, and other important things that they needed to know to prepare them for their ministries this summer. They also prepared a delicious Peruvian dish for lunch and learned how to hand wash their clothes. (I believe that they all decided that they will pay someone to wash their clothes after that experience.) : )

After worship on day 4, we all loaded up and headed to Juliaca for their first adventure outside of Huancane. Sonia, the boys, and I went to Juliaca in the truck and gave the students instructions on how to meet up with us. We parked where we normally do and waited for them to arrive. Once they all arrived, we took them “grocery” shopping, and helped them find other things that they needed for the summer. We then went and enjoyed a delicious Peruvian meal out. (I think that they were all glad that they didn’t have to prepare another lunch.) When we all arrived back in Huancane, we finished up our time together by discussing ministry ideas for the summer and contextualization. Sonia and I treated them to a good “American” dinner (hamburgers) and then we headed off to “New Hope” Baptist church (Nueva Esperanza) and had a great time of fellowship and worship with the believers of Huancane. The church also had a “commissioning” service for the students and prayed over them. Then it was off to bed for a 4am hike up the mountain.

Day 5 began at 4am as we all met together and hiked “PocoPaca”, the mountain outside of Huancane. While it was tough for most, they really enjoyed their reward when they reached the top. Most made it in time to see the awesome sunrise, and the others just enjoyed the spectacular view once they arrived. After descending the mountain and having a wonderful time of worship, we loaded up the truck and the teams parted ways. The Huancane team stayed and had meetings with Sonia preparing for their ministries this summer, and the Moho team went with with me to Moho to settle in their new “home” for the summer.

Needless to say, it has been a LONG week for us all, but it has been a blessing for us all. We felt your prayers throughout the week for these students and for us and we ask that you please continue to pray for them.

Please also pray for us as we switch gears now and prepare for a medical team from GA that we are receiving on Saturday (June 5th). Please pray for their safe arrival and for a wonderful week of ministry in Moho and Patascachi.

Please also pray for us as we send the medical team off back to the US on Saturday, the 12th, and receive a second batch of Summer Missionaries (this time from Texas). These students will go through the same orientation that the GA students went through to prepare them for their summer in Conima.

Summer Missionaries

2010-05-29T15:23:00.002-04:00

This summer (US summer/Peru winter) we will have a total of 13 student volunteers living here and working with us. 3 students will live in Huancane, 3 in Moho, 6 in Conima, and 1 will float between the last 2 locations. The main focus of these students will be helping us start new outreach groups and churches. They will be working with children, young adults, adults, teaching ESL, working in schools, working with volunteer teams, etc.

1 student arrived a few days ago. 6 more students are traveling tonight and will arrive early in the morning. The final 6 will arrive 2 weeks later.

Please join us in praying for:

safe travels for those traveling tonight
an easy adjustment for all (they will be arriving during the coldest months of the year)
for ministry opportunities
safety while here

Pastor Ruben’s Newest Product

2010-05-16T21:16:00.001-04:00

Ruben Toledo is the pastor of the Baptist Church in Huancane, Peru. He and his wife Luisa were some of the first believers in the town of Huancane and the first baptized believers in the church. When we mention the word church, please don’t think of a large US style church with hundreds of people in attendance. Instead, think of the church as mentioned in the book of Acts, a simple church meeting in homes. That is exactly what the Huancane church does, it meets in people’s homes. Therefore, the church isn’t large enough to provide for Pastor Ruben and his family (wife and two children) as a full-time pastor. For that reason, Ruben and Luisa make a living making textile type items that are used on a regular basis here in the Altiplano (such as bags called “Chuspas”, hats called “Chullos”, ponchos, and other handmade items). However, these items also make great souvenirs, and so when we have teams here, we always take them by Pastor Ruben’s house to let them buy things to take home as souvenirs.

The last team that we had here suggested that Ruben try making a new product (using a product that he already makes) that could be sold easily to people in US churches. In fact, this particular man that made the suggestion was thinking of the older people in his congregation at home. He suggested that Ruben use the same pattern that he uses for the bags called “Chuspas” to make Bible covers. The cool part is that Ruben can customize the items that he makes, and so he can make the Bible covers with names or anything else on them. While he is still perfecting it (he’s only made two so far), he is doing a great job and should have the hang of them soon.

If you or anyone else may be interested in one of these Bible covers (or anything else that Pastor Ruben makes), please let us know and we will do what we can to get one to you. (He can make them in just about any color you would like with your name or initials – if your name doesn’t fit).

Photo 1: Ruben, Luisa, Edith, & baby Elias

Photo 2: Ruben working at his loom

Photo 3: A Chuspa – a typical bag used by men in this area (mine shown in the photo above says “Evangelical Baptist Mission”)

Photo 4: Ruben’s 1st Bible cover – made for the guy who suggested the idea to Ruben

Photo 5: Ruben’s 2nd Bible cover – my English Bible

2010 Medical Missions Team

2010-04-19T12:02:00.001-04:00

Beginning in April 2006, FBC Port Neches, TX has sent a yearly medical team down to work among the Aymara of Huancane & Moho. For the first three years, this team worked in Huancane helping us to establish relationships, gain trust, and build a contact base with which to follow-up with. In 2009, we were on Stateside Assignment, and so the team was not able to work in this area. During that time, they focused on an area called Ayaviri, where their local association has agreed to focus their efforts in planting churches (about 3 hours from here in a Quechua area).

Last week, FBC Port Neches joined forces with FBC Willow Park, TX and members from other churches to help us begin a new work in Conima, Peru. Conima is an area that you have probably heard us talk about quite a bit because it is a district of over 4,000 people with only one struggling evangelical church (with less than 10 members). FBC Willow Park has adopted this area and is focused on helping us carry out a church planting strategy in this area that will hopefully spread throughout the entire district (and prayerfully into others).

To “jump start” Willow Park’s ministry in this area, we decided to hit the ground running with a free medical clinic that would help to meet the immediate physical needs of so many poor people in this area. Not only were we able to show the love of Christ through meeting Physical needs, but we were also able to share the love of Christ through Bible storying and through one-on-one conversations with people as they came through the clinic.

This year’s clinic was a bit different than previous clinics because we partnered with the local health center to carry out this medical campaign. The blessing was that we were able to use their facilities and their personnel to help us carry out the campaign. Not only that, but they pulled resources from the local government to help us out (such as with transportation). Therefore, when it was all said and done, we were able to build fantastic relationships with the local mayor and other government officials, the local police department, the medical clinic staff from Conima and surrounding areas, and with hundreds of people there in the Conima area.

As you can imagine, there were many events that took place that were stressful, fun, exciting, and tiring all at the same time. In fact, more took place that I can possibly write about right now. Hopefully I will have a chance to write more about it later, but for now, I want to thank you for your prayers for this team last week. I would also like for you to continue praying for the people of Conima and the efforts that we are focusing there to share the Word of God with these people and the church planting that we hope to see take place there.

On May 3rd, another team from FBC Willow Park, TX will arrive to begin following up on the contacts made through the medical campaign. Please pray for this team’s safety and health as they share about God’s love with the people of Conima.

Medical Missions in Conima, Peru

2010-04-09T15:24:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow, we will receive a group of 13 people from the US plus 6 translators from Arequipa, Peru to host a medical clinic in Conima, Peru. As you may remember, FBC Willow Park, TX has adopted Conima and is helping us to plant churches in that Aymara district. They are partnering with FBC of Port Neches, TX to host a free medical clinic as a way to “kick start” the ministry in the district of Conima. Basically, this clinic will be used as a way of showing the love of Christ to the people in and around Conima as well as a way for us to gain their trust. The hope is that we will be able to gain contacts through this, find people of peace, and begin new outreach groups that will hopefully become churches in this area with only one struggling evangelical church among over 4,000 people.

The team will arrive in Huancane tomorrow morning and we will travel to Moho to settle in at a hotel there. We will then head to Conima to make preparations for the clinic to begin on Sunday morning. They will host the clinic from Sunday – Wednesday and leave for Cusco on Thursday morning to meet up with a second team that will be doing the same thing in Ayaviri, Peru.

Each night, a “storying” team will return to Conima to share stories from God’s word with those interested with hopes of leading some to Christ, or at least filtering through the hundreds that come to the clinic to find those that are seriously interested in learning more from God’s word. Those that attend these storying sessions will be the first ones that we follow-up with after the clinic.

Please be in prayer for this team’s safety in travel, and for the work that they will be doing while here. The altitude is always a concern, and so please pray for their safety and health while they are here as well. Pray also for open doors and for outreach groups to be formed from these efforts.

Also, please pray for Sonia and the boys as they remain in Huancane holding down the “fort” while I’m out with the team. Please pray for their safety and for Sonia’s sanity while she is left alone with the boys for the 3rd week out of the past 4 weeks.

Thanks for your prayers and we will keep you updated as much as possible.

Ecuadorian Missionaries Update

2010-03-19T15:41:00.004-04:00

Thank you for praying for these 2 young men over the past 3 weeks!! Victor and Marcelo traveled from Ecuador and arrived at the beginning of the month to work with us here in the ministry. They worked daily with John and Pastor Ruben, mainly in trying to reach the "jovenes" (young people) here. They have an advantage over us and Ruben b/c they are young themselves, and they are single. Sometimes it's hard for a family to try to reach out to the high school and college students.

During there time here, they were able to make many new friendships and had opportunities to share about the Lord. They also received an invitation to speak in several classes in the University here. Through these relationships, 2 new groups of college students were started this past week!! We praise the Lord for how He used Victor and Marcelo during their time here!

Please pray for these new groups:
- that they would hear the Gospel and respond
-pray for Ruben as he starts out leading these groups
-pray that God would raise up more leaders from the young people

The 1st group will meet again this Sunday afternoon.

Disaster Relief – Renting Fields

2010-03-16T21:36:00.001-04:00

When we went to visit the community of Patascachi (one of the worst flooded communities), we asked what their most urgent needs were. The first need that they shared with us was the need for food for their animals. Second was food for themselves. We took that information and began working with community leaders to figure out how to provide these needs for the people.

