Chairs & More Needed

Since the church we are attending is a new church plant, it is furnished with whatever is available. Check out the pews...rough 4X6's. How would you like to sit on that for about 3 hours every Sunday? It is so hard, but I haven't heard one Peruvian complain!

The church is running a campaign to raise $5000. With the $5000, we will buy chairs, pay the deposit and first month's rent on a building, build a platform, and purchase some nursery equipment. The people of the church are being asked to purchase "bricks" for 95 soles each. $1.00 = 3 soles; so 95 soles is about $33. So far, they have given about 1500 soles or $500.

Roxy

Katie & Josie picked out cocker spaniel puppies on Monday. Katie's puppy is 8 weeks old; so, she got to bring her home. Josie picked out a 5 week old puppy; so she will have to wait another week to bring her's home.

Katie named her puppy Roxy. She and Josie have been carrying that puppy all over the place. I had to make them put her down so she could walk around. Although, I will have to say, Roxy is pretty content letting them carry her around. She is a very laid back puppy.

So far, they have not really complained about cleaning up puppy pee & poop. Roxy is actually being very good about peeing when she goes outside. Now if we could just get her to do the rest of her business when she is outside!

Trip to Lima

We traveled to Lima on Tuesday to start our paperwork for residence visas. We flew from Arequipa on Tuesday morning at 7:20 and landed in Lima at 8:45 AM. There is a church in Lima that has set up an agency to help missionaries in the country. We were helped by a lady named Maritza. She took us to immigration and Interpol to turn in all of our paperwork. We had to sign a release for the FBI to give our information to Peru's Interpol agency. Rodney & I also had to have our teeth checked, and our fingers printed.

We had bus tickets for 9:10 PM Tuesday night. After our paperwork was finished, we spent the afternoon at Jockey Plaza, the Lima mall. We ate at LongHorns. The menu was in Spanish, so we weren't sure what to order. We knew that pollo was chicken, so we had pollo and papa fritas or french fries. It was really good!

The picture above is of Josie on the bus. We had a 14 hour bus ride back to Arequipa. We decided to take a bus to save money. We took a bus with 180 degree reclining seats. Because we were traveling through the night, we slept for a good portion of the trip. The road from Lima to Arequipa took us down the Pacific coastline. I was surprised at how rural the coastline is. There were no commerical buildings. It was really pretty. There were huge rocks and cliffs all along the coast. The road was right between desert on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. It was an amazing sight.

This Past Week

Katie & Josie started school this week. For Katie, it was as easy as last year. Josie, however, is using the ABeka videos for the first time. She now realizes that Mom was an easy teacher. The videos require a little more work than she is used to. Rodney has been warning me that I was too easy on her. She is going to have to get used to doing her work without me right beside her. That requires her to think about things and figure out the directions on her own. She has cried a few times this week; so pray for her.

The nanny also started work this week. She is a single mother with one 7 year old son. Her husband left her when she got saved. So she has raised her son on her own since he was 7 months old. Her name is Rosa, and she speaks no English! We are teaching each other.

We have bought just about everything we need to have the house set up. The only item we are lacking is a dining room table/chairs. We have a small temporary table and plastic chairs right now. We just haven't been able to find what we want for what we are going to have to pay. We are considering having a set built. It will be just as cheap as buying something already made. We will just have to wait for about 45 days to get it.

Ever heard of "Montezuma's Revenge"? Well, I've got it. I must have eaten something that wasn't cleaned properly. I have been sick for the past two days! Pray for me to get over this quickly. It can last awhile, and we have a busy week next week.

More House Pictures

Our backyard. This picture is taken from a spiral staircase that leads to the roof.

This picture is also taken from the spiral staircase. The ledge that you see is right outside of the girl's school room.

This is Josie's room. She had her walls painted light blue (her favorite color). Beds will be coming in the middle of October. We bought the beds from a missionary that is leaving Peru on October 17th.

This is Katie's room. She had it painted an orange color that matched the bedspread that she picked out.

Be Careful What You Ask For

I told Rodney the one thing I had to have in South America was hot water. Well as you can see above, I got it. Our hot water heater is solar heated with an electric backup. Our hot water gets so hot that the handle is too hot to touch. This morning I got up to take a shower, and over night the water got so hot that it turned to steam in the hot water heater. You can see the steam coming out of the faucet. Needless to say, we had to turn the thermostat on the hot water heater down! But AMEN ... I have hot water!

Our House

We moved into our house on Thursday night, Sept. 10th. Yeah!!! Here are a few pictures of the outside. Inside pictures will be coming soon.

Josie standing at our front door.

Notice how close together the houses are built. On the right side of our house is an apartment building.

Once you enter our front door, this is the courtyard.

Another picture of our court yard. The thing sticking out at the top is a garage door opener. People with cars, will park in the courtyard.

Happy Labor Day

Labor Day is not celebrated in Peru; so today was just like any other Monday. Mondays are our Saturdays. Once we start language school, it will be Tuesday through Saturday. Sunday & Monday will be our off days.

This Monday was quite productive. The house was being painted, and we shopped for furniture. We have a living room suit and tv ordered. It has to come from Lima, Peru; so, it will take about 10 days. We purchased a bookshelf, two small tables, and two desk chairs for Katie & Josie's school work. We still have to find a kitchen table & chairs and a desk for Rodney.

Tomorrow we will be ordering our telephone and internet. We will also be buying all of the kitchen stuff...pots, pans, dishes, glasses, utensils, etc. It is kind of fun picking out a bunch of new stuff, but realizing how much money you are spending takes a little of the fun away!

