God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. This is a saying that I often hear, but lately I have found it to be more truthful. The works God is doing in Peru are advancing so quickly that I can barely keep up. He keeps amazing me with how much bigger His plans are than anything I could ever imagine. For example, when I was originally leaving to help with the church plant in La Villa Milagro, we had a 9x18 meter plot of land. While working, we kept gaining land, and the plot that the church stands on now is almost seven times the size of that meek little plot. Acts like these constantly prove to me that God is working in the country of Peru. I would like to thank you for your continued support through prayer, finances, and encouragement. The work couldn’t be where it is without you.
The church in Milagro is running around 105 children and 15 adults on Sunday mornings. As far as construction goes, there is a brick wall around the main property. There are five classrooms inside made of adobe bricks. That part of the property will also include the restrooms, kitchen, dining room, and a patio area. The other half will be used for the sanctuary. We also still own the original 9x18 meter plot, which is planned to become a bakery. Milagro has no market. There are some bodegas, which are home front stores, but nowhere to get anything fresh. A bakery would help with maintaining a feeding program in the village, and also give the people a place to get fresh bread baked in a clean atmosphere. The great news is that God never stops!
I am writing now to tell you of His latest blessing. This last summer, a workcamp lead by Roma Lee Courvisier did a feeding for the church in Milagro and fed around 350 children and adults from the area. Because of the success of this program and the help of Roma Lee’s faithful heart, there are possibilities of beginning feeding programs in some of the area villages. Roma Lee called me this week and asked me to accompany her to Peru in October to explore options for locations, leaders, and helpers. She cannot travel alone because of several health issues. This will also be a great opportunity to check up on the work in Milagro and to make plans for my next long-term trip, which will most likely include a leadership retreat, more construction in Milagro, and evangelism. I am very excited for this opportunity; however, since I wasn’t planning on returning this soon, I am turning to those who have faithfully stood behind me for help. The trip is set for October 7-15. Specific prayer requests for this trip would be for finances (I’ll have to come up with approximately $2,500 in the next two weeks), and also for Roma Lee’s health, travel safety, open doors in Peru, and God’s guidance in all decision making. Again, I thank you for your support throughout this experience, and I pray that God will bless you in all things.
Any donations may be sent to:

Terrance Volden
9100 E Harry #1605
Wichita, KS 67207

It's Been a While

Hey everyone. So...it has been a while. I admit that I am failing at this whole blogging thing. The short version of the update is that I spent June in Peru. The work in Milagro is advancing. The walls are up around the main property and there are 5 classrooms divided out inside. The plots adjoining this one belong to the church, also and will be used for the sanctuary. Right now theya re still just having Sunday School on Sunday mornings. Once there are restrooms and the ground is completely leveled they will be able to start having church services. There was also a feeding in Milagro this past summer and 350 people from the village were fed. God is doing amazing things and continues to blow my mind.
Personally, I got back into the US on July 2nd and spent a month in Poteau, OK acting in and building a set for a production of Godspell. Now I'm back in Wichita. I'm attending the Pawnee Avenue Church of God and I get to play my djembe in the praise band. It's a blast! I have applies for a substitute license. I figure that would be a good way to make a little extra money.
If all goes well I will be heading out to Indiana in a couple weeks to spend some time speaking at churches. Please continue to pray for the work in Peru, for LACF, Milagro, Ken Biron (our missionary in Peru), and myself. Hopefully it will not be so long before I take the initiative to update this thing.

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.