Koplin Family Mission

Celebrating 100!!

2012-02-08T17:06:00.000-05:00

This week we are celebrating a milestone; the kids have reached 100 days of class and so have learned to count to 100 as a result. We've been doing a lot of 100 themed things this week and I thought a cake to decorate with 100 Lentejas (M&M type candy) would also be a very fun and not to mention a delicious way to celebrate one-hundred!

The kids got to help prepare the brownie cake.

Mom's lil' Chef, he loves to help in the kitchen.

Helping has it's perks!

Mom's lil' Artist, she loves to decorate.

It tasted as good as it looked!

Hadassah invited a few friends over to help us celebrate!

Does The Carnal Christian Exsist?

2012-01-28T21:47:00.001-05:00

A lengthy article but very thoroughly done; addressing the question

as to whether or not there exists the "Carnal Christian."

Our Brothers in Christ from Venezuela Visit

2012-01-20T17:25:00.001-05:00

2012-01-15T18:06:00.004-05:00

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;

but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Tito the Evangelist.

This past week a group of passionate brothers from Venezuela joined us here in Barranco. The first thing on thier minds was getting out there and preaching the gospel, something that the brothers and sisters here were glad to accompany them in. It was a blessed evening filled with preaching and praise to our God for His excellence in all things!

Chocolatada Pisco Dec. 2011

2011-12-30T12:23:00.002-05:00

Chocolatada Pisco Dec. 2011

Navidad 2011 Photos

2011-12-30T12:20:00.000-05:00

Navidad 2011 Photos

Should Fallen Pastors Be Restored?

2011-12-28T21:37:00.001-05:00

As I was browsing around John MacArthur's website Grace to You I came across this article. I thought it might be helpful or thought provoking to some who are still pondering this question.

Should Fallen Pastors Be Restored? by John MacArthur

Kirk Cameron & John MacArthur on Salvation

2011-12-28T20:29:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Josiah

2011-12-06T11:34:00.000-05:00

Josiah has been asking for quite some time to visit the zoo and so we took him and a few of his friends from church this past Saturday to celebrate his birthday.

Josiah with all his pals.

Play time after our picnic lunch.

Playing in front of some ancient ruins.

Cake time back at the house.

He got them all!

Happy Birthday Eduardo

2011-12-06T10:30:00.001-05:00

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

Psalm 69:30

Every day of life that God grants unto us is an occasion to praise His name. We are very thankful for the opportunites the Lord has given us to celebrate two birthdays this week. This past Tuesday after our evening bible study we celebrated Eduardo's birthday with him a few days early and Saturday we celebrated Josiah's a few days early as well.

Everyone brought something to share.

Some of the Tuesday night group that stayed for a time of fellowship.

Thanksgiving In Peru

2011-11-28T15:05:00.003-05:00

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

We were delighted to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of our new friends that we have made here. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and thanksgiving for what God has done in our lives this year. We all had one thing in common to be thankful for; the Lord's provision of a church family and the edification it has brought to our lives these past months.

May He recieve the glory and honor and praise!

The kids helped prepare our first homemade stuffing, there is no Stovetop to be found here!

We had five states present...
From Left: Adam (WI), Christian (Peru), Kristian & Lila (VA.-Peru), Jerika (TN.), Melissa (TX.) and Grampie (NY.)
It was a very delicious meal with everyone bringing something to share.

The kids had their own special table...
They are still thanking God for the day of Thanksgiving, they throughly enjoyed it!

Farewell Part 2

2011-11-16T18:08:00.007-05:00

A few more pictures of last week's farewall party. We've already had to say good-bye to three of them this past week but we know that God has great plans for them.

Luis (Mexico) showing off the good-bye card Josiah made for him.

Igor (Brazil) & Eddy taking part in a bit of fellowship.

Los Gringos, the Americans Adam & Grampie.

Rutman & Henry (Peruvians from various cities)

Nico & Andrea (Argentina)

Adam & Santiago (Columbia)

Santiago (Columbia)

Worship time.

Olivia's turn to lead us in worship.

Bienvenidos Grampie

2011-10-28T15:48:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning we welcomed "home" my Father who has come to live with us from New York. The kids were extremely excited to see him and have not left his side since. The house is full of laughter and chatter as the kids scurry around taking full advantage of having Grandpa back once again.

Introducing A Few New Friends

2011-10-26T20:45:00.003-04:00

Although our schedules have picked up quite a bit these last few months we still make time to host people whether it be for tea or a meal. This past Sunday after our service we had three of the students from the academy come over for a home cooked dinner and fellowship. Each one of them is from a different part of Peru and we enjoyed getting to know them a bit more before they will return to their homes next month. They had some great stories; capturing anacondas, crocodile hunting and river bathing were some of the more exotic ones!

Eliazar, Eddy, Rudman, Henry, lisa & Josiah.

El Evangelio - Martin Zacarias

2011-09-30T13:46:00.001-04:00

Para escuchar mas predicas como esta usted puede visitar la pagina web de
Iglesia del Salvador.

180 The Movie - Watch Now

2011-09-30T13:17:00.006-04:00

How could so many change their stances on abortion in just seconds?

Watch this new video by Way of the Master and find out.

Don't forget to link it to your blog, Facebook, Twitter ect.

Let's get the word out about this amazing video.

Tuesday Night Worship

2011-09-15T16:41:00.000-04:00

The True Christian - Paul Washer

2011-09-09T14:57:00.000-04:00

The Doctrine of the Total Depravity of Man

2011-09-04T22:57:00.000-04:00

Un Paseo en Ñaña '- A Trip to Ñaña

2011-09-01T19:55:00.001-04:00

Paseo

Click on the above photo link to view our photos/videos from a recent church day trip. It was a holiday here in Peru and our church went together as a group for a great day of fellowship and sunshine just an hour or so outside of Lima to a place called Ñaña, there were over 100 of us!

Home Bible Study - Week 4

2011-08-24T13:18:00.005-04:00

We had another great bible study last night and I remembered to grab a few photos to introduce you to some of our new friends. After the study we had an awesome time ministering one to another. There were a handful of people who attended who are considering their need for Christ's salvation and we were blessed to see the body of Christ work with such grace among this group. The study was about regeneration and our need to be born again, it really made an impact upon the hearts of many and we cannot wait for next week. Even our 5 year old daughter who sat through the study was sharing with her little brother today about the dead condition we are in (before Christ) and our inability to come to Him (I'm paraphrasing.)

The kids with their favorite friend Paula.

The men taking part in a bit of fellowship.

Eduardo & Ricardo

Silvana, Gracia & Igor digging into the word.

Women's ministry.

Home Bible Study

2011-08-10T16:22:00.000-04:00

Last Tuesday we opened our home to host a weekly bible study here in Surco. It had been on our heart for some time to do so and we were just waiting and praying for the right moment. The first two weeks have been a great blessing in a variety of different ways. We have a large group from the church in Barranco coming but we have also invited some who attended the previous study that we held. A few of them had been asking when we would commence again and so they were glad to hear about the new study. We also have family and friends who attend different churches and in some cases who are not yet born-again coming to study with us.

The style is similar to that of the study in the past but we will rotate teachers every two weeks or so. There is also room for the body to share their thoughts and questions throughout the teaching which really has been edifying to all. Having the study in a home setting really promotes that intimate fellowship and allows for people in the local area to partake in a midweek study. If you live or have visited Lima you know that traffic is a huge issue and for most people who work it is very difficult to get to the other side of the city during rush hour (literally it can take 2 hours or more.) Having something close to home makes it easier for them to drop in after work on the way home and it also helps us all to get to know other believers in our neighborhood.

We cannot say it enough, we are blessed by this opportunity and we ask for your continued prayers for those who attend that do not know the Lord. Also pray that the Lord will lead and guide this gathering, already after two weeks we are just about out of space and chairs! Although we must say that as exciting as it is to see people come through the door our greatest desire is that the people be edified and we only want to be led by the Lord in a way that will accomplish this and bring Him the glory in doing it.

If you are in Lima and want to stop by you can send us an email for the exact address and or contact information. We meet every Tuesday evening at 7:30 PM en punto.

Si usted está en Lima y desea venir a este estudio por favor escribe a koplinfamilia@gmail.com por la dirección y más información. Estamos reuniendo todos los martes a las 7:30 PM en punto.

Photos From The Cotahausi Canyon

2011-07-20T21:33:00.004-04:00

Cotahausi Canyon - Cañon de Cotahausi

Eddy joined a group of brothers who traveled to Cotahausi, Arequipa to exhort the local pastors and believers there. It was a five day trip with a 10 hour bus ride through the mountians of Arequipa. Above is a link to our Picasa album which also includes short video clips as well.

Una Sorpresa Especial - A Special Surprise

2011-07-01T12:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was my birthday, my first in Peru. My lovely husband decided to surprise me and invite over a "few" brothers and sisters. Although I was a bit suspicious of his doings in the end it was a very wonderful surprise. I was wondering how he would manage to feed any visitors since we had nothing prepared for a party but he had that covered too. The sisters baked a few pizza's and brought over some sandwhiches to share, gracias hermanas!

They gave me my first book in Spanish
"The Disiplines of A Pius Woman."

Pollyanna and I

The most delicious Tres Leches cake.

Some of the brothers and sisters who came to celebrate with me.

It was a great day, the best birthday that I can remember actually. I thank God for leading us to such a wonderful group of brothers and sisters and for my family that made this day so special.

Esta dia fue muy especial para mi, muchas gracias a todos que pasaron esta tiempo conmigo.

Overcoming Impossibilities

2011-06-24T12:42:00.005-04:00

"With men this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible."

A few of you out there have been with us since the beginning. You may recall that during our first trip here to Peru we were forced to leave the country for a quick border-hop in order to remain legal in Peru. We had tried to file for legal residence through my husband who is a Peruvian born citizen but ran up against some difficulties. We thought that we would take a moment to share with you all our journey and the faithfullness of our God along the way, we hope you will be encouraged to lean on Him all the more.

While here in 2008-09 my husband ran around Lima trying to get our papers in order but was told "you must go back to New York and inscribe your marriage and the kid's birth certificates there first, sorry there is nothing we can do here." Once we returned to New York we set about this task immediately via telephone calls and emails. We were told by the consulate in NYC that since he had legally changed his name in the United States upon his naturalization he could not "ask" for his wife and family. Their justification for this was that I was legally married to a man whom they had no record of in Peru, this was because both our marriage certificate and the kid's birth certificates state his American name. They would not accept an American document showing the legal name change and recommended getting a lawyer, case closed. We waited many months and when it was certain we would be returning to Peru we thought we would take a trip down to NYC and see what we could get accomplished in person. For those of you who know Peru then you will understand that particular decision. Upon arriving my husband was met by the very person who had closed the door on him earlier... and she remembered him. The nails were hammered into the door as they gave us the same response and basically said "good luck."

Well at this point we had a problem, we were selling everything and moving to Peru because we felt the Lord had said "Go, no questions asked." We recognized that we would need to be able to remain in Peru legal so as not to have to constantly be leaving the country every six months but we did not know how that would be accomplished. What we did know for certain was that God had called us and that He would then need to provide a way for us. We continued in our preparations for the big move and let God Almighty worry about the details.

Once we arrived in Lima various agencies confirmed the consultes words to us, we found favor with no one. As we talked one night with a family member they suggested trying to file for the kid's DNI (national ID card) and if we were granted this then they would have to issue the passport. We thought "what do we have to lose" and walked into our local RENIEC office. We spoke with a lawyer there who looked at my husband's two passports (verifiying that the American guy was really the Peruvian guy) and said, "I can do that, but first you need to send these marriage/birth certificates back to New York to be certified." We had a hard time to believe this man, we thought he must not understand correctly but we took a chance and shipped everything back up to NYC. Everything was approved and after a lot of running around translating ect., the kids were granted their DNI's and then their passports. We were excited but still we had to apply for mine and since we had been in the country more than 90 we needed to leave in order to do that. We trusted that God had not brought us that far to change direction and so we completed our border-hop, applied for my legal residence and waited.

This past Monday we went to pick up my Carnet (legal ID), PRAISE GOD. When all odds were against us He led us by the hand down the path we needed to go. He truly is able to do more than we could ever ask or think. The Lord has expressed to us without a shadow of a doubt His faithfulness to us when we walk in obedience. He is teaching us constantly through the trials He has brought us through and all the while greatly increasing our faith.

So that is our story, we hope it will bless and encourage you all to persevere in faith.

Shocking Youth Message

2011-06-22T10:53:00.002-04:00

As of late we have been moved to share with a few people this "Shocking Youth Message" delivered by Paul Washer at a Youth Conference some years back. Many have been touched and even converted as a result of this message and so we thought it a good idea to post it here for those of you who have yet to come across it. We in no way want to lift up any one particular man simply the messages the Lord delivers through him. We've been blessed immensely and hope you will be as well.

In searching for the video to post I've come across a short clip of the background behind the message, I think this also is important to watch in order to understand what prompted the going forth of the message that follows.

Trip to Oxapampa

2011-06-11T19:54:00.002-04:00

Click the above photo to view our most recent photo album updated in Picasa.

