It's been a good day, our first full day with Avis's brothers and friend here. We got a quote here in town to get the comby fixed. It's crazy how cheap some things are here. The roof literally has holes rusted through and on top the windshield is totally rusted out, so to get that filled in and repainted S/.300.
We got the old comby running. it's not road worthy, the body is about to fall apart and the block is cracked so it has no power but it was fun to try and get it running. Fred is a great guy he loves to play around with stuff like this. They are all great guys George and tony have been spending time with the kids and are planning a trip to the beach tomorrow.
We tryed joining our church back home via google hangout for there "fire starters" training but of course it kept crashing because of our poor Internet.
I've got Rosa sitting beside me chatting with her adoptive parents back in Canada John and Cyndy, she's such a happy girl. I just love when someone's love for God is proven by action, the result in this case is one very blessed and happy girl.
Bless you dearly, let the love of Christ flow through you.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Beer and Bibles
Every now and then I think about how much joy there is in serving God. I think about how unsatisfying and boring it would be to live a life for self, and I feel a real sadness for people who don't know our awesome God and Father. The days are passing by so quickly I have to stop for a second (or an hour :) ) and just thank God and praise him for who he is and what he does in our lives.
Today while me and Pete were in town we got called over by a guy sitting with his friends having a beer. (Our van is covered with advertisement about the church and orphanage) and he pointed at the van and then put his hands up over his face. I was pretty confused at first and didn't know if he was making fun of us or what. But I walked up to him and asked what he was trying to say and again all he did was put his hands in front of his face and said "leer"(read). So I asked if he wanted a bible, "si si"(yes yes) he says. So I explained that I didn't have any in our van but I could run over to the orphanage and get some. So we rushed home grabbed a few Spanish bibles and went back. I had Mateo with me and he wanted to help so I gave him one of the bibles to hand to our new friend, and I proceeded to hand bibles to his friends but they said "no no" with my poor spanish I couldn't understand what else they said so one of the guys took a bible and handed it to Mateo and motioned him to give it back. So I understood they wanted the bibles handed out by my little three year old son :) he makes me proud. There was five of them sitting around a table so I opened up an extra bible I had brought and opened it to John 3:16 and they all frantically followed me to find the passage. One of the guys read the verse and they all smiled and nodded. And after trying to explain that God loved each one of them so much that he gave up his own son on the cross, they asked what church we where from. And of course I explained it to them and said I hoped to see them there Sunday morning. I was so caught up in the excitement I didn't think about praying over them on the spot but we need prayer for these guys, so would love if you would say just a little prayer for them and ask God to make the seed grow that's been planted in their hearts.
I have to say that made my day. Just going about our day looking for some hardware in town and God sets up a Divine appointment for us to give these guys a bible.
God has been guiding our steps so much these last two weeks. From leading us to a lubricating shop to pray over the owners family to supplying us with the bearings we needed for our water trailer. It's so cool when your clueless as to what's next and then God just sort of nudges you in the right direction. May God's blessing rest on you, I love you dearly.
Today while me and Pete were in town we got called over by a guy sitting with his friends having a beer. (Our van is covered with advertisement about the church and orphanage) and he pointed at the van and then put his hands up over his face. I was pretty confused at first and didn't know if he was making fun of us or what. But I walked up to him and asked what he was trying to say and again all he did was put his hands in front of his face and said "leer"(read). So I asked if he wanted a bible, "si si"(yes yes) he says. So I explained that I didn't have any in our van but I could run over to the orphanage and get some. So we rushed home grabbed a few Spanish bibles and went back. I had Mateo with me and he wanted to help so I gave him one of the bibles to hand to our new friend, and I proceeded to hand bibles to his friends but they said "no no" with my poor spanish I couldn't understand what else they said so one of the guys took a bible and handed it to Mateo and motioned him to give it back. So I understood they wanted the bibles handed out by my little three year old son :) he makes me proud. There was five of them sitting around a table so I opened up an extra bible I had brought and opened it to John 3:16 and they all frantically followed me to find the passage. One of the guys read the verse and they all smiled and nodded. And after trying to explain that God loved each one of them so much that he gave up his own son on the cross, they asked what church we where from. And of course I explained it to them and said I hoped to see them there Sunday morning. I was so caught up in the excitement I didn't think about praying over them on the spot but we need prayer for these guys, so would love if you would say just a little prayer for them and ask God to make the seed grow that's been planted in their hearts.
