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.

73! There were 73!

God is so good. The Sunday School in La Villa Milagro has been averaging roughly 45 kids each Sunday and 5-6 adults. This is awesome because of the placement of the Sunday School on the edge of the village and considering that the other 3 annexes have about 30 kids. Milagro has been the biggest annex for a while. When the work camps were here, the numbers went up a little because everyone down here knows that gringos bring candy and toys when they come. Well the last 2 Sundays have been awesome. Last week there were 61 children and 4 adults. Walter had me take an extra table from the church here out with me one day when I went to work because they lacked table space for 61. There wasn't enough space in the room for the tables that we had, but we crammed one more in. This week I counted as the children left and there were 73! I almost fainted. It was unbelievable. And with only one gringo...me. We need more tables! What a great problem to have. No more major updates, I was just really excited about that one, so I thought I'd write. Excited to see everyone in 9 days.

Final Full Week

I have 10 days until I leave Peru for a while. Mixed feelings. Most of me is extremely excited to see my friends and family. There is a part of me, however, that knows I will miss Peru while I am home. Another part knows that the church tour will be long and tiring. Right now I am really excited about it, but after driving to so many states I may not want to ever drive again. the board is looking at having me stay in the states for 3 months now. They were originally going to put me on a 2 month tour and have Ken come back in January to do one month. Because of the possible weather issues in January, he mentioned that maybe I could just do 3 months and go to the places they would have had him speak at in January such as Colorado and other places that would have rough winter weather. The states we are looking at are Ohio, Kansas, West Virginia, Illinois, Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Florida, Washington and possibly Illinois. It will be crazy, but fun. The only places I am for sure speaking at right now are my home church August 31 and First United Methodist in Sterling, KS Oct 19. You should come if you can. I'll try and update my tour schedule on here so you know if I am coming close to you. I may also be speaking at a Stelring College chapel. That one is extremely exciting, because I would love to get Sterling started on bringing work camps. They take so many trips each summer why not Peru? And I could totally use Sterling as a feeder school for the internship program that I am trying to get started.

Work is coming along well. We are almost all the way around the main property with the main wall. I know that seems slow to those of you who do any construction in the states, but you have to remember that we are working in Peru. Nothing makes sense, and since we do everything by hand including leveling the ground and diggin gthe trenches and mixing and pouring cement, it takes a while. I am looking forward to hopefully seeing some of you when I am in the states. Dios te Bendiga!

My new life

Great news! I have finally felt the calling into full time missions. The plan right now is that I will be the stateside missionary for LACF. I will take over a lot of the fundraising and organization of the actual sponsorship program. In order to do this, I will have church supports like Ken does for pay. The main way that we will accomplish this is by instating an internship program. For one semester each year, we will have a small group of interns, paid, who will get opportunities in missions stateside and in Peru. I will be working with them first hand and be with them when they come down to Peru. This will give young people who are interested in missions an opportunity to gain experience in several areas. They can help with the paperwork side, setting up church tours, searching for funds, doing medical and pastoral things in Peru, and many other areas that people don't always think about when looking at missions. i am really excited and a little bit scared. Please pray for guidance and discernment for me, the board, and Ken as we decide where I will be stationed, what my first steps will be and who I should contact for backing. I will stay on the Milagro project down here until May and then start immediately after that in the states. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and I will update everyone as I know more. Dios te bendiga!

It's Official!

Well, a lot of people have been wondering what my next step will be after August. Ken and I talked this morning and have a definite plan. I will return to the States August 27 and spend a little time in sterling then head home to recooperate a little. After that I will begin a 2 month church tour to spread the word about LACF and all of our projects. We don't have definite contacts and churches yet, but the way we were talking, I could end up in West Virginia, San Antonio, Indiana and Ohio. After those 2 months (it will then be the first part of november) I will return to Peru for 6 months. This will take me up to May, which is what the board and I agreed on, May to May. After that, who knows. I haven't felt a definite calling either way yet. I may try to make it as a Director, I may puruse the teaching gig, I may end up in Peru. Or another country. I am pretty open right now. Or maybe I will come home after August for a few years until I find a wife who can help me down here. (only partly a joke). It's hard to get everything done in a day without help. Again, I am open for anything God leads me into. Please keep all decisions that I will be making this next year in your prayers.

Construction is coming along. We have taken a little break this past week trying to decide what is priority for the funding we have left. Our goal before I leave is to have the perimeter wall completed and straw mats set up inside as divisions so they can start using the church. Once I get more funds, they (and me when I return) can start building all of the interior stuff like the sanctuary, classrooms, kitchen, etc. Please keep funding in your prayers, but also pray that churches will open their doors to us so we can spread the word about God's awesome work in the country of Peru. Thank you for all of your support up to this point.

P.S. Pray for Ken. I am tired from helping with the work camps, but he is absolutely exhausted from it. He helps the campers every possible way and manages to maintain his job and family. Just pray for strength and encouragement. And rest.

Update

Hey everyone. I know my updates have become few and far between. Our internet here has a mind of its own and we have had very limited access for quite some time. The computer guy came in today and we now have wireless in the offices. Hopefully it will not go in and out now. Another reason I haven't gotten on is that we have had a work camp here for the last 2 weeks. Time with them has been great. English speakers! yay. I haven't had much time outside of helping to entertain them to accomplish other things like email. This group will leave us Friday and we will gain a work camp of 21 that same day. That work camp is back to back with yet a third. Most of the campers here now are from Indiana, but the 2 groups after them are Roma Lee groups. i will miss this group of people a lot, but am excited to see Roma Lee again.

We have been making great progress on the building; however, are now at a little standstill. We have a pretty good portion of the wall bricked in. these last few days have been spent trying to make the work camp switch. We also are a little low on funds and materials, so we are trying to decide what our priorities are before we continue. We will start work again on Monday and be taking part of Roma Lee's camp out with us to help. That will be great.

Please keep praying for the decisions I have to be making. I need to decide what will happen after August and also what will happen after this year is finished in May. Also pray for Ken and the LACF board as they help me in making some of these decisions.