Back in Peru



Here is our suitcase full of school books that
my parents brought down in August when
they came.  We weren't able to see them
but appreciate the special delivery.

 Thanks so much for your prayers during the last month.  We bid farewell to Chile and our new friends there, and started out on the bus trip back to Peru.  We were thankful to make the journey safely to Peru in only 3 1/2 days.  The trip went a little smoother than on the way down to Chile, probably because we had a better idea of what to expect.  But we were all greatly relieved to have the bus ride behind us.  We spent two weeks in Lima recovering from the trip, settling back in, and getting organized and ready to start a new school year.  Then we climbed on another bus, but this time to go up to the mountain town of Huanuco, Peru, which is where I grew up.  It is only a 9 hour bus trip from Lima, which seemed short after what we had just finished.  We spent a few days up there enjoying friends, relaxation, beautiful weather and a lovely place to stay.


The beautiful center in Huanuco where we stayed. 
This is where I went to school for many years.


 Now we are back in Lima, and have started our new school year.  The kids are excited about the interesting books we get to read and are doing a great job so far.  We are still praying for God's guidance during this time.  For now we are staying with Junior's family, but are praying for a place of our own.  Some friends have offered to rent us their house, since they are living out of the area, but it is currently being rented until December.  We are encouraged by the possibility of living there, since it would be a good location for our work in the mountains.  We will keep you posted.  We are asking God to open other doors before December if he has something else in mind for us. 

The kids enjoyed the swingset....

 We have also tried to go see several cars for sale, but each time something comes up to stop us from going, whether the car sells before we get there, or the people cancel due to illness, etc.  So we feel that for some reason God is asking us to wait on buying a car.  We just pray that in his time, and in his way he will provide one for us.  It is all the waiting that is hard, however.  At times we wonder how long we will have to wait.  We want to get settled and get to work.  But it seems that it isn't God's time yet.  He reminded me the other day that He isn't as interested in what we are doing for him, as he is interested in our heart. 

...and climbing trees.

I was challenged to consider my attitude during this time of waiting.  Is it pleasing to God?  We may look good on the outside, or appear to be serving the Lord, but what is really going on inside of us?  I must confess I have been struggling with a grumbling heart, and a bit of discouragement.  We just spent 6 months focusing on our relationship with God.  Shouldn't it be time to start working?  But God obviously has more he wants us to learn first.  So I ask him to give me a thankful heart, for whatever situation he has put  me in.  I marvel at Paul being able to say in Philippians that he has "learned the secret of being content in any and every situation."  (Phil. 4:12)  Because sometimes I don't feel so content when things don't seem to be working out quite as I imagined they would.  But I felt God teaching me that the secret to that contentment isn't in my external situation.  The secret isn't in having everything go smoothly.  The secret is in my relationship with him.  If I am with God, "I can do everything, through him who gives me strength."  (Phil. 4:13)  Through my relationship with God, I can rejoice in who He is,  in who I am in Him.  The rest of the stuff isn't really so important.  Of course it is nice to be comfortable, don't get me wrong, but even when I'm not, God is still the same.  He still sent his son to die for me.  He is still reaching out to me.  So I have no need to be discouraged or to doubt him.  I just need to focus on Him and not my circumstances.  So God graciously gave me this verse to encourage me.  "I am still confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."  Psalm 27:13-14.  I praise God for his goodness. 

Outreach

We just wanted to give a quick update of what we have been doing for the last 2 and a half months.  We have settled down here in Pichilemu, and have enjoyed forming new relationships in the church and around town.  The church has welcomed us with open arms and has made us feel so at home.  Although it is a small church, they have a very generous heart and share so openly with us.  I feel like we are the ones being blessed by being here, instead of us being a blessing to them.  I continue to lead a weekly Bible study on Thursday nights, which has been a stretching experience for me.  Junior has preached several times and continues to work in the construction of the new church building as resources are available.  He has also enjoyed the opportunity to minister on the radio.  I am so glad that it is his turn this time, and he is doing a great job.  We have also been getting to know other people around town such as the owner of the nearby mini market, the manager of the Christian radio station, many taxi drivers, and even the mayor of Pichilemu.  We have had a chance to share the gospel with some, and build up others with the word of God.  For example, a friend from church invited us to her house to meet her family.  Her and her elderly mother were Christians, but her husband and adult son had not made a commitment to the Lord yet.  During the visit, the son accepted the Lord.  Later, Junior was able to get to know the husband better, and he also decided to give his life to the Lord. So we are praying that their whole family will be able to grow together in their relationship with Jesus.  We pray that the Lord will continue to use our lives here as he desires and that we can be encouragement to those around us. 