If you have not been added to our monthly newsletter we send out via email and would like to be please send us an email or post a comment here and we will add you. We also send links out to our updated photo albums to those on our Newsletter lists but will now be adding links here as well. In addition to the Newsletter list we also have a Prayer Team group who has commited to praying for us here in Peru, we send brief updates and prayer requests more periodically to this list of people. You can choose to be included in one or both groups, just let us know.

Another reminder, if you would like to share our blog on Facebook or Twitter we have installed an easy button to do so at the right of the page, just one click away!

Open Air - Parque Kennedy

2011-06-02T22:32:00.034-04:00

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.

John 16:15a

For the last few months we have been attending a church in Barranco called Iglesia del Salvador. We are greatly encouraged by their zeal for the gospel and their eagerness to proclaim the good new to a lost world. It is one facet among a host of others that have drawn us into this growing congregation of believers. Earlier this week we were able to join a few brothers and sisters for one of their weekly proclamations of the gospel in Parque Kennedy. It was extremely refreshing to hear a pure and piercing presentation of the gospel of Jesus Chirst and even more more so to witness those who were drawn by the message. Below is a brief clip of one of the seminary students preaching to the crowd. Afterwards we broke up into groups to pass out tracts and converse with those who had questions.

Although we have on many opportunities participaited in evangelistic efforts, open air preaching is something we have never had a chance to take part in. There is so much to learn and we feel as though God has led us to this place in order that we will be equipped for His future work and all that He desires to do in and through us. One thing that we left last night chewing on was our need to know not just verses from the bible but to memorize them backwards and forwards and especially their exact location. There are often times those in the crowd who will challange what you say and a proclaimer of the gospel must be ready.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

1 Peter 3:15

Life of Sacrifice

2011-04-15T15:03:00.001-04:00

Fellowship Night - Part Two

2011-03-09T14:38:00.017-05:00

Fellowship is what it is all about.

It's not a party without the Inca & Coca Colas.

Flor & Manuel

Brotherly love.

Fellowship NIght

2011-03-09T14:29:00.000-05:00

This past Monday we welcomed home Marco and Monique from a time of furlough and since they were going to be in town for the night we decided to have a few people over. One of the things we enjoy doing is bringing believers together for times of fellowship and encouragement and so it was this past Monday evening. We were delighted to host missionaries and pastors from different parts of Peru as well as those from outside of Peru who all just happened to be in Lima as well. It was a great time of fellowship and getting to know other believers and ministries. The Lord has truly blessed us with many new friends here in Peru and we thoroughly enjoying taking part in this type of hospitality ministry.

The ladies had a wonderful time catching up.

The guys equally spent time in fellowship.

Group discussion and prayer.

Always time to be silly!

Guest House

2011-03-08T17:07:00.000-05:00

In recent months we have opened our home to various couples or individuals who are in need of housing for one reason or another while in Lima. The Lord has really been opening up a hospitality ministry here and we are enjoying it very much. We've met all sorts of people and missionaries and have been able to provide a place of comfort and rest for those traveling on from Lima or just in need of a place to lay their head without cost.

Eddy and Jair conversing on through the night.

The kids enjoy meeting and hosting thier own guests as well.

Feliz Cumpleaños Eddy

2011-02-15T15:55:00.000-05:00

Friday evening we had a missionary couple staying with us on their way out to the States for a time of furlough. We invited over another brother in the Lord for a small gathering in our apartment which provided for the perfect opportunity to sing Happy Birthday to Eddy a few days early.

Although he is just a few years more than 3, I guess you could say we were celebrating three days early.
It's backwards too... opps!

The kids absolutely love singing Happy Birthday Peruvian style... that means first in the traditional English version and then the more lively Spanish version.

Monique, Marco and Eddy.
Marco & Monique are missionaries in Pisco.

Marco, Marcos & Eddy.
Marcos is the Pastor of Calvary Chapel in Barranco and it was a blessing to be able to reunite with him once again.

It was a sweet time of fellowship for all. I thoroughly enjoyed having time to spend with a like-minded English speaking laborer and the men spent a few good hours edifying one another in the faith.

Men's Fellowship Night

2011-01-29T15:41:00.001-05:00

As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Without really intending to Eddy has formed a small fellowship group of men in our home. He was meeting weekly with different brothers and the Lord placed it on our hearts to bring them all together to edify and exhort one another. The men are truly enjoying the fellowship and we are blessed to be able to open our home for the edifying of the saints.

Back Left to Front Right: Lucho Valdivia, Eddy, Manuel, Lucho Robles, Coco, Pepe, Americo

They even do the dishes!

This paritcular week each of the regular men who attend invited a friend

Los Negritos Festival - Huanuco Peru

2011-01-19T16:50:00.005-05:00

Festival of the Negritos

December 24th - January 19th

This festival commemorates a historical fact: on Christmas Day 1648, a wealthy

Spanishman freed his black slaves, who celebrated dancing around the Nativity

scene. Today, this celebration features the Cofradias de los Negritos

(Brotherhood of the Slaves), who march through the streets dancing and showing

their colorful costumes until they reach the Nativity scene where they wait for

the arrival of the Baby Jesus.

And did they ever dance, from sun up until well after it had set. They would march up and down the streets of Huanuco beating their drums and occasionally stopping to dance. Certain homes and businesses elect to have them dance in their location which is supposed to bring a blessing upon it. Once they have done so they are served food and strong drink.

A comentary I received from a Christian brother living in Huanuco:
They are not celebrating the freedom for slaves anymore, whether that tradition is given as the excuse or not. Some Christians believe the celebration is harmless and it probably was when it first began. To an extent with certain groups in various locations it may be more or less harmless but in most cases these days, and with most of those who dance and participate, it is some level of two things. First, it is a drunken party. Second, it is a form of idolatrous worship.
The customary dance usually begins at a Catholic church where a priest "blesses" the dancers with holy water. They are then accompanied by a shrine or image of the baby Jesus, Mary or a host of other saints to which they pray to as they stop at the numerous houses and businesses along their route.
What I have uncomfortably noted is that the dances of the Negritos are sometimes quite diabolical looking and feeling. Every year as the three weeks of daily dancing go on the attitudes of people, the neighborhood dogs and even of some of the Christians seem to worsen. It is as if the demonic spirit begins to concentrate in the city, in response to having been ushered in.

Feliz Navidad

2010-12-25T13:20:00.000-05:00

Here in Peru the birth of Christ is celebrated on Christmas Eve, known here as Noche Buena. We spent the evening in the traditional Peruvian sense of traveling from home to home visiting with relatives and enjoying deliciously prepared hot chocolate and turkey dinner. It was a bit difficult for the kids to stay awake well past midnight but it proved well worth it as they watched a wonderful display of fireworks and then opened a few presents.

Merry Christmas - Feliz Navidad

Wishing you all great tidings of joy as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ this Christmas Day.

We extend are warmest wishes to you and your family and thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this holiday season.
It is a blessing and a privilage to serve our Lord here in Peru and we thank you for standing with us in this ministry.

The Peruvian Aji Amarillo

2010-12-20T22:05:00.002-05:00

Aji Amarillo, oh how I have missed thee.

The word aji in Spanish means chili pepper and amarillo means yellow. When fully ripened and ready to incorporate in to your most favorite Peruvian cusine, the aji will be orange in color. It is a staple in kitchens throughout Lima and is used in typical plates such as Aji de Gallina, Papa Huancaina, Locro de Zapallo and Lomo Saltado.

We're Losing it by Paul Washer

2010-12-15T17:30:00.000-05:00

Happy 3rd Birthday

2010-12-10T16:27:00.001-05:00

Monday evening we celebrated Josiah's third birthday here in the house. We kept things simple and invited just the immediate family, although Christian would have been invited if he could have made it!

Happy 3rd Birthday Josiah

A little help please?

For the future Architect

Wait a second, it wasn't her birthday too was it?
What a suprise, the kids cousins chipped in and bought them both bikes!

Lessons from Papa.

Wait until Christian sees this!
One very excited little boy.

Cousin Katty

Cousin Jacky

Josiah taking notes from his older cousin Osquitar the architect.

A Little Bit of Everything

2010-11-28T21:53:00.001-05:00

This past week we have been doing a little bit of everything. One of the primary things that the Lord showed us to do upon our return was to just meet with the people and reconnect so we have been doing so in various forms. We've had the chance to reunion with most of those whom we were discipling during our first mission here and likewise the opportunity to meet new friends as well.

Marisol and Josiah having a bit of fun in the kids "casita."

If you will remember, Marisol is the young lady who was helping us out around the house during our last mission trip, she has become a close friend of ours as well as the children.

Kike joined us one afternoon for one of my first Peruvian dishes, green spaghetti.

The Lord has brought many new people into our lives in such a short period of time. One of them is a couple named Jose and Lisa whom I met on a forum for expatriates living in Peru. They invited us to their house for Thanksgiving dinner were we met a handful of other missionaries who serve with Wycliffe, a bible translating ministry. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and a testimony of just how God provides for each detail of our lives. We had not made any plans for Thanksgiving and although we had not specifically prayed for an invitation, the Lord knew our hearts and provided us with one.

It was a wonderful meal, not to mention delicious!

Such care was taken in the setting of the table.

A special verse was chosen for each of us.

The kids enjoying the casita of Jose and Lisa's daughter.

Yes, this picture was taken on Thanksgiving Day, we praise God for the warmer weather.

On Saturday mornings there is an organic "fair" by a very nice park that we like to visit. Yesterday morning we took the kids for an hour or so. Here they are in the small library watching a pupet show.

After the library they had a chance to run.

Our time spent at Iglesia Cristiana Koinonia has been a blessed one for us. The fellowship within the body is wonderful and we stand in awe with them as we watch the Lord doing marvellous things there. Each Sunday we have been there has been a full day of worship and fellowship. Every other Sunday they prepare a menú in the church. A menú is meal served complete with appetizer and beverage for a small price, they use the proceeds toward missions work. Even on the off Sunday's the people still congregate until very late in the afternoon.

La familia Koinonia... or a part of it anyways.

Chipy preparing a plate of spaghetti con mucho cariño.

For dessert, Jacky made piccarones... stay tuned for the video.

The finished product - piccarones.

The kids favorite part of the week, play time with Pricila.

Poco A Poco... Little by Little We Settle In

2010-11-17T16:56:00.001-05:00

Today marks eight days in Lima so far, the time is just flying by. We finally received internet service last night and so here is a brief update. I'm sorry that the pictures are out of order but I was having such trouble with it that I decided to just post them as they came up.

We moved into our apartment little by little through out the week as we waited for each item to arrive. Finally the mattresses arrived this past Monday and so we are now living permanantly at our apartment in Surco. We were tremendously blessed to have stayed one week with the brothers and sisters of Koinonia Surco, they truly are a family and we thank God to be part of it. Although we have gone through many trials this past week it has touched us so to be with such caring people. Eddy's family also has went out of their way to help us run here and there buying different items and lending to us when we have been in need. We have been blessed abundantly by the generous hearts of those here in Peru.

The kids had been stuggling a bit with sickness and the lose of their friends from home. Hadassah who is quite sensitive has picked out many of the negative aspects of Peru already and at one point had decided she did not like it here. That all changed this past sunday when we went to church. She and Josiah were able to make friends and spent the day with some of the younger girls in the fellowship. We took them to a nearby park and the kids were just delighted with the friendship... they now ask everyday to return to church.

Getting settled physically has been a struggle, if you all remember from our last trip things are much more complicated here. We were promised our mattresses on Saturday only to make a sale, they didn't arrive until Monday but we were promised a comforter for the delay. The mattresses came after a whole day of waiting but no comforter. Today it came and the guy offered to sell us a set of sheets to match, after we bought them we realized they most likely were to be included in the set but he pulled them out for a quick sale. We waited until today as well for our refridgerator and now that it has arrived, it doesn't fit. Did I mention you can not return items here for a refund? We've removed the cabinets and will have someone reinstall them a few inches higher, way to high though to be usable on a daily basis. The stove arrived yesterday but the gas and connection valve didn't, today the situation is now under control and we are cooking finally. Eddy also had the phone installed yesterday but much to his disappointment the man also lied to him. We have just four minutes a day to make calls and no option to change this until December, it doesn't matter that the guy lied to him about the plan, that is just the way it is. It is a new way of life for us but sometimes we just have to laugh because of the complete insanity of some things. It is an adventure for sure and it is fun experiencing a new way of living even when it is different. God must be answering our prayers for more patience.

We are thankful that little by little we are settling in. We do have a home telephone number now that you can call, apart from the local number we left you all with in NY. The phone we received from the telephone company will not work with the Magicjack so until we get one that does we can only receive calls to our Lima telephone number. I'll send out an email with the number shortly. I'll also send out an update with prayer requests as well. Continue praying for a smooth transition for our family and feel free to drop us a line, we love to hear from you.

Watch out for the splinters!

Do you recognize that face??

Eddy & Hermano Lucho

The bunk bed at the church was a hit

"Welcome Koplin"
We were receieved with a warm welcome gathering our first night in Lima

Renewed friends... Pricila, Ayumi & Hadassah

Ready, Set, Go!

2010-09-24T07:37:00.002-04:00

Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered.

