The Karrakers

Animals

2009-08-12T17:15:00.010-05:00

Having big hearts for animals we have adopted a few friends over the course of the past year. Some friends found us first, and others drew us in. First came a pair of lovebirds, next a lovebird that was all by himself that Lora could not stand to see be left all alone. Then came the gecko that we see from time to time on our walls looking for bugs. The last but most endearing was our Peruvian street dog, with the somewhat misleading name, Tripod. He appeared sometime after we came back from our Christmas break. He had been run over by our neighbor and was well on his way to death when we found him. Lora made some strong appeals for his life and Eric finally broke down and bought a small bag of food. We nursed him back to health and he became a very loyal, yet very smelly, companion. He loved to follow us from place to place and defended us (okay, just Lora) from other dogs. Over the course of a couple of months our commitment to him grew. We would bring him left over meat from our meals, bought medicine for his fleas, and even bathed him. He was an old dog when he found us and we saw him almost die a handful of times while we knew him. We knew that no one would care for him like we would in our absence and we had prayed several times that he would die peacefully before we had to go home. Well, sadly, last month our prayers were answered.

We have been reminded once again (even through simple means of caring for a dog) that as you serve someone (or something), your love for that thing grows and grows. I can't say that we had some strong love for Peru before we came down, nor for the people we work with, but now after serving Peruvians, Peru Mission, and the Church in Peru, we see that the Lord has grown in us a genuine love for the people and institutions with which we work.

Wichanzao Library Inauguration

2009-08-01T16:39:00.006-05:00

At the end of May, our church celebrated it's 19th anniversary and inaugurated the first library in the Wichanzao community where Lora works and we attend church. It was an exciting day. As the only library in the community, we are excited to see it still growing a couple of months later. We now have a variety of books, magazines, and newspapers for children, adults, and teens to enjoy. We are currently volunteering in the library once a week on Tuesdays, which happens to be the evening of the church's womens' gathering - which means the library is full of children. We've had a great time getting to know the kids of the church, whether it be thru helping them with books, school projects on the internet, or even taking turns making pictures with the "Paint" application on the PC. (Who knew it could be so much fun?) We've truly enjoyed serving the church and community in this way and are excited to see such a wonderful development for the Wichanzao neighborhood.

To see pictures, click here.

A Visit from Home

2009-07-03T13:23:00.003-05:00

In late May we were so happy to meet Lora’s sister and father in Lima for a week’s visit. We had a number of adventures. It is so refreshing to us when family or friends come to visit. There is such value in being able to share our life and work here with those we love!

We had a wonderful couple of days in Lima before heading back to Trujillo. (We are getting pretty good at giving the Lima tour! :) ) Lora’s dad got to pick up some fascinating colonial antiques.

Back in Trujillo, we headed on a couple of day trips. We spent a day in the small mountain town of Otuzco and made friends with some wonderful local folks. Lora’s dad wanted to take home some relics of everyday life in Peru, so we came across some interesting characters, offered them money for some items in the back of a closet that they would be happy to part with, and walked away with some fun and interesting used blankets, panchos, hats, and the like. What fun spending the day in the homes of such friendly Peruvians!

We loved the visit!

To see more pictures, click here.

Lending to the Poor

2009-07-03T13:12:00.003-05:00

We are so happy to be working alongside a micro-finance ministry that provides small loans to groups of women. These are women that could not get loans from a traditional bank, use the money to better their at-home business (such as selling fruit and goods), and then encourage and hold each other accountable to paying back their loans. The women are also counseled, offered medical care, and bond themselves to one another. It’s a beautiful thing!

To see some pictures, click here. Or visit Sinergia's website here.

Our Church's Anniversary

2009-06-30T18:16:00.002-05:00

In May, we celebrated our Wichanzao church's 19th anniversary. We celebrated throughout the day with all sorts of activities. We started off the day early with free medical care and educated the women on things women need to be educated about. :) We heard a beautiful concert by one of our short-term teams, and had a "Feria Gastronómica" or in other words, lots of really tasty foods. Boy are we going to miss the food here!!! We ended the day with a dedication of a new library which stands as the only library in the community. No one could avoid the excitement!

It was a wonderful day spent with our friends and church body in Wichanzao. To many more years!!!

A Trip to the Ancient Past

2009-06-07T18:12:00.006-05:00

In April, we went on an interesting and educational trip with many of the families from the Mission. The orphanage bus took us to Magdalena de Cao, a small town about an hour outside of Trujillo. On the outskirts of the town are a number of ancient 'huacas' or temples, one of which dates back to 2500B.C. We toured the Huaca Cao Viejo, which was used between the first and seventh centuries A.D. and has had some incredible recent archeological finds. The mummy of a priestess who died around 300A.D. was just discovered in 2006. An fascinating museum was just built and opened this year to display her and many other interesting artifacts.

After touring the huaca and museum we headed to a home to eat lunch together. A wonderful couple from the local church cooked a tasty meal for us, and we had a wonderful time spending the day with each other. The family made a fire with eucalyptus branches to keep away the mosquitos as we meandered through their yard which was filled with fruit trees and flowers. The kitchen area, separate from the house, had walls blackened with smoke from years of cooking. It was a wonderful taste of small town life.

We've found that Peruvians have an incredible ability to so gracefully host large groups of people - no matter their resources or size of their home - they're always so happy to share whatever they have and more. We as a couple have so much to learn from them. We thanked the family for being so generous with us and loaded the bus for the ride home.

For more pictures, click here.