However, our time here is almost over.  On the 10th of Septemer we have our graduation.  Then it will be on to the next step in our lives.  For now, we are planning on leaving Pichilemu about the 12th of September to begin the long road trip back to Peru. Please pray that God will help us along the way, because it is not an easy trip for five active children.  When we arrive in Lima, we are praying that God will continue to lead us and open doors.  We have a possibility of a place to live, which is a big encouragement, but we are asking God to help us make wise decisions and to provide what we need.  He knows our needs better than we do. 

One of our other prayer requests right now is for a vehicle.  We are praying for a miracle.  Cars are very expensive in Peru because of the high taxes charged for importing vehicles.  So it is a little daunting to go car shopping and see the crazy prices.  We need a car to be able to get up into the mountains and do the work we feel called to do.  So once again we are praying.  One of the teachers we had in our classes here talked about faith.  He said that faith is kind of like swimming.  You don't really need faith when you are in the shallow water, because you can stand on your own.  But once you get into the deep end, that's when you have to start swimming.  When things seem impossible, that's when faith can kick in.  That is the situation that we are in right now. We have no idea how things are all going to work out.  We can't do it in our power because things are too big for us.  But we have faith in God.  He will provide, He will lead us, and He will never leave us.  He has promised all of those things and so much more.  His answers may not look like what we were expecting, but if he has promised it, we can be sure that He will do it.  "However, as it is written, 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him'"  1 Cor. 2:9  We look forward to seeing the amazing, inconceivable things that God will do in our lives.

Josh is now 4 years old!
Happy Birthday Joshua!

Birthdays



Homemade birthday cards



Birthdays are good occassions to remember friends and family and to reflect on the many blessings God has given throughout the year.  Since it is my birthday, I was doing just that.  I spent a wonderful day feeling very blessed and loved by my family and friends.  From the homemade cards and breakfast that my kids and husband made, to packages from folks back home; from birthday greetings via skype from a faithful friend in Oregon (thanks Sarah!), to friends here in Chile dropping by with a cake.  God has blessed me in this day. 



Happy Birthday to me!



Matthew 19:29 says, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."  I thank God for the faithfulness of his promises.   Of course I miss my family and the comforts of home, but God has also surrounded me with new brothers and sisters in Christ who now have a place in my heart as well.  He hasn't left us lonely and abandoned, but has allowed us to continue to be part of a family.  Not only do we have friends that celebrate us on our birthdays, but they have welcomed us into their families to participate in family celebrations with them.



Celebrating a birthday with our Chilean family



 It is also encouraging to see how God has led us in this past year.  Psalm 105:5 tells us to, "remember the wonders he has done, his miracles and the judgements he pronounced."  It was exactly one year ago today (on my birthday) that we received an offer on our house.  So in the past year our house sold, we moved out of the country and are now in Chile.  It is neat to look back and see how God provided for our needs in special ways and how he guided our path.  It is encouraging to remember this as I start a new year in my life, because the road before us is very unknown.  But as I look back on the workings of God, I can know that he doesn't change.  As he cared for us in the past, he will continue to amaze us with his love, his working out of even the small details of life. 



In about 3 weeks we will be leaving Chile.  For now we are planning on heading back to Peru and working with a pastor there.  It is scary, however, because we are stepping out into the unknown and trusting God to provide.  We are praying that he will either raise our monthly support so that we can live on it, or that he will provide some sort of work that we can do to support ourselves as we work in the ministry there.  We thank him that he knows the future, and pray that he will continue to give us faith.  We pray that we will be obedient to do whatever he calls us to do, but that we will wait on him in trust.  Thank you for praying with us for his guidance and his provision. 

And finally, just for fun, here is a shot of the yummy chocolate cheesecake that I made myself for my birthday.  I had a tradition of buying myself a piece of Godiva Chocolate cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory every year for my birthday.  Since I couldn't do that this year, I made my own.  It isn't quite as good, but we are enjoying it anyway. 

