Monday, July 25, 2011

Sightings

Late last week, Scott and Bonnie and I had to run to the center of town to pick up something for the children's patriotic celebration at school (July 28th is Peru's independence day). Here is the center of Arequipa, the Plaza de Armas, and the cathedral at it's center.



The three kindergarten classes dressed up and did dances to represent the three geographical regions of Peru: jungle, coast, and mountains. We have a child in each kindergarten class so we had one of each! Joseph's 3 year old class did a jungle dance, Seth's 4 year old class did a coastal dance, and Bonnie's 5 year old class did a mountain dance. I'll post more pictures of our time later in the week!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Catching Up

It's been too long since I last posted! Since then, the Lord has been kind to us in many ways - continuing to allow us to settle into a good routine here. We're all getting used to our new routine, and continuing to grow in our love for Peru and the people here. Our Spanish is coming along, poco y poco, and we continue to see improvement, although not always as quickly as we might like!

During the last week of June, we enjoyed a trip to Trujillo! Our home church, Matthews Orthodox Presbyerian Church, sent a team to work along with Peru Mission for a week, and we were able to join them. What a blessing it was to see so many dear friends and introduce them to this country and the work that we will be a part of! Our team divided into two groups. One did medical work in several poor communities around Trujillo, and the larger group worked on a construction project for a church plant that Peru Mission is working alongside. Both groups accomplished a lot and were blessed as well as being a blessing to our brothers and sisters in Trujillo. It was great for us to see our team and get excited all over again about what the Lord is doing in Trujillo. Our kids loved meeting the Peru Mission team, and seeing where we will be settling down once our time in language school is over.

I (Julie) flew to the USA after our week in Trujillo and was able to make a short visit home to Charlotte, and also attend the weddings of both my younger sister and brother in Maryland. It was delightful to see almost all of my family in one place, and many old friends as well.

Until we get to Trujillo and start to be involved in the ministry there, my plan is to post photos a few times a week that will give a flavor of our life here...whether it be our family, school, or just interesting things about life in Peru. We're so thankful to be here, and thankful for your prayers for us.