March Update

I keep wanting to sit down and write a nice update on all the great things that are happening (because they are. Really) But I'm having trouble getting it all down. Life is kind of kicking my butt right now. (can missionaries say that?) And everything I try to start gets overwhelming about halfway in. I think Zoe realized this about me because she decided to be potty trained and just started telling me she had to go and that was pretty much it. That's the only explanation I can come up with because I honestly did not want to deal with it right now. Or maybe ever.

Anyway, the boys started school this month because the school year here runs March-December. Logan is doing great mostly because he's social and works better with other kids his age doing the same thing as him. The only part that is hard is homework. I thought homeschooling was tough (it was) trying to help a 4th grader do homework in Spanish is ridiculous. I could probably easily help with the homework in english but naming the tools used in a chemistry lab is a little out of my depth. Every day he asks for help and I end up telling him to ask dad when he gets home.

Timothy on the other hand has been struggling with every aspect of school but he's finally getting in the groove. Autism and sensory integration issues are not very well known here. So we are trying to teach his teacher about it while also trying to help Tim with Spanish, cursive, and anything the teacher sends home for him to work on. Thankfully we found a great tutor who doesn't speak any english but is extremely patient and seems to like working with Tim. Timothy can understand her because it's one on one with no distractions and she speaks very slowly. Every day is a new test of my creativity to help him get through different challenges. We have learned he works best with some kind of reward looming in the near future to help him push through the hard parts.  That and lots of squishing, pillow/tickle fights or wrestling are what get us through the days.  




Zoe had her second birthday. I threw my first big party in awhile for her. She adores princesses and it was all pink and princess themed just for her. She loved it even though she only kept her tutu and tiara on long enough to take one picture. I did my best to just be a part of the party so I didn't get very many pictures. But it was a lot of fun and many people who love her were there to celebrate my sassy & sweet little 2 year old. She is constantly surprising us with how much she catches. She loves to sing and dance and draw on things with magic markers. She speaks her own version of spanglish and she imitates people perfectly. She often likes to run through all the names she knows. Repeating "awella" (Manuela) her hands down favorite person in the world. Having a daughter has been an adventure and a challenge but I wouldn't trade her. She lives up to the "life" part of her name for sure.  

For the last couple weeks we have had a lot of rain. Peru isn't used to rain...at all. When I have said it rained I was referring to Peru's version which is basically a light sprinkle. The kind of thing where back home everyone would be asking "is it raining?" Because you could stand outside in it for 10 minutes and still be completely dry. But the last couple weeks it's been good, solid, flood the streets raining a little every day. Because of that we've had a few setbacks, the church and our house flooded. The roof at the church caved in and even the school Logan goes to closed for a day because they had some rain related issues. It's amazing how much damage can be done when you aren't prepared.

God has been doing some really exciting things in the midst of all of this.                                    In coming here we had a few goals.                     One of them was to plant churchES.                 We've been in Piura for 4 years now and have been steadily growing that whole time. This Sunday we will have our grand opening at Powerhouse Chulucanas.                                     The second official church plant of Powerhouse Peru.                                                                       We have a great couple that have been working with us and learning a lot about ministry.           They will run the location and we will go every so often to make sure things are running smoothly.                                                              

This has been a huge undertaking along with everything else going on.                                      But we are so excited to see what happens.  Chulucanas is about an hour East of us here in Piura. It's a beautiful little city that's kind of in the mountains. The famous black and white pottery from Peru originated there.                       The location we found is right in the center of town.                                                                    About one block from the "Plaza de Armas" it's actually about 3 times as big as our Piura location so we are hopeful it will be filled with people seeking a relationship with Jesus.                    Starting tomorrow night we will have our own version of "The glory and the fire" put on by our awesome Powerhouse Peru people!

  

Thank you all for praying for us and to those of you who send us notes of encouragement on Facebook or email or whatsapp or by carrier pigeon.

 However they come they mean a lot to us when the days are hard. 

Thank you also to everyone who supports us financially. 

Your sacrifices help us to continue the work and often come in right at the moment we need it the most. 

We thank God for you and we thank you for you! 

Love from Peru! 

The Lopez's 

What's it like?

