Just keep moving...

As I am sitting here typing this morning I can hear several children outside of my door. I am reminded that our task is worthy of the effort.

Please continue to pray for our team to keep a focus and strength that will glorify The Lord. We were reminded yesterday that reaching these precious people continues to be hard and that great patience is required. The temptation is to start pulling out all of the “tricks” so that we can say that their have been many decisions this week. However, those types of decisions will be made with a low level of understanding and surely will not last past our departure. Please pray that we remain committed to our strategy of reaching the people through relationships and the truth of God’s Word.

We were able to meet with the mayor and several others last night. The team did a wonderful job at sharing their testimonies. They wanted to know once again about our purpose and they were presented with the Gospel.

We are thankful for the privilege of being here in Cabana to join God’s work. Your prayers are being answered and we thank you for being part of this mission trip.

We only have 2 more days here in Cabana before we begin the journey back to Lima. Please pray for the people to be receptive to us and to what we have to share.

The photo above is our team plus the Enhancement Team that is working in Cabana. Brittne, Ginny and Martin have spent about a month working in Cabana. Juvenol is the translator who has been a part of our last 2 trips.

And… just for the Peruvian experience: we have found guinea pigs to enjoy for lunch today! We were able to purchase huge guinea pigs for about $3 from the high school. If we are able to find someone who can cook them for us then we will experience a delicacy of the Peruvian culture. I’m guessing it is going to taste like chicken????

Tuesday news...

What an incredible day Monday was as we witnessed God opening several doors for us to take the next step with our friends here in Cabana. Our team is doing well at staying “on task” in building on the trust that has been established by past teams and missionaries.

We met with the mayor yesterday – it was awesome. He told us that all of our teams have done a good job at coming into the community and treating the people with respect. He said that he felt comfortable with us and appreciated that we did not come here acting like we were any better than others but simply came into Cabana as regular people. He said that most outsiders come into their town and act arrogant while looking down on the people. He said Cabana was our home, too. We will meet with him tonight to begin telling him why we are different. He knows that we are here to share spiritual knowledge based on the Bible but tonight we will begin sharing with him how our relationship with Jesus differs to the religion that he knows. Please pray for Octavius.

We will also meet with Wilder and his wife Elva. Please pray for them as we try again to help them realize the difference between what they believe and what the Bible says about their need for a relationship with Jesus.

The summer missionaries did an incredible job with this community. They are loved with a deep love by the people here in Cabana. More than once yesterday I heard them referred to as family. Way to go Shane Hess, David Jacola, Kelly Pajar and Kim Hiser! You have impacted their lives as they saw a difference in you.

We appreciate your partnership with our team! We are grateful to be part of a church that believes that we are to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Your prayers and encouragement are making a difference that can be identified by the response of the people here in Cabana.

We are also grateful for our families! We love you and miss you. It is awesome to hear how much our team talks about our families during the day.

Adam´s doing good, looking forward to today

Thanks Allyson and Poppy Dave and Nanna Mory for the posts. I´m doing quite well. Thought it would be cool to do the mock hold-me-down-and-force-me-to-eat shot. Didn´t know Kevin was going to post it but ...

The mayor just came back so I have to go.

Looking forward to today´s work; please pray as Kevin mentioned and for my part.

Today´s prayer needs

Our team has divided into two groups today. Please join us in praying for the following items:

We are asking Wilder and his wife to allow us to meet with them in their home tonight so that we can have a Bible study with them in their home. We need to get to the second story in a series of Bible stories designed to teach them the Gospel story in their context. Please pray for them to be open to that and then to have open hearts and minds. Pray for us to know how to work with them in this process.

We are waiting this morning to visit with the mayor. Pray for that conversation to point him towards Jesus.

The ladies are meeting with Irene today in hopes of beginning a bible study with her. Pray for her to be receptive and for the team to help continue building a relationship with her.

Pray for a man named Sylvester that we hope to meet with tonight. He has been to a Catholic seminary and wants to know more about what we believe. He has been very open to the Enhancement Team (IMB missionaries).

Please pray for our team to continue being focused on the task of sharing the Gospel with these wonderful people.

We appreciate your prayers, your comments and your love for what God is doing.

In Cabana

We arrived in Cabana today around 11AM. This has been the smoothest trip that we have experienced. Your prayers have made a huge difference. Thank you.

We have already had the opportunity to talk with some of our Peruvian friends. Please pray that God continues to open their hearts to the Gospel. The task is overwhelming but we are reminded that this is God’s story and He is allowing us to join His work.

Please pray for Wilder, Jackie and Irene. We are going to continue sharing the truth with them and are praying for them to have understanding of the differences between their belief system and the Bible.

Everyone on the team is doing wonderful. Angie lost her pillow (which is her security blanket) but it was found tonight in Puquio so we can pick it up on the return trip. Adam has an incredible servant’s heart – he is always helping everyone else. Bobby continues to encourage us all with his Christ-like attitude and his incredible energy level.

Thanks for your prayers and for joining with us on this journey!

A Smooth Drive into Puquio

We had a long but great day yesterday as we travelled from Lima to Puquio. We had everything loaded into the rental truck and ready to leave just a few minutes after 9PM.

We stopped to eat around 2PM and enjoyed the MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) that David Jacola had secured for us. Thanks, David, for lunch! When a person is hungry – the food is really pretty good.

We arrived in Puquio late last night to find out that our usual hostel had no rooms available. Not to worry… there was another one around the corner that had rooms. It is not as nice as the other (nice in hostel terms) but they did have beds inside of rooms that gave a person a chance to sleep.

Today we will finish the trip to Cabana. We are excited to see our friends and we are eager to see the progress with the new believers. We will have the privilege of working alongside some missionaries from the International Mission Board (2 year missionaries) who have spent part of the last month in Cabana.

Here are some pictures from our lunch stop yesterday.

Here in Lima...

In all of our previous trips we have never experienced a day that went as smooth as this day. We experienced small lines, pleasant people and no problems. God gave us some opportunities to share of His great love throughout the day. We walked up to the ticket counter in Orlando and the lady read our tag and introduced herself as a believer before helping us get everything ready for the flight. That set the tone for the day.

We arrived at our hotel tonight at least an hour earlier than we have ever been here before. We are getting ready to rest for the night and then begin the drive in the morning.

Thanks for your prayers and comments. I will share those with the team on a daily basis.

Ready to board...

We will be boarding on the plane in the next few minutes. Pray for us as we interact with folks on the plane. We are praying to have opportunities to share our faith with others...

We appreciate your prayers and comments in the days ahead. Your partnership in this mission trip is critical to the mission.

We are set to arrive in Lima tonight (10:30PM) and will start driving in the morning. If all goes well I will make a post in Lima in the morning letting you all know that we have arrived.

Now... we are headed to the Great State (Texas) to make our connection in Houston. Hook 'em horns... :)

And They're Off!

We were up early but everyone was right on time. The team pulled out around 7:30 this morning. Please pray for Adam, Angie, Kevin & Bobby as they travel to Peru. They won't reach the hotel until 1 am or so in the morning and then will be up early to begin the drive to the village.

Hitting the Road (and the skies) Today

We have been blessed with another opportunity to join God's activity in Peru. Our team will leave this morning for our adopted villages in the mountains of Peru. We appreciate the many people who will be praying for the team, our families and for the people we will encounter during the next 10 days.