A trip to the zoo

Today we went to the zoo for Marco's 11th birthday. We had a nice time hanging out with Brian and Betty and their kids and another family from the church Ricardo and Pilar and their kids.

Our family photo in the zoo.


Liam excited to see real zebras.

The kids looking a more animals.

Liam gets up close with the monkey. I think there is some resemblance. They both have red hair, like bananas, like climbing on anything and like to swing from ropes and trees.

Kilaine waters the herb garden.

"Want some of my ice cream?" Liam always shares, everything.

Fui a Canta (I went to Canta)

Yesterday, I (robin) went to Canta. Canta is a small village in the mountains about 9000 feet above sea level. I want with Pastor Brian, Betty(his wife), Marco (their son), and a couple from Orlando (Frank and Joyce) who were visiting. We had a nice time visiting. We are praying for the Lord's will in having a retreat center in Canta. Please pray with us for this, the city is very peaceful and only about 2.5 hours from Lima (about 3 hours by bus).


This is Canta from a distance

This a bridge built by the Inka's. It is outside of the main city, where we would love to have land to build a retreat center.

This is a view of the mountains surrounding the city, making Canta a very peaceful and beautiful place to reflect on the Lord and His majesty.

This is Betty and Marco standing in front of a water fall. You can take horses to the waterfalls. Canta is a great place to get away and relax. We had a nice trip. We only stayed for the afternoon.

Robin

To clear up a little confusion about Angie...

Angie went to Germany for a couple weeks in missions training. Then, she will be going to India for 6 months to serve as a missionary there. There is a connection and a contact. There was an mk that grew up in Peru then served in India for a number of years that now lives in Germany and his church just happens to be called Koinonia... There's more info on Brian's blog, because if you are confused, it's because I am, too. I got all my info in spanish, and sometimes things go awry in my brain. Anyways, here's Brian's blog. www.iglesiacristianakoinonia.blogspot.com

We love you Angie! We miss you! Always thinking of you!

Cusi, Another visit

Last Thursday I (robin) went to Cusi with a small group of guys (Jaime, Americo, Kervin and Jaime). Our purpose was to bring food, clothing and blankets to the people, to share the gospel another time and to access the need for help. If the Lord wills we may take a small group of people to Cusi to work in demolition of the school building that was destroyed. It needs to be torn down completely and rebuilt.



The path to Cusi is very narrow and dangerous. Thankfully the Lord provided for the rental of a 4 x 4 for this trip.

This is the village of Cusi. There is not a lot in Cusi and all the houses look the same. It is a very small town.

When we arrived we had an impromtu meeting with the town officials to share with them what why we came and to find out how to help them. During this time we also arranged for a town gathering for the preaching of the gospel.

This is the school that need to be torn down and rebuilt.

This is a make shift school that the people of the town put together until they can rebuild the other school.

This is Pastor Jaime studying in his office for the message in the evening.

Pray for the people of this village, they are hard to the gospel. In the evening when Pastor Jaime shared about 25 came to listen, but the people were not very receptive. They need Christ more than they need another blanket or bag of rice. Lord help us to have discernment in there things. Where, when, why, what and how to help those in need.

Robin

Fotos of Angie's last day

As promised here are photos of Angie leaving for India. Please pray for Angie, she is an awesome sister in Christ and will need many prayers and much strength from the Lord while in India.

Robin

Bits of news

Angie left for India today. She is a peruvian here that has been serving in the church for a number of years. She is a gifted evangelist. We are really going to miss her. I have some pictures, but Robin took the camera before I got them off of there. So, I'll get the photos up in a couple of days.

Robin is leaving tonight to head towards Cusi tomorrow with Jaime and Americo (aka Americote...) They are going back there to try and make plans to help the people there. They had a lot of damage from the earthquake and I think they are sort of a forgotten place. So, we will see what the Lord has in store for them.

The kids are doing well in school. Please pray for Kilaine, it's harder for her than it is for Liam. But, they are both doing really well, learning spanish and making friends.

We are learning the language more and more. It is a very long process. At times it is frustrating, and at times it is very humbling, but the Lord is using the language issue in our lives to teach us and hopefully to grow some nice big juicy fruits (of the spirit, that is... el fruto del espiritu no es... una sandia...)

Some more pictures

Here are some pictures that I forgot to post. A week and a half ago on a Wednesday, we were on our way to Canete and got off the bus a little early at Cerro Azul to meet up with Jaime there. We were looking for a lady in the town there. Here are some pictures of Cerro Azul and some of the earthquake damage there.