The More the Merrier

2009-06-04T09:59:00.004-05:00

In March, we were treated with a "planned at the last-minute" trip by some of our parents. When we found a price on plane tickets that we couldn't pass up, Eric's mom and Dad, and Lora's mom and step-dad packed their bags. We had a blast. For 10 days, we laughed a lot, ate a lot, walked a lot, and enjoyed Peru. It's so fun for us to have visitors, because we feel like we get to experience Peru for the first time all over again. We get to step back and remind ourselves of the wonder and excitement that Peru offers in its rich history, culture, cuisine, and landscapes. Plus, being able to share our home, jobs, and experiences with our family is something we've looked forward to since soon after our arrival.

We started in Lima and played in the big city for a few days. We toured the catacombs in the old San Franciscan cathedral, enjoyed the beach and it's towering cliffs, introduced them to the famed 'ceviche', visited the artisan market, and ate at some incredible restaurants. Having a wonderful time celebrating Lora's mom's birthday was an added bonus. It was as much of a special vacation for us as it was for them!

After a few days, we left the comforts of the big city, and brought them home to Trujillo. We actually spent lots of time at home, enjoying each other, cooking together, playing cards, and relaxing as a family. One night, couple's dancing even broke out in the living room... We had gorgeous weather and still can't believe how well our parents get along. We think they may even have more fun together without us!!! We toured the local 'huaca' or ancient temple, showed them the city, spent a day sleeping on the beach, and showed them our communities, where we work, etc. They were some very special days for us all. Even after 10 days crammed into our little apartment, we were very sad to see them go!

For more pictures, click here.

Adding to Life in a Shanty Town

2009-06-03T12:03:00.003-05:00

Earlier this year, an accounting group from NC State came down to participate in a service project. Our mission decided to invite them to Clementina, the shanty town behind our clinic where we have begun a local ministry, to plant trees for families.

As Clementina is "puro arena", or completely sand, the yellow of thatch, the brown of adobe, and the tan of the sand can seem quite lifeless. Thanks to the funds of the accounting students, we were able to purchase hundreds of small, young trees. When the local government heard what we were planning to do, they decided to nearly match our donation of trees to give. Thanks to the efforts of both, we were able to give a tree to nearly every residence in the area. As members of these shanty communities cherish every little thing that they have, we are sure they will take great care and pride in their new trees. It was fun to see how excited the members of the community were as they immediately went to work beautifying the front areas of their homes.

We are anxious to watch these trees grow and mature and help to bring color and life into the community. Our prayer is the same for our ministry there!

For more pictures, click here.

Our Biggest Medical Campaign

2009-06-02T17:02:00.006-05:00

Peru Mission believes that as the Gospel goes forth redemption and healing are found in its wake. We see this renewal in a physical way when medical teams come to treat the sick and hurting in our comm

unities in the name of Christ.

After realizing a successful campaign in 2008, Independent Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, rallied another fantastic team of medical professionals and lay persons to come and hold a week-long campaign to serve the physical needs of our communities.

Among the visiting team members this year were five doctors, two dentists, four nurses and several other dedicated volunteers. Thanks to months of planning and the expertise of many, we were able to treat hundreds of patients in each of our three churches in Trujillo as well as out in surrounding, impoverished communities.

We worked with IPC's medical team from the early morning to the late afternoon each day, and the patients ranged from the very elderly to the youngest of children. We were able to offer consults with a physician, on-site dental treatmen

t, nutritional education, pastoral counseling, simple laboratory tests, vaccinations for children and even minor surgeries.

Many specific needs and challenges were tended to during the week as doctors used their different specialties to offer hope to their patients. Dr. Mel Payne, a general surgeon, was able to perform several small surgeries in a makeshift operating room in our Wichanzao Church. Radiologist Dr. Mark Weatherly, Dr. Tim Folse and Nurse Practitioner JP Odell were able to help a young woman with Lupus, desperate for treatment, by joining forces and expertise. Tears were shed as these special patients left the rooms, walking away with heartfelt thanks and renewed spirits.

Thanks to the large donation of medications by IPC, we were able to give away hundreds of

dollars worth of medication to the sick and hurting at no cost, many of them high quality drugs not typically available or affordable for most Peruvians. The team also brought down hundreds of reading glasses which were handed out to those in need and more had to be purchased during the week due to the high necessity.

The work done by teams such as these is a tremendous blessing to the communities that surround our churches. The impact is significant as it helps to create a larger awareness of the spiritual and medical resources available to the neighborhood as well as a better integrated community. We are always honored to be able to share a Gospel that offers compassion, redemption, healing and hope, and we thank the IPC medical team for partnering in it with us.

To see pictures from the medical campaign, click here.

First Peruvian Mission Conference

2009-06-02T16:40:00.004-05:00

The Larco church is one of our Mission's three churches in the Trujillo area. It is the largest and most developed of our churches.

"All Christians are missionaries" was the message of the first ever missions conference at the Larco Church. "As the Father has sent me," said the Lord, "so I send you" (John 20.21). All are not sent as apostles, or even as ministers, but all are called to bear witness to Christ and what He has done for us. In this sense all Christians are missionaries giving testimony to the Gospel in a broken world.

Most Peruvians use the word "missionary" to refer to foreigners who work in Peru. Larco Pastor, Jaime Avellaneda, wished to emphasize the importance of Peruvians becoming an active part of God's mission. The Lord used two Peruvian missionaries, Trinidad de los Ángeles from the mountains and Dario Meza from the jungle, to deliver precisely that message.

Pastor Trinidad works among Quechua speakers in the region of Lambayeque, which is the second largest unreached group in Peru. In the jungle, Pastor Dario trains lay preachers among several indigenous tribes. Both men shared amazing missions stories and challenged the Larco youth to come work with them.

