I wanted to share two things that have happened recently with our youth ministry here. Often things like this happen and I don’t know whether to share them in our newsletters or not. Thus, I’m posting them here.
Youth All-Nighter
I’m thirty years old and honestly, I’m not super excited about staying up all night for anything. As leaders, we decided to do a few things different this time. For one, we wanted to go away for the night. Not far, just not do it in the church like before. The church here owns some property just outside Cusco (only 10 minutes) with a covered soccer court and a large grassy area– perfect for youth retreat. It required transportation, which required… Read More…

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In the middle of March, we had the privilege of hosting a small four person team and take them to the “end of the road” in the jungle region north of Quillabamba. Of the four team members, one is a vascular surgeon, two are pharmacists, and the fourth is a great friend. The purpose of the trip was to take medicine and general care to people who rarely, or in most cases, never see a doctor. In the villages out at the “end of the road”, people regularly have medical needs and absolutely no means to get to the nearest medical post or hospital. The last town, for example, that has a medical post sits eight hours or more… Read More…

A look back on our first Sunday here in Cusco:

First, we got to have what we call “Culto Unido” at our church Jesus The Good Shepherd. Culto Unido means “United Service.”

At our church, we usually have two services, a 9am service in Quechua and an 11am service in Spanish. But one Sunday a month, we join together and have a super-long service in both languages. We sing songs in Quechua, then in Spanish. We read all the Scripture verses in both languages, the announcements are made twice. Even the pastor tries to preach with both languages intertwined.  It seems a daunting task, but it’s worth it. We always take this Sunday and have Santa Cena – Communion – together.… Read More…

Pretty much every day since Party Day has been spent emptying our suitcases. This is a really big task, since there are THIRTEEN of them. (This, actually, is nothing compared to some teammates of ours who have more children than we do and traveled with over 30 bags – still, it felt like a lot!)

The kids have enjoyed having their toys unpacked and available for full-time play. I’ve enjoyed having clean clothing.

Two things that I brought from home that I am SO GLAD I did and would be so sad if we left behind are:
My food chopper – You know, that little round thing that you bang on and it chops up your food -  Pampered Chef sells it.… Read More…

Wednesday was Pick-up-all-of-our-suitcases Day and Party Day.

Since this is our second time coming to Peru, we have learned a few tricks. One is that LAN, the company we use to fly from Lima to Cusco, charges overage fees for traveling with more than one checked bag, whereas the companies (ie Delta, Continental) whom we use for our international travel usually allow 2 bags. So, to avoid loads of extra baggage charges, once we get to Lima, we take most of our bags to a shipping company in Lima and have them shipped to Cusco for a LOT less. It’s a great plan. So, Wednesday, we had to go pick up all of our bags. Yet another blessing – they… Read More…