This community has over 500 families that were affected by the floods. Many of these families lost everything, including their homes, fields, animals, and personal effects that were inside their homes. Most lost their homes due to the flood waters eating away at their dirt walls, which caused the houses to crumble into a big pile of mud. With this many families and all of these needs, we really didn’t know where to start, but were happy to learn of some “community kitchens” that were set up by the local government to help feed the families. We used these 4 community kitchens as the starting point and we provided large bags of rice, noodles, potatoes, and other items that would help supplement the insufficient amount that they were receiving.

We then began to work with the leaders on how to get feed for their animals. The people had already started renting plots of land with feed ready to harvest so that they could go in, harvest the feed, and take it to their animals. Therefore, we used what they were already doing and just magnified it a bit. This community breaks down into 7 sectors, and so we arranged to provide each sector with a large enough field of feed for everyone in that sector to have food for their animals for several days, if not weeks. We did this by asking the community leaders to find the fields for each sector, and we would show up to rent it, and then they could harvest it and haul it all back to their community for their animals.

This was a great plan because it put the bulk of the work on them and not on us (we just didn’t have the time to hunt for fields, bargain for good prices, and harvest and haul all of the feed). We also allowed them to use their expertise in knowing what to look for (we didn’t have a clue!), which made them feel even more useful. Well, when the day came to rent the fields, they were so proud, that they took me (John) around to every one of them to show me what they had found and to explain why it was better than all of the others. When it was all said and done, it was an eventful day, but a fun one and we were glad to have the opportunity to participate in helping this community.

We now have an open door in Patascachi, and so please pray for us as we begin to focus on sharing the word of God with these people and forming new groups, and hopefully churches.

First Week of Preschool

2010-03-12T19:40:00.003-05:00

Well, we actually survived the first week of preschool in a national school, and Samuel even left the house running yesterday and today--he was so excited to go.

It was kind of a different week, and sometimes frustrating, but I also learned a lot. This experience has been good for Samuel so far, allowing him to make more friends and be around spanish more, and it's allowed me to learn more cultural things as well.

There are MANY differences between school here and in the US. Here are a few of my observations from the past week:

1. The first week of school, you don't have to arrive on time, and more than half of the kids don't come at all.
2. The teachers don't prepare the classrooms beforehand like they do in the US. They arrived the day before school started. This week the walls have been bare and boring. They also decided to repaint all of the chairs, tables and playground equipment in the middle of the week. (that meant no classes for the day b/c the kids didn't have anywhere to sit or to play).
3. The teachers don't always arrive on time either. One day we went to school, waited 30 minutes and 3 out of 5 of the teachers still hadn't arrived. We went home that day.
4. Often the teachers had meetings at the beginning of the day. Today, we waited 40 minutes for their meeting to end, and the kids were just left playing by themselves.
5. Today the teachers made an offering to "pachatierra". They wanted the parents to be involved as well, but there were only 5 there and then me (I think they were already excluding me which is a good thing b/c I think I'll opt out of this practice). They will have the parents be involved in the offering next week. They do this in order to ask for blessings for the year and to prevent accidents, problems, and bad things from happening.
6. The kids seem to ALWAYS eat. They are told to eat breakfast before they come, then they eat a big meal during their break at 10:30. I normally sent Samuel with a few crackers and water. Other kids brought a sandwich, fruit, chips, yogurt, and a drink. Do they really eat lunch then too???
7. The parents are supposed to help cook food in order to make sure they eat enough at this 10:30 break. I still don't understand all of this. I'll have to cook when it is my turn, but I don't know how often, or when, or what I'm going to cook that they will actually like to eat.

There are still many more differences and things to be learned. I'll just have to write more about them later!

Day 2--Food distribution

2010-03-03T19:22:00.003-05:00

On March 3, 2010, John went back out to Patascachi (the community affected by flooding) to deliver more food. This time, he delivered 4 large sacks of potatoes (each weighting more than 200 pounds); one to each of the 4 community kitchens that they have set up there to feed the people of the community. Of course, the people were more than excited to receive these potatoes and even offered for John and the two guys with him to eat with them. Although they declined because they had just eaten and because they didn't want to take food away from people who really needed it, they were very humbled by these people's offer.

On their way into the community, they tried driving in using a low-lying road that John has used before, but the flood waters raised again and they weren't able to enter using that road. Therefore, they took a higher road along the side of the mountain and were able to enter with no other problems. As John and his friends were talking with the people there, they were told that several men in the community went to where the river is breached and saw that it is about 80 meters wide (almost a football field's length). The government is trying to build a road through the flooded area along the river's edge to reach the breach to begin filling it in and building up the river's bank, but it will take weeks or even months to accomplish this. Until then, these people's homeland will remain flooded and no form of normalcy can be regained. Please continue to pray for the people of Patascachi and for us as we continue to deliver relief aid to them. Please also pray that through our efforts, they will receive the Word of our Lord and Savior and that churches will be planted in this community of over 500 families.

Also, thanks so much for your giving and donations to Southern Baptist Relief work!

Preschool

2010-03-03T13:59:00.003-05:00

Samuel is now 3 years old and could technically start preschool here. I've been praying about it for awhile, trying to decide if I was going to put him in the national preschool here or not. (Side note: we've been doing homeschool preschool since Jan. and we all love it!). I really wanted to put him in the preschool hoping that it would help him have more friends and also learn Spanish. However, if any of you have seen Samuel recently or during our recent stateside, you know that he is a shy kid. I wasn't sure how it would go over just dropping him off in a class where he can't understand anyone.

Well, today I think I made my decision. It seems like everywhere else in Peru started the new school year off on March 1st (the official 1st day of school). However, when do classes start in Huancane? I was told today that they will "possibly" start next Monday, but it's not determined for sure yet.

I think we'll wait another year before having to deal with the frustrating "laid-back" school system here.

Relief efforts--Day 1

2010-03-01T15:02:00.003-05:00

On March 1st, our family and a local pastor set out to deliver food in Patascachi, a local community of over 500 people who have lost their homes and fields due to flooding. We dropped off basic food supplies to 4 "community kitchens". Thanks to Southern Baptist Churches in the US that are providing the funds to help these people who are displaced by flooding!

Ecuadorian Missionaries

2010-03-01T14:54:00.001-05:00

A few months ago we were contacted by a coworker in Ecuador about a national who wanted to come work with us during the month of March. We were excited about his interest in coming here to work with our churches and to encourage and train them. His name is Victor and he is trained in church planting and involved in missions in his area. He feels God calling him to work short-term with us among the Aymara.

At first, we were excited about his interest, but we weren’t totally sure how to use him here for a month. However, now with starting the disaster relief efforts, we are excited that Victor, and a friend Marcelo, will be here during that time in order to help. Additionally, Victor is Quichua and the community where we will be working is Quechua speaking. He should easily be able to communicate with these people and to share the Bible in their language!

Victor and his friend Marcelo left on Sunday to travel by bus from Quito, Ecuador. We think he should be here on Wednesday.

Please pray for these 2 Ecuadorian believers as they travel here.
Pray for them during the month of March as they work with and through the churches here.
Pray that they would be able to share the Gospel to many in this flooded community and that they would be able to start churches out of their efforts.

Flooding in the Altiplano

2010-03-01T14:53:00.005-05:00

For the past few weeks there have been heavy rains and flooding in much of our area. Just 10 minutes from our house it now looks like Lake Titicaca on both sides of the road—it used to be filled with farms, houses, and animals. Now, it is pure water, remains of adobe mud houses that have collapsed and a few tin roofs that were salvaged.

John went into a community the other day, Patascachi, and spoke with many people. This is a very large community for this area, 515 families. There is not a single family in this community that has not been affected. Most have lost everything, and they didn’t have much to begin with. Houses have collapsed, water and mud covers everything, fields and crops are lost, animals have no food to eat, and storehouses of food kept in the houses from previous harvests are lost.

When asked what needs are the priority, the main response was “food for our animals.” The next biggest need is food for the people themselves and clean drinking water.

This week we will start providing some disaster relief to this large community. We will be providing feed for the animals and also supplementing food for the 4 community kitchens that have been provided by the government. Currently, many are eating only 1 meal a day at these community kitchens. Our hope is that supplementing food for these kitchens will provide more meals for more people.

Flooding in the Altiplano

2010-01-28T15:39:00.001-05:00

On my way out to Juliaca from Huancane today, I was surprised to find that a large part of our area is covered in water. We knew that it had been raining a lot, but we haven’t heard of any flooding. When I returned from my trip to Juliaca, I set out with Sonia and some national friends to investigate. It appears as though last night at about midnight, the Ramis River flooded and began to flood houses and farmland. You can see in these pictures some of the devastation. From the time I left out this morning (around 9am) until 3pm this afternoon, people have been standing on the side of the road with all the stuff they managed to salvage from their homes. Not only have most people lost all of their crops (their livelihood for the next year), but many have lost the food that is normally stored in their houses as well.

Please be in prayer for the people affected by this flood. As of right now, Cusco is getting most of the national attention because of the flooding there, and so it is likely that it will be a while before this area of Peru starts to draw any attention and to begin receiving help.

Praying for strength for the believers

2010-01-27T11:28:00.006-05:00

For most people here, to be Aymara is to participate in the fiesta system. This system of traditional festivals, parties and drinking are a stronghold on many here, and many people will flat out say that they don't want to give it all up in order to follow Jesus.

Last week, we learned something that was disheartening. The weekly Wed. night bible study in Huancane meets in a believer's house. After a discussion of whether the church could hang a sign outside her house or not (advertising this location as the meeting place for the church), the lady said, "What if I go out and dance and drink during the fiestas? And then I come back home and people see a church sign on my house. What will they think of me then?" And so she refused to put the sign on her house because she admitted that she still wants to participate in the fiestas sometimes.

Please pray for strength for the believers here. Pray for them to continue to grow in their faith in the Lord.