A key point of their message was that God calls three types of people to be involved in His mission: goers, mobilizers, and senders. Goers are the ones most commonly understood as missionaries: the ones who proclaim the Gospel across cultural and linguistic boundaries. Mobilizers awaken other Christians to active concern for the lost by investigating new areas, raising awareness of pressing needs, networking among churches, and casting a vision to mobilize goers. Senders are those who support missions through prayer, financial gifts, and encouragement. The central message of the conference was that all Christians should faithfully pray and give to missions, all should be witnesses where God has placed them, and all should also consider whether the Lord is calling them to prepare for ministry in new and unfamiliar places.

For the new believers in Larco this was a revolutionary message. They have watched their church grow in number, and have seen new believers and the church as a whole grow in maturity. Now the Lord is challenging them to embrace the Great Commission in an intentional way in their own lives. Please pray that the Larco congregation would respond to these new challenges and become fruitful witnesses for Christ in Trujillo, throughout Peru, and to the ends of the earth.

Helping to Create Order

2009-02-27T14:44:00.008-05:00

We have been so excited to see great progress in some attempted projects over the last few months. After working in the clinic for almost a year, Lora took on the project of managing the clinic’s finances. Without having had a “clinic manager” in sometime, the everyday tracking of income and expenses had been a bit neglected. At the end of each month, our records were quickly being compiled and our numbers weren’t balancing with our actual cash in hand. As the extent of the problem came to our attention more and more, Lora grabbed a calculator and took it on.

Over the last couple of months she has focused on creating and implementing systems to better control the clinic’s spending and bookkeeping. By encouraging the clinic staff, daily tracking of every cent coming in an going out, daily investigating any holes in the finances, and by the Grace of God, the clinic’s books finally balanced for the first time in over a year and we celebrated. As she has virtually no experience in accounting it has been a great adventure.

Please pray with us that the clinic’s books continue to balance, that the clinic staff becomes more and more receptive and cooperative with the new process, and that we continue to make progress towards our goal of creating a monthly and yearly budget.

Inka Wasi - a trip into the mountains

2009-02-10T20:52:00.013-05:00

Last October Eric and I had the great privilege of traveling to Inka Wasi, a peruvian pueblo sitting at 13,000 feet in the Andes. Inhabiting one of the two largest unreached people groups in Peru, we traveled north with 5 others to investigate. We had heard that there were 22,000 people in the Quechuas of Lambayeque with only portions of scripture and one evangelical church.

We arrived in Inka Wasi at 10:00am to a welcoming committee of

very drunk men, settled in ourhumble sleeping quarters, and set off to find Trinidad Ángeles, a local Peruvian missionary we had heard of. We found him in the church outside of town and followed him to his house where we learned much about the Quechua people. He told his story, how he had left the coast 25 years ago to take the Gospel into the mountains (which Peruvians believe as backwards-living), and we saw a glimpse of how much he -even as a Peruvian- had sacrificed to be living among these people. He also shared with us the New Testament that Wycliffe missionaries had been working to translate into Quechua for 15 years. The Quechuas of Lambayeque received scripture in their own language just 3 years ago! He shared with us the struggles of working with the Church in the rural mountains: confronting rampant (100%) polygamy, incest, transforming animistic thought, alcoholism, strong belief in witchcraft, lack of resources (both material and human), having to walk sometimes 10 hours to reach the next pueblo to meet with a group of 2 or 3 believers or pray for someone’s dying animal or crop. He may have been the most humble, gentle, joyful, and godly man we’ve ever met. He was an absolute joy to sit and talk with. We easily compared him to a modern day Paul.

It was so exciting to hear what an impact Scripture is having on the small community of believers as they now are beginning to really understand its words and truths. Thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit, the Wycliffe translators, and Trinidad, the church is growing throughout the rural, unreached mountains of Peru. Where a short time ago there was only one church to speak of, there are now four throughout the Quechuas of Lambayeque!

It was also wonderful meeting and spending time with some of the local men, women, and children. Rosa and her three beautiful children spent the day playing and dressing us up in their local clothes, and I later made a friend Lindaura, who taught me some beginner’s Quechua, taught me how to tie my ‘chullo’, so that I would fit in with the other women. They were a precious and colorful people.

Please pray for Trinidad Ángeles and the church in Inka Wasi - that the church would grow and be strengthened, that missionaries would be called to the area to share in the labor, that Trinidad would be encouraged and protected, and that the Gospel truth would be heard throughout the land.

For more pictures, click here.

Home for the Holidays

2009-02-10T19:54:00.004-05:00

We were so happy to be able to return home for the holidays and see some of our family and friends and be back with our church over the course of a few weeks. It was such a rich time. Thanks to some donations we were able to pack up over-the-counter medications, multi-vitamins, and other items to bring back for our clinic, and Dr. David Hall graciously donated a wall-mount otoscope for our clinic’s use. We were elated! Although leaving again was bittersweet, we are happy to be back at ‘home’ and back to work. It was a great time to step away and reflect on how much we enjoy living and serving in Peru during this season of our lives!

