Day Nine - Final Day in Peru - Awesome!

Its bitter sweet to wake up knowing it will be your last day on a mission trip. For me its been three years since I have traveled abroad for a trip, so I will savor it. One year I traveled to Kenya, Peru, Ethiopia and Mexico; children bring so much joy but really help ground us at home. I miss Micah and Bailey dearly. Being at the orphanage brought a flood of emotions, I pray that a godly spirit of adoption will grow here and around the world.

After bringing our luggage downstairs, we walked to the Maranatha church in Cusco. Since it was a service in Quechua, the preaching had to be done in Spanish and therefore left me to do the preaching. The Quechua service was packed even though it starts at 8:30 AM and the cool thing is that the majority of attenders are young families though there is plenty of diversity. This is my sixth trip to Peru but the first time my sermon was translated in Quechua. The church was so responsive and passionate about worship. The team really enjoyed the worship and experience. See pic on left and click on video here. The pastor made and invitation and four young men came forward for prayer as they trusted in Christ that morning. It was amazing!

After the service we rushed to the airport to fly to Lima. We boarded the plane but there was a major problem, the plane was too heavy. They kept asking for volunteers to take the next flight and they could not get enough. The TACA flight attendant began picking on me . . .not sure why. She kept pleading with me to get off and they would give me a voucher for another flight plus put me on the next flight. I was open to it but told her about my previous commitment to preach at a church in Lima at 5 pm but she insisted. The plane could not leave and we were stuck. Finally they had a few more volunteers and the plane left an hour early. Not sure why she chose me . . . maybe my scary terrorist face is softening . . . nope. We arrived an hour later than expected.

The team shopped but I went to Emmanuel Church (click for website) in Lima. Its one of my favorite churches in Peru, I have preached there before and I was asked to preach at their 5 PM service. Our host David Quispirocca (see pick on left) is a pastor there. It was packed again, they have six services on Sunday and it is always full. I preached on John 4 and focused on how God chooses anyone he wants to serve. I called on them to get out of their comfort and launch forward to serve Him. As I asked for those that needed prayer for strength to serve to come forward for prayer, the stage was so crowded that we could not pray for them individually, I had to pray for the whole group and then send them back to their seats. David asked for those that trusted Christ to come forward after the stage was cleared and about six people came forward, they were prayed for and helped.
Another cool thing was that Anthony Diliberto (current LCMS missionary in Peru) was able to attend and sit with us. He will be working with Mark and Sandi Eisold in Lima.
(Pic on left: my friends: David, Mary, Jorge, Jonathan and Juana plus boys)
Our team and our Peruvian hosts ate our last dinner together. We exchanged toasts, thanks, gifts and great food. It was a great day, great mission and great trip!

After a six hour flight to Miami, damaged luggage - thanks American Airlines and a three hour flight to Dallas, we made it home on Monday afternoon. It was AWESOME to hug, hold, kiss and talk to Bailey and Micah. Micah kept grabbing my cheeks and kissing me. Thank you Lord that we are home safe and to our children - one of my constant prayers.

This is my last blog on Peru. We managed to be away from the kids for 10 days. My sister and all our family did an amazing job take care of our kids . . . huge thanks. I also thank those that financially supported the mission . . .last but not least I thank our team that was just amazing. To our future Peruvian Missionaries Mark and Sandi Eisold; Pastors: James and Martha Rockey - Florida, John and Cindy Dawson - Ohio, Kirk and Tina Miller - Colorado. I also thank POP Carrollton for collaborating with us in Lima - Go Rosaline and PLI for sending us on this mission - Thanks Steve and Rita!
I especially thank my dear wife and partner with whom I am more than privileged to serve on so many adventures around the world and at home!

GLORIA A DIOS!














Picture here is Cindy and John Dawson, Sandy Eisold and Tina Miller at over 13,000 feet range.

