May in the Mountains

Hi all! This is Chris writing the blog for May. We didn't do very well w/blogging in April, what w/getting resettled in Peru and back to our lives/work, so I'll try to get you up to speed and maybe make things doubly good for this blog!
Hannah & I went w/PROSIM, the Mennonite church medical outreach here in Southern Peru, out into a very new area in the Apurimac Province. There has been some evangelism here, and the particular town we went into, Chuyllullo, has a leader, Ronald, and a small body of believers. The main focus of these trips are to help w/physical & health needs, and then use these to open the doors for spiritual healing and the message of the gospel.

These pictures are just some of what it's all about.  The first is one of getting the truck packed and ready.  I don't think I've ever included or posted on FB one of these, but the preparation is a huge part of the whole endeavor.  This preparation includes packing everything from medicines and food, to extra diesel and shovels/picks in case we run into a landslide on the way.  I think many of you know this already, but these trips are literally HOURS on dirt roads, often times meeting few, if any, other cars.  The bottom picture is of a special needs child named Claudia who became my buddy quite quickly, as you can tell. "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."  Matthew 25:40

The top picture here shows Hannah helping w/some of the health teaching to the children on Saturday.  Much of these teaching includes things as simple as hand washing, general cleanliness, and nutrition, which can be forgotten out in the mountains sometimes and can then cause major health problems.  Included w/these health themes are ALWAYS teachings on the bible and the soul-saving gospel of Christ.
The second picture is on Sunday morning, May 3rd, of this small group of believers out in Chuyllullo.  Please keep them in your prayers!  If you are reading this, & Jesus Christ is your Lord & Savior, one day you will worship around God's throne for all of eternity w/these brothers & sisters in Christ from Peru! "...for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."  Revelation 5:9

Here is a picture of the beautiful Apurimac River & the new bridge we now have over it.  PTL!  Believe me, we are very grateful for this new bridge, you should've seen the old one!  ;)  The sign I'm holding is one of my favorite verses, Matthew 24:14, and what I believe should be the central part of any christian's life.  His gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world!  What are you doing to take an active part in this?

March Madness

We are still in Indiana, so the March madness title seems fitting since basketball postseason play is in full swing. We feel like the madness applies to us in a different way as we try to finish up fundraising, get ready to start packing to return to Peru, all while adjusting to life with our fourth baby girl.

Speaking of our newest addition, let us introduce Adeline! She was born at 2:20pm on February 2nd. She weighed 6lb 12oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.  We are in love with her and so thankful for her!

And yes, she is already a month old!

When Adeline was about 21/2 weeks old, Rose started having pain with taking a deep breath in her back on the left side. When the pain continued Rose had a chest X-ray followed by a CT scan which showed bilateral blood clots in her lungs. This condition is a possible postpartum complication caused by factors such as hormonal changes and maternal age. It was a scary diagnosis, but we were thankful for the excellent care we received. Rose was admitted to the hospital for IV heparin therapy and Coumadin, which are both blood thinners to prevent new clots from forming. Rose stayed in the hospital for five days to get the medication within therapeutic levels. The doctors have recommended at least a 6 month course of the Coumadin therapy by mouth. We are thankful the problem was found and could be treated.

Lastly, we are preparing to start packing up to head back to Peru. But before we do that, we are required to have 100% of our budget raised before returning. If you would be able to help us reach that goal, please email us at chrisroseraber@gmail.com

We only need 20 people to give $50 a month for the next two years to reach 100%, but any donation would be appreciated.

Or if you live in Southern Indiana, we are having a Chicken dinner fundraiser this coming Sunday, March 15th. Please see below for the details.

We love and appreciate each one of you!  Thank you for being a part of our ministry whether it is through prayer support or financial support, or both, we thank the Lord for His faithfulness and His provision.

Happy New Year!