Hope for a Dying Child

2008-10-09T20:30:00.006-05:00

With each medical campaign, we typically run into one story that grips your heart. During this month’s campaign, we treated baby Ángel, the nephew of Marina, the clinic’s cleaning lady. Marina knew that some American doctors were coming, and she paid for her sister’s trip by bus down from her home town. Baby Ángel is nearly 5 months old, but is the size of a small newborn. His mother lives in the jungle, a few hours from Trujillo. We are assuming because of poor nutrition in the jungle, the baby was born with a heart defect, a cleft palate, and is lactose intolerant. Because of the cleft palate, the baby is not able to take its formula, and because he is lactose intolerant and non-dairy formula is hard to find and expensive, he was rejecting any of the formula that he was getting down. When Ángel came to the clinic on Tuesday, he was gray in color, severely underweight, and his mouth and lips were very dry. Without nutrition for his little body, he had been slowly dying over the last few months. Dr. Mullins, the visiting pulmonologist, was able to see the baby and with Christ’s help, offer some hope. He taught Ángel’s mother techniques of how to feed the baby and we located and donated some formula that was safe for him to take. We gave his mother multi-vitamins to take back tot he jungle incase she or someone she knows becomes pregnant. We educated her on how to best take care of Ángel and how to get him to a healthy weight so that he may potentially receive a heart operation. She brought him back to the clinic throughout the week so that the doctor could see his progress over a few days. By the end of the week, Ángel had wonderful color in his skin, had a moist palate, and was taking his formula well without vomiting. Dr. Mullins was extremely pleased. We praised the Lord together to see that this baby may make it after all! As he still has a long way to go, please pray for baby Ángel as he is now back in the jungle. Please pray for health and strength and that he would grow up to know the Lord and his sweet mercy!

Medical Campaign - Thursday

2008-09-25T13:42:00.003-05:00

At this point in the week, exhaustion usually has hit the visiting team and those of us from the mission. We picked the team up at 7:30am, and everyone headed toward the bus at a slightly slower pace. :) Trying to keep eyelids open and mustering up energy for the day was made much easier once we arrived at Mercado Nazareth, our location for the day. A busy street lined with booths and blankets full of things to sell and people buzzing around got us all going at a great pace. We set up our tents and got things rolling. Lora helped run Triage and crowd control and translated for Jocelyn, the nurse. We saw all sorts of patients and conditions Thursday. Again, we had such a great turnout, we had to turn people away and suggest they come to our clinic on the next day. We also had some extra help from the rest of the team who had spent the week painting and doing construction in our Arevalo church and our Wichanzao clinic. Everyone did great and made it through the day!

Medical Campaign - Wednesday

2008-09-25T13:36:00.004-05:00

Wednesday we packed up again and headed to Santa Rosa, a community not far from our clinic in Wichanzao. We set up tents outside. A tent for triage, a tent for each doctor, and a tent for a nutritionist and pharmacy. We saw patients from 9am-1pm and treated around 90 patients again. We had such a great turnout, we had to give vouchers for free visits to our clinic to those we could not see.Lora translated again for Dr. Huffman for the day. We saw many women and children and some very sick elderly. We treated a very sick elderly woman with a heart condition and dangerously high blood pressure who cannot work and has no family in the area. What a blessing to be able to give her medication that she desperately needs, which she would not be able to afford otherwise, and encourage her to keep on! We treated lots of asthma, allergies, and a virus that many people had been suffering from all week. A great turnout and everyone went home happy.

Medical Campaign - Tuesday

2008-09-23T17:48:00.007-05:00

We picked up at the team at 7:15am and headed to our clinic in Wichanzao. We had planned out our transportation to the clinic to the detail as there was a transportation strike. With the strikes come human blockades on the highway (our route to the clinic) and many people throw bottles and rocks at the vehicles. There are also very few taxis that run on these days. We left early and made it by taking a couple of back roads through neighborhoods where the highway was impassible by the blockades. It was exciting. We arrived and attended in the clinic in the same form as the day before. Lora worked reception, handling patient registration, patient flow, and the cash box. We saw many patients again Tuesday and closed the clinic around 1:30pm. We headed over to the church and enjoyed some wonderful Peruvian food together. We took the team out to Clementina, the developing shanty town by the clinic, and then out to the Huaca de La Luna, some incredible ancient ruins in Moche, just outside of Trujillo. It was a wonderful day!

Medical Campaign - Monday

2008-09-23T17:06:00.004-05:00

Monday we set up our campaign at our church in Manuel Arevalo. It is a needy community and the church serves many women and their children. We worked hand in hand with Pastor Eduardo Quiroz and had opened the campaign to anyone and everyone in the surrounding community. We had a pulmonologist (Dr. Doug Mullins, Savannah, GA) which was a blessing as many children and adults suffer from asthma here. We had a medical resident specializing in internal medicine (Dr. James Huffman, Savannah, GA) who covered the general medical problems. We also had a nurse (Jocelyn Halverson, Seattle, WA) attending in triage, Manuel, our clinic's dentist, and our head nurse, Diana, in our make-shift pharmacy. Lora translated for Dr. Huffman (internal medicine) for the day. We started attending to patients around 9:00am, stopped for a 10-15 minute lunch, and continued until about 3:00pm. We believe we saw around 90 patients total on Monday. We were able to pray with patients, invite them to attend the church, and encourage those who were already members. In addition to providing free medical care, we were able to offer free medication all day. The first day of a campaign is always a little hectic as doctors and nurses from the states are taking it all in and are figuring out how to work with an interpreter, along with figuring out the culture as some basic fundamentals are so completely different. Everyone did great and went home ready for some rest! We would be conquering another day soon...

September Medical Campaign

2008-09-22T18:18:00.005-05:00

Earlier this month, we geared up for a large medical campaign. It was a great success. Two doctors, a nurse, a pharmacist, and a hospital administrator (along with other team members) came down from the states to volunteer their time and services. We were able to serve and minister to people from the community, from our churches, and even some who traveled some distance to be seen by the visiting doctors. Lora spent the week helping to head up the campaign, translating for the doctors, and getting to know the team. We'll give you a day-by-day recount...