We Have a House!!

We signed the lease for a house on Friday afternoon. The house is a five minute walk from the Stover's house. It is in one of the safest neighborhoods in the area, Los Angeles de Cayma. We will be able to move in hopefully by the end of this coming week. The owner is having the wood floors refinished before we move in. This week we will be buying our furniture and kitchen items.

I will post pictures once we get moved in.

Interesting Facts About Arequipa

1. Arequipa is the 2nd largest city in Peru.
2. Population of 904,931 in 2009
3. Located in the Andes Mtns. with an altitude of 7,800 feet above sea level. We get winded after climbing the stairs. The air is thinner.
4. Dry & sunny all year long...driest desert in the world. We use a lot of lotion!
5. Surrounded by volcanic cones or mtns.: Misti, Chachani, Ampato, & Mismi
6. Starting point of the Amazon River, the longest river in the world
7. Nicknamed "La Ciudad Blanca", "The White City" because its buildings are built of pearly white volcanic rock.
8. The Peruvians love 1980's rock music. I've heard more Bon Jovi & Michael Jackson than I've ever heard in the States. Funny thing is that they can't understand the words; they just like the music.
9. Average cost of a taxi ride is $2.00. Very few people own cars.
10. Everyone eats a big lunch and a small supper.
11. Our Super Wal-Mart is an open flea market. One booth for school supplies; one booth for paper products, one booth for baking products, one booth for candy, etc. No more one stop shopping!
12. Most of the houses still have separate entrances for servants.
13. Men's underwear is expensive; $6.00 per pair. (Somehow, most of Rodney's did not get packed???)
14. 3 Soles = 1 Dollar
15. No McDonald's, but Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, & KFC. We would rather have the local restaurants...our whole family ate supper for $11.00 the other day. We had rotisserie chicken, french fries, avacado salad, and cokes. Can you believe that??!!

Miscellaneous Pictures

The Stover Family-Robert, Sara, Josiah & Caleb. This is the family that we are staying with until we find our own place.

The Fruteria or Fruit Market

Temporary meeting place for Iglesia Bautista Omega.

Volleyball game at anniversary celebration.

No House Yet...ughhhhhh

Well, we are still house hunting. We were told that one of the houses we were looking at renting was really cold because the sun does not hit it at all. Down here, there is no central heat & air, so you want the sun to warm the house during the day. It gets down to the upper 40s lower 50s at night. The other two houses we are still considering, but Chris Gardner wants us to look at some more. He says we should at least look for the rest of the week. I really like the missionaries we are staying with, but am ready to settle in and get started with language school.

There is a missionary family leaving in October, so we bought their large appliances. We bought a GE stove, GE fridge, GE washer & dryer, a queen size bed frame with mattress & boxsprings, and two full size bed frames with mattresses for about $2000. That was a great deal. The only problem is that we will have to wait until October to get the stuff. In the meantime, we will be sleeping on air mattresses, and we will have to borrow a small fridge and old stove. But praise the Lord for the money we saved!

Seminary Anniversary Celebration

Macedonia Baptist Seminary celebrated its 15th anniversary on Saturday, August 29th. It was a fun day of food & fellowship. Of course, there were several soccer games, and there were even a few volleyball games. Katie was asked to join the volleyball team. She is a pretty good player.

Katie Gardner, David Gardner's wife, is spending a lot of time with Katie. She is helping her learn Spanish words and customs. She is in her early 20s; so, my Katie really enjoys spending time with her.

Josie is still hesitant to talk to people. When ever she is asked about how she likes Peru, Josie just shrugs her shoulders. She is going to have to interact with people to learn Spanish; so, please pray that she will overcome her shyness.

First Service

We attended our first service at Iglesia Bautista Omega on Thursday night. It was very interesting to sit in a service and not understand 98% of what is said. Chris Gardner advised us to write a list of words that we thought we understood during the preaching. Surprisingly, I was able to pick out quite a few of the words.

The people of the church are very friendly. Katie & Josie are having to get used to the ladies hugging & kissing their cheek. It is a cultural lesson that must be learned. Hellos & goodbyes are given this way.

House Hunting

Our first few days have been spent looking at houses. It is amazing what $500 can get you down here in Peru. We have seen houses with 4 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms, a servants room with full bath, 2 family rooms, kitchen, dining room, and office for $500-$700 per month. (We will have plenty of room for many visitors!!!) We have narrowed our search down to about 3 houses. We want to go back and look at them again. The factors determining our choice are the safety of the area and the size of the yard. Down here, it is a rare thing to find a house with a good yard. Most houses have only a strip of yard in the back about 10' by 30'. This is not enough room for the girls to play or to have a dog. We did not allow the girls to have a dog while on deputation, and we have promised them a dog once we got to the field.

Once we make a decision about the house, we will post some pictures. You will not believe how nice these houses are.

Arrival in South America

We're here....finally!!! After being called to the mission field in 2000, years of selling everything we had , 2 years of Bible college, 6 months of part-time deputation, 2 1/2 years of full-time deputation, and 23 hours 45 minutes we have arrived in South America.

Once we have found a house to rent and have settled in, we will begin language school. While in language school, we will be attending a brand new church, Iglesia Bautista Omega, that is being started by Chris Gardner, our South American Field Director.

Please pray for us as we begin this new chapter in our lives.

Josie & Katie in the airplane before takeoff from Atlanta.

Josie & Katie at the airport in New Jersey.
Josie & Katie on the roof of Robert & Sarah Stover's house, our home until we find our own place to rent. Notice the mountains in the background. The mountain is Mount Misti.