Homophones

I know this is cheesy, but I just couldn't resist the opportunity (pun intended).  It is winter here in Pichilemu, and the past week was especially cold.  We got down below freezing at least one night, because the water outside was frozen.  When you are living in a house with no insulation or heat, you definitely feel the cold.  So we were in the mood for a nice warm meal to comfort and warm us in this foreign country.  In other words, we ate a bowl of chili on a chilly day here in Chile.  It is so much fun to say.  :-)   Isn't the English language fun?  You can write three words differently, but pronounce them all the same.


Obviously I'm not a photographer, but here is
a yummy bowl of chili in chilly Chile




Here we are in Chile, enjoying our chili, and you can
tell that it is chilly

Thankfully, although the weather was unusually cold that week, it is a bit more bearable now.  It is winter here, so it is still cold, but at least it isn't below freezing.  We have plenty of blankets, jackets, and a nice, dry house to live in.

We have also recently celebrated Lucas' 6th birthday.  He is growing quickly and is a very special boy.
He is just finishing up Kindergarten and he loves to help me in the kitchen.


Happy Birthday Lucas!


We are still here in Pichilemu, working with a small church.   We try to help out wherever they need us.  Junior has been working in construction almost every day, trying to help them build their new church.  He enjoys the work and the men that he works with.  He also helps by preaching or coordinating the services on Sundays.  I have been put in charge of the Thursday night Bible studies.  So you can pray that God would lead me in preparing for those.  I like to do a lot of research and studies when I teach something, but there are no resources here.  So it is a challenge for me.  But God is good and the group is very supportive and helpful. 

We are praying that God will continue to use our family as he desires.  It was such a huge blessing yesterday to hear my daughter and one of her friends explaining to a neighbor girl about how to become a Christian.  She prayed with them to accept Christ.  Praise the Lord!  I was so touched by that, and proud of the kids for being so bold.  Maybe God brought us to Chile just for that 9 year old girl.  It is encouraging to know that we are all growing in the Lord.  It was also neat to hear Alexis talking to that girl, because she did it all in Spanish.  That is something she couldn't have done so well 4 months ago.  Playing all day with Chilean kids is doing wonders for the kids' Spanish.  I even hear them speaking to each other in Spanish sometimes. It is great.  May God bless you all. 

Visas

Hello to everyone from Mendoza, Argentina!  That's right, we aren't in Chile any more, we are in Argentina.  You may wonder how that came to be, so I will try to explain. 

One week ago we finished up our classes, thus ending the theory part of our Discipleship Training School.  Now it is time to start the Practical part of our training.  It had been decided that we would stay in Pichilemu to do the outreach.  We were hooked up with a local pastor to work with him and the church in whatever way they need us to.  Before getting to work, however, there was one small detail that needed to be taken care of.  Our three month visa for Chile had expired and had to be renewed.  We looked into renewing it at the City Hall, and were disappointed to find out that the only way to renew was by paying $100 per person.  Since we are such a big family, that was an expensive option.  The other choice was to leave the country and then come back in, thus getting a new three month stay.  With the help of our directors, we decided that this might be the best option for us since it could actually be a little cheaper than paying the fee (not to mention we would get a weekend getaway in Argentina).  This decision was setting us up for a very crazy week that we could not have imagined. 

On Saturday we left Pichilemu to Santiago, and caught a bus to Argentina.  The nice thing about Chile being such a skinny country is that traveling to Argentina only takes a few hours.  Unfortunately, about an hour out of Santiago, the bus was turned around because it was snowing in the Andes mountains that separates the two countries so the road was closed.  When we arrived back in Santiago, we had no idea where to go.  But we got in touch with the family of one of our fellow students.  We had never met them, but they invited our family over when they heard that we were their daughter's friends.  I think they were a bit shocked when we showed up at their front door and they found out that our family had 5 kids (I think they were expecting 2 or 3).  Never the less, they were so hospitable and friendly.  They welcomed us warmly and made us feel like we were part of their family. 

Our friend Claudia and her dad (on the left)
showed us some of the sights of Santiago. 

After two days of waiting for the weather to clear up and the pass to open, we decided to head back to Pichilemu.  Our visa had already expired, and we were given a 10 day extension to get out of the country.  At this point we were very discouraged.  We didn't know if the pass would clear up in time for us to get to Argentina, or if we should just head back to Peru to stay.  After praying about it (and after God cleared up the weather when the meteorologists predicted that the storm was going to be around much longer), we were able to make it to Argentina on Thursday.  We were so relieved to get out of Chile before we had any more problems with our visa.



