Newsletter

This is the newsletter I sent out this morning.  Thought I would post it here on the blog as well for those of you who are interested and do not receive it via e-mail-


Hello friends and family-

It has been a long time since you have received an update from us!  The month of February went by fast.  We had visitors, did some traveling and continued helping our team get into their jobs.  

Residency-
We traveled as a family to Lima to continue with the residency process.  Chad and I are now official residents of Peru!  The kids cannot get their residency until we have ours, so we will go back to Lima in April to complete the process for them.  Their visas had expired, so we had to cross a border.  Bolivia is very close to us, but there is a high fee for Americans to cross the border, so we traveled to Chile.  We bused to Arequipa (6 hours), spent the night and then the next morning we bused 6 hours to Tacna (a city on the border) then took an hour long taxi ride to cross the border.  We crossed the border then re-entered Peru so we could get the visas updated.  We spent the night in Tacna and bused 6 hours back to Arequipa the next day spent a few hours in Arequipa then bused 6 hours back to Puno.  Buses used to be fun for the kids, but the novelty has worn off!  You may wonder why are are doing residency and not just crossing the border every 6 months to renew our visas.  We did residency because it is the less expensive route and although it does require several trips to Lima, the number of travel days is still fewer than if we chose to only renew our visas and travel out of the country every six months.   

House-

God has been so faithful with our housing!  We have figured out the water, and have not run out of water for several weeks.  Everyone has their own space now and it feels like home.  It still gets really cold sometimes, but with extra clothes, blankets, rice bags, hot water bottles, warm drinks- we are fine.  The washing machine is hooked up and getting plenty of use!  Praise God for a house that has become a home, and that it is truly a place of rest and refuge for our team.   

Kids-
Ella started school last week and Thomas will start today.  Ella is going to a public school with the Pastor's daughter, Jherdi.  The first week went well.  She shed a few tears, but came home happy everyday.  She is in first grade here.  Her birthday falls in the middle of the school year, so we could have kept her in Jardin (equivalent to Kindergarden), but felt like she was ready to move on, academically.  We are keeping ourselves open to the possibility that she may need to be moved back, but we are feeling good about where she is at now.  Her class is small, less than 15 kids, and her teacher attends the church here and is very attentive.  Ella goes to school from 8:30-12:30 each day.  
Thomas is attending a Jardin (ages 3-5) near our home.  There is a little boy in the church, Mateo, who will be going there too- so Thomas has someone familiar to be with as well.  It will be interesting to see how Thomas does and how he grows and develops without Ella at his side!  This Jardin is small as well.  Thomas will be in school from 9-12:30 each day.  We celebrated Thomas' birthday in February.  He turned 4 on the 16th.

Visitors-
It was a special treat to have my parents here in Peru with us to celebrate Thomas' 4th birthday!  They flew into Lima on the 16th and stayed through March 1.  We enjoyed our time with them very much.  Our home is always open to any of you who would like to see Puno!

Work-
I don't even know how to write about this!  It is such a unique position.  I am cooking three dinners a week for the team, so a big chunk of my time is spent in shopping and preparing food.  Everyday Chad buys breakfast for the team and throughout the week is responsible for managing the money of the 40/40's.  This includes re-imbursement for travel costs, giving them $ for food, etc.  It doesn't sound like much, but it requires a considerable amount of time.  Chad has been going out each week to a community with Sixto, and has also been going out with each team from time to time.  We would like to be going out at least one time each week with a pair.  With the kids being in school now, it will be easier to do that.  We also plan to use some of the time the kids are in school to study and improve our Spanish.  Each morning we meet with our team for prayer, announcements and a report of what each is doing that day.  Each week we meet with each pair to check in, get a summary of their work, plan with them and pray specifically for their needs.  Monday is the day off each week for our team.  Monday nights we eat dinner together, have a team meeting with Pastor and end with a time of worship.  I look forward to Monday nights each week.  Our team, overall, is doing well.  There continues to be a strong unity and warm regard amongst us.  It has been a hard start for some, and we have been challenged with how to motivate, how much to push, when to back off, etc.  They are all beginning to see some results and movement in the communities where they are working, and that helps so much.  There is much room for discouragement and skepticism in this work, but God is faithfully leading and teaching each person about who He is and what He is capable of doing.  We seek Him each day.  We ask for His leading, and trust that He is moving and working even when we can't see it.  

Come see us-

We have a Momentum/Construction Team coming in June, so Chad and I are doing a lot of coordinating and planning for this group, including where they will stay, what the schedule will be, what/where they will eat, etc.  There is still room on this team and if you have any interest in coming down for 12 days- please let us know!  Part of this team will be constructing a new building for the local church, and part of this team will be working with the 40/40's in their locations.  This link can give you more information http://www.extremenazarene.org/ShortTermDetail.aspx?ID=29.  If you have something specific you would like to do or experience- let us know. We are flexible and excited to have people come to Puno!

Vacation-

Last, but not least, we have booked our tickets back to the states for vacation!  We will be in the states from July 28 - August 16.  July 28-August 5 we will be in Colorado.  August 6-26th we will be in Idaho.  We are still working out the details, but are so eager to see as many of you as we can!  

I will be sending another e-mail soon with links to our team blogs.  Each team keeps a blog for their communities.  It is good to read what they are doing and to get a glimpse into their hearts.  Thank you so much for your love, care, and prayers.

The Duerre Family