October Update

Dear Mission Trip Participants:

Van, Sarah and I had a video/audio conference Saturday morning (10/17) with Sara, Rusty and Samuel via Skype. I wanted to share some of that conversation with each of you. After seeing and speaking to our Peruvian partners, I wanted to begin planning our 2010 trip!

Samuel traveled from Huanta to Lima Friday night (yes, via bus!) to visit his daughter Yesenia and to attend a conference on the effects of deforestation in the Peruvian jungle. He met with Sara and Rusty early Saturday morning to help Sara finish the translation of the proposal for the Biblical Institute that was presented to Pastor Adrian Fernandez during our trip. As soon as I receive the translation from Sara I will pass it along to you.

Samuel asked that I send each of you greetings from all the members of the Presbytery of Huanta and to again thank you for the many gifts to the Presbytery and the Biblical Institute. He specifically asked me to tell you that the gift of your physical presence in Huanta has left a lasting mark. Samuel expressed his hope that each of you and those who visited last year but not this year will visit Huanta again.

Samuel reported that three new church groups in the mountain region have been formed since we were in Huanta. These new groups are in the process of building churches and they need benches! He asked (and I think-or at least I hope-he was half joking) if we were up to assembling 200 benches in 2010. Samuel was elected to serve in a leadership capacity in the Evangelical and Reformed Prebyterian Church of Peru (the "IEPRP") a couple of months before our trip. He has been traveling throughout Peru (Sara and Rusty have accompanied him on some of these trips) meeting with other Presbytery leaders and congregations. He told us that the love that he has received from his brothers and sisters at Sharon Church is helping him to love his brothers and sisters in other IEPRP Presbyteries.

Samuel has lost 12 pounds since our trip as he is trying to keep his diabetes in check. He looked and sounded energized and healthy. I told him that we would continue to pray for all our Peruvian Presbyterian brothers and sisters.

On a slightly different note, I think most (if not all) of you know that Sharon Church has extended an offer to Brenda Paredes to work with Sharon's youth during her three month summer break from school, basically from mid-December 2009 to mid-March 2010. Brenda has applied to the U.S. Embassy for a work/study visa and her interview is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, 2009. Please keep Brenda in your thoughts and prayers as securing a visa to visit the United States is often a stressful and sometimes illogical experience.

Finally, Rusty has started his own blog about his experiences in Peru. I would invite each of you to visit his blog where I think you will gain an appreciation of the sacrifices that both he and Sara have made to serve the Lord in Peru. Link to Rusty's blog.

Thanks all.

Randy