Feliz Navidad

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

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

Happy 3rd Birthday

 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

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

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!

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.