Ministry photos

Last Saturday we went to Santa Rosa de Villa to do the ladies Bible study. It was a nice time.

Cara. She's here for 3 months. I think she has about 1 month left. Such a sweetheart!

Margarit and Lilila (Alejandro's wife)

me

Angicita (Angie)

This is one of the ladies I talked with a little and helped to find the scriptures during the Bible study. She was there with her sister. So sweet, full of smiles. She told me she's going to teach me how to strap the baby on your back by yourself. I told her I was sure the first time I tried it, my baby would end up on the floor!! =)

Some of the kids in the other room. Brian, Denise, and Cara (and later Betty) watched the kids so that the moms could sit in the study.

Denise. She's here for 6 months. She just got here last week from Boston.

There's one lady that didn't get in the picture. She's just outside, boo. We had a nice time. Betty began the evening, Angie taught the study, and I did the worship and prayer time, and of course, we had a little food, triples that Chipi made and some cookies and hot chocolate. Yum! I think the ladies had a blessed time.

Here's the worship team practicing before a Sunday service. Denise, Me, Ricardo, and Miguel.

It was Denise's first Sunday with us. Welcome Denise!!

Family photos

studying, studying, studying...

Liam loves to stick out his tongue for pictures. Robin joined in for this one!

This is Liam being a snail...

Kilaine cute as a button!!!!

Kilaine on a sick day when she stayed home from school. I think she read books most of the day. She loves to read, just like her mommy!!

There's not very many pictures of me, I'm usually the one taking them... We are all doing well. I'm about 6 months pregnant. Our relationships with the peruvians are getting stronger. Robin continues going to Ica. Pray for the believers there, there is a lot of mixed up beliefs and spiritual darkness there.

Ladies Bible study

Last Saturday morning we had a ladies breakfast and Bible study. It was really nice. We ate some wonderful foods that some of the ladies had prepared followed be a beautiful time of prayer and worship. Then Tatiana shared some of her testimony and Angie did the teaching. It was really nice. Afterwords we fellowshipped (and ate some more.)

Chipi

Karla

Angie

Betty and Alicia



Here's just a random cute picture of the kids in a taxi one day.

Brian teaching one Sunday morning.

Making chocotejas.

So, what's going on these days, anyway?

The kids getting ready for their Mother's Day presentation with their school.

I think Liam was meaning to kiss the baby, not take a bite out of it...

Well, we once again have phone service! Yay! So, what have we been up to lately, anyways? Last week was pretty busy for Robin. Jaime (the pastor in Canete) was able to go to the states for the first time to attend the Calvary Chapel pastor's conference in California. So, Robin filled in teaching for him in Canete last week on Wednesday and will again this week. Jimmy is teaching on Sunday nights. Brian got really sick a week ago, and Robin got to help out teaching in Santa Rosa de Villa. The ministry continues in Ica. Robin and Americo are going early this Friday to spend more time looking for a place to rent where the church can begin meeting. Some of the men meet at the church on Mon nights for a discipleship class that Brian is giving. And Tues. nights there is a prayer meeting at the church.

I've been spending a lot more time at home cooking, cleaning, helping the kids with homework, and taking an occasional rest. I am 24 weeks pregnant now, almost 5 1/2 months. As my belly grows, I'm getting more tired, I guess I'm just not a spring chicken anymore!!! The kids just never seem to stop growing, I guess that is the way of it. They are doing really well in school. I just had a meeting with the teachers to receive their first quarter grades. Kilaine is #2 in her class! Did I mention the school is all spanish speaking? Yes, I'm pretty proud of them both.

It's getting colder here as winter approaches. We've begun to make chocotejas at the church again. I love fellowshipping with the other ladies to make them. The ladies meet together on Tue. mornings to pray for about an hour or so, then we stay if we can for a couple of hours to make chocotejas. We're thinking about starting to make others small desserts as well. We make them, and then sell them in the church or on the street to raise money for missions trips. That way some people in the church can go on missions trips to other parts of Peru. This year, we may have the opportunity to send a team to the Dominican Republic. Brian may have an opportumity to go to Cuba to teach and encourage the pastor's there.

