Run To/Through the Jungle



This past Friday, Oct. 18th, was my first trip out into the "campo" or the country.  Myself & 5 others set off ~ 9:30 in what I affectionately call, "The Beast", which would be the 1982 Nissan Patrol pictured above.  The evening before John Kreider & I loaded all of that on the top to make us look like the Beverly Hillbillies.  The furniture, tires, etc. is for one of the pastors out at our destination, Santa Teresa, which is actually down in one of the jungle areas here in Peru.  The trip takes ~ 7-8 hours and we traversed altitudes from 4,330 meters above sea level to down ~ 1,400 meters at our destination.  These trips happen once a month to keep in contact with, encourage, and help out however we can w/the vast chain of churches spread throughout southern Peru.

These are just a few of the examples of the terrain covered during the trip.  I don't think we had a straight stretch for more than 200 or 300 yds.

The one thing I do not have pictures of which I really wish I did was after getting to Santa Teresa we went another good hour or so on dirt roads, not gravel, to deliver the furniture.  The house of Pastor Raul was then a good 15-20 minute hike, uphill, through the jungle, in the dark!  Plus we carried the chairs, dressers, bed frames, etc.  What an adventure & PTL I wore my boots!  We did get treated to coffee & yucca, which was delicious & a combination I'd never tried before.  So neat to be able to help this family however possible.  They were living in another town, pastoring, quite a way from Santa Teresa but felt called to move back, this is their home, & work on cell groups out in the country.  Hopefully on another trip I'll be able to see where we were but in the daylight!  :)                   

The picture to the left is on the street outside of the church in the town of Santa Teresa.  Notice the mountains & cloud cover way up there in the background!

This picture is on the street outside of the church.  If you look closely you can see crosses basically straight behind me on the ledge by the pine trees.  We stayed in a little hostel just down the street, interesting experience also, you can see the white sign just over my left shoulder.  I also wanted to make sure the 2 guys working there were in the picture.  Every day they were working there on the street, either they had a car jacked up & were fixing something or here they're making re-bar for reinforcing concrete columns.  Hard workers!

This group of pictures shows the inside of the church, the lady in the purple is going to be baptized & is sharing her testimony.  Please keep her in your prayers, hers has not been an easy life at all!  The middle picture is of some of us walking down from the church, through the jungle, to the river.  Then in the final picture...how'd ya like to be up on that bridge?!  The town of Santa Teresa had a huge flood in 1997 & it completely wiped the original town out.  It happened during the night but the amazing thing was there were hardly any deaths b/c of the incredible noise of the rushing water that woke the people up.  God is sovereign!  The location of the original town is down by the river and around to the right.  The new town is built much higher.

Not always easy to find a good spot calm enough for a baptism in a Peruvian river!

A new creation through the blood of Christ!  After the baptism we headed back to the church & had a wonderful lunch & time of fellowship.  As you can see from this bottom picture...Ruth LOVES "el helicoptero" as does just about every child no matter where I've been in the world. 

Had a little minor trouble on the way home.  Some of the bolts had worked loose b/t the manifold & the exhaust.  Check out the toolbox on the ground...John is always ready!  This bottom picture shows where we'd been.  No wonder some bolts might have wiggled loose, huh?  Yes...that is the road back there!

And this is the pass through the mountains on the way back.  That 4,330 meters amounts to about 14,300 feet above sea level!  As you can tell by my clothing it was COLD and even some sleet! 

I thank God for a safe trip & the opportunity to be serving Him here in Peru.  The people, fellow brothers & sisters in Christ who will one day be worshipping around the throne are a joy & God's love is obvious & evident in the church in Santa Teresa!  Please keep Rose, myself, & the girls in your prayers.  I have more pictures from this trip that I'm planning on putting in an album on Facebook if you'd like to check some of the rest of them out.

Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy or our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.  Jude 21

Saturday in the Park

So we didn't spend this Saturday in the park, but we did last weekend.  We were blessed to be able to meet up with some dear friends of ours from language school last Saturday.  We ate lunch together and then spent a few hours in a Peruvian Park.  Here are some pictures of our adventure.

 

 The slides were like nothing I have ever seen before.

  There were stairways to get to the top.

 Forever Friends!



Patiently waiting to ride the "Ferris wheel"

 

We felt blessed to be able to spend the day with friends who feel like family.  Transition is difficult but the blessings of our heavenly Father are amazing.  We are so thankful for His gift of friendship.

Perú

After a long day/night of traveling, we arrived in Cusco, Perú about midday on Tuesday, Sept. 10th.  We were met by our team members the Brubaker's and the Kreider's.  We got to come directly to our house, which is about 10-15 minutes from the airport.  We are so close we see jets fly over all day, everyday going to land and flying out of the airport.  Now we are very thankful they don't have night flights since it can be quite noisy at times during the day with all the flights coming and going. 

 

Our house is close to the main road where all the buses are which is nice.  We live about 2 blocks up a hill in a 3 story house.  We have the first two floors and there are renters above us on the third floor.  We feel blessed to have plenty of space for our family and even a little backyard.  We have been settling in and finding our way around the neighborhood.  Our hearts hurt to see prosperity and poverty side by side.  Please pray for us to be able to process this and to have a heart of compassion.