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23

Answered Prayers

2010-01-17T12:52:00.002-05:00

With the new year, we have been praying to see God working among the Aymara in mighty ways this year.

Last night, I (Sonia) was able to witness how God is moving in new ways. Two weeks ago, a prayer time was started on Saturday nights for the Huancane group. The believers have been excited about this time, especially Pastor Ruben. Last night I was moved to tears as the group was praying for the lost Aymara that lived around them and in Moho and Conima. Just to see and hear them catching a small vision for those around them was definitely an answer to prayers!

There was also an older lady that visited for the first time last night. She is Ruben's neighbor and has only recently returned to this area from Lima. After talking with Ruben earlier in the day, she came last night saying that she wanted to accept Jesus as her Savior! Praise the Lord!!

Please continue to pray for this group--that they continue to reach out to the lost around them.
Pray also for this new believer, Sirila. She is an older women, but is now just a baby in the faith.

Thanksgiving 09

2009-12-01T13:32:00.005-05:00

We are so thankful for the calling that we have and for where we are serving! However, during the holidays, it's easy to start missing our families and things back home.

This year, we were determined to start our own traditions in our new location. Thankfully, they included a turkey (see previous post). And isn't technology amazing? We were able to watch the Macy's day parade with our Sligbox, and we got to talk and see all of our family with Skype. We were just glad that we had electricity that day so that those things were possible! :) John was even able to take a nap while "watching" a football game in the afternoon.

For the first time, I cooked the entire meal all by myself. We still wanted to have the large spread of food, but we knew that we couldn't eat it all by ourselves. Therefore, we invited a few friends over to enjoy the celebration with us. We gave them a short history lesson on what the day is and wat it means to us and our country. Then we let them try some of our food. People here eat turkey at christmas time, and so that was nothing new, but most of the other stuff was foreign to them. I believe that everyone liked the sweet potato suffle and the cranberry sauce the most. However, they did not like the brocolli with velveeta cheese casserole. That was one of my favorites b/c of the cheese, but the cheese was a little too different for them.

After our bellies were full, we decided to introduce them to the Wii. We all stayed warm and had lots of fun! Even Samuel and their 6 year old daughter loved boxing and Mario Kart.

All in all, we had a great day filled with many tastes from home and good times with local friends!

Was it worth it?

2009-12-01T13:21:00.003-05:00

The weekend before Thanksgiving we took a trip to Arequipa, Peru. It's normally about 4 1/2 to 5 hours away by truck. We like to go there every few months in order to get out of the altitude and also to buy supplies (the closest grocery store is located here, along with an Ace hardware store). We were determined to buy a turkey so that we could celebrate Thanksgiving like we know it, but at home in Huancane.

Well, we had been looking forward to this trip for a few weeks now. We were all excited when we loaded up the truck that morning to head out. We got 1 1/2 hours down the road, and we were told that there was a big strike about an hour and a half up. They said there was no way to go around it, and there had been some violence. Talk about disappointed!!! We decided to ask a police man that was nearby what he would recommened. We kept asking if there was another way around, and we were finally told that there was a way. BUT it was a horrible road! He said "In your truck, with 4 x 4, yeah, you can make it on that road."

That was all that we needed to hear. Our motivating thought was, "A Thanksgiving chicken just isn't right."

And so we set out on this other road. It was a dirt road, with holes, and bumps, and not very many smooth areas. We were on this road for 7 hours!! Our trip took 8.5 hours to finally arrive in Arequipa. BUT, we were glad to be there! :)

We were able to buy a turkey, and after some looking, even a turkey pan. On Thanksgiving day, I (Sonia) cooked my first turkey ever, and it came out great! It was even better knowing all the trouble that we had to go to get it.

It was definately worth it!

FBC Willow Park Vision Trip – Day 5

2009-11-16T15:30:00.001-05:00

Friday afternoon, we headed back to Huancane so that we could go out to Pastor Juan Mamani’s church in Isancuyo. Because FBC Willow Park is partnering with us to plant churches, we figured that it would be a good idea to let them see what churches in our area look like. Saturday morning, we went to a “community” church that meets outside in front of the pastor’s house. The team was able to see and participate in a “simple church” service and fellowship with some Aymara believers. The service started with the usual hour or more of songs, and then Pastor Juan preached for a while. When Juan finished, we sang some more and he gave the team an opportunity to share some. Miles started by sharing a little about the passage that Juan preached on and then he sang a song related to the passage. After Miles finished, Jon and Justin sang a song for the people. When they finished, Pastor Juan and a few others stood up and presented a music special for the team. Then we ended with prayer and ate “dinner on the grounds” as I like to call it. The team was finally able to try chunyo (or foot stomped potatoes).

That afternoon, we came back to Huancane and rested for a while before heading to the new church started in Huancane. This provided the team with the opportunity to see what a church looks like in town where things are a little more modern. Pastor Ruben is the leader of this church, and so he opened the service as normal and we had a time of worship. The team was able to participate in this time of worship by leading some of the Spanish songs with the guitar. Then Pastor Ruben led the Bible study time and we ended with a time of questions and then some more music.

While day 5 didn’t seem to be as action packed as some of the other days, it was still a productive and strategic day in that it allowed the team to see an example of what a church may look like when they begin starting them. This is important because church here looks a lot different than church in the US…as it should! Day 6 was basically souvenir shopping and leaving for the US, and so I won’t write another blog about it.

Thanks so much for your prayers for this team and please continue to pray for FBC Willow Park as they pray about the partnership. Please pray also for us as we follow up with all of the contacts that have been made!

(1st Pic: Singing in Aymara at Isancuyo)

(2nd Pic: Church in Isancuyo)

(3rd Pic: Lunch – fiambre)

(4th Pic: Jon & Justin singing in Huancane church)

(5th Pic: Pastor Ruben with his wife Luisa, daughter Edith, and son Rick – on Luisa’s back)

FBC Willow Park Vision Trip – Day 4

2009-11-15T19:05:00.001-05:00

On Friday, the team decided to stay around Moho and do a little exploring so that they could report back to the rest of the church concerning both Moho and Conima. Therefore, we walked around town to “see the sights”. I decided to visit a contact from the previous team’s work in Moho while we were out, and so we set off up the hill to visit Raul, a local mechanic. While the T.E.N. team was here, we met Raul and his wife and had the opportunity to pray for them and their family. During this visit, he told me about someone in his family that was sick, but I didn’t know exactly who or what was wrong. About a week later, Sonia, the boys, and I went to Moho to confirm arrangements for the Willow Park team, and so while we were there, I visited with Raul a little more. It was during that trip that Raul asked me to return to pray for the person that was sick. I told him that I would be back in a week, and that is where we left it. Therefore, when I showed up with the Willow Park team, he was excited to see that I had returned and called someone on the phone to come meet us. A few minutes later, Raul’s brother (Nestor) and sister-in-law (Lucila) came to Raul’s shop with their sick little daughter (Zenaida). Nestor began to explain to me that his daughter is 5 years old and can’t talk, can’t walk, and can’t feed herself. They have taken her to the local doctors and they claim that she can’t receive the medical attention that she needs in Peru (honestly, they couldn’t even diagnose her, and so we don’t know exactly what is wrong). Their suggestion is that they send her to the US but this family doesn’t have the means to do so. They were asking us for any help that we could provide. While I can’t take their little girl to the US for medical help, I can bring some US doctors to them, and so I’m hoping that either our April or June medical team will be able to offer some sort of diagnoses or help for this family and their little girl. Due to problems with this pregnancy, Lucila isn’t able to have any other children, and so they really want their daughter to be healed. Please pray for this family.

After ministering to this family and praying for them, we headed out to see more of Moho. While walking around, we ran into a guy named Eddie, who was very open to a conversation about spiritual things and who had a ton of questions. I shared the gospel with him and talked with him for a while. Then we headed down back into town to see more of the area.

After doing some exploring in Moho that morning, we headed toward Moho to visit Isla Suasi and do have lunch. For lunch, we had a cookout with delicious meats and veggies. We explored the Island a little to see some of the wild life, and then headed back to shore to make our way back to Huancane. We spent Friday night back in Huancane so that we could get up bright and early the next morning to head out to Isancuyo for church. Stay tuned for Saturday’s adventures.

(1st Pic: Nestor, Lucila, & Zenaida)

(2nd Pic: Raul, the mechanic)

(3rd Pic: John sharing with Eddie)

(4th Pic: Team walking around Moho)

(5th Pic: Justin, Miles, & Jon riding the boat out to Isla Suasi)

(6th Pic: A viscacha on Isla Suasi)

FBC Willow Park Vision Trip – Day 3

2009-11-11T20:47:00.001-05:00

On day three of FBC Willow Park’s vision trip, we headed back to Conima. After a little bit of a discouraging day the day before, the thoughts were that we would spend the morning in Conima, eat on Isla Suasi, and then head back to Moho to take a look around Moho. You see, we have two partnerships available, and so after seeing what all Conima does and doesn’t have to offer, the guys were beginning to think that Moho would be a better fit for their church. Honestly, we are excited to have them working with us in either place, and so which ever one they choose is great for our ministry. Therefore, we went to arrange plans to go to the Island to eat for lunch and after trying for 20 minutes to communicate with the Island, we gave up and went on in to Conima to see what we could do there.

After arriving, we began talking to a store owner that I and a few guys from the previous team had a chance to witness to. After a while of talking, we mentioned that we had some stuff for students and that we would like to find a school that would allow us to come in and share a few things for a while. At that point, the store owner said “follow me”, and so off we went to a school that her husband works at. It was about a block away on the corner of the main Plaza, and so we headed up there to see what opportunities could open up.

After meeting the director and explaining why we were there, he rang the bell for break and called all of the teachers into his office. We shared with them for a while about why we were there, about our ministry, and most importantly, about the word of God. We then gave out reading glasses and Bibles to the teachers. The teachers then organized the students and we handed out goodie bags to each of them. The team went out to play with the children of the school while I stayed inside and had a great opportunity to share the gospel with the teachers and the director. They asked several questions about our work and in the end, we were invited back to teach religion courses and to even use their facilities for a church in the future. As we were preparing to leave, the director asked us to stay and have lunch with them. We were treated as guests of honor and were served a very delicious lunch. At that point, we realized why we weren’t able to make plans to eat on the island as we had first decided to do.