Day Eight Part Two - "We were terrorized by the Floods"

I remember the floods in Peru last January, we prayed and I asked others to pray for those in Cusco. We had already planned to go to Cusco so this was going to add to our list of opportunities to help.
We drove to the worst area outside of Cusco, house after house was turned into rubble. Most of the houses are made of adobe and straw, . . adobe tends to give to standing water.
The team spread out to minister to as many as possible.
Jen, Jorge (Pastor of Cusco Maranatha Church) and I approached two ladies sitting outside their plastic homes. I asked them what happened. The elderly lady spoke with such humility and sadness, she said, "The floods came in the middle of the night, we weren't warned or prepared. We all thought the waters would go down, instead they came up at night and we are lucky to be alive." She then began crying, it was more of a quiet weep. She said, "We were terrorized. We can't sleep well at night, keep dreaming about it happening again."
The have been living in these refugee plastic homes. Basically its four poles that are wrapped with heavy plastic. "USAID" is all over them (see pic below), it felt good to know that the US was involved in helping at some point. . . but it is now seven months and the people still live in these shelters that are not very good. Its freezing cold at night and burning in the day as plastic exaggerates temperatures to the extreme. You never hear about the Peru refugees anymore on the news. We are moved by current disasters but soon forget those left behind without any help.

We were moved to pray with them and give them bibles. Jen then grabbed two blankets that we brought from our home and wrapped them around the two ladies. They were moved to tears again and thanked us over and over again. They were so gracious, so grateful and so hurt. Jorge's church had already delivered over 1 ton of supplies and more was coming. When is the government going to allow them to rebuild? Who knows but they need help soon. O Lord, please provide a way for these people to find safe shelter.
It was awesome to do this with Jen and the other sick members of our team. Thank You Lord that they are feeling better.

Next Stop: Orphanage in Cusco
We have always visited orphanages in almost every country where we do missions. Its always a painful and joyful experience to see the children. This was no exception. We were moved by this kids, so loving and happy in this new family. Most of them were abandoned or abused and the government placed them here. This orphanage is run by American missionaries (See pic on lefso the conditions (by our standards) were much better than other ones we have seen. The children looked happy, cared for and secure. We were impressed with the work they are doing with these children. They are currently building a new orphanage in the jungle and will move there once complete. Of course funds are short so we hope to help somehow. The cool thing is that most of these kids go to the school run by David's sister Mary, the one we painted and taught parents. Both ministries collaborate together to help the orphans, its awesome.
We sand happy birthday to two orphans and I pulled out my old trick - Animal Balloons. At first it was just me but soon the Peruvians swarmed me to help make the giraffes and small dogs. I am really good at making those, any other animal I try to make looks more like your lower intestine than an animal. The kids loved them and so did the adults. Jen again was the last one to leave, she loves orphans and her heart is so moved by them. She makes friends quick and ends up hurting so much for them.

We left home exhausted but satisfied after a very long day in the mountains with the Quechua youth, the flood refugees and the orphans of Cusco.

Pic on left is Pastor Mark Eisold giving balloons to orphans. He and his wife Sandi are moving to Lima Peru in December as LCMS missionaries. They are dear friends and we were so excited to introduce them to Peru and our friends in Peru. Pleased pray for them and support their awesome work in Peru.

Tomorrow is our last day in Cusco as we fly to Lima and Miami! I love what we are doing but I really miss my kids. I can't wait to get home.

Day Eight - Andean Quechua and I ate Alpaca cooked in the ground!

Our sick members are improving but not good enough to make the long trek to altitude of 13,000 feet to reach the Quechua people in the Andean mountains. Altitude has affected everyone but we are acclimating slowly. Our first night in Cusco I kept waking up gasping for oxygen. The hotel has loaned us an oxygen tank that we have all shared to help us acclimate.
We drove three hours through the mountains to reach the Quechua Tanca Village. The scenery was breathtaking, God painted snow-capped mountains and beautiful valleys for us.
We arrived at the church in Tanca and went into the church. The youth of the area were having a retreat and they wanted to have us speak to the youth. Over 100 teenagers gathered all around us, they were so cute and small. At 6' 2" I feel like a giant here (won't mention my weight).
They sang us a few worship songs songs in Quechua, they sound so much like other native groups around the world. Click here for the video. For a moment I couldn't believe we were here.