Whenever we go home or talk to people back home we get a lot of questions like "so what's it like?" I never really know how to answer the question. Before I lived here I imagined missionary work a little like being santa claus only instead of toys we bring Jesus. I had lived overseas so I thought I was prepared...Then I lived here and found out that in some ways some of the locals do see us like santa claus. Only the traditional kind, as is evidenced by the almost daily visits from kids or women with kids who will talk in normal voices, even laugh until I open the door. Then their faces go sad and they mumble their plea for food, stuff or money. When we first got here we heard that you should never give money to children who are street performers or begging/selling stuff. Most of the time they are taking the money home to an alcoholic family member or caretaker and not getting any benefit out of it. It's basically considered a form of human trafficking (I had no idea until I saw millions of signs about it in Lima) Now imagine yourself standing at the door with a bunch of children asking you for money or food and you haven't had a trip to the grocery store in a little longer than you should have. What would you do? Not so easy to answer is it? 


Someone recently sent me a list of questions about living here with the purpose of possibly moving here. I thought ya'll would be interested too. (I did remove some that were specific to them)

~What are the people like down there?  Friendly to North Americans? 
We have only lived in 2 parts of Peru and haven’t had a lot of opportunity to travel around but my experience is that Peruvians love North Americans. 
~How difficult is it to get a job down there if you aren't a citizen of Peru?

We have religious visas so we can’t really work legally except teaching so I’m not sure how to answer this.
~Do you ever host groups at your church that want to come down and help in your cause?
Yes. we have a team coming in 2 weeks actually
~We don't really like the idea of homeschooling our kids.  Are there any safe alternatives for schooling besides homeschool?
Yes. In Lima there are several great schools. Where we live there is 1 private school that transfers credit with US schools. There are also multiple private schools here that I hear are excellent
~Do they have grocery stores?
Yes. In the cities we have grocery stores that are chains from Chili mostly
~ Is the exchange rate for money decent?
eh. it fluctuates based on the strength of the dollar. It was about 3.0 when we got here and has been down to 2.5 but has been hovering around 2.75 the past 6 months or so.
~Can you find a decent home that is efficient?
I’m not sure I understand what you mean by efficient? Houses here are different than the states. We live in what I consider a condo because we share walls on both sides with our neighbors. It’s functional but not what I consider cute. That is what most places are like. If you have money you can get a really nice house. The house I wanted to get though was about 3x what we pay at our current place but it was a single family home with a nice yard and was comfortable and pretty.
~Do you have much violence?
We live in the safest part of town. So we don’t get a lot of violence. But Peru has some very dangerous areas. The key here is just like living in the states. If you went to Chicago you could find really safe areas and really dangerous ones. You just have to do your homework.
~Are there a lot of evangelical churches in Peru?
Yes. Where we are there are 200 I think. But most of those are baptist (also mormon I think…they are considered evangelical here.) The other main denominations are Assembly of God and Pentecostal.
~How are the High Schools down there?
Well, They break school into primary, and secondary and then university. Primary is up to like grade 4 I think and secondary is above that. But I’m not sure how all of it works because they are all in one building. Plus, from what I understand the academic level is a lot higher, and kids graduate at 15. A girl I spoke with who went to university in the US told me that she was horrible at algebra in her peruvian high school but in her US university she tested out of the algebra class and it was not hard. But I’ve also heard there are horrible and great schools here.
~ Grocery bill for a month?
This depends on how you eat. fruit and veggies are cheap. Chicken is about $5/lb and beef is more (beef is imported or nasty so I don’t buy it often) Fish is the main thing people eat here but my kids don’t like it so I don’t buy it often. Its probably closer to $3/lb but that depends on what kind of fish you are buying. (also I’m trying to convert soles to dollars and kilos to lbs in my head so I might be a bit off) Still when we aren't being extra frugal I think we spend about $300 per month
~Do you have decent Internet connection?  
For here we do. Where we live the power goes out sometimes and the internet can be slow but we pay a little extra to get the best connection available. We’ve never been without internet for more than 6-7 hours though. (electricity is another story) Theres a starbucks in town that always has wifi available
~Is theft a huge problem down there?
In Lima yes. There are pickpockets and opportunists everywhere. Here it’s mostly opportunists. You have to learn not to leave your valuable things unattended and always lock your car. In certain parts of town it’s best to travel in groups and not flash expensive stuff around. But we have iPhones and stay in the better part of town most of the time and nobody has ever held us up or anything.
~What is the weather and temperatures like during the different times of the year?
Peru has all climates at all times. In Lima it’s always overcast and humid but it never rains. Cusco is south and mountainous so it’s cooler year round I hear. Piura is close to the ecuator so it’s known as the “land of eternal summer” We are south of the ecuator so our season run opposite of the US. Right now it is going into Winter here which is the best time to live in Piura in my opinion. It never gets colder than 50
or so. But in the summer (December-March) it stays in the 90s and most people don’t have air conditioners
~Are they patient with people who don't know Spanish very well?
Yes
~Is Malaria a huge problem?
Not at all but Dengue is an issue where we are and it’s similar.
~What about ticks and snakes?
I’ve never seen either where we are but I’m sure they are an issue in some places
~Is the water drinkable?  I heard it wasn’t.
No, but we have a water cooler/heater and buy the water for it which costs about $15 per month for us. You don’t have to buy the cooler we just like having the hot/cold water available. Without the water cooler you can buy the water with a spigot in the bottle or buy individual bottled water which is more expensive.
~How many people actually own cars down there?
I don’t really know. Public transportation is readily available because mostly the wealthy own cars. We have Taxis, moto-taxis (motorcycles that have been modified to have a cart attached at the back…you’ve probably seen them in movies about india or something.) motorcycles that you can ride behind the driver and busses which are actually more like 15 passenger vans and run a circuit
~Is the food good?  We aren't picky, but I don't want to eat a cat or a bug or anything like that.
The only place you would have an issue is in the jungle or the mountains. In the mountains they eat cuy (guinea pig) it’s not bad, if you like rabbit or lamb it has a similar taste. In the jungle I’m told they eat monkey and they have a fermented drink made by old women who chew the grains and spit it into a jar. (for the record I’ve never tasted this but if you are ever in a situation where this is offered to you and you don’t drink it you might as well slap the host and call them ugly.) I may never go to the jungle for this reason.
As far as the food being good? Peru has one of the best chefs in the world Gaston Acurio. Most of his world famous dishes are based on Peruvian food. I love a lot of dishes here but theres not a lot of variety. They eat a lot of rice. They have a chinese influence over a lot of the dishes too but it’s different than US chinese food.
~How do you go about getting a Visa? 
If you are coming in for less than 6 months you just tell the guy when you come in how long you plan to stay. Pretty easy.
~How does an American pay taxes and vote from down there?  Do you get a ballot in the mail or something? 
You vote absentee. As far as taxes we have a cpa help us with ours. We get a w2 from the church that sent us. And the cpa does all the paperwork
~How have your kids adjusted to a different country?
My oldest son loves it here and does great. Our 7 year old has a much harder time here. Peruvians are very touchy and he doesn’t like being touched. His language skills are not very good because he doesn’t process auditory input well. So it’s a challenge for him. Our youngest is 14 months old so Peru is more home than the states for her.
~Are there any great shopping malls?  
In lima there is a huge one with a lot of US stores.  Coach, Lacoste, I think they are even getting a Gap?
Here we have 3 “malls” they are tiny little things but they have department stores and there are 2 Starbucks, a Chilis and even a Papa Johns and Pizza Hut here in town. 


