tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6287802466041322192024-03-13T06:20:56.075-04:00Heart of an OrphanYou have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. Isaiah 25:4Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-13296064139230214602015-11-16T09:16:00.000-05:002015-11-16T18:43:34.202-05:00Updates and Prayer Requests<div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">It's hard to believe, but October 2nd marked 3 years of living in Peru for our family. God has done so much in the time that we've been here. He has blessed our family with a beautiful baby girl who was born here and knows this as the only home she's ever had. We've been blessed to care for and be a part of so many precious children's lives; close to 100 kids have came through this orphanage in the past three years. Some have stayed only a week or two, and others have been here their whole lives, and some, 10 actually, have been adopted! </span></div>
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We've seen God's faithfulness like never before as He's provided for needs day after day, and month after month, often in such awesome and unexpected ways that remind us it's All Him. We have a Father who loves us cares for our every need! He never fails us.</div>
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We've met and got to know so many new friends and families here in Pacasmayo and surrounding areas, that have welcomed us and helped us feel at home here. </div>
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We know that these three years couldn't have happened without our brothers and sisters out there who support us, both financially and prayerfully. Coming here we had enough to get us by 2 years max, and we simply trusted that if the Lord wanted us here longer, he would provide, And he has been, and continues to, through people with generous hearts. We feel blessed to still be here :) </div>
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Here's a bit of the latest happenings at Casa de Paz and in Pacasmayo, and a few prayer requests:</div>
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Pray for the children's health and well being. </div>
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Protecting and caring for kids, that's what Casa de Paz is here for, and we want our kids well! Thankfully the majority of our kids are strong and healthy with energy to spare, but there have been a few not so well lately. One of our Casa kids was recently diagnosed with hepatitis A. He was put on treatment and doing well, but it is contagious and has already spread to one of the other kids. 2 others are epileptic and need to be closely watched for seizures. <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">We also have 2 cases of chicken pox, so far..lets pray it stops there. And to top it all off we still have head lice going around.. fun! Those critters are nearly impossible to get rid, especially with so many kids living closely together. </span></div>
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Three girls (sisters) have joined the Casa de Paz family. The oldest (14) was pregnant as a result of abuse from within their home. We didn't know about the pregnancy until she had a painful miscarriage shortly after arriving here. We later learned that this was not her first pregnancy. There have been a lot of tears and some late nights praying with this young girl as she tries to cope with the pain. Thankfully brighter days are ahead and healing is happening. Pray for peace for these sisters and continued healing, physically and spiritually. </div>
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Esteban, who has worked at Casa de Paz for many years, has been unable to work for some time now due to cancer. We recently heard the sad news that one of his little daughters has also been diagnosed with cancer. Esteban's wife and son have been working Estaban's shift at Casa de Paz to maintain an income for the family. It's hard to watch this happen to one of the the most godly, humble families we know, but we believe that God has a purpose for everything that happens, the good and the bad, and we believe in the power of the name of Jesus in who we ask all things. There is power in prayer, especially where many unite together, so join with us in praying healing for this beautiful family! </div>
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After an amazing trip to Israel and only a few short weeks back at Casa de Paz, Avis is back in the states again. We were glad to be able to celebrate her 71st birthday before she left. The Casa de Paz and church family together threw a surprise party for Avis. Hers was the biggest carrot cake I have ever made! Pray for renewed strength for Avis this year, and peace as she follows where the Lord is leading her next. </div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Jake has been a pastor for some time now, but, now it has been made official! He is now an ordained pastor, and I guess that makes me a pastor's wife! Pray for Jake as he leads this church that has been entrusted to us. Pray that this church family continues to grow, not only in number but in unity and in love, in strength and in boldness to proclaim the gospel, in compassion and mercy to help our neighbor and those in need, in the power and guidance</span> of the Holy Spirit and in heavenly wisdom and understanding as we seek to know Christ more and walk in a deeper relationship with Him.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avis doing the ordination</td></tr>
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Pray for me as I lead our weekly women's bible study. This leading thing is still a bit out of my comfort zone. I think I will always be more comfortable serving behind the scenes. But, if there's one thing I've learned it's that being out of comfort zone is the perfect place to be to grow and be conformed more into the likeness of Christ as I learn to rely on Him completely. I am in positions now that I never thought I'd be in and doing things I never thought I could do, but as long as I trust in God, his promises prove true: His grace is sufficient in my weakness! And I know that I in myself can do nothing, but Christ in me can - to Him be the glory!</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Pray for these women, that they would hold on to hope and continue to grow in faith, being a light to those around them and that their husbands and families would come to know the Lord too. </span></div>
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Pray for our other missionary families. Tammy, who is in the U.S right now until January visiting family and doing events to raise funds for Casa de Paz.</div>
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And John and Eva and their 3 kids who have lived here with us for 4 months now and have been such a blessing to our family and so awesome to work alongside with. </div>
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And for our staff and house moms, who work here not only for an income but because they love these kids. </div>
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We had three young volunteers this year who have cared for these kids with the love of Christ. These women served with all they had while they were here, but now they have returned to the states to start the next chapter of their lives. We miss them and pray for more volunteers like these! </div>
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We are heading into hot summer weather here, but this summer might be different. There has been a lot of talk about El Niño, a season of climate change that causes heavy rains in areas that normally don't get rain. It's expected to hit this area in December. A little bit of rain is good, but too much and it could cause a lot of damage to the mud brick homes, and mudslides and flooding. Pray for people to be prepared as best they can, and let's hope it won't be as severe as predicted. We trust that God is in control and will help us through anything that comes our way. Most of the schools in this area are putting in extra hours on Saturday's to finish the school year a month earlier than usual so that kids won't have to go to school during the El Niño season. </div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Thank you to all who are keeping us in prayer. God bless you!</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-71371736753614818812015-09-11T16:42:00.000-04:002015-09-11T16:42:11.780-04:00Peace like a river in my soul.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
John 20:21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."<br />
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When Jesus said this to His disciples, I wonder what kind of image popped into their mind. Did they think of the fundraising they would have to do before they could afford to "go", did they think of the shots they would need, or the medication they would need to take in case they got sick, maybe they took out a travelers insurance policy. Did they make a list of items to take along; sunscreen, four pairs of clothes with extra socks and underwear, toothbrush, earphones, deodorant, hand sanitizer..... I'm sounding sarcastic I know, but really, I think they likely did go through preparation process, although I think what they thought of as the most important thing to take may not match what we would think of as very important. For example, have you ever had one of those travelers pillows, you know the ones that wrap around your neck, I used to think 'what could be so great about that' but I tell ya I am sold, I don't think I'll even get on a bus with out one lol, all of a sudden what used to not even cross my mind now is one of the first things I think about when I think "trip". Any way lets get to the point....</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cVSnkhET2FU/VfMmaX0Zv-I/AAAAAAAADz4/Y8IlcBmLVhQ/s1600/0009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cVSnkhET2FU/VfMmaX0Zv-I/AAAAAAAADz4/Y8IlcBmLVhQ/s200/0009.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NXjzI-L99bk/VfMoVkGGlBI/AAAAAAAAD1s/ls3YUMo747A/s1600/0045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NXjzI-L99bk/VfMoVkGGlBI/AAAAAAAAD1s/ls3YUMo747A/s320/0045.JPG" width="320" /></a>Avis and her brother Fred, when they first came to Peru spent a fair bit of time in Iquitos, on the amazon river, doing medical campaigns, showing movies, and preaching, church planting really. I had the great privilege of going on a mission trip with an awesome group of people to Iquitos. Layla is a great woman of God who Avis worked with back about 13 years ago, she is still at it, with 7 churches under her care. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ODl-jyoGovA/VfMmiwujLTI/AAAAAAAAD0A/e6ZTRaWZ7x8/s1600/0064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ODl-jyoGovA/VfMmiwujLTI/AAAAAAAAD0A/e6ZTRaWZ7x8/s320/0064.JPG" width="320" /></a>I had the awesome privilege of preaching in the same church Avis preached in back than, only instead of a wooden shack rocking back and forth on logs floating on water, it is now a concrete building firm and sturdy, what is amazing is that the church members themselves funded the building, and this may not seem so unusual to you but in a country trust is rare and money is rarer, for people to stand together in unity to fight for a better building in which to worship God without the help of an outsider is amazing. </div>
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An amazing missionary house was supplied for us in Iquitos where we had some amazing cooks feeding us some of the best food I've ever had. The first day we had a little tour of the town, which included a small boat ride, I had to chuckle when the preacher who was acting as guide a small boat with its owner, another boat owner runs up and says, "you can't take them on that boat, the gringos are scared, you need a bigger boat that wont tip so easy" of course he was the one with the bigger boat, I assured him that this gringo didn't mind taking a smaller boat for less money. </div>