After our time at the school, we walked around town some and met up with some contacts that I had made 2 weeks earlier with the other team. We made some new contacts and in the afternoon, we headed back to Moho. In Moho, we walked around some and then decided to hike the mountain that overlooks Moho. What a spectacular view from the top! I praise God for the contacts that He allowed us to make that day! Please pray that these relationships will continue to grow and that many will come to know Christ through the work that T.E.N. and FBC Willow Park have done these past few weeks in Conima!

(1st Pic: Waiting and waiting to make a reservation on the Island)

(2nd Pic: Miles with store owner that invited us to the school)

(3rd Pic: Team with teachers and students at school)

(4th Pic: Team playing with children)

(5th Pic: Lunch at school)

(6th Pic: Team on top of “Mt. Calvary” overlooking Moho)

FBC Willow Park Vision Trip – Day 2

2009-11-10T09:24:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday morning, the Willow Park team of three and I loaded up the truck and headed to Moho to settle in at the hotel and eat lunch. After lunch, we headed out to Conima to spend the day out there in prayer and looking around.

When we arrived in Conima, we went up to an overlook that has a great view of the town and of the surrounding scenery (like Lake Titicaca). After spending some time looking around and soaking in the sights, smells, and sounds, we spent some time praying over the town. Then we decided to take a more adventurous decent down the side of the hill that the overlook sits on. This provided the opportunity to walk along a beautiful stream, see some llamas, and take a look at some local crops growing in the fields.

We then climbed back up to the town of Conima and were greeted by a nice, but annoying drunk teacher. After listening to him rant and rave for a while about everything that is wrong with their government and culture, we finally escaped and went on our way. We were then able to visit some of the “lodging” options in Conima as well as the local Internet cafe and a few other sights of interest before it was time to head back to Moho.

Once we arrived back in Moho, we were actually greeted by a member of a Baptist church that use to meet outside of Moho. The interesting thing was that the T.E.N. team two weeks ago actually struck up a conversation with a man at a local chicken restaurant that was friends with this guy. Through that contact, the Baptist guy found out that I was back in town and came hunting me down. We sat and talked for a while and discussed the history of the Baptist church that used to be there and then discussed the possibility of starting up that work again. It was actually a great (and surprising) conversation to be having our first night in town. After that, we went and ate at the friend’s chicken restaurant and then rested for the evening.

While our time in Conima wasn’t as fruitful on day two, we did have a great day and made a great contact for a future work in Moho. Check back tomorrow to hear about a very productive and fruitful day in Conima on day 3.

(1st Pic: Shot of team on the way to Moho)

(2nd Pic: Getting settled at hotel in Moho)

(3rd Pic: Panoramic view of Conima)

(4th Pic: Shot of stream and llamas in Conima)

FBC Willow Park Vision Trip – Day 1

2009-11-09T15:43:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2009, I went to the airport to pick up Miles, Justin, & Jon from Willow Park, TX. They were sent by their church (FBC Willow Park) as a vision team to see the area, and to see and experience our ministry here among the Aymara people. More specifically, they were coming to report back to their church concerning a potential partnership to reach the Aymara people of Conima (a district capital located a few hours outside of Huancane). After loading up the luggage and leaving the airport, we headed into the heart of Juliaca to visit the ATM, exchange money, and buy a few supplies before heading to Huancane.

Once we arrived in Huancane, Sonia had lunch waiting for us, and so we ate, and the team rested for a few hours. After dinner, we then sat down and discussed our ministry in depth and the strategy that we are trying to implement to reach the Aymara people of Huancane & Moho. After a good discussion concerning our ministry and strategy and how their church would fit in to all of that, we then called it a night so that everyone would be well rested for the journey to Moho and then to Conima the following day.

(1st Pic: Miles, Justin, & Jon at airport in Juliaca)

(2nd Pic: Loading the truck)

(3rd Pic: Getting ready to eat lunch at our house in Huancane)

Update on the boys

2009-11-06T13:06:00.005-05:00

Well, it's been awhile since we've given an update on the boys, and so I thought I'd go ahead and do just that.

Jacob has been doing well since returning to Peru. He usually likes attention, no matter who it is from, and so that, of course, makes the people here happy. He still isn't walking yet, but is getting close and I'm sure his first step will be soon!

Samuel is getting more used to things and is doing better. He is becoming less shy with people that we see on a regular basis and is even starting to say a few words to them in spanish. He is starting to learn more spanish here in the house, and one of his favorite phrases is, "How do you say ___ in spanish?" Now, how many other 2 year olds do that??

FBC Willow Park Partnership

2009-11-03T16:24:00.001-05:00

This week, we have a team of 3 men from FBC Willow Park, TX here with us exploring the possibility of a partnership with our ministry to reach the district of Conima. The district of Conima has about 4,000 people in it with only one evangelical church (Pentecostal) with about 10 members. The last time I spoke to the pastor there (about 10 months ago), he told me that he had 30 members. Therefore, either he fudged on the numbers a little bit last time, or they are losing members right and left. Either way, the town and district of Conima are in need of someone to share the truth of the gospel with them. Because we live so far from Conima, it is hard for us to be there on a regular basis to share the gospel and to try to start a work there.

That is where FBC Willow Park is stepping in. They are praying about coming along side of our ministry to help us reach this district by sending 3 to 4 small teams a year down to minister to the people of Conima. If they accept this partnership, their teams will focus on sharing the gospel, as well as the love of Christ to the people of Conima with the goal of planting churches there that will reach out and plant new churches in new areas.

Please pray for John and this team as they travel out to Conima to prayer walk and look for person’s of peace that are interested in studying the Word of God. Please pray for the team’s safety and health while they are here and please pray that God will guide them and their church as they make the decision as to whether or not they feel God leading them to accept this partnership.

Please also pray for Sonia and the boys as John leaves them alone in Huancane for a few nights.

Also, feel free to follow the teams blog at: http://peruvisionteam.blogspot.com/

T.E.N. Day 5

2009-10-26T20:35:00.001-04:00

Thursday was the To Every Nation group’s final day. We returned to Huancane early in the morning and everyone was finally able to take a hot shower. After showers and repacking, the group took a trip to visit Ruben (the Baptist pastor in Huancane) to buy some more souvenirs to take home. Ruben and his wife, Luisa, make traditional handmade items to sell in the local market and they make wonderful gifts for folks back home. They were even able to watch Ruben give them a demo of the loom he uses to make his items.

After shopping, we took off up the mountain behind Huancane (Poko paka) to take in one last spectacular view of the area before heading back to the airport in Juliaca. We had planned on leaving around 5pm to be in Juliaca early enough to eat in a decent restaurant (Royal Inn) and then head to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Well, after arriving in Juliaca, we realized that it was Juliaca’s anniversary and there was a huge celebration taking place right in front of the hotel. As a mater of fact, the celebration had every street shut down all around the hotel, and so we couldn’t even get near. We managed to get within about 2 blocks of the hotel, but we couldn’t leave the truck unprotected with all of the luggage in it, and so we had to make an exit route by driving down the railroad tracks (that was a first for us all!) and then finding a street that we could use to get out of the area. We finally arrived back at the airport and the team was able to do some final souvenir shopping there and eat dinner in the overly priced airport restaurant.

Needless to say, it was an adventurous week for us all that didn’t let up until the team was well on their way back to the US. All of that to say that we all had a blast and we praise God for how He used these folks from TX who said “Here am I Lord, send me!” Please continue to pray for the people that were impacted this week by this team and please pray for the three men from FBC Willow Park, TX that will be arriving on Nov. 3rd to work in Conima.

(1st Pic: Final team photo from Poko Paka)

(2nd Pic: Ruben & Luisa showing off their loom)

(3rd Pic: Spectacular view from Poko Paka)

T.E.N. Day 4

2009-10-26T12:52:00.001-04:00

On our fourth day out, we traveled back to Conima to do follow-up on contacts made the day before and to minister to more people. On our way out, we decided to stop by a nice hotel located on Isla Suasi out in lake Titicaca and make lunch reservations. The hotel costs a small fortune to stay at, but lunch isn’t all that bad ($20 per person), and so we decided to have a nice lunch while out there.

When we arrived in Conima, we went to the high school and gave some soccer balls to the school and sunglasses to the professors. We then took a tour of the medical clinic across the street from the high school and coordinated a future medical mission trip to work with them. I am extremely excited at the possibility of having a group of doctors and nurses from the US working with this clinic to provide medical care to people that can’t normally afford it. The team also donated some small toys to the clinic for their pediatric unit to hopefully help children feel better or more at ease while receiving medical attention.

After these visits, we went back to Isla Suasi to eat a delicious lunch. While $20 is extremely expensive in this area (most lunches are $1), it was a nice treat to have all the meat you could eat. We had alpaca, chicken, pork, sausage, beef, and other items grilled, along with a salad (that was actually clean), and drinks were included also. Oh, and it included the boat ride to the island and back. While I would love to take my wife to the island to stay at the hotel some time, $290 per person per night is just a bit too expensive!

Back to reality… After our trip to the island, we went back to Conima and began doing follow-up on visits made the previous day. Unfortunately, this didn’t turn out like any of us had hoped. One guy that was in tears the day before and wanted to make a decision for Christ, but wanted to talk to his family first shut us down when we went back. He began making all sorts of excuses, which basically meant that he talked to someone and they scared him away from us. We had other people that said they would be around at a certain time and never were. Finally, after playing in the plaza for a while with the children of Conima, the government hung a large banner advertising the Adventist Church. Conima is primarily Adventist, and I believe they were trying to show us that with their large banner. While the other 3 days were great, day 4 allowed the team to get a glimpse of what we are up against on a regular basis here. The good news is that Satan would not have been fighting so hard against us if we weren’t doing something right. Therefore, we took all of the opposition on day 4 as a sign that Satan felt threatened and had to do something to regain a bit of authority and control in this town.