Those were her questions. Do you have any questions you always wanted to ask? you can leave them in the comments or send me a message and if I get a few I will post them with the answers in my next blog 

What a difference a year makes

We started last year with about 10 people in the church (yes that is including us) 

By the grace of God we started 2013 with about 150 people and we have new visitors everyday.

We've been able to show the love of Christ to many different parts of Peru through our servolution campaigns. 

We hosted our first ever "Save the Family" conference in September

All of this because you sent us here to serve Piura Peru. 

Thank you for being a part of our ministry and vision. 

This is a short year in review video we made 

Enjoy!

So Blessed!

Sunday morning Pastor GF gave Jose and I the opportunity to speak at Powerhouse. We showed this video of our time in Peru so far and Jose ministered on the attributes of our house. 

I've spoken here before about my dislike for public speaking. I have to say it is getting easier. I still get really, really nervous but I'm doing much better with the whole standing in front of people and talking. The trick is to look for some smiling people and talk to them. :) 

After we finished Pastor got up and encouraged everyone to give into the mission. The things he said were really encouraging and inspiring to me. While he was speaking I could feel the presence of God in the room and I couldn't help it, I started to cry. He asked everyone that would give into the mission to stand up and bring their offerings forward. As people came forward to give they hugged us and told us they are praying for us. I just want to tell you. Many of you read this blog and it means a lot. When things get hard here we have that day to think back on and remember the way God moved and blessed us. It reminds me of the old testament when people experienced a touch from God they would build an altar and remember that place and worship God because of what he did for them. I'm not going to build a physical altar. But I have that place that I can look back and say to myself. "look, remember that day? That is when God showed you tangibly that he will always take care of you. Your church is your spiritual family holding up your arms from America while you are in Peru" I know that I can count on my God and my church!