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The next morning however we boarded a boat that was a little bigger, well, longer at least, it may have been only about 5 or 6 feet wide but it was at least 70 feet long or more. we started up river being told "o its just two hours or so, not far...) of course 2 hours later we were still going, 4 hours still going, finally 8 hours later we arrived just before dark at our destination. </div>
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we found out the next day we had had the better end of the deal, all the ladies wok up with lots of tiny new friends, with spots all over their bodies to prove it. We had an amazing day that day, with one pharmacist, three nurses and a dentist we gave medical attention to over two hundred people. That night we all took turn preaching, we had like a mini preaching conference right there in a small amazon village. </div>
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We decided that nigh that floor boards and bed bugs are temping but we would rather set sail down river back to Iquitos. I have to say, to lay flat on your back in the middle of the amazon, in the middle of the night, I don't care what your sleeping on, there is nothing more awesome, the sky so packed full of stares it takes your breath away. </div>
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We wrapped up our trip with a night of worship in the main church with all the leaders of all the churches, I felt undeserving of standing up to speak to such an amazing crowd of God fearing leaders, but God gave me grace. </div>
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I desire this for people from our small little church here in Pacasmayo, Anyone who has ever gone on a mission trip knows how it can change you, I pray that God opens doors for our church to step out into the unknown and grow. There are many obstacles that the enemy likes to put in the way, but with God all is possible. Please pray for us as we all worship one God, to bring Him glory and honor. In Jesus name amen.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-52952248112904237462015-08-22T23:41:00.000-04:002015-08-23T00:49:05.356-04:00A Decade of Marriage to CelebrateTen years of marriage. It doesn't feel like that long ago, but at the same time I can hardly remember what my life with Jake before being married was like.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our wedding day August 20, 2005</td></tr>
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10 years is a milestone, and we wanted to do something a little extra special to celebrate this year. We have had this idea for a long time, since before we ever knew we'd be living in Peru at this time; hence our wedding clothes being one of the few things we did not sell or give away when we moved to Peru. We're grateful to Jake's parents for the extra luggage they hauled with them here to get our wedding clothes to us when they came to visit this past July.<br />
We thought, if the dress (and suit) still fits, why not put it on again? So the plan was to get dressed up in our wedding clothes for a fun photo shoot, and later have cake with our Casa de Paz family. I guess we should have known it would turn into much more than that, especially knowing how much Peruvians love to party. And when they party, they like to go all out. Well when the Casa de Paz staff heard about our simple idea to have "cake with the kids", it quickly turned into a full blown, fully decorated surprise party, with dinner and dancing, and even wine (not real wine). We even had some surprise guests. Everything turned out beautifully. We got to celebrate our special day with so many of the family and friends God has blessed us with here, and the best part was that God used it to His glory. Jake and I have the great privilege of being an example of a godly marriage to the people of Peru. Our marriage isn't perfect, but it is strong and cannot be shaken, because of the firm foundation it is built upon, which is Jesus Christ. We both knew when we made our vows 10 years ago, we not only made them to one another, but more importantly we made a vow before our heavenly Father. And that is something to be taken seriously. But sadly this is something that the world does not take very seriously at all. Divorce rates are only going up, and nowadays almost as much among Christians as non believers. In Peru marriage is hardly existent. We have seen more separated and broken families here than ever before. Broken families is the reason for most of our Casa kids being in this orphanage. It seems to be the norm here for 5 siblings to have 3 different fathers. Jake and I were shocked when we got asked once by a stranger in town if our three children all belonged to both of us. We sure never thought we'd have to answer that question!<br />
We realized soon after moving here that our marriage would play a big and important part of God's mission for us here. I look at all our girls and the young women they are becoming, and wonder what they will do with their lives when they move on from this orphanage. Will they go out and find their worth in a man who values them only for their body, get pregnant and when he leaves wait for the next man, or will they know that their true worth is in God alone, and wait for a godly man who loves her as Christ loves the church? And our young men. What will they become? Will they run and go their own way when things get tough, or will they stand up and be real men, working hard and doing whatever it takes to provide and care for their families. Our prayer is to break the vicious cycle by raising men and women of God who value marriage as God created it to be. Men who go to church with their wives, men who can lead the church. Men who love their wives as Christ loves the church. And women of God who support and work alongside their husbands, respecting and submitting to their husbands as the church submits to Christ. It is not as hard for a man to love and give up his life for his wife when his wife is respectful and submissive to him, and likewise it is not as hard for a wife to respect and submit to her husband when he is loving her as he loves himself. It is when both do their part that it works out in beautiful harmony. God knew what he was doing when he gave us our roles. Of course, as humans, we still fail each other daily, and should never expect the other to love us perfectly. Only God can do that. And only with God at the center can we even begin to love one another at all.<br />
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Our anniversary dinner turned out to be a great opportunity to speak about how important marriage is in God's eyes. So important that it represents Christ and his bride, the church.<br />
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<i><b>“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”</b></i></div>
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<i><b>Ephesians 5:22-33 </b></i><br />
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<i><b>"Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Colossians 3:18-19</b></i></div>
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Our first photo shoot location was about a 20 minute drive to a small town called Puemape. The black rocks contrasting our white clothes made for some stunning photos. I'd say climbing up those rock mountains in high heels was well worth it. :)</div>
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Next, we drove back to Pacasmayo and walked all over town (still in my heels) stopping to take pictures in front of antique doors and buildings or whatever we thought might make a great picture, like this cool stone wall pictured above. We must have been quite the sight. Some drivers by would stop their cars to watch, or take our picture... one lady asked if we were making a movie. Jake mentioned that rumors were probably being started that pastor Jake just got married, but we were sure to explain to anyone that asked, that this was an anniversary celebration and not our wedding. We did kind of feel like newlyweds all over again though. :)<br />
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After the town photo shoot, we headed back to Casa de Paz to pick up our kids for family pictures at the beach. We are grateful to Tammy and Avis' family for watching the kids for the first part of our photo shoot.<br />
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For the signs I used picture frames that I already had, construction paper and a sharpie! I got the idea from something similar I saw on pinterest awhile ago. Gotta love Pinterest!<br />
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Just thought I should mention that I made all the signs, except for the "IT" one; that one was all Jake, his idea of having a little fun. ;) One of the many reasons why I love this man, he makes me laugh <3<br />
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John and Eva had the important job of capturing the moments of this special day, and they did an awesome job as our photographers! Between Eva on our Canon and John on the iPhone, we got some pretty professional looking photos. <br />
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The Casa de Paz staff made us a beautiful scrapbook filled with photos of the kids. </div>
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Chicken, potatoes and rice for dinner. Yummy!<br />
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Our lovely girls all dolled up.<br />
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Our volunteers, Sarah & Courtney. These ladies are to thank for my hair and makeup, which held up through a whole day of wind, sun, and dancing. I would say they're pros.<br />
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Hector was quite awestruck by my dress. lol<br />
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Girls love to get dressed up, and they all looked absolutely beautiful!<br />
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Theses boys clean up nice!<br />
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Lots of dancing. So much fun!<br />
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And last but not least, CAKE. We all know that Tammy makes the most amazing cakes, but she really outdid herself with this one. I mean look at it, it was almost too beautiful to eat. Almost.<br />
It tasted as good as it looked. :) Also, the white roses on the cake are real. All the flowers were real. One of my my favorite things about Peru - flowers are cheap here! 6 soles, that's what I paid for my bouquet. That's about 2 dollars. I can't get over it.<br />
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What a full day! We were exhausted by the end of it, while some of our peruvian friends were just getting warmed up. I think Jake and I were one of the first to leave the party. But it was mostly because we were excited about our last surprise of the day. Yes, I know we got way too spoiled that day, but hey we can't help that people love us and want to do nice things for us, right? ;)<br />
Our last gift of the day was from our wonderful neighbors John & Eva, who booked us a night away at La Estacion Hotel where we got to fall asleep to the sound of the ocean. Now we felt like we were on a second honeymoon.<br />
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Altogether it was a very eventful, memorable day. It may seem like an awful lot for an anniversary, but keep in mind that it is hard to keep it simple in a culture who's motto is basically Go Big or Go Home. I'm thankful for the family God has given us here who took the time to put all this together for us.<br />
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I pray that they all saw that the beautiful dress and flowers and decorations and dancing was not the most beautiful thing about the day, but rather the love covenant of oneness that is between Jake & I, and God, the real reason to celebrate. I pray that our marriage would continue to be used as a shining example to the kids at Casa de Paz, and all those around us. For His Glory.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-19142972776804274942015-08-10T22:38:00.000-04:002015-08-10T22:38:52.498-04:00Two are better than one<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Ecc 4:9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:<br />
