Linnell Adventures in Peru

El Triunfo

2010-12-05T16:34:00.000-08:00

Across the river from Puerto Maldonado, is a tiny village called El Triunfo. It so reminds me of lots of bush communities in Alaska that sit across the river from the main village. To get there, you have to cross the river on one of the many ferries. They are installing a bridge that will connect the two and provide a transportation route to ship goods to and from Brazil. They have power, but no water or sewer services.

We are starting a church plant in El Triunfo. On Thursday, I went with our two 40/40’s, Ana and Elisa, to go visit their a couple of disciples and recent converts there. The first visit was to Charlie and his wife. Charlie’s wife is disabled and can not walk, and was suffering from Dengue fever. About 50% of those we visited were down with Dengue, a disease carried by mosquitos, and is very common this time of year due to the rains. She lays all day on her mat under her blue mosquito netting. But her spirit is strong and she continues to tell of the goodness of God. We did a short Bible lesson with her and Charlie, and spent some time in prayer. When we asked what prayer requests they had, they did not ask for themselves, but asked for their 20 year old son to come to know Jesus as his Savior. As I was praying for them, God spoke to my heart about how the daily struggles we all go through, no matter where we live, are nothing compared to an eternity of not knowing Him.

?SEWER?

2010-12-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

I am in Puerto Maldonado, a southeast city in the jungle of Peru. Today is hot and I am sweating like crazy. A couple of days ago the pump for the septic tank went “kaput”. It had just been install a month ago, so it seemed odd. When I dug the system up, I found they had installed an above ground water suction pump in an underground manhole. Guess what happens when it rains. The manhole gets full of water. These pumps don’t like working underwater. J So I scurried about town yesterday looking for pumps. Everybody kept telling me to go to this one place to buy a submersible pump, but it was closed for inventory. Ha,ha, who would have thought they even did inventories out in the jungle of Peru. About 4:30pm, I found a place that had some. Got it installed last night with the use of my trust headlamp. Managed to only spray myself once with sewer water in the process. The system is up and running again and I can now flush my toilet. Oh how good are the little things in life.

Puno Visit

2010-10-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Puno City is the capital of the providence of Puno. It it located on the shores of Lake Titicaca the highest navigatable water body in the world. The elevation is just over 12,500 feet. Boy does that make breathing difficult, especially if you have a cold or asthma.

Densie and I and group of 40/40's took off a few days last week to go for a visit and look for housing for the 40/40 missionaries. The trip takes about 6 hours by bus each direction. We arrived about mid-day. We were greeted by Pastor at teh bus station and headed to a hotel operated by one of the brothers in the church. After a quick lunch, we headed down to the city square where they post all the property for rent or sale. We visited a few properties over teh enxt few days, but did not find any that we're looking for. Please pray for our housing needs in Puno.

The second day we were there, the 40/40's decided to explore the city and find the the most authentic “Punonian” souvenir shop! Garren and Roy initially discovered it, and then Kristen, Francisca, and Trevor met them there. Garren, in an attempt to get a discount on a hat, had told the store owner that they were missionaries working in Puno to plant churches. The store owner, Hector, showed immediate interest and started asking more questions about what we were doing there. Francisca, being our only native Spanish speaker there, took the opportunity to share more about who we are and what we believe. Then, she asked him if he was ready to make a decision to give his life to Christ. There was no hesitation. He immediately said yes as he wiped away tears. They gathered around him, and Francisca led him through the sinner’s prayer. Afterward, they were joyful and shared more with him about our Christian walk and tried to feed him spiritually as much as they could in the short time they were there. One of the most amazing things is how he shared how he had been looking for the truth in other religions. He had gone to Seventh Day Adventist, Mormon, and Living Water churches, but he didn’t find what his heart we looking for there. He told them that he could feel God’s presence with them. Then, he shared that he never has his shop open in the mornings… and that he knew that that day he needed to open his shop. I told him God had a plan for him and God had wanted to come to him that day!

They gave him the address to the local Nazarene church in Puno, took down his information, and gave it to the Pastor. Pastor Herman said he would be in contact with him! The 40/40's were all blown away by this encounter. Not only was it awesome to see this man come to Christ, but also to see how God is preparing Puno for us before we are even there!

Baptism

2010-10-18T04:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I got to participate in an exciting event at our home church, Alto Libertad. As a result of our Love Extreme Event in June, and our followup efforts, and our continued cell groups, we have seen many new Christians maturing in their faith. One of the natural steps in the nuture/maturing process is baptism. We had 7 people ask to be baptiszed as a symbol of thier new lives and the cleansing that comes from Jesus. So we set a date of September 18th. We took 2 bus loads of people from the church and traveled to a little hot springs about 25 miles out of town. We pitched a couple of tents for some shade and began a worship/ celebration service. Then we gathered around the pool, and Pastor Solano, District Super, Pastor Elvin, and myself waded in. One by one our new believers entered and made a public confession of What Jesus had done for them and their committment to follow after Him. The highlight for me was getting to baptism my spanish teacher from when I first got to Arequipa.

After the baptism, we enjoyed lunch, playing in the pool, hiking the surrounding hills, and of course playing fotbal. Gooooooooooooollllllllllllll!!!

Cusco Finish

2010-10-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

July in Alaska

2010-08-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

Denise and I got to enjoy a few weeks in Alaska this summer. It started out with a big gathering of the Biegel family to celebrate Peter and Joann's 50th Wedding Aniversary. All the kids were there including 27 grandchildren. There was lots of activities including clamming, hiking, fishing, boating, 4-wheeling, eating, and of course cards. It was really good to get to see everyone and spend some time with them again.

We also got to spend time with the Linnell's....catching reds on the Kenai.... a few days at the HDL office....and even tiled teh master bath shower at the lake house. Seems like the time went way to fast...

Reflections on Love Extreme

2010-08-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

As posted on the Extremenazarene.org:

The impact of Love Extreme will be felt for a long time to come. Since Love Extreme has ended, we continue to hear stories of the awesome ways God worked during that time. Below are a few stories/comments that have been shared.