We have been getting ready for this big move for months now, and we are almost set to go! We've taken that final step and purchased one-way tickets for Lima in early November to which we are very excited to announce. The contents of our home are quickly disappearing and we are down to a few remaining items, the Lord's timing and favor have been perfect in everything. He truly is a God who cares for the details.

During these last few weeks here in New York we will begin to focus our efforts on presenting the vision the Lord has given to us to different pastors, churches and friends in hopes of gaining prayerful support for the ministry. If you are interested in joining a team who regularly prays for us, please let us know and we will provide you with the contact information of the lady who heads up this group. We covet your prayers during this transition and for the months to come as we settle into a new routine, home and country. Although Eddy is a native of Peru it is still quite an adjustment for him as he has grown very accustomed to the way of life here in the States.

We will also be searching for a home church to become connected with and different ministries to work along side of as the Lord leads. If you know of any missionaries, native or foreign, that you would recommend we reach out to once we arrive, please do send us their contact information.

Thank you all for following along with us, we are sorry for our lack of updates to the blog site as we wanted to wait until Eddy had put in his notice to his employer before we announced to the world of our departure plans. We still would love the chance to meet with you before leaving for we are going to miss everyone so much!

The kids spending some time with friends before the big move.

Are You a Good Person?

2010-08-11T14:46:00.000-04:00

Daniel's Perspective - Rancho Maranatha

2010-07-13T22:48:00.000-04:00

As of late there is nothing of significance to report regarding our progress on returning to Peru but we do however want to share with you memos of challenge and encouragement from others that we discover along the way. These all have spoken to our hearts in some form or another and we hope that you will be equally as blessed. The following is from Daniel & Ana Jones' most recent update from Rancho Maranatha in Alamos, Mexico, written by Daniel.

I have always used the thief at the cross as an example of how a person can be saved at the last minute. Two years ago I spoke to the village where Miguel Angel, Ana's brother in Chihuahua lives, and told the men there how if they are taken out of their homes to be killed, (that is still happening and at the time was happening a lot) that they should use the last minutes of their lives to repent and ask Jesus for forgiveness instead of wasting those precious last minutes paralyzed by fear and regret. I explained to them how foolish it is to wait that long and how wise it is to give your life to Jesus now and live for Him and how we will each be rewarded for what we have done here on earth. The thief on the cross has always seemed like and example of someone that wasted his life but found forgiveness at death's doorstep. Yesterday I saw him in a different light.

I was explaining how stocks work and used Eva's garden as an example. I told them how if Eva wanted to go public and expand, she could sell stocks and each of us could purchase a part of her present business and doing so would include any future growth. I told them that perhaps each one of them might buy one share because of lack of confidence in the future of that same business. Now I have seen Eva's garden and I know that she has a green thumb and that she is a very hard worker and very disciplined. I would buy at least 1000 shares! I told them to imagine at the end of a year now instead of her garden being just her back yard, being the field next to it which is a huge field. Now because we invested in her enterprise, we also each own a percentage of her business. Of course, because I had faith in her abilities, I own much more and my investment is paying off handsomely.

Now back to the thief on the cross. The disciples had placed all of their hopes on Jesus: Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You." (Mark 10:28). Imagine how they felt when Jesus was arrested, tried, beaten and then hung on cross to die. I believe at that point that they were all wondering how to get rid of all the "stock" that they had bought in Jesus. They had lost all hope. They were afraid for their lives. Peter was denying even having known Jesus. These were the people that had been with Him from the first and at this point really didn't have any faith in the future of themselves or the enterprise that is Jesus.

Two men hanging on crosses next to Jesus were even mocking him, until one of them saw something there in Jesus. I imagine that they were imitating the crowds as they mocked Jesus and called for Him to save Himself, but then something happened in one of the thieves. He decided that the crowd was wrong. He looked at the beaten and bloody Savior and decided to cast the last of his numbered breaths into trusting in Jesus. He "bought in" to the enterprise of the Kingdom of Heaven, when it's stock was at the absolute bottom. Jesus promised him that on that same day, that he would be together with Him in paradise!

DON'T THINK NOW, TAKE THE ROAD

2010-06-18T10:38:00.002-04:00

My Utmost For His Highest - Oswald Chambers -June 18th

"And Peter . . . walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid." Matthew 14:29-30

The wind was actually boisterous, the waves were actually high, but Peter did not see them at first. He did not reckon with them, he simply recognized his Lord and stepped out in recognition of Him, and walked on the water. Then he began to reckon with the actual things, and down he went instantly. Why could not our Lord have enabled him to walk at the bottom of the waves as well as on the top of them? Neither could be done saving by recognition of the Lord Jesus.

We step right out with recognition of God in some things, then self-consideration enters in and down we go. If you are truly recognizing your Lord, you have no business with where He engineers your circumstances. The things surrounding you are real, but immediately when you look at them you are overwhelmed, you cannot recognize Jesus, and the rebuke comes: "Wherefore didst thou doubt?" Let actual circumstances be what they may, keep recognizing Jesus, maintain complete reliance on Him.

If you debate for a second when God has spoken, it is all up. Never begin to say - "Well, I wonder if He did speak?" Be reckless immediately, fling it all out on Him. You do not know when His voice will come, but whenever the realization of God comes in the faintest way imaginable, recklessly abandon. It is only by abandon that you recognize Him. You will only realize His voice more clearly by recklessness.

Reckless Faith

2010-06-11T14:44:00.002-04:00

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

We began reading a book entitled "Reckless Faith" Let Go and be Led, while driving back from our trip to New York City. Lent to us at apparently just the right time. The trip, at least the portion concerning our meeting with the officials in the consulate, did not pan out as hoped. We seem to be chasing our tails in reference to the idea of registering both of our children's births as well as our marriage with the government of Peru. Without this we can not apply for any type of residency or dual-citizenship. Despite having planned the trip in order to achieve this very goal we left with a peace in regard to the outcome.

Our faith is growing... and we know that our Father in Heaven has a plan. There is a reason that we have not been granted this easy ticket into Peru, could it be for the people we meet later on while trying to resolve this issue in Lima? Maybe the people we'll meet while traveling outside of the country renewing our visas? Quite possibly there could be a hundred different scenarios but we'll just have to hold on to faith and see what unfolds. It can actually be exciting when you look at it from this angle. We are learning that the true excitement that comes from following Jesus only really surfaces when we let go of our plans and security blankets. It is not easy but that is what our hearts long to do, to walk faithfully depending on the power and care of our God... to Let Go and Be Led!

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Time for Paperwork

2010-06-04T15:29:00.000-04:00

Early this coming week we will be traveling down to New York City to complete paperwork which will hopefully lead to the possibility of obtaining Peruvian passports for the kids as well as opening the door for my (Lisa) permanent residence in Peru. We had attempted this a year ago and ran into a snag but we feel that we should go to apply in person and give it another go versus waiting until we arrive in Peru. The advantage to entering Peru with Peruvian documents means that we will not be required to leave the country at a maximum of six months to renew our visas. Please pray for favor that the proper paperwork will be granted to us before we leave for Peru.

We know that the burning question these days is "do you have a date to leave," and the answer is still no. We do however have a peace that the Lord is in complete control and will open up that door in His timing. Our house is still for sale, now nearing almost the half-way point of our contract with the realtor. Please pray for discernment for us if in the event that it does not sell, how we would be directed of the Lord. In the mean time we continue to live in preparation.

The kids randomly have Spanish lessons with Dad.

We are trying to keep them fluent or at least well-primed for the immersion into a spanish-speaking culture. I've also been looking into home-schooling information and preparing for this facet of the trip as well.

We've also spent some time visiting with family and friends.

The above picture is of the kids with their older sister Sandra (Eddy's daughter).

At times we have had couples or families over for Peruvian type dinners to meet with them in fellowship and share a bit more in depth about our experiences and vision for Peru. We will continue to do this throughout the remainder of our time here and welcome any who are interested in a meal and fellowship in our home.

Decide to Abandon Retirement as the Reward for Your Life

2010-06-02T18:34:00.000-04:00

Power of Your Name

2010-05-25T00:00:00.002-04:00

A year later we have finally come up a a video montage of our time in Lima, Peru. Please feel free to share the video, you can find it on YouTube(Koplinfamilia)for this purpose.

Spend Some Time Listening

2010-05-21T15:21:00.001-04:00

We ask you to spend some time listening to the sermons on the above linked website. We have been touched by many of these and they are great tools to use for evangelism. Many of the testimonies have the option to email to a friend or add to any number of sites like Facebook, blogger ect.

We've also added many great sermons to this page. Scroll down and look to the right hand side where you will find messages from Ray Comfort. Paul Washer and additional testimonies from Illbehonest.com

Please leave us some feedback as to thoughts about what you hear.

Finalamente - En Espanol - Paul Washer Predicando en Parque Kennedy, Lima PE

2010-05-17T13:36:00.001-04:00

Paul Washer Open Air Preaching in Lima (English Subtitles) from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

BE A MAN!! - Paul Washer

2010-05-17T11:58:00.002-04:00

Get off facebook, BE A MAN - Paul Washer from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

Loving Losing

2010-04-14T07:37:00.003-04:00

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life."

~ JESUS

It is official, the house went on the market just two weeks ago. Eddy is fervently working to complete many a project in the house, there seems to be an endless supply of things that he could improve on but we are trying to determine where to draw the line. We know ultimately that the Lord will bring a buyer when the time draws close that we should be on our way regardless of what we have or have not done. In the mean time I (Lisa) continue to sell and give away all of our possessions that have really done nothing more for us than serve as dust collectors. With each item that disappears out that front door it feels like a weight that has been so desperately grasping to our lives has been cut loose, it feels great!

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it."

Spiritual Warefare

2010-03-08T15:43:00.002-05:00

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

How many of you as you read these verses above did not even feel the need to continue reading them through because you have all but memorized them? They are very familiar to all of those who have spent any time in a church but how real are they to us? Do we truly understand that we stand in an actual battle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness? Yes, of course we do you say, who doesn't? I'll ask again, do we truly understand?

If we did, and I know I don't, we would live our lives so much differently. We would react to situations differently and most of all we would PRAY differently.

As of late the Lord has gently been directing us to open our eyes to this realm, to understand that we have not only been walking in the midst of a battle but that the one we are about to enter will be intense. It is our desire to learn and live the principles the Lord has set for us here in Ephesians chapter 6 in order to be equipped, not just for the mission field but for daily life. There is a presence out there that we have long ignored. We have known it existed in word only and we have been ill prepared for the attacks of this enemy. It is our desire to know more, to learn more and walk daily with the entire armor of God in place recognizing just who our enemy is and that his intent is only to tear down and destroy.

Please pray for us as we continue preparing our hearts and lives for the mission the Lord has called us to. We have sensed the Lord's direction in many ways but most of all with regard to how we should prepare ourselves spiritually. The above commentary is just one of the areas in which we feel the Lord challenging us grow in. PRAY THAT WE DO!

We continue on in the everyday preparations, work on the house and sales of the unneeded items. As the weather breaks we will plan a work day here on the house and yard sales to sell off the remaining items that we will not be able to move. We have come to the conclusion that we will be selling our house, thank you for your prayers, the Lord has spoken clearly to us with regard to this decision.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

We would also like to have Eddy posting here more often in Spanish for those of you who are following and would like to hear a bit more from his perspective. Please be patient with us. Continue to pray that the Lord will strengthen us and speak to us continually especially giving attention as to when we will leave for Peru. One specific request that we have is for favor with the Peruvian Embassy here in New York. Eddy has tried without fail to contact them in order to apply for the children's passports. Once he does get through we will have some other fairly high hurdles to jump but nothing too big for our God, please pray for favor here. Myself (Lisa) will have to wait until we arrive to Peru and at some point it seems I can apply for residency but I am not sure how long that will take. Finally we ask you to begin praying for God's provision for this mission. He has already settled our hearts to know that not one thing will be overlooked, nothing will go without notice.

"And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things."But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you."

Finally brethren, pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel

Initial Preparations

2010-02-16T15:46:00.020-05:00

After nine months of serving the people in Lima Peru, three months more than we had expected, we returned home to continue seeking the Lord's will for our lives with respect to Peru. In the last three months that we spent serving in Lima, the Lord opened many doors for us and knit our hearts together with the people there. When the day came for us to finally say goodbye, we did so with hesitancy. On the one hand we felt the Lord's perfect peace about leaving at that particular point in time but on the other hand we felt drawn to stay, to continue on in the work that had begun to bloosom. Ultimately we followed the Lord's direction and returned home to seek Him more diligently concerning His will for us. There were so many unknowns, but one thing was for certain, we desired to return.

For months we have saught the Lord and struggled against our own wills. We have questioned the timing, the provision and an assorted number of other factors with regard to returning to the mission field. All along the Lord continued to speak to our hearts and keep His vision within reach.

As we approach our tenth month here in the States we feel the Lord calling upon us more earnestly to take heed unto His call. We can now say that we are confident that the Lord has called us to return to Peru and to continue in the work that was begun, to build upon that foundation which was laid. The Lord has clearly showed us to commit our works unto Him and that He will direct each and every one of our steps. We are now in the initial stages of preparation and are proceeding with the intent that we must be ready to leave as soon as the Lord provides the green light, at this point it seems to us that it will be circumstantally as soon as we are financially able to do so.