I was told as I walked in that I was to speak to the youth on romance and dating relationships. Within five minutes I was on stage speaking, I'm used to that by now. I preached to them from Genesis and Isaiah about waiting for the right person and for the right time. I shared my personal testimony of how God found my wife for me and not the other way around. I invited those that needed special prayer to come forward, they rushed the stage. I was overwhelmed and asked my team to help me pray for each one. As they were praying, the Spirit began breaking them down, many were in tears in brokenness. It went on for quite a while as they repented and looked to God for help.
After the retreat we were invited to eat . . . we were in a hurry but we were told that the Quechua people take rejections like this very seriously. They had cooked Alpaca (Llama that looks like sheep with long necks) . . .in the ground with hot rocks. I couldn't believe it . . . they saw how curious I was so they uncovered one of the Alpaca's from the rocks. See Picture on the Left and Video here.
My PLI team did not want to take a risk and eat Alpaca cooked in these rocks since we were all struggling with our health but we did not want to offend them either. Our solution was not perfect but it include the leader (me) eating it and taking it to go in little baggies since we were in a hurry to leave. I had some concern about my stomach but then again, I ate Mopani worms in Botswana, Crocodile in Kenya and unmentionable meats in other countries. "I can do this". I took a bite and it was spicy and hard, not very tender. The Quechua leaders were satisfied and we left feeling really great about the ministry.
We drove back and met the sick members at the flood refugee camp. More on this tomorrow!

DAY SEVEN - I will give you my son!

(Picture on left: Seminary class I taught on missions)



After breakfast, our team worshiped and had a good devotional by Tina. It was on Psalm 1, about a tree planted by waters, how it will prosper. After the devotional, we sand the song from Newsboys called, "He Reigns". I sensed that we were to sing the song but I wasn't sure what the connection was with the devotional. The song is about every nation singing praises together to God and then I got a thought, "Revelation 22". I went there and the connection came . . . "And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. . . And they will reign for ever and ever." Missions is about being part of that healing to all nations, bringing joy, peace and love.

This morning, four of our members had to stay back. One of our desires on mission trips is to do what others can't do for good. We were asked to paint a room at the Christian School. It seemed like those that were able to work were tired, fighting sickness too and were not too energetic. As soon as we began painting, the team was energized. We finished a whole room in a very short time and it looks great.

During lunch we sat around and asked our hosts David Q's family to share how they trusted Christ. They all grew up in a Christian home and trusted Christ at a young age. But the interesting story is how their parents came to Christ. The pastor that had introduced them to the gospel. He asked them, what is the most important thing to you that you should offer God. The mom came back and said, I offer God my son that I am about to deliver. That son is David Q. David has been a missionary in China, USA, Switzerland and Peru. The rest of the children are all in ministry too. Jonathon is the President of the Maranatha Seminary, Elizabeth and Carlos work at Emanual Bible Church in Lima, George is the Vice-President of the denomination, Mary is the Administrator of the Christian School. We are amazed that they are now all having major impact on the country of Peru. One mom, one commitment, country changed.

That four of our members went to teach the parents of the Christian School. I got to go to the Seminary and teach a class on Missions. It was pretty incredible to hear about the Seminary. They are training 300 students for less than $15,000 per year. They charge students about $12 a month. They have eight institutes all over the country including two in the jungle and the others in the mountains. God is doing amazing things in this country through these friends.

I am going to come back to Peru for sure. I have been here six times but never felt this excitement for long-term strategic and sustainable ministry. I also love Cusco, great city.

Our team members are recovering but still not 100%. Keep praying for us!

Day Six - 40% of our team is down!

We all woke up tired and several of our team members woke up sick. The men were to go and train 100 pastors from 10-1 pm and the women were going to a christian school. Jen was so sick that she could not lead the team as expected. The ladies had a small look of panic on their faces. In faith they proceeded to plan as much as possible with very little information. They did fabulous.

The men had to teach 100 pastors, many of them from the jungles of Peru. Some can not speak Spanish and had to have some translation in Quecha language. The pastors belong to a network of churches that was started by Swiss missionaries in the 1950s. The Swiss left in 2000 and have left the church to the Peruvians. The church has doubled in 10 years, they now have 240 churches. The pastors were so gracious and gave us an excellent review. We spoke to them mainly about the pastor's family, how to value the marriage and their children. Many Peruvian pastors are burning out, struggling in their marriages and losing their churches. It was awesome to hear their responses and their repentance.

The rest of the day was spent taking care of the sick . . .on our team. Two more got sick and by the end of the day 4 our of ten were sick.

God is teaching us so much even through sickness. He has a purpose in our lives even when we don't like what he is doing. We want healing but we want Him more!

Day Five - "Its worth the climb - keep going"

At an altitude of about 8000 feet, Machu Picchu, now one of the 7 wonders of the world!
Jen and I are not big into ruins and past civilizations but this was just amazing.