Love Extreme Mega-Event
"It was amazing to watch Felix prior to his speaking. He came and introduced himself, but then went out and picked up garbage. Rather than being served by the people in the VIP tent, he went out to serve."
– Jennifer Linnell, VIP tent coordinator

"A dancer from one of the groups knelt down in the grass behind the tent and prayed to receive Christ. He missed one of his dances during the performance, but was dancing and shouting `I’m free! I’m free!`"
– Jennifer Linnell, VIP tent coordinator

"During the men’s event, Jon Kregal, a former professional soccer player in Barcelona and New York, spoke. His testimony was more than soccer, it was about a life rescued from drugs, jail time, and self to that of resting securely on the foundation of Christ. Jon’s testimony led perfectly into that of Felix Vargas, a former member of the Colombian drug cartel. His testimony is one of redemption and forgiveness, despite his failures in nearly every area of his life. His wife was faithful in prayer, praying that one day he too would be a powerful man for Christ. It took 7 years for her prayers to be answered. Felix invited the group to respond to God’s call on their lives, and 120+ people received God’s gift of forgiveness and redemption.
– Tyson Smith, Men’s Conference Coordinator

"We originally had chairs set up for 700, and when we heard 3,000 people were lined up outside the front gate waiting, we quickly set up another 300 chairs. We could have had more women than 1,000 had the room been bigger. There was standing room only. The Peruvian band led an awesome time of worship to open. Then, Tammy Trent shared her music and testimony of how she lost her husband after 11 years of marriage. Lonna Vopat shared her testimony of a broken past of abuse and abandonment. Then, she shared the restoration by God. The women were so touched to hear a testimony they could relate to. Liliana Vargas gave an altar call, and 150 women came forward to accept Christ. One was Patricia Rodrigues, who has been a house mom for many of our new Extreme volunteers. Praise God!"
- Jill Tibbs, Women’s Conference Coordinator

"50 patients seen by the dentist, 218 by the doctors, and 32 received glasses. 300 total patients seen. Every patient received prayer and asked about salvation."
– Teri Englund, Medical Clinic Coordinator

"I cannot express the gratitude for all the people who jumped in to make this happen! There were those who sacrificed concerts and speakers to work in the food huts. I pray that God blessed them in their amazing work."
– Neil Horner, Food Coordinator

"Once the candles were lit, the altar was created, and the prayer sheets were set up, many locals came in and knelt to pray. Many of them were on their faces, crying out. Many Extremies also came in to pray. Once the prayer room was moved (moved to a different location to make more room for the growing men’s conference), many people began to walk the grounds and pray."
– Shirley Horner, Prayer Coordinator

"Trevor met up with a kid he had invited from the Plaza de Armas. He brought with him friends from his school. They had a video camera and interviewed us. "
– Garren Moore, 40/40 destined for Puno

Arequipa
"very good students! It is a very rewarding activity for them and for me. Even though there aren’t many students, they seem to really want to learn and appreciate the class. Two Extremies are reversing the process to learn some Spanish! "
- Vicki Duerre, Short Term Volunteer (ESL classes)

"We went to INABIF and shared the skit first for all the boys. Then, with Eva translating, Janelle shared the story of our savior. The girls offered to pray with anyone who wanted Jesus in their heart. About 30 boys raised their hands and prayed. Then, we played games interacted with the boys. Some leaders showed a group of interested boys the evangicube. It was a great day, especially since we had gone two days in a row and built a connection with many of the boys."
– Kristen Sailsbery, 40/40 destined for Tacna

"We went out as a group to pray and the Lord directed us to a young woman, who goes to college in Arequipa. I had an evangicube, and shared the gospel with her. She said, “I want God. I want to know God.” So, we led her back to the church, and invited her to the retreat. She was happy to speak with us, and said she wanted to come join us. Today, God brought the harvest! "
- Kristen Sailsbery, 40/40 destined for Tacna

"It was nice to see American kids interacting with the Peruvian kids even though they couldn’t understand each other."
– Kristy Andrews, 40/40 in Pucallpa

"We worked out of Alto Libertad construction site today for our medical clinic. We had six new short term volunteers in the group, who were a big help. We saw 80 patients today. We also had 10 people give their lives to Christ. Even after the clinic was finished, many people were standing around waiting, so we invited them to Love Extreme Mega-event. Several short term volunteers commented on how the patients were honest with not only their physical ailments, but also with their spiritual ones."
– Beth Beers, 40/40 in Arequipa

"The fact that we were able to go into these public schools to do drama and puppet shows about Christ, blows my mind!"
- Henrietta Scriven, 40/40 in Arequipa

Cusco
"Many people were excited that there will be a church near their home in the future."
- Stephen Tarrant, 40/40 destined for Cusco

Iquitos
The following were supplied by Heather Simpson, Cluster Support in Iquitos.

"Team unity was totally spirit ordained. Ruth brought a magic wordless book bag. Susan brought a wordless bracelet craft. Karen brought 200 tubes of toothpaste, and our dentist, Mike, brought 200 toothbrushes. Another brought the life of Jesus paintings, and someone else a cross craft. All of this happened before even getting together or arranging things! God was in charge and it was beautiful to see how the orchestrated things." "One group brought princess dresses. They felt inspired to not just bring a few but 18, even adult sizes! It was so beautiful to see the older ladies and moms dress up, have their hair done, and participate in the devotional to learn how God has made them wonderfully and desires for them to be beautiful inside and out.""While cleaning up trash in Belen, we received a lot of “thank yous” and within minutes, several children were walking along and helping us!""A couple in our group, David and Celine Sumner-Clark, evangelized wherever they went. They had a total of 3 mototaxi drivers accept the Lord, and several street vendors as well. One mototaxi driver told them before they even said anything that he has wandered away from the Lord and wanted to rededicate his life. A street vendor, Guiseppe, accepted the Lord. He went out to dinner with them, came to church on Sunday night, came to say goodbye/thank you to them at the airport, and brought them gifts of gifts of gratitude. ""A little boy from the first day in 9 de Octubre, when we did the trash cleaning and lice treatment, found out that we were going to Padre Coche on Friday. He came with us to help. He wanted to carry our stuff, teach the children, and just felt drawn to be with us. ""Jose, Clarita, and Jasmine live here in Iquitos, and were asked to join our group fro their friend Ruth, who they met when she was here last year on a mission trip. They were such a blessing as translators, missionaries, Bible story tellers, puppeteers, and servants. We were honored to have them work with our group.""A local dentist even let us borrow all his equipment for free for 3 days!"

Puerto Maldonado
"The goal of this event was to reach the hardest to reach group of people, the 18-40 year old man who might likely spend their time drinking, at prostitution bars, and engaged in violence. The testimony of Felix was exactly what the people needed to hear and was so powerful. He just knew how to get their undivided attention. They were cheering, laughing, and totally engaged. That's the type of response we were praying about, God is so so big. Oh and the final match came down to a tie breaker with penalty kicks, it was epic."
Tyson Smith, Cluster Support in Puerto Maldonado (Soccer Tournament)

"The testimonies of Lonna Vopat and Liliana Vargas was like the perfect recipe for touching the women's lives here in Puerto. From dealing with abuse and neglect or dealing with an uninvolved, abusive or unfaithful husband, this conference was what women needed to hear to give hope and change lives for Christ."
Tyson Smith, Cluster Support in Puerto Maldonado (Women's Conference)

"This week seems like a person who hasn't been taught how to highlight effectively and ends up highlighting the entire page. This week is like that because it's all been a highlight"
Sara Zelner, Short Term Volunteer

Puno
The following were supplied by Andrew Kendall, 40/40 in Puerto Maldonado. Andrew was the project leader in Puno.

"It was the first time the church was let in a school. The director loved it! The church has been invited back. A great start to the work in Puno."