Angie, Jaime, and Aaron was with us that day. He is a Peruvian from the states that is in Peru for a couple of months and is praying about coming here as a missionary (he's all the way on the right).

Back in Las Vinas. Jaime is talking to a man in his house.

Krystel has no idea I took this picture.

Aaron was sharing with some boys in Las Vinas. He had some pretty cool tracts that caught their attention and was talking to them about salvation.

One of the houses in Las Vinas

Jaime is talking to some ladies at one of the olla comunes (sort of like a community pot). He receives donations of food and other things and is able to give the food to the people. He always tells them that it is not from him, but from the Lord. And that he cannot make promises to always provide, but when the Lord provides. He has tons of opportunity to reach the people.

One day, I was goofing around with Luz with the chicken head. Pretty awesome.


The kids started school!! They love it, too. It's hard for Kilaine, learning the language, and to read and write in a new way. But, she is excited to learn. We walk everyday about 20 minutes to get to their school, which is christian, by the way. It's a blessing. Now we are all learning.

Very excited with their backpacks.

We had some visitors from the states the other day. Andres and Karla and their 2 kids. They came, had lunch with us and spent the day with us. They are praying about going to Venezuela to be missionaries there, but are thinking about coming to Peru first for a time.

Andres y Karla.

Trip to Ica & Canete (earthquake damage and relief)

The face of need!



On Friday and Saturday I (robin) was blessed by taking a couple of pastors from the North east U.S. to see the damage caused by the earthquake in Ica and Canete. We had a great time and the Lord opened many doors.

These are photos of houses completely destroyed by the earthquake as you drive to Ica from Canete.

This the street driving into Ica. Many streets in Ica and Canete are so full of debris from destroyed houses that they are impassible.

One of our first stops was at the home of the grandmother of a friend of one of the pastors. These people had lost about half of their house to the earthquake. Parts need to be torn down and rebuilt completely. While we were their the Lord opened the door for us to share the gospel with this lovely family. None of them are saved. We shared with them for more than an hour, we were able to plant seeds that will later be watered. We are praying for a Bible teaching church in Ica. We gave each of them a Bible and tracts. It was a beautiful time.

This was the next stop, a small barrio in Ica (there are many of these). This is a very poor area that also had a lot of destruction. We talked to the people to access the need and then we were able to share the gospel with all of them and invite them to a Bible study we were having in the evening. Four of the ladies came. This blessed my heart a lot. Each lady needed to spend money that could have bought 2 pounds of rice or wheat to feed them for a couple of
days to come to the Bible study across town. When we asked what the need was in the village above all things they said food. Glory to God that they chose to come to a Bible study, at the time they didn't know for sure that we were returning the next day with a ton of food for the village.

Food! We went to a large food market in the morning and bought a ton a food. So much food we filled the van to capacity. We had to use a different car to get our group to the villages. Praise God for His provision!!

Olla comun. (The common sauce pot) This is when a community brings all their food together and cooks one or two large pots of food for the multitude. A real sense of community, kind of like the book of Acts, sharing all things. Through this we were able to distribute the food to the olla comun for the whole community without worry if anyone would be left out.


This is another barrio that has olla comun. We were able to share a couple of hundred pounds of food. Praise to God!!!

This is Las Vinas in Canete. This probably the hardest hit barrio we visited. This is the main village were Pastor Jaime ministers in Canete on a weekly bases. Most of the homes here are built from adobe, and most have significant damage or were completely destroyed. This village is need of much help. Pray that God would grant Jaime strength and endurance for the ministry of rebuilding lives. Praise be to God, much help has been pouring in from many different places.

This is Pastor Jaime distributing blankets to the people in Las Vinas. There is great need for food, blankets and resources for rebuilding houses.

It is kind of crazy to see all of the destruction in a few days. It often seems overwhelming. Where do you begin to help, everyone has needs. How do you help one family and tell the one next door that there is not enough for them. Only the Lord knows, so we seek His wisdom.

Praise be to God!! We have had many opportunities to share the gospel. One of the days in one of the villages a small group gathered around to see the gringos (the two pastors from the states and myself), Jaime and Angie were busy ministering to other people. So one of the pastors looked at me and said, since you are not the best translator, you should just share. I begin to share what I could in Spanish and the Lord took over. I, in the strength of the Lord, was able to share the whole gospel message in Spanish, I read many Bible verses and challenged the people to think about their condition with the Lord. I am truly thankful for this opportunity and pray for more in the future. What a beautiful trip we had. God opened many doors of ministry for us. Thank you Lord and thank you guys who are praying for God to do mighty things in Peru.

robin