With all of that said, we did see some positive results as well. One follow-up visit turned into an opportunity to share the gospel with 4 ladies and give Bibles to them. They all still seemed extremely interested and I promised a follow-up visit with them in a week when I’m out there with a team from Willow Park, TX.

Please continue to pray for the people of Moho and Conima. Pray that God will reveal Himself to people there in a personal way and that people will accept Him as their Lord and Savior. Pray also for churches to be planted and for leaders to rise up.

(1st Pic: Group on boat headed to Isla Suasi)

(2nd Pic: Director of High school in Conima with soccer balls)

(3rd Pic: Medical Clinic workers with gifts for children)

(4th Pic: Lunch being cooked on grill at Isla Suasi)

(5th Pic: 4 ladies in Conima interested in knowing more about Christ)

T.E.N. Day 3

2009-10-25T09:37:00.001-04:00

On our third day, we planned to go to Conima (a district capital about 20 minutes from Moho) to do some prayer walking in preparation of another team coming in 1 week. FBC of Willow Park, TX is looking at partnering with us to reach Conima. Therefore, because this team is coming so quickly after the T.E.N. team, we decided to do some preparation work there. When we arrived, we didn’t really have much of a game plan except to prayer walk.

The first thing we did was to climb up to a look out and pray over the town. This is always a great experience because you can soak in the beauty of the area, as well as observe the daily actions and routines of the people. After spending time in prayer above the town, we split up into teams and began to prayer walk and share the gospel as opportunities arose. Both teams really had a successful day of sharing the gospel and when we met back in the main plaza at the truck, tons of children gathered around us. Therefore, we broke out some Frisbees and began to play with the kids there in the plaza. The fun part was that the adults in town began gathering around to watch and they were having as much fun watching us play as we all were having playing.

We left Conima that day exhausted but excited about the next day because we were going to be doing some follow-up with some promising contacts – or so we thought. Stay tuned for day 4’s events.

(1st Pic: Team pic on way to Conima)

(2nd Pic: Praying over town of Conima)

(3rd Pic: Playing Frisbee in main plaza)

T.E.N. Day 2

2009-10-24T19:37:00.001-04:00

On our second day out in Moho, we planned on going to a school in Moho to give out school supplies that the team brought with them. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a contact in a school in Moho, and so when we went out to set everything up for the team a few weeks ago, Ruben and I set out to find someone. The Moho school system happened to be having their science fair the day we went, and so we walked around praying for a contact. It wasn’t long before Ruben recognized someone from Huancane that was dressed like a teacher. We approached him and, long story short, set it up to visit his school with the team to hand out supplies. Little did I know that while the school is in the province of Moho, it is about 30 minutes outside of the main town of Moho.

On Monday morning, the team and I set out to hunt down this school since it wasn’t as close as we were expecting. Fortunately, we left in plenty of time because it took us a while to find it. When we finally arrived in Jakantaya, we found a school and went in to verify that it was the correct one. Although it wasn’t the school we were supposed to be at, the director was so excited to see people from the US that he asked us to stay and speak to the students. Not wanting to turn down an opportunity, we told him that we would. Although the team had not brought enough school supplies for both schools, I happened to have some extra school supplies with me in the truck just in case we needed them. As it turned out, we did need them…: ) This particular school had 55 students and I had enough for about 60 or so. Therefore, as the director got all of the students together, we gathered the supplies and began to hand them out. We then shared the gospel with the entire school and headed out to make it to the correct school. However, before we left, we were invited to come back and visit a smaller “Christian” school not too far away by one of the teachers that grew up in the “Christian” school.

When we arrived at the correct school, we were warmly welcomed and spoke with the director for quite a while. Come to find out, he forgot that we were coming, but went ahead with letting us share with their students. We gave out the supplies that we had for the students and the teachers, and then we shared the gospel message with them. We were then welcomed back at any time in the future to share more.

After leaving the “correct” school, we then headed back to the “incorrect” school to pick up the professor that had given us the invitation to visit the “Christian” school and off we went. By this time, we were running low on supplies, but we had enough for the 14 students at this particular school. When we arrived, we found out that it was a 7th Day Adventist school (I thought that it was to begin with but didn’t really share that with the group until we knew for sure). The amazing thing about this opportunity is that we as evangelicals are seen as enemies by the Adventists. Therefore, to be welcomed into their school to share the gospel and give out school supplies was a rare opportunity. By the time we finished with this school, we were all out of school supplies and fortunately, had run out of invitations to visit schools as well. Therefore, we loaded up and headed back to Moho.

Once we arrived back in Moho, we did some prayer walking and had a few opportunities to share the gospel along the way. Praise the Lord that His plans are greater than ours! We had planned on visiting one school and instead, He had us visit 3 schools and had given us the supplies needed to do it!

(1st Pic: Team photo in team shirts before leaving Moho)

(2nd Pic: Students happy to receive school supplies at first school)

(3rd Pic: Students at second school happy to receive school supplies)

(4th Pic: Professors at second school happy to receive items as well)

(5th Pic: Students at 7th Day Adventist school singing a song for us)

(6th Pic: Sharing the gospel with a lady while walking down the street in Moho)

T.E.N. Day 1

2009-10-23T12:53:00.001-04:00

A “To Every Nation” team of 5 people arrived on Oct. 17th, 2009 in the evening, but didn’t have a chance to do much until the next day. Therefore, I am going to start with Sunday, their first full day here.

The team started out the day by going through the market here in Huancane and purchasing some souvenirs. Then they loaded up in a Combi (small van) and we all headed out to Moho. On the way to Moho, we took the scenic route, and so they were able to seem some spectacular views of lake Titicaca. Upon our arrival in Moho, the Combi broke down and the team had to walk to the hotel. Fortunately, they were just a few blocks away when it broke down. The cool part about it was that we were able to establish a relationship with a mechanic and minister to him and his family during the week (his was the first home we were invited into during the course of the week). While part of the group ministered to the mechanic and his family, the rest of the group played volleyball with a group of teenagers and had an opportunity to minister to them as well.

Later, as Peter and I tried to find a safe place to park the truck, the rest of the team set out looking for us. During that time, the stumbled upon an evangelical church that I had heard about but knew nothing about there in Moho. Through their contact with the church, we were invited back that night to participate in the service and I was invited to preach. I storyed the Great Commission and strongly encouraged the church to be about making disciples. At the end of the service, the church scheduled a day later in the month to go out and evangelize as a church. It was a great opportunity to encourage other brothers and sisters in Christ to be about doing what Christ has commanded us to do and not to lose sight of this task (they are currently in a building project and admitted to losing focus on reaching the lost).

More took place during the day, but these are the highlights that I can remember. Stay tuned for day two’s events. Until then, enjoy these pictures.

(1st Pic: Team on Poko Paka looking out over lake Titicaca)

(2nd Pic: Chris and Raul – the mechanic)

(3rd Pic: John towing broken down combi up hill)

(4th Pic: Pastor and family of Pentecostal church in Moho)

Beginning a work in Moho & Conima

2009-10-16T20:43:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow, a team from the US will arrive in Huancane to help us begin a work in Moho (pictured left) and Conima (pictured below). This is a team a part of “To Every Nation” and they have sent one team to work with us in the past here in Huancane. As a matter of fact, all teams that we have had work with us from the US in the past have worked here in Huancane. However, we are doing things a little differently now. In the past, we have focused primarily on Huancane because it is the largest population segment of Aymara people in our area. Also, it is convenient to work here because this is where we live (and it has decent facilities that makes hosting teams a little easier). However, we have realized that with one church planted here in Huancane, two others just outside of Huancane, and another one starting up in Huancane, it is time to begin reaching out to the 75,000 other Aymara people that don’t live in Huancane. Because it is so hard for us to do on our own, our plan is to use our US partners to help us accomplish this task of starting new works in other strategic population centers of Aymara people.

This particular team from “To Every Nation” will be helping us to begin our work by saturating the areas of Moho and Conima in prayer during this coming week. Most of their time will be spent prayer walking through the streets of these two towns asking that God will open the hearts of the people there and prepare the way for new works to be started. They will also be entering a school in Moho on Monday to share the love of Christ through words as well as actions (by giving school supplies to each student). Our hope and prayer is that through the help of our US partners, we will be able to start new churches in the district capitals of Moho and Conima that will then reach the smaller communities that surround them. The work that this team will be doing is essential to the advancement of the gospel message in these areas. Please pray for them as they travel and as they minister in Moho and Conima.

(Please also pray for Sonia and the boys as I leave them behind in Huancane to minister with the team in Moho and Conima.)

Daily Market Trip…

2009-10-05T19:40:00.001-04:00

In Huancane, we don’t have anything that even resembles a grocery store. Therefore, we have to buy most supplies in a town an hour away (Juliaca), which doesn’t have a real grocery store either, but does offer more than Huancane. However, in Huancane, we can buy most of our fruits and vegetables in the daily market. Sonia normally takes the boys with her for the daily trip to the market to buy fruits and vegetables just to get them out of the house for a bit. Here are a couple of pictures to show the excitement of the daily market trip. You can see in the top picture that Jacob really enjoys the ride.

Sheep Taxi?

2009-09-27T12:36:00.001-04:00

Having a truck here is a huge blessing. However, having a truck normally means giving people rides. Although this makes the so-called “public transportation” a bit angry with us because we don’t charge people, and so people would rather wait for us than pay to ride on a van or bus. Anyway, I have only given rides to people in the past. Well, yesterday, on the way back from Isancuyo, one of the believers that has a house in Isancuyo and in Huancane wanted me to give her and her two children a ride back to Huancane. I agreed and we set out across the field to load all of the video equipment back into the truck. When I looked for this lady and her children, I couldn’t find them. Finally, they came up to the truck as we were finishing up loading everything and she had 3 sheep with her. When I asked her what she planned to do with them, she told me that they were going with her to Huancane. When she saw the shock on my face, she decided to leave two with her sister and only bring one with her.

