First Connection Meeting

I had mentioned in our last blog that the Lord had opened up some doors of opportunity. Well, Friday night, we will begin to walk through that door as the Lord allows. In order for people from the church to get to know each other better and for them to be able to invite their unsaved friends, we have an informal time of fellowship which includes a Bible study, refreshments, and casual conversation. I had been attending the "connection" meeting that one of the other missionaries had started. This was a great opportunity for me to learn about how the meeting should be done and to get to know the people at the meetings. Now, I have the opportunity to carry on this meeting in my house starting on Friday night. As you can imagine, I am very excited and a little bit nervous about putting my Spanish to the first real test. I would ask that you pray for me as I teach and help to coordinate this meeting. We appreciate all of your prayers!

Exciting News

Greetings to all. We are so excited about what the Lord is doing in our lives. God has showered us with so many blessings. Not the least of which is that Josiah had his first birthday yesterday. He had a great time tearing open his gifts (believe it or not the paper interested him more than the gifts; Imagine that!). We were able to have some of our missionary friends over to our house where we had a great time of celebration and fellowship. In the meantime, our Spanish language skills continue to increase. Don't be surprised if our blogs take on more of a "Spanish" flavor in the days ahead. We also would like to inform you that Sara is expecting our second child. The doctor was able to hear the baby's heartbeat loud and clear on Thursday, so we are glad to know that the baby is doing well. The approximate due date is set for sometime in the middle of March. Please keep Sara in your prayers in the days ahead as she deals with the sickness that has come with her expectancy. We thank you for praying. The Lord has given us some great opportunities; more about these in the days ahead. Have a great Lord's day.

Youth Congress

We are certainly excited about all that God is doing here in Peru. On Tuesday evening, the Youth Congress will kick off. This is perhaps the biggest event of the year here in Arequipa as young people will be coming to the meeting from all over Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. Please pray that the Lord will use Missionary Jeff Bush as he preaches this week.

My wife and I continue to pick up more of the language each and every day. Sometimes it is frustrating to not only understand what people are saying but why they are doing what they are doing. A different culture and a different way of thinking are the two main things that contribute to things being done differently.

We are very excited to now have our table and chairs. We grew very accustomed to standing around the counter and, yes, sitting on the floor in the kitchen when we ate. Now, we have our table and chairs which were very well-made by a very good carpenter here in town.

Thank the Lord for all that He has done and continues to do in Arequipa, Peru.

A Cat or a Baby?

Last night, in about 2 seconds, Josiah succeeded in somehow turning the display on the computer sideways. He was just banging happily away on the keyboard. We had no idea how to fix it and were trying all kinds of key combinations trying to right it. Finally, Sara searched online and found the keyboard shortcut to fix it. (Ctrl + alt + arrow key...just in case your child ever does the same thing) We were pretty amused that on the help engine where she found the answer it said..."This is a pretty common problem and usually involves a cat." A cat, or a very adventerous baby.

Starting Language School

What a blessing to report that we are starting language school this morning. We are very excited about all that the Lord is going to do. Thank you so much for remembering us in your prayers.

Wrong Way

Just before we left, Josiah was so very close to crawling. Since we've been here, he's figured it out...sort of. The problem is, he can only go backwards. We can't help but laugh at the poor guy as he gets farther and farther away from the toy he is trying so hard to get. Yesterday, this group of teenage girls chased Sara down in the store because they wanted to take a picture of Josiah with their cell phone. We decided we should charge for pictures of him. That way we can pay for all the stuff he's broken since we've been here. (He really likes to bang things together, and he's really quick.)

Moving In

This morning we signed the contract to rent a house. God was so good to us to allow us to find a home in a good area. Our house is halfway between the church we'll be working in to start and the Bible College where we'll be in language school. Apparently since it is winter here, it is not a good time to find a house to rent, so this is a real blessing. We are in the process of buying the things we need to get settled in. Please pray we'll be able to find the things we need and get moved in and settled soon.