Not according to plan.....

This past weekend, Gloria and I took a trip by bus out to San Juan de Cotabambas in hopes of signing up mothers and children for the nutrition program.  Our trip didn't exactly go as planned.  It reminded me of the verse:

 Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord." 

The trip started with a taxi picking me up here at the Aprovite house at 3:30am Friday morning.  I met Gloria at the bus which left at 4:30am.  The bus was quite a cultural experience in itself.  We stopped for "pan" or bread about 30 minutes into our journey.  The windows opened up and people were throwing bags of bread in and I had no idea how they knew who was paying and who the bread was for, but it was all settled quickly and they hung their bread from the bars so it wouldn't get squished and we were again on our way.

 

And here is the little guy in the seat in front of us for the trip.

We arrived in San Juan de Cotabambas at about 12:30pm, which was about an 8 hour trip.  We took our things down the mountain to stay with a pastor of the Mennonite church named Felix and his wife Isidora.  We quickly learned our cell phones didn't work here, so I was unable to call or text Chris to let him know we arrived safely. Here are some of the pictures of our stay.  I feel like I have now truly experienced the countryside of Peru. 

Above is our room for the night and below is the sink we used to brush our teeth.

 

 Here is a little peek at the outhouse, it was called a "bano seco", which means it is basically a hole in the ground with boards across it that had a hole in the middle.

Here are the furry little friends that were in the country kitchen.

 Gloria and Isidora visiting in the kitchen as she cooks a meal over the fire.  The kitchen was small and dark, but there was light from little windows and the doors being open.  The light above Gloria's head is actually a small hole in the wall.

 

Here is a view of the village of San Juan de Cotabambas.

 

As I was saying earlier, our weekend didn't quite go as planned.  We had hoped to have a meeting with the prospective mothers and sign the children up for the nutrition program.  Instead, the town was having a meeting in which all people were expected to attend.  We were able to speak at the meeting to let people know what we were doing but since it lasted all day, we didn't get to do any education with the mothers as we had planned.  We were able to sign 31 children up though and we are excited to see how many more come when Gloria returns in April.

Here is one of the children in the meeting and some others that were playing outside.

 

 We returned home Sunday in a trip that only took about 6 hours.  We had a blessed weekend and it was great to see how the Lord made a way where we didn't see a way.  It was a blessing for me to experience yet another part of the Peruvian culture.   Please pray for the Prosim program and for the women and children we hope to minister to.  We want to help them with their basic health needs and education but our ultimate goal is to show them the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Summer in Peru (Part 2)

We were blessed to go from vacation to our team retreat in Arequipa which is about an 8 hour drive from Cusco.  We stayed at a nice little hotel called "La Casa de Mi Abuela" which translates to Grandma's house.  There was a pool and plenty of space for the girls to run around.  There were even goldfish and birds to keep the little ones entertained.  We enjoyed a refreshing week of studying God's word and enjoying the company of the team from Strasburg, PA who came to provide childcare and leadership to the retreat.  Here are a few pictures of our week.

We also had fun one afternoon visiting the Arequipa Zoo.

 

 Gotta love the concrete slides of Peru!

 

 

And lastly here is the team, we were excited to have them over to dinner the night before they left to head back to the States.  We truly appreciated the friendships that were formed in such a short time with not only ourselves but with our children.  Danica still colors pictures that she wants to send to Mr. Steve.  Love and blessings to you all!

 

Praises and Prayer requests:

 

I want to praise the Lord that my brother Mark was baptized the Sunday we returned from our trip.  It was a blessing to be able to watch via Skype.

 

Please pray for Chris' uncle Lowell.  He was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and started chemotherapy recently.  Please pray for him and his family to feel the Lord's love and  presence especially during this time.

 

Chris and I are getting ready to go to Lima to work on our visa process.  Please pray for the girls and for us to have safe travels and a smooth paperwork process.

 

School will start for all three girls in March, so please pray especially for Hannah and Katie to adjust back to school in Spanish.  Danica  will be going to preschool 2 days a week and she is ready.  A praise is that H & K both recently did some tutoring in Spanish and enjoyed it while learning a lot. 

 

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

It's summer in Peru! Vacation & Team Retreat (Part 1 of 2)

I know it's not fair to brag about summer here in Peru since most of you all have been enduring one of the coldest, longest, snow and ice filled winters to date.  Summer here isn't really like summer in Southern Indiana, but it is quite pleasant and there have been many sunny days which is perfect for drying the laundry.  We were able to join the Kreider family for a week of vacation at the end of January before our annual team retreat.

 

The view of mountains was amazing, the middle picture shows there is always roadside shopping, and the bottom shows a perfect spot for a bathroom break since there is an abundance of rocks and bushes.

 We even ran into a few snowflakes in our travels!!!

Stretching is important after being in the car so long.

We had a great time visiting Puno and Lake Titicaca.  Puno is about 5-6 hours from Cusco and Lake Titicaca is the world's largest navigable lake.  We spent a day on the lake that included visiting the floating islands and a 2 1/2 hour boat ride to the island Taquile to eat lunch and enjoy the beautiful scenery. 

 Danica made a friend and they decided to man the shop.

 Enjoying the floating islands.

 The island of Taquile with Lake Titicaca in the background.

One last picture of Lake Titicaca for my dear friend Greta :)

 From Puno we headed to Colca Canyon to see the Condors.  Unfortunately, we waited and watched for about 2 hours and finally saw one right as we were leaving.  They are amazing birds and have a huge wingspan, sorry I wasn't ready with my camera, so you will have to take my word for it. 

 Hannah patiently waiting to see the Condors at Colca Canyon.

 This is news when traveling in Peru, not all bathrooms are free.

