Ingenio, Amazonas January 2014

Eleven years ago I visited Ingenio with Pastor Silvio Salinas; 5 ARRIBA students; our sons, Tom and Bill; and another BMM colleague, Allan Frey and his son, Jonathan. That was in 2003. At that time I didn't think I would ever be back in this part of Peru. However, I was honored to be able to participate in the 19th Baptist Convention of this region and teach the book of Galatians. I truly enjoyed having Becky come with me on the trip this time!

The "town" of Ingenio

The church building in Ingenio

Jim teaching in the morning sessions

The most patient dog in the world!!!

Thin slices of fresh beef drying in the kitchen to make jerky

Delicious! Jerky and yucca

I think this was going into the soup!

The civil weddings were at the community center. That evening the church hosted the religious ceremony.

 The "baptistry"

Eight of the nine who were baptized

Practicing for the VBS closing program that evening

VBS closing program

Some of those from the 10 churches who attended

Leaving Ingenio we had a flat tire which gave us one more chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Here are a couple of the villages seen from Ingenio. Please pray for pastors for the churches in this region of Peru. 

Chinchil Mission Trip: November 2013

This year's trip was delayed 6 weeks due to Pastor Josué's hernia surgery. Because of that, we were not able to take a full team to have kid's clubs as we have in the past. I went with Pastor Daniel Aguilar, César Huanca (a deacon from El Manantial Baptist Church), and Noah Kephart (a former ARRIBA student from 2008-2009).

Pastor Josué with his wife Sarela, daughter Dialí and son Darling.

Pastor Josué at church.

Noah in the pickup truck that took us from Huacrachuco to within two hours of Chinchil. He would eventually be joined by six others in the back of the pickup!

Now to walk two hours to Chinchil!

Finally!! 24 hours in a bus from Lima, 2 hours by pickup and the final walk around the mountain to Chinchil!

Classes for the church (mainly the men) each morning. Pastor Daniel taught on book of James, I taught on the book of Galatians and César taught on leadership.

Some of the men who attended.

The church under construction from the trip in 2012.

 The church this year with a roof.

Noah with a group of kids who liked to follow him around as we did visits in the afternoon.

Pastor Daniel with the same group.

Distributing Gospels of John and tracts at the high school in town.

Getting ready for a baptism.
The site for the baptism was a spring that was dug out.

Maxmiliano was saved 3 years ago when we were in Chinchil. He had made a profession of faith after one of the evening services that year.

Pastor Josué with some final words of encouragement.

An evening service.

(Looking at the women's side of church.)

Three families requested a dedication for their youngest children. The man on my right is translating what I said into Quechua. I wanted to be sure that no one misunderstood and thought the dedication had anything to do with salvation.

Pastor Josué, Sarela and Darling.

Getting ready to leave Chinchil with some of our mule packers.

The intrepid four getting ready to walk the 20 odd miles to Huacrachuco. It took 7 hours going from 10,500 feet up to about 14,000 feet and down again.

Huacrachuco, the end of the trail is in sight! Thank you for praying for protection in our travels, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and that God would cause His living Word to flourish in the hearts of those we had the opportunity to minister to!

Chinchil Mission Trip: October 2012

We'll start our photo tour with two pictures of the church building being built there in Chinchil. We had hoped to help put the roof on, but they were still cutting the wood for the joists. They hope to start the roof next week.

The first floor (basement) has 4 rooms for classrooms. The auditorium is on the second floor where people can walk in from the "street."

I knew some of the construction men would want to see how the floor is done. The canes will be covered with a packed dirt or some cement if they can afford it.

The afternoon kid's club started on the town's soccer field with games. This seemed to have been the first time the kids had played the "stomp on the balloon" game.

The ARRIBA students did the skits to introduce the theme of each lesson. 

Five different ladies from church taught the lessons. This afternoon was Becky's turn. None of us are sure what she had them raising their hands for!

Emily leads the theme song (Follow, Follow I will Follow Jesus) while Johana and Maria hold the words. Jesus came to save sinners and give His life as the price to redeem.

The craft time came last. With 100 kids we needed every ARRIBA student and young lady from church. 

Maria helps with the gluing.

Melly's group with their finished booklets showing the days of creation.

One of our favorite pictures. One of the little boys looking at his finished booklet.

Now something to eat before getting ready for the service. The food was good - thanks to Pastor Josue's wife.

It's been raining all night long, the roads are washed out, and we're going to do WHAT?!?  Leave!?!?! 
Plan A: leave Chinchil and head for the van to take us back. That "was" the plan. Only one problem: the van wasn't there. Plan B: an 11 hour, maybe 20 mile hike to the town of Huacrachuco. Becky is seriously thinking of attacking me with that black tube in her arms.

The last sight of our suitcases for about 30 hours.

We arrived at this landslide after walking 9 hours. It was an hour or so after dark and since we couldn't see a path well with our flashlights, I decided the safest course of action was to spend the night right there on the path. In the light of the morning it didn't look nearly as bad to cross.

Great bonding time for the group.

Some are even smiling after "sleeping" all night on rocks with the temperature in the low 50s. 
Though this wasn't what we had planned, we thank the Lord for His care and safety all the way home. 

VBS August 2012

The theme for this year's VBS was "The King's Request." Using 4 different kings from the Old Testament, the children learned about God's power, wisdom, holiness, and mercy. The last day King Josiah's life emphasized loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. There were many new kids who were at our church for the first time and many kids from our weekly children's Bible club.

The two teams were the Orange and Blue teams, and each day we opened with songs and a game. The two teams were the Orange and Blue teams, and each day we opened with songs and a game. 

The youngest class - 4 to 6 year olds. The little girl up front on the left is Grecia. She was a new girl this week and such a very bright and interested student. On her way to our closing program Sunday morning she was hit by a car and suffered a broken collar bone. She's all right, but we would appreciate your prayers for her recovery. Her mother is a believer and we were able to visit her after church this evening.

Working on crafts.

Bible time for the 7 to 9 year olds.

 Sharing the gospel with a wordless book in the 9 to 11 year old class.

Class on the roof - 12 to 14 year olds.

Time for Bible quizzing and skit.

It was somewhat chaotic at times, but we had a good group of teachers and helpers to maintain order so everyone could listen and learn.

A last photo with many of the children and helpers. We ended the week with about 80 kids.