We wanted to wish you all a very happy and blessed New Year!  We have been having a wonderful time back here in the States reconnecting with family and friends over the holiday season.  We wanted to share our video for those of you who haven't had the opportunity to view it yet.

  http://youtu.be/eV0xzuhooiI

We ask for your prayers as we prepare for Baby Raber due in early February and as we visit churches to finish up fundraising for our next two years in Peru.  We plan to return to Peru in late March, so if you would like to meet up with us sometime before then, please let us know.  

Love and blessings to you all!

Cultural Corner: Primeros Juegos Deportivos

Last Friday was the first "Olympic" type games for our girls and the students of Promesa.  We started the day off at a nearby park called Cajonahuayalla.  It was a very nice sports complex and was a lot of fun to watch the kids play and compete.  Of course a day like this comes with much preparation, as in we had to go out and get yellow ribbon for Danica's hair and green for Katie's.  We also had to find pompoms for each girl, all different colors as well. 

Danica and her friend Samuel got their faces painted as part of the festivities.  They also participated in the opening ceremonies as seen below.

 

Katie got to be a representative for her class and enjoyed doing the sack race.

Katie and Maria Fatima.  I am so very thankful for this sweet classmate of Katie's who has been an amazing friend to Katie, we truly believe that her kindness and friendship is a gift from God. 

Hannah didn't want me to take pictures of her and her friends, but I managed to get one.  Here is some of her classmates wearing their promoción jackets.  They have been doing fundraisers all year to prepare for promoción, a trip that the sixth graders take as a celebration of them going on to secundaria or junior high/high school.  Apparently, these jackets are part of the deal.  I was beyond thankful that she had what she needed for the day so we didn't have to go shopping to find attire for her to match her classmates.

 

A little peek of the park, the mountain views never get old!

Chris showing Danica how to use her whistle.  They gave all the four year olds whistles to blow during the games.  We enjoy days like today, but it certainly opens our eyes as to how our cultures are different.  We feel blessed to be able to be a part of these celebrations even though they can be long and tiring and have hours of preparation and searching for the right outfits, pompoms, hair ribbons, etc.  We know that we are here for a purpose and thank the Lord everyday for using us here.

 

Please continue to pray for our girls as they continue to adjust to the culture of a new school and  make friends.  ***Please especially pray for Danica, as she has really been struggling to go to school lately.  She only goes two days, but there have been quite a few tears and it can be difficult to make her go even though we know it is best for her.

 

Philippians 3:14  "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in

Christ Jesus."

 

We're Moving!!!!

We are moving!  Our plans were to stay in the Aprovite house for the remainder of our term here in Peru which is 2 more years.  (Can you believe we have been here almost a year?!?)  But, the Lord had different plans.  The Kreider family is heading back to the States and needed someone to rent their house.  At first we didn't think that would be us.  Then, we got a call saying our landlord was moving into the apartment above us and wanted to use our parking space to park their car.  Long story short, we had a meeting with the landlord and he wanted to just make another parking space in our already small backyard.  So, after much thought and prayer, we have decided to move. 

Here is a small glimpse of our current backyard which is also where we hang our laundry since we don't have a dryer. 

Please pray with us that the move will go smoothly and that the girls would adjust well to the new house.  Please also pray for the Kreider family as they adjust to going back the States. 

A few things to note, our mailing address will stay the same since we use a Post Office Box.  And we will still have plenty of room to host visitors :) 

Here is a sneak peak of our "new" house and yard.....

 There is even a garden space and green house! 

 Looking out toward the street, it seems to be much quieter than the street we live on now. 

***Since I started this post we have officially started the move.  It is very stressful for me, trying to figure what to put where and how to arrange the furniture and what to pack first, etc.  The Aprovite house has been in the mission for 10 years which has been a blessing, but it also means we have quite a bit of furniture to move.  Thank you for your prayers! 

Cuy and the campo

We were finally able to take the trip out to the campo in June as a family.  We are very thankful to finally have a truck and that we were able to make this trip.  We went to Cotabambas and San Juan de Cotabambas.  The scenery is amazing and the pictures really don't do it justice!  We left a little before school was out on Friday and it takes a good 5-6 hours to get there.  After the first hour it is dirt roads all the way out.