"In Ilave, we were able to eat lunch with the local people. The president of the community was very happy and wants us to come back. One of the mothers of the children accepted Christ. The pastor has a small group here, and it is also one of the future church plants. "

"We passed out fliers and invited people to the youth service. About 15 new people were there! The church was packed out! "

"On Sunday night, we had about 30 new people there, most with the flier that we had given out. There were 15 new converts, and lots others touched by Christ."

Love Extreme

2010-08-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

After working 2 months non-stop, almost 300 short term volunteers to flood into Peru in June to build God's kingdom. Needless to say, Denise's and my days were full trying to coordinate all the details and action. They worked in 6 cities, performed 16,741 hours of community service, hosted 24,083 local Peruvians at our events, and treated 1,695 patients at the medical clinics. Best of all, 1,793 adults and 566 children accepted Chirst at our events. That is 2,359 new believers!! Gloria a Dios....

Losing my hair at teh office

2010-05-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

The trusses are up

2010-05-08T18:41:00.001-07:00

Trusses being constructed

First truss installed

Trusses going up

Sun goes down and the purlins are up

Family Zone

2010-05-08T18:00:00.001-07:00

We had a great week with over 30 people from Washington and Illinois. They helped on the construction site with completeing the 3rd level columns, walls, bond bond beam, stairs, and wiring for first and second levels. They also held many outreach events, concerts, magic shows, Jesus Films, and kids festivals.

Third level floor getting formed and ready for concrete.

Placing concrete on the third floor.

40/40's having fun!!

Columns on the third level

Concreting the stairs for the 3rd level

Front wall all complete.

The youngest construction worker (8 months)

The workers waving good bye from the 3rd level.

Cusco Construction

2010-03-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

We broke ground just 6 weeks ago for the Cusco 40/40 Center. It went from from this:

To this today:

We enjoyed a team mostly from Alaska and Idaho that came down February 26-March 10. It was a hard working group of people and lots of work was accomplished by the team. Here are some photos in no paticular order.

Besides work on the 40/40 Center, the team did 4 Jesus Film showings, did a children’s festival at 2 sites, did a prison visit, ministered at an unwed mothers shelter, and prayed over many of the church plant sites. Over 200 made a decision to accept Christ during these impact events. The light and hope of the Gospel was plainly seen.

We truly enjoyed getting to see our Alaskan friends Mike and Linda Couch, Gary and Laura Lagstrom, Dennis and Ariel Strait, Trevor and Hilary Strait, and my business partner, Scott and Penny Hattenburg. What a great couple of weeks.

Sweat'n for Jesus in the Jungle

2010-02-25T13:59:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Pucallpa on February 9th. Denise had to stay in Arequipa and work in the office and didn’t get to go this project. Pucallpa is a jungle city of about 300,000 on the banks of the Ucayali River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. Lots of fruit, lumber, and river transportation.

The first thing I noticed upon getting out of the plane was the heat and humidity. The temperature ranged between 80-100 degrees the whole week. Luckily we had swimming pool where we were staying for a nice cool dip in the evenings. We even had a monkey come to visit us and beg for food. He trained those americonos pretty fast!

I worked with 4 others to do some remodel to the dormitories that the 40/40 missionaries will be living in when they arrive in May. We framed in and installed a plywood ceiling in both the boys and girls dorm, painted the walls and installed tile on the floor of the boys room, and tiled a couple of showers. The Peruvians will finish the paint and tile in the girls room.

Besides the construction, we had 2 doctors, a dentist, 3 nurses, and about 12 other people there in Pucallpa to hold 8 medical clinics in 4 different locations. The doctors saw hundreds of patients and got to use their skills to care for their physical needs while pastors and missionaries got an opportunity to talk with each one and pray for their spiritual needs. Children who came got to hear bible stories, see puppet shows, get their face painted, and play lots of soccer.

We also got to show the Jesus Film in the evening at each of the clinic locations. The night I went, there were about 75 people that showed up to watch. After the film, the pastor would give an invitation to know Christ, and about 15 people gathered around the pastor. Several commented that they were glad that the Church had come to their neighborhood and they were excited to have a church being planted there.

Ground Breaking in Alto Libertad

2010-01-30T17:07:00.000-08:00

We broke ground on Monday, January 25th for the Alto Libertad "House of Prayer". Becasue of the steep and varying terrain, we have to build retaining walls on 3 sides of the building. We are starting with the back wall and completed digging the footing and getting the concrete footing placed. We hope to have the back retainin wall completed by the end of next week. Several people from the church have come to help, feed us sandwiches, or give us a refreshing drink. What a great week.

Kula was lost, but now is found

2010-01-19T23:38:00.001-08:00

I would have never thought about listing or checking Craigslist for a missing dog. Care and Bill Tuk did this for their daughter’s dog that was lost over Christmas and found her in one day. That is when I told them that Kula had disappeared just before Thanksgiving. They asked our permission last week if they could do a Craigslist add for Kula and see if they could find her. I sent Care a message yesterday morning that they could try, but I didn’t hold out much hope. I don’t know if Care put an add out, or just started searching other adds, but she emailed me that afternoon and said she may have found Kula. After Bill got off work, they went and checked it out, and sure enough it was Kula. The family she was with had found her after Chirstmas (maybe after New Years) at the end of Knik Goose Bay Road where all the snow machiners park. Don’t know if she followed a dog sled team, snow machine, or what. She was just very friendly and wanted in their car. The Craigs list add was not very descriptive and it can only be explained as a God-thing that Care even called it. Kula was much thinner but overall is really healthy.

I still can’t believe it!!

Grandma's Birthday

2010-01-19T23:31:00.000-08:00

We had to get one last adventure in before Mom and Dad had to leave Peru. So the last day they were in Arequipa, we took a half day rafting trip on the Chili River. We did this as a birthday present for Grandma. The river was a little muddy from some recent rains in the mountains, but we had a great time and enjoyed the ride.

Amazon Adventures

2010-01-19T22:02:00.000-08:00

After a short trip to Lima to have Dawns eyes checked by her surgeon (her eyes are improving by the way) we decided to take a trip to Iquitos. Iquitos is located in north Peru along the Amazon River. At 600,000 people, it is the largest city in the world that is not road accessible. You can only fly in or take a boat. (Sounds a little like Alaska, only more people).

We arrived at the airport, with no plans and no reservations. I had a name of a hostel to try to find and check out. While waiting for our luggage, I start a conversation with a tour guide that happened to be standing there after droppign some clients off to catch their plane. He was from one of the jungle lodges that I had read about, and offered us a good deal on a 2 day, 1 night stay. To top it off, the hostel I wanted to go to was only 2 blocks from his office, so he offered us a ride to the hostel. Kind of cool how things work out sometimes.