Ecc 4:10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.<br />
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I think we would all agree that this is a true saying, "pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up" there is something very awful about being alone. I believe this will be the single most horrifying thing about hell, above the scorching heat, the loneliness will be almost more than we can bare, to live in death, "live in death" can that even work, no it can't you won't be "living" in death you will be ever dying, ever alone, ever in darkness, the worst of all people I do not wish this on. Thank God of the gift of companionship, the presence of another gives courage and strength. The creak of a house, the bark of a dog, the silence of the woods, the thunder of the storm all do not strike a fear with a friend like they would, where you all alone. </div>
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Many things here in our ministry are.... well, more fun with a companion. And we have some pretty wonderful people here right now, all of which I would rather they not go, one of which actually did just go, Analese came with Courtney and Sarah, the three girls have been more than awesome, I can tell you that taking care of a bunch of wild little kids that come from all types of different backgrounds can be.... challenging. But all three girls have stuck it out day after day, no doubt developing all kinds of bonds that will not be easy to break. </div>
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Off course you know tia Tammy, everything from finger painting with the little ones, baking with the big ones, teaching in school, treating the owie of us all, movie night, Sunday school, busing people to and from church, to just cuddling with anyone. Tammy has been more than we could have asked for, but above all, Tammy takes care of our administrative stuff, if you thought that little list was here job, no that's her after hours stuff, administration is a full time job, and I can express my gratitude for her willing heart to serve God through serving Casa de Paz.</div>
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Last but certainly not least, The Schmitt family, John and Eva, like us, sold all they had to come and serve. John has all kinds of talents, from fixing computers to welding, to painting. Eva fits in perfectly in our big little family just loving on all the little babies, even our little Tahlia started calling her mama lol, Tahlia usually wants nothing to do with other women, she likes to hang with the guys, and don't get me wrong she loves John to peaces, but something about Eva just makes her feel right at home. Both John and Eva are in almost every way identical to us, we've run out of things to talk about because what ever one of us would say the other would already know lol, Above all I am grateful for a friend for Maggie, her and Eva hit it off from day one, being in the same shoe, both having three kids almost the same age, both quiet spirited, gentle, yet strong, like two peas in a pot they are best friends. O and I can't forget their kids, wow I don't even recognize my little boy anymore, Mateo is constantly playing, laughing and having fun, all of a sudden he's all "Mr Cool", He has three best friends, that are life changing to him. John and Eva and their kids are an answer to prayer, to have someone think like you do, as a companion, what could be better.</div>
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But there is a wrench in the gears, or should I say "there is a devil in the world" It seems the Peruvian government is making it impossible for missionaries to come into the country, this is bad news for us as you can imagine, my family got in just in time so we have our visas, but none else who is here has one, so once their visitor visa runs out they will have to leave, you used to be able to come in for six months at a time, leave for a day or two and re enter for another half a year, but that's no longer the case. Please pray for this, I ask you from my heart to plead for Gods intervention, not just for us but all the ministries in Peru will be and are already greatly effected. I know God has a plan in this, if He is allowing it it means He has a plan, pray that this plan would become clear to us. To keep this ministry going without anyone else working along side us looks very grim, who would help me up if I fell. Thank you so much to all who regularly pray for us, and who support us in any way, you can not imagine how much difference you are making. God bless you in Jesus name amen.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-73737624411691434352015-04-15T22:22:00.002-04:002015-04-15T22:29:07.406-04:00To The River<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i>Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.</i></div>
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<i><b>To the river, I am going, bringing sins I cannot bear</b></i><br />
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<i><b>Come and cleanse me, Come forgive me, Lord I need to meet you there.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>Precious Jesus, I am ready, to surrender every care.</b></i><br />
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<i><b>Take my hand now, lead me closer, Lord I need to meet You there,</b></i><br />
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<i><b>In these waters, healing mercies, flows with freedom from despair</b></i><br />
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<i><b>And I am going to the river, Lord I need to meet You there</b></i><br />
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<i><b>Come and join us in the river, Come find life beyond compare</b></i><br />
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<i><b>He is calling, He is waiting...</b></i><br />
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<i><b>Jesus longs to meet us all there!!</b></i><br />
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<i>Romans 6:4,5 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. </i><i>For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. </i><br />
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Easter Sunday service at Boca del Rio (Mouth of the River), with a breathtaking ocean-front view. Two bus loads of our Marcos 16:15 congregation came out to celebrate our Risen LORD. Jake preached a powerful resurrection sermon, and afterward we took communion.</div>
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Ten beautiful testimonies were shared, and then down to the river for the baptisms. I'm so overjoyed to say that 3 of our girls from the orphanage were among those baptized that day. My heart swelled with pride and joy as I watched them declare their faith and all I could think was, <i>I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth, 3John 1:4 </i>Praise the Lord.<br />
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Gisella. She reminds me of myself in a lot of ways.. very shy until you get to know her, and just unique (in a good way!) but in a way that she finds herself never quite fitting in with the other girls. When she shared her testimony, I couldn't help but think back to my own baptism 10 years ago.. I had been so shy and nervous that when my turn came to share my testimony and I saw all the people, I suddenly could not utter a single word. Thankfully I had written down my testimony and was able to have the pastor read it out. lol. Like me, Gisella did not like the idea of speaking in front of so many people, so at first she refused to go to the front, but after a lot of encouraging from the crowd, she eventually went up. She was so brave - she shared her testimony beautifully! Gisella got saved just this past January through hearing the gospel preached by the Baptist Church mission team. She heard, believed, and got baptized. So proud of this girl!<br />
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Rosa. This girl has been in love with Jesus for a long time. I remember when we first moved to Peru and being amazed at seeing such a young girl (she was about 9) with so much love for God, and I didn't need her to tell me that; it was clear to be seen in how she abandons herself in worship, and always thinks of others before herself. Rosa's hand was the first to shoot up when the question was asked 'Who would like to be baptized?". This girl inspires me!<br />
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Maria Jesus. One of the sweetest girls I know, with big heart of compassion for others. Maria has a younger brother at Casa de Paz, and had really wanted her little brother to be baptized too with her that day. She understands that he has to make that decision for himself, and until he makes that decision, he can't be baptized. We encouraged Maria by reminding her that she now gets the great privilege of being a light to guide others to Christ by sharing the gospel with others, including her brother. Love this girl's heart!<br />
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Everyone was hungry by the time the baptisms were done, so we had a wonderful picnic lunch of egg salad sandwiches, potato salad, watermelon, and muffins for dessert. Altogether, it was a perfect day. Thank You Father!<br />
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<i><br /></i><i>He is RISEN!!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-47627465112860329012015-04-13T10:27:00.001-04:002015-04-15T14:50:31.878-04:0019 KidsJanuary and February were an interesting time for Jake and I. We took on the job of night shift house parents to fill in for a house mom that had just quit. Night shift is from 8pm to 8am, so basically we got to spend some time with the kids after supper, tuck them all in to bed, then make breakfast for the whole crew in the morning. Sounds fun and pretty straightforward, right? It was! But it was also a lot of other things. :)<br />
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With our own three kids in the mix, we had a total of 19 kids in the house, from ages 15 down to 1 month old. I joked to Jake saying we were just like the Duggar's, to which he replied, Who's the Duggar's? lol<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TYSxh5Psgzo/VSsiHJMD0XI/AAAAAAAABD0/agLMmEmk0Yw/s1600/Jan%2BFeb%2BMarch%2B15%2B040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TYSxh5Psgzo/VSsiHJMD0XI/AAAAAAAABD0/agLMmEmk0Yw/s1600/Jan%2BFeb%2BMarch%2B15%2B040.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aOD6TumHDys/VSsh0XPJ1bI/AAAAAAAABDk/MXt2vKs7aIM/s1600/Jan%2BFeb%2BMarch%2B15%2B043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aOD6TumHDys/VSsh0XPJ1bI/AAAAAAAABDk/MXt2vKs7aIM/s1600/Jan%2BFeb%2BMarch%2B15%2B043.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hector loves his milk</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast is ready! eggs and quinoa </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tahlia 'helps' with the dishes ;)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hector and Daniel</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They were not too happy about sharing my lap!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is how we watch movies</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l-66zhWi-ps/VSs6L5DTk5I/AAAAAAAABHI/o8xo2VxcJ_E/s1600/11062314_898626640199905_2236084828541019857_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l-66zhWi-ps/VSs6L5DTk5I/AAAAAAAABHI/o8xo2VxcJ_E/s1600/11062314_898626640199905_2236084828541019857_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The boys love to wrestle with </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KDpdwuyO6SQ/VSs6MjxMWAI/AAAAAAAABHk/mHiYT0OgaRo/s1600/11113280_808812339172746_8163213270037556432_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KDpdwuyO6SQ/VSs6MjxMWAI/AAAAAAAABHk/mHiYT0OgaRo/s1600/11113280_808812339172746_8163213270037556432_n.jpg" height="472" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bedtime bible stories!