An opportunity to share

This morning while Elsa was washing her clothes, We went on a prayer walk that ended with us sitting for a little while alone in the plaza. After a few minutes a young pregnant mother Alicia with her two kids Brian (5) and Analie (3) came and sat in the plaza. Brian got out one of his trompos (tops) and started to play. So Jon walked over with the one he bought and started and to learn how to use yesterday. The two boys played for a little while, then Roni moved closer while crochetting and before long the mother and Roni were sitting next to eachother talking. It was a great opportunity to talk with her, it started about Babies and other random things and ended with Roni having a chance to share the gospel with her. Its amazing how God can use some yarn and a kids toy to start a relationship with a local person. Please pray for the seeds that were planted this morning :-)

In Caraveli at last

We arrived last night in Caraveli after many long hours of travel. In atico we had to wait on the side of the road for several hours for a truck coming to Caraveli. We ended up sharing a truck with 8 crates of chickens. It made me think of Jimmy and all his chickens. Thankfully our bags weren´t terribly traumatized from the experience. We had to visit several hostals to find a decent price. The new hotel that Todd had told us about is very nice but too expensive for us. They wanted soemwhere around 30 soles a night. For travelers or tourists that might not be too bad, but a it was a little much for us. We eventually talked Jenny, the lady who runs the cjarahaulli (sp?) hostel, down from 16 soles a night for Elsa to 10 and from 24 to 16 for us.

After a 15 sole breakfast of tea, bread, jam, and cheese at the Kathias restaurant (we decided tomorrow we're buying bread and jam) we walked all around the town. We met one of the town officials and introduced ourselves and talked to them some about the creative ministries team coming in a few weeks. We also found a couple of the local schools and hope to visit them on Monday. We cannot wait to see the doors that will be opened for the gospel here in Caraveli.

Looking at Bus schedules, we'll probably head out next wednesday for CoraCora.

Last night we had an opportunity to speak with Todd & Leslie from Valleydale church.  It was a blessing to hear about the prayer, passion and excitement that has gone into the planning and preparation thus far in Caraveli.  It was also great to find out a little more about the town and the people there.  Our little group takes off on a bus at 9 tonight to start our journey to the village.  Last night we were looking at a calendar and thinking about how it seems the next few weeks are going to fly by before midsummer in Nazca.  At this point unless something comes up we plan on visiting the team in CoraCora next week and BellaUnion the week after that.  The Creative Ministries Team will be coming to Caraveli the 24th-27th and then will travel with us to Nazca. 

Well, its time to run to Wongs for a few last minute items.  Blessings to you all!

Too little...Too Much....Just Right

"Remove far from me falsehood and lying;give me neither poverty nor riches;feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny youand say, Who is the Lord?or lest I be poor and stealand profane the name of my God."
(Proverbs 30:8,9, ESV)
Many people look at these verses and say that God gives us each day what we need, no more and no less, because He knows exactly how much it is we need...and they are exactly right. But, one way that these scriptures are overlooked is how we can apply them to our ministry...or it is at least been overlooked by me the numerous times that I have read this passage.
There are days when we don't get enough ministry in, and we just don't feel filled about it, and we make excuses, like, " I was tired" or "I just didn't feel led" or something idiotic like that, because God is always leading us, and we can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength. There are many other excuses that I have used in cases like this, but, meh, they are all just that...excuses.
On the other hand, there are days when ministry is going so well and so smoothly, we just don't know when to stop ourselves. I mean, we just go and go and go and we ignore that point where God is telling us to stop because we don't want to stop. You're talking to the person and you just KNOW that if you have 5 more minutes, they will make a decision for Christ. You're at a point where you're trusting yourself, not God, to get the result. Sometimes, we need to step back, because too much of something can overload someone, and push them away.
So, my challenge this summer is to take the portion that God gives you, and do what God has in store for you that day. Some days it may be simple and easy; others may be difficult and painful. But, in the end, those days will Glorify God. Don't overdo it, leaving God behind; and don't under-do it, and have to excuse your way out of it. Remember, Our God is an AWESOME God. Praise God!

Everyone has an idea for the baby's name

Here's an email we got yesterday from Mom Bradley. It made us smile :)

Thank you guys! Got your e-mail, and heard about your call to Dad, and checked your Blog -- I don't know about you, but I sure feel better! I love that blog, by the way. I don't even know what a BLog is - but I just love it! I mean, what's the difference - a blog? web site? Like your Xanga site - was that a blog? Oh well. I'm just so excited to hear all is well - and boy or girl, do you have a preference? Have you started thinking about names yet? I'm sure you have Oglethorpe right at the top of the list! well, gotta' run - Love muchly!!! XOX Mom

All is good :)

We stopped at the Doctor's office today after we were done at Mike & Kathy's.  Dr. Muniz had studied in the U.S. at John Hopkins Hospital.  He checked Roni out and did a sonogram and said everything was ok and that we shouldn't have any problems with travel this summer.  The sonogram was great, we could see everything so much clearer than we could at our appointment a couple weeks ago.  Jon was so excited as he watched the baby move around on the computer screen, he said it looked like the baby was dancing.  Also, the doctor said he couldn't really tell but we might be having a boy.  We plan to get an appointment sometime in July when we're in arequipa to check on the baby and see if we can tell if its a girl or a boy.  Our next scheduled appointment is on August 2nd with Dr. Hodges in salina... and we don't want to wait that long.

We found out that we have an addition to our Barnabas Team.  Elsa, a young Peruvian chica who has been learning English will be traveling with us this summer.  She has a medical issue that keeps her from going into the higher altitudes, so since we have a similar issue with altitudes (i.e. the baby :-) )  she'll be joining us.  Please be praying for her this summer as she is not a Christian.  We are sure we'll have plenty of chances to witness to her this summer as we are out there.

We're still here in Lima.  The two ladies who we were sharing an apartment with here were moved to a hotel last night because the owner had promised one of their rooms to some man from California for the month.  So last night around 2 am, we were awakened (yes both of us, even though we all know Roni can usually sleep through anything) when the Christopher from California arrived.  He was thankfully quiet, his two friends though seemed as if they knew nothing beyond shouting.  They had finally left and we were about to drift off when we heard them yelling from the street for Christopher.  

This morning we are at Mike and Kathy's house for Barnabas team training.  We'll spend the next couple days in training before we head out for our village.