After a good nights rest, we jumped back into the van and headed down to the public docks. We jumped into a nice boat for a 30 minute ride down the Amazon to the Sinchicuy Lodge. We took several jungle walks, visited a local village, got to shoot a blow gun (Dawn proved to be the best shot), visited a local medicine man/shaman and learned about medicinal uses of native plants, squeezed sugar cane and drank the juice, fished for piranhas, swung on vines like Tarzan and Jane, swam in a tributary of the Amazon, and just enjoyed ourselves. The mosquitos weren't bad around the lodge, but got a little more fiesty on our jungle walks. Still not as bad as bush Alaska in June.

Mt. Chachani

2010-01-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was a little boy, I have wanted to climb Mt. McKinley. But by the time I finished college and started working, the costs for such an adventure far exceeded my means. So I have been eagerly waiting for Daniel to come to Peru where we could climb Mount Chachani for a fraction of the cost.

Daniel, Scott (a friend from the office) and I started this adventure on December 29. We met our guide at 9am, picked up a little extra gear, and headed to the mountain. For about 2 hours, we bounced around in a 4-wheel drive along dirt roads and trails. As we rose in elevation we saw several groups of vicunas (similar to a llama) feeding along the way.

We were dropped off at about 16,000 feet and started our climb to base camp. After about 1 ½ hours of steady climbing, we made it to base camp at 17,700 feet. We set up our tents and tried to get a little rest. About 4pm, the clouds moved in and the temperature dropped from a nice 60 degrees, to below freezing. Ice started forming on out tent lines and gear. At 5pm, we gathered for a nice hot meal of soup and vegetable stew. A cute little fox smelled the food and was curious enough to hang around for a few photos.

With darkness setting in just after 6pm, we settled into our tents to try and sleep. Even resting, our breathing was uneven and gaspy, so sleep did not come easy at this elevation. And it was cold! I don’t know what the temperature was, but our water froze in the tent. Our sleeping bags were rated for 20 degrees, and I slept in my pants and sweater with my hat and gloves on. Daniel got up in the middle of the night and put on his snow pants to stay warm. Needless to say, sleep would be better described as short 5-10 minute catnaps every hour.

We got up just after 1am. We grabbed a quick breakfast of bread, jam, and colca tea. By 1:45, we were off to the summit. The route we were on is the most common way to the summit. It was not a technical assent, although the darkness made it a little more challenging. After a short climb, we crossed the ridgeline from the eastern side of the mountain to the western face. It was cold and the light wind made your fingers even colder. We came to a long traverse across a steep skree slope. The guide had us get out our ice picks to arrest our fall in case we slipped while we crossed the slope. Although the ground was frozen, there was no snow or ice this time of year, so we did not need to use crampons. After the long traverse, there was a steep climb that took over an hour. Our lungs were burning by this time, and we took a small break after crossing a small saddle just below the summit. The time was just before 6am and the sun was rising. After a 30 minute push up the last slope, we reached the summit at 19,931 feet. (Just 389 feet lower that Mount McKinley!) We had made the assent in about 4 hours and 45 minutes. The guide had set a quick pace, since the normal time to summit is 6 hours. He said we were strong climbers. The sky was clear and the view was amazing. We could see the tops of several other mountains, Misti Volcano, the city of Arequipa, and in the distance another taller mountain. After a short photo session, we headed back down.

The trip down was much quicker than going up. On the steep slopes, we went straight down, taking big steps in the soft, loose gravelly soil. The sun was warm now, and we had to take off some layers of clothes. We arrived back in base camp by 8:30am. The altitude and lack of sleep had given us headaches, some nausea, and we were all tired. We set down our packs and enjoyed a nice (but short) nap in the warm sun. All too soon, we were packing our gear and heading down the trail to catch our coche ride home. Another great adventure through God's creation.

Christmas Morning

2010-01-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

Colca Canyon Trekking

2009-12-28T16:54:00.001-08:00

Very early Monday morning, 4am to be exact, we loaded a bus and headed to Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world. It is over 10,000 feet deep at the deepest part. We arrived in the little town of Cabanaconde and started hiking around 10am. After a long 4 hour hike down, down, down, 4,000 feet down into the canyon we arrived at a nice little hostel in San Juan. de Chucho. It was a quiet little pueblo where not much has changed in the last 200 years. Small terraced fields are worked by hand, irrigation water delivered in shallow channels, and cooking is done on a wood oven. Electricity arrived about 10 years ago, but is only used for lights (and a TV in the kitchen) J The next day we hiked down the canyon through 2 other small pueblos, and into the town of Sangalle, better known as the “Oasis”. It is a little island of palm trees and hostels fed by a natural warm spring coming out of the canyon wall. Our little hostel had a swimming pool and a nice lawn to relax on. There is no electricity yet, so dinner was by candle light. After a good nights rest, we got up at 4:30 am, so we could be on the trail by 0500 before the sun reached our part of the canyon. This time it was up, up, up, 4,000 feet up. We made it in just over 3 hours. After breakfast, we took a bus to Chivay and enjoyed a dip in the 104 degree hot springs to sooth the sore muscles. Ahhhhh, so nice.

Rock Climbing

2009-12-28T16:49:00.000-08:00

Dan, Syndey, and I went rock climbing one afternoon. After about a 10 minute taxi ride and a short 5 minute walk, we arrived at a nice rock face just above the Chile River. The climbing guide set 3 ropes and courses for us. Dan impressed the climbing guide by making it up all 3 routes. They even took one rope down and let Dan lead climb to put it back up. This was new for Dan. Sydney and I didn’t quite make it up to the top, but we had a lot of fun truing. Our hands and shoulders were a little sore the next day.

Life is a Beach!!

2009-12-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

Mom and Dad Linnell, Daniel and his girlfriend Sydney, and Dawn all arrived in Arequipa on Monday, December 14th. We took a bus tour around the city on Tuesday. On Wednesday afternoon, we took off for the beach in Mejia. The people that run the language school let us use their beach house, which is just a couple of blocks off the beach. We took walks a couple of times a day, read books, caught up on sleep, played Frisbee, and chased sand crabs. The weather was hot and the water was cold. Everyone got a little sun burn. Came home Saturday afternoon to get ready for the next adventure.

Peruvian Wedding

2009-12-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

The Alvarado family, our host family while we were in language school, invited us to the city of Tacna for their son’s wedding the weekend of December 5th. Again, we had the option of bus or plane. We wanted to try the bus since it was only a 6 hour trip each way. We actually enjoyed the ride, with movies, bingo, snacks, and lots of time to read. Denise got to yell BINGO, and won a free bus ride for a future trip. In Tacna, the family reserved space for us in Hotel Holiday Suites. We spent the day Saturday walking around the Tupoc market where you can find clothing and household items. Bargaining didn’t seem to be acceptable, but everything was pretty inexpensive, even by Peruvian standards. We happened to find a few Christmas gifts.