There are always lots of things to be praying for. Along the way we've met and became friends with people serving in various ways in many different countries. We have friends trying to reach the unreached in a mountain village in Mexico, we know a family living in Thailand working at an orphanage, Angie here in Peru went to India to serve for 6 months, and now there are 2 girlsfrom the church serving with YWAM in Paraguay, possibly to go on to Brazil for a few months. Our close friends in Costa Rica are going through some very hard times. They've just been robbed of many valuable things, including their computer (very important for a missionary to keep in communication). Please lift them up in prayer: Mike and Revae Lawrence. You can read about them at their blog. http://ccfjaco.org/

I have heard about how things are doing in the states with the economy. The price of gas, bread, milk... I know it is not easy and many of you are making sacrifices to support missions. I thank you and pray that God will bless you.

A weekend in Ica

Last weekend we all had a break from our clases, so we decided to spend the weekend in Ica to get to know the city a little better and see what God has for our family there. We are still waiting for God's conformation. This is a processional that was going on infront of our hotel. There are many of these in Peru. The people are always hoping to be the ones that get to carry the statue through the street. They use volunteers from the street and the priest follow behind giving blessings. This one is rather small, often the street is so crowded that no one can pass by.

We also got to spend some time having fun as a family. Right outside of the city of Ica is a Lagoon or Oasis in the middle of the desert. We took a boat ride with the family and walked around to look at the stuff available there. Earlier in the day we had the opportunity to visit a musuem of the history of Ica, which Tracy and I enjoyed a lot, but the kids were really bored. In all we had fun. We also got to spend some time encouraging and getting to know some of the people that go to the Bible Study everyweek in Ica. This is Tracy and the kids with Zumiki (Sumiki- a japonese name) She is 19 and loves the Lord with all of here heart. It is awesome to have believers like this in the study. She always has really interesting questions and comments. We also spent some time with another couple from Ica, Mario and Elizabeth. They have two girls, one is five years old and one is 8 months old. They are the couple that started the study and invited us to teach there in Ica. The people in Ica have been praying for a Pastor for many years. Pray for these guys by name if you can remember. Right now we can only have study a week on Friday nights and they are begging for more. Many of them have stopped going to their other churches because of the bad doctrine being taught, the only time they get fed is on Fridays and there personal time with the Lord. Pray that we could find a place to meet in Ica and possible open the door to one more Bible study. Right now we meet in the house of Mario's parents (which has been an awesome provision from the Lord). We would like to open the doors to more people but don't feel that it is wise to invite a lot of strangers from the street into a house that is not our own. Pray for the location and the Lord's provision for the rent each month. God has been abundantly faithful to provide each week for the bus fair for Americo and I and the other expenses.

The people in the study each week are: Mario and Elizabeth, Zumiki, Jorge and Lucha, Cesar and Rosio, Carlos, Martin (Marteen), Gerardo and Angelica. From time to time there are others, but this is the core group. Please pray for them!

God bless!!

Robin

A much needed update...

We have just recently moved (3 weeks ago) to a new apartment. We needed to have a bigger apartment with an extra room. There's a pretty big reason for this need... we're going to have a baby!! I am 4 months pregnant, and am doing well. We haven't been able to update the blog or send out emails due to the move. The phone company finally showed up at our new apartment after 3 weeks of waiting to tell us they can't connect the line, the control box in the building isn't connected yet. Yikes! So, we don't know how much longer we'll have to wait with no land line for phone or internet. Please pray with us for this. Anyways, we want to keep everyone updated on our new address.

Robin y Tracy Shelley
Jr. General Luis La Puerta #231 Dpto. 202
Liguria, Surco, Lima Peru 33

Some updates...
-Liam turned 4 years old April 13. Happy Birthday Liam!!
-Kilaine lost her 2 front teeth. She's growing so big!!
-I (Tracy) am in my 2nd trimester of the pregnancy and am feeling good after a somewhat difficult 1st trimester. Praise report: we found a woman that practices midwivery, so we can have a homebirth (that's pretty important for me). She's from Germany, but she speaks English, added bonus.
-Robin goes to Ica with Americo every week on Fridays. It's a 4 hour bus ride and he gets home at 3a.m. There have been recent robbings on the buses going there, but the Lord has kept them safe.
-We are praying about moving to Ica in about 1 year or so. We're still not sure this is the next step, but the Lord seems to be opening the doors.
-Angie came back from being in India for 6 months.

Thank you for your prayers and support. We really wouldn't be able to serve here in Peru without solid believers on their knees for us. We really mean it when we say how much we appreciate it.