Ecuador Visa Adventure - Worth the Read...

2008-09-17T18:35:00.005-05:00

At the beginning of this month we decided to take the trip to cross the border so that we could officially apply for our resident religious visas. We got a call on a Monday that we needed to make the trip urgently for time’s sake, so we turned around and left on Tuesday morning. We’ll recount the adventure...

We start the morning at the Immigration office here in Trujillo to try and pay a fine for our expired visas. The immigration official tells us this option does not exist. We must pay at the border. We decide to head to the national bank across the street (where you pay the fine), to double check. They tell us that it is possible, but you have to get the code from the immigration official across the street. Ugh. We decide to head on to the border.

A private auto picks us up with two drivers - an expensive route, but there are no available seats on buses. Once on the road, our drivers inform us that the transportation service only took us to Piura - 5 hours away - NOT Mancora (our destination) - 8 hours away. They do however, offer to take us on to our destination for an extra s/. 300 ($100). We stop in Piura at the Immigration office to see if we can pay our fine there. The official tells us that it is possible, but we do not have proper documentation handy, so we must wait for the border. We decide to go on to Mancora with our drivers and fork over the extra $100. We later find out that we had paid for the full service, and the drivers scammed us out of the extra money. Argh.

Wednesday we head north a couple more hours to the Ecuadorean border in taxi. We pick up a man along the way who will help us in the process. We make it to the immigration office there. We talk to two men, then the supervisor, and get a fine voucher. We head 15 minutes to the border to wait in line at the national bank to pay our fine. We head back to the immigration office to show our receipt and get an ‘exit’ stamp and are questioned by police/customs. We get back in the car and head the 15 minutes back to the border.

The taxi drops us off and on foot we head into Ecuador, clutching our passports and cash, as all Peruvians have warned us how dangerous it is. After a 5 minute walk, we catch a taxi and drive 15 more minutes to the Ecuadorean Immigration. We get our ‘entry’ stamp and then find out that you must stay 48 hours in Ecuador for them to allow you to leave. With no belongings and very little money, we go for the emergency route. At his suggestion, our Peruvian friend takes a $20 bill and our passports around back, we wait what seemed like a nerve-racking eternity, and retrieve our passports as quickly as they were handed off, with ‘entry and exit’ stamps and all.

We hail another taxi, drive 15 minutes back to the border, cross on foot, find our other cab driver, and drive the 15 minutes back to Peruvian Immigration. We stand in line for our new ‘entry’ stamp and have to convince the officer of why we are leaving and entering the country on the same day. We get our stamp, pay our helper, and start the 2 hour drive back to our hotel.

We celebrated surviving the ordeal upon our return and were able to spend the following day in a bungalow on the beach. Friday, our auto came to Mancora, to pick us up and take us home... It arrived, of course, with two new drivers. :)

Moving to the Suburbs

2008-09-17T17:11:00.005-05:00

Just a few weeks ago, at the end of August, we decided to move from our apartment downtown. Although we loved the location, we were caught in a bit of a chasm. Not being single interns (who all live in shared housing) and not being a family with children, there is no one here in the mission in our age group or of a ‘young married’ status. We often found that the ‘intern’ group believed we were included in the ‘family’ group and the ‘family’ group thought we were included in the ‘intern’ group. So as we were awkwardly straddling both groups, we decided it would be good to make a strategic move. After thought and prayer, we decided it would be a wise decision to move to “Golf”, where all of the mission’s missionary families live. Here we will be able to build relationships with those who are older and much wiser than ourselves, hopefully glean some parenting skills we admire, and stay more connected to what’s going on in the mission as a whole. We are enjoying serving the families by babysitting the kids and letting the parents take date-nights and have had a blast doing so. We’ve moved from the busy city-center to the quiet suburbs. We now live on the corner of a pretty little park and get to enjoy lush green every day. (Something we never saw when living downtown!) The children all get together in the park every afternoon to play. We are in the second story of a house with lots of interesting character and we feel very safe in our neighborhood. With the move we acquired a terrace with some fun but struggling plants we are currently trying to revive, a television, a dryer, hot water in the kitchen, and hot showers! We are loving it! We were also able to hand our old apartment over to the intern girls who all teach English at the language institute which is just around the corner. The 6 girls were living with a Peruvian family (some for over a year), sharing the family's living space, and were eager to find a place of their own. They were very excited to have closets, their own kitchen and living room, etc. We are so glad that it worked out well for everyone!

Visitors from Home

2008-09-17T15:29:00.005-05:00

At the end of our trip in Lima, we were delighted to pick up our friends James Wagner and Tim Whitley at the airport and bring them back to Trujillo with us. It was exhilarating to have our first friends come to visit. We came back to Trujillo and enjoyed showing them around a bit. They were so gracious to bring Eric’s birthday gifts from the states and a special package from our parents. We really enjoyed the fellowship of familiar faces from home. We were humbled as they asked some great questions and we realized just how much we still have to learn about our new home! So we’re working on our tour-guiding skills for the next visitors that come down (wink,wink). It was so fun sharing a piece of the land and culture as well as the excitement of the ministry here. We took them to most of our favorite eateries, showed them the hot-spots, had some great conversation, adventured to Otuzco, and said goodbye as they hurried off to make it down to Machu Picchu before their week was over. After a few months in a foreign land and just the beginnings of relationships, it was so encouraging and refreshing to spend time with people that know us. It was wonderful to hear that even with such a pull as Machu Picchu, they hated having to leave Trujillo. We very much agreed. It was such a rich, wonderful time having friends among us!!!