It is very common to haul sheep on top of vans or buses here, but I’ve never hauled a sheep on my truck. I guess there is a first time for everything. Fortunately, the sheep never fell off, but it did relieve itself on top of my recently washed truck. Anyway, my taxi service has now extended to live sheep tied to the top of my truck. I’m really glad that I requested a rack to be installed on our new truck!

Greetings from Huancane!

2009-09-17T18:02:00.001-04:00

If you’ve been following us on Facebook, then you know that we have made it to Huancane safe and sound. Thanks so much for your prayers for safety as we traveled. Although we didn’t spent much time in Lima, we were able to fellowship with several of our friends there and get yearly checkups and all taken care of while there. We then went to Arequipa and our time there was cut short, but we were still able to visit with friends there, adjust to the altitude, and do some grocery shopping in an actual supermarket. From there, we completed our journey to Huancane and arrived on Sunday afternoon.

Since arriving, we have spent lots of time settling in and fellowshipping with friends and believers here in Huancane. John had the opportunity to visit New Hope church in Huancane on Tuesday night and worshiped with the believers there. One of the best things about coming back to Huancane is that people noticed that we were gone, and now notice that we are back. This is important because it shows them that we care enough about them to actually come back to live among them (several doubted that we would actually return). One of the largest hurdles that we have to deal with is a lack of trust. Therefore, us coming back has established a trust that wasn’t there before.

Please pray for us as we enter back into the work here. Pray specifically that we will encounter people of peace and that we will be able to share the gospel with them and start new works.

Frustrating Trip!

2009-09-11T22:21:00.001-04:00

Well, we made it to Arequipa after staying the night in Nasca last night. We had planned on staying in Arequipa for 4 nights to adjust to the altitude since we’ve been out for so long and then head back to Huancane. Therefore, we made reservations online for a hotel in Arequipa for 4 nights, received our confirmation, and thought that all was well. However, when we showed up at the hotel after 9 hours of traveling, we were told that we didn’t have a room after all. After arguing for a while, we finally got them to give us a room for 2 of the 4 nights. The problem is that there is this crazy miners convention in Arequipa this coming week and they use up every hotel in a 3 hour radius of this place. Therefore, we were very lucky that we arrived 2 days before it starts or we would have been adding another 5 hours to our trip today.

Anyway, we are here now and will just cram everything we were going to do in 4 days into tomorrow so that we can leave bright and early on Sunday.

Thanks for your prayers and please continue to pray for safe travels! Pray also that we won’t run into anymore issues like this.

Thanks for praying!

2009-09-08T16:29:00.002-04:00

Thanks to everyone for praying as we traveled back down to Peru. We will still be traveling over the next few days and will (hopefully) arrive back home in Huancane next week.

We praise the Lord for the good travel that He gave us! The boys did good on the flights and all of our luggage arrived! We didn't have any problems entering the country as residents--I thought that was settled and we would easily be granted our visas. However, getting an extension on our visas is another story, and we are still waiting on the verdict.

We are slowly starting to adjust to being back in Latin America. Yesterday was all a tired blur after not getting much sleep the night before on the plane, but today has been better and it's starting to sink in that we are really back. The boys are doing good so far. Jacob enjoys attention from anyone, no matter what language they are speaking. Samuel, however, is still shy with strangers, and even more stand-offish right now trying to get used to everyone speaking spanish to him again.

Our plan is to leave Lima on Thursday in order to start the 20 hour drive back to Huancane. We'll make 2 over-night stops, and we will also stay a few more days in Arequipa in order to adjust to the altitude a little. I say that this is our "PLAN" because we are still waiting on our truck. We've been told for about 2 months that it would be ready, and then when we arrive, we are still told that "it will be ready tomorrow." And so, we wait. And we pray.

Please continue to pray:

for an extension on our visas, with no further problems.
that our truck will be ready Wed. for pick-up so that we can leave on Thursday.
if we have to stay extra days in Lima, that travel plans and hotel reservations can be changed with no problems.
for the boys to continue to adjust well, especially Samuel as he's been more shy
safe travel as we start the 20 hour drive home (and for the boys to travel well!)

You know you're back in Lima when...

2009-09-08T16:05:00.004-04:00

a lady asks Sonia (without even thinking twice about it), "You've gained a little weight, haven't you?"
Samuel says, "Speak Spanish here."
you can walk most places you need to go.
if you can't walk, you can take a taxi--and they all look like they've been in a demolition derby.
you can't find vegetables on the menu at many restaurants--just potatoes.
someone can shove you and your baby out of their way and just keep going without thinking twice about it. (And look back at you and give you a dirty look for being in their way!)
pedestrians DON'T have the right-of-way...and if you think you do, you WILL get hit!
the traffic laws are just a suggestion.
you're running late, and so you choose a beat up taxi because you know he will get you there quicker than a nicer looking taxi (the demolition derby looking taxi's aren't affraid to take risks).
you are told that everything "will be ready tomorrow" even when you and they know that it will probably be a week or more before it is actually ready.
you make reservations for the night before you arrive just so that you know you have a room when you arrive at 6am and your room isn't ready because they double-booked the room since you hadn't arrived yet (and blamed you for arriving too early even though you told them when you would be arriving).
you have a taste for Chili's, Dunkin Donuts, and Papa John's even though you didn't eat at them for 6 months while in the US (where they were even more available).
you see the sun out for a few minutes and get excited.

Samuel singing the goodbye song

2009-09-05T19:36:00.001-04:00

This is a video of Samuel singing the goodbye song that he learned this summer while going to children’s time at the library. It seems to be a fitting song since we are leaving the US tomorrow.

(I’m posting this at the risk of making the grandparents cry…but it is too cute not to post!)

Has it been 6 months already?

2009-09-01T16:01:00.001-04:00

Well, it looks like our six month stateside assignment is coming to an end. We arrived in the US on March 6th, 2009 and hit the ground running with missions conferences, speaking engagements, and family events. We spent our first 3 months in Perry, GA living in an awesome mission house provided by the great folks at FBC Perry and enjoyed living about 15 miles from Sonia’s parents. We then moved to Villa Rica, GA in June and have spent our final 3 months living in another mission house provided by Midway Church (about 15 minutes from John’s parents). We are very appreciative of these two churches and the sacrifices they have made to provide us a place to live for the past 6 months!

Now, after speaking over 60 times in these 6 months, we are wrapping up our final few days and are getting ready to return to Peru. We have our crate all packed up with all of the goodies that were given to us and that we bought that will be shipped to us and we are now packing our suitcases to carry down with us on the plane. We will head out Sunday (Sept. 6th) and will arrive in Lima early on Monday morning. After spending a few days in Lima, we will then begin the long drive back up to Huancane with a “layover” in Arequipa to adjust to the altitude (at a more manageable altitude of 10,000 ft.) before returning to Huancane at 13,000 ft.

We had a great time meeting many of you for the first time, or seeing many of you again after a long time, and we hope to see you all again upon our next return! We appreciate your love, prayers, and support during our time here in the States and we covet your prayers as we return to Peru. Please also pray for us and our families as we say our “see you laters” and “good-byes” this coming weekend.

North Georgia Mountain Fair

2009-07-20T17:52:00.001-04:00

As a child, I (John) went to the North GA Mountain Fair in Hiawassee, GA every year that I can remember. Because my grandmother worked in the fair, we would go and spend all day every day at the fair. When my sister and I were younger, we would visit on the weekends with my parents. However, as we grew older, we would go up and spend the entire 2 weeks of the fair with my grandmother (meaning that we would be there all day every day for 2 weeks). Then when we were old enough, my sister and I worked at the fair (1st jobs for us both).

Anyway, as I grew older and got more involved with work, ministry, college, and later seminary, I wasn’t able to go as much. Well, this weekend, I was able to visit the fair for the first time in about 11 years. The coolest part was that I was able to take Sonia and the boys and share with them something that was such a great part of my childhood. Although my boys are young and I’m still new at being a parent, I’m learning that one fun thing about being a parent is being able to share things like this with my children.

While at the fair, we walked through the craft section and bought a few cool things to carry back to Peru with us. My mom was there with us also, and so she bought Samuel a little duck (see pictures above) that he could push around the fair. Samuel also had fun playing in the water at the old water-wheel, playing on an old school bus, and just running around and seeing what he could get into. My mom was also kind enough to watch the boys for us at night so that Sonia and I could sneak back to the fair and enjoy treats like funnel cake without having to share…: ) We also were able to watch the parade filled with all sorts of cool old cars. Although they had kiddy rides at the midway, we decided not to get Samuel started for the fear that he never would want to stop. (Plus, the prices for tickets to ride those silly rides are ridiculous.) Anyway, we had a great time at the fair this weekend. Here are a few pictures…Enjoy!

If you can’t read it, click on it to make it larger…believe me, its worth it!

Cool car in the parade

Another cool car.

Less than 2 months left…

2009-07-07T10:39:00.001-04:00

It is hard to believe that we are now in our final 2 months of our Stateside Assignment before returning to Peru. We have been in the US for 4 months now and the time has flown by! While we haven’t done everything that we hoped we would be able to, we have done a lot and hope to have time in our final two months to finish up everything before returning to Peru for a 4 year term.

One of the joys of being back in the States has been visiting with our families and old friends, visiting churches, and making new friends! We have also enjoyed other special treats like eating some of our favorite foods that we haven’t been able to eat in 3 years, visit places that we haven’t been to in over 3 years, and just relax a little.

As we prepare to go back to Peru, we would like to ask that you please pray for the following:

Pray for us as we say goodbye to family and friends (this will be especially hard this time with the boys!)
Pray that we will make good use of our last 2 months in the States
Pray that we will have plenty of time once we arrive in Peru to plan for the two volunteer teams coming in October and November
Pray for us as we settle back into our home in Huancane and as we pick up with our ministry responsibilities
Pray that God will call out another church to partner with us in reaching the town and district of Moho

Geocaching in Georgia

2009-04-10T14:10:00.001-04:00

I was introduced to Geocaching by my boss, Steve King. Before a training in Lima, Peru, Steve was planning on doing come caching, and so I asked if I could tag along to see how it was done. All you need is a GPSR and access to the Internet, both of which I had, and so I figured that it would be interesting to try. I don’t travel near as much as Steve does, and so I don’t have as many opportunities to cache (there aren’t too many caches in the altiplano of Peru). Well, while we are in the States, I figured that I would try to knock out a few more caches since there are so many nearby.