The truck in front of the posta, or the medical clinic in San Juan de Cotabambas on Saturday morning.

 

Gloria doing education about hygiene and keeping the house clean as well to prevent illnesses.

After the lecture the women bathed their children and then they got to pick out "new" clothes.  The older girls were excited to take a bath to be able to get new clothing.  And it was a great way for the moms to put into practice what they had just learned.

 

 

 

Then, on Sunday we went to Pastor Felix's church but not before we were invited to his home for breakfast.  Since it was Felix's birthday we were served cuy or guinea pig.  It was our first time to eat it!  The girls took pictures.  It is a great honor to be served this delicacy, but it wasn't Chris nor my favorite.  (Danica thought it was chicken and didn't eat any of hers.)

 

After breakfast, we hiked back up the mountain to the church where Chris was asked to preach as the pastor was walking up for the sermon.  Gloria translated from Spanish to Quechua.

 

Nearly impossible to get a family picture, but this is the best we could do!

 

Please continue to pray for us as a team from our home church comes down Thursday.  We plan to take this trip out to San Juan and Cotabambas with them.  Pray that people would come to know the Lord.  We are excited but we know that the trip is long and hard, both to come down to Peru and to go out into the countryside.  Pray for the team to have strength and stamina.

 

And one last prayer request:  Danica was exposed to chickenpox in her preschool class at Promesa which she attends only two days a week.  When her teacher told me last week, I assured her Danica had received the vaccination and most likely wouldn't get it.  Famous last words :)  Wednesday afternoon Danica started having blistery red spots that were itchy.  Thursday I took her to the clinic and they agreed with me that it looked like chicken pox.  She is doing quite well, but she is itchy and wants the "pops" to go away.  Thankfully, she doesn't have a fever, but please pray that she would heal quickly and be able to return to school soon.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."  Hebrews 10:23

Church Paseo

Last Sunday we went to hot springs, or "aguas calientes".  What we thought would be about a 2 hour trip ended up being 3 hours each way.  We were at the church a little after 6am and the three buses left at a little after 7.  It was a nice getaway for the day.

We hadn't been to hot springs before as a family.  Chris went when he was in Santa Teresa, so this was a new experience for us.  Above is Hannah in our little room with our private pool.  It was quite warm, although the air was cold when you got out! (Note the right corner of the pool where the warm water comes in from the hot springs.)

After having a chance to swim, we had a short service outdoors followed by baptism.  Chris was excited to be able to baptize Miguel, one of the youth that he works with and plays drums with in the youth praise band.  (Miguel is above toward the left in white shorts.)

Danica was side tracked by the water coming down into the pool.  Looks like she isn't the only one.

After the service we got back on the buses for about 5 minutes to go to a nearby field to eat lunch and play games until it was time to go back to Cusco.

Chris and Brook enjoyed teaching the youth how to play Frisbee football.

Here is a view of the soccer field and one of the Red buses we took to get here.

Danica has been wearing the knees out of all her pants because she loves to play puppy and crawl around on her hands and knees.  This was her stance when I told her not to be on her knees. 

 

Please keep praying for us as we adjust to the culture here in Peru.  We feel like our Spanish is improving, but it is still difficult.  It can be difficult to try and muster up the courage to make small talk and then there is always the fear that you won't be understood or they will talk so fast that you won't understand what they are saying.  We do keep trying, but it can be frustrating at times to realize after a year in language study and almost 8 months on the field that language can still be such a struggle. 

 

Please keep the girls in your prayers as well.  Making friends here has been difficult at times, especially for Hannah.  She is older and many of the kids in her class already have their group of friends.  She had a great birthday party and enjoyed her friends, but her heart longs for a special friend and language can be a hindrance to that as well. 

 

As always, thank you for your prayers and support, for without you we could not be here.

 

Psalm 121

I lift my eyes up to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made  heaven and the earth.  He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.  Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.  The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.  The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.