Lima - Visa Adventure

2008-09-17T12:29:00.005-05:00

In August, we made a trip down to Lima to apply for our permanent religious visas as our temporary visas were about to expire. Come to find out, we missed our asking window by 2 days, and our new visas would have to be put on hold until we left the country and re-entered. Although the man we were working with wanted us to cancel our bus tickets home and put us on a plane to Ecuador right away, we decided to wait and make a trip of it when our work schedules allowed a more convenient time. We went ahead and paid a bunch of money and were registered with the International Police to start the fun process. We had a couple of trips back and forth from agency to immigration office to agency, back to immigration office to international police and then back to agency and still not really sure we accomplished much - but we made the best out of it and enjoyed getting to know Lima a bit better. We even enjoyed a taste of American food at Chili’s in Miraflores. It was like magically traveling to America for some skillet queso and a burger before walking out the front doors back into Lima-land. We visited the zoo, went on a quest to find the best Alfajor (special Peruvian cookie) in town... We had a great trip.

Our Growing Church

2008-09-16T19:44:00.005-05:00

Last month we were so excited to receive 30 new members to our church in Wichanzao, where we attend, almost doubling our size! A couple of seminary students have been ministering to some neighborhoods surrounding our church community by getting to know the families there, making house visits, pastoring, etc. We held a special service to take in our new members from the Los Pinos neighborhood. How exciting and powerful that the Lord has begun working in hearts in the community and they have felt lead to come and join in the body of Christ. Just a couple of weeks ago, four of the families baptized their children into the faith. The Lord is truly working!

Eric's Birthday

2008-09-16T19:31:00.005-05:00

We celebrated Eric's birthday at the end of July and who knew that a couple magazines, dvds, a pocket knife, and a pen could be so exciting! You realize that your standards quickly change while living in a third world country and adapting to a simpler life is a beautiful thing. We had a fun evening at our favorite Italian restaurant in town, and saw Wall-E (in Spanish) at the movie theater downtown. It helped that the movie had very little talking. :) Eric successfully turned 28. Another year onward!

SALI Graduation

2008-09-16T19:08:00.004-05:00

SALI, our English Language Institute, just held its second graduation ceremony. We celebrated with the students as they completed their 28-month English program. Truly an accomplishment, these students will now be able to broaden the future of their careers that lie ahead. They come out speaking some fantastic English! We had a great evening rejoicing in the fruits of one of our ministries!

The Jungle - Moyobamba

2008-09-16T18:30:00.008-05:00

We spent the end of July celebrating "Fiestas Patrias", or Peruvian Independence, by traveling tothe jungle with some of our new friends here. A group of 15, half Americans and half Peruvians, headed to Moyobamba on an 18 hour bus ride. 22 hours later, thanks to a rockslide on the mountain highway, we arrived in the laid-back jungle town. We took a boat ride on the Rio Mayo, swam and took in the beautiful views, were awoken each morning by small chirping monkeys, partook of local jungle food, visited an orchid farm, saw the "birth" of a mountain stream and swam in its sub-freezing rushing waters below, ate fish with scales and all, saw how coffee is made from flowering plant to steaming cup, and hiked and camped at the top of a mountain. We came back from the trip having bonded with our fellow Americans and Peruvians like we never could have expected. We look forward to the friendships that began on our trip being cultivated throughout our time here.

Noemi - La Mejor Maestra

2008-08-18T17:53:00.005-05:00

In July, we were invited to eat our favorite Peruvian meal at our Spanish teacher’s house with all of the Peru Mission Interns. We enjoyed “Lomo Saltado”, a beef dish mixed with sautéed onions, peppers, and tomatoes, and served with french fries and rice. Noemi is not only an incredible cook, but an incredible Spanish teacher as well. We take one-on-one classes from her twice a week to better our Spanish. She has become a dear friend as she is helping us to build a very important part of the foundation for all of our relationships and ministry here - the ability to communicate. She not only encourages us in our quest for fluency, but encourages spiritually each week as well. We are committing to memory scriptures in Spanish each week, and we share in prayer for our families and those in the community around us. We are so thankful for Noemi!

Teaching Our Mother Tongue

2008-08-18T16:33:00.005-05:00

We have had the great privilege to teach English to our Peruvian friends at Sali, the mission’s English Language Institute. Lora taught for the month of June and Eric taught for both June and July. Sali is known as a Christian institute, but many of the students are not believers, making for a wonderful ministry to both believers and unbelievers alike. It’s wonderful being able to help equip these students with a skill that is oh-so-valuable here. Speaking English obviously provides many opportunities, opens up availability of English resources, and expands the future for all sorts of professions. All ages of Peruvians come from all over northern Peru come to study at the Institute. Students must be very dedicated as classes are 5 days a week (on top of their school and/or work), with tests every Friday, and strict grade requirements.

Lora taught a Basic English class to 15 students, and Eric taught an Advanced class to 3 students in June and an Intermediate class to 10 students in July. We found that you’re convinced you speak your mother tongue until you have to try and explain it to others! We had days where we were challenged trying to understand the rules and regulations of our very own language. We enjoyed the school’s teaching philosophy which centers on class participation and interaction. We would first get the students talking in the target language and then gently expose them to the new topic through conversation. We then design a fun task, game, or objective built around the new topic/target grammar to let the students use what they’ve just been exposed to. By simply reproducing what they’ve been exposed to, the students aren’t fearful of making mistakes, sounding stupid, breaking grammar rules, etc. At the end of class, we reign them in and explain what they’ve heard and used in terms of grammar rules, verb conjugations, pronunciation, etc. The next day, students are able to put into practice what was presented the day before and take on a lesson built on the foundation of recent material learned. Although this seems very backwards to most of us who’ve taken language classes in the states - rules first and reproduction second - it’s amazing how well it works. Letting students experiment with the language first without fear of messing up, and then laying down the rules at the end works phenomenally. Students are much more

willing to step out and speak, which is the best way to advance in a language.