Saturday night we walked to the church for the wedding. Very traditional, catholic wedding...started an hour late. Andres and Karla were lovely. They had a madrino and padrino stand up with them as their sponsors. Then on to the reception. The wedding guests boarded a two story bus for the ride around town and on to the restaurant outside of the city, La Italiana. We arrived about 9:30 pm and had a few housdoerves, a few toasts, and finally a full dinner about midnight. After dinner, the dancing started and the real fun began. Denise and I and another north american couple decided to call it quits about 2am, and we hear the party lasted until 4am. Sunday morning was a little quiet and slow to rise. We sadly said goodbye and headed back to Arequipa after a fun filled weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-12-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

Ahh, a few days off, so we decided to go to Lima and Spend Thanksgiving with Dawn. The choice was bus or plane. A 15 hour ride each way on the bus or 1 ½ hour flight up and back. We choose to fly. The first stop was a grocery – the cupboards were bare! Dawn asked for chicken enchiladas and pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Though a little burnt on the bottom (gas ovens are difficult here – just one setting is usually available – full blast) they were delicious. Dawn invited Itamar, the accountant in the office and one of her English students. Also Itamar’s son, Ismael, came to lunch with us. We ate our way through the rest of the visit, stuffed chicken, spaghetti, and a visit to a restaurant for sushi. One outing was to a local park for the magic fountain displays. In the eveing the lazer lights are just beautiful, a must for a visitor to the area. Dawn also had laser eye surgery on Friday and is now recovering nicely. We were also able to visit Dawn’s church which is an hour bus trip across Lima. It was a beautiful service with an amazingly talented group of musicians leading the worship. All too soon, we returned to Arequipa with a 6am flight (who booked that flight so early, anyways?!?) on Monday morning after Thanksgiving.

Puerto Maldonado Team 2

2009-11-26T13:51:00.001-08:00

The song “Showers of Blessings” comes to mind as I am writing this update in the middle of a huge thunder and lighting storm here in Puerto Maldonado. The Puerto work project was showered with blessings right from the beginning when 30 people arrived on October 23 in Puerto Maldonado to complete the 40/40 house. These were some hard working folks. We worked non-stop for 10 days, putting in 10, 12, even 16 hours a day to get the building ready for the 40/40 missionaries to move in on November 3.

The house was a little behind schedule when the team arrived. The work site had been without power for 10 days when the team arrived. The stucco work inside was completed 1 day before the group arrived, but the topping floor slab on the second level was not. So we started putting primer on the walls of the first level, tile on the bathroom walls, and plywood ceiling on the trusses of the second level. The floor slab was completed the second day, so we quickly moved upstairs with the primer. A huge blessing was brought in the form of a Graco airless paint sprayer by a church in Idaho. I had not even asked for one, but the pastor there just felt like we could really use it. Boy was he right. Not only did they bring the paint sprayer, but they brought money to buy a generator to run it as well. We were still out of power, so I was able to buy a nice 120V/220V generator to power both the paint sprayer and our power tools. And the store I bought the generator at was owned by a Christian family, who sold me the generator for 33% off since it was for the church. I love it when you can see the hand of God at work.

After I painted the walls and ceilings, we were finally ready to start tiling. We installed tile on all the floors, 3 bathrooms, 2 laundry rooms, and 2 kitchen counter tops. That is a lot of tile cutting, setting, and grouting. A blessing that arrived with the Puerto 1 team was a small tile saw. Boy, did it ever get a work out. In fact, the motor froze up on it after the first floor. One prayer warrior of a lady prayed over it, I laid hands on it, took it all apart, cleaned it out, put it back together, and it worked the rest of the project without any trouble. Blessings come in many forms.

With just a few days to go before the 40/40’s, they completed the stucco on the outside the house. We painted the front of the house, installed to 40/40 sign, leveled and filled the yard, installed windows and front doors. In addition, we completed the block walls for the church, formed and poured the columns and bond beams, built and erected the trusses, and got most of the metal roof on in time for the building dedication. All told, we installed 1000 square feet of ceiling, 500 feet of batten strips, 51 feet of shelving, 16 windows, 2 doors, 2000 square feet of floor tile, 414 square feet of wall tile, 3 toilets, 5 sinks, 4 showers, connected the cistern, water tank, and control systems, 64 feet of metal handrail, 2 ceiling fans, 20 light fixtures, 38 electrical outlets, used 30 gallons of primer, 40 gallons of interior paint, 10 gallons exterior paint,, built 8 metal beds and frames, 1248 concrete blocks, 196 buckets of concrete, 6 trusses, and 200 sheets of metal roofing. There was about 2,970 hours of labor donated during the project, and no major injuries. I was blessed with a great work team.

After a boat trip in the morning and a restful afternoon at a park, the church and house was dedicated on the evening of November 3rd. It was exciting to see over 120 people at the dedication and watch the 40/40’s go explore their new house. I will stay another week completing little things around the place, and will head back to Arequipa on November 15th. I can’t wait to see how God uses this church and the 40/40’s as they begin the church planting process here in Puerto Maldonado.

First Work Team Leaves Puerto Maldonado

2009-10-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

After 8 days of hard work, we had completed the second story walls, roof, and 3 sides of the outside security wall. We dug 7 footings for columns, formed 150 feet of foundation wall, tied rebar for 300 feet of beams and 7 columns, carried and installed over 4000 concrete blocks, used 120 bags of cement and hauled an estimated 1,080 buckets of concrete, built 4 roof trusses, installed 120 sheets of metal roofing, and roughed in the main electrical panel and 25 electrical outlets. Many great friendships were formed between both the American team members and the Peruvian team members. Praise God for these men and their willingness to come use their construction skills here in Peru.

Boat Ride and Tree Top Walk

2009-10-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning right after breakfast, we headed to the port of Puerto Maldonado to board a small motorized canoe for a trip down the river to a research center. Along the way, we saw egrets, turtles, alligators, gold dredges, and lots of butterflies. After about an 1 ½ hours, we stopped at the Ecological Reserve Taricaya. There we got to see several kinds of monkeys, parrots, mawcaws, parakeets, owl, otter, jaguar, and ocelot. We took a jungle walk where our guide explained different plants and trees, and how many were used by the indigenous people. The exciting part was a 42 meters high (137’) by 90 meters long (295’) tree top canopy walkway. It was great to look out over the jungle from the vantage point of a bird. It really gives you a different perspective. After a short lunch at the reserve center, we got back into the boat for the ride home. Along the way, we detoured along a side tributary and stopped to fish for a while. We got some bites, but nobody landed a fish. We did get to see a couple of alligators though. We arrived back to Puerto Maldonado just as the sun set and darkness settled along the river. What a great day.

Festival de Ninos

2009-10-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

As some of the first impact work in Puerto Maldonado, we held a “Festival de Ninos”, where we enjoyed parachute games, crafts, snacks, songs, bible verses and puppets. They continued to enjoy the parachute games, crafts, snacks, and most of all the puppets. We had between 60-70 children there on Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoon. Saturday was the last day and Pastor Freddy gave the salvation message using the salvation bracelet made during craft time. At the end, 33 children asked to receive Christ as their savior. Praise God.