One of our challenges here has been the fact that we only get 90 day visas. It's not a huge deal if we stay over a visa by a few days, but we get charged $1 a day per person. That adds up fast when there are 5 people. This time we were praying on the way to the immigration agent. Jose told her we are missionaries and are trying to get long term visas. The immigration officer was soft hearted and she gave us each 185 days on our visas! We don't have to leave Peru until we go to Piura which is so much closer to Ecuador and a much cheaper trip! It has been awesome to see God moving in our lives in large and small ways!

Please pray for us that we can work out some things with At&t to save some money while we are here. Thank you for holding up our arms!

By the way, I know a lot of you picked up our new prayer card. If you did or are praying for us and are not on the prayer partner list please leave a comment here or email me. Our email addresses are in the tabs on the top of the page. 

Confession of a "Missionary"

Ok, so something has been bugging me ever since I found out I was supposed to be a missionary. I grew up reading biography's of amazing men and women of God. People like George Mueller, Amy Carmichael, Mother Theresa and Hudson Taylor. Those people were MISSIONARIES! I am not those people!
If I were catholic those people would be like saints to me. I mean in my mind you become a missionary you automatically know stuff. You obviously never sin (or think about sinning) and never, ever doubt. Obedience to God should come naturally and if you are not out helping out the poor and downtrodden you are probably just chillin' in your prayer closet or memorizing Leviticus (because you already memorized all the "easy" books)
Maybe I'm the only person who thinks like that. Actually, I know I'm not but someone has to say something. We have to stop the insanity!
So anyway, here I am minding my own business serving God. And we are so cool like that. I'm all, "where you go I'll go what you say I'll say God. What you pray I'll pray" and then I hear "really?" and I say "I can't hear you right now, I'm worshipping you. Can you see me here worshipping? you really shouldn't..., you know..., interrupt" Then I wait a second thinking I've got him there. Because when God says "really?" you can't say no, but it can be so scary to say yes.  So I try to pretend like I never heard the question. You know? I think for a little while that maybe God forgot that I had even said I would go where he goes and say what he says. But it's always there. This sensation in my chest like my heart will explode whenever I hear about "missions". This bizarre sense of jealousy when I hear other missionaries talking about their experiences. The way my eyes want to cry when I see pictures of unloved and abandoned children. But deep down inside I know. I know that I'm not good enough to be a missionary. I mean, there are a million ways I can think of off the top of my head that make me a horrible choice as a missionary. I get jealous. I have been known to lose my temper. I'm terribly selfish, I really like long hot showers with good water pressure and while I'm being honest. It is REALLY hard to trust God. I mean it's the easiest thing to say, but I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten irritated with people because they tell me to trust God. When all I can see is the ocean in front of me and the army behind me, coming to bring me back to Egypt. What kind of missionary would I make?

Then I decide to try something new. I say yes. YES! I will be a missionary...some day. I mean, I just had a baby and Jose is loving what he's doing and we bought a house. I mean now is just NOT the time. But you know in a few years. When we are ready. Then we will be missionaries.
Of course as you may already know God had already been working on Jose's heart. He had his own conversations with God. So we talked about it. I was settled on it, and I was starting to want to be a missionary. But there was still that feeling in my chest that would tense up and the voice in my head saying "YOU ARE CRAZY!!!!!! WHAT are you thinking? What about the showers? What about your friends and family? what if you DIE?"

Years passed. Jose and I grew in our relationship with God. We went through some trials that helped us to learn about trusting God. We went through some times of intense discipleship. We got a lot of time working "in the kitchen" at our church. And then almost as if Jose and I had been listening to the same song and it was just coming to the crescendo we both knew. We needed to go and we needed to go now. So we talked to our pastor about it and he said to go visit. We flew out to Peru for 2 weeks and fell in love. When we came we thought ok, we will go get our checkmark that we went and then go back to our regularly scheduled lives. But no. We got here and we knew we needed to be here.