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosa is a sweet girl who loves helping care for the little ones. She will make a great mother some day :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JirruS7sG24/VSs7CSR2ubI/AAAAAAAABIA/-zGapwZy6CI/s1600/11156263_808812399172740_6145654056799188022_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JirruS7sG24/VSs7CSR2ubI/AAAAAAAABIA/-zGapwZy6CI/s1600/11156263_808812399172740_6145654056799188022_n.jpg" height="400" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That sweet moment when the house is quiet at last.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fNDwvLtpB7g/VSs8mTLrz2I/AAAAAAAABI0/keMzaGAM8A0/s1600/Jan%2BFeb%2BMarch%2B15%2B031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fNDwvLtpB7g/VSs8mTLrz2I/AAAAAAAABI0/keMzaGAM8A0/s1600/Jan%2BFeb%2BMarch%2B15%2B031.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Late nights up with a colicky baby </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e-xgEEvZmGU/VSs8JT35nBI/AAAAAAAABIY/wJ15QQshRKM/s1600/Jan%2BFeb%2BMarch%2B15%2B056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e-xgEEvZmGU/VSs8JT35nBI/AAAAAAAABIY/wJ15QQshRKM/s1600/Jan%2BFeb%2BMarch%2B15%2B056.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moises is an expert photo-bomber!</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0C1sZkR1NG8/VSs8jvT_ROI/AAAAAAAABIo/ynM8x4yYGnc/s1600/Jan%2BFeb%2BMarch%2B15%2B063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0C1sZkR1NG8/VSs8jvT_ROI/AAAAAAAABIo/ynM8x4yYGnc/s1600/Jan%2BFeb%2BMarch%2B15%2B063.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Q-LpAYEZNM/VSs6NSpJ57I/AAAAAAAABH4/G61uSO7ivWs/s1600/11148509_808811442506169_616506074317302834_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Q-LpAYEZNM/VSs6NSpJ57I/AAAAAAAABH4/G61uSO7ivWs/s1600/11148509_808811442506169_616506074317302834_n.jpg" height="472" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right: Dayner, Christofer, Luis, Miguel Angel, Brayan, and Moises</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IXNRBv5ud-A/VSs7Cf1-IBI/AAAAAAAABIQ/qi-dcsp284w/s1600/11081230_898626660199903_1224411100209864242_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IXNRBv5ud-A/VSs7Cf1-IBI/AAAAAAAABIQ/qi-dcsp284w/s1600/11081230_898626660199903_1224411100209864242_n.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was as close as we got to getting the whole crew together into one photo</td></tr>
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Over these two months we got to know each of these 16 precious kids in a deeper way.. just like our own 3 kids, they each have their own personalities and unique things that make them who they are. But there is one major difference they have with our 3 children that I couldn't help but notice every single day, and it broke my heart. These kids don't have someone to call Mommy and Daddy. Sure they called us that when we were in the house, and they call the day shift moms that too, but it is just not the same. These two months opened our eyes to just how huge of a difference it actually makes whether or not a child has a stable home with parents. One of the situations where we saw this the most was when bedtime came around. Our own kids would obey immediately when we told them to go to bed, but the rest of them would rebel and fight and completely disrespect our orders. It took two minutes to get our 3 kids tucked in, and usually about an hour to get the others rounded up, settled down, and into bed. It was super frustrating I won't lie, but it also broke our hearts, because we knew that if our own kids had the childhood that these kids come from, they would be no different. Our children obey because they have been disciplined.. these kids have never received real discipline that is done out of love, they have only received beatings, or neglect. Our kids each get some one on one time with their parents daily.. these kids have likely never received this kind of affection. They have to fight and compete for attention, and this is another reason they act out. Our children have the steadfastness of two parents who are always there. These kids have parents who abandoned them, and different house moms all the time.. they are used to people walking in and out of their lives.<br />
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BUT, before you get too depressed just want to let you know that there is good news too, and hope. These children were blessed to end up in an orphanage that unlike so many, is Christ centered. At Casa de Paz, the children get taught the bible, and how to pray and live godly lives, they receive an education, and healing as we love and care for them with the love of God. The good news is that no matter what their past, they have hope for a future. And even if they never have real earthly parents, they can still have the best father of all - a heavenly Father! There are kids here that may never have heard about Jesus if they had not come to Casa de Paz. So YES, there is HOPE. And God is GOOD. Praise the LORD.<br />
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<i>Matthew 19:14 but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."</i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-48553294373821998452015-04-12T11:30:00.000-04:002015-04-12T11:33:34.112-04:00Two Sisters to a New Home<span style="background-color: white; color: #32835c; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 19.3199996948242px; line-height: 28.9799995422363px;"><i>A little while ago one of the girls wanted to tell me something, and by the light in her eyes and huge smile on her face, I could tell it was something good. She could barely sit still long enough to quickly type the words into Google translate. I skimmed over the roughly translated words.. something about paperwork and waiting.. then my heart leaped with excitement when I saw these words "Someone wants to adopt me!"</i></span><br>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #32835c; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 19.3199996948242px; line-height: 28.9799995422363px;"><i><br></i></span>
<span style="color: #32835c; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 19.3199996948242px; line-height: 28.9799995422363px;">That is a paragraph from a post I wrote over a year ago titled Adoption.</span><span style="font-size: 19.3199996948242px; line-height: 28.9799995422363px;"> A lot has happened since then.. it's been a long process of paperwork and waiting, and more paperwork, and more waiting, but I'm sure the young lady who wrote "Someone wants to adopt me!", and the family who was that 'someone', would agree that all the work and waiting was more than worth it. In just under a year, Irma and her Sister Ruth packed their bags and tearfully, but cheerfully said goodbye to Casa de Paz as they went home with their new family to their new home in the States. </span></span><br>
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<span style="color: #32835c; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19.3199996948242px; line-height: 28.9799995422363px;">Adoption is bittersweet. There are no words to describe just how amazing it is to get to see first hand the relationships made and new families being formed. We praise God for His goodness!</span></span><br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irma and Ruth all smiles with their new Mom and brother</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #32835c; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, FreeSerif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 19.3199996948242px; line-height: 28.9799995422363px;"><i>Psa 140:12 I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. </i></span></span>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-69066094368807119492015-04-12T01:02:00.002-04:002015-04-12T09:00:31.606-04:00A Season of ChangeOh dear.. our last blog post was Christmas. It's April now and our first update this year.. we're a little behind huh? Oops. I would apologize but the truth is, I don't forget to update, or get to busy to write, (not speaking for my husband though;). I just go through times where I can't write. I don't know what it is but it's like in those times I literally can't seem to transfer my thoughts to words. So then when I do write, I really write, and usually do a bunch of blog posts all at once. Awhile ago I decided to not let this frustrate me anymore. Maybe God is reminding me that there is a time to speak, and a time to remain quiet, and He will let me know when it is time to speak. Today I felt like it was time to speak, so after praying for Holy Spirit to guide my words and for all that I say to glorify God alone, here's the latest...<br>
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2015. There's something different about this year. Of course every new year is different and full of change, but while most changes seem to happen gradually and over time, this year so far has been like an explosion of change.<br>
We were barely into the new year when our pastor here decided to quit on very short notice and take off to Mexico where the Lord was calling him. I guess when God says go, you go, right? We do wish pastor Willy and family the best in their new ministry, but the way they left with hardly a warning left us unprepared for what was next. But thankfully we serve a God who we can rely on for all things, and He knew that He hadn't given Jake a passion and gift of teaching for nothing.:) Jake has had this prophesied over him since he was a young teen that one day he would be a great pastor, and here he is now pastoring a church. It's been wonderful to see the church fill back up, and the music team back together.. so much restoration is happening!, I got to watch my husband baptize 10 young people who have trusted in Christ as their Lord and Savior (3 of which were our girls from the orphanage). It's just awesome and we are full of praise and thanks to our Awesome God who is making all this happen. It's so good, but it hasn't been all easy. God reminds us that when much is given, much is required. I've never seen my husband work as hard as he has these past few months. Our women's bible study and kids club ministry is no longer meeting at Flor's house out on the dump, we have moved it back into the church now that everyone feels welcomed again.<br>
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As busy as my hubby has been, I've also been busier than usual this year. This is the first year since moving to Peru that we have decided to not enroll our kids in Peruvian schools. I am homeschooling the kids this year. So far it's been a bit crazy and unstructured and I really have no idea if I'm doing it right, but I'm doing the best I know how, and if they're not learning anything then at least I am :) Overall, as tiring and time consuming as it's been, I'm having as much fun with it as the kids are... I love being somewhat in control of what and how my children learn, and nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment when you see the look on their little faces when you know they finally 'get it'. And the fact that we get to stay in our pj's for class is pretty cool too ;)<br>
