A blue-eyed lama and a little boy named Kevin

Videos from the trip

I am uploading a funny video from our trip.

We gave a Quechua lady a ride from between two of the villages. She spoke Quechua - not Spanish - so nobody in the car understood her. Well... I did but I did not want the others to feel bad so I kept that information to myself. It is not good to brag.

This is the last part of the video.

I thought she only had one leg (communication barriers presented this opportunity) because she pointed to her leg which only looked like it had been removed at the knee cap. When she is exiting the car I make reference to this but then she stands up and reveals that she had just been sitting with her leg underneath her the entire trip. Maybe she was trying to tell me "my leg is hurting like this, could you please stop so I can straighten it out?" I thought she was telling me that I was a good driver.

Our team made it home

Just wanted to let you know that we arrived back in Ocala about 7:30 this evening.

Goodbye to Lima

We will be leaving shortly for the airport. We had a great day learning more about the strategy that the local missionaries are utilizing and how our church can possibly join them.

Everyone on the team is doing well. It has been a blessing to be on this journey together.

See you this weekend.

The Peru Team

Some pictures from Cabana

Here is a picture with more of the children from the kindergarten school. This is Millie looking like a Quechua woman.

More photos

Here are a couple of pictures. The top one shows how we cooked our meals while in the villages. Thanks to Kathy Weaver for preparing the food ahead of our trip and then freezing it for us for travel!

Welcome back to civilization...

I am always amazed of how much I take for granted:



If you are in need of appreciating a hot shower - do without one for 3 or 4 days and see how long it takes you to appreciate what you have at home.


If you are taking the opportunity to spend time with your family for granted - go a few days without any communication with them in a land where you can´t communicate.

If you don´t appreciate hearing your kids say, "I love you" - go to a land where the children look at you funny when you try talking to them.

I woke up this morning realizing again what is important and what is not important.

The task that we have encountered is huge. It is impossible, really. Over 6000 people in 4 villages that really don´t have many options of hearing about Jesus and the peace that comes from a relationship with him. They just live to survive. There is not much hope in that.

The challenging part of this situation is that we drove through many, many more villages and towns that are in the same situation. These are the descendants of the Incas. They are very far removed from this modern city of Lima. It was amazing to see how friendly and open these folks are to talking with outsiders.

We come home burdened - not just for those without Jesus here in Peru but also for the lost back in Ocala and around the world.

Today we will meet with the leadership from the R.E.A.P. South team. These are International Mission Board missionaries here in Lima. http://www.reapsouth.org/ They will help us as we ¨debrief¨about our trip.

Our plane leaves at 6:25 in the morning so we will be at the airport at 3:30 a.m.!


Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement. Our entire team knows that our trip has been on God´s path because you have been on your knees.

Arrived in Lima

We made it safely here this evening. We knocked 4 hours off of our trip! We will post more later...

An unbelievable view...

Village Visits are V(f)inished.

We visited two villages today.

We completed our visit in Aucara’ which we had began yesterday. Our research papers that were given to us a couple of months ago told us about “people of peace” that were helpful during the research team’s visit. I remember reading the one about Aucura’ last August when we were learning about this strategy because it referred to a “lady of way too much peace.” I found that to be funny. Well… you would guess that she was walking up to the municipal building at the very moment that we pulled up in our vehicle. Fortunately, Kristen and Jamie recognized her immediately. We had quite an adventure with her and learned about the village all at the same time. She did fit the profile that was given to her!

We then traveled to our next village of Andamarca. We were able to meet with folks at the hospital, a church and an assistant to the mayor.

We will leave Andamarca early in the morning with the hope of reaching Lima tomorrow night. We will have about 14 hours of travel. It will be a very long day but it will give us a good time with the leaders in Lima to discuss our trip. We fly home at 6:25a.m. on Friday morning (have to be at the airport at 3:30 a.m.) so we think it would be best to get back to Lima tomorrow instead of Thursday afternoon. Please pray for us as we travel.

I’ll try to post again when we get into Lima and hopefully send some pictures from the villages.

Thanks again for your prayers!

The Peru team

This God - His way is perfect. Psalm 18:30

Yesterday we read Psalm 18. David called God his rock, his fortress and his deliverer. He also said that God lit his lamp. God did that for us yesterday as well.

We spent all morning and the early part of the afternoon in the village of Cabanna. We were able to meet with the assistant mayor who provided us with some very good insight into the community. His views of the history, culture and even religious atmosphere helped us understand what is happening in this village. We then visited with a member of a small Pentecostal church (20 folks attend) and then made our way to the schools. We met with the principals at the kindergarten, elementary and high school.

In each of the meetings we communicated the same thing: we are here just to learn about the community. If our church in the United States makes the decision to return here then we want to help give spiritual knowledge. That is our main goal. We would also like to help with needs in the community – but only with our knowledge that we can bring. We do not have money to offer – only knowledge.

Each person received that news with excitement. They have seen other outsiders (even Christians) come in bringing them stuff and then leave. They did not leave them the knowledge of how to utilize the equipment enough to really make a difference in their lives. They realize the importance of knowledge. They are an agricultural community that would love to learn more about carpentry.

The schools were excited about the thought of someone even coming into the schools and teaching them the Bible!

We also visited in the village of Aucara’ but did not have the same opportunities as we did in Cabanna. We then drove through to our last village to visit: Huaycahuacho. Say that real fast! J It actually sounds similar to Weeki Wachi so that is what this gringo calls it. We had a great visit with the president (mayor) of this village.

