10 missionaries are home!

Arriving on Home Shores

So far 10 of our team have made it home: Georgia, Jeremiah, Dwayne, Earilyn, Shelia, Teresa, John, Jessie, Chris, and Darcy.   The remaining are having R&R in Peru before flying home this weekend.  We will let you know as they arrive home and appreciate your prayers for all of us.  We will try and recover from this trip in many ways:
Our Minds - from the many ways we listened, translated, tried new things (tiling)
Our Bodies - from exhaustion, traveling, sitting, standing, lifting, working
Our Hearts- from hearing the cries of God's people,

Thank you for praying with us and continuing to journey with us by listening and extending now grace to us as our healing continues.  Soon very soon God will invite us on a new journey and we must rest to prepare for that opportunity.

Peace be with you,

Home

Chris has made it home and we have 4 more traveling yet today.  Continued prayers as each makes their way home.  Peace be with you!

Hello From Chincha!

Children at VBS

Saturday was such a great day. We went to the church to have VBS 

with the kids. Rita told the story of Jonah and the whale. We sang

 "this little light of mine" and "Jesus loves me." it was such a 

great experience. After the lesson we did crafts with the fifty plus 

kids that showed up. The kids decorated fishes and crosses. Glitter was 

everywhere but the kids were having such a great time. We brought out

 bubbles and punchy balloons and the kids went wild. Pastor Pedro 

closed the VBS with a prayer and we cleaned up to leave. That afternoon 

we held an event for the teens from the surrounding churches. The local 

firemen came to teach the youth what to do in an emergency. This is the 

first of a series of classes the we supplied from them. 

We closed the evening with a birthday dinner for Beth. 

This was such a blessed day.   From Jessie reporting for the team :)

New friends working together

VBS how fun!

Jesus Loves Me

Raul with arm sling decorations :)

Firemen working with Youth

Youth learning safety

Team in Chincha!

Home

Georgia, Dwayne & Jeremiah made it home safely this afternoon.  Other groups will be coming home soon and we will still continue to hear stories and testimonies from Peru.

Thank you for praying us home!

Georgia

Independence

Independence is something most people take for granted. It is something I have rarely experienced.  As a young man with seizures, and inability to "talk" in the traditional sense many people take care of me. I have since birth had help with going to the bathroom, feeding, walking, medicines, etc.  But here at CASP some things have changed - my mom let go of me for about 15 minutes.

Sounds like no big deal I'm sure but it was for both of us as I walked around the school by myself.  I went straight up to the third floor and then tried a few doors.  They were locked!  So I kept going until I reached my class room.  It seemed all very strange this new freedom.  I suspect I could get use to it!

(This is now mom) I did let Jeremiah go not easily though as I was encouraged by one of the mom's that this is a safe place and that I could watch him from the second floor.  So I let go for the first time in 19 years!  I thought my heart would stop.  I can't explain exactly what it felt like except that for a mother with a special child the fears are countless.  But I did it and throughout the week I would do it for 5 minutes at a time.  (these things take time)

Jeremiah doing laundry ( also learned to fold)

Taking turns with my class with the dogs

Franco he loved the pizza

Jeremiah &   Morgan sharing pizza

Claudia, Liliana, Karla - more of my classmates

One of the other things we got to do is to learn math by buying pizza - great deal huh!  We brought a gift from the Youth fund of the United Methodist Church which we partially used here at CASP.  With the money we bought pizza for 31 students.  But before we could order, we had to figure out how many pieces of pizza were needed, how many pizzas that meant, and how much they would cost.  One of the cool things is that one of the CASP alumni works at Pizza Hut and they gave us their discount!  So all our pizzas were buy one get one free!  We had a great time and no one talked much after the pizza arrived. :)

Over all my time at CASP has been wonderful.  I wish I could go to school here longer and take more time to learn with my new friends.  But I know my dog at home will miss me and probably be hungry since he eats all my leftovers. Please pray for my new friends they work very hard learning new things and hope to one day help there moms & dads.