 

 From Colca Canyon we headed to Mejia which is a nice little beach town that is about 3 hours from Arequipa.  Needless to say it was a long day going from Chivay or Colca Canyon to Mejia, but the sound of the waves greeting us made it worthwhile.

We stayed in a mission house that was about a 5 minute walk to the beach.  Danica preferred to play in the sand and Chris and the girls enjoyed the water, but it was quite cold in my opinion. 

 

 

Stay tuned to hear about our team retreat in part 2.

 

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Happy New Year!  We pray the Lord's presence in each of your lives in this new year.  We had a blessed holiday season here in Cusco. 

Here are a few pictures of our past month.......

We made gingerbread houses with graham crackers.

 

We skyped with some special people and furry friends.

 

We opened packages and baked cupcakes!

 Chris and I celebrated birthdays in the busy month of December.

There were plenty of surprises!

Hannah after using her Christmas present of her curling iron.

 Katie with her friend Maria Fatima at the clausura, the end of the year program.

 Katie looking over the ledge across from her classroom at Promesa.

 

 

Our Merry Christmas picture.  We appreciate each and everyone of you! 

 

Praises and Prayer Requests:

 

*We are in the process of getting our visas here in Peru.  Please pray that all would go smoothly and we could get an appointment soon.  We will work on getting the girls' after we get ours.

 

*Praise the Lord Hannah passed all her tests to go on to the 6th grade at Promesa  in March!

 

*Please pray for us as we travel to our team retreat in Arequippa.

 

*We also would ask you to pray for us as we seek how best to serve here in Peru.  There are many opportunities which can sometimes be daunting when trying to figure out what is best for the ministry and our mission goals.

 

2 Corinthians 9:8

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."



My trip to the campo (San Juan de Cotabambas and Colca)

This past weekend, it was my turn to experience the windy, curvy mountain roads of the countryside of Peru.  It was amazing to see these huge mountains all around us.  It made me feel so small and realize how great is our God, that he created this amazing earth, from the mountains of Peru to the Grand Canyon.  Thank you Lord for caring for us, even when we feel so small and insignificant.

 

Our goal of this trip was to give gifts to the participants of the nutrition programs in the rural towns of Cotabambas and Colca.  We arrived Friday evening to our hotel in Cotabambas after dark after about a 5-6 hour trip through the mountains.  I was excited to have a nice warm bed and a real toilet.

We got up early on Saturday morning to head to the "posta" or the medical clinic which was about a 45 minute drive further into the mountains.  We started seeing patients, children in the nutrition program, at about 8:30 and finished up around 4:30.  Jen saw 31 patients and had to have translation for only a few who only spoke Quechua.  We gave each child a bar of soap, chewable vitamins, vasoline, and a children's book.  We were also able to give some socks out that were left over from last year.  The parents and children were so grateful.  It was truly a humbling experience.  We had a few children who hated being there and cried the whole visit, but for the most part, they were cooperative little patients.

 

Dr. Jen Brubaker and I are ready for the day.

 

Our little pharmacy and supply table.  We had socks, vitamins, antibotics, books, vasoline, and soap.

Women and children outside the clinic, waiting to be seen.

We finished the day by serving hot chocolate and biscotes which is a type of sweet roll that has small pieces of fruit in it.  We then passed out gifts to the children that were in the program and we even had small gifts for the children that were not in the program, but were hanging around throughout the day.

Loving their toys, the girls got dolls and the boys got plastic trucks or tractors.

 

The entire group at the end of the day, women and children from the nutrition program.  Juana, the nurse who heads Prosim, is the first from the right on the 2nd row.

 

I just had to take a picture of this baby and her baby doll box behind her.  All the mothers here carry their children on their backs like this.  Both Katie & Danica have copied it, which I love.

Sunday we traveled about an hour to Colca where another group of women and children were ready for a hot chocolate and gifts. The women heard the gospel message and had a time of sharing.  Then we did hot chocolate and biscotes another time.  The children in the nutrition received gifts and other neighborhood children enjoyed small gifts of plastic animals as well.

Jen & I passing out bread in Colca.

We attended the church service in Colca which was in Quechua, so I listened to Juana, the nurse who travelled with us, translate it in Spanish.  We headed out after a lunch of chicken and noodle soup and ended up getting back home to Cusco around 8:30pm.  It was a wonderful and blessed trip.  We had very little issue with traveling besides the occasional herd of animals in the road, such has llamas, alpacas, and cattle.  I also learned there is etiquette when driving around the Peruvian mountains, depending where you are, the person driving up the mountain has the right of way and the person going down has to back up if there isn't room to pass on the road.  I wouldn't be one to test this, but this is what I was told :)

 Teammates, Michelle and Bethany enjoying our road trip.

 This road is why I felt carsick on the way to Cotabamabas, they counted curves and it was somewhere in the twenties.

 

Romans 12:12  Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Prayer Requests and Praises:

 

*Please continue to pray for the girls as they finish up the Peruvian school year at Promesa.  They are improving my leaps and bounds in their Spanish.  Hannah has two more test days, Monday and Tuesday, so please keep praying for her especially.  Rose had a meeting with Katie's teacher this week about her progress and it went well, praise the Lord.  Pray for Danica too as she gets ready to go to preschool in March.

 



*Please pray for Chris and I as we adjust to and try to find our best places of ministry here in Cusco.  There are many opportunities and we want to do what is best for our family and the ministries here.

*Please pray for Rose's sister Joanna, she has been having some health problems and they are unable to find the cause of her symptoms.  We are trusting the Lord in this, but it is difficult to be away.

*Praise the Lord for his faithfulness and goodness in all things.  We have felt your prayers and know that you are praying.  Thank you and God bless you!