Baby Dedication

2009-10-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

You just never know what you will be asked to do when you’re on the mission field. Denise, Dawn and I went to church on Sunday night a few weeks ago. When I got there, a lady was there that wanted her children dedicated. Pastor asked me if I would dedicated these two children. My first reaction was, no way…I have never done it in English, let alone in Spanish. But I was reminded that I was a missionary, and a great honor was being asked of me. So with Dawn as a translator, I thanked them, told them I was humbled and honored for this privilege. Denise read from Luke, chapter 2 about Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord. I then said a few words to the mother and the congregations about raising the children to know and love Christ. Then a short prayed asking God to watch over these children and to use them for his purpose and for his kingdom. You just never know what is going to happen next.

On to Puerto Maldonado

2009-09-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

We will soon be working in Puerto Maldonado, a jungle city located on the Rio Madre de Dios, a tributary of the Amazon River. There are about 50,000 in Puerto Maldonado, but it is a small remote city. In some ways, it reminds us of the YK delta in SW Alaska. Dennis spent a week there in late August/early September coordinating the re-start of our building project there. We are building a 2-story missionary house. The first floor will be for the 40/40 Support family, and the second level will be for the eight 40/40 missionaries that will be working on church plants in and around Puerto Maldonado. We have 2 teams coming, one the end of September and one the end of October to work on the building and do community impact to jump start the church planting. Dennis will be leaving soon to live there for 7 weeks until the project is completed. Denise will come to Puerto Maldonado during the 2 work teams, so Dennis will not be alone the entire time. The 40/40's arrive November 3rd, expecting to move in, so there is lots of work to do to get the building liveable.

Rafting the Rio Chili

2009-08-22T11:39:00.001-07:00

We decided to do something fun after all the volunteers left. We took a short rafting trip just outside of Arequipa on the Rio Chili. Not big water, but there were some Class II/III rapids, with one Class IV. We had a great time. Denise said it was better than any ride at Disneyland. It was hard to believe that we were in the middle of dry dessert country because everything was so green around the river. If anyone comes down to visit, this will be a must do adventure. We want to go again.

25th Anniversary

2009-08-22T11:37:00.001-07:00

On August 18th, Denise and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. The team had a tour day, so we spent the afternoon walking around the Plaza de Armas, showing the group good places to go buy souvenirs, get good eats, or a good cup of coffee. After we loaded them on the bus for the evening, we stopped into a small café and had a great pizza cooked in a wood fired oven. Then a short taxi ride home and fall into bed exhausted. For our anniversary present, there was no silver or jewelry involved. We are both too practical this year….we decided to buy a new mattress for the bed, because the one furnished with the apartment must be 10-15 years old and is killing our backs. Besides, we took each other to Peru this year

Dedication Day

2009-08-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a special day for Extreme and the Zamacola church. There were about 500 people in attendance for the dedication of the Larry and Addie Garmin Missionary Training Center, 40/40 housing, and Zamacola Church. About 300 of those were from outside the church, having been invited at one of our impact events during the last week. Each local church was asked to perform a special for the event. Denise and I were part of a dance group from Alto Libertad Church and performed a traditional Peruvian dance. (I was told to not quite my day job). It was a great celebration and there were people hanging out the windows, standing on the sidewalk looking in, and a standing room crowd. What a great way to jump start a church planting movement.

Tiling All Night Long

2009-08-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

We have been making great progress on the church building. The outside has been painted, the dormitories are finished, the lights installed, front door built, and now the floor tile is going down. However, we hit a snag on Friday afternoon, and about 40 tiles had to be removed. This setback cost us about a day. With the building dedication looming just one day away, Dennis and 4 others stayed up all night Friday night and completed the first floor tiling. Just part of the Extreme Adventure!!

Dawn Get to Stay an Extra Week

2009-08-21T20:33:00.001-07:00

It was Sunday afternoon, and we are getting ready to take Dawn to the bus station for her trip back to Lima, when she received a text message from the Pastor she is teaching. He told her she should stay in Arequipa another week. He would be coming to Arequipa on Saturday to dedicate the building anyhow, so she should just stay. Yahoooo!! Dawn was really wanting to stay but was afraid to ask. We raced to the bus station to change her ticket to the next Sunday. On the way back home, she was talking with the taxi driver and got to share why she is a Christian and invited him to church. Was this all part of God’s plan? It was fun to have Dawn helping with the impact events. She was asked to lead several of the events for Extreme and was a great help in reaching out to people here in Arequipa.

Group of 80 Arrive for AQP 1

2009-08-21T20:31:00.001-07:00

On a bright sunny Friday afternoon, 80 willing and ready volunteers arrived to do construction and impacts here in Arequipa. For the next 12 days, half of them will help work on the Larry and Addie Garmin Missionary Training Center, 40/40 housing, and Zamacola church, while the other half will visit hospitals, a women’s prison, children’s home, show Jesus Films, and pray with people in the Plaza de Armas. What an exciting week.

Dawn Comes to Visit

2009-08-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

After a 15 hour bus ride from Lima, Dawn arrived back in Arequipa on August 4th for a short visit with the parents. It was great to get to see her and hear all about what she has been doing in and around Lima. Her English teaching is going well, and the family she is teaching loves her. She enjoyed being here where she knows the city and the streets. She met some friends and went on a rafting trip. She will be in town for the first few days of our next project, where 80 short term volunteers will work for 12 days.

The first team in Arequipa

2009-08-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

Our first group of short term volunteers arrived in Arequipa on July 17 and were here for about 12 days, and much was accomplished. Dennis had a construction team of about 14 people who painted, carpeted, pulled electrical wiring, hung lights, and built tables for the new missionary training center, dormitory rooms, and worship center. The Peruvian workers continued with the stucco and plumbing work on the second floor of the worship center. The teams got to eat lunch together and had a good time getting to know each other.

Denise got to get out of the office during the project. She helped a few days at the constrution site keeping me organized. She also got to go out on a community impact project in a new church plant area called Rimero Priale. The team walked around the community with Rico to draw the kids to the arena. They they did face painting, played games, performed puppet skits, and presented the salvation message. Close to 50 children came forward to pray and accept Jesus.

Overall for the 12 days, over 175 children and adults became new Christians and the local churches are beginning to follow up and disciple these new believers. What a great start on our short term projects.

General Assembly

2009-07-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

After we left Alaska, we traveled to Orlando Florida for General Assembly. Dennis was an NYI Delegate and Denise was a General Church Delegate. It is great to be part of a global church. In the NYI Convention, they web-cast the convention to 7 different world areas and included delegates in the convention and voting who could not travel to Orlando either becasue of finaces or visa/passport problems. This is the first time their voices could be heard. In the General Convention, they elected a new General Superintendent for Africa, the first from outside the US.

We also worked at the Extreme Mobile, the exhibit booth for Extreme Peru. It is an 18-wheeler trailer that is divided into 3 bays with videos that tell about Peru and the work we are doing there. Dennis decided to use his mascoting skills and put on the RICO cuy outfit and strolled around the convention center meeting people and having fun with the kids. He had a blast.