Here are a few pictures of the past few weeks.......

 Katie has already learned to carry her doll like the locals.

 Homemade ice cream at the Saturday market

 There was also a nice selection of desserts at the Saturday market.

 

The girls sporting their Promesa uniforms, they wear these everyday and they have been in school for 2 weeks.  They are learning more Spanish everyday and making Peruvian friends, praise the Lord!

We have trash pick-up twice a week and you know they are coming because it sounds like a party in the street.  Please note the speaker on the top of the cab, they play music, loudly.

 So there are lots of stray dogs in the street, so you don't put your trash out early.  This picture shows the neighbor lady running after the truck to get her trash in it.  The men were very helpful to her.

 Last weekend we were able to visit the church in Lucre, which is about a 30 -40 minutes from our home here in Cusco.

 Here is an adobe brick house in progress.  Notice the bricks drying in the forefront.

 We ate lunch at the trout farm down the street from the church.  The appetizer was cheese and corn.

 The entree:  amazing trout, salad, potatoes, and more corn.

 Our lunch group including John & Cindy Kreider by Katie and Chris.

After lunch we hiked to the future site of the school "Promesa".

 It is beautiful hike but steep in places, so Katie had two hiking sticks.

 Danica taking a rest, she was quite a trooper up the mountain.

Thank you for all of your prayers!  We couldn't continue this journey without your support and we hope you realize how much we love and appreciate you ALL!

Praises and Prayer Requests:

We are so thankful for the opportunity for the girls to attend a Christian Spanish speaking school.  Please continue to pray for the girls as they transition in going to Promesa.  There were many tears the first week, but it has gotten better this week.  So, please continue to pray for them to be able to understand the work and the language and make new friends.

We are so thankful for this home and praise the Lord for his provision.  Please pray for Chris and I as we settle and work on the improvements that need to be made.  Also pray that we might get to know our neighbors and be able to show them Christ's love.

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

 

 

 



Hoy es un día de buenas noticias, y no las estamos dando a conocer. 2° Libro de Reyes 7:9.

Today was our last Sunday in Costa Rica.  It is easy to remember our first Sunday, since we couldn't understand much of anything.  We feel so blessed to have been able to understand the message today out of 2 Kings, a message about how everyone can be a missionary, by being a Christian and choosing to tell others the Good News! 

Buenas noticias, means good news in Spanish.  How exciting to think of all the missionaries we have all over the world, working in all sorts of jobs, teaching in schools, studying in Universities, volunteering, parenting, coaching soccer,  the list could go on forever.  Please do not think that if what you do was not mentioned that you don't matter, because living for Christ does matter.  The world is full of people hungering and starving for something........and we have the answer!  Jesus Christ is the answer and isn't that good news?  Don't be silent when you have the opportunity to share the love of Christ with someone who is hungry and seeking truth.  Today is a day of Good News!  Share it!

 

 Katie and her Sunday School teacher Esteban

 Missionaries going to Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru, love these people!

 Pastor Raul and our family outside of the church

My favorite usher at church, he was always so welcoming, he reminded me of my Dad. 

 Here we are, these precious ladies helped me survive language school.  I am going to miss them!

 Jonny, Chris, and Dan

And last, but not least, Katie celebrated her 8th birthday in Costa Rica. 

 

Prayer requests and praises:

 

Please pray for us as we say our goodbyes this week.  We knew we were only going to be here a year, but somehow our hearts forgot that.  We praise God for putting us in classes with people and teachers that He knew would be perfect for us and now we will forever be family, but as always goodbyes are hard.

 

Please also pray for our family as we make the long journey home with many suitcases.  We are excited to see family and friends, but it is going to be a long day of travel.

 

Lastly, Chris has been having some sinuses problems here and was told he would need to follow-up with an ENT in the States to discuss his options.  We are praising the Lord he feels much better now with different antibiotics, but please pray for us to have wisdom in making decisions.

 

Psalm 121:1-2

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

 

Finishing well

It has been well over a month since we posted last.  We are in the home stretch and excited to see what God has for us in the next stretch in Peru!  We look back on this past year and the many mistakes we have made and continue to make in our attempt to learn Spanish.  We see how God has taught us so much more about ourselves and our daily need for more of Him.  Without Him we are lost, pitiful and useless.  We give him all the glory for anything good and ask his grace and mercy to see us through so that we might finish language school well!

 

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

 Our little Costa Rican girlies! 

 

 A day in beautiful Zarcero.

 Katie's catch!

 Hannah got a rainbow trout too! 

 My baby is growing up!

Ice Cream grenades from "Helados Granados" in Cartago, yummy! 

 

Praises and Prayer Requests:

 

*We are so blessed to have made wonderful friends here in Language school, but we know soon we will have to part ways and ask that you would pray for us and the girls as we say our goodbyes.

 

*Please pray for Chris and I as we take our last language exams, especially our oral exams, that we would be calm and be able to demonstrate what we have learned.

