Walking in Faith

Well. Where do I start. I've gotten moved into my apartment in Wichita and have set up life there pretty well. God has been good to me. I've been looking at possible properties to set up the office and start the internship program and have found an old elementary school building in northern Wichita that would be perfect. Now I'm just praying the funds appear to make that happen. I'm going to start working on some grants, so we'll see how that goes. The plans for the program are pretty well under way. I am going to St Louis April 8th to talk to the board about the plans and get them approved or not. My biggest job right now is setting up a major speaking tour. I'm going to be in Kansas through April and May, in Peru in June, July will be Arkansas and Oklahoma, then 4 months of touring that aren't planned yet. Please keep praying that I'll find personal support. That's going to be my biggest obstacle, or so it appears. also keep my tax situation in your prayers. i went in to get them taken care of and it turns out there is a huge self employment tax that is going to kill me. My agent is talking to the IRS to see what she can get worked out. We'll see. But other than finances, things are going well. It's a good thing I don't care about money. too bad there are people like my apartment complex who do care about money. Haha. Well, thanks to all of my faithful readers. One day I will write again, so keep checking. God bless.

Where I am now

It's been some time since I've updated my blog. I haven't exactly had internet connection since being back in the States. My time in Peru was great and we got a lot accomplished. I did not personally work on the construction site much. Most of my time was spent doing more of the business side of things. I loved this because it meant that I got to meet a lot of new people and visit many homes, so I learned more about how the people actually live in their daily lives. I am now moved into an apartment in Wichita and love having a place of my own. so far most of my time has been spent setting up my new life, but I have also begun touring again. Last week I got to spend time in Liberal and help work on their musical, Little Shop of Horrors. It was a lot of fun and I got to spend time with old friends. This past Sunday I spoke at 2 churches and it went really well. Things seem to be falling into place. My 2 biggest prayer requests at this time are that I will be able to find personal sponsors and that churches will continue to open their doors to allow me to come in and share the good news of God's works in Peru. Thank you to all who have been faithful in prayer.

Feliz Aniversario

This past weekend was a blast. We had a celebration for the second anniversary of the operation of the annex in La Villa Milagro. And I'm tired. I had a new experience Saturday morning. I went to a huge open market in Chiclayo with Walter and his wife Jessica. i got to see a lady hack a whole chicken in half with a meat cleaver. After that fun experience, we had a big puppet show in La Villa for the kids in the village. Sunday was the actual celebration. Walter and I went out in the morning and decorated. Kids started showing up an hour early because they saw us out there. Early! That doesn't happen here. So I kept decorating with the sunday school teachers while Walter entertained children. We ended up with over 100 kids for the first part. After Sunday School, we all moved over to the construction site and had a church service. The church in Reque brought chairs out and people came from there and a couple other annexes. Each class of kids put on something for the people. Afterwards we fed everyone. I counted 80 children that we fed and there were probably 60 adults. Our estimate was that we were able to feed around 150 people. Once we got through that, Walter and I spent today searching for adobes to continue work in Milagro. It was kind of fun. there are just random adobe pits around the ravine in the country behind Milagro. We just set out walking through the hills and we'd talk to the owners of the adobe pits we came across. This trip has been far more exhausting than last time, which is wierd because I did so much physical labor last time. All of the walking and planning and thinking is tiring. But I love it. I have had chances to be in many homes, meet lots of new people, go to new places, and stock up on fun stories to tell.

I'm Back!

Hey Everyone. I am finally back in Peru. The trip was kind of interesting. There is a bridge between here and Chiclayo, which is where the airport is, and they have been working on it for a while. Because of all the rain in the mountains the river flooded and washed out the bypass. We had to cross some planks and a muddy stretch to get all of my luggage across the river. But I am here. This also causes troubles with every other aspect of life: the grocery store is there, our construction materials come from there, some students live there, some teachers live there, Ken's kids go to school there, and the list goes on and on. Please keep us in your prayers as we decide how to handle all of these situations. Also, Ken and I are going to be talking a lot about what my job will be after we return in the end of December, so keep that in your prayers, also. Now that I will have internet access a little more regularly than before I hope I can get you better updates.

I'm Official!!!

Well, we had a board meeting last Tesday and I now work full-time for LACF. The first year is going to be spent fundraising and then I will be pretty free to do whatever. They liked all of my ideas from the drama/praise group to the internship program. As soon as we can get the organization on solid ground, then we can start expanding. I am so excited to begin this next step. My next trip to Peru will be from Nov 1 to Dec 29 and then we will have another meeting to more fully describe my position and duties. Please keep my continued travels in your prayers.

Church tour

Hey everyone. Sorry it has been so long since I have updated. Well here is what is happening so far. I have been in the country for 3 weeks and it has flown by. I've already made one trip, driving, to Ohio. That was a fun road trip. I got some new musical soundtracks memorized. Haha. What the schedule looks like right now is that I will be in Kansas for the rest of September. On the 21st I am speaking at Pleasant Prairie COG in Satanta and then on the 28th I will be at Redline in Palco. October has me back in Ohio and then in Illinois for the first few weeks. I'll be back in Kansas on October 19th to speak in Sterling at the Methodist Church and a Sterling College chapel. That is also the weekend of Sterling's musical, so I will get to see that, which I am excited about. I have never seen a musical there. Been in a few, but never watched one. Teh tentative plan is to return to Peru in the first part of November. Please pray that I will be able to get the funds together to buy those plane tickets. Also, keep October 7th in your prayers. I am scheduled to meet with the LACF board and will need the Lord's guidance in what I would or should propose to them concerning my calling to fulltime missions work. Thanks for everything and I will try my hardest to keep this thing updated more frequently.

105! There were 105!

The Sunday School is growing so fast that there is absolutely so room for them. I am starting my journey back today. While I am gone for the 2 months they are going to finish as quickly as possible and fill in the parts that they can't get to with adobe bricks that can be knocked out later. They will set up straw mat dividers inside the property to start having classes there instead of in the guys house. Oh, and we also had 3 new adults! There were 114 in total not counting me, Walter or and of the teachers who come from the church here at the school to help out there.