We took the bus up from our hotel and enjoyed the breath-taking drive up to the ruins from our hotel. The rest of our group left at 5:30 AM to see the sun rise over the ruins. I was not so eager so we took our time and left after 9 am. Unfortunately for my eager buddies, the clouds were too heavy and we were not able to see the sun until after 1 pm.
(Click on the picture to see it larger, pics can never do it justice but I hope you get a taste of its beauty)
We were told to do the zig-zag climb, that would give us the highest elevation to see over the whole ruin . . . we were ruined! To climb steep steps for what seemed to be a mile was not an easy feat, we stopped several times to catch our breath and give our body some rest. Jen has bone spurs in her ankles and every step was painful. . . we discussed walking back but she said, "we have come this far, . ."An American walked by us and said, "Its worth the climb, keep going". It was just what we needed. As we were arriving to the top, a llama jumped in front of us, it was so cool.

"Its worth the climb, keep going". Those words seemed so simple and yet so powerful. Its true that what separates success from failure is perseverance. It's not my favorite word for sure when I'm struggling, because it usually means hard, enduring work . . .but I love it too when I finally succeed. Sometimes all we need is an encouraging word, "Keep going", "You can do it", "Don't quit", etc. . . Afterwards we will say, "It was worth it"! Maybe you have been thinking of quitting . . .don't stop, its worth the climb.


When we finally arrived at the top we were just blown away. There were llamas and tourist from all over the world everywhere. A tour guide took us through and gave us the history of MP and the Incas. It was a great experience . . . put it on your top 10 places to visit in the world.













DON'T GIVE UP! KEEP GOING - ITS WORTH THE CLIMB!



Today in Cusco the men head off to the pastor's conference and the women to a christian school to teach. We are excited to share and partner with other believers.

Several of our members are sick, including Jen, she will have to stay in the hotel this morning, pray that she gets better soon. Its also really cold here, for Peru. We had a heater on in our room last night, everyone is wearing coats. Though our health is not great, we still know that we were called here, that this is exactly where we were supposed to be. Its great to feel God's peace in the midst of chaos.

Keep praying for us! We miss you friends and family . . .we will be home soon!

Day 4 in Peru - Can you say Machu Picchu?

Tuesday was an amazing day of planes, trains and buses. We boarded our Taca flight from Lima and were surprised at how new and comfortable the plane was. We landed in Cusco, flying over mountains was exhilirating for our team. Everyone is still relatively healthy . . . I still have this chest cough but nothing too difficult.
We then took a 1 hour bus ride to the train station. It was really cool to stop and shop on the way, see the Quecha people, pet lamas and eat lama meat, really tender.
The train ride was 2 and a half hours to Aguas Calientes (hot springs) which is only 30 minutes from Machu Picchu. BREATHTAKING! Snow cap mountains, beautiful countryside, raging rivers.

Today we climb up to Machu Picchu . . well, the team is already there, Jen and I are taking it easy this morning, getting up at 4:30 AM to see the sunrise was a little too much. You have seen one ruin, you´ve seen them all . . .at least that is what my friend Jim E. would say.

Tonight we returned to Cusco and met with the leaders of 200 churches. On Thursday we will be teaching at their annual conference.

We ask for your prayers as some of our members are sick. Altitude here is 11, 000 feet.

We love you and hope you are well family and friends!

FROM the Mountains of Peru,

Can you say, CHOW, CHOW

Peru Day Three - What is true religion?

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction . . . " James 1:27


I woke up early, rested and refreshed. Today we visit young but old friends at El Nino Emmanuel Orphanage in Huaycan. We have worked with these children since 2004 and wow, the place has changed. The children came out as always, hugging us and greeting us. It was awesome to see Daisy, our sponsored orphan.
The ladies took all the kids out to eat, shop for shoes, etc. . . the men took on a project of laying some new concrete outside the kitchen. I convinced Richard Ray (Prince of Peace Carrollton/Fox4News) to stay with us and work, he did and we had some great talks.

The pastors worked really hard, they were worked so hard to break up the concrete, then they leveled it off. The concrete guy came over and in a few hours we layed a slab of concrete outside the kitchen. It was awesome to watch it all come together so fast.