I have to say that made my day. Just going about our day looking for some hardware in town and God sets up a Divine appointment for us to give these guys a bible.God has been guiding our steps so much these last two weeks. From leading us to a lubricating shop to pray over the owners family to supplying us with the bearings we needed for our water trailer. It's so cool when your clueless as to what's next and then God just sort of nudges you in the right direction. May God's blessing rest on you, I love you dearly.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
To know God is to know peace of mind
It is when you stop trying to figure things out and just let God figure things out that God can tell you what he's figuring out for you.
These past two weeks have been about the best weeks of my life that I can remember. Tomorrow I will be driving our team to Trujillo airport and they will be on their way back home to Canada. So much has happened over the time that they were here I can't even begin to describe. I didn't know most of the team on a personal level before they came and has been such a huge blessing just to get to know them on personal level and to see how much they love God. It's funny how much you find you have in common with people once you get close with them. One of the guys is staying for an extra week so I am looking forward to spending more one on one time and showing him what life is like here on a regular basis. The kids here just love the Canadians coming down and spending time with them. It's such a blessing for the kids to see what a man of God looks like, they all come from broken family's where the have men abused the authority that a man has in a family. It's amazing the healing God does in the hearts of the children through people giving up just a few weeks of their time to come down and love on the kids.
Me and Maggie were talking about the blessing the team brought. And it became clear to us that the most important thing they did here was not install lights in the compound and put new doors on. Sure we needed those things and I don't know how it would have gotten done without them. But the most impotent thing they did was build relationship with the kids and us as well. The comment is always made of how much the kids get blessed and how much blessing you take back home. But what might get overlooked is how much the people running this place get blessed from teams coming here. Sure it's a lot of work and you get physically very tired but your spirit just gets lifted up to the heavens. We've only been here four months and we feel that blessing, I can't imagine what it must be like for someone who's been here for years and years.
God has big plans. And God has shown me that there are many good good people out there that are part of that plan. This team from Canada got started from One individual who felt God calling him down here for a couple weeks. And in his obedience in stepping out, God called a few more to come with him. One act of obedience from one individual turned into a blessing of a life time, don't ever think that "it wouldn't make a difference anyway". God will decide what difference it will make and when you give your life over to him, he will take you where you couldn't have dreamed that you could go.
I know I'm all over the place but I just felt like sharing my thoughts. God is starting to show me things he has in store for my family, and he's starting to show me how he will take care of us. There is confirmation in his calling, he will never leave you hanging wondering if it really was his calling. When you just wait for his next sign, he will show you that you are in the right place.
God bless you richly, may you find his rest, may you find solitude in his presence. I love you dearly as a sibling in Christ Jesus.
These past two weeks have been about the best weeks of my life that I can remember. Tomorrow I will be driving our team to Trujillo airport and they will be on their way back home to Canada. So much has happened over the time that they were here I can't even begin to describe. I didn't know most of the team on a personal level before they came and has been such a huge blessing just to get to know them on personal level and to see how much they love God. It's funny how much you find you have in common with people once you get close with them. One of the guys is staying for an extra week so I am looking forward to spending more one on one time and showing him what life is like here on a regular basis. The kids here just love the Canadians coming down and spending time with them. It's such a blessing for the kids to see what a man of God looks like, they all come from broken family's where the have men abused the authority that a man has in a family. It's amazing the healing God does in the hearts of the children through people giving up just a few weeks of their time to come down and love on the kids.
Me and Maggie were talking about the blessing the team brought. And it became clear to us that the most important thing they did here was not install lights in the compound and put new doors on. Sure we needed those things and I don't know how it would have gotten done without them. But the most impotent thing they did was build relationship with the kids and us as well. The comment is always made of how much the kids get blessed and how much blessing you take back home. But what might get overlooked is how much the people running this place get blessed from teams coming here. Sure it's a lot of work and you get physically very tired but your spirit just gets lifted up to the heavens. We've only been here four months and we feel that blessing, I can't imagine what it must be like for someone who's been here for years and years.
God has big plans. And God has shown me that there are many good good people out there that are part of that plan. This team from Canada got started from One individual who felt God calling him down here for a couple weeks. And in his obedience in stepping out, God called a few more to come with him. One act of obedience from one individual turned into a blessing of a life time, don't ever think that "it wouldn't make a difference anyway". God will decide what difference it will make and when you give your life over to him, he will take you where you couldn't have dreamed that you could go.
I know I'm all over the place but I just felt like sharing my thoughts. God is starting to show me things he has in store for my family, and he's starting to show me how he will take care of us. There is confirmation in his calling, he will never leave you hanging wondering if it really was his calling. When you just wait for his next sign, he will show you that you are in the right place.