The next year was spent preparing. Raising support. Getting rid of stuff. Trying to get ready to come back. We said to good bye, to family, friends, our church, and our water pressure. Then we boarded a plane and we went, this time it was to stay.

So now we are here. We live in Peru. I obeyed. I'm a "missionary". But, I still don't feel like a missionary. I'm still selfish, I still get angry and jealous. I still miss my shower. I don't have the bible memorized and I struggle to spend enough time in prayer. Obedience and trusting God still don't come naturally. I often freak out because I don't know what God is planning and it seems like he will never tell me. When I hear the term "missionary" in my head the definition is "perfect christian, self sacrificing, never does anything wrong because they are too busy serving the Lord to mess up." When in reality a missionary is really nothing more than a christian. Someone who loves God. Trying to work out their salvation just like any other christian. I'm still not "good enough" to be a missionary. I'm not good enough to be a christian either. Nothing I do will make me good enough. But that's not the point. Nothing any of those other missionaries did made them good enough either. They just had to make a choice. Every christian has a choice to make every day. Whether they are a Pastor, a missionary, a plumber, a stay at home mom or whatever. We have to choose to answer the call that God gives us. And let him be good enough. If I was good enough on my own I would not need God. But I NEED Him.  Everyday I'm reminded how much I need Him.

So my call is missionary. I'm almost used to being called that. Almost. What is your call? What is it that God is asking you to do that you can't do on your own? It might feel weird at first. It might not fit just right when you first try it on. But if you trust Him. If you are "confident that God, who began the good work in you will be faithful to continue the work until it is finally finished on the day that Jesus Christ comes" (Philippians 1:6) He will.

Cineguilla

On Tuesday Jose and I went out with a guy from church to an area close to where we live called Cineguilla (I am totally guessing on the spelling there.)


This cute little lady was very proud to have her picture taken


and when I say she was little I mean it. I had to contort my body to stand next to her and I'm barely 5' 2"


We also met a lady who runs what is called a wawa wasi. It's a government program to help single mothers work. They put together 8 moms. One of them watches the kids and the other 7 work. The ones that work pay the mom that watches the kids S/. 2 a day to pay for their water etc...(the exchange rate is about S/. 2.78 to $1) And the government pays her S./ 180 a month. That's about $67 a month. She also gets a little bit of money from her child's father but NOTHING like American child support.
While we were talking to her we really felt God impressing on our hearts to bless her. Like I said above she watches 8 kids including her own and only owns 6 toys and they are old and broken (things like a naked barbie - they don't own any barbie clothes, and an old stacking toy that we would have thrown away,) She also had an 8 year old son with one toy of his own. An action figure that he was super proud of.

Aside from that her home is a shack built of things like cardboard and plywood. Her front door is like a gate that is held shut by a large stick propped up against it. She has no running water but is proud to have electricity.
These are some pictures of her "house" from the outside and some of the other "houses" around hers


We want to help this lady and we need your help to do that. There is a list about a mile long of ways we could help her and we know that we can't do everything but here are the things we can do.
1. Secure her front door.
2. get toys for children ages 6mo-4years
3. get toys for her 8 year old son.
4. get some shoes for her kids
5. give her some teaching materials. Wall decorations etc... she tries to teach the kids and all she has is her own voice.

If you would like to help with any of these things send me an email at jkmission2peru@gmail.com especially if you want to send a package for her. If you want to help financially you can use the link to give through our church (just email me at the above address that you want your donation to go to blessing her) or through paypal. Next time we go we will get some pictures of her and her kids. Jose had the camera when we were there and he was the one talking ;)
We cannot take pictures of the kids she takes care of though. There are very strict laws here about that.


After we left her house we came across some kids playing. All of them live in homes where the parents are not married. We are finding that is extremely common here. It creates an environment where the mother is insecure and the father is unstable. It also makes it difficult to track the divorce rate here. People really don't have to get divorced because they rarely get married


Anyway, the kids stole my heart. The girl in the blue sweater wanted me to take a million pictures of her. She managed to get into most of the pictures I took.

I also think it is very important that you know I climbed up this mountain in what I used to think of as sensible walking shoes

There are "stairs" carved into it but you can't even see them. unless you are right there looking at them.
I am so thankful for paved roads and construction. And don't even get me started on how thankful I am for my home.