One of the largest decisions we must make will be in respect to our house. Eddy is working very hard to either have it ready to rent, or put up on the market. Please pray for us to have wisdom in this area and to be obedient in whatever the Lord shows us. We ask you to continue to pray for us, that we will be completely obedient to the Lord, even when the directions are difficult to step into.

We anticipate this journey to be one of faith... please continue to ask the Father for increased faith on our part, for we have come to know that without it we can do nothing. We want to see the Lord provide each and every step of the way, we desire that He receive all of the Glory, Honor & Praise!

The Preparation of the House

Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established.

Tuning Into God's Will

2010-02-09T22:04:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed that this website looks a bit different, we thought it was time for a change. We also thought that it was high time to update all of our followers, that is to say if we have any left. We know it has been nearly nine months since our last post, nine months since we left Peru. We have spent our time praying and wrestling with the Lord for direction and we think the moment has finally come to update you all... stay tuned...

Our Initial Goodbyes

2009-05-27T23:52:00.000-04:00

Tonight was our last bible study with our little group so we did something a bit special for them. Unfortunately a few people were not able to join us due to their work and sick children but one of the ladies brought a friend. Her name is Esperanza and she really liked the study, she was planning to come every Wednesday not realizing that this was our last meeting. The study was especially long with many questions. We carried them over into our time of fellowship and carried on until well after 10 PM. We made bocaditos (mini sandwiches) and ordered a nice cake from Torta's Gaby (our favorite postre shop) to enjoy with the group. We are very reluctant to leave this little flock as we see their hearts so eager to receive the word and with so many questions. We have been meeting with them one on one to disciple them and try to ensure they have a place or person to fellowship with after we leave. It truly is our desire to stay here and minister to them but it seems that the Lord is not leading us to do this at this time, maybe in the future?

Marisol, Blanca (behind Marisol), Esperanza, Silvana, Jesusa and Eddy.

Josiah playing with one of the few toys left in his room. We've begun sorting, selling and giving away stuff in preparation for the big pack. This time next week we will be headed for Miami were we will visit with family for a few days before heading on to Rochester. Until then, please continue to pray for us here and the sheep we are ministering to.

Visitors, visitors, visitors!

2009-05-17T10:54:00.000-04:00

We had our fourth visitor leave this past week, Grampie. My father (Lisa) came just in time for Hadassah's third birthday, what a nice present it was for her to reunite with her Grandpa.

The first morning he was here he was able to join Hadassah and her classmates as they sang Happy Birthday to her. It was her last day of school as they were entering into vacation for a few weeks and we will be returning home now in another week and a half. Hadassah did not want to leave Grandpa's side for the first day or so.

Another blessing for Grampie was that he was able to see Hadassah dance in her school the second day he was here. She was such a doll, as were all of the little girls dressed as mermaids.

The first three days of Grampie's trip were busy, the third one was the actual day of her birthday and we had a party here in the house for her.

We asked a girl from church to help us make a cake, it was so cute. We had a lot of the family and our friends help us out with the preparations for the party, it turn out so nice.

Hadassah with her gifts and the "two Lucianas."

When I asked Hadassah the next day what her favorite part of the party was she replied "Luciana."

A visit from "Barnabas."

2009-05-10T15:19:00.000-04:00

Who when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.

This past week we said good-bye to our pastor as he returned home to the States. Although he spent just a handful of days with us here in Peru, we were extremely blessed and encouraged by the time we were able to spend with him. He challenged and exhorted us and left us to remember that we should cleave all the more unto the Lord our God.

Pastor Mark & Eddy in a very dense fog at Larco Mar.

It was great for us to be able to introduce him to the people whom we have been ministering with and to. He was able to share a few times with the people here and they were deeply touched by his testimony and passion for the Lord. He and Eddy told me that there did not seem to be a dry eye in the church at Santa Rosa the Sunday he shared with the people there. Pastor Mark was also able to join Eddy and Americo as they ministered to the inmates in the prison this past Tuesday as well.

Pastor Mark and Brian, Sunday morning service at Iglesia Cristiana Koinonia - SURCO.

I was especially blessed by Pastor Mark's opportunity to teach Sunday morning. After eight months of messages in only Spanish it was nice to be able to just relax and listen freely without my brain working extra hard to understand every detail. The body in Surco was equally blessed by the profound message he gave on prayer.

The church at Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa is a village about an hour and a half from Surco. Eddy has been preaching there every Sunday afternoon now for about four months. The congregation seems to be growing every week and Eddy has become quite attached to this little flock. Almost every family there is affected by drugs and alcohol and often times share their struggles with him. After Eddy taught on Sunday afternoon he let Mark share what was on his heart. Mark sensed the leading of the Holy Spirit to share his own personal testimony and the hearts of the people were extremely touched. One young man who is addicted to drugs had been invited week after week to join the service but he never made it. Eddy gave him a special personal invitation this week and he not only came but after the service shared with Eddy that he needs to have the Lord in his life, please keep him in your prayers.

We ended the week with our home bible study. We were very excited that Pastor Mark was able to join us for this ministry. In the short time that our Pastor visited with us he touched the lives of the people here, as did his daughter and another friend, who visited us in the prior weeks. We thank them for taking the time out of their busy lives to come and minister to the flocks here and to reinforce what we have shared with the people here.

We are grateful to the Lord to allow us this opportunity to come and know His heart for the people of Peru. We continue to pray and seek Him for vision as to our future here in this country. We are very reluctant to go but at this time it seems like we should return home to continue in prayer with regard to this matter. Pray for the disciples that have been made here and for others to come in and take our place to continue in the work.

2009-04-23T14:07:00.000-04:00

"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

Last night we paused in our study of the gospel of John to show the video Countdown to Eternity (watch it for yourself: http://www.creationists.org/countdown_to_eternity/english.html.) A few months ago we had a conversation about the last days and the signs of the second coming of Jesus with some of the people attending the bible study. Thanks to a few of you out there we were able to get this DVD to show to the people here. We made some fliers and passed them out to the people working in the near by market as well as to a few ladies in the park. Many of the people who have begun to come faithfully to the study also brought friends and family. In total we had eighteen visitors in our living room.

A couple that we have been getting to know over these past seven moths offered to help us set up and minister to the people. We made a lot of popcorn and arranged our living room into a small theatre. Eddy's brother let us borrow a bigger TV (we have just a small one that his other brother has let us borrow for the kids) and the neighbor downstairs (who has now become a regular) lent us her chairs. We were extremely blessed to see all the people file into our home last night. Three people whom we had never met came as a result of the fliers. Blanca, the lady Eddy met in the Internet location, returned again and brought a friend too. We have decided to continue showing other various Christan movies every other Friday night for the remainder of our time here. We are very excited about the next one which will be Fireproof.

After the movie we had a great time of questions and answers. We thank the Lord for bringing along Americo and Lucho to help out.

Another exciting development is that we are praying about adding an additional bible study on Saturday nights. As it stands right now many people are having difficulty making it by 7:30 PM on Wednesday nights due to work. We also would like to invest as much time as we can into these young sheep before we leave. Please pray with us for the Lord to raise up a man to stand in our place while we are away. As the time draws nigh for our departure we are beginning to see into our future and understand what the Lord has for us but continue to seek Him for all of the details. We know that He is working everything out according to His perfect plan and we are just waiting patiently on Him.

Please also pray for Eddy as he and Americo have begun witnessing in one of the prisons here. Americo had been going for about a month by himself and realized the need for an English speaking partner to share with the international prisoners. He asked Eddy to pray about joining him and the following week Eddy did so. It has been on Eddy's to take part in these kinds of ministries such as prisons or hospitals since we arrived and we are very glad that the Lord has provided an opportunity for him to take part. The day is a long one for the guys but they have had great fellowship thus far and are being thoroughly blessed by the ministry there in the prison. Two weeks from now our pastor will arrive to visit and Eddy has asked permission for him to be able to minister in the prison as well. When the sister they are working with heard this she arranged for a special meeting for them in an auditorium, so they are going to have the chance to share with the international prisoners for three hours!

Eddy asks you to pray for Christopher and Bill, they both accepted the Lord during Eddy's first visit to the prison and he was very touched by the time he spent with them.

We have felt so blessed lately as we look around and see all the Lord is accomplishing through us here in Peru. Of course with great blessings also come great trials. Please continue to pray for us for strength and wisdom.

Josiah and Hadassah testing out the new movie theatre.

Americo and Oninxha

The refreshment table, makeshift but you would never know it!

Unfortunately I could not capture all of the guests in one photo.

Yes I know, this one has nothing to do with the movie but it is a great picture of the kids playing with their friend Joshua. They were all screaming at the very top of their lungs in the stairwell, our poor neighbors, it is a wonder they still talk to us.

I missed a few weeks worth of updates but I do hope I can get back on and post about our friend Crystal's visit last week. Even more stories of how our Lord is moving in the lives of the people here. I also sent an email to some of you about sending us any used Christian or children's DVD's to bless the people here with. We can easily see from last night that the people are hungry to learn more and these materials could be put to good use. Let us know if you have anything to donate and we will arrange to have it brought to us in the next few weeks. Thank you all for your prayers and dedication to lifting this ministry up.

John 3:3

2009-04-09T13:57:00.001-04:00

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"

Last night Eddy taught from John chapter 3 and he focused on the response of Jesus to Nicodemus's question... how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Eddy had been inviting people for two weeks for this particular bible study and we were very excited to see all of the people who came to hear this message. Many people here have not even heard the term born-again and are curious to know more. Just before the bible study Eddy went to the local internet place to print his notes. The lady working there saw them and questioned him as to what this term meant, he of course invited her to come and find out. Not an hour later she arrived! She is pictured below in the purple shirt, her name is Blanca.

Eddy, Jesusa (she is hidden behind Eddy), Victor, Charrito, Lucho & Blanca.

Lucho and his father, who is visiting from Iquitos, also joined us. Lucho's father just received the Lord a week or so ago. Eddy asked Lucho to share a bit of his testimony with the group and how his life has changed since becoming born-again. Lucho has a very powerful testimony of how he was won for the Lord through the witness of love displayed through his wife.

Another lady who came for the first time is named Peluza, she is pictured below to the left hand side. One of Eddy's daughter's suggested that he invite her and so he did. He, along with Pepe and Lucho knew her from their childhood days.

Marisol told us yesterday morning that she had been praying for a friend named Milagros whom she coincidentally ran into online the night before. She shared with her about her new life and this friend mentioned to who that she had been desiring to read the bible. Marisol invited her to the study and despite the two hours it takes her to get to this side of the city, she came. She really enjoyed the study and not only would she like to come next week, but she has already invited another friend along.

Milagros & Marisol

Hadassah, Charrito, Eddy & Jesusa enjoying some pastries and tea after the study.

I was especially blessed by our time of fellowship afterward. We were so many people this week that we could not all sit at the table together. I was touched as I looked around the room and saw pairs of people sharing and chatting together.

Please pray for all of the hearts who came this week, that the seeds of salvation would grow and they would return again with a hunger to hear more of God's words.

Evangelism in the Parque San Roque

2009-04-06T22:16:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago the kids and I began joining Eddy for the Saturday afternoon outreaches that are held in a local park by the church here in Surco. It has been such a blessing for me to get out and witness the ministry first hand and I enjoy the fact that my children also have this opportunity as well.

The past two weeks a team of mimes from the church received permits to come and present a few skits. The dramas were very moving and provided a great way for them to share the gospel to people of various ages. Afterwards, the team witnessed to the people on an individual basis.

Setting up.

The mimos (mimes) - Jacky, Marco, Oninxha, Jimmy, Angie, Kristel y Karla.

The kids watching the drama.

The crowd.

Jacky with her new found love...

Her new found love finds another...

Jacky can't take the pain anymore...

Thank God she has a Savior!

Jimmy explains a bit to the onlookers.

Eddy shares from John 3, what it means to be born-again.

Josiah gives Carmen a kiss good-night, the show is over.

March Update

2009-03-15T22:54:00.000-04:00

We took our trip South as planned and were blessed that it all went quite smoothly. It was a bit difficult with Josiah during the long bus rides but overall for having been on a bus more than 40 total in less than five days it went well.

We arrived in Arequipa on Friday morning and were met by Chipey's cousin who graciously showed us around the city for the next two days. She had our hotel reserved for us as well which made things a bit easier for us. The food in Arequipa was delicious and we had a great time with Chipey's family, they were very hospitable toward us.

The Plaza de Armas is very beautiful in Arequipa, most of the buildings in this city are made with a white stone which comes from the volcanic rock surrounding the city.

The volcano Misti.
Chipey's family

Family picture

We were shopping for some baby alpaca, a bit to expensive though.

We were able to take some great pictures at least.

We arrived to Tacna Sunday afternoon, grabbed a bite to eat and headed for Chile. Praise the Lord the entire process was very smooth. Pepe had arranged for his nephew to drive up from Arica, Chile to pick us up and help with the border-hop. What a blessing, this guy had all the paper work ready for us and even helped to find a decent hotel. We did everything in one day as opposed to two which worked out better as he was able to drive us into Chile and back. We had no hold-ups at the border and were even granted another 6 months to remain here in Peru... too bad our plane tickets won't last quite that long.

