A Man of Men

You ever have one of those days that make you feel like a man. I spent over half the day fixing little things on the truck (windows, door locks, alarm, etc)...but it was about a half hour during the day that was something special.

I had to drive fast to make it on time. Within a minute of my arrival the sacrifice began. Our little friend above went from a pet to lunch real fast. My reaction was actually none at all. At first it startled me a little, but then it just became an act.

My thoughts went immediately to how the Levites would have had to remind themselves that the sacrifices were holy acts to the Most High. How often do we forget that in our daily lives? How many times do I forget that to give sacrifices and offerings should not become routine for us, but rather something done in love. Then my thoughts go on towards how we do and do and do...and always forget that we are COMMANDED to rest; to take at least one day in the week to restore our energy, restore our family, and restore our hearts and minds with Him.

I can't wait 'til Monday!

ps - if anyone wants any more graphic photos send me an email.

The Truck Situation

Juanita...that's her name. She has been good to us for about a year and a half now. She has taken us to the mountains to bring clothes and medicine to poorer communities. She has brought many children and youth to their houses when it is late after church. She has helped do more construction for the church and community than we can even remember. She has carried gringos everywhere while they came on short-term trips. The only she won't do is bring Chiqui to the hospital to give birth to our son.

Yes, the time has come for us to depart with our truck. The government has begun to change the laws so that our truck can no longer be here in Peru with us. If all goes as planned, in a couple weeks we will be taken her to Arica to try to sell.

It was a good run. Worth every moment.

But on a serious note, we bought the truck in Chile because it has been very very necessary for the work we do and we simply cannot afford to buy one in Peru because they are almost twice as much. Thanks to an aunt and uncle of mine (thanks George and Charlene) we were able to have enough to buy the truck. But now with the new laws we will have to sell her and get something here in Peru. Unfortunately, we can probably only get a car with the money we have. So we are looking into and praying over three options: 1) a very nice and giving gringo or church would donate a lot of money or a truck less than 4 years old, 2) we could purchase one in the states for under $7000 and under 4 years old and ship it over here, or 3) we get a car here that won't serve as well for the ministry.

Please keep these things in your prayers...starting with the quick sell of the truck within a month.

Pollada

Whenever we go somewhere in Latin America they always ask us, "What is a pollada?" Let me tell you all what a pollada is...it's like a kid selling lemonade or a football team having a car-wash...it is the main way Peruvians raise money for special events or needs.

If you have a family member who needs a surgery and you don't have the money...you plan a pollada.

If you get in a car accident and need to fix your car...you plan a pollada.

If you are planning a children's Christmas party in poor areas in Tacna...you plan a pollada.

We were able to sell 200 polladas and raise over $150. That is about 10% of the total we hope to raise. The Internet Cafe micro-business brings in on average an additional $25 a month just for the children's ministry and we are awaiting answers from some businesses in Tacna that are looking into possibly donating the gifts for the children. We are on our way to meeting the goal and we would appreciate your prayers and support in this cause. Also, we have recieved some responses from you about supporting and we thank you. As of now there is an additional $180 pledged and others praying about possible financial support. We are hoping to fully support the Christmas party with Peruvian fundraising so that any additional support can be used to provide $50 educational scholarships for a years worth education.

There will be plenty of polladas in the future so if you are ever in the Tacna area let us know and we will try to plan one around your visit so you can partake in this integral part of the Peruvian culture.

ps - the beer bottle in the photo was the beer used in the seasoning of the chicken...we weren't selling any beer (though beer selling would raise a lot of money!) j/k

Night of the Stars!!!!

We had our first ever Talent Show in Ciudad Nueva and it was a hit. We had a big audience of neighbors, the youth group, their parents and classmates, etc all in the church to see what they could do. Their was a variety of dances, singing, a magic show, choreographies, and lip-singing (seriously). It was fun. We had our three judges (three young adults from the previous youth group) critiquing their perfomances and the crowd going crazy all night.

What we want to encourage is their abilities and desires to be able to foster them into a life ministry not just inside the church, but of course including the church. One of our goals was to have musicians in Ciudad Nueva by years end and three people from the youth group are learning guitar and hopefully will play in a service by the end of the year. One of them played guitar and sang with another girl from the group.

In all it was a success and we were able to enjoy seeing small fruits of this years work with the youth group.