 

*Please pray for our travels from Costa Rica to Indiana.  We will have a long day of travels, please pray for safety and patience. 

 

*Please pray for the girls as they adjust to coming back to the States and then on to Peru. 

 

Lastly, we would like to invite you to join us for a night about missions;

 Sunday evening August 18th at Providence Mennonite Church at 6pm.

We plan to have some typical Costa Rican food to share and of course coffee.  We will be having a night about missions with information about Peru and even a segment about my mom's mission trip to India.  Please bring a finger food to share.  And please let us know if you have any questions!

 

 

 

Mission Opportunities in Costa Rica

¡Hola!  Dios lo bendiga.  This is Chris sitting in for my "primera vez" (first time) with writing the blog.  Rose has done a wonderful job and is definitely not being fired but she has asked me numerous times to write and I've wanted to, just never got around to it,  maybe you can relate.

 

Hard to believe we have been "in country" almost 10 months and that this is our final trimester of español.  It's so amazing to see how God has worked and still is working in so many areas.  Rose and I knew almost no Spanish when we came down here and, solely through His grace and mercy, we can now understand most of what we hear and speak w/confidence even though we know not even close to everything we say is 100% correct.  If any of you reading this has a problem w/pride, and don't we all, I'd highly recommend language school. haha  Trust me...the pride needs to be checked at the door.  Just today myself and then later a good friend, "had a stellar day of mistakes" with a couple words you'd never guess could cause a problem.  Maybe I'll be able to share more later! :)

 

One of the highlights of the entire year for me occurred just a couple weeks ago.  I was invited by Dr. Longworth, our school doctor, along with another M.D. good friend of mine to help w/a medical team.  A group of pharmacists from West Palm Beach, FL comes down every year and does the clinic in various towns out in the country.  They bring an incredible amount of medicines w/them but no doctors so Dr. Longworth always helps along with some other Tico doctors.  The clinic I helped at was held in the town of Orósi which is at the south end of the Central Valley heading up into the mountains and south towards Panamá.  The church, Puente de Esperanza, (Bridge of Hope) was used for the clinic, which is completely free, and when we arrived there in the early morning of May 16th there was already a couple hundred people waiting!  I ended up doing physical therapy on a wooden workbench, first time for me w/that, in the upstairs corner of this building the church uses.  Concrete floor,  not finished...only stud walls,  no glass even in the windows,  the stairs needed to be condemned,  (OSHA would go NUTS),  and it was AWESOME!!!  :)))  I saw, of course, back issues, but also a torn ACL, needed Dr. Eby for that one, some knee and ankle issues, and a possible rotator cuff tear.  I had a great day and I believe there is another opportunity of this type in July which I'm already excited about.  The main thing in my mind that day was the verse in Matthew 25:40 "And the king will answer them, saying, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."  (Verses 31-46 in context)

 This little old man had come the day before and Dr. Longworth had seen him w/his X-rays, he has severe degenerative joint disease with almost no cartilage left.  He really needs a total knee replacement but Dr. Longworth had told him I'd be there on Thurs. so I was able to show him a few exercises and hopefully help him a little.  He was very easy to talk to & I could've spent the entire day w/him.  The picture below is his wife.  I just wanted to show her his exercises so they could remember for at home...welll, she proceeded to let me know her hip & low back hurt and she needed therapy too...all this as she hopped up on the "table."  They rode their horse in to the church! :)

 

 

Tomorrow, June 8th is a huge evangelical outreach in one of the large parks close to our house/school here in San Francisco de Dos Ríos.  A good friend of mine from school had the vision of churches coming together and just sharing the love of Christ in the park.  There are going to be people from many of the area churches plus a good number of us students from the language school doing a number of things from passing out candy w/verses attached, to dramas, to sports.  I'll be helping w/ultimate frisbee and Rose will be taking blood pressures. Please be in prayer for this and if you see this after the fact please pray for the gospel to reach and touch hearts as God desires for the Kingdom!

 

Here are few pictures of the girls.  They have 4 more half days of school so they are super excited.  They had a gymnastic program this past Thursday and got medals.  Katie said she thought they were pretty young to be getting their first medals :)  They worked very hard this year and their coach "Profe" is amazing and a very gifted, patient man. 

 

We recently celebrated our 15th anniversary!  Wow, I think if you would've told us we would be in language school in Costa Rica 15 years ago, I don't know if we would've believed it.  God has been faithful and we give him all the glory.

 

One last thing.....we wanted to share a recent picture of all the families that are in language school right now that will be heading to Peru.  We had a get-together a few weeks ago since some of the families will be heading out a bit early.  We are excited to see what God is gonna do in Peru!

 

As always, thank you for your continued prayer support.  We have plans to return to the States August 15th and the Lord willing, head to Peru on September 9th.  We want to invite you all to Providence Mennonite on Sunday evening August 18th.  We hope to share a little about our year in Costa Rica and even a taste of this amazing country.  We will post more details closer to date, but mark your calendars!  We look forward to seeing you :)