We spent all of about 45 minutes parked at the beach in Arica, just long enough to turn back and re-enter Peru. I have heard stories of people being hassled at the border for not having been out of the country for more than 24 or 48 hours, but nobody mentioned anything to us.

The sun setting over the Pacific.

We spent the night in Tacna and the next day we were invited for lunch at Eddy's sister-in-law's sister's house. The Lord provided for us every step of the way. Right down to the littlest of details like having one extra seat on the bus during the long journey's to and from Lima. We had decided to let Hadassah ride on our lap and buy Marisol a ticket instead, we were very glad we made this decision. It helped us a lot with Josiah as he absolutely refused to sit still and needed to be passed from person to person.

Hadassah sleeping with Lambie and Marisol.

We made Josiah a bed out of my foot rest which worked fairly well until we realized that the lady ahead of me might want to recline her seat, which would have squished Josiah, opps!

The trip home was scheduled to take 19 hours which turned into 21 after we stopped an innumerable amount of times for different customs inspections. The bus never completely stopped, meaning that we were not allowed off nor anyone else on for security reasons (often times buses that stop are robbed.) Other than Josiah being a bit rambunctious, the trip went as well as one could expect for having brought two toddlers along. Overall, we were blessed to see how the Lord guided us and provided for us each step of the way.

JACKIE'S TRIP TO LIMA

This should have been a seperate post but the photos have already been uploaded so here it goes.

Jackie arrived just a few days after we returned home from our trip. She is a sister from our home church who has taken on the responsibility to head up a prayer team for us. We were so very blessed by her visit here. She was able to absorb a bit of the culture we have come to love and meet the people we minister to and among.

She took some great everyday life photos.

Shopping day at Plaza Vea, the local supermarket.

We do part of our shopping at the supermarket and the other part in what is known as a mercado. In the mercado you can buy fresh vegtables, fruits, meats and fish cheaper than in Plaza Vea . It takes a little while to get used to the atmosphere. For some reason it always smells like dog food (I guess because they have open bags of it that they sell from in bulk). The other day I saw the meat arrive, no not in a refridgerated truck but wrapped in nothing more than a blanket in the back of a taxi. Like I said, it is different than we are used to.

Marisol preparing our refresco for Lunch (Chicha Morada.)

A close up view.

Pineapple husks, purple corn, cinnamon sticks and cloves.

Aji de Gallina, one of my favorites.

This guy comes to sharpen our knives every so often.

The ice cream man.

A touristic train ride around central Lima.

We had a little get-together in Lucho's Pizzeria before Jackie left. We had something terrific to celebrate, our new sister in Christ, Marisol.

Hadassah and I headed for school, she is growing up so fast.

Cinco sole haircuts & A trip to the Zoo

2009-02-23T20:14:00.000-05:00

As I am sure many of you have noticed by now that we have been sending out a bit more frequent updates via email and although they have been more detailed they have been lacking photos. Since many times in the updates we feel the need to share with you the names of people to whom we are ministering we feel it better to keep those things a bit more private by sending the prayer requests/updates to those of you who have requested to receive this information. If you are not on our email list please send us an email to Koplinfamilia@gmail.com and we will add you. We would like to continue using this site to post pictures of our everyday life and the people we meet and minister to here in Peru.

Sometime in early January the kids and I went to get haircuts in the neighborhood where Eddy grew up. I know this is not a very interesting thing to post about except for the fact that to have our hair cut it cost us less than $1.70 per person. Unfortunately the saying "you get what you pay for held true, even across the equator."

Saying goodbye to those curls...

Josiah did pretty well as long as he was entertained with various hair instruments.

He is looking more and more like a little boy everyday.

Hadassah and I were next. She got to sit on the horse.

The next day Lucho and Chipy invited us to the Zoo with their family. Peru is a very diverse country, the topography consists of desert, jungle (Amazon) and mountains (the Andes). This zoo was set up with animals and flora to reflect the various regions of the country. It was very interesting and we were able to see many different kinds of animals that are not in the typical Rochester zoo.

I think these were Jaguars.

These are condors, HUGE birds with a wingspan of up to 10 feet.

Monkeys, there were lots of monkeys. We had no idea that there were so many different types of monkeys.

Josiah enjoyed watching the monkeys.

We have no idea what this creature is, as I said it was interesting to see animals of which we had never heard of.

A lagoon in the Selva (jungle) portion of the park.

Lunch time. Chipy made us a picnic lunch, hamberguesas.

Siesta time.

Catching Up

2009-02-01T14:29:00.000-05:00

This month has flown by so fast and I do apologize for not having updated the site until now. Here are a few pictures from mid-December through the early part of January.

We spent both Christmas as well as New Years Day in Chaclacayo with the Eatons. It was just the eight of us for Christmas (Justin, Sarah, Eddy, myself and all of our little ones). We cooked a traditional American Christmas dinner with a few recipes that Sarah had brought from home. We did cheat however and buy a few Turkey breasts and a precooked ham. We ate the left overs for days.

Since we were completely stuffed from our delicious Christmas dinner and the homemade apple pie that Justin baked, we had to hold off on the chocolate and paneton until the following evening. It was Justin and Sarah's first time partaking in the tradition and we were happy to share in it with them, that chocolate was delicious!!

Hadassah and Josiah hanging out in one of the bunk beds we use while were are there.

Whenever we go to visit the orphanage the days are usually spent as follows:

The guys work all day until the last speck of light. They have been working on the deck and for these two trips they were installing the floor. Sarah was climbing the ladder here to get a peek at the progress.

Justin working some kind of power tool.

Eddy using the hammer.

Pepe waving, he joined us for the New Years Day trip.

While the men are working Sarah and I tend to the children, we have (2) two-year olds, a one year old and baby Anna is now eight months old.

Josiah enjoying some of Kathryn and Anna's toys.

Usually after we have taken care of breakfast and a few morning naps we take the kids out for a stroll to break up the day.

We sure are a sight to see... two double strollers (I've yet to see one in Peru) with four blond-haired babies.

I love walking the streets in Chaclacayo as they are so peaceful, you can actually walk in the street. This is a photo of the street Sarah lives on, tranquilla (peaceful.)

Sometimes we walk down to the main square and let the kids play in the park, they always have such a great time and it provides an opportunity for Sarah and I to have a bit of fellowship.

Precious.

Just a cute picture of Daddy sharing his breakfast with his babies.

Hadassah has been invited to a few birthday parties and here are some pictures of her with her classmates at KFC. Here it is common to rent a KFC, McDonalds or other facility to have your child's birthday party.

Paying close attention to the DJ.

Enjoying her meal after the festivities.

Here she is with the "two Lucianas."

I think I already posted about how she would come home and talk of the two chicas or the two Lucianas in her class. I just assumed there were two girls named Luciana in her class. We discovered that there were not really two Lucianas, just one with a twin sister named Macarena.

(Luciana is the one in the striped dress, Hadassah just loves her.)

Navidad en Peru

2009-01-13T19:52:00.000-05:00

It is probably safe to say that none of you are in the Christmas frame of mind now that it is three weeks after the fact but I will share with you a bit about our first Christmas here in Lima. To begin with, Christmas here is celebrated on the Eve of the 24th rather than on Christmas day. The typical celebration goes something like this. At some point in the later evening you gather with your family and snack on paneton with chocolate caliente (freshly prepared hot chocolate) while you are waiting for the main meal to be served. At midnight the family eats together and then they open the gifts early on in the morning. Afterwards some people then go to visit other relatives or friends, it can be close to an all night affair. Oh, and I forgot to mention the fireworks... at midnight the sky is completely lit with fireworks. No not organized displays like we have in the States, just random fireworks exploding everywhere. I did take a video to post because it was quite interesting but with the speed at which I am able to upload it might be next Christmas before you would be able to view it, so I think I will skip that.
We did things a bit in line with tradition but not quite exactly. Here is how our night went.

Before leaving the house I tried to get a couple of nice pictures of the kids by the tree. We normally do not have a tree but this year Eddy's brother lent us one with all the fixings so we put it up for the kids and to feel a bit more "homey" for the holidays.

This wasn't the kind of picture I was trying for but it is cute how they are looking at each other. "Why does she make us do this kind of stuff?"
"I don't know Josiah, I've been putting up with it for two and a half years now, just amuse her."

There we go, now this is what Mommy was after.
We went to Uncle Oscar and Patty's house around 4 PM to spend a little time with the family.

Finally, a nice family portrait.

Paris all decked out for the evening.

Hadassah couldn't wait for that paneton.

Yumm... Ricco!!

Some of the family...

Carlita, Gustavo, Kike, Oscar, Patty, Jesusa and Jacky.

Paris, Lisa and Eddy.

Falta una (missing one).

Eddy has four brothers and sisters, they are five altogther.

Eddy, Jesusa, Oscar and Kike.

After we ate the paneton Hadassah and Josiah were given gifts.

I was so happy to see the new baby for Hadassah as she had been asking for one for awhile. Josiah received another dump truck for his collection.

By this time it was around 7 PM so we headed to the church for the service there. Here are a couple of photos of the worship.

Worshipers.

I enjoyed hearing traditional Christmas songs sung in Spanish.

After the worship many people stayed in the church to have a meal together. We did not wait until midnight to partake however. We came home around 11:30 PM and watched the fireworks from outside our living room window. Since we needed to be up fairly early the next morning we retired to bed just after midnight... not quite a Peruvian celebration but close enough!

The children had their own table and Hadassah had a great time dining without Mommy and Daddy. She is getting to be such a big girl.

The cafe all decorated.

Pepe, the friend Eddy has been bringing to church for a few months now.

That brings me to a few prayer requests.

Pepe is not only coming to the church now but has been bringing along friends and relatives as well. We've really come to reevaluate just why we are here. For some time we just assumed that because Eddy works well with his hands that this is how he would serve the church here. As time progresses we see the Lord using him to witness and minister to many people outside of the church. Pastor Brian has suggested to him that we begin a home study for Pepe and his friends as they may feel a bit more comfortable in this type of setting (for those not comfortable coming to church as of yet). Eddy also has family in the area that have also expressed an interest if something like this were to begin. We sense the Lord is leading us in this direction and ask that you lift this up with us as well. I can not remember all of the names of the people Pepe has brought with him but there is one older man named "Lalo" that is actually attending the the weekly prayer meeting with Eddy and Pepe in this moment.

Josiah is also sick with a stomach infection. We had to take him to the doctor today and are waiting for the results of one last test to come in. So far he was positive (don't ask me for what exactly) for one test (he had a total of three) which means he will now be on antibiotics to clear whatever is causing him grief in his stomach. We feel for this poor little guy as he has been sick for the most part since shortly after we arrived and when he was not sick he was teething. It has definitely been a trying time for us dealing with all of the illnesses we have encountered thus far. This current one with Josiah was most likely caused from some bacteria in the water or fruits. We must now take even greater precaution (we thought we were extremely carefully as it is) with the kids to prevent this type of thing in the future. Translation, more work when it comes to the food preparation... sigh.

Four Months in Lima

2009-01-10T21:47:00.000-05:00

So I know that I am weeks behind in bringing you all up to date with our most recent happenings but for now I am going to temporarily forget this piece of information and share what is in my heart for the night.

In stopping to think for a minute I've just realized that today we have been in Peru for four months. In such a short period of time our lives have changed so much, this place has become our home. We have settled in to a new church, made new friends and I have even acquired new family as well. Only the Lord knows where He would have us to be in the future but for the time being we are enjoying the blessed opportunity He has opened for us to serve here in Peru.

These past two days have been such a blessing for me. As most of you know Eddy has been away on the outreach trip to Ica. Yesterday a sister from church came over to teach me how to cook "green spaghetti." She and her girls spent the day with us and kept us company. The night went smoothly as well and I thank you all for your prayers. I really prefer not to be alone all night here but thanks be to God I had such a perfect peace! Today another girl phoned to ask if I wanted company for the day and so we met and took the kids out to Miraflores (she has a two year old son.) I had a great time getting to know her and listening to her testimony. She is from Russia and has lived here in Lima for 13 years now. What she went through in her first few years is just beyond belief, what an encouragement it was to me to hear of her struggles here and to see how she has made it through and met her Savior after so many years. We treated ourselves to a Mediterranean restaurant and afterwards to our favorite ice cream place. She and Joshua came back to our apartment for awhile and the boys became the best of buds.

Here are some pictures of the two bonding.

Getting to know each other.

Causing mischief in the chair.

Sharing a platino (banana.)

Joshua feeding Josiah his Jello.

Well, Eddy is now on his way back from Ica. I'm sorry I do not have any details of the outreach yet. He forgot the camera but hopefully we can borrow some pictures from someone else. I think there were around 25 people that went.

You can continue to pray for us for our time table here in Peru. We have made the decision to proceed with the process of changing our tickets until early June. We will try to do this next week and if all goes well we will stay here in Peru for an additional three months. If for some reason we are unable to change the tickets (it shouldn't be any problem) then we will be returning home in early March. Once the tickets are changed we need to plan to "border hop," this means that we must enter another country in order to reenter Peru and renew our visas. Eddy has obtained an updated Peruvian passport so he will not have any issues as he can return with this. Pray for us (myself and the kids) that we will be granted sufficient visas for our remaining time here. After that we plan to travel a bit and know other ministries here in Peru. We have a few places (not ministries) in mind but we are praying to discern the Lord's will in this area. Pray that the Lord puts us in touch with the ministries of His choosing throughout Peru. Pray for us to discover His will for us here in El Peru.