Our Visit to Alaska

2009-07-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

Denise and I got to got to Alaska the week of June 14-21. We had a great time visiting our friends and many supporters while we were there.

The week started with a small miracle from God. The night before we left, we found out that our flights had been changed and we were to arrive in Anchorage late Sunday night and would miss the evening service at Chapel of the Cross that we were supposed to speak at. We prayed and the next day, the airline was able to re-route us to arrive on time for church and they didn't even charge us a change fee. PTL.

We spent the next couple of days working and visiting our friends at HDL, taking care of loose ends, and getting our taxes filed. On Wednesday and Thursday, Dennis, Denise, our good friend Bill Tuk, and DJ, invaded the lake house and installed tongue and groove pine on the ceiling. Kimmy and Chad have done a great job turning the lakehouse into a home. It is looking great.

They we went down to Soldotna to spend time with our parents. We stayed with Dennis and Jodie Linnell where we helped install a new window in the living room. We also got to visit with Peter and JoAnn Biegel on the beach as they were doing their annual subsistence set netting for red salmon. In three days, er caught, cleaned, and filleted over 100 fish. Dennis left feeling like a real Alaskan.

We really enjoyed our time celebrating Father's Day with our families, many brothers and sisters, and kids.

Machupichu

2009-06-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

We visited the Inca ruins of Machupichu. We traveled by taxi to the train depot. Then we traveled by train to the town of Agua Caliente. We stayed overnight in a very small hotel. At 4:30 in the morning we got up to stand in line to catch the first bus to the mountain. The bus arrived at Machupichu at 9am. We then signed up for a time to climb the mountain behind Machupichu - Wanipichu. Only 400 people per day climb this peak, but it has a marvelous view of the ruins at the top. The ruins were truly incredible. A total of 172 homes, with other buildings besides. Up to 500 families could live in this community. The terraces were built to use for planting food.

Cusco

2009-06-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

We stayed in Cusco for a couple of days. We happened to be there when a group from Northwest Nazarene came through. They are in nursing training in college. 20 students came to Peru to run clinics in the jungle. We also met a missionary living in Cusco, Carrie Eckel. We stayed in a home bed and breakfast. Guadalupe made us feel right at home. Dawn said she reminded her of Grandma Jodie! As with all towns, the central square was filled with local children. Dawn did her magic with the kids...

Puerto Maldonado

2009-06-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

We visited the town of Puerto Maldonado. The town is located in the "selva" or jungle. This is the next construction site for Extreme. We saw a tributary of the Amazon, attended a church service,... and Dennis started the clearing of land. Dennis has a foreman named Cuarto. Cuarto will hire a crew, clear the land, and put in footings for the building. As of today, Cuarto has started the footings, purchased cement, rebar for the walls, and fill material to raise up the site.

Back from the Beach

2009-05-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

We kidnapped Isaiah and Landon for an overnight trip to the beach. Lots of sun and sand with a successful return to Mom and Dad (Sarah and Ryan Foster). We made sand castles, sand angels, flew a kite, dipped in the ocean, and managed to get sunburns (during the Peru winter!). The boys had a fun time and even said that "next time".... Mom and Dad were able to enjoy a day of quiet (hard to believe). We took two new members of the Extreme staff with us, Ryan and Chadwick. They went out into cold water to body surf-for about 5 minutes.

Dawn Arrives!

2009-05-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Mothers Day! And my Dawn arrived at 10:30 in the morning. A beautiful start to a beautiful day. We took a taxi to the airport, picked Dawn up, and took a taxi to church. We had an action packed service, several songs and dramas by the young children of Alto Libertad. Then we took another taxi home. The Alverado family was waiting for us. A huge meal of salad, potatoes, grilled sausage, grilled steak, and (always) bread. After dinner, Senor Andres treated us all to his special coffee espresso. We walked to the Hunt's to give them some items Dawn brought from Idaho. And finally it was time for a siesta!

Birthday, May 2nd

2009-05-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

A wonderful birthday lunch! With our host family and friends from the office, Michelle and Brad Hunt, we celebrated my "29th".... Here they call the ladies birthday age "sin cuenta" (without counting). I had a lovely day sleeping late and watching Dennis cook our meal- chicken cordon blue. We went shopping for all of the ingredients the day before. It is such an adventure to shop when you don't know the spanish words-and then to find out that broccoli is broccoli and paprika is ???? (we still don't know).

Staff Retreat

2009-04-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Extreme staff met for three days of discussion, planning and group interaction (games). We learned about some of the history of Peru, discussed the plans for Extreme's projects, and went on go-cart rides. My favorite moment was encouraging one of the peruvian ladies to drive a go-cart (I'm almost certain she had never driven anything before....) She was a pro by the third time, and smiling very big!

We visited the site of a new church plant from the Umacollo church in Arequipa. In this small brick building, they have 50 neighborhood children come to play, sing, and learn bible stories.

Semana Santa (Holy Week)

2009-04-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Semana Santa, or holy Week is a big celebration here in Peru, as it is in most Latin countries. The whole week, there are processionals each evening around the Plaza de Armas, or city center. Military bands played as regional leaders and dignitaries attended church services and asked for blessings for the country. Thursday and Friday are National holidays, and the city pretty much shuts down. Very few stores are open. On Saturday morning, 5am, there is a special processional for the hanging of Judas. They light fires in the street and wait for an efegy of Judas to be hung.

On Easter morning, most everyone goest to church. They sell crosses made out of palm leaves and have them blessed by the catholic priests. Then they hang them in their houses until the next year, when they get a new one.

Canon de Colca

2009-04-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

For Easter weekend, we traveled to Colca Canyon. This is the second deepest canyon in the world. We traveled in a tour bus with a group of 30 people. We started on Saturday morning under cloudy skies. You leave Arequipa and drive around to the back side of Misty Volcano, and then across the highlands of the Andes mountains. Part of it is through a national park and you get to see wild alpaca. The highest point along the jouney was 4,910 meters (16,100 ft), and we finally broke through the clouds into bright sunshine and snow!!

After a refreshing walk in the snow, we boarded back on the bus for a steep, winding, decent to the town of Chivay, where we spent the night. In Chivay, there is a great hot spring with 5 pools that are feed from the local volcano. We spent about an hour and a half just relaxing after the bus ride. Then we went out to dinner and a show with native dancers.

We boarded the bus at 5:30 in the morning to go see the canyon. Another big draw to Colca are the condors that catch the morning and afternoon thermals rising out of the canyon. We did get to see a few condors soaring in the distance, but nothing up close. We took a little hike along the rim of the canyon and got to see lots of flowers, fauna, and even a wild chinchila. We could see a few small villages across the canyon from us. The only way to these villages is to trek (hike). We may go for a 2-3 day trek to one of these villages when the kids get here in December.

