2 Years and Still Going!
 

Dear Pastors, Praying Friends, and Family,

We are amazed at how fast the past two years have flown by as we set up house, learned a new language, accustomed ourselves to a new culture, then moved about 14 hours away from our first home in Peru. Our home is now located in the Andes Mountains in a city named Cajamarca. In our first four months here, we have set up housekeeping again, started a building project, rented a building and started our first church in the neighboring city of Baños del Inca. We are certainly looking forward to our next two years here before our first furlough in 2007.

Our daughter Christa and our dear friend Vivian came to visit for three weeks back in July. They arrived in time to be here for Carla’s ??th (I ain’t tellin’) birthday. We had a great time with them and miss them very much. We heard that they put on a great PowerPoint presentation for our home church upon returning. There are pictures of their visit on our website. And speaking of Carla’s birthday, we want to say thanks for the cards, emails, and gifts that she received. She truly appreciated each one.

We had our first church services at our first work, Iglesia Bautista Calvario, on Aug. 14 with a total of 23 in attendance and 10 souls saved! What a way to start this ministry! We are working hard to build the membership of this new work. It has been a struggle since the road in front of the church was dug up, the very day the church signs were hung, to install a new drainage system. But, praise the Lord, the street was reopened this week and the church is visible once again!

Last month, Carla and I were out running errands about 9:30 AM. As we started to leave one location, there was a robbery in the street ahead of us. A taxi had stopped in the middle of a small intersection blocking traffic. Four guys jumped out of the taxi. They ran to another taxi behind them, busted the driver’s window, and robbed the people at gunpoint. The guys then got back into their vehicle and drove off. It was an interesting morning. We were to be the next vehicle in the intersection, but God’s protection was on us and we were not robbed or injured. We are sure that this was because of the many prayers that are lifted up each day by our friends and family. We thank the Lord for the wonderful prayer support we receive.

On August 27th, we attended the wedding of our national pastor Jorge and his new wife Rody. It was a beautiful event.

Update on building program: We have completed the first security wall and are waiting until we have enough funds to begin the next phase of construction. Phase two is the completion of the remaining security walls and gates. We are anxious to complete all phases of the project so that we can begin saving on monthly rent and have more space for ministry opportunities. We are including a photo of the first wall so that you can see the large area that God has provided to build His church. Please pray if God would have you take part in this project.

By the time you receive this by snail mail, Christa will have celebrated her 20th birthday. We hate we can’t be there to celebrate it with her, but she is in college and we are sure she will have plenty of friends around.