May God Bless His People and grow us in His grace and mercy, Amen!

PS... ICA NOTE... I see Pastor Brian has updated his blog with lots of information about the Ica trip. You can check it out by clicking on the link to the right hand side of our page or for those of you reading this via email you can click here: http://iglesiacristianakoinonia.blogspot.com/

Faces

2009-01-04T14:37:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Denise organized a dinner for the couple in the church. Many of the singles in the church came together to entertain the kids downstairs while the grown-ups had a meal together upstairs at Pastor Brian and Betty's apartment. What a blessing it was to spend a little time in fellowship with the other couples. I took the opportunity to snap pictures of everyone so that we could introduce some of the people we fellowship with to you.

Lucho and Chipy

Marco and Tatiana

Luis and LiLi

Jorge and Blanca

Rebeca and Ivan
Awhile back we posted pictures of Rebeca's baptism, since then this couple as joined our congragation.

Ricardo and Pilar
Ricardo is the worship leader at church and his wife Pilar heads up the sunday school ministry. They have been a blessing to us and our children are very fond of Pilar.

Robin and Tracy

This is the other missinary couple who have been serving with Iglesia Cristiana Koinonia for over a year and a half now, they are also from the Unites States. They will be moving soon to Ica to begin a church as Robin has been traveling there every week for a home bible study.

Pastor Brian and Betty

We were laughing very hard in this picture...

Here is a picture of our plates minus the meats.

There was Choclo (it is corn on the cob except the kernels are huge and not very sweet) and papas (sliced potatoes that have been boiled) with Papa a la Huancaina sauce (my favorite).

Well, I know this post is short but we are so behind in our updates that I thought I would get up as much as I could. Tomorrow I will begin classes again and Hadassah will also go to register for the summer session in her school. Things will continue to remain very busy for us through out the week and Eddy will be leaving early Friday morning for the outreach in Ica. The kids and I will stay home, pray for us during this time as it will be our first time alone for more than a day.

Many more updates to come... one at a time or poco a poco (little by little) as they say here in Peru...

Chocolatada - Cañete

2008-12-30T20:20:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago we were able to visit the church in Cañete for their annual chocolatada. We squeezed Lucho, Eddy, myself and the kids along with Lucho's two teenage sons into his car and drove South for the day.

As soon as we arrived to Pastor Jiame's house Lucho and Eddy got right to work slicing up the paneton.

There is always time for fun when these two get together.

As I mentioned in the last post, Josiah has begun to climb on everything. I guess he wanted to get a better look at what Daddy was doing.

Jiame adding the sugar to the hot chocolate.

That was one big pan of chocolate!

This was the balcony at Jiame's house. Josiah was perched there checking out the action in the street below.

Here are a few things he observed...

The ice cream man... he knows these men well. They ride past the house every half an hour or so blowing their whistles. It sure makes getting dessert easy... too easy!

An orange juice stand.

Although we never eat from street vendors it is quite tempting when you walk by them and smell those freshly peeled oranges.

After we passed the afternoon with Jiame's family we headed over to the church. They have something like an after school program for the kids with an adult study later on in the evening. When we arrived the kids were already waiting in line.

Lucho and Jiame outside of the church.

They started out with some worship. Lucho, Eddy and Kristel were leading the kids.

There was a special puppet show for the kids.

There is a group of adults and teenagers from the church in Surco that do puppets and clown dramas as a form of outreach.

When I wasn't taking pictures I was in the kitchen with Jiame's wife. We were serving up all of that delicious hot chocolate.

Jiame was giving the kids a lesson and asking questions. They all were very eager to answer and when they did he would give them a treat.

Eddy & Jiame serving the chocolate.

Enjoying their chocolate and paneton. There were forty-five kids.

The week before we went to Cañete we went out shopping to buy presents for the kids. Angie and I ventured into Lima in the heart of Christmas season (it took us almost an hour and a half by bus) to buy some things. We got each child a notebook, pencil with sharpener, small box of colored pencils, an eraser and some candies. Afterward we got together with Denise and wrapped up everything, Hadassah tagged along to help as well. It was a fun day for me as I do not have the opportunity to serve outside the home to often. It was great to be able to bless the children and see their smiles.

Hadassah handed out some of the gifts as well. I love it that she has been able to help out in small ways and take part in the ministry.

I was trying to coerce these girls to open their gifts so that I could get a video of it. I guess they wanted to open them later but I did manage to get them to peek inside.

Merry Christmas from the Koplins

2008-12-25T07:39:00.000-05:00

!FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Chocolatada ~ Santa Rosa de Villa

2008-12-21T13:33:00.000-05:00

One week ago the whole family was able to finally go to Santa Rosa together. A friend of Eddy's has been coming to church with us for over a month now and often times he comes to pick us up on the way. It works out well for both of us since it is easier to get to church on time when you go by car and he can use the money (we pay him what we would have paid for a cab and sometimes buy his lunch in the church as well.) When we learned of the Chocolatada that would take place in Santa Rosa we asked if he could take us there and he gladly accepted.

We arrived early to clean up and put things in order for the service. Many of the kids also arrived early, here is a picture of them entertaining themselves with a box full of broken toys.

Hadassah found a familiar chair (this is the exact same one that is in the nursery at home) and just observed the kids for awhile.

All of the children are together in one classroom, over forty of them. They begin with a little worship.

After they have a short teaching and then work on a craft.

This day they were making crowns.

Hadassah decided that she would join them. Apparently she couldn't resist the opportunity to color... even if it meant leaving Mommy's side to sit with the other girls.

After they finished their crowns Denise affixed a bible verse to them.

Here are some of the faces of the children from Santa Rosa de Villa

This little boy passed out during the bible study.

After the service we served the kids paneton and hot chocolate.

The week before we went to Santa Rosa the Lord put it on my heart to give the kids gifts. As it turned out the church had some left over from another group that had come and so I spent a couple of hours in the church organizing the packets for the kids. The younger children received crayons, pencils, funpads, toothbrushes, stickers, bookmarks and a few pieces of candy. The older kids also received similar things with the addition of toothpaste, a comb and a bracelet.

Does Josiah look like he needed a nap or what?

Once all of the kids left we needed to do a bit of cleaning... it seems that many of the kids didn't like the raisins in their paneton and they somehow managed to all end up on the floor. Hadassah was such a good helper. She helped Mama pick up all the toys and even swept with the rest of us. What a blessing it was to see her serving with all of the adults.

Denise made me take this picture because she loves this dog. I'm posting it because I've yet to share with you about these dogs. There are so many dogs here, this is a typical one. Most of them are strays or just left to wander the streets. In Cañete there were tons of them and they were even wandering in packs. I see them all the time, no matter where I go. The just curl up and sleep on sidewalks or where ever is convenient.

After we arrived back in Lima we took Pepe (Eddy's friend that drove us) and the kids to McDonalds. This is a picture of a huge Christmas tree (not real... I don't think they have those here) in Miraflores (the tourist section of Lima.)

Now for some pictures of my ministry... my adorable little ones!

These are pictures from the day Hadassah danced at school.

This is my favorite

This one is nice too...

Oh, and this one too!

She tried her best to pose with her little brother but he had had enough for the day.

Here is Hadassah just being a ham in general.

Enjoying Josiah's Birthday present.

The other night we took the kids for a "date" to a very nice park called Parque de la Amistad. Hadassah was having such a great time, here she is being silly with the nativity scene.

I was trying to get her to pose for the camera here but she was too busy being a silly goose.

Josiah is growing with leaps and bounds. These last couple of days he has began climbing on and exploring everything. He has also began mimicking many different words and recognizes both birds and dogs. Now that he is becoming his own person Hadassah and he are squabbling quite a bit and constantly fighting over Mommy. They keep me very busy!!

Here are some pictures of Josiah's recent adventures. Another thing that is new this past week is the protruding of his tongue. He is constantly sticking it out with a huge grin on his face and it is the cutest thing... at least I think so!

Climbing on to the night table from our bed.

This is his favorite place to sit. Well actually today he realized that he could throw the cushions off the couch and climb up there so that could be his new favorite.

Here he is sticking his tongue out because he knows he is up to mischief.

Again with the tongue...

Riding the truck Grampy sent... tongue out again.

I took this one yesterday, he emptied the bottom shelf and climbed in. Note the tongue.

As you can see this post is quite long and I did not even mention Cañete yet. I will make a separate one for that. We are so busy this month that the things to write about continue to pile up. We went to a couples dinner in the church this past Saturday night which was quite a blessing. Some of the singles in the church volunteered to watch all the kids while the couples had dinner upstairs at Pastor Brian and Betty's house. I have pictures of all the couples in order to "introduce" you to some of our family here.

I do not think I will have time to get the next post up until the following week as we have a busy schedule ahead of us. In Peru the festivities take place on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day. We'll be heading to the church Wednesday night for the service with paneton and hot chocolate to follow. Later on we will have dinner together with a few other families that will stay on into the night (the tradition is to eat the dinner at midnight but I don't think we will eat quite that late.) On Christmas day we will travel to Chaclacayo to have Christmas dinner with Justin, Sarah and the family. I'm really looking forward to the fellowship and American style cooking. We will pass a few days there with them so that Eddy can help Justin finish up the deck (this is one of the few things holding them up from officially opening the orphanage.)

In the mean time, you can see that I added a new link to the right under Blogs that I Read. This is a link to the church in Cañete and you can see some great pictures there of the Chocolatada... while you are waiting for me to finally post the ones we took!

!NOSOTROS LOS DESEAMOS UNA FELIZ NAVIDAD!

WE WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Obligaciones

2008-12-19T09:17:00.000-05:00

Buenos días queridos hermanos, solo quiero compartirles mi devocional de esta mañana.

Devocional: Celebrando A Diario con El Rey de W. Glyn Evans.

Siempre debo comprender lo que sucedió realmente en el Calvario y no conformarme simplemente con alguna idea vaga. Cuando Cristo murió, me libero de la culpa de mis pecados, pero no me libero de mis obligaciones. Me libro del dominio de Satanás, pero no me libero para que yo dirija mi vida. Solo cambie de dueño en el Calvario, no deje de tener uno. En la actualidad sigo siendo tan sujeto a la autoridad de mi nuevo Amo como lo estaba al dominio del antiguo. Debo someterme a El y solo a El. Ya no estoy obligado a seguir sirviendo en el reino da las tinieblas, pero tampoco soy libre para decidir lo que hare, comeré o lo que vestiré. No puedo ir adonde quiero, decir lo que quiero, ni siquiera pensar en lo que quiero. El hecho de que me complazca a mi mismo tan a menudo no significa que tenga el derecho de hacerlo.
Sin embargo, existe una gran diferencia entre mi compromiso actual con Jesús y mi vieja obligación con Satanás no tenia opción,"en los cuales anduvisteis en otro tiempo, conforme a la corriente de este mundo y al príncipe de la potestad del aire, el espíritu que ahora actúa en los hijos de desobediencia".(Efesios 2:2). Aun así, estaba contento porque no sabia de nada mejor. Era una persona carnal, desinhibida y egoísta y no trataba de ir contra la corriente, así que no había conflicto, solo una existencia carnal.

Pero ahora, bajo la autoridad de Jesús, aun cuando El tenga todos los derechos sobre mi, me deja elegir servirle:"Así que, hermanos, os ruego por las misericordias de Dios que presentéis vuestros cuerpos como sacrificio vivo, santo y agradable a Dios, que es vuestro culto racional".(Romanos 12:1) EL ES MI DUEÑO, y sin embargo me ruega; me compro por completo, y sin embargo El espera mi decisión. Debe ser porque no quiere ningún amor legalista, ninguna obediencia rutinaria. El quiere que yo lo ame por El mismo, no porque no tenga ninguna otra elección.
Así que, hermanos, somos deudores, pero no a la carne para que vivamos conforme a la carne. Porque si vivís conforme a la carne, habéis de morir; pero si por el Espíritu hacéis morir las prácticas de la carne, viviréis. (Romanos 8:12-13)

Que Dios los Bendiga.

Suyo en El,
Eddy

Josiah's 1st Birthday / La Playa

2008-12-18T19:47:00.000-05:00

We would like to apologize for our lack of updates this month. It has been a very busy time for us and on top of that we were without phone/internet for five days. After two trips to the telephone company and over two hours of waiting in line it was finally fixed this past Tuesday. I'm going to try and break the updates up into a few different topics. This one is more of our everyday life and then the next one will be covering a few different ministries we took part in this past week. We have some great photos of the Chocolatadas at Puenta Piedra (Santa Rosa) and Cañate. A Chocolatada is a Peruvian tradition held during the Christmas season. Normally on Christmas Eve families (or those gathering for the festivities) eat Paneton with homemade hot chocolate (extremely sweet and delicious... nothing compares to it in the States.) After the services in Puente Piedra and Cañete we served all the kids (about 45 at each place) Paneton and chocolate and gave them gifts as well. More on this in the next update.