Tracy

Happy Birthday Tracy

Last Saturday Tracy had a birthday. She is in full denial of her age and insisted we use Kilaine's six year old birthday candle so that no one would know how old she really is. Just kidding, she's 31, even though she still looks 20 (even more beautiful today than the day I met her). We had a quiet day with the family, then went to see a movie together. Tracy didn't want anything special, not even cake. Kilaine insisted that we needed cake for mommy's birthday, so we bought a couple of pieces of cake and sang happy birthday in english and spanish. We had a great time together and we thank God for the blessing of our family.

Robin

Baptism

the group that got baptized with Pastor Brian, Betty and Pastor Jim Nelson from CC Palm Harbor in Florida.

singing praises to our Lord

Yesterday 11 people got baptized. Some old, some new, some from Puente Piedra and one that was on a mission trip to Peru. Praise God, He works in mighty and wonderful ways. We used a small pool of one of the families in the church. We had such a blessed time with the Lord. Afterwards we went back to the church to break bread together and celebrate the Lord's majesty and glory.

Robin

Continuing on in Ica

The kids of Ica
These are the kids of that are always in the Friday night study. There are a few missing. The kids just kind of run around an play, mostly in another room.



Each week we study the Bible for about an hour or more and afterwards there are usually many questions. We stay for another hour and answer questions and spend time getting to know the people more and more. The people here are very hungry for the Word. Praise God for His faithfulness.

Robin

The ministry in Ica

The ministry in Ica is changing. We recently stopped the afternoon Bible study in the street and invited them to the nighttime Bible study. I am currently teaching the nighttime Bible study each week, Praise God. Pray for me (Robin), because teaching in Spanish is very difficult. I enjoy it, because it really makes me depend on Christ for each and every word. Currently we are looking for a place to rent once a week to open the doors to more people. We meet in a house now and it is an incredible blessing, but we don't want to fill the house with a bunch of people from the street, because it is an offering of a very nice family. Thanks for all your prayers for this ministry. Pray that God would continue to open the doors and tear down spiritual strongholds in Ica. I have been told that Ica has a plaza called the "plaza de brujas" (park of the witches) A very dark place. Starting this week only Americo (a peruvian that lives at the church) and myself will be going to Ica for the next few weeks or more. We are praying about changing the day to Thursday, once we find a place to rent.

Robin

Updates...

Two and a half weeks ago, we had a ladies Bible study. It was really nice. The guys served us our lonchecita (light dinner). A couple of the girls came from Canete.

Me and Gabby.

Betty did the teaching. It was nice. We might start having a ladies study every 2 months or so.

By the way, Brian is back, and it sure is good to have his jolly face around again!

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Family...

Liam, goofy as ever, dressed himself up to be a knight in shining armor. He modeled himself after a picture of a little boy in a chilren's book we have.

There's just nothing like laying around on a free day and reading an american cookbook...

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Conferencia de jovenes Youth Conference.

Ricardo and I were invited to play the worship for a youth conference here in Lima last Saturday. "Youth" here can mean all the way up into your 30's. Yay! I'm a joven!!! There were probably around 200 youth there. We had about 20 there between the church in Surco and the church in Canete.

practicing in the morning...

The worship was great. Unfortunately, the teachings were lacking. We only stayed for the first 2. We felt that they were either totally not from the Bible, or completely watered down. It was very sad to see all those youth soaking up a bad teaching. It reminded me how important the Word is, not that I had forgotten, but I could really sense it's importance. It also made me really appreciate our church here in Peru, and in Florida. I really appreciate Kelly and Kaulana, the youth pastor(s) back in Florida. Wow, our youth there really have it great. My heart was pretty saddened that day. We went back to the church and began to do our own impromptu conference to straighten things out with the youth here. Americo, Ricardo, Robin & I shared. I shared a Bible study for the girls on modesty and dating, or really the lack of dating. At the end of the day, it was really good. Pray for the chruches here in Peru, that they would be churches of God's Word and churches of prayer.

2 Timothy 4:2 "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfull your ministry."

Brian's away

Brian is in the US for 3 weeks to go to the Pastor's Conference and to do some visiting and sharing. Pray for him while he's away from home. And for Betty and the kids, who stayed behind this time.

Jimmy is helping out teaching some of the Bible studies. So is Jaime, and Jose.

Robin is helping out teaching the evening Bible studies in Ica.

It's a group effort!!