Peace to you!   Jeremiah (and mom)

Prayer requests from Clinic

Gran Franco - health
Christopher and his whole family - anxiety
Alfonso & his mom - her health and to keep caring for him. She wants to be a model for other families
Fanny & her mom - health concerns
Jorge - health concerns
Santiago & his mom- that Santiago might one day talk
John & his mom - that dad will have more patience
Kory & his mom - Give thanks that people's prayers are what brought him out of his coma. At age 6 year old he suffered a stroke and had spent 6 weeks in a coma.
Cristina & grandma - grandma has alzheimers
Marlene - for calmness & peace
Briana & mom - Briana is in a coma and mom has two little ones at home (3 &1).  May Briana awaken out of her coma.
Andres - muscles develop and head will grow properly
Rodrigo - for his brother who resents all the attention Rodrigo needs from his parents. For mom to be more patient & know how to guide her kids, for Rodrigo who misses his dad (parents are seperated),
Liliana - health
Jennifer & family - health
Carlo & family - healing of seizures
Leonardo & mom - health, mom & dad are seperated
Jorge & mom - mom's eyes she has glaucoma
Luis - for his dad with a bad back, Luis - potty trained & for mom calmness & peace
Valeria- health
Claudia- health & all the family
Fiorella, mom & granpa - health
Carlos, parents & older sister - good health
Karla - rest for her mom
Andrea - for parents to get some sleep
Romina & mom -health
Josthin - to achieve the most possible
Lucia, whole family (including aunt and grandma) - good health
Miguel & family - good health
Milagros & family -healting
Jangluc & mom - Mom's uncle Amsolom is differently abled and his legs hurt, mom's dad Osvaldo healing from drinking
Joel, Family & all parents at Ann Sullivan - good health
Aaron & his family - good health
Andres - healing from seizures & he wants all to know he is praying for you too.  He goes to mass every Sunday and prays.
Fernando, family & especially his siblings - good health

Thank you for sharing these prayers for God's special blessings on all these concerns.
Peace to you,

Teresa waiting with patients for clinic

Georgia, Rita, Teresa, Jeremiah, Dwayne, Darcy, Chris, John, Shelia, & Earilyn

Lima day 4

dr. Darcy with patients

Walk on Lima beach

  
John & Teresa Stambaugh

chincha day 3

Almost done

We are now all professional tilers. We have made a lot of progress, 

by Thursday afternoon the huge room should be done. Tiling is a lot

 of hard work but knowing how much joy the children will have in

 their new youth center makes it worth every sore muscle. 

Samuel has been such a blessing to us with all the help he is 

giving us. Everyone is doing great:)   jessie

Samuel

Steve Laying down on the job

Prayer List

here are some of the prayer requests we have received:
8 year old girl in a coma - healing and peace for the parents
good health for Rodrigo
Peace for parents who have lost a child
continued safety as we travel to Chincha
blessings as dwayne speaks to the fathers
we give thanks for - Jeremiah loving school,
plenty of wonderful new friends,
construction almost complete of new computer room for students at casp
clinic has been running great
having dinner with Dr. Mayo and her father.

We are blessed!

Felix, Dwayne, John

Chris in Pharmacy

Waiting for the doctor

We're starting our second day of work here at CASP.  John is displaying his DEstruction skills by helping knock down a wall to enlarge their computer lab. Sheila and Earlyn have proven they can work side-by-side with Spanish-speaking women here without having language skills.  Teresa is proving her worth at taking blood pressures, etc. Chris is working in the pharmacy and also taking "mug shots" of patients for his dad's records. Rita is interviewing the patients or their caregivers before they see the doctor to streamline his work. Jeremiah is attending classes here, adapting very well.  Georgia and Dwayne are keeping an eye on Jeremiah and helping here and there.  Dr. Darcy was busy all day yesterday with patients, and we were here after most of the regular staff had left for the evening.  We are all staying in good health, and are blessed to be in a place so welcoming and appreciative of what we do.  The weather is much better than I'd imagined for a Peruvian winter. The food has been great.  And the people are wonderful.  We truly are blessed. 

