Todo Poderoso!!

Wow! What a fabulous day we had in the Lord at SAM Academy. Today was our outreach on the plaza in town. Kenji (8th) and Jacob (12th) played guitar while the rest of us attempted to sing our hearts out. There is alot of noise around the plaza with motocars, traffic, vendors selling their wares, whistles blowing etc...but we just started singing and prayed God would bring a crowd; He did. Several students including Victoria shared about their faith and something God had taught them or brought them through. I know the kids were nervous beforehand, but you have never guessed it once they started. Even one of our new teachers shared while a student translated her testimony. We handed out our tracts and asked if there were any who had a need we could pray for or who wanted to know more about Jesus. The angels are singing in Heaven-- we have 4 new brothers in Christ (Cesar, Gender, Luis, and William). What joy has filled my heart as I witnessed and spoke with people and watched our students share with them as well. Praise God with us for His protection and watchcare and for His work in our lives and the lives of these new brothers. Please pray for them by name as they begin their walk with the Lord in a place that is not easy and full of oppression and poverty.

Earthquake

I feel the earth, move, under my feet...I feel the sky tumbling down, a tumbling down... Wow! Today, Victoria and I were in town getting something notarized so we were in a concrete 2 story building when the earth started shaking. It scared us to death needless to say. All the people began to run out of the bldg. It rocked the bldg. but everyone was safe. I cannot even imagine one that was bigger. God is our Protector; we are praising Him tonight for watching over us.

Peruvian style Birthday "13"

Victoria is 13! What a day we had. We enjoyed a quiet a.m. together having breakfast and praying (I was crying as I prayed over her),and she opened her gifts from Miss Kathy (thanks). We spent lunch with a Peruvian family who is in SAM Mission; we ate pollo a la brasa y papas fritas. The girls had made a cake for Victoria, and then we drove out of town to enjoy fresh coconuts and juice, sugarcane stalks (which you chew and suck the juice out of), and other fresh fruits at a roadside stand.

Later we went over to a friend's house who is a pastor here, and she and some of our Peruvian friends had a surprise party for Victoria. It was so sweet of them as many do not have much, but they each gave her a gift and they made a poster with birthday wishes on it. I had taken Victoria to Lima in Nov. as her gift from me, so I knew the day would not be filled with lots, but God richly blessed her through others. That is just like Him!

Christmas

We had the blessing of being able to watch another missionary's home over Christmas for almost a week. They live out of town on a lake with air conditioning and a real "American" kitchen. We cooked the turkey I bought in Lima in Nov. which I brought back in a suitcase :) ; it was delicious. We invited a friend, Jennifer, who is a pastor here of a local church to eat with us. In the a.m. we opened all the fun gifts some had sent (especially Mr. Rick and Miss Kim) and ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We had lunch with another group of missionaries who live out there, so our bellies were full by nighttime!

Aloha from Peru!

SAM Academy celebrated our 2nd annual homecoming this weekend with a Luau theme. Our students had a great time competing in volleyball, hula hoop, musical beach towels, tourist relay, soccer and much more. Victoria helped her team win the competition by placing 1st in the hula hoop, musical beach towels, and the limbo activities. We ended the evening with a Luau dinner and dance. It was great fun! We honored our two seniors, Amy and Jacob.

We also had Open House this past week to welcome the newest family to our school, the Listros, who have five kids grades 1st-7th. The other parents came to see what their kids have been up to in classes. It is always such a blessing when we all get together for fellowship and some much needed "down time".

Visit to Santa Rosita (indian village)

We had an incredible trip today over the jungle out to an indian village (Shapibo). Someone watched my classes for me so that Victoria and I could join the team on the trip. We rode in a Cessna 206 FLOAT PLANE which was a first for us. We took off from the lake at Cashibo and flew over the Ucayali River (major tributary of Amazon River) and out to the village where we landed on the river. What an awesome sight! God certainly is the Master Designer. The kids in the tribe ran to the shore to greet us; they were so precious. They grabbed our hands and led us around the village. The kids played with them many games and sang songs. I got alot of great pictures. As we left, my heart ached b/c these children will never see the majority of the world outside of that village. I looked into their eyes which hungered for attention and love. I asked Victoria if she thought we could live out there for a school year and educate them; she did not seem so sure about that. We even got to touch a baby SLOTH!!

It was a busy day getting everyone where they needed to go, but I sense God really worked in many ways. The ladies on the team shared this a.m. at a girl's club in San Jose (near Pucallpa) and visited homes in the community. Later they went on their flight and then returned for their meeting and dinner before they speak again this evening to the group of volunteers at Latidos de Esperanza (the pregnancy ctr.). Jeff was busy with plumbing in the a.m.; Kyle spoke this afternoon to the men at Mision Santiago (drug rehab), and one of our HS students translated for him. I am so proud of Jacob and his willingness to use his gift of the language here.

What a treat it was to have the time off from school to see the native people today.

A new adventure

Well, I am sitting at the Pucallpa airport getting ready to leave for Lima. We have a group from loganville, GA coming; they are our first visitors ever! We are very excited. Our mission's pastor Kyle Berry and his daughter Tori (Victoria's friend) are in the group. Unfortunately Rick Wages (Santa Claus) is not coming due to a back injury. This has been a crazy week once again. I found out yesterday that the teacher who was suppose to be coming in Jan. is NOT coming. Honestly, I have no idea what I am going to do. Either Satan is trying to attack us or God is trying to stretch us. Either way---I really need prayer!!! I am feeling overwhelmed at the thought of all 12 grades by myself.

We have lots planned for our group. We are hoping they will survive the Pucallpa heat and the incredible storms we have been getting. This a.m. at 4:30am the sky fell out here. It was intense until about 1 hour ago. My flight has been delayed a bit, but Lord willing--I will get to Lima to welcome them and get some errands done. For now....