A Special day in Peru

Today is a very special day for the citizens of Peru. On July 28, 1821 Peru proclaimed independence from the control of Spain. It took lots of struggles and difficulties but by 1879 Spain finally recognized Peru's independence.

We will miss being in Peru today. There will be special parades and celebrations all over the country. The flag will be displayed on nearly every building. Peruvians are very proud of their country. Today, take a moment and pray for Peru on her independence day!

PoeKids

Elizabeth continues to enjoy her travels in the US. Be sure to check out the PoeKids BLOG for recent pictures and an update on her life.

You can find it at: http://poekids.blogspot.com

Weekend in Virginia

This past weekend we were able to visit two more of our supporting churches in Roanoke, Virginia. It is always a pleasure to see old friends, and meet new folks that have come along. Tonight, we will be ministering in a church in Gibsonville, NC.

Please pray as we minister in these churches. We not only want to give a report on our term in Peru, but we also want to leave the people with a greater desire to serve the Lord. We want to see people left with a burden for the lost souls in Peru and around the world.

Visiting our supporting churches

Where do you live? "I don't know..."

Below you can see a picture of the lovely mission home provided for our furlough. It is a real blessing that churches are willing to sacrifice and make homes like this available to missionaries. Special thanks to Pleasant View Baptist Church for the use of this home!

Yesterday while visiting a supporting church, Elizabeth was asked: "Where do you live?" She has moved around so much lately that it was no surprise when she answered: "I don't know!"

Thankfully, this year we do have a place to call home when we are not traveling.

Home for the next year

Close to home

Our schedule is busy as we move through the summer months. Today, we will be ministering in a church right here in Winston-Salem, NC. It's nice to take our time this morning, since we are visiting so very close to home. We are blessed that all but two of our supporting churches are within about 100 miles of Winston-Salem.

God's Provision

In the last month it has been amazing to see God provide for our family through His people. We have seen so many things provided for us: A home to use this year, a computer, a computer printer, baby clothing, baby furniture even toys for Elizabeth.

It seems that all we have to do is discuss as a family a particular need and within a few days it shows up at our door!

We needed a computer for our furlough. It is a necessity for sermon preparation, study and staying in contact with our supporting churches. We had hoped to purchase a laptop computer, but they were out of our price range. Then, a friend in our home church heard of computers at her office that were being upgraded. She asked her boss, and now we have a very efficent, relatively new desktop computer to use! Another friend found a like new printer for us to complete the package.

The story is basically the same for the baby clothes, baby furniture and other things that God has blessed us with. A family at our home church gave us lovely baby furniture. Their son just moved up to new bedroom furniture and they felt led to pass his furniture on to us along with other baby supplies. We joked that our house must have been "bugged" because anytime we mentioned something that we needed in private, the next day the phone would ring and someone would tell us it was available. The timing has been incredible.

In a similar way, a friendly businessman has offered to develop and redesign our website at no charge. It should be up and running in the near future and provide a good way for you to keep in touch with our family and ministry. Just another way that God has provided for our family.

Psalm 37:4 "Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

We're back!

Finally, we are back online and hope to be updating the BLOG more frequently.

We had a nice last week in Peru saying numerous goodbyes. The final service at church will be something we cherish in our memories for a long time. Thanks to all of you that prayed for John and his fear of flying. The flight went well and was nearly uneventful. John did manage to confuse "Eau de Toilet" with mouthwash in the planes restroom. He will have to tell you that story in person sometime!

We arrived in Miami on May 24th and spent two relaxing days traveling back to North Carolina.

Since then, we have traveled to Ohio, Virginia, and the Outer Banks. We have had the priviledge of visiting 5 churches so far. Thanks for your continued prayers. Look for regular updates again here on the BLOG.

Below you will see a few of the photos we took during our first month back in the US!

Youth tell what Pastor John meant to them in the form of an acrostic.

Elizabeth takes her first drink from a water fountain!

We enjoyed our travels through Florida!

We had a "peach of a time" traveling in Georgia...

Getting closer to home we made our way through South Carolina.

Finally, we are in North Carolina!

Elizabeth feels right at home in the mission house.

Elizabeth watched her first ever thunderstorm!

Then we are on the road again, now in Virginia.

Then on to West Virginia...

Then a week in Ohio. (Dad will do anything for a picture!)

We spent sometime working in the Baptist Mid-Missions home office.

Then we enjoyed a week of VACATION!

A restful vacation evening...