We were also able to make some great relationships with Peruvians along the way. We’ve gotten to know many ‘jovenes’ or young people through SALI which have become a large part of our staple Peruvian community.

¡Leche, por fin!

2008-07-23T16:53:00.005-05:00

We can't believe it, but we have actually found a milk that resembles the taste of precious milk at home! This may not seem like a big deal to some of you - but if you were drinking shelved milk out of boxes and most of them tasted a bit like cheese - you, too, would be rejoicing with us! :) You don't know how excited we were to taste this milk. Lora opened the box, took a sip, and out loud said, "No way..." She took another sip and, sure enough, it was a miracle in a box. With a cow on it. Thank you, Laive!

Health News on the Home-Front

2008-07-23T16:42:00.005-05:00

Praise the Lord for some final relief from sickness! Lora has been sick for the last month and we are happy to finally be back to life as normal.

In the middle of June, Lora ended up with an intestinal infection not officially named - but assumed as Salmonella or E. Coli. After the first week and a half and the first round of antibiotics not working, she was prescribed a week of daily hip injections of an extremely strong antibiotic. Unfortunately, after a few days of injections, she began experiencing a severe reaction to the antibiotic. Lora was under “house arrest”, stuck at home for two more full weeks recovering from the serious reaction to the antibiotic. After a full month, many prayers, and trusting the Lord to take care of us - Lora has finally fully recovered and is excited to be out of the house and back to work!

Thank you so much for those of you that prayed with us!

THE SMALLER PICTURE - LORA

2008-07-22T16:55:00.009-05:00

I’ve been working out at a very small, humble clinic in Wichanzao, an area on the outskirts of town - a 20-30 minute commute from our home. Wichanzao is in a very needy area where many people are in extremely harsh economic conditions. Our clinic is a short walk from the foothills of the Andes which are dotted with squatters and shanty towns.

We work in connection with the church and we try to serve the people with compassion that isn’t found in most other Peruvian facilities. We employ a Peruvian doctor, two nurses, an obstetrician, a lab tech, a pharmacy student, and a dentist. The staff is wonderful. They are full-time and work hard and whole-heartedly for a competitive pay of $50-70/month. It’s amazing to see the genuine love they share for the people out in Wichanzao. We charge minimal fees for our services, and many times let the patients pay what they can if they cannot afford the full amount. For instance, we charge the equivalent to $1.75 USD to see the doctor, and $0.75 for a consult with the dentist. Our pharmacy is able to sell medication donated from doctors in the U.S. for next-to-nothing, which is an incredible blessing. We also host American doctors who volunteer a week or so at a time to treat patients in the clinic. Peruvians travel far for the luxury of being seen by an American doctor. I’m consistently amazed at the turnout for our “campañas” or medical campaigns when American medics grace our clinic. These weeks we lower our fees and often go out into the community to treat those that may not be able to come to the clinic.

I’m working at the clinic 5 days a week helping with daily tasks. I register patients as they come in, handle the payments of patients as the walking cash register, etc. I have also recently been put in charge of tracking the daily ‘ingresos y egresos’, or, keeping up the clinic’s financial spreadsheets. It’s exciting learning more and more every day and gaining more and more trust from my new Peruvian friends. I am also translating between American doctors that come to volunteer and the patients they attend. Although I’m still waiting for some of my spanish to come back to me, hands-on translating in a third-world clinic may be my favorite part of the job...

I also love organization and administration and hope to, in time, help think through and revise some of the antiquated systems to help the clinic run as efficiently as possible. (The clinic recently got a computer and I’m in the process of entering two years worth of patient information into the system!!! :) ) It’s exciting to be a part of something in the infant stage and dream along with others of what it just may be in the future...

Please pray for:

Protection and Safety - Wichanzao is a somewhat dangerous area. Young women are often targets of theft, and at times physical and sexual assault. Please join us in prayer for protection in my daily commute.

Relationships - That the Lord would bless the relationships with my Peruvian co-workers and members of the Wichanzao community and continue to grow them.

Diligence - That the Lord would allow me to work well and truly contribute to the development of the clinic.

THE SMALLER PICTURE - ERIC

2008-07-18T16:42:00.006-05:00

We’d love to give you the inside scoop of Eric’s work here. He’s being stretched and developed as he takes on many new tasks...

One of his jobs is to create an e-bulletin every month that’s sent to supporters of Peru Mission in the states. It’s an extremely important task as it keeps everyone up to date on what's happening here in Peru. He highlights one of the ministries or an exciting event that has taken place, interviews people, and writes and designs the bulletin. It’s currently being mailed to almost 900 friends of the mission in the U.S. (If you’d like to receive the ebulletin let us know! We can get you set up!) He’s excited about this part of his job as he gets to dabble in all the ministries here and be in the know of what’s happening around the mission.

Eric will be in charge of a 8-12 page print bulletin that goes out in the mail twice a year to the subscribers. This bulletin highlights major events and more fully documents what the Lord’s doing here. This project takes quite a bit of preparation and coordination as it’s compiled, designed, and printed here in Peru, and then mailed stateside. He’ll begin writing for the print bulletin in just a couple of months.

