Busy days

Last week was busy with tons of promotion for the big event on Saturday. Chad and I led a group on Friday as there were people to help with childcare. We went to a small community on the outskirts of Arequipa to put up posters and tell people about the event. These are some pictures of "Ciudad De Dios"- the community where we spent the morning. I saw a lady sweeping the front steps of her house-and wanted to take a picture of the irony. Such a dirty, dusty place. Certainly different than home, but also very different from where we are in the city of Arequipa about 20 minutes away. Our host family told us that it is a very poor area.

a school playground-These are actual neighborhoods- Houses are built as money is available and this community was full of unfinished buildings- that plant you see in a geranium. They are all over here and grow into huge shrubs.I talked with this family for about 20 minutes. It was exciting to make a connection- and to be able to speak spanish well enough to communicate and understand. We talked about our families. This lady told me that her daughter had died two years ago. She is raising the two boys in the picture. The two older girls are her daughters. She is the owner of a small store.

The event on Saturday went well. There were at least 10,000 people who attending that day and hundreds who claimed decisions for Christ. During the day there were medical clinics, conferences for men and women, a children's festival and concerts. There were also food booths, and a cuy(guinea pig) feed. It's a delicacy here. Nick Vujicic was the main speaker and presented in the evening. He was the big draw of the event- The crowd from the back-and from the front- This is Victoria, our host Mom, and Ella at the event- This is Ravi. He is attending the same language school that we are, and is staying at our house. We enjoy his company and hope to build a meaningful relationship with him. I think he will be here for a total of 5 weeks and is from California. He has a fantastic sense of humor. This is a look at the short-term volunteers that came to help before, during and after the event- There are teams busy this week making follow-up appointments to begin discipling those who accepted Christ during the event. These teams are comprised of the 40/40 missionaries (North American and Peruvian) who are assigned to this area. They are beginning the work of discipling, in hopes of being able to plant new churches in this city. Please pray for them. It is a scary, exciting, challenging thing to be doing. Certainly we want new churches- but even more, we pray for people to have genuine, growing, dynamic relationship with Christ. If that is happening- the churches will follow! Pray that those going out would have boldness, be spirit led and have wisdom as they begin to form relationships with people.

I have been so proud of our guys, Trevor, Micah and Garren this week as I have watched them work and work- giving all they have and filling in when needed. I appreciate their willingness to do what needs to be done.

Chad is in a leadership role this week, helping to coordinate all the teams and projects that are going on. The guys have been a great help to him! He seems to be enjoying it. I am proud of him and excited to see how God is using him here.

We have exprienced our first case of illness since being in Peru. The kids were sick last night. Ella threw up once around 9pm, and the Thomas started at about 3am. He threw up several times, until about 11 this morning. I washed puked on blankets and sheets and towels and jammies today by hand. Wool blankets hold ALOT of water and weigh about 2 tons when they are wet. BUT- I got them done, and all but two are dry and back on the beds. Fortunately the kids are doing well this evening and should be back to school tomorrow. Ella said, "This was a crazy day- we stayed in our beds the whole time!"

Chad's parents are here with a group from their church. We have seen them several times, but I don't feel like we have really got to spend much time with them! They brought Ella a Barbie and Thomas a Buzz Lightyear. New treasures! The kids were with Vicki all day Saturday during the event, which I am glad for. Chad and I helped run the merchandise booth where we sold t-shirts, bags, hats, etc. We got a lot of spanish numbers practice! Loren (Chad's dad) is helping with a building project this week, and Vicki (Chad's mom) is doing some English classes at a church. Tomorrow they are coming here to have dinner with us and our host family.

Okay- long enough post for now- thanks for checkin in to see what's going on with us!