One of the things that I like about caching is that it can be a family activity, and so that is how I’ve been caching since being back in GA. Yesterday, Sonia, the boys, and I went to Sonia’s parents to eat ribs, and so Sonia and I left the boys and set out for a cache just a few blocks away from them. This was Sonia’s first time caching with me and she did great. She just didn’t like all of the bugs that were around because we were near a lake. Anyway, here is a picture of Sonia’s first find.

Today, we all went to the nearby recreation department here in Perry, GA and we all set out to find a cache there before taking the boys to the playground. Sonia stayed with Jacob on the walking trail while Samuel and I set out for the cache. Here is a picture of Samuel with his first cache and one of Samuel and I together with the cache.

If you’ve never tried geocaching, I suggest you give it a shot! Especially if you have children that like adventure or just want out of the house! If you are interested about learning more, check out www.geocaching.com.

Modern Conveniences

2009-04-08T10:32:00.001-04:00

Oh, how perspectives change things! While we were in Peru preparing for coming to the US, we probably listed 1,000+ things that we were looking forward to having when we got back to the US. Now that we are here, the things that we thought would be so important aren’t so important any longer because they are at our fingertips again. For example, we were really looking forward to being able to eat out when we wanted. Now that we are here, we hardly eat out because the food doesn’t taste as good as home cooked meals. We were also looking forward to being able to go to a store and shop instead of having to do all shopping online. We’ve learned that it is a pain to go to the stores, and so we still do most of our shopping online.

There were also several “modern conveniences” that we were looking forward to having that really aren’t as appealing now as we thought that they would be while we were in Peru. However, with all of that said, there is one thing that I’m going to miss from the States when we return to Peru. Central heat and air! We have really been spoiled by hitting a button on the thermostat to adjust the temperature. As opposed to going out and getting the wood, fighting for 30 minutes to an hour to start a fire in the heater, and feeding it every hour after that to keep it going just to warm the house. AND, if you want the house to stay warm through the night, you have to keep getting up and adding more wood. With central heat and air, you just set the thermostat to the desired temp, go to bed, and wake up with it being nice and cozy in the the house. As thankful as I am for the wood burning heater that we have in Peru, I really am going to miss the ease of a thermostat and central heat and air!

Well, this is sort of a random post, but I didn’t really have anything else to say and it was time for another update.

Time for an Update…

2009-03-30T09:34:00.001-04:00

Well, our last blog was about us being in Lima. However, we aren’t in Lima any longer, and so it is time for an update!

On March 6th, we traveled to the US and settled in a mission house at the First Baptist Church of Perry, GA. Since then, we have been busy readjusting to the US culture and speaking in churches. Sonia has been staying behind with the boys since it is too difficult to travel for long periods of time with a 2 year old and a 6 month old. Therefore, John has been doing most of the traveling alone. For that reason, he has only been traveling close by so that he can make it back home as soon as a conference is over and not worry about catching a flight or anything else. So far, he has participated in two On Mission Conferences and spoken in a few churches not associated with the OMCs.

Other than that, we have been making the most of spending time with family and enjoying the US springtime weather! (And Sonia has been enjoying shopping!)

Well, that is a quick summary of what we have been up to for the past 3 weeks. We will post again soon with more details and some pictures of the boys!

In Lima...

2009-02-27T16:24:00.002-05:00

On Feb. 20th, we left Huancane and made the 20 hour drive to Lima. Of course, we made a few stops along the way, but it was still a very long trip. We thought that we were going to spend a few nights enjoying the beach and a tourist town, but because of no rooms in the beach town, we missed our trip to the beach, and because of tired boys, we decided to skip the tourist town as well. By the time we made it to Lima, both boys were more than ready to finally get out of the truck.

Since arriving in Lima, we have been to one doctor's office after another trying to obtain medical clearance for returning to the field. We have only a few other appointments left, and we hope that we are done being pricked, prodded, and poked at for a while. Samuel and Jacob sure are tired of all of the doctor's appointments. In fact, Samuel has developed a sense for when we are in clinics and doctor's offices, and so he screams and refuses to go in, even when it isn't his appointment. Needless to say, we are all ready to finish with the doctor's visits and board a plane to the US.

Please pray for us as we pack up and head to the airport on Thursday night for an all-night flight to the States on Friday morning. The plane leaves Lima at 1:20am on Friday morning and we should arrive in the US around 8am that morning. Please also pray that the boys behave and sleep on the majority of the flight.

Thanks and God Bless,
John, Sonia, Samuel, & Jacob

New pictures of the boys...

2009-02-04T14:13:00.006-05:00

Stateside Assignment

2009-02-04T13:45:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, we are reaching the end of our first term as missionaries with the IMB. We left the US on March 6th, 2006 and we are now preparing for our return to the US on March 6th, 2009. As you already know, we spent our first year in language school in Costa Rica learning to speak Spanish. We then moved to Peru in February of 2007 and have spent the last 2 years ministering in Huancane among the Aymara people of Peru. Well, most of that time was spent in Huancane. We did have a short period (4.5 months) in Lima awaiting the birth of our son Jacob. Anyway, all in all, we have had a great first term and we look forward to coming back and continuing to serve here in Huancane. However, we are also excited about our 6 month stay in the States where we will be able to enjoy spending time with family and friends, as well as speak in churches, attend mission conferences, and share about what God has done and is doing here among the Aymara.

We appreciate your faithfulness to pray for us during our first term and we ask that you please keep lifting us up as we prepare to leave Peru, as we spend time in the States, and as we make preparations to come back to Peru in September of 2009. Please pray especially for the believers here in Huancane as they are already sad about the Martinez family moving to Ecuador and now we are leaving for 6 months. Pray specifically that they will learn to depend even more on the Holy Spirit and that He will guide them in how to move forward and reach the lost. Pray also as they seek to start at least one new church during the 6 months that we are gone.

Thanks again for your prayers, support, and love and we hope to see many of you while we are in the States.

Back in the altitude..

2008-11-30T16:18:00.002-05:00

Well, we've been back home here in Huancane for a week now. Everyone seemed to do pretty well adjusting to the altitude. Samuel didn't seem to notice it at all--if anything, he seemed to have more energy! He was so excited to be back home and to have all of his stuff and to have more room to run around (after spending 4.5 months in a small one room apartment, he has really enjoyed running back and forth throughout the whole house now). John didn't feel anything, and I (Sonia) had a little headache for a few days, but nothing too bad. We are most thankful that Jacob did well. He didn't want to eat for the first few days, but he didn't have any breathing problems and he is now pretty much back to normal.

We have almost finished unpacking everything and are settling back in to life here in the Altiplano. There are some good things, such as seeing the believers again and seeing how they have continued and even grown in number over these past few months.We have also been pleasantly surprised at the weather. We were preparing ourselves to come back to wearing sweaters and jackets and facing the cold. However, it is normally in the mid 70s during the day and only about 50 at night. This is very comfortable for this area! We have also been reminded of some not so good points of life here: I have to spend much more time cooking again, and John has spent a few days trying to do repairs to the house, and he still has a list of more projects to complete!

We want to thank everyone for their prayers as we moved back to Huancane and as we dive back into the ministry here again. Thank you for praying for the Aymara people!

Going Home...

2008-11-17T15:06:00.004-05:00

I bet that title caught some people's attention! No, we aren't going home to the US. We are headed back to our home in Huancane. Poor Samuel is so confused as to where home is, that he says "home" with real excitement any time we pull up some where and park the truck. Honestly, it has been about that bad. Fortunately, God has taken care of us and we are thankful for the places that we have had to live over the past several months, but we are excited to return to our "home" in Huancane. To our house (with more than 1 bedroom), our stuff, and NO MORE BOXES or suitcases (at least for now).

John and Samuel head out tomorrow (Nov. 18th) and will drive 5 hours to Nazca. They will stay the night there and then drive 7 hours to Arequipa. Sonia and Jacob will fly from Lima to Arequipa on Nov. 19th, and will meet up with John and Samuel there. We will stay for a few days in a mission guesthouse and adjust to the 8,000 - 9,000 foot altitude there before continuing to Huancane (12,500 feet high) on Saturday. When we first arrived in Peru, we were at sea-level and flew to 12,500 feet directly and watched Samuel (then 2 months old) really suffer with the altitude. Therefore, we have learned from that mistake and we will take the assent a little slower this time. While Samuel is now fairly well adjusted, Jacob is not, and we don't want to make the same mistake with him.

Anyway, please pray for traveling safety for John and Samuel as they drive about 12 to 13 hours over the next two days. Pray that Samuel will ride well and that the DVD player that his Ya Ya and Grandpa gave him will keep his attention. Pray also for no problems with the truck and safety as they travel on some very dangerous roads. Please pray also for Sonia and Jacob as they fly up to Arequipa on Wednesday. Also, pray for all of us as we complete the remaining 5 to 6 hours of the drive to Huancane on Saturday. Pray that we all arrive safe and sound and that we will adjust to the altitude with little to no problems!

As always, thanks so much for your prayers for us!

Nana & Pawpaw's Visit

2008-11-16T13:12:00.009-05:00

John's parents (Nana & Pawpaw) visited this past week and were able to meet Jacob for the first time. They bought their tickets last minute on Delta and got a GREAT price for it, and so they flew down in comfort (in comparison to their last few flights with Spirit Air...LOTS more comfort!). During their week with us, we were able to go to beautiful parks overlooking the Pacific to play, visit a beach, shop, and other fun activities. Of course, the best part for all of us was just spending time together.