He has also been elected to head-up research on capital campaigns and fundraising. The mission has many projects in the works and is in need of major funding for their completion. Eric is making contacts and gleaning as much wisdom as he can so that the team can begin to work towards a well-planned, well-organized capital campaign looking to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. Gulp.

Eric is also now on the website/logo development committee. Peru Mission is looking at a complete website/logo overhaul and the committee is working together to try and make some of the big decisions in order to have an innovative, organized, up-to-date, and interesting website that represents us well.

A side-note worthy of mentioning, is that Eric stepped into these roles with virtually NO experience in graphic design, no knowledge of graphics software, etc. My brave husband is teaching himself graphic and web design (a daunting task), honing his photography skills, learning spanish to be able to conduct interviews, work with Peruvian graphic designers, etc., and trusting Jesus, nonetheless. He’s doing a great job juggling all of this newness!

Eric would LOVE for you to pray for:

Discipline and Efficiency - that he would work hard and work well at his job.

Discernment - That he would be able to discern which tasks deserve priority and which can wait.

Confidence and Encouragement - As Eric at times feels inadequate and lacking confidence, please pray that he would be encouraged, that he would extend grace and patience to himself, and that he would learn these new skills quickly!

Thanks to all!

THE BIGGER PICTURE

2008-06-14T18:27:00.013-05:00

We can’t believe we arrived more than a month ago. We are still learning exactly what our jobs consist of and are learning more everyday what our responsibilities are here within the mission. We knew in coming down that we were in for some roles that would stretch and grow us. We are constantly being reminded that we in ourselves can do no good, but desperately need Jesus to be able to fulfill our roles here. There is so much going on. We would love to share a bit about the bigger picture...

Peru Mission has many faces down here in Trujillo, and praise be to God, each of its ministries are maturing and bearing fruit.

Churches - There are three presbyterian churches that the mission has invested in, and their aim is to work by parishes, or neighborhoods. It’s really encouraging to see how the church truly roots itself in and ministers to its individual, surrounding community. These churches are growing, developing, and maturing. There is solid, theological accountability and well organized programming for their members.

Seminary - Peru Mission has its own Reformed Seminary here where it is training up pastors and offering encouragement and support to existing pastors of our churches. We have some really sharp men here - American and Peruvian alike!

Clinics - We have a small clinic consisting of a physician, nurse, obstetrician, nutritionist, laboratory, and pharmacy. We serve in an extremely poor area and offer very inexpensive healthcare to those who could otherwise not afford it, often donating services to those who cannot pay. A much larger clinic is in the works as more funding comes in, and will serve a much larger percentage of the needy population.

Synergy - The mission started a micro-financing program that gives small loans to qualifying women in surrounding poor communities who currently run small businesses of their own such as selling food from ‘bodegas’ in their home, etc. They help to meet the women’s physical needs, teach them about financial management, and encourage accountability among each other in paying off their loan.

Wood Shop - The mission runs a wood shop giving jobs to several Peruvian men. They make exquisite furniture and export products to help boost the economy here. This ministry is in its beginning stages but has great potential to grow and provide many employment opportunities in a land where jobs are scarce.

University Ministry - The mission also ministers to the young people here through a Peruvian version of RUF or university ministry. They have gatherings once a week and have a presence on the local campuses.

SALI Language Institute - One of the most thriving ministries of the mission. We teach English classes to a range of ages, and students come in from all over to study at the school. With small class sizes, christian teachers get to build true friendships with their Peruvian students and share in their lives. The school continues to grow seeing record enrollment numbers each month!

Bienvenidos a Peru

2008-05-16T17:36:00.005-05:00

Well, we did it. We officially left the states behind on May 6th, and after two full days of traveling we finally arrived in Trujillo, Peru. We had a front row seat on our 9 hour bus ride through northern Peru, traveling a path fixed right between the Pacific coast and the Andes. It was a great first taste of our new ‘home’. As a testament to God’s grace, in every instance of needing help throughout our travels here, Peruvians have appeared out of nowhere to help and guide us right through the process. We encountered some definite God-sends...

We are settling into our new home and are enjoying our downtown apartment. We are blessed to have an apartment with 3 bedrooms and bathrooms (plenty of room for visitors... wink,wink), a washing machine, a great view, and eventually phone and internet access. We have laughed that we are living in a third world country with more space and amenities than we had in the states! But don’t let that deceive you - Here’s a little taste of some of the daily adventures of living in Peru:

showering - turn water heater on and wait 20 mins... learn to take really short showers and only turn the water on for the rinsing portion your shower. oh, and remember to turn water heater off
remember to throw your toilet paper into the trash can - NOT the toilet
remember to NOT brush your teeth with the faucet water
remember to not always assume that you’ll have electricity.
manage to lug your loads of laundry up your tiny,spiral staircase to the roof to wash and hang clothes outside on the rooftop.

We won’t lie, it’s quite exciting and fun to have things shaken up a bit and experience the charms of third-world living! We have talked many times about how comfortable we are here and how much we love this city!

It has been such a blessing to see first-hand what incredible people the Peru Mission team here consists of. We are enjoying our jobs as each day we discover new responsibilities and expectations that there are for us, and learn more about this multi-faceted ministry. Although jumping in head-first can be a bit overwhelming, it is almost impossible to fathom how perfectly God has prepared us for our jobs here through our experiences over the last few years. More on that to come...

We want to thank everyone for being so supportive of us - spiritually, prayerfully, emotionally, and financially. We are anxious to keep everyone up to date on what God is doing here in Peru as we and those who are engaging with us in prayer and spirit are all of one team. We love you all!

Our life in suitcases

Front row seat on a double decker. Leaving Lima.

Taste of the Andes

The big city view