You live in a blessed nation. No matter what the news says or how you feel about the current political or economic situation. Next time you spend $67 think about what your life would be like if that was your entire months paycheck

Casa Hogar

Today we visited our first orphanage. (we plan to visit some more to get a better picture of what already works before we move forward on anything)
We went intending to take pictures etc...and quickly found out it's illegal to take pictures inside the orphanage :/ So I'm sorry I can't show you what it looked like but I will try to describe it. One side was all living quarters. They have about 8-10 children in each building with 2 mentors. The houses are separated by age and gender. They have 54 children living there right now. (the director said that is way more than normal because they have a second location which was flooded so they had to combine the 2)

The other side is a school. Most of the kids are the orphans, but there are a few students from around the town.
We were able to get a lot of information from the director but I won't bore you with all of it :)
The best part of the trip was when we met the kids. The older kids where in a large assembly but we got to meet the preschool/kindergarten class. (Oh my word I fell in LOVE with 2 of them) When we came to the door they all ran out and hugged us. One little boy named Jonathon melted into my side while all the other children took turns hugging me, Jose, Victor then Jose's Dad. Then there was a sweet bubbly little girl with pigtails named Andreita (here they add "ita" to everything to make it cutesy) She locked eyes with me when we walked past the class and had to climb over the other kids to get to me. I wanted to keep her.
When we were getting ready to leave the class I looked over and Jose's dad had at least 5 little boys hugging him around the neck. It was adorable. I wanted to keep them all. Bring them home and give them lots of hugs and kisses every night. However, kids in private orphanages are not adoptable. :( I guess that's a good thing because we really aren't quite ready to take on 10 more kids. But I cried. No weeping and wailing but a definite ache came over me. I looked at these beautiful little girls and boys who either have no parents, or were abandoned. And they crave love. Little Jonathon, only had one of my arms but he did not move. His teacher had to tell him to come back in to class. I gave him one last tight hug before I let him go. (and I cried)

Did you feel the mountains tremble?

This morning at 3am we experienced our first earthquake. It registered 5.9 on the Richter scale. Here is a news story about it. To be honest it is not that big a deal here. (Jose and my kids actually slept through it..except for when I reached out for Jose, because for a moment I thought I was dreaming)
I find it interesting because the day I wrote my last blog I almost talked about being nervous about earthquakes. All I knew is they start without warning and can be devastating. It scared the living daylights out of me (there's a little bit of Texas slang for you...proof of my roots) But a few days ago I thought. I wonder if there will be an earthquake here? Then I realized I really wasn't as afraid as I used to be. It's awesome the way God prepares us in the smallest ways for things. 

Speaking of preparing for things. Tomorrow (Thursday) Jose, Victor and I will be going to a local orphanage to talk with the director and see how they run things. There are lots of potential good things going on with that so please keep us in prayer. I'm so excited about this I can't even explain it.
God has already been flinging doors wide open everywhere we go. There is no doubt in our minds that his hand is on this ministry and we want to thank everyone of you that has been praying for us and supporting us financially. We are able to do the things we are doing because of your support. We love you guys

First Day In Lima

The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, and it's not over! We arrived in Lima last night around 12 with all of our 13 suitcases. Jose's dad had alreay secured and checked in to our hotel so he picked us up at the airport with a taxi-van and his rental car and we managed to fit everything into those 2 vehicles. We got a great night of sleep (8 hours! I can't remember when the last time we got that much sleep in a bed. maybe a week but it seems like months)
Today we will start looking for a place to stay a little more permanently. We also plan to stop by Casa Del Padre and check in with them.

There are so many ways we recieved favor and have seen the presence of God in our lives in this time it is absolutely amazing! We feel everyones prayers and are so thankful for them.

Next blog I plan to put up some pictures...but for now I gotta' run. God Bless!

August 1st

Today as we were driving to church I noticed one of those time/date/temp clocks that some buildings have. It said August 1st. 11 months ago we decided to leave in August. At that time it seemed like August was so far away I might never see it. But here it is. We are leaving Houston in 9 days and the U.S. in 22.
Time is flying by. Excited and nervous are the main feelings right now for all of us. Butterflies abound.

If you are wondering how I feel and you have ever been pregnant that is a pretty good way of describing it. We are about to birth something. We think we know what it will be like but we can't really be sure until it's time. Some people (most actually) are supportive and happy for us and some are not. We have been looking forward to and planning for this for a long time. And here it is!

