April 2009 newsletter

Life: a journey, an adventure with Jesus
Here in Peru, There in Duluth

Dear Family & Friends:

The cross is empty. The tomb is empty. He is risen! Yes, we serve a risen Savior! This is Easter and we have been to a rooftop sunrise service, the morning worship service and are in the process of reading “The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus”. What more could I ask for!

Here in Peru – We are still studying and have begun to realize, we CAN speak the language when we have to! It’s not easy, it’s slow, it’s complicated. It’s far from fluent, we don’t always use the right sentence structure, but we are capable of getting a point across. Our Peruvian friends are so patient (and tolerant) with us and for that we are truly thankful. We have so much to learn – but we’ve come a long way baby! Catching a cab, riding the bus, shopping at the local grocery mart, and walking through the mercardo no longer makes us fearful. We are adjusting well and enjoying it.

We covet your prayers for us as we enter the second half of our studies here in Arequipa. Time is quickly passing. We are beginning to understand and speak more words, but want so much to be able to communicate intelligently. We have a great deal of respect for this new language and struggle quite a bit with it being so complex.

Having just returned from a week in San Juan de Lurigancho and a visit to Pat’s Place we are looking forward to getting back to classes. However, it was a much needed break. We flew to Lima to start the reapplication process for our visas/resident cards (keep praying about this!) and visited with co-workers from Pat’s Place, Hope House, a summer Team Leader, friends who are translators, Pastor Gino and his family, Percy the contractor, Rory the taxi cab driver, Edgar the bus driver, and although the time passed very quickly, we enjoyed the change from studying. It was such a joy to hear the children (and their mothers!) at Pat’s Place call out Mama Joy & Papa Don upon arrival and each time they saw us. We felt like we were home with our own grand-children running for hugs and kisses.

During an AWANA meeting with Pastor Gino, we learned another church is ready to start a club in May. Problem is there are no funds to start the club at this point in time. We ask that you pray about this need. If the Lord is continuing to bless you even in these days with an unstable economy, why not consider investing in young lives for Christ and help with the needed funds. $550 US Dollars will provide training, materials and register the club for a year. We need your help. Please pray for the yet-to-be-determined avenues we will need to research and develop to help the Peruvian Christians become financially capable of maintaining their AWANA Clubs. It would be a shame if they had to be terminated or could not have a club due to lack of funds. Our desire is to feed them and then to teach them to fish so they can become independent of USA funding.

There in Duluth -- We’ve heard that it’s spring and all the bulbs are bursting forth and showing their beauty. It’s now autumn in Peru, although the days are still very hot, the evenings cool off to a pleasant temperature. Our family continues to keep in touch with today’s technology serving as our primary resource. Our Bridgeway family, square dance family, and town friends all send emails which bring us up to date with what’s happening in Georgia. Thank you to each and every one of you. It brightens our day to open our inbox and find a new message from one of you. Please keep them coming. You cannot imagine how much we appreciate hearing from you.

This past month I received a devotion from Robin (A Time To Build Ministry) a friend Beth’s. She was forwarding it to me because another friend (J. L. Lacey) writes a daily devotion for their ministry mailing list. I’m forwarding a little bit of it because we want you to know that we feel much the same way. Remember, these are not our words, but could very well be and we echo the comments highlighted in bold. Thank you to our prayer partners!

"About ten years ago, While in Arequipa, I met a couple that had just moved to Peru as Missionaries. A few months earlier they had come to begin working with the poor and down cast. When I met them they could barely speak Spanish yet they knew that God had appointed them for this time and for this people. A beautiful couple in their forties who loved God so much that they wanted to give their lives fully to make a difference. They gave it all up for the sake of the call. They were not content to just sit and wait out their golden years in retirement; they wanted to do something great before they died. By and by, I'll fly away wasn't an option. In a news update she told of some other struggles with the weather, authorities looking for bribes and difficulties in traveling, among other things and then writes; "Have I told you all lately how much I appreciate you and your prayers? Life can be difficult everywhere, in various ways; but here in Peru we are so protected and cared for. I am sure that angels sit on each corner of our property, keeping watch. "

May each one of you have a great day--thank the Lord for what He has done, or will do, in your lives; because He is faithful in caring for His children! If you are not a child of God, if you haven't accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, please consider it. He gave everything He had for us to simply accept Him and leave behind the things of this world that always trip us up. I'd like each of you to be cared for as we are in Peru"

Excerpts from devotion by: J L Lacey www.attb.org

Because He Lives!

Don & Joy