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With all the changes that happen around us, I think it's safe to say that the ones that happen within us are the biggest and most important. Because what happens within us will usually effect what happens around us. Well, the Lord has been doing some major reno's in mine and Jake's hearts for awhile now.. I don't really know when exactly or how it happened, but all I remember is having a deep yearning to be closer to God. You know how sometimes when you're with someone (sometimes even a whole crowd of people) and you still feel alone? Well that's how I had been feeling in my relationship with Christ for quite some time. Feeling far from God is the worst feeling :/ I know we cannot base our relationship on feelings and that even when He feels far, He is still there, and as bad as those times feel, they are probably good for us because they cause us to seek Him more. And that's what I did. I called out to God with all my heart. And every time I prayed, the same words came to mind as His reply "Seek Me with all your heart and you will find me." I knew that the two best ways to seek God are in prayer and in His Word, and I felt convicted as I knew I hadn't been in the word as much lately. After that I opened my bible prayerfully asking for a renewed passion for His Word, and he gave me not only that but also new understanding of the scriptures. It seemed like every time I opened my bible, I was hit with new truths. It's amazing, I have read the bible through from front to back, twice, and there were, and still are, verses in there that I'm sure were not there before! Of course they were there all along, but the scriptures just seem more alive now than ever. God is faithful. He says that if we seek him with all our hearts, we will find him, and if we lack wisdom, we should ask and it will be freely given. If you've got the Holy Spirit living in you and you truly seek the truth, you will find it,.. and then you will wonder why not everyone knows the truth and like a little child when they discover something new and exciting and want the whole world to know about it, you too will want the whole world to know it! The sad thing is though that a lot of Christians these days don't really want to know the truth. They are satisfied just hearing the 'feel good' parts, because that's much easier. This saddens me, because it is to their own loss. But it is something Jake and I pray for often now, for eyes to be opened, and hearts to be softened to receive the Whole truth of the gospel. I'm so glad that the Lord is doing this work in not only me but my husband too. We grow together in our walk with the Lord, and grow closer to one another in the process. I can't express enough how grateful I am for that!<br>
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There is more to be said, but we'll leave it for another post because it's 12am and I'm tired now. :) Good night, and God bless you.<div><br>
<i>"If you abide in My word, you are truly my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32</i><br>
<i><br></i></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-59186709862529456372014-12-27T20:48:00.000-05:002014-12-27T20:48:05.395-05:00Away in a Manger....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
No crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head. Did you know that the word Jesus means Savior, or God saves. So when the angel told Joseph and Mary to name the baby Jesus it was not because God thought it sounded like a cool name, (the name has actually been changed around a lot and is not really original anymore but that's besides the point) God was calling His son what He was -the Savior. So when we sing about how sweet the little baby Jesus was all wrapped up and laying on a bed of straw, I think we ought to be deeply moved with emotion, God's love for us was so great that He entered His own creation in this way, sweet innocent and vulnerable, only recognized by very few as the king of kings and Lord of lords. So let's make sure that we recognize Him as king over all kings, and Lord over all Lords. Think about how you might feel if the president of your country came to greet you personally, or maybe your favorite actor/actress, or singer, or if we had a world president how would you behave in his presence? How about the president of not only the Galaxy we live in but every Galaxy out there. Something tells me that if you were the author and ruler of all that exists, you would demand a great deal of respect from everyone, especially if you made yourself to be part of your creation in order to save your creation from your own wrath, even when your creation hated you and did not recognize you as their creator.<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> I love thee Lord Jesus look down from the sky, and stay by my side till morning is nigh. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">In our Thursday night group we agreed that it might be fun to go out and do some caroling, so we began our practice at the songs we chose. And while sitting around in a circle singing our favorite praise and worship is easy enough, singing to perform was a little more difficult. The Lord knows He didn't give me the talent to sing :) but we got pretty good. We started out by the beach, singing and waiting for those crowds to come and see what this beautiful sound was about. No crowds. So we moved to the town square and I think we sang a bit better, but still no crowd, but a few people did pause to listen for a few seconds. After that we thought we would give it one more shot at a place in town called "the walk of peace" this is where lots of people hang out at night. We sang our hearts out, and by the last song it actually seemed like we were gathering a bit of a crowd, so we decided to quickly decide on one more song to give to the crowd, only to watch them leave before we could start the song, and we found out later they were family and friends of one of our guitarist :) I learned two things that night, one, Peruvians like things loud and they will not pay attention unless it's loud enough to do damage to the ear drums (I like to blame it on that rather than our singing :) ) two, if you have your mind set that you are serving God and not man, than no matter how the outcome, you feel good and satisfied knowing you've done good in the eyes of God. I'm not saying that we sang all that bad, I think it was actually pretty good, I'm very proud of my group, but we're not pros, but just as my kids scribbles look like a master peace to me, whatever we accomplish is a master peace to God when our heart is in it for Him. God bless you all in the name of the King, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-8343561592397553332014-11-28T16:53:00.000-05:002014-11-28T17:14:45.767-05:00Less than 4 weeks till Christmas!!.. and I'm having trouble getting excited this year. Instead, I feel my heart sink a little as it gets closer each day. <br />
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This will be our third Christmas in Peru, and as much fun as it has been celebrating Christmas peruvian style with the Casa de Paz kids, (if you want to know what Christmas in Peru has been like for us, read our post titled Feliz Navidad) I do miss my Canadian family a little extra much around this time of year, and I had a different picture in mind for this Christmas...<br />
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This was supposed to be the Christmas we spend with family and friends in Canada, (possibly the last Christmas we spend with them).. this was supposed to be the Christmas where I finally get to meet my two new nieces, and new nephew.. this was supposed to be Tahlias's first time experiencing snow. This was supposed to be a white Christmas. cold and snowy outside, but warm and toasty inside with the whole family gathered together at mom & dad's, eating familiar food, sipping on Tim Hortons coffee, watching the cousins play, catching up with the sisters, looking at pictures of my brother's wedding that I missed, exchanging gifts..etc etc<br />
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Ever since last Christmas this is how I pictured this Christmas being. I have been looking forward to it all year. But it wasn't until sometime in October that I realized (or accepted) that my dream of Christmas 2014 was not going to happen.<br />
God had a different plan, and had been speaking to me and Jake a few months earlier than October already, but I didn't like what He was saying, so I kept pushing it aside.<br />
We looked at buying tickets at least few different times, but every time we either got interrupted somehow, had a poor internet connection, or it just didn't feel quite right. God had something to do with that, I'm sure.<br />
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As Christmas got closer, family kept messaging asking when are you coming? Do you have your tickets yet? And we kept them hoping for a long time, saying that we were still praying about it. Well we were praying about it... We prayed for Tahlia's Canadian citizen to be here on time, we prayed for the right people to be lined up to take care of the orphanage while we're away, we prayed for good deals on tickets, we prayed for dates and times and about how long we should stay...We did pray about it, but didn't pray much about whether it was even God's plan for us to go at all. I guess I had just assumed that my desire to go was God's way of saying that's what He wanted for us too. <i>Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart,</i> right? Yes that's what the scripture says, but I realized I am still learning what it truly means to delight in the Lord. I'm learning that to delight in the Lord means to live and seek His will (not mine) and that it means to seek first His kingdom.. it means going after God's own heart and our spirits being so in tune with His Spirit that our desires line up perfectly with His. It is more about heavenly things than earthly things, it's finding joy in Him alone.<br />
That being said, doesn't mean that I am perfect at delighting in the Lord, and it doesn't mean that it's always easy and that I will never fall. We still live in flawed bodies of flesh in a broken world where living a Godly life is like constantly swimming against the current. We live in a world where because we know Jesus, we are richly blessed, but where knowing Him also means pain and heartache, and sacrifice.<br />
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I came across a quote awhile ago that said "<b>You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place."</b><br />
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Oh how true that is! And although when I first read this I was thinking of being torn between our two families in Canada and Peru, I know that my heart is also longing for another place - my ultimate home - Heaven. Thank God that this earth is only temporary! So my hope is in this. Whether I never see my family again, or if we were to go back to Canada and never see our peruvian family again, or even if somehow we were to find a way to all be together in the same place on this earth, my heart will never stop longing for another place until we are all together in our eternal home. And what a glorious day that will be!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-87602868539628529582014-11-24T19:53:00.000-05:002014-11-24T20:49:52.500-05:00Do you understand what I've done for you......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Jesus, eating supper with his disciples for the last time, would not have wasted his timing doing anything that did not have profound meaning. And He chose this opportunity to perform an act of absolute humility. He did this because He wanted us to imitate Him. Not just in this one act but in everything we do, everything we do should be for the benefit of someone, someone other than yourself. Christ called us to be humble, because He Himself is humble. Humble doesn't mean thinking of yourself as unimportant, but rather being confident in yourself and in your identity in Christ so you don't feel the need to make yourself feel better, so that you can focus on serving others. With a willing heart, not expecting anything in return.<br>