Josiah turned one year old on December the 6th. It is so hard to believe how the time is flying by, he is really growing into a little boy now. He is not quite walking but is adventurous just the same! He enjoyed his first birthday party and celebrated with both family and friends.

The Birthday Boy

Carmen came and helped us out with all of the decorations, she had to come two days and bring in additional help the second day. She is a wonderful sister from church, she loves to take care of Josiah.

Our little place was looking quite festive.

The table with all of the goodies.

The birthday cake from Tortas Gaby... RICCO!! (dilicious)

The Eatons came all the way from Chaclacayo.

Justin, Sarah, Ana and Kathryn

One of Eddy's niece came and did face painting for the kids.

Liam... I mean Spiderman!

Karla & Iyumi

Luciana, a daughter of one of Eddy's nieces.

Cousin Jacky with her mom Patty and her mom as well... three generations.

Of course Hadassah was there.

Josiah posing with all of his new toys.

Cake time!!

Josiah did especially well with his spoon considering it was his first time using one with food.

Kathryn gave Josiah a little help with his milk, I think he was too full to reach for it!

Looking uncomfortably full!

Just some of Hadassah & Josiah's cousins, I think there are at least five missing!

After the party we had to pop A LOT of balloons. Hadassah had fun burying Josiah in them... he was not so thrilled!

This past Friday evening after our meeting for Ica we went to spend the night at Eddy's brothers house on the beach. We stayed just until the afternoon the following day but it was a great time. The kids loved the beach and since summer officially starts this coming weekend the beach was empty.

Our Dolls

When Josiah is excited he lets out a high pitched screech... here is an example of just that!

Hadassah loved the beach and she especially loved her new sunglasses!

Father & son enjoying the beach

Jackie and Hadassah playing in the sand

Josiah trying out the slide

Jackie and Hadassah

Some updates and prayer requests:

Since I am home this month from class I have been trying to learn to cook. Eddy's brother who was cooking for us has been gracious enough to give me some lessons to get me started. Although I do enjoy learning all of the new dishes and techniques, this kind of cooking can take a long time. Usually we need at least an hour and a half to prepare our meal. Often times we prepare even the refresco (drink) which can require cooking, blending, squeezing, cooling.... you would never guess how much work can go into preparing a simple drink. I am learning little by little as time nor children do not always permit me to take in everything.

Preparations for my favorite dish - Lomo Saltado.

About a kilo of strawberries for less than $1, can you believe that? We usually have fresh juice every morning with strawberries and other fruits. This is something I love about Peru, the prices of fruits and vegetables are amazing!

Everything here takes longer, a lot longer. Just like the cooking, life here has consumed a lot more of our free time than we had originally anticipated and we continue to need prayer with the adjustment. The extra time and effort we put into doing things is not such a bother to us but it does however lessen the amount of time we are able to serve in the church. We are praying to be able to better manage our schedule in order to devote as much of the day as we can to ministry... on top of this the ministry to each other, our children and the reaching out to others such as Eddy's friends and family.

On that note we have a request for prayer. For at least a month now one of Eddy's friends from childhood has been joining us for church services. He comes at least three times a week with Eddy but we are not sure of his intentions. We ask you to pray for him that his heart would be centered on Jesus and that if he has come to know the Lord in a personal way that he would grow in Him. We also ask for prayer for our witness to Eddy's family as we see them quite often. Most of you know that Lima Peru is Eddy's "Jerusalem" and it is our desire that we would win the hearts of his family for the Lord and plant as many seeds as we can.

With regard to our length of stay we can only say that we are still praying. We are trying to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and discern whether or not He is opening or closing the doors for us to stay and additional three months. It is our desire to remain here as long as possible (June at this point) but we do want to make sure that we are walking in His will.

One thing we also want to share with you is some of what we have been learning in our personal devotions. This is the need for prayer. We need to pray so much more, and we ask you to pray for us. Sometimes it is hard for us to catch up together and have a good quality time to spend in prayer but we realize the need for it and ask you to intercede for us in this area. We feel that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle (when are we not??) and are thankful that the Lord has given us wisdom to discern this. He has been encouraging us to seek him in all things (Jeremiah 33:3) as we ask for direction in so many areas.

We could go on and on for things that we need prayer for but we want to share some praise reports too. One is a simple one but we are thankful none the less. We have received now a handful of packages and that we know of nothing has come up missing... for this we are very thankful for. When we left we thought that we would not be able to receive things here but it has been quite to the contrary and this has been a blessing to us but more so to the kids who are able to receive presents from home.

We were very thankful that my parents were able to send their gifts for Josiah's birthday, the kids were happy too! In addition to this, the packages always seem to arrive in the perfect moment, usually the day before they are needed. The Lord is in control, is He not??

Another praise. Hadassah has done wonderfully in school. She now loves to go to school and asks every day to go. She is speaking more and more in Spanish and her teacher says she understands everything. She also learned to dance and performed so beautifully this past Tuesday. We were very nervous because as many of you know, she is very shy. Well, if you watched the video you could she that she was quite the little ham. Again, we thank the Lord for helping her to warm and to adjust to her new lifestyle.

Hadassah's teacher Charito.

This was after the ceremony on Tuesday. Hadassah will be off for about three weeks and will then go for the summer session were they learn all kids of things like dance, cooking ect.

Thanksgiving and various other updates

2008-12-01T21:16:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving this past Friday at Robin and Tracey's house with a few other American missionaries and a handful of Peruvians as well. Everyone made a few dishes to pass, it was a great time.

Robin slicing up the Turkey

Betty & Pricila feeding Josiah some sweet potato pie... the only thing he didn't refuse to eat.

Betty is Pastor Brian's wife and Pricila is their youngest daughter.

He really liked that pie.

Oninxha just came for the desserts... haha.

They were so delicious and all homemade. Here almost everything needs to be made from scratch, and I mean complete scratch!! Forget the Stove-Top stuffing... I did actually see some canned corn the other day in the store, over $2 a can!!

Hadassah playing so nicely with all of her new friends.
Just this past week she has really started to warm up to everyone. She is actually giving kisses to a few select people now (here you greet females with a kiss to the cheek.)

We ended the afternoon with a "friendly" game of UNO.

Yesterday we took the kids to Miraflores for some ice cream, sometimes we need to have a little treat.

Here Josiah is antagonizing Hadassah who was sitting in the stroller next to him.

Here Hadassah was enjoying her ice cream too much to care.

Did I ever mention that everyone here asks us if the kids are twins... whenever we are out walking people stop us just to oh and ah over the babies... they can not get over the blue eyes.

Today Eddy told me some exciting news. Hadassah was chosen to be part of a graduation ceremony. I'm not sure exactly what the program will be about but it will take place on the last day of school - December 16th, and she will be dancing. She gets to wear a special outfit that they will make just for her, I am very excited to see her up on stage. She did not get to participate in the last festival as she was not ready, so I am very proud of her having been chosen this time. I never did post the pictures, they are from early November. There was a holiday here to celebrate the traditional dancing styles of Peru, the kids are dressed accordingly.

These are some of Hadassah's classmates. They were so cute dressed in their costumes. The decision to put Hadassah into this school has proven very beneficial in many ways. She is slowly beginning to say words in Spanish and seems to understand everything spoken to her in Spanish as well. She is also learning many things, she has become quite good at counting already (up to three so far.) They give her homework and work with her on many different projects at school.

Mentioning school... today my Spanish class was canceled for this month as we did not have enough people to have a class. I am actually looking forward to the time off as things have been so hectic around here. Eddy has been taking an additional discipleship class with Pastor Brian that requires a lot of quiet time for him. Now that I will be home I can take care of Josiah in the mornings which will free him up to study and help out a bit more in the church. He is gone to the church most evenings and has various outreach commitments throughout the month. I hope to be able to join the ladies now for their weekly prayer meeting as well. I'm praying for opportunities to now practice the material I have learned in class and the doors are opening for that which is exciting.

Another thing going on this week is the Primer Cumpleaños de Josiah (his 1st Birthday.) We are planning a fiesta with friends and family this Saturday the 6th (his actual birthday.)

Our little boy has grown up so fast.

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you...

Finally we want to take the time to thank you all for your prayers and support. We appreciate each and every one of you who takes the time to lift us up daily or as the Lord impresses it upon your heart to do so. We are so very thankful for the opportunity the Lord has provided for us to serve in Peru. We have been praying about extending our time here to early June and we trust the Lord will direct us.

Villa Natalia/Chaclacayo

2008-11-24T15:24:00.000-05:00

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Psalm 133:1

Un Rey (A King)
Josiah has captured the hearts of many a female here in Lima, here he sits with a few of his admirers on the bus ride to the country.

Once we arrived, all forty plus of us, we got together for a time of worship. Pastor Brian shared a a bit from the word and then a woman named Elvira from Santa Rosa shared her testimony. She traveled with us in order to be baptized.

Worship time.

Ricardo our worship leader.

I have a video of a worship time in the church I would like to upload but I am having trouble doing it, I hope that I will be able to post it so you can experience a little bit of what we have here.

Eddy's brother Kike came along with us on the picnic. It was a blessing to have him, he even brought a tent for the kids to nap in, that was a great idea.

Jimmy, such a nice guy and one of Eddy's closer friends here.

Josiah and his Uncle Kike having a good time during worship.

Elvira sharing her testimony, Pastor Brian encouraging her.

Does this place look familiar? This is where we had the baptism a month earlier and were planning to do so again that afternoon. When we hiked to the spot we discovered that it was laundry time for some people and had to hike back down to the pools.

Miguel resting above the pool.

Lucho beginning a trend of diving, the guys had a blast diving off these rocks.

Ana, another one of Josiah's fans. Josiah discovering the hand drum.

Futbol, a game of soccer to pass the afternoon.

I think this is a first, a picture of Eddy & I.

Wheeee!!

The entrance to Villa Natalia

The hike up a long hill to our awaiting bus. We were lucky he took us that far, we were not persuading him to go down this hill.

Hadassah was having a ball running up the hill. She actually decided to stop and pose for a picture.

Look, the bus is now in sight.

A view of Villa Natalia from the road.

On the way back out we encountered livestock in the road. We had to move to one side to let them pass.

Mooooo.

On the way home we asked to be dropped off in Chaclacayo, a town about an hour east of Lima. Here an orphanage is being built for Peru's street children and there is an American couple overseeing the work. We read about them before coming to Peru and had the opportunity to meet them one Sunday morning while they were visiting our church. They have two babies just about the same ages as our little ones. We decided to stop and pass a night there with them. We had a great time of fellowship and Eddy was able to lend a hand to Justin with his current project, a deck.

The kids had a great time, don't they look so cute eating their breakfast together?

I also had a great time passing the day with Sarah, Justin's wife. It was nice to chat with someone in a similar situation as I and very nice to have company while Eddy worked. While the guys were working we decided that we should go for a walk but could not figure out how we would do it with four kids. The roads outside the orphanage are not paved which would not prove to be very suitable for the two-year olds to walk on so we had to think of another plan. We managed to put all four into the backseat of their car and drive to the town square (don't worry moms, it was a short drive).

Kathryn and Hadassah taking time to smell the flowers.

New best friend.

We left Justin in charge of the babies and well...

Just kidding, we were all right there, but he was really sleeping as the kids romped around him.

Eddy working on the deck, well taking a break anyway.

OK, here he was working.

The orphanage, almost complete and ready for kiddies. They probably will not get them until early next year but they hope to be ready. This is the same place that I wrote about a month or so ago that was robbed just before they moved in. God has been very gracious to take care of them despite the enemies attempts to slow the work.

The journey ahead

2008-11-24T10:57:00.000-05:00

...that God may grant unto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: allowing the eyes of our understanding to be enlightened; that we would know what is the hope of His calling.

Ephesians 1:17-18

(translation my own)

Having been here now for close to three months, ten and a half weeks to be exact, we are seeking the Lord a bit more earnestly to reveal to us His will for us here in Peru. Although we are quite sure He will not lay out a complete road map we are asking Him to confirm to us what we are to do after these first six months have expired. We have spent the first couple of months trying to adjust and become accustomed to a new way of life. Thanks be to Him we have adapted well to the culture and enjoy living among the Peruvians here. Trying to develop a routine and sticking to it has been a bit of a challenge as of late with all of the bumps we are encountering in the road. The Lord was gracious to us in allowing for such a smooth transition but we feel that the tests and trials have now begun. Every time we get used to something, it changes and so we must adjust as well. It is really a time for us to learn how to live in the missions field and drive on through the bumpy roads. We are excited to explore all of what lies ahead, whatever that may be. I know this is a short post lacking photos but it is a very time consuming task to prepare the posts with photos and I would like to keep you all better informed. I would also like to share about our time away this past week but my duties are calling... a sick baby boy. Please keep Josiah in your prayers as he seems to be sick again (he slept from 4 PM last night until this morning and is running a slight fever). We miss all of you back home and would love to know you are reading along with us so leave us comments or just say hello!! I was planning to list a few more prayer requests but I'll do that later ,I suppose when time permits. In the mean time just pray that the Lord would guide us with His hand and that we would walk the path He desires for us.

