Thursday June 28, 2007

We had an interesting morning getting up early to hurry to the airport for our quick flight to Cusco. The timing was tight but we managed to board on time. Another answer to your prayers---the plane that carried us over the Andes mountains was much bigger than we had expected--a Boeing 737 that seats about 120 people and has 2 jet engines!

We were warned about how to deal with the potential altitude sickness, since Cusco is at 1100 feet above sea level---twice as high as Denver!! So we are drinking lots of water and local coca tea and trying to not exert ourselves.

Our hotel is lovely and has a 5 story mural in the dining room depicting Inca history. Our first ministry in Cusco was at a girls' home this afternoon. The girls, aged 6 - 19 years old, had specially prepared a musical program to welcome us. It was a joy to see the various historical cultural dances that they performed for us. They treated us like royal guests, seating us at a high table and bringing us snacks during the performance. They even included us in the dance by grabbing us one by one and leading us onto the dance floor. So much for not exerting ourselves the first hours at this altitude! :)

The girls sat quietly during the Bible story time, enjoyed face painting,and loved playing the outdoor games! Before we left, we were asked to come to their workshops to see and hopefully purchase some of the items they make. We found all kinds of knitted and textile goods. Buying some of their wares was a good way to support them.

Tonight the plan is a late dinner and folklore show here in Cusco. Tomorrow we need to be ready to leave the hotel by 5:30 AM to catch the train down the mountain to Machu Picchu.

Although we are all having a great time, please pray for relief from altitude headaches and fatigue. Hasta mañana!

Wednesday June 27, 2007

Since Mark dearly wanted to go to the beach, our translators arranged for a brief stop at the Pacific Ocean on this misty morning, and he finally got to throw his rock into the sea.

We returned to Reina de la Paz (teen moms’ home) where our activities included a Bible study on forgiving others (based “Breaking Free” a Bible study the Sunrise women did some time ago), craft time, and game time. We gave each girl her own Spanish Bible, the first for most of them. We presented a small bag of gifts including a framed photo of each mother and her baby. Buckner once again was extremely resourceful and helpful in finding a place to finish printing the last two photos for the girls because they were not present the day before when we took the majority of the photos.

Many of us thought that we may lose weight in Peru. This has not been the case because of the amazing quality of meals that Buckner has arranged for us. Today’s lunch was yet another example as the fed us a mouth watering chicken cooked on a rotisserie over special wood.

The late afternoon brought us to San Ricardo (children’s home) with its hundred plus children. We never expected God to do such great things the last hours of our ministry in Lima. In addition to those teenagers who accepted Christ on Monday, even more made the decision to accept Christ as their personal Savior, and beyond even that we were encouraged by their insightful questions about what it means to be a Christian.

Please pray the leadership at the state run home would allow some of our translators, Julianna and Eduardo, to return for follow up visits to disciple these teenagers so that they may grow further in Christ.

In the evening, we presented our thank you gifts (which included Purdue and Colts t-shirts) to our translators and Jeremy. In gratitude Eduardo returned the favor by taking the shirt off of his own back and presenting it to Evan.

We finished the night with devotions and prayer and preparing to move on to Cusco. Please pray for our continued health and safety especially as we travel in the coming days.

(The teen moms wanted us all to sign the Bibles we gave them)

Tuesday June 26, 2007

We want to give God the glory for His goodness to us. This morning the DeYoungs had a concern about Evan’s injured finger. One week prior to leaving on this mission trip, Evan lost a chunk of flesh from his little finger. He saw a doctor and is taking antibiotics. Still, this morning his finger continued to look infected. The Buckner staff here was extremely helpful in calling for a doctor who came to the hotel, evaluated the wound and prescribed additional antibiotics. Within 80 minutes of our original concern being voiced, Evan had seen a medic, received instruction, gone to a local pharmacy and taken the first new antibiotic. We are so grateful to God for providing all that we needed, and doing it so quickly.

While the DeYoungs waited for the medic, the rest of the group took a short bus ride to the Pacific Ocean. We found coarse black sand, a beach covered with rocks of various colors, and cold water on this gray overcast morning.

Reina de la Paz (teen moms’ home) was our first ministry site today. The young moms were so excited to have us take individual photos of each mom holding her child. They cheered when we told them the plan. Mark was a great photographer, getting the little ones to smile.

We were grateful for the opportunity to pray a blessing over the moms as they held their babies, after the photos.

Today, we divided the moms into two groups. We utilized Julianna, our energetic translator, to help us teach the five main points of the “Believing God” Bible study that the Sunrise women have studied in the past.. More good news!!!! Several of these young moms chose Christ today, asking Him into their hearts! What an answer to your/our prayers. It is amazing to see how God has been preparing their hearts for His salvation, to see how much He treasures each girl.

A box lunch and a bus ride brought us to San Ricardo where Otis and Paco were again well received with the help of our superb animated translator Eduardo. The second day of vacation Bible school went well. The kids had an amazing time and did not want us to leave. Every day we become better at communicating and working with the large number of children. Prayers were answered from yesterday because the littlest children finally sat quietly and listened to the Bible story.

In the evening, we walked to a restaurant and enjoyed local cuisine. Julianna joined Jeremy and our group for devotions and prayer. The rest of the evening was spent preparing about one hundred and fifty gift bags for all the children. Whenever we are tired we remember our new motto “Sleep is for Sissies.”

Monday June 25, 2007

Our work began at Reina de la Paz (the teen mom’s home). We broke into four activity groups including a Bible based parenting class (on the power of the spoken word), crafts, games (charades and red light/green light), and CPR/choking rescue class. The girls were very attentive and seemed to have a good time. We shared a many laughs and smiles.

Our lunch was a box lunch that we enjoyed on the grounds of the teen mom’s home (see the photo of the triple sandwich, a local favorite).

A long bus ride over a bumpy dirt road led us to our first state run orphanage. Although the surrounding area was very dirty and barren we were delighted to see the quality of the facility on the inside, bright buildings and green grass.

We found that managing over a hundred Spanish speaking energetic children was quite a challenge. They really enjoyed a show put on by Otis and his new friend Paco. The children loved to see photos of themselves. They were very anxious to interact with us and even attempted to teach us some Spanish..

Sometimes we wonder if we are making a big enough difference, but we are thrilled that God granted the ultimate treasure of salvation to several teenagers who readily received the Gospel presentation and prayed to receive Christ as their savior. Please continue to pray for these especially as they try to learn more about Jesus without any apparent readily available Christian support.

It took us an hour’s bus ride to return to the hotel and after supper we spent the evening planning and preparing crafts for the next day’s vacation Bible school. Thank you for continued prayers for health and energy levels.

(Benito our bus driver who saves our lives every day.)