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I had the great honor and privilege of speaking at a small church in a tiny town just a few minutes from Pacasmayo, if you read my post "where the breeze of the ocean turns to water" then you know where I mean. They had women sitting on one side, men on the other, they sang out of a hymn book, and said glory to God a lot. There's nothing wrong with this at all, but it was a strange feeling to be there, it actually kind of reminded me of where I grew up. But they had a piano and the preacher got out his <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">cowhide drum. Some people as they came in went to the front to kneel and pray. So as I sat there waiting for the preacher to call me up for my message, I thought to myself, well I should be nervous about this shouldn't I? But I found myself feeling quite comfortable. We were received very well, and at the end of my message about being the children of God I ended it with imitating what Jesus taught us, to show them that I was a servant I poured a basin of warm water, and me and Maggie washed the Pastor and his wife's feet. We had smiling faces and eager eyes, are these crazy gringos really gonna get down on there's knees in our dirt floor church to wash the pastors feet! After me and Maggie carefully put their shoes back on, it's hard to explain what I felt in my heart in that moment, full, content and happy. God bless you as you humbly search your Fathers will. Amen. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-45964461545705225582014-11-24T18:50:00.002-05:002014-11-24T18:50:48.260-05:00Is it "hurry up and wait" or "wait and hurry up"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"Put on your party hat! quick hang the piñata!! They'll be here any minute!!" So much for what ever I had planned, lol. Off I go with my two Peruvian style piñatas, one for the girls and one for the boys. It happens to be lunch time and all the kids are sitting at the table looking confused as I walk into the hall and start hanging the piñatas. "Are we having a party!?" "Who's birthday is it!?"<br />
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Sometimes I can get a little frustrated when I don't get a heads up about things, or it seems like our director keeps things from me, it is the Peruvian way to be very unorganized and sporadic. But I forget that our director also works with Peruvian who are probably more "Peruvian" than she is. So while I get upset about why she didn't let me know sooner, I have to remind myself that she may not have known a moment sooner herself. Dealing with the randomness is hard enough, she doesn't need me to pester her about it as if it's her fault somehow. </div>
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On this day it was a long awaited judge approval for two very special people to take their brand new little baby home with them. Although the process for little baby Angelita's adoption went quick, the four months seemed like a lifetime for the new parents. There were two other families that desplayed an interest in Angelita, but I knew from the moment I saw them that this couple is the right one. The proud adoptive father would hold her with tense arms, clear that this was his first time holding such a tiny little life. Today there was no hiding there excitement. And even though we only found out minutes before they arrived we were ready to celebrate this special day with them. The story that brought this little girl to us was a sad one, but she will now grow up never remembering any life other than with her loving parents. Life is good!! Yes there's always problems and down times. But when the good times come you grab on and don't let go until the next one. I pray God shows you the fullness of his Goodness, bless you in the name of our Lord. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Have you ever seen a happier little family?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new parents put together goodie bags for the kids, and cake. Camila is a second name they gave Angelita</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pinata fun! One for the boys...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and one for the girls</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole gang. So happy for Angelita!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May God bless this beautiful family as they start on this new journey together!</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-57317899180901269132014-11-12T11:53:00.000-05:002014-11-12T11:53:46.332-05:00Where the Breeze of the Ocean turns to Water.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
God never ceases to amaze me, you would think by now that this little gringo in Peru would have figured out that with God it's never a dull moment. I can't even express how blessed we are to be here and experience the wonders of God.<br />
So I have a prayer group that gathers in the church on Thursday nights. And when God lets you feel His presence in a tangible way, you feel his peace and love fill the core of who you are, you just can't contain that and keep it for yourself. Every Thursday the urge to do more became greater and greater. So we made up a day, where we would go out to "pray in the streets". Segundo, one of the group members already had an idea of where God was leading us, so I told him pray some more and on Saturday you will lead us to where we should go.<br />
Well Saturday came and I went to pick them all up to go pray. Well it turned out that Segundo was the only one who was going, everyone else was busy. Never the less we started out to where he thought God was leading. We headed south east, and God had gave him the words "where the ocean breeze turns to water" At this point I was still thinking we would end up on the outskirts of Pacasmayo, that made sense because that's where the poorer people normally are. But when we got close he asked if he may drive, so being polite that I am I said "ya of course". He kept driving, past the out skirts, into a new subdivision, and still past that until we reached a hill. At that point we got out and it made sense to us both that we should climb the hill. From the top we could see all of Pacasmayo and more. We bowed our knees and lifted our hands to God, it felt right but we were still unsure - buy now I had forgotten about my idea of walking the "streets" and praying. On our way down we looked and we saw, where the ocean breeze turns to water, Of course! When you look across the desert sand, you can see the ocean breeze blowing across the hot sand and it ripples, it looks just like water. So out into the desert we drove, and drove, it actually wasn't very far but in the suspension it seemed like forever.<br />
All of a sudden we came into a small town, it almost felt like driving through the heat waves we had arrived in the 1800's. It was quiet as a mouse, in my head I imagined tumbleweeds blowing. Finally we spotted two little old ladies on their little donkey drawn cart. We went over and asked if there was a church in town, and they pointed to a direction as the donkey trotted off.<br />
At the church of course there was no one there. So we went to the nearest house and found someone to talk to. The guy seemed unsure about us but we found out they hold a service every day, and because the pastor wasn't around we told him we would come back the next Tuesday before their service to chat with the pastor.<br />
We left feeling all sorts of things, were we out of our minds, but mostly we were just excited.<br />
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Tuesday night at about 7:20pm I picked up Segundo, this time Felix and his mom came as well. We drove out into the desert hoping we would find the little town in the pitch dark. We arrived at the church but it was pitch dark, the house we had asked at the Saturday before was also pitch dark, in desperation we knocked anyway,mane sure enough a girl answered and we found out that on this night they were gathering at a brothers house, in Peru everyone is a sister or a brother. When we reached the house we found out they were gathering at this mans house because this day marked half a year since he lost his wife. When we explained our crazy sounding story of why we were there, they envited us in to join them. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, they sang hymns and worshiped God, they gave me an opportunity to speak and all I could do is encourage them to do just as they where doing, to worship God and to act like the body in Christ that we are, one member was hurting and they all joined in to make it better, they were living the first and second greatest commandment, to love God and to love one another. Afterward we had some awesome food. What a night! I pray that God gives us more opportunities like this to share in the community, to bond together in love and unity, to learn from each other and to be inspired into action.<br />
If you feel God is leading you to do something, but it just seems to weird or strange, don't let that hold you back! To keep up with God you need to learn how to think out of the ordinary. God bless you, in Jesus name amen.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-40503850423087326902014-11-10T14:00:00.000-05:002014-11-10T14:02:12.116-05:00Blessings of New Opportunities <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Beautiful day in Trujillo yesterday, a trip filled with beautiful events. We are very blessed indeed. A few weeks ago I was invited to speak at Maggie Guerrero's church on Sunday, so we made a trip of it. I invited my small group to come with us and they jumped at the chance to see something other than Pacasmayo. We packed the van full and we were off for the long sweaty ride, our van does not have air conditioning and with the Peruvian sun beating down not even opening the windows makes that big of a difference. Maggie and her husband just moved their church to a new location that is bigger and better suited to fit their growing church, Maggie speaks fluent English and has been a translator for our church from Canada on their yearly mission trips. So she has been a good friend for a long time.<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">After the service I had the great honor of dedicating a beautiful little baby girl to the Lord. A couple from my prayer group had asked me for a while already and we thought this was a great opportunity. </span></div>
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After church we headed over to the mall, you just can't go to Trujillo and not go to the mall, especially if you have people with you that have never seen it before. We took the group out for pizza, one of the ladies just kept marveling and saying "wow this is so good, I have never had this before". It was hard to believe that in all her 60 something years she had never had pizza before. </div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Afterwards of course we had to take them to the escalators, it's always fun to watch them giggle nervously as they hold on for dear life when they step on. After walking around marveling at all the things, and testing out a portable sound system, it would often be nice to have small events, but we could only look since we didn't have the money to buy it. Before we left Trujillo we stopped in at Auden and Wendy's place, they just got back from a long trip to Mexico, US and Canada, so it was awesome to see them again. I can't express how grateful and blessed I am for the people in my life. God is so good all the time, and it's so much fun serving him, even in the hard times when it seems like everything is against you, it's still fun, because you know the the outcome will be to His glory. God bless you, in the name of his son. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-84960618190003195472014-11-06T18:47:00.000-05:002014-11-06T18:47:06.563-05:00Celebrating a Special Woman & a New BookToday we celebrate a very special lady. It is Avis' 70th birthday! All the kids and staff at Casa de Paz wanted to wish Avis a happy birthday, so a few of the older girls put their artsy skills to work and created this huge birthday card with everyone's signature on it. Isn't is beautiful? They did an awesome job! We took photos of the kids, staff, and our bible study group with the birthday card, and sent the pictures and card to Avis as a birthday gift from all of her Peruvian family.<br />
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AVIS! We miss you and love you!<br />
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Avis has been busy speaking in churches all over the United States over the past few months to promote her new book, Out of the Dust. She has also been on a few radio interviews, and will be appearing on the Canadian TV show 100 Huntley Street sometime in January.<br />
Out of the Dust tells Avis' life story and how she came to be a missionary in many places, including Pacasmayo, Peru where she built the church, orphanage, and school that are here today. Her story is truly inspiring, and I would encourage everyone to read it! The book can be found on Amazon, and all proceeds from the book go to Go Ye Ministries to help the kids at Casa de Paz. </div>