Samuel is now at the age where he is learning what it means to be a guy, and so he is very attached to John. That meant that for the first time ever, he attached to Pawpaw more than Nana. Of course, it was sad for Nana, but she was plenty occupied by Jacob. Therefore, John got a bit of a break while Samuel and Pawpaw played and played. Sonia also got a nice little break every now and then with Jacob (between feedings) so that she was able to do things that she hasn't been able to do or to rest (rest being the most important activity these days!).

Below are a few pictures from our week with Nana and Pawpaw. We hope that you enjoy them...

A new pet...

2008-10-05T23:14:00.007-04:00

Since Samuel loves animals so much, we been wanting to get him a pet for a while now. However, our temporary living situations for the past year and a half haven't really allowed it and unfortunately, it won't get any better for the next year. We will head back to Huancane in November, stay through December, come back to Lima for 2 weeks in January, go back to Huancane for a few weeks, then move to Lima before moving back to the US for 6 months. Needless to say, a dog or cat wouldn't be the best pet to have right now. Therefore, we decided to get him a fish. Here are some pictures of him enjoying his new pet. (No, the fish won't go back to the US with us...but we figure that it is easier to find someone to watch a fish for us than a dog or cat!)

Samuel checking out his new fish.

Samuel and daddy feeding the fish.

Time for new pictures...

2008-09-27T20:20:00.007-04:00

Many of you have asked for a picture of all of us. Therefore, this blog is for you guys that keep asking. Also, we have thrown in some other pictures that we have taken of us with the new little guy. Also, thanks for your prayers....Jacob seems to be sleeping better through the night now!

Our boys chillin watching TV...

Mom and Samuel looking at baby brother.

First few days at home

2008-09-24T22:23:00.010-04:00

Well, Sonia and Jacob were able to leave the clinic on Tuesday afternoon and after a quick stop at McDonalds to pick up a bite to eat (Sonia's choice), we headed home. There to welcome us was Sonia's mom, the Tates (our upstairs neighbors and fellow missionaries, and Big Brother Samuel! To say that Samuel was excited to see us all at home would be an understatement.

Since being home, all has gone well but we are beginning to notice several differences between Samuel when he was new-born and between Jacob. First of all, Jacob is much easier to nurse because he isn't as small as Samuel was when he was born. Therefore, meal time isn't a struggle like it was with Samuel. We also seem to use a TON more diapers with Jacob because he dirtys them frequently! I think Samuel only dirtied 1 diaper a week for the first few weeks of his life and our first night here, I changed about 10 diapers. And one final difference that seems to be the worst. As of right now, it looks as though Jacob has his days and nights mixed up. Therefore, he wants to eat every hour or two during the night and then sleep for hours and hours during the day (or at least that is what he has done so far). We hope that his schedule will soon change, but for now, we are really running on fumes. Fortunately, Raisa (Sonia's mom) is here to help out with Samuel because neither of us really have the energy to keep up with him right now. Well, that is what is going on for now. Here are more pictures.

Can you tell that Samuel is excited to have Mommy back home?

Samuel enjoys helping take care of little brother, even if it means pushing him in the swing (even though the swing works just fine by itself..: ) ).

Jacob and his proud grandmother (Yaya).

Sonia & Jacob get to go home today...

2008-09-23T07:57:00.003-04:00

The nurses are up and at it a lot earlier this morning trying to get Sonia and Jacob ready to leave by noon. Obviously Sonia is more than ready to leave the hospital and go home, and so she is excited to finally have that opportunity. In this particular clinic, it is common for a mom to stay in the hospital for 3 days after a c-section. We were just talking about how in Costa Rica, it was very different. There, they send you home after a c-section within 24 hours of your surgery. Therefore, when Sonia stayed for 3 days, they thought something was seriously wrong with her. The doctor tried telling the nurses why he was doing it, but to them, it made no sense at all. Anyway, she is happy to not feel "weird" for staying 3 days this time, and is happy to get to go home as well. Here are some more pictures that we took of Jacob. I will post more of both Sonia and Jacob soon.

Samuel being introduced to his new little brother

2008-09-22T22:29:00.013-04:00

On Sunday morning, I brought Samuel up to meet Jacob for the first time and to spend some time with Mommy. He actually did really good with Jacob. That was until Jacob started making noises. Then he grabbed Jacob and tried taking him from me to give back to Mommy. I guess he thinks that Daddy doesn't know what to do when the baby makes noise. Anyway, here are some pictures of Samuel trying his best to understand what a little brother is. (He discovered that Jacob has feet too and was pretty excited about that. You will see the excitement in one of the pictures as he is comparing Jacob's feet with long toes to his hands.)

I think we have Sonia well out numbered now! : ) She keeps reminding me that it only means that she is the queen of the house.

Samuel's checking him out to make sure that he has feet too...

Because Jacob's toes are so long, Samuel thinks that his feet are hands. He is saying "Hand, Hand" in this picture.

Pictures of Jacob...

2008-09-20T23:24:00.005-04:00

Ok, for all of you asking for pictures...

Jacob is here....

2008-09-20T19:11:00.002-04:00

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that Jacob arrived at 5:05pm today through an emergancy cecarean. He and Sonia are both doing well and she should be out of recovery in a few hours. Jacob weighs 6.45 pounds and is 18.9 inches long. Thanks so much for keeping us in your prayers. Please continue to pray for their health and safety! I will post more details later.

Soon and very soon...

2008-09-19T21:53:00.002-04:00

Baby Jacob will be here with us very soon!! At least by Wednesday of next week, if not before!

I went today for my normal doctor’s appointment, and I also did a fetal monitor. During this test, they were slightly concerned that Jacob is not responding strongly like he should be. He’s not in any kind of stress now, but he could potentially be in the future if things continue as they are. Tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) I will go back to the hospital to do another fetal monitor to see how things are going. As long as things are the same or better, then I will go back for another test and dr. appointment on Tuesday. Then, my doctor has a c-section scheduled for me for Wednesday at 12:15pm-- if he doesn’t decide to come sooner. I will be at 37.5 weeks, and this was the doctor’s goal for me all along.

My mom was able to go ahead and purchase her tickets (and she found a great deal-praise God!). She will be flying down on Sunday evening, and then she’ll stay for a month to help with Jacob and with Samuel. John’s parents are also planning on coming down in November to meet their new grandson.

We are definitely excited and a little nervous at the same time! It seemed so much easier when it was just an unexpected c-section before, but now, I have a few days to be anxious about it. But then again, it is also nice to be able to plan a little bit before hand too.

Please continue to pray for baby Jacob’s health over these next few days especially. Pray also for a safe and complication free c-section for both me and baby. And also please pray for a quick and easy recovery!! (That was definitely my least favorite part last time!!) Thank you for your faithfulness to pray!!

Preparing...

2008-08-28T17:21:00.003-04:00

Only 6 more weeks and counting until my due date!! Even Samuel wants to be involved in helping get ready and prepare for baby Jacob's arrival. In this photo, Samuel is helping daddy put together the baby swing. We're hoping that the newness of it will wear off by the time Jacob is here, and hopefully Samuel won't want to swing it as hard with him in it!

Changes to our team...

2008-08-19T16:30:00.002-04:00

Over the past several months, God has been making some changes to our team (moving us to Lima for the birth of Jacob and bringing Jessica Franks to Peru to join our team). Well, He isn't done yet. Below is the most recent newsletter sent out by the Martinez family. As you will read below, they will be moving to Ecuador in January (along with Jessica) to join the REAP Ecuador team. Please be in prayer for them as they prepare for their new ministry in Ecuador and for us as we continue working among the Aymara in Peru.

Martinez's Newsletter:

Friends and Family,We would just like to update you on some major changes that will be happening in our lives pretty soon. Kelly and I have been praying for some time about the Lord's direction in our lives concerning our ministry here in Huancane. For some time now we have felt that perhaps the Lord was going to move us on to another area of ministry within the International Mission Board. We have served in Huancane with the Aymara people since March 2004 and have tried to be faithful and obedient to God's call while here. We have had some wonderful times and some very tough times and believe that God has blessed the ministry during our time in Huancane.

As we prayed, we just asked God to show us His will and that whatever He wanted we would obey. An opportunity opened up for us to serve on the REAP Ecuador Team in Quito, Ecuador and we committed ourselves to pray about this decision. We felt that for many different reasons this opportunity was a perfect one for our family and that God indeed was calling us to accept this position; so we did. As it stands now, we will make a move to Quito, Ecuador in January 2009.

John and Sonia Grady will become the Strategy Coordinators for the Aymara team as soon as we leave for Ecuador. We feel that they are highly qualified to assume this position and know that God will bless them as they continue to minister to the Aymara people. I would like to ask those of you who have prayed for us since the beginning of our ministry to continue to lift up the Aymara people and the Grady family to God in prayer.

We have submitted a request to have another family to come and replace us here in Huancane and work along side the Grady family. There are also 2 requests on the books for single men to come and commit to working in the most remote areas of the Aymara territory. As we leave, the possibility for the Aymara team growing under the leadership of John and Sonia Grady is truly exciting. This larger team will be able to impact greater numbers of Aymara people for the gospel of Christ.

As the time nears for us to go, we will send more information about our new ministry and how your church can play a major part in reaching pockets of lostness among the indigenous peoples of Ecuador.

Please pray that God would lead a family to replace us here in Huancane.

Please pray that God would call our 2 young men to commit to reaching the Aymara people in very difficult places.

Please pray that God would grant wisdom to the Grady family as they assume the Strategy Coordinator position for the Peruvian Aymara Team.

God bless,
Rick Martinez
www.byhisgrace.cc/martinez

Baby Shower

2008-08-15T14:08:00.005-04:00

This past Wednesday the missionary ladies through me a baby shower. We all had a good time and lots of fun (and thankfully, we didn't play any of those embarrasing shower games--thanks Susie!). Baby Jacob received some very nice gifts, including plenty of diapers, which we are very thankful for!!

We are so very thankful to have a wonderful, loving missionary family here in Peru. They always help make times special, even when you are far away from family in the states.

Only 8 more weeks till the due date....