                    --Yours in Christ,   Rita

Today was a good day

Jeremiah had his first day of class and made many new friends. He has a wonderful helper her name is Morgan.  She is a college student studying to be a PT..and she is from Kansas University (small world).  One of the many thing Jeremiah learned today is to fold laundry!

I also got to see abuela who is this wonderful woman, who is Jesus incarnate to me. She is kind, loving, supportive and shares all that in kind words with you. Only she is sitting in a wheel chair as she is telling you how grateful she is to see you, how you have a kind heart & that she can see Jesus working through you. It really is a privilege to be in her presence. She has a calming about her that is reassuring. Kind of like if she left the world tonight, you just know that she would be singing with the angels in the morning at sunrise.

Chincha Day 1

youth center day 1

Beth, Crystal, Raul & Jessie

professional tilers?

Day one of tiling is complete after we all put heads together to try to 

remember geometry to square off the room and to convert feet to meters. 

We met Pastor Pedro and picked out the tile that he would like for the 

church. Luckily a bicycle delivery man transported the hundreds of pounds

 of material from the store to the church. A big thank you to Raul 

for negotiating the transport. I think he saved all of our backs. 

Once we all got into the grove of tiling things move along quickly.

We are going back to the store tomorrow for more supplies since we 

met our goal for today.

arrived!

There are many wonderful things already to say..but let me first say that we have arrived safely.  all luggage, people, medicines etc, made it well!

First we would like to thank the tsa officers in KS who did an excellent job with Jeremiah.  They helped each of us get through the security process well.  Jeremiah had to be hand screened because he cannot go through metal detectors.  He also does not liked to be touched or to stand still...yet the officers gently talked to him, and were careful to only do what was needed.  Jeremiah was very grateful! 
our plane in FL landed 2 doors down from our international flight!  Which was a miracle since I have never landed within a few feet of where I needed to be in a large airport!

The whole team went to lunch yesterday and got to see a great horse show.  It was a beautiful farm and we were greatful to go to bed early.

The team who went straight to Chincha arrived safely yesterday at 7:00pm. 

Today we see patients, Jeremiah is in the class room, and some will be doing maintenance projects. We give thanks to God for the opportunity to be here and be with all our new friends.
Peace to you,

Beautiful Welcome

Mamas in Peru

We look forward to serving the mamas in Peru by caring for their families.  They gave us such a warm welcome last year that we can still hear them singing and feel their hugs.

In Chincha lovely children and families await us as well such as these - and we look forward to building up the youth center, and working with the elderly at the home.

May God bless all of you in Peru and the ways you all are smart, beautiful, and blessed people.  May the time we spend together empower your children to live healthy, blessed lives.

Peace be with you,

Saturday & Sunday Prayer

Dearest God,

We thank you for your grace, hope and peace during this trip. We dedicate this team to you and ask that all that they do, are, and will be transcends to love and grace. May each suitcase be filled with grace and be an instrument of your peace. May all of those who will guide them through security, check points, migrations, and travel be calm and feel the joy of Jesus Christ. Thank you Holy Spirit for going before, around and within each and every person as they now become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.

Big steps for God

Jeremiah at Bread of Life OUMC

This mission trip is different then the many (at least 15) I've participated in my years past.  The difference?  We are going with my son Jeremiah.  He just turned 19.  I know what your thinking 19 big deal he should be ready right?

Let me just say I am not concern about Jeremiah he is ready.
The part that concerns me is the logistics of getting there.  He has many medications, some of which are liquid, he has seizures and I am hoping not any bad ones while on the plane.  He sings when he sings, and laughs when he laughs (these are great things but not all people feel that way at 3am).

So I ask for prayers for me..his mom to relax and allow me to be his assistant and not get in the way in the many ways God is asking Jeremiah to be a missionary in Peru..on the plane...at the airport...with security...on the way to the airport...etc.  Please pray for me to "Chill mom".

Peace to you,
Georgia