Birthday Party at Dinosaur Park

2009-04-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

We celebrated one of our co-worker child's birthday party at a cool dinosaur park. The kids had a great time splashing in the gold fish ponds, playing on the playground equipment, and getting their faces painted. We enjoyed being aunts and uncles.

Arequipa Project. July/Aug. 2009

2009-04-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

The basic concrete for the first floor has been started by the Zamocola church in Arequipa. The building will have two floors. The second floor will contain seating for the church services. The first floor will be for housing and training of new staff for impact. The building to the left serves as housing for the pastor and has dining facilities on the ground floor.

Sunrise at Arequipa airport.

2009-04-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

Residency trip - Interpol in Lima

2009-04-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

It was a very early morning...We caught a cab to the airport at 4:30am. The sunrise was beautiful. Of course (por supuesto) we had a minor excitement when SOMEONE remembered the knife in their pocket just moments before going through security. Otherwise the day was beautiful and our time in the city of Lima was fairly short. The office in Lima for fingerprinting was very busy. But we took a man with us to ensure we had all of the right paperwork.

Dennis arrived! He's trying to catch up on sleep.

2009-03-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

Our weekend has been wonderful! Not so wonderful is that I have to write about all that happened in Spanish for my professor for Monday. Friday I took the day off of language school. Den and I went to the office in the morning, updated our bank info and spoke to Dawn through Skype. Dawn left for the Dominican Republic for 2 weeks to work in an orphanage there. In the afternoon we went back to our home for lunch. We then walked to the center park, Plaza de Armas, for coffee. 10 Blocks both ways to purchase a postcard, but it was wonderful. Saturday was the baptism. I have pictures of the service on facebook. Sunday we spent at our little church, Alto de Libertad.

Teachers at Language School

2009-03-11T14:17:00.001-07:00

Mary and Marco are my teachers for language school. I am very lucky to have them. Marco works with me on the written work in the book, and Mary works with conversational Spanish. Marco is a 4th year Architectural student. He will finish exams for the 4th year in two weeks and then will be in the 5th and final year of University.

The language school.

2009-03-11T14:12:00.001-07:00

Language school is two blocks from the Alvarado family home. We have about 15 people from the Extreme Nazarene group attending there now. I am in a class by myself. I have two teachers for 2 hours each.

Alvarado Family home.

2009-03-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

The Alvarado family has welcomed me to their home. They said that anything I need, please ask. If I want food during the night, just find it in the kitchen. Senora Charo does not speak any English. I have been able to learn enough Spanish to get by. Senor Andres is always giving me lots of new vocabulary words. The family calls him professor Andres. The daughter, Angela, speaks English very well. She is an event planner (weddings, birthdays, parties...).

Saying goodbye to my temporary home.

2009-03-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

Kindra Bible has graciously let me camp out in her apartment for 1 1/2 weeks. She has a place on the third floor of the building right next door to the office. I can be at my desk in 2 minutes after we exit her door. She is going to talk to the Landlord to hold any vacancies for us Extremies! From Kindra's I am going to move in with a Peruvian family. It is the best way to learn Spanish - 4 hours of class each day - all meals provided by the family. I am excited!

Childrens Song during church service

2009-03-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

The children go to their Sunday School lesson during the adult Bible Study time. After Sunday School, the children come to perform for the adults. Today they sang the story of Zaccheus with all of the motions as we do in the US. It was delightful.

Los Altos Salvidad, Iglesia del Nazareno

2009-03-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

Today was my second church service at the Los Altos de Salvidad church. The pastor and his fiance, Caroline, are wonderful servants. Pastor is a great speaker. The first service he had several of the people come up and help him with his sermon. They were illustrating the wonderful benefits of knowing God. Today the sermon was on prayer. I am able to read the passages in my bible in English as they read in Spanish. Some day I will read with them in Spanish. Tomorrow I will move in with a local family and begin language school. Exciting! Scary!

Weekly Lunch Meeting of the Long Term Volunteers

2009-02-27T10:05:00.001-08:00

We are rapidly running out of space! We have 26 adults on site in Arequipa. We also have 3 workers from Peru in the office, Eliseo (web design), Pastor Solano (40/40), and Ruben (all the local purchasing and project site purchasing). At least I have my own desk.... It is so exciting to see the workers and the project volunteers begin to come in. Their kids are so cute, too!

Puerto Maldonado Team

2009-02-27T09:42:00.000-08:00

Our first community development team is here! Tyson and Tracy Smith and their son, Ky, will be the "parents" for the team. They will coordinate the finances and other needs for the team. The team members are Wendy, Callie, Olivia and Andrew. They will each be paired with a local Peruvian to begin relationship building and planting churches in local communities. They will first have 3 months of language training and 6 months of Bible Study in Spanish. How awesome that they have accepted the challenge to be out in the front lines. Their community will be Puerto Maldonado. Pastor Ediberto Solano is also pictured who is the leader of the 40/40 Peruvian team members.

Plaza Armas on Sunday

2009-02-24T04:12:00.000-08:00

On Sunday afternoon, the long term volunteers and families went to Plaza Armas. In the center of the park, the families could purchase bags of corn for the children to feed the doves. Around the edge of the park is buildings with restaurants open to the courtyard. A band came to play in the park and then marched around on the street.

My Accounting Mentor

2009-02-21T18:03:00.000-08:00

I am working with Bud Grumm. This is Bud and his wife Judy at the Park, Plaza Armas. Bud is working with me to set up the accounting information and input the activity from before I arrived. I am slowly getting used to the use of cash for everything. And the need to think in both US dollars and Soles (Peruvian currency). I will survive. I have mentioned to Bud and Judy that I don't want to see them leave. They are a wonderful couple. They spent several months in Argentina at the last construction project of the Bruno Rady Center.

Our Office in Arequipa

2009-02-20T13:42:00.000-08:00

It is dark and stormy looking today. About 65 degrees out. Everyone here asks me about the weather in Alaska. Mucho frio they say! We saw Santa Claus on the street in full costume. I said that he lives in Alaska. On day two, I went across the city of Arequipa to find a calculator. I am starting to learn the system here. We pay for all products and services in cash. So a wire transfer is requested from the US, then a check is cashed at the bank. Then the U.S. cash may be translated into Peruvian Soles and the purchase is then made. I am just starting to learn that the most important person here is the one who goes to the bank every day for me!

Arequipa Airport

2009-02-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

After 30 hours of travel, I ARRIVE!!!! I need a shower and a bed, but after that last coffee on the plane I am ready to go to work?! The travel was easier than I thought. I had too much carryon luggage and had to drag it through long lines at customs, but everywhere I had people who would help me and share their stories. One flight I sat next to a couple going to a wedding in Florida who eagerly listened to my story of the work we will do in Peru. I am sure God put us together. Gloria a Dios.

Leaving Alaska

2009-02-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to make our way to Peru. We will miss all of our friends and family, but hope that you will follow our journey through this "blog window". Thanks for all of your encouragement and support. We love you.