We will be traveling a lot for the next several weeks so please pray for safety and sanity since we will be logging lots of hours on the road with small children.
Also thank you for those of you that have committed to pray for us and support us financially. As you can see on the right our list of prayer partners is slowly but steadily growing. We can't do it without you so THANK YOU!   

Giving Details

I've had several people ask what they can do to help and what our specific needs are.

Overall
PRAYER! We need all we can get and then some. This will only work as long as it has God's hand on it and we desire more than anything to be in his will. Because of that we covet your prayers above all else that He would guide us, our hearts will stay right and that he would go before us and behind us every step.

Financially
One time donation's
We need to raise about $10,000 more before we leave for start up costs. That covers everything we need to get initially established. As you probably know everything we own is currently residing in 12 suitcase (4 are carry-on's) So we will need everything from travel/transportation to a place to live, plus the paperwork fees etc... really boring stuff but important!

Monthly recurring donations
We will need about $3000 a month. The first year we will participate in the ministry school that reaches out to the families of Peru. Most of our budget will go to our daily living expenses. Including traveling to Piura monthly to work on establishing the mission there so when our time in Lima is done the transition will be easier. Anything we are given above that will go into a savings account we will use for the Mission in Piura.

If you would like to give into our ministry one time or monthly you have 2 options.

Option 1 Paypal. I have installed a tab to the right that will take you directly to our paypal account and you can give that way. Our paypal account name is jkmission2peru@GMail.com

Option 2 Tax deductible donation. There is another tab on the right that will take you to our church website. They have set up an account for us where you can give (designated as Mission to Peru.) They will track it and get it to us and mail you a giving statement at the beginning of the year (just in time for tax season) They also email you a receipt and you can track your giving through the website. If you choose to give this way please send me an email at the above address with the amount you are giving and if it's a one time gift or if you plan to give monthly.

Any amount you can give is helping us to fulfill our mission to Peru. Thank you for your support of this ministry!

Jose's story

Before I became a Christian I never had a heart or desire for children. When I was very young I had an accident that the doctors told me I could not have any children. When I received Jesus to come into my heart I realized that from Genesis on, God’s desire was to fill the earth with people made in his likeness and image, not much has changed. This mandate began to grow inside of me to fulfill what God had set out to do. My heart began to change towards children in such a drastic way that I began to serve in the nursery at Powerhouse Christian Center. I remember Pastor Watkins coming back from a trip to Peru and visiting an orphanage in Lima; that night my heart began to beat so fast that I thought it was going to explode and I began to understand the Holy Spirit working in my heart. That night I remember going up to Pastor after service and telling him that if he ever goes back I would like to go with him. I was only born again for about 6 months at that point. A couple years later I had an opportunity to go with Pastor Watkins to South America and what I thought would calm my inner desires to go to Peru increased even more. For 5 years following I engulfed myself in learning ministry. I have been a witness to countless spiritual sons being returned to a right relationship to their heavenly father. I have seen transformed lives through this ministry find purpose and passion for pursuing God. In 2009 the Lord began to work in me more fervently with what he showed me in 2002. In my effort to try and quench this inner struggle I took my family to see what God birthed in me many years before. The word says that God is faithful to complete the work he began inside of us, and that is exactly what happened. I saw myself knowing that I was called to be a missionary to do what God had done inside of me and help others to be raised up. My mandate is clear: Restore order in a world of chaos by bringing back spiritual and natural orphans to a right relationship to our heavenly father through Jesus Christ. My heart is to reach, teach, and send out. Reach orphans, teach the way of the cross, and send them out to other parts of the world.
Jose

Stream of Consciousness...

Most little girls play cinderella or sleeping beauty. Not me, I played Wendy from Peter Pan. I loved pretending to be a mother taking care of my "lost boys." I should have known God would give me little boys. It's hard to recapture the fun of being a make-believe mother living in a forest when you are wiping noses and bottoms, making lunch and taking care of bloody noses. When you live in the forest it doesn't matter if you have dirt on the floor. The floor is dirt. (consequently my floor might as well be dirt right now. I sweep and before I can even "swiffer wet jet" my floor it's dirty again.)

