I´m Alive in Juliaca

Dear Jesus, Thank you for Life!
Dear Friends, Thank you for praying!
The Lord is good. After about a week or more without internet, I am now connected again.
We have been in Chupa, a district capital about three hours on a dirt road away from civilization, which is just fine with me. I am enjoying this life of simplicity...rice and fried potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with lamb and alpaca or an egg thrown in once in a while for variety. The soup is amazing and I love Mate de Coca, which is a hot tea I drink every morning.

At night the temperature drops to about 30 F and we sleep under thick Alpaca blankets called Frazadas because there is no insulation and the homes are not heated. Most homes here are built of Adobe that families may actually prepare themselves in their chacras, or fields.

At night the stars are clearer than I have ever seen: and because this is the Southern Hemisphere, the sky is completely foriegn to me. I know only two constellations by name: The Southern Cross (which apears in the Milky Way, or Rio, every night) and Ursa Major, which can only be seen briefly in the northern sky. Every night I take some time by myself just to contemplate the heavens and thank the Lord for His grandure and His beauty.
I want to stay in the mountains forever with all this lovely Inca music and colorful people with their windchapped faces and Quechua accents. But then my Peruvian friends tell me about the enchantment of the Selva, or Jungle, and I realize that the Mountains are only one part of Peru, and that I still have so much more to fall in love with. The jungle is much like Costa Rica´s Rainforests, so I am sure that if I visit at the end of the summer, I might find the platanos maduros and pan and loros (the parrots) and the savory spicyness of Jungle people too much to leave behind. Michael, do you remember in Motorcycle Diaries when Fuser (Che) goes to the leper colony? My friend Lidman has been to the very place! It is in the heart of Peru!! WE watched the movie a couple of days ago, and he was tripping out: ¨You have to come to the jungle! Tienes que venir a la selva!!¨¨

We have left the Chupa team and are now with the Lampa team: Brad, Lane, and Beth. Pray for them as they minister to the new Christians of Lampa. They are concentrating on discipleship, not unlike the Nuñoa team. More about them later.

I could write a novel about Chupa. I think it is my favorite place so far: maybe because we spent more time there and were able to develop stronger ties with the district. I learned some Quechua from one of our Peruvian team mates, René. We visited a lot of outflung areas to preach the gospel to people who were hearing for the first time, and Praise the Lord! A family prayed to recieve Christ last week as we talked with them while they were washing clothes outside in tubs. René asked me to pray with them after we shared the wonderful message of salvation. What an incredible blessing...and overwhelming at the same time. May the Father work daily in the lives of this husband and wife. Pray for their growth and for an outpouring of the Spirit in their home.

Also pray for the five people who came to know the Lord in our Discovery Bible Study on Wednesday night: Luis and Soñia and Alex. Pray for their growth and that Luis, who is an influential man on his street and owner of the family restaurant (of three tables) we ate at three times a day, will be a leader and would bring his family to the Lord.

Pray for Lidman and René, and Karen and Lisa, as they continue in Chupa. Pray for their unity of spirit and joy of heart. Especially pray for Lidman, who does much of the preaching, and for René, who is our Quechua open door into the community. Pray for Christ to move in a relational, organic way among them. Pray that Lidman will continue to be open to the Lord with regards to participatory Bible Studies and that many new leaders would be raised up in what René calls ¨The country of Chupa¨, a region truly unique and beautiful in so many ways.
Thank you for all who have been praying and writing. The Lord is faithful, and He will do it.
Thank you for your love and your encouragement.
Please continue to pray for me as I struggle with big decisions about school and staying in Peru.
I love you all.
Blessings and Peace.
Beth, I wich you were here with me.
Eric, your camera is amazing
Mom, I am bringing you an alpaca sweater.
Johan, the government is corrupt and needs you.
Dad, I am training housechurch leaders in the villages (well...kindov.)
Michael, I am seeing the PEru of Che Guevara.
All, I love you
Al