This is the winding road up over the pass.  There are about
27 curves in this section of switchbacks.  It is pretty cool. 
The pass is about 12,000 feet in altitude and gets a lot of snow
in the winter (which is just starting here in Chile).





Here is another shot of the Andes mountains as we were
driving along in the bus.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful trip.
I love the Andes mountains because they are so big and majestic.

So, we spent the day in Mendoza, Argentina.  It is a neat town, and I would recommend it to anyone.   Tomorrow we head back on the bus.  The trip is about 7 hours to Santiago, and then 3 more hours to Pichilemu.  We are praying that the pass stays open so that we can get back "home."  We also pray that there will be no problems with reentering Chile.  This has been a fun weekend get-away, but it is time to get to work. 

We thank the Lord for helping us to get the Visa situation settled, and for placing us in Pichilemu for the outreach time.  We pray that God will use us there in the church and in whatever else He has planned for us.  We look forward to seeing what is going to happen.  We also thank the Lord for helping us through the first half of our school.  He provided the financial support that we needed for those three months.  Now we ask him to provide for the costs that we will have during this second half of our school.   The $4,200 that we had raised up until now covered the costs of the room, board and school for the past three months.  Now we need about that same amount for these next three months.  We are going to keep renting our small house that we have been living in (unless we can find one that has a fireplace and is about the same price).  We are also going to start cooking for ourselves, instead of eating all of our meals in the dining hall.  That should be fun, but also a new experience.  I haven't cooked in six months, so I hope I can remember how.  Plus cooking in another country is a bit different, since you can't find all of the same ingredients.  So we'll see how it goes. 

We thank you all for your prayers and for caring enough about us to keep up to date on what is happening in our lives.  God bless each one of you.

Alexis is 10!

Last week we celebrated Alexis' 10th birthday.  We invited a few friends over and had a good time celebrating.  She chose brownies instead of cake, since she doesn't like frosting.  So that was easy for me to make. 


I can't believe she is 10 already!



Happy Birthday!



We have been really busy with classes these past few weeks, and I have enjoyed the teaching.  We have talked about attributes of God, our emotions and truth, and spiritual gifts (based on the test, my gifts are Service, Giving and Teaching).  One thought I enjoyed that I'll share with you has to do with how great our God is.  The teacher pointed out that we have a choice.  We can either have a big God, or we can have big problems.  Think of the spies that checked out the promised land.  Ten of them saw the problems as really big, impossible even.  They didn't think that there was any way that the Israelites could enter the Promised Land.  But 2 of the spies had a big God.  They knew that God would be able to give them the land because that is what he had promised to do.  So I thought that was a good way of looking at life.  We can focus on God, and know that he is able, or we can focus on our problems and be discouraged by them. 

 

In other news, we still don't know what we are doing for our outreach time.  We haven't been assigned to any of the groups yet, because the leaders weren't sure if the churches would be able to accomodate our family.  We may just stay here in Pichilemu and do the outreach here.  The leaders are going to let us know hopefully on Monday what they recommend.  So we will keep you updated.  We only have 2 more weeks of classes.  I can't believe that it is almost over, and we will hopefully know soon what we'll be doing for the next 3 months. 

Homeschooling

The nice thing about homeschooling is that it has allowed us to move around without having too much interruuption in the kids' schooling.  Here at the base we usually have a few hours of work duty every afternoon and my duty is teaching my children.  I consider that great, since the rest of the people on the base have to do fun jobs like clean bathrooms, wash dishes or pick up garbage.  We aren't always able to get all of our work done in the time available, so we had slowly gotten about a week behind.  These past two weeks while we had our mini outreach, it gave us a bit more free time, which we took full advantage of to get caught up in our schoolwork.  I am so happy to report that after 2 months here, we are right on schedule.   I praise the Lord for that, because I wasn't sure if we would have any time to do school.  Another blessing is that a neighbor family (also attending one of the schools on the YWAM base) is also homeschooling their two kids who are the same ages as Alexis and Diego.  They are a Chilean family, and it is extremely rare to homeschool here.  So it was a neat surprise to meet them and have our kids be able to play together after "school" while the other kids are still in school for real. 



Here are the kids enjoying school together on a sunny afternoon




Isn't school fun!