God bless you richly, may you find his rest, may you find solitude in his presence. I love you dearly as a sibling in Christ Jesus.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
A blessing Received is a blessing Given
I'm really tired and should be sleeping, gotta get up at 3:30am tomorrow. But it's been yet another AWESOME day. We were invited to dinner by a family who we prayed for the other day, they have a restaurant in town and they have the best chicken in town. Because we were invited as guests we weren't expected to pay but we each put some money under our plates before we left. And just as we left the door we had a beautiful moment where the woman came running out with some money in her hands insisting that we take it back, followed by another person. They had found the rest of the money. It was in our hearts to bless them with our tip but they would have none of it. And as I was thinking about it, it became clear to me that that was not our moment to bless them because by doing so we were not receiving the blessing that THEY where trying to give us. It really showed how grateful they really were for our presence in there life and for sharing the gospel with them. This verse came to mind: Luke 14:12 NIVThen Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.
When we act in love toward one another it should be out of a giving heart, not expecting anything in return. If we receive our reward on earth then there will not be a reward left for us in heaven, but for every true act of love and compassion toward the least of people, a reward will be stored up for us in heaven. And I am convinced that every reward in heaven is far better than anything we could ever imagine. I am learning that when you stop concerning yourself with tomorrow and how you will get by. Then God has the opportunity to work miracles in your life and provide for you better than you could ever have provided for yourself. When we trust God it should end with a period, not with a "but". We are often so tempted to say I trust God "but" I still have to......
Valentines Day!
Valentines for all the kids - THANK You Canadian family!
Flowers for all!
The girls made these beautiful paper flowers for me. Love them!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Grateful hearts and a tough goodbye
God is Good. Life is good. It is so great to have Avis (the orphanage founder) back with us after a well deserved 3month visit with her family in the States, and to work on her new book, which we are all very excited about!
We have just been having a wonderful time this week with the Canadian team being here. Thank You God for sending them, they are such a blessing to us! Thanks to them we now have all new solar powered lights up all around the orphanage, and today they started installing much needed new doors for all the houses. Thank you team!
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This week we also say farewell to a beautiful young woman of God - Mandy, who Casa de Paz has been blessed with for the past 15 months as she has served here volunteering as a house mom, and teaching at the school.
Today the kids put on a surprise dance-off show for Mandy. It was awesome...we have got some pretty talented young dancers here, with some cool moves too! lol. The boys team won. After the dancing was a special treat - cake and ice cream! and Mandy was presented with a big bouquet of flowers and a Pacasmayo t-shirt lovingly signed by all the kids. Mandy will be missed by all here, and we so appreciate all the work she has done in her time at Casa de Paz. Jake and I both know from our own experiences that being a house mom/dad to a house full of 12+ kids is not one of the easiest jobs! It is a loud, crazy, exhausting 12 hour shifts...but at the same time it is also a fun, loving, and truly one of the most blessed things to be be part of. It is amazing the bonds created spending time with these kids getting to know each one...you just fall in love with them all! They become family. And saying goodbye to family is not easy, so we know as Mandy leaves here she will carry the Casa de Paz family in her heart wherever she goes. We pray the Lord would continue to bless her in whatever she does and wherever He leads.
We also pray for more willing hearts to come serve at Casa de Paz - right now we are feeling a need for help and have room for about 4-5 volunteers. We are so thankful for a God who always provides and is always faithful, and trust that He will send the right people at the right time. Praise God His timing is always perfect!
We have just been having a wonderful time this week with the Canadian team being here. Thank You God for sending them, they are such a blessing to us! Thanks to them we now have all new solar powered lights up all around the orphanage, and today they started installing much needed new doors for all the houses. Thank you team!
.JPG)
Today the kids put on a surprise dance-off show for Mandy. It was awesome...we have got some pretty talented young dancers here, with some cool moves too! lol. The boys team won. After the dancing was a special treat - cake and ice cream! and Mandy was presented with a big bouquet of flowers and a Pacasmayo t-shirt lovingly signed by all the kids. Mandy will be missed by all here, and we so appreciate all the work she has done in her time at Casa de Paz. Jake and I both know from our own experiences that being a house mom/dad to a house full of 12+ kids is not one of the easiest jobs! It is a loud, crazy, exhausting 12 hour shifts...but at the same time it is also a fun, loving, and truly one of the most blessed things to be be part of. It is amazing the bonds created spending time with these kids getting to know each one...you just fall in love with them all! They become family. And saying goodbye to family is not easy, so we know as Mandy leaves here she will carry the Casa de Paz family in her heart wherever she goes. We pray the Lord would continue to bless her in whatever she does and wherever He leads.
We also pray for more willing hearts to come serve at Casa de Paz - right now we are feeling a need for help and have room for about 4-5 volunteers. We are so thankful for a God who always provides and is always faithful, and trust that He will send the right people at the right time. Praise God His timing is always perfect!
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