On the way we found another village that was not actually on our list. This village has around 800 people. Our encouraging team actually made me get out of the car and ask the mayor what the name of his town was. He understood me but I can’t honestly say that I understood his reply. So… he wrote it down for me.

We have made great progress on this trip. Jaime & Anamaria, Fernando & Milie have done an incredible job. Since they speak the language the conversations with the community leaders have been very good. They have been quicker, too, since there is no need for a translator.

Kristen was able to call her dad last night for his birthday. What a surprise for him! They had not been able to talk for a month since she has been out in the field.

We all want to thank you for your prayers. We drove through mountain roads yesterday that were very narrow. The fall off the cliff would be a long one but God has given us His peace. We had to return on that road last night in the dark and with a little rain.

Our hearts are full today because we know that our family and friends are here with us.

Have a great day – May God light your lamp.

Kevin, Jaime, Anamaria, Fernando, Milie & Kristen

Wow… we are here!

This picture is from our first day of travel - that is what we saw all day long!

After almost 17 hours of driving through many different types of views – we made it to the villages yesterday around 3:00 p.m. We found out why the people were so far removed from others in civilization. Check out these pictures from the mountain tops looking down in the valley. The pictures really do not tell the story. God’s creation is so amazing.

We met with some folks in the community after checking into our hostel. The name of it is Hotel Yuly. If you have ever visited the fort in St. Augustine – the rooms remind me of those rooms of the fort. We keep hitting our heads on the top of the entry ways – the folks who made the building were much shorter than us!

We worshipped last night with a local Pentecostal church. It was great. Fernando & Millie actually knew all of the songs from their days in the Dominican Republic. They blend really well with some of the customs here.

Today we will visit in two of the villages. We will look to meet with the mayor, at the school and the small hospital. These folks obviously will be able to give us a good overview picture of their community. The Peruvians are very proud of the country.

Please pray for us today – that we will stay focused on the task, have more energy as we get accustomed to the altitude and that we encounter the exact people that God wants us to interact with.

We can’t tell you how much it means to know that folks are praying for us. The blog setup actually shows us who has registered to view the blog. We are very encouraged by you all! Thanks.

Long, Long Travel Day is Done

We arrived last night in a small village name Puquio. We left Lima around 9a.m. and got here last night at 9:30p.m. It was a very, very long day of driving through what looked like a desert and then spent the afternoon and evening driving through incredible mountains. We are still 2 1/2 hours from the first village that we will consider for our partnership.

We witnessed incredible poverty yesterday. We were amazed at what people will build and where they will build it. The conversation last night in the vehicle - "how and why did these folks end up so far away from anyone else."

We are now in places where there are no churches. The villages that we will visit had never had a missionary presence until the R.E.A.P. strategy began.

We had a crazy situation last night. We were driving through these dangerous mountain roads (cliffs on the edges of roads, etc.) when we turned a corner and saw a man laying face down in the road. He had been riding a bike. It looked as if he had been hit by a car. He was in a very dangerous place - and now our car was stopped there, too. We thought he was dead. Jamie and I jumped out of the car and tried to figure out what had happened and if he was still alive. We were being very careful but knew we only had a limited amount of time because of the buses and 18-wheelers that were on the roads with us. We did not have to get very close before Jaime decided he was drunk. Yep... passed out right in the middle of the mountain road. We yelled a little trying to wake him up but to no avail. So, we grabbed him by his jacket and feet and drug him to the side of the road. He could not quite wake up but we figure he is waking up this morning with a real headache - but it sure beats getting ranover by a truck!

We were all very, very tired last night and experiencing some dizzyness from the elevation. The elevation of our first village is 11,500 feet.

Fernando prayed with 4 men yesterday after he explained the plan of salvation. It is awesome to see him talk to everyone about his relationship with Jesus.

Thanks for taking the time to read our story and for your continued prayers. Have a great day wherever in the world you are!

Kevin, Jaime & Anamaria, Fernando & Milie and our team leader Kristen

Landed in Lima

We arrived on the big plane last night in Lima. We met our leader, Kristen, and are getting ready this morning for the rest of our trip. Mike Weaver, the strategy coordinator for R.E.A.P. is with us now (www.reapsouth.org).

It was amazing to see how many people were in the city of Lima last night. We arrived here after midnight yet there were many, many people in cars and walking down the streets.

Please be praying for a man named Andrew that I sat by on the plane last night. He leads tour groups from his native country of Poland. He is Roman Catholic but his belief was that his salvation came from just being part of the church. I am sure that we will find many on this trip that believe their relationship with their church is their salvation. Our prayer is that we help them come to know that their salvation comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Thanks for all of your prayers!

Kevin, Jamie, AnaMaria, Fernando & Millie

Ready for take-off...

We have made it to Orlando, checked-in and survived the security check. We will be boarding the plane in 30 minutes. I am attaching a photo from here at the gate. Please be praying for our team (left to right in the photo): Milagros (Milie), Fernando, Jaime & Anamaria.

Kevin

And their off!

The team left right on time this morning.

Packed and ready...

Thanks for checking out our missions blog. Our trip to Peru will serve as our maiden voyage across the blogging oceans. Our goal with this is simple - we want to share the story as it is happening so that you can join with us on this adventure. We will attempt to share what God is doing so that you can both celebrate with us and pray for us as we seek to be On Mission with our Great God. In doing so you, too, become an integral part of the Mission.

We leave our church parking lot at 9 AM on April 25th and will arrive in Lima, Peru at 9:15 PM. We will return the following Friday afternoon.

So... check back with us so you can share in this awesome experience. Thanks for praying!

Kevin