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God has used this amazing woman to help the lives of many, and now He continues to touch many more lives through her story in Out of the Dust. </div>
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<i>All by God's Grace and all for His Glory</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-50790860786734443152014-11-05T12:17:00.001-05:002014-11-05T12:17:21.318-05:00the Babies of Casa de PazIt has been such a joy having babies around for the past few months. Genesis and Angelita both came to Casa de Paz as tiny newborns, and are both doing well, growing and gaining weight and stealing the hearts of all those who meet them!<br />
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Well she quickly outgrew those doll clothes; look at her now!</div>
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Genesis' time here seemed to go all to quickly, and last week we said good bye as she got to go home with her new mom & dad, Amy and Marco. Genesis not only has a new family and a new home, but also a new name! She is now known as Angela Rose, a name that has special meaning to the new parents.<br />
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To celebrate the occasion, Amy and Marco invited the whole Casa de Paz crew to their house for a BBQ cookout. We all had our fill of burgers and hotdogs, potato salad, watermelon...and for dessert - ice cream cones and chocolate cupcakes. Yummy! The kids got to enjoy horseback rides, futball, Wi, and a pinata for the little ones.<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">If all goes well, little Angelita will also be going home to her new adoptive family very soon!</span></div>
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And today we welcome yet another precious baby to Casa de Paz. Naomi is a beautiful, one month old baby girl.</div>
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<i>Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him. Psalm 127:3</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-18313007413903379522014-10-27T14:42:00.000-04:002014-10-30T15:38:46.206-04:00Another addition to the FamiliaAmongst all the hustle and bustle of one of the busiest days we had last week, (same day as all the events written about in the previous post) we had another new addition added to the Casa de Paz family. At first we almost thought he was part of the group from Lima, but we soon found out that he is one of ours. Thank God for Gina, our orphanage director, who does an amazing job keeping up with kids' coming and goings!<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">José Fernando fits in well at Casa de Paz. He's in the same age group as the majority of our boys, and has already made friends. I'm proud of the Casa kids for how well they welcome in new kids. They all know what it's like to be abandoned and hurting and be brought into a strange new place with no familiar faces. They know because they have been there too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">It seems to be common for the new kids to make friends with other new kids. It didn't take long for José Fernando and Miguel Angel to become fast friends!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Please continue to keep all these precious ones in your prayers. We know that our Heavenly Father has a great plan for each and every one of them, and part of that plan includes people with compassionate and generous hearts; those who are willing to to be the hands and feet of Jesus for these kids.. those who are willing to bless and care for them through constant prayer, and in whatever other ways the Lord leads.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><i>Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.' Matt 25:35-36</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue Light, HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><i>'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' </i></span><i>Mat 25:41 </i><br />
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<i>Bless, and be Blessed! :)</i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-13233486532387443452014-10-25T20:13:00.000-04:002014-10-25T20:13:17.925-04:00Loving people living Jesus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Its a good day to be alive! until Jesus returns in the clouds, shining bright as the sun, with the angels sounding their trumpets, their will be a war in the realm of the spirits, every day we battle against principalities of this dark age. (Rom 12:9) Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. This verse wraps it up good doesn't it, there are days when I can hardly stand to be in this wicked world, I hate the evil that is in it with all my heart, the beauty that God has created is being abused by people who in their arrogance chose to live in sin.<br />
It is no wonder then that the angels in heaven dance when we profess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord of Lords. (Rom 10:9).<br />
I had the great privilege today to pray with a 86 year old great grandma and watch as she professed Jesus to be her Lord and saviour. When I asked if she believed in God, "yes" she replied with enthusiasm, "do you believe Jesus is Gods son and He came to earth to die on the cross to pay for your sin" "yes I do" "have you ever asked him to live with you in your heart" she fell silent. "Would you like to" "Yes" After praying and professing Jesus as Her Lord, repenting and asking to be washed in the blood, we also prayed for her back pain to be removed. The day before I was called over to pray for her, I went and when I saw her she was lying on a sofa half passed out, she was breathing heavy and could hardly move, after praying for some time there seemed to be little difference. We decided that we needed to take the next step, I went home and did not eat, their whole family also started fasting in the morning and did not eat until 2 o'clock when I again came to pray. This time by the time I left she was laughing, moving her hips and raising her hands giving glory to God. What a feeling! On my way home I noted a woman sitting on the ground resting up against a wall, at first I walked by but the spirit would not leave me be until I turned around to go and pray for her. When I walked up and asked if I could talk to her for a bit, she asked. "what ever for!!" With almost a chuckle I explained how the spirit had lead me to go and pray for her, "o well of course you can pray for me" assuming she was not from around here I asked "where are you from" "just a few houses down the block" I actually only thought about it later (I'm not very smart that way) but she happened to be sitting maybe 50 yards from her house right where I would be walking filled with the fire of the Spirit! pretty sure God put her there on purpose. I prayed for her and no sooner did I say amen when they called her back to her house.<br />
I say I love God, I need to start showing more frequently through taking the time to love people. I'd like to challenge you with the same. In what way has the spirit been convicting you to show your love for God.<br />
God Bless you in the name of his Son.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-75231780297854777992014-10-24T20:10:00.000-04:002014-10-31T22:09:26.280-04:00A Happy Heart makes a Cheerful Face<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
(Pro 15:13) A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.<br />
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Well we lived the first part of this verse yesterday :)</div>
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What a busy day! As usual with peruvian style scheduling where 1 o'clock means 4 o'clock and where yes means "we will see how things go" we left for our adventure only two hours late. Arrangements had been made with a huge agricultural/crop farm just over an hour north of us to, to go for a tour. I had driven by their many times and wondered about the line of trees along the road which you couldn't see past and the many buses parked in front of them. They took our ID cards as we drove in and from there we were escorted from spot to spot by one of the workers, our first stop was their avocado patch where the man in charge explained the process of growing avocados, it was acres of perfectly uniformed trees, they were in blooming season and he explained about the pollination process, we where later given a jar of honey that looked much too dark to be a regular honey, but the man explained that honey from avocado trees comes out looking a kind of dirty brown.</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Next we stopped by the vineyard, and it truly was something I had never seen before, not only were the plants in perfect uniform in space between each other, but every plant was shaped and molded to grow exactly the same way, the vines which lay stretched out on top of bail wire acted like a beautiful ceiling with leafy green and sparkles of sunlight peeking through here and there. even the bundles of grape did not grow randomly, they grew in a perfect straight line almost as though they were hung like a decoration, this was done for easy harvesting explained the man in charge and was done by careful pruning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">After this we went for another drive and reached a spot where the van could no longer go further because of the loose sand, and after pushing and shoving to get the van back to where it again had traction, we all jumped on the back of a pickup truck, with the wind in our hair and a cloud of dust trailing behind us we anticipated our arrival, with every bump in the road getting us closer and closer. Finally after wizing past fields and huge piles of sheeps wool we saw them, 20 beautiful horses each in its own pen, except one little baby following its mother around. The men in charge picked three of the more calmer ones and started giving everyone a ride, some of us were more nervous than others but we all had our turn.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For anyone who has never seen this before, this is not fake, <br />
this is how a pineapple grows.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">At the end of the day we went to their meeting room were they gave us a snack and introduced us to all their head employees, each one explaining their role as person in charge, in total they employ 1000 people in their slow season to 1500 in their busy season. before we left they presented us with six bins of avocado and three huge tubs of other food goodies. What a day, what an opportunity to see something more than sand blowing in a sun scorched dry land, there is something fight for, with hard work and dedication the opportunities are endless. Energy drained and on the road back home, laziness set in, with the son pressing in sleep would come easy, if this would have concluded the day there would have been no complaint, but wait, we live in Peru after all do we not.....</span></div>
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As the door to the orphanage came into view, in pulls a huge bus full of young teens just a few metres in front of us to beat us to the gate. A school from Lima had showed up to throw us a party. (This was planned but you see what I mean with Peruvian style planning) We had arrived home three hours late but this didn't seem to bother anyone, everyone quickly grabbed a bite to eat (in the kids houses this time) and gather up in the dining hall where the teens were waiting with boxes and boxes of gently used toys, books, crafts and games. Because of the now short time frame, they simply put the boxes in the center of the room and let the kids loose, free for all each to their own, what a riot! I started talking to the leader of the team and after stumbling through my spanish for about twenty minutes, he asked me where I was from, the stunned look on my face was not because of the perfectly normal question but rather because he asked it in perfect english! "I just like to see how good your spanish is" he says. After playing with the toys some and playing volleyball as usual, they packed back into the bus to leave. </div>
