Puerto Maldonado

I flew out to Puerto Maldonado on Thursday the 24th. After a night of no sleep in the Lima Airport and picking up 14 short term volunteers (with the help of Scott Englund) we made it to Puerto on Friday Morning. It feels like I'm in a different country here in the jungle. It's hard to describe obviously but it's hot, humid but somehow very relaxing and calming.

Everyone drives motorcycles and the local people seem very friendly. The level of poverty is shocking yet no one seems to be desperate like in Arequipa and Lima. I haven't seen any beggers which is a big difference from Arequipa.







I've had the oppurtunity to go out to the jungle in some of the planning for the upcoming projects. It's so calming hearing no cars, no noises except for those of random birds. It really sounds like a soundtrack you would find at Walmart of jungle noises. It's so perfect.

On Friday and Saturday night we had church services and they were very moving. The second night 7 people came foward to accept Christ! People were gathering around from the street, people stopped on their motorcycles to listen. It was awesome!

The church is in a "barn" but the members are so involved and stayed out till 10:30pm on saturday night.

The church has no projector (they use the hymnals) they have one keyboard player and they use a CD player Car deck for their offering plate.

On the way to Puerto my Uncle Fernando that lives in Cusco came to see me (I had a one hour layover in Cusco). My Cousin Eliseo was in Cusco as well videoing a church service. It was great to see him and my uncle.

I am here in Puerto until Tuesday. Abby and the kids stayed back and all of them seem to be fighting off colds, flu's and food poisioning. It has been stressful for Abby and stressful for me being away and not being able to help. Please keep them in your prayers!

You can follow the project at http://www.extremenazarene.org/

Here is a brief video I put together of the evening service. 7 community members came foward to accept Christ!

Josh and Mylie's First Dance

Not a whole lot to be said about this video. As a parent these are the moments you cherish. Apparently this happened spontaneously and my cousin Betty caught it on her camera phone.

My Love for Dave Ramsey Explained!

Okay folks, I have some stinking exciting news for you! Dave Ramsey of Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace University is coming to Portland for two days in late October to speak LIVE!!! If I was still in Oregon, I'd have already bought my tickets:) Now you may be wondering why I am so crazy about this man and I will tell you.......

In January 2008, our church offered the Financial Peace University class at our church and Daniel and I decided to attend. We were in way over our heads financially and were having a hard time staying afloat. In fact, we were sinking in debt pretty bad. The cost for the materials for the class was about $100, which was difficult to pay given where we were, but it was the best $100 I have ever spent in my life. So for twelve weeks we went to class, learned how to budget realistically, pay of debt one bill at a time, pay our tithe, save and buy only with cash. His principles are so simple and yet why didn't we do this before?!

So over the next few months, we put our house on the market, sold of unnecessary stuff to help pay debt, cut up all credit cards, used cash for purchases and just started feeling better about life. I can honestly say that if it hadn't been for Dave Ramsey's class, Daniel and I would never have been able to come to Peru to serve. God had been planning for us to be here as early as Jan '08! We hadn't even heard about Extreme Peru until later that August:) How amazing is that!!!

Now, I'm not saying that if you go see him live or take his classes, all your financial problems will go away. Our house was never able to sell and unfortunately went into foreclosure and we still have debt (medical and school) that we are still paying off. Its kind of hard to do so right now with no income:) But I know that these classes have put us in the right mindset of how to live debt free and I hope that in a few years time I can say: I'M DEBT FREE!!!

So for all of you new to Dave Ramsey or Extreme Peru, please check out these amazing websites. See how one weekend can change your life (http://www.daveramsey.com/) and see whats been happening down here in Peru (http://www.extremenazarene.org/) :) Love you all and God bless!!!

Saturday in Kiscos

This last Saturday, Daniel, the kids and I were invited to spend the day at a hot springs with the youth group from Alto Libertad. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to see a new site and hang out with some great company, we accepted. So we hopped on a bus with about 15 other people and left for the outskirts of town to Yura.

The hot springs ended up being a shallow pond of crystal clear bath temp water. It was heaven! It was the perfect height for the kids to wade in and for us to sit and relax. I attempted to teach Joshua how to swim but the silly boy couldn't relax! And then poor Mylie got thrown into the water by yours truly and she was a little hesitant to play after that. Oops:(

The day went really well with a short worship service, picnic and games. It was really great to meet some new people as well as spend the day with our kids. The only downside to the day was that, me being me, I forgot to put sunscreen on and wound up with Bob the Tomato legs. I have spent the last two days bedridden and unable to walk. Yeah me! I think in the future I won't be forgetting to put it on:)

As it is Tuesday, Daniel and I are back in the office, preparing for our upcoming project in Puerto Maldonado. Please keep Extreme in your prayers as we continue to expand the kingdom. Daniel and the Communications team just got done updating the website (www.extremenazarene.org) with photos from both projects so check it out! We also have quite a few more Long Term Volunteers and 12 new 40/40's on the field and are excited to have them here.

Arequipa Lately

Okay all, so sorry to have kept you waiting! But life here in Arequipa has been one crazy event after the other. Now that the dust has finally settled, I have some spare time to catch you all up.

