A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

If I tried to tell you about the cute kids in the clinic, I would never be able to capture (even in more than a thousand words) how adorable these faces are!

It really is true isn't it?  Seeing something is so much better than hearing about it. If you can come visit Peru and see where we work and live you will have a deeper understanding of our lives and what the Lord is doing here. If not, then we can try to share with you in words. We can talk until we are blue in the face, but you'll not feel the dirt on your skin, see the poverty and happiness all rolled into one, see the change in the churches as more and more members come to know Christ, and more. So what is the next best thing? We hope video of our lives and work here. We have partnered with Silent Images for them to come and work with us to capture in photos and film what the Lord is doing here in Northern Peru. They came and served with us for a week and did an incredible job!  I cannot wait to see the end project. . . but we all have to wait a little longer for that. Until then, check out these photos of their time with us in Trujillo and Cajamarca. To learn more about Silent Images and the work they do, check out their website.

A Foretaste Divine

Every short-term team that comes has a different point of view, a different background, a different style of worship maybe, and different experiences.  There is, however, one thing they almost always agree upon -- a highlight of their trip to Peru is the worship service on Sunday.  It is such a glimpse of heaven.  I recently saw this blog post (thanks to a friend who shared it as a basis for why he is a part of a multi-racial church back in the US).  I thought it captured perfectly what I am privy to each Sunday and what Hermes got to experience back in the US as he visited various churches -- all in a language that is not his first language.  May we never forget that God's kingdom is truly worldwide!

A Great Multitude and a Great Hope by Kevin DeYoung

Where Does the Time Go?

I came to the blog to write about another subject and saw how long it had been since I'd blog and was downright embarrassed!  We did get the visa!  Praise God!  And that resulted in a whirlwind time that has just now settled down.  We left for the United States on October 20 and had 2 wonderful months to visit family and friends and mainly, raise more support.

The trip to the US was really great on so many levels and deserves its own blog post.  A quick summary for now is that my family got to meet my husband!  We were blessed to share in the holidays together and a wedding!  Hermes got a full tour of the Southeast. . .beginning in Washington, DC and ending in Oxford, MS, and plenty of the in-between.

World War 2 Monument in DC

With our Nephews!

He also learned a lot about the fundraising side of being a missionary.  He brushed off his English and set about to share with so many what the Lord is doing here in Peru.  We visited old friends and made many new ones. And in addition to the work of raising funds, we were able to meet with some of the teams that are scheduled to visit us in 2013.

Visiting Heather and Calin Cunia

Hermes playing traditional folk music for a group we shared with in South Carolina.

Finally, we got to meet the accountant on the US side of things!
Thanks Rebecca for all you do!

Planning for Twin Lakes Peru with Andrew Vincent and Zack Owens

We are so thankful for our time in the States and how the Lord provided for us in many ways.  We are still short on our funding, so please continue to pray that the Lord will raise up the needed funds to complete 100% of our budget. We hope to have a more detailed newsletter about that soon.

We returned from the US on December 31 -- just in time to start camp with Twin Lakes and Point Pleasant.  It was a huge success and you can see the photos here from camp.  After camp, we dove straight back into work with the mission, never a dull moment, and are just now taking time to catch up on some blogging, general work. I hope to get a full newsletter out soon.  Until then, thanks again for all of your prayers and support!  We are so thankful for you.