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.

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!