I have uploaded all of our pictures from this trip to Villa Natalia and Chaclacayo to my Facebook account if you want to check them out, I know it will be awhile before I can get them all on here.

Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=726542535&ref=name click on the photos tab.

Happenings

2008-11-08T11:53:00.000-05:00

These past few weeks the entire family has been ill with various aliments. The kids had bronchitis and ear infections and Eddy and I have been sick with cold/flu like symptoms. I'm actually heading into round four of some type of cold or allergy which has made life a little bit difficult at times. The climate here is very different and quite deceptive. The air is humid and the weather changes without warning which can cause one to catch a cold quite easily. This seems to be the climate in Lima alone for if you travel a little bit in any direction the weather is much more reasonable and for this reason many people have begun to move to the out lying areas of Lima.

Daddy trying to soothe Josiah to sleep, he was in such discomfort... he was also cutting his first two teeth on top of his bronchitis and ear infection.

Finally he fell asleep in Daddy's arms, I couldn't resist the photo opportunity.

Robin sharing the word of God in Ica.

A few weeks ago Eddy had a chance to join a few other brothers for the Thursday night bible study in Ica. They left around 1 PM and traveled for about four hours South by bus. They spent some time witnessing to a few different people and deciding where the outreach will be held in January. The church here in Surco will be taking a trip to Ica to hold an outreach for two nights there in one of the parks. They have been preparing for months now, saving up so that everyone can go on the trip who has a heart to. One of the objectives of the cafe in the church is to raise money for trips like this. After they had dinner they began the study which lasts for a few hours and then they took the long trip back home, arriving somewhere around 4 AM. Eddy had a great time and hopes to be able to go again. I am excited as we plan to go as a family for the outreach in January.

The missionary who has been traveling to Ica every week to hold the bible study will be moving with his family there in a few months. The people in Ica are very happy to have someone to come and teach them the word of God. You can read this missonary's blog as well, there is a link to the right (Robin & Tracey Shelly).

On October 31st we held a festival for the kids at the church here in Surco as an outreach tot he community. Here the kids are singing a few songs.

The guy in the white shirt is named Jimmy. He has become a good friend to Eddy, we are so thankful for all of the wonderful friends the Lord has provided here for us.

A skit with clowns

A puppet show.

Hadassah all dressed and ready for the mini-olimypics this week in her school. Her class is green, hense the reason she looks like she is ready for St. Patricks day.

She really has such a beautiful smile but it can rarely be captured on camera, this day she was so excited that we were able to capture a handful of nice photos.

Pom-poms to cheer her classmates on.

Another rare photo, one of my princess and I together... and look she is even smiling... priceless!!

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please continue to lift us up in prayer for complete healing from all of our aliments. It has been very hard for Eddy to serve in church while he has had to take care of us here in the house. We've been feeling better these past few days so he has been able to get back into "the swing of things."
We will be going on a church retreat for the day on Thursday. We'll be getting out of Lima to the place I posted about before Villa Natallia. We will spend the day there and then stay a night or so with another missionary couple that are starting an orphanage in Chaclacyo. They are also from the States and have two children similar in ages to our own, I'm looking forward to the fellowship. I think the change in climate (warmer, drier and no smog) will help us to mend... please pray that it will.
For discernment in many of the decisions we are facing with regard to the length of our stay. Whether or not we should extend the ticket or return as planned and then come back for a longer period of time. Where we will live if we stay on longer and all of those little details that we will need to work out.
Pray for Eddy as he is now spending an extra day with the pastor here in a discipleship class. This is a praise as it is something Eddy has wanted to do for awhile but it is also a new venture for him as he is used to working with his hands. Pray for the Lord to teach him how to now be a student and to balance all of the commitments he has.
I also ask you to pray for me for direction as to how I can be more involved with the fellowship. I am hoping that I will have an opportunity to join two of the ladies from church as they go every other week or so to Santa Rosa for more of one on one discipleship with the women there. I also may need to take a break from my class this month if there are not enough students to fulfill the class size requirement. Although I am enjoying my time studying I am am praying about what the Lord would have me to do if the class is canceled. Should I take a break altogether (not study elsewhere for the month) and focus on something else?

Villa Natalia

2008-11-02T12:53:00.000-05:00

Two weekends ago we were able to get away for the night and head out for the mountains. It was a nice change of scenery and literally a breath of fresh air. There is such a difference in climate once you drive even a hour outside of Lima. The temperatures allowed for shorts and even required sunblock... too bad we forgot the bug repelant!

We went with two other couples and their kids. The one couple is Lucho and Chipe which we have wrote about in past entries. The other are friends of theirs from another near by church.

A view of the river valley as we drove up in to the mountains. Notice a little green? This is a result of the river running through the valley, everything else around is just brown earth.

A pipeline that pumps water up the mountain to be released back down again creating energy. This picture was taken from the campsite.

This was taken from a rock above the campsite. If you look at the very bottom of the photo you will see the roof of the place we stayed in. Very basic accomodations but you can not beat the price... $10 a night!

These are the mountain roads that must be driven on in order to reach the campsite. Do you see the car in the picture? There were a few times I couldn't see the edge of the road outside of my passenger window! Of course Lucho assured me that he was quite the fair driver and I need not be afraid... it didn't make me feel any more secure.

A very pituresque bridge, nice to look at but not so nice to cross... especially with a baby in hand!

Another view.

We went for a short walk up the river and saw some horses feeding. They were not wild but belong to the owner of the camp.

El Rio - The River

There was a trench built to divert water away from the river for use in various ways in the camp... our dishes being one of them. I loved hearing the gurgle of it in the quiet of the night. I also enjoyed waking up to crow of roosters!

Another view through the rail on the bridge crossing the trench (I'm sure there is a better name for this)

The night we arrived Lucho blessed us with a huge feast all cooked over the fire.

Lucho insisting Eddy try the Lomo (tender meat).

All of us preparing for the baptism.

"See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?"

One of the highlights of the trip was a baptism Saturday afternoon. A few days prior to the trip Eddy received a phone call from Lucho asking if He could baptize Rebecca and her son. Since there was water and nothing hindering us, we went ahead and proclaimed with Rebecca and her son, their new found faith in Jesus Christ.

Rebecca and her son Sebastian.

Rebecca was the first to be baptized.

Her son next.

Eddy and Lucho embrace and pray afterward.

What an honor to be able to take part in such an event.

Rebecca, her husband and her son with Eddy & Lucho.

Sebastian and Yevone (Rebecca's husband) relaxing after the baptism.

Little Hadassah sitting quiet as a mouse.

Father & Son

Lucho cooking us another meal. Lemon Chicken and Papas (potatoes).

Josiah enjoying a morsel of bread for breakfast.

Last but not least, our little Josiah is growing up so fast and is quite a handful. Here he is exploring the suitcase

Well, I'm happy to have finally posted this entry. I have a couple of more lined up for you already. Eddy took a trip to Ica this past Thursday (a four and a half hour trip one way) and then on Friday we had an event at the church for the kids.

Did anyone ready about the "earthquake" here on Saturday? I say earthquake because the paper reported it that way (4.5) but everyone here says it was a stong tremor and indeed it was! The first tremor I experienced I could only hear but this one I felt. This is the "month of the temblors" (tremors) and this is one thing that will surely take some getting used to!

El Dia de Los Ninos

2008-10-29T16:32:00.000-04:00

We decided one day last week to take the kids to a nice part of Lima called Miraflores. There is a place here called Larco Mar which they have built restaurants and stores into the side of the cliff which overlooks the ocean. It is such a pleasant place to just relax, so we decided to get off the bus here instead of riding all the way to a park like we had originally planned. Once we walked close enough we discovered that they had an entire day planned just for the kids (El Dia de Los Ninos). We took the kids down to see all the animals and enjoy the free events. Josiah had a ball but Hadassah was a bit afraid of all of the characters running around.

A view from above. There are almost always clouds hanging over Lima as you can see here.

A view in the other direction.

Ocassionally the sun will peak it's head out and here is a view with a bit of blue sky.

They had these cute little ducklings for the kids to pet as well as bunnies. Hadassah wasn't trying to touch them but Josiah couldn't keep his hands off of them!

I'm sorry this one is crooked, for some reason the format changed when I uploaded it. It was too cute to leave out and I know Karin will appreciate it.

Hadassah with her favorite friends Pooh & Tiger. She wasn't so thrilled as some other walking character had just tripped into her lap causing her to become a bit hysterical.

Josiah relaxing and flirting with the ladies after lunch. Don't worry Theresa and MB, you are still his favorites!!

We did eventually make it to the park and the kids really enjoyed themselves despite all of the crowds. Josiah liked the fact that we let him crawl around everywhere (they had that green carpet stuff on the ground) and that he could manage to climb on a few things.

Hadassah is getting so big, she is growing up so fast. She offically started speaking Spanglish yesterday with a few more words today. I'm glad that she is begining to pick up the language. We are excited that we are going to her school this Saturday for a traditional festival. There will be traditional dancing (by the kids) and the opportunity for us to meet her schoolmates and their families.

We have a busy weekend planned ahead of us so if you could keep all of these things in prayer we would appreciate it. Eddy will be going to Ica tomorrow with Robin (this is the place that is a minimum of four hours away) and then Friday evening is our outreach for Halloween. We will be having puppets and mimes in the church with other fun games and candies for the kids (I guess you could call it a harvest party except it is not harvest time here!) Saturday we have the festival at Hadassah's school and then Eddy will be leading the usual outreach team in an effort to reach the neighborhood around the church (normally they go to places further out). I'm not sure what Sunday holds as of yet but I'll keep you posted. Thank you once again for your continued prayers.

Announcement: Josiah cut his first tooth yesterday!! Yah!!

The cafe in progress

2008-10-24T14:38:00.000-04:00

Drywall has already been added to the stell studs, these pictures are about a week old.

Behind this wall are two garage doors leading to a very noisy street. This wall will help to cut down on the noise and provide a more pleasant environment for fellowship.

I believe Eddy told me that they are preparing this wall pictured here for a mural.

An interesting fact... drywall is somewhat of a new building material here. Almost everything is made of brick and concrete.

Six Weeks in Lima

2008-10-22T15:43:00.000-04:00

I was talking with a classmate earlier and I realized that as of today we have been here in Lima, Peru for six weeks already. The time has passed so quickly and for this I am thankful for. The transition moving from the United States to here was a fairly smooth one. I never realized that is was a "move'"so to speak but it has been. We have had to start a new life here with many of the elements that we are used to having been altered. It truly is amazing how the Lord has settled us and given us such peace in a city much different than we are accustomed to. I do not speak just for myself either. Although Eddy is a native of Peru, he has been living outside of this country now for twenty years with all the conviences of the first world. Yet, we do not miss those "conviences" in the least bit. This is one way that the Lord has confirmed to us that this is His will for us. He has given us the grace to deal with the things that take more time than we are used to taking, the dirt, the crime and the lack of many of our creature comforts. In place of the things that we may have "lost" He has placed in our lives warm hearts and new friendships. We have also been blessed with a a family who is always willing to help us with whatever we may need.

Now that we have been here for over a month we have settled into somwhat of a routine, although things are always changing and I suppose they will continue to. Friday is my last day of my current Spanish class, I should be moving on to level four next week. I am so excited to be finally learning Spanish and actually begining to have conversations with people. I thank the Lord he has allowed me the opportunity to do this. I also sat in with another missionary named Denise as she taught an English class last week, it seems like a great opportunity to get to know more people and I hope to continue this, Lord willing when she leaves. Eddy has been working hard in a variety of areas. He is helping another missionary named Robin to convert the back of the church into a cafe. A few Sundays ago they started serving lunch after Sunday service to raise money for mission trips. I believe they are planning a outreach to Ica in January and they would like to allow for as many people to go as have a desire. The addition of the cafe will make it a little more comfortable to sit down in eat as the church is located next to a very busy road. All you hear day and night is honk, honk, honk!!! He has spent a great deal of time teaching (well the time was invested mostly in preparing) these past two weeks as well. I know I am so far behind in updating you with photos but Iwill catch up once these exams are over. If you look to the right of the blog you will see two other links. One is for the other couple serving here full-time, Robin & Tracey Shelley and the other is for Pastor Brian's blog. You can also check these out if you want to read more about the work going on here.

One other note. We are going with two other couples to a nice place situated outside of Lima this Friday. I hear it is beautiful there (the name is Chosica) and I look forward to the time away. One of the couples that we are going with have become very good friends to us. We met them last year while we were here and as the time passes we realize more and more how the Lord has used them to draw us here. I'll write more on this later.

I promised you the final update on Santa Rosa and it is almost done. It is just a matter of finding time for Eddy and I to sit down (without children in tow) and writing down all of the details. Soon, maybe early next week.

Please pray for our time away, that the lord would speak to us about so many things. Also for a time of refreshment and fellowship with the other couples.

Oh, I keep forgeting to mention. If you use Windows Live Messenger (MSN) you can find us on there with the folowing address: eddykoplin@hotmail.com we hope to chat with you soon, the kids enjoy being able to see people from home with this neat tool.

Oh, Oh.. one final thing... did you notice the poll to the right? Cast your vote for which animal you think Peru is best known for!!