We have had a LOT going on the last couple of months, and there is no way one blog post can cover it all, and I haven't been posting about all of the big things going on here for a little while. So, here goes for an overview:
My sweet, sweet sister sister and brother-in-law Katie and Talmadge came for a visit in April. It was so great having them here - we miss them terribly!! We didn't do much but live our everyday lives while they were here, but, oh - we did have Easter with an Easter egg hunt at the orphanage and one at our house, too. And we took them away from the desert of Trujillo for one day to visit Ottusco, a little village in the mountains. And of course we loved all of the treats that they packed FULL in their suitcases! We loved spending time with them, and were so sad to see them go. Our kids love them so much, and would have been pretty happy to have packed up to move home with them!
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| Katie and Talmadge on the way to Ottusco |
The day after they left, we had Ben and Nicole Kilman visit. They were such an encouragement to us, and encouraging to our friends, too! Marcus and Ben were able to do some medical campaigns in some of the poorer areas further away from Wichanzao, where there is little or no medical care available.
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| Ben and Nicole Kilman |
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| Medical campaign in Clementina |
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| Clementina - one of the poorer areas out from Wichanzao |
Also, while the Kilmans were here, there was a group from MS College visiting for a few days. It so happened that a crew was coming to interview Grace Bateman Greene, of Peru Paper, for next MC alumni magazine. It worked out that Marcus also graduated from Mississippi College, so they did a little story on him as well. When it comes out, I'll be sure to post a link to it. We loved hosting Tracey Harrison, Robbie Followell, Marlo Kirkpatrick, and Ethan Milner for dinner, along with our mission team.
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| Interviewing Marcus for the MS College alumni magazine, The Beacon |
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| Ross Stone, Lydia Rice, and Marcus |
There was also a precious mother's day program in May at the montessori school where Luke and Sam go. Sam sang a little duet, all in Spanish! I was so proud of him!
The clinic has been very busy, with Marcus and Dr. Julton seeing patients daily, along with two other part-time doctors and a full Peruvian staff. The biggest praise is there is now an ultrasound machine!! They are so excited to have this in the clinic - it is used to diagnose all sorts of medical issues (things that in the US you would have a CT scan or other tests for diagnosing). We have been working towards raising the funds for this, and along with several individuals from Independent Pres Church, Memphis and other special friends, this has been made possible. Praise the Lord for providing this gift to the community of Wichanzao! This will be a blessing for several reasons:
1. People in this neighborhood and outlying areas can go to Bethesda Medical Clinic (the name of the clinic in Wichanzao) much easier and less expensive than getting transportation to downtown Trujillo.
2. They can have the tests completed earlier and receive the results faster than going to a hospital or clinic in Trujillo.
3. They can have the ultrasounds done for a much lower cost than in Trujillo.
4. By having the funds donated to buy the machine, the clinic can begin making enough profit off of the tests to help provide self-sustainability to the clinic's overall finances. (even with the cost for test being very low - s/35, about $12)
5. Two of the doctors working in the clinic were already trained to administer ultrasound testing, and were eager to start using these skills.
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| The training for the sonogram machine |
There are still other ongoing projects, but this is the major one for now! There are more stories about patients all that goes on in the clinic on the medical ministry blog at http://www.perumission.org/medical-ministry-blog/.
Amidst all of these events this spring, we hit quite a slump of exhaustion and weariness. So, it was time for a family vacation, and thankfully our team encouraged us to leave quickly before the summer busyness hit with lots of short term teams. I may need to write more about this trip later - it was wonderful and such a blessing, and beautiful! But I will say our adventures in getting there just weren't quite the same as loading up the minivan and driving to Florida.
We continue to be reminded of God's love, mercy, and forgiveness through the ups and downs of serving here. Thankfully, there are a lot of "ups", but sometimes it feels like we are on a roller coaster, which goes down and upside down too! We are learning and growing, and praying for the Lord to use us no matter what condition we feel like on the inside or look like on the outside. No matter what, God has been gracious to never have us doubt that we should be here right now. We are sinners saved by grace, just like we always have been, just holding on to the hope we have in Christ, and praying for Him to let some glimmer of light shine through us each day, so that these beautiful people of Peru may come to know Him eternally.
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