Update on Peru Plans

Our time to move is coming closer, but not yet! We continue to clean out, pack, organize. We are making a lot of progress - I have two suitcases completely packed, we are practicing Spanish, and all of the home school curriculum has been ordered! But it is never-ending, and I suppose it will not end until we get on the plane! At this point we have not sold our home, and Marcus is going to work until July 14. Our desire would be to leave the third week of July and start language school the first week of August. We are learning (daily!) that our desires and plans are not always God's plans, and this is about Him, not us. So we must be patient and let Him unfold the details for us.

We have also been busy visiting friends and churches to raise support, and that is coming along well. We are so thankful for the Lord's provision and our friends' generosity. We are now at about 55-60% of our need for 18 months. It is encouraging and yet another reminder the Lord is leaving the doors open for us to go!

As we have visited with people, I get very teary when I see the Peru Mission video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dm_HJ7HzP0). We are ready to be there, be part of the culture, have relationships with the people there, and attempt to serve them. I was reading someone's blog last week who is working there now, and she had written such a profound reminder of what it's all about:
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Greenville, SC

As part of our planning for Peru, we were blessed to have a long trip to visit Greenville, SC in March! Marcus and I lived there for three years for his family practice residency, and we absolutely love this city! We love the people there, our church, the downtown, and the scenery. We just love it and have great memories!

On our way to Greenville we stopped to visit our special friends, Dan and Mary Hoover, in Columbia, South Carolina. They have three beautiful children and we had such an encouraging visit with them. Our kids had a ball playing with them, and Mary cooked a yummy dinner AND breakfast for us all before we moved on to Greenville!


While in Greenville we stayed with our dear friends, Jim and Shelly Nichols. We had a great time visiting with them, and I might also say Shelly was a great hostess! Every time we came in she had a load of our laundry washed and folded... now that is a true friend!!

Our crew with Jonathan, Will and Jacob Nichols
The main reason for our visit was to be a part of Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church's Missions Conference. We had a wonderful time seeing old friends, familiar faces, and meeting new people as well. It was encouraging meeting other missionaries (REAL missionaries - we don't think of ourselves as REAL ones... yet). This missions conference they have annually, and we feel played a big part in giving us a heart for missions when we lived there. We loved visiting with Elizabeth and Andy Lewis, who are good friends we met in Sunday School while there. Andy is now the pastor of Mitchell Road, and they are doing a wonderful job loving and leading the people there. We also met William Castro, who is originally from Trujillo, Peru and connected with friends of Peru Mission. He came to the US for seminary and now leads Hispanic ministry at Mitchell Road and in Greenville. I could go on and on about each person we saw and how encouraging this church is.... www.mrpca.org
Visit to the Greenville Zoo
One special treat was a visit with Mrs. Ada Chapman. She was our neighbor there and is a precious lady! We had not kept up with her, and weren't sure if of what may have happened to her. When we moved away she was in her late 80's! So when we drove by we noticed that everything at her house looked the same, so we stopped by to check. She answered the door herself, and after talking for a while I asked her age - 96!!! Isn't that wonderful??? She still lives alone, and DRIVES to church and she and her sister spend the night together two or three nights a week for fun! Katie and Rebecca and I like this idea for our old age.... :)
At the end of our trip, we also made a couple of extra stops to visit friends. We drove up towards Charlotte, NC to visit with Reagan and Alan Jones for dinner and a great visit. Marcus and Alan were good friends in medical school, and we had a great time seeing them! Then we headed back south, and on our way home stopped in Atlanta for lunch with Kristy and McKay Caston. They lived in Tupelo when we first lived here, and now are planting a church in Dahlonega, GA (north of Atlanta). What an encouragement to have a week visiting with sweet friends!

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