The orphanage has changed drastically. In just a few years it has been totally transformed. Prince of Peace has had alot to do with it including the new kitchen, dorms, etc. . . It was heart-warming to know that the orphans have a much safer and cleaner place to live. As always, I was asked to help pay for more than we could do, its hard to say no but we did what we could.

The wives had a great day with the kids. They "ate everything" on their plates and were so happy to eat out. The shoe shopping experience was great too. Jen got to take daisy to the doctor to purchase new reading glasses for her. She has had a hard time doing school work and we hope this will help. Daisy has grown so much, she is now 11 years old and looks great. She stuck to Jen, got Jen her food, her drink and would not leave her side. As always, tears were shed when we left.

When we first arrived at the orphanage in 2004, we offered the orphans an orange or a toy . . .they took the orange without hesitation. They were hungry. Today we see great progress in their lives and we thank God for the provision of so much for their lives. Thank God for the lama mamas of Prince of Peace that have a huge heart and vision for these children!

You want to please God? Look after those that don't have much, especially orphans and widows.

Peru Day Two - Who is in Control?

Maybe we are not in control like we think. Maybe even things that seem random are part of a plan. Today God convinced me that even events that seem trivial are orchestrated by him.
So last night we had the banquet with the pastors from Huaycan, it was a blessed night. Three of our pastors had chosen their choices of churches they wanted to preach at. There were only two options left, Kirk and I had to choose. Being the coordinator, I asked him to choose and I would take the left over . . But Kirk was gracious, he said, lets flip a coin. I called it and he won. This was purely by chance right?

I was stuck with the early church and I was exhuasted. How could I get up at 6:00 AM, leave by 7:00 AM in a time that I'm struggling with a chest cold, coughing alot and to top it off, I was the only one without a translator which means, I had to preach in Spanish.
When Jen and I went down for breakfast, we were surprised that David Q was there to meet with us, it was a great morning. We then arrived at the church I was preaching and the pastor recieved us during the praise and worship, we went to his office. While we were talking the praise and worship team sang, "Cosecha", one of my favorite spanish songs about the harvest and I thought . . ."Screw it, I'm supposed to be there, I love that song and it is exactly what I'm preaching". The worship was awesome, then they sang another favorites, "Todo Poderoso" . . .I began to melt and I sensed His presence in worship like I haven't in a long time. . . I love spanish worship, it speaks to my heart like nothing else.
Jen and I went up during the sermon time, she shared about our family, adoption and her cancer scare . . .the people were moved. I then preached on John 4, about the Harvest. It was perfect for the church. Afterward we were asked to pray for a young woman with cancer, she was weak and fragile but in faith we begged God for healing.

We were ushered out to a taxi to the next church where I was to preach. It was another amazing church, the worship was wonderful and led mostly by young people. The offering was led by middle schoolers but the quality was just the same. The pastor's daughter played the drums with so much skill, coolness and worshipful attitude - she is 11 years old.
(Picture on left is the pastor, his wife and children, the girl on the far left was the drummer)
They were so amazed that I preached on the Harvest as they are doing a major outreach next Sunday and this is the message that they needed . . . by chance? Not a chance. There are no accidents. We were so blessed.


In the afternoon we joined Prince of Peace Carrollton for outreach in the plaza of Huaycan. There were thousands of people there, it was packed with people and activities. The POP youth did their mimes in front of hundreds and afterwards we went out and shared the gospel with people. Beth Daugherty and I teamed up as we shared with a group of 15-20 people. Beth was sharing and I was translating for the first half and I did the second half all in spanish. The people were intently listening to our message, with full attention on our words about eternal life. When I asked who trusted Christ for the first time, over 15 hands were raised, most of them were men. (See pics on left of the group) We were awed at the response. We gave them bibles and instructions for their next steps. Many people were ministered to that night, many trusted Christ. One of the best things was the joining of forces between PLI pastors with POP missionaries . . . can Lutherans actually do this?

I am learning that though I think I'm making choices, many of them are already orchestrated. Instead of worrying, instead of thinking too much, I need to "relax and enjoy the ride". Even a person like me that doesn't worry too much still needs to give up the thought that I have some control - I don't . . . and neither do you! So enjoy the ride!

Prayer Needs:
1. Continued health for our team (get rid of my cough/cold)
2. On Monday we will minister in the orphanage, grace, strength and love to help them.
3. Continued unity of our team and working of God within our team.

Thanks friends for praying for us! We love you!