Our second Arequipa Impact/Construction project began on August 7th with the arrival of 79 short-term volunteers, including peeps from my home church and my parents. Needless to say, I was freaking excited. For the next twelve days, we rushed the STV's all over Arequipa, working with children, the elderly, prison ministries, prayer in the Plaza and so much more. I won't go into too much detail, so if you want more info on what happened, please go check out our website http://www.extremenazarene.org/. It was an amazing time of outreach, compassion ministries and kingdom expansion. I was truly touched by the dedication some STV's displayed to show the love of Christ to the people of Peru. And to brag just a little bit on my parents, they were AMAZING!!! My dad was hanging on scaffolding most days, painting (he hates to paint) and my mom jumped in anywhere there was a need. She painted bathrooms in a juvy center, gave footrubs to women in prison and the whole time kept a smile. I have never been more proud to call them my parents. They withstood cold showers, hard beds and pillows and everyday meals of chicken and rice and I never heard them complain once. Thats a big deal to me! Okay.....stepping off the soap box........I'm good now.

So with the end of the project, so came the time for my dad to leave. It was very hard to say goodbye to him, not knowing when I would see him again. I had such a fun time tiling bathrooms, paiting classrooms and just being able to hug my dad! But he was gracious enough to leave my mom with me for one more week. So with dads departure came my mothers arrival at my house. It was such a comforting feeling to have her with me, playing cards and watching girlie movies. I'm one of those girls who loves to spend time with her family so this was a real treat! And yes, there was shopping!!! I haven't "shopped" in such a long time I thought I was going to have a panic attack in the department store. I didn't know what to do with myself!

It was lovely being able to show my mom (and my dad a little too) what a beautiful city Daniel and I live in. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we are SO BLESSED to be located in Arequipa. We took mom and the kiddies to the dinosaur park, some of our favorite restaurants, local markets and much more. And ironically enough, the very last day my mom was here, Josh and Mylies school had Grandparents Day, where they were invited to visit classes and enjoy a short presentation from each of the classes. So mom was able to see Josh and Miss Moo in their cute little smocks, having a good time at school. I think that was a blessing from God really.

But as with my dad, the time came to send my mother home. Thankfully, Daniel and I were able to fly up to Lima with her to say goodbye as I need to be there the next day to get my residency completed. So at the Lima Airport, I handed off my mom to the Wertz's and off she went. Again, more tearful goodbyes and promises to skype. Thanks mom for that extra special week. I will hold onto those memories until next we meet.

God is and continues to be amazing. The Arequipa projects, in my opinion, went very well and I am looking forward to the upcoming Puerto projects, where more Hill Churchers will be joining us. People are making decisions for Christ and all I can say to that is Praise Jesus! and Amen.

Parentals in PERU!!!

So this weekend has been super exciting as my parents have landed here in Arequipa and will be around for the next two weeks. I haven't seen them since the end of January and am so happy to have them come! I cannot tell a lie......I wept a bit at the airport:)

So why have they come? To visit me yes, but also to participate in our Arequipa 1 Project! We will be evangelizing all over this city to the young and the old, as well as small work projects in local hospitals and and children's homes. I'm pretty stoked to be heading up a few painting projects in one of the local churches and a children's home I have been visiting these past few months. Sometimes just showing the love of God by donating time and labor is all it takes:)

We are hoping to finish up the Missionary Training Center at the Zamacola church by the end of next week and we still have a long way to go. Please pray that we are able to complete the building on time and underbudget! Today was the first day of for the Short Term Volunteers to be out on the construction site and they did a fantastic job! I watched my dad stand MANY feet up in the air, building scaffolding to paint the outside of the church. Amazing!! I would have fallen given my clumsiness:)

With this coming week being crazy busy, we probably won't be posting too much. However, if you would like see pictures and hear stories of this project, please, PLEASE visit www.extremenazarene.org and look up this current project. We have some awesome photographers capturing these precious moments here.

God is good and with His protection, love and grace we will make a difference in the lives of many this week. Praise God and Amen!

Family, fun and Arequipa 1

My Twin brother came to see me here in Arequipa. David stayed from the 30th of July to the 6th of August. It was really like a breath of fresh air to have him here. Because of the timing (another group of volunteers coming) I worked in the office in the mornings but we were able to get out and see the sights and sounds of Arequipa. The last time we were both here was 9 years ago. We both were single...man how things change! His wife is expecting their 4th daugher in mid-September. I've never been on that side of the airport, seeing family leave back to the states. Our family was VERY happy to see him come and VERY sad to see him leave. Much thanks to my Mom and his wife who helped make his trip possible.

We said goodbye to him on Thursday and on Friday "Nanna" and "Papa" arrived! Abby's parents, Cal and Debbie Kearns, landed with the rest of the 80 short term volunteers for Arequipa 1. This afternoon we had our orientation and registration. The construction and impact projects will start tomorrow. It will be a whirlwind two weeks, so make sure to follow the website (http://www.extremenazarene.org/) for the updates and pictures.