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At this time I was running behind in my preparations for bible study, a small group that gathers in the church, we sing songs, read a little lesson and discuss it, we pray a lot and talk about our lives. I can't think of a better way to end the day. by the time I made it back in everyone was in bed, except of course my little Tahlia who was wide awake on my pillow waiting for daddy to put here down, she will have it no other way, tired as she may be, she will resist sleep without making a fuss until daddy can put her down, and gentle kiss and "night night" is not returned with "night night daddy" but rather with the most beautiful little grin and "chau, daddy chau" this cracks me up every time, Her pinky may be tinny but I'm wrapped around it completely. </div>
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God bless you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-12634470497758971472014-10-10T14:50:00.001-04:002014-10-10T15:28:39.429-04:00Three new faces at Casa de Paz! Late last night we welcomed siblings Miguel Angel, Mileydi, and Hector. Thankful to say that they are adjusting well and seem happy to be here!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-12698417257856054922014-09-26T22:20:00.000-04:002014-09-26T22:28:19.627-04:00Rosita<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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"I look at my daughter and I believe" A line in a song I used to hear on the radio, but now that I have a daughter of my own, I often think of that song. Kids have a way of giving you gray hair (or no hair in some cases :) while at the same time keeping you young. I remember working with a "middle aged" man and one day I found out he was actually sixty five years old, when I exclaimed at how young he looked He just said "well kids have a way of keeping you young" (his youngest was 13 at the time)<br />
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Rosita was definitely one of those little girls that when you looked at her you just knew there must be a God, for who else could create a beautiful angel like her, when you looked at her you couldn't help but smile, and the best part is with little kids, you get away with staring, they don't mind, you can look as long as you want at their innocent face. Rosita came from a very broken home, as many are it seems, with men turning more barbarian instead of more civilized, where love grows cold and lust turns hot. And just after a month of being here you could see so many positive changes in our little Rosita, her self drive moved from almost zero to a hundred and her almost one year old body was gaining rapidly in muscle tone and strength, she was not thin coming here but it was obvious she was missing a lot of stimulation. Those moments where you need to watch them leave to return to an uncertain life is difficult to say the least, but we are here to serve in what ever manner God chooses, and if that means giving a little angel one month of love and then saying good bye then thats what it is. God knows His plans, and His plans include good things for his children, so our faith remains in him. We Love you Rosita, may God ever protect you and bring you peace and happiness, may you never feel alone, and may you grow to love your God and Father, a Father who will not abandon you. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ amen.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-63887927149897066252014-09-17T21:41:00.001-04:002014-09-17T21:42:43.545-04:00Peace that comes by faith. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3) There are plenty of things in our lives that would give us reason; or should I say excuse, not to trust in The Lord. I don't know about you but there is rarely a day that goes by where I don't worry about anything, and very day I have to remind myself stay steadfast in The Lord, to trust I have heard him correctly, and because I have heard him correctly I am in the right path even if I can't see around the next corner, God can and if he is leading on this path than it leads to victory, God does not send us to destruction but rather to victory in him, even tho at times it takes us through tough times.<br />
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Our Pastor, Pastor Willy has had some real issues with his eyes lately, I won't go into too much detail mainly because I understand very little about the human body, but he has had several surgeries done, a few weeks ago he had what should have been the last surgery, but last week he went in for a routine checkup and they found his retina had detached itself again. So he is in Lima right now on complete bed rest so there will be no movement that can further damage his eyes. So please pray for him, that his eyes may be as good as new and that this experience would bring him new insight in the word of God. God doesn't work without a purpose, He's always planning into the future much further than what we can see. So I trust that God has a plan in this, and I pray that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14048804253547031369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-87935872098651047322014-08-04T22:33:00.000-04:002014-08-05T10:40:49.588-04:00Update on the WasherI just realized we haven't done an update about our laundry situation since the post about our only washing machine breaking down and having to wash by hand. So here is what's happened since then:<br />
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After about four months of phone calls trying get the repair guys to come out, and no luck with having the machine repaired, we were ever so grateful for a generous donation from someone who knew of our situation and wanted to help out. Finally a new machine! Praise God!<br />
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I also got a big surprise when I came home one day to a new washing machine in our house! My amazing husband, and Avis and Tammy had all pitched in to buy one that the three of us can share. This works out great, and now we don't have to worry about getting in the way of the house moms doing their many loads a day.<br />
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The new washing machine is working great so far, but I have noticed that the house moms still often do laundry by hand in the kitchen sink. This is because one washing machine is not quite enough to meet the demands, and with that machine running almost all day every day, we can be certain that just like the other washers we have gone through, this one will only last so long and before we know it we'll be needing a new one again. We know now that standard household washers are clearly not made to handle this amount of laundry a day, so it was time to look into other options. After looking into prices for commercial washers, the kind used in laundromats, we found that they were a little (well actually more like a lot) out of our price range, and decided on a semi-commercial instead, which brings the price down to less than half of what a commercial washer costs. The problem is that Go Ye still didn't have anywhere close to enough money to buy a semi-commercial washer either. But, thank God, He always provides. And this time He provided through Tammy's church in the States. Tammy went home to visit her family for a few weeks in June, and during that time her church family stepped in to help. They decided that their VBS project this year would be to help the needs at Casa de Paz, and within a week they had raised enough money to buy us the semi-commercial washer!! All I can say is THANK YOU LORD!! Not only did He provide us with the funds needed to buy a high quality washing machine, but He also gave us more family; another whole group of brothers and sisters who love and care for us. We are looking forward to personally meeting and getting to know a few of Tammy's church members when they come to Casa de Paz for their January mission trip.<br />
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God is Good. He is so Good, so so good to us. :) <br />
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On a side note I should add that we do not have the new semi-commercial washer yet. We are in the process of trying to get a hold of the company. But hopefully soon.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-60930262474793778472014-07-08T18:27:00.001-04:002014-08-04T22:37:49.665-04:00Bienvenida, AngelitaAnother baby girl! Welcome, Angelita! Thank You Father for providing this place - Casa de Paz - a House of Peace, a place for Your precious little ones to call home. Thank You Father for the great plans that You have for Angelita's life!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628780246604132219.post-22546746408793153472014-07-07T17:55:00.000-04:002014-07-11T13:32:55.422-04:00Creating Hope<div>
Exciting new things are happening at Casa de Paz. With Avis' book on the verge of being published, we are seeing a new light of hope for Go Ye ministries. Up until now Go Ye Ministries has been supported by Avis and her family, and donations. It is nothing short of a miracle that we are still here; God has been faithful to provide all these years. But since the original supporters of Go Ye, which is mostly Avis' family, are all getting older and may not be here for much longer, it was now time to move forward and find new ways to keep this ministry going. As Avis says "We don't always want to be holding our hand out" It would be so great if we could make a bit of our own income to help with costs, and Avis' book will help do that as all the proceeds will go to Go Ye. Our prayer is that as Avis shares her story with the world, God will touch hearts and inspire a desire for more willing hearts to support and be a part of His ministry here in Pacasmayo, Peru. I really have no doubt that it will; Avis is one of the most inspiring women I know, and I am blessed to work alongside her and learn from her. She is an amazing example of what it looks like to walk by faith and live life on fire for God. <br />
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Another exciting thing happening, one of Avis' long time dreams for Casa de Paz is finally becoming a reality. Years ago Avis had invested in high quality sewing machines in hopes of starting a business to help make a bit of an income for Casa de Paz, but only now is it finally happening. Ysabel, a self taught seamstress, was hired about a year ago to sew and make things to sell, and also teach the Casa girls how to sew and crochet. Just recently, Avis gave her sewing business a name. Creating Hope. Everyone agreed that this name suits well as that is exactly what the goal is for this business; to create hope. Hope for a better future for Casa de Paz, and for our kids to learn good life skills. And hope for the people in the community; we can provide jobs for women to help them make an income to provide for their own families. </div>
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Tammy, one of the full-time volunteers at Casa de Paz, is working on making a web page for Creating Hope, where people will be able to shop online and have the products shipped by mail. Ysabel has been teaching me how to sew and crochet, and I am excited to learn, and be a part of this new adventure. Ysabel is naturally talented and gifted; she makes most of her own designs and creates beautiful work, but she is not familiar with some of the bigger sewing machines. We are still looking for an experienced seamstress who could help teach us how to use the serger machine for better quality sewing. <br />
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The dresses in the picture below were all made by Ysabel. She also makes beautiful handbags, blouses, tablecloths and place mats, decorative pillow covers, slippers, and crocheted scrubbies for washing dishes. And more!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291646204116331256noreply@blogger.com0