Sometimes I look at my day to day life and think "wow, how much longer is this going to last?" I have a hard time just living in right now. When I start to see a dream coming true I want to run up to it and wrap my arms around it. I don't like the waiting part. Which you would think I would be used to. A couple years ago when we would talk about moving to Peru I would get kind of nervous. The nervousness that comes from not knowing what your getting yourself into or what it will be like. I still don't know what it will be like. And I'm sure I don't know what I'm getting myself into. But I'm deliriously happy to be going now. When we arrived in Peru last September I was less than dazzled by the airport and exhausted from the trip so I can't remember exactly what my first thoughts there were. I do remember the first day there. I fell in love. The way I hear people describing their feelings for Italy or Paris. That is how I felt there. All I could think was "I get to live HERE!?" So now I'm counting down the weeks and days until I get to go back. Only this time we actually get to do something! We get to minister the love of Jesus to a nation of hurting and dying people.

When Jose initially spoke to the pastor we will be working with the first year he told him our heart is for Piura. He said we were the third couple that mentioned Piura to him and nothing has happened. No one has followed through. Can you imagine what God must have in store for that part of the country? I am giddy just thinking about it.

(aren't we cute...especially him!)

Jose and I were both in wedding's last week. Mine was Sunday (and I have NO pictures) :( His was Saturday. Both had brides named Melissa. (odd) They were both beautiful and I am so happy for both of them. I've been able to see both of them grow up in their relationships with God and I've been able to watch both of their relationships (with their husbands) blossom. I love you girls! I pray for both of you and we take our roles as your sister and brother in Christ very seriously! Congratulations Mrs. Greenwade and Mrs. Echevarria!  

Musings on moving and our current life

This month has been (and continues to be) crazy...
this month Jose is standing in a wedding and Logan and I are in a different one. My baby brother graduated from college today. Jose's baby brother graduates from high school in 2 weeks. On Tuesday Jose and I celebrate our 6th anniversary. Next week I'll be 28...at this point getting older doesn't bother me...maybe because the vast majority of people think I'm 20 or so. I don't know. Maybe I'll change my mind when I turn 30?

Every time I look at the calendar or someone mentions getting together with me before we go I realize how soon we are leaving. I remember thinking in January that I can't say we are leaving next year anymore now it's THIS YEAR. Now it's less than 3 months away. We are moving out of our house in July...anyone need house stuff? We are getting rid of everything. Thinking about getting rid of everything makes me realize how little all that stuff matters. I look at some of the stuff that was *so important* for me to have back then and now I'm giving it away.

I'm feeling a greater dependance on God lately. I know I talk about it alot but I guess that's because that's what I think about right now. I'm relying on God to take care of me even in the most minor scheduling details. For instance I wanted to take a short trip with my extended family before we leave and in spite of 7 adults with very busy lives we managed to work out a weekend that we can all do it. That may seem easy to you but it has proven very difficult for us to accomplish in the past so I see it as a miracle.

T-Minus

86 days until we move out of our house...
96 days until we leave Houston to visit family and friends on our way to Miami...
110 days until we leave Miami for Peru...

This my friends is what life in fast forward feels like...So much to do so little time

I have decided

My head feels like it is about to explode! Jose and I spent the past week in Baton Rouge, LA at Bethany World Prayer Center (a church) They have a yearly conference called The Remnant and it was amazing! I have been to a lot (and I do mean a lot) of conferences and this was the best I can remember attending. The speakers were Dag Heward-Mills (google him he will blow your mind!) Dino Rizzo, Robert Morris, Pastor Larry Stockstill, Pastor Joel Stockstill and Jonathon Stockstill.

I will probably be talking about stuff I learned/heard at the conference for a long time but there is something that God stirred in me when I was there that I feel I should mention here. I have been softening and in a way apologizing for the call for us to go to Peru. I've told people that it's just like parts of America and we won't be in a dangerous area etc... I've said those things for a good reason I think but in reality I shouldn't have said that at all.
Matthew 10:38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me you are not worthy of being mine
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples "if any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me"
The cross = suffering I know this and I have known this. Ministry isn't easy. Ministry in a foreign country is really not easy and yes we could die or get seriously injured/sick etc... I am prepared for that (as much as I can be) Something Dag Heward-Mills said stuck with me though. He talked about the way Muslims are willing to die for what they believe in. Even though they are portrayed as villians there are more and more people becoming muslim. Because people are willing to follow something if other people are willing to die for it. American Christians generally aren't willing to die for their faith. So here I am saying I don't think I'm going to die by going to Peru. I don't have a death wish either. I hope to live a long and useful (to Christ) life. But if I die I hope that I will glorify God in my death as much if not more than in my life.
Matthew 16:25-26 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

I have decided to follow Jesus...no turning back, no turning back