"Tis the Season"

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we approach the Christmas season this year, we look to God's Word and truly consider the One whom we are celebrating to gain a fresh perspective and truly worship the almighty God who humbly came to the world in human flesh to seek and save the lost.

Although it may be the "Christmas season", the Bible exhorts us to be ready in season and out.  Most of us can probably remember the old Verizon commercial with the man testing the phone service and asking this question: "Can you hear me now?".  We need to remember that often during the Christmas season we can become so busy and distracted that we fail to hear God's voice.  The choice is ours.  We pray that all of us will this year choose to keep our eyes on our Lord and Savior!

Meet Adolfo and Cecelia

Adolfo and Cecilia along with their two young children are part of the Refugio family.  Adolfo is part of the Gideon International Organization in Cajamarca and regularly distributes Bibles throughout the region. We have been blessed to be included when we helped give out Bibles here in Baños at the elementary school.   And Cecelia is a regular at our Women's Bible Study.  Recently Adolfo and Cece began serving in our Children's Ministry as Sunday school teachers.  We are blessed by this family;  please keep them in your prayers.

Chiquitín Jardin

This past weekend we were excited to be invited to the inauguration of Chiquitín Jardin, a new preschool/kindergarten here in Baños del Inca.  A family from Refugio is hoping to bless the community as they open this new chapter in their lives.  They dedicated their new business to the Lord and in prayer asked that it would honor Him and that He would bless it.

Inauguration Day!

Upcoming Events

We are already looking forward to December!  The "Choclotada" is a traditional Peruvian Christmas celebration for children.  This year we are excited to host 3 choclotadas; our 3rd annual Refugio choclotada for the children of Baños del Inca, our 1st at a public kindergarten in Banos, and our 1st at the Aldea Infantil Orphanage in Cajamarca.  Please pray for the children that will come and hear about how God came to earth so that we can have eternal life with Him.

Making stockings for our kids at the orphanage!

Thanks to all of you who pray for our ministry here in Peru.  We hope you have a joyous day of Thanksgiving with family and friends.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!"

Ministry Update

We want to share with you what has been going on here at Refugio.  It was an amazing month with many ministry opportunities and the Lord was faithful in providing everything we needed in order to share the love of Christ with many!

The Global Cane Outreach team arrived here in Cajamarca on September 16.  We were so excited to meet them at the airport and get them settled in their hostal.  In addition to the ministry to the blind, this team joined us in our regularly scheduled ministry and were a huge blessing to us and to the community!  

Team Members' Training

It started off with cane training and walking with a sighted guide.  Bevie taught us how to teach the blind to use canes and how to properly walk with a sighted guide.  

"I once was blind but now I see"     -      John Newton

"By sharing this gift with the blind you also open the door to share the even greater gift of the love of Jesus Christ."           Global Cane Outreach

English Conversation Class

We have changed the focus of our English Class to more of a practical conversation class where the students get the opportunity to practice what they have learned this past year.  We are very proud of our students; they are doing great!  They also were excited to have the Global Cane Outreach team with us for two Wednesdays! 

 They loved having more native speakers to practice with and have fun. 

Sightseeing in Cajamarca!

                             

Of course we had to have time to show our friends some of the amazing sights in our community!  We had a fun day exploring.  
Santa Apolonia -Cajamarca

Preschool/Kindergarten in Baños del Inca

The first time we visited this school was with the Epic Youth Group from Sonora.  A good friend and member of our church is a teacher here and asked if we could come.  We fell in love with these children and will be continuing to visit!!  We had a crazy hail storm while we were there!!

Aldea Orphanage

We continue to visit the Aldea Orphanage in Cajamarca twice a month.  We have developed a good relationship with the staff and the kids.  It's always a joy to arrive and see the kids run out to meet us.  The Global Cane Outreach blessed the children and loved on them!

Ministering to the Blind

Ritch Cureton kept telling us that we would be amazed on the day we actually got to put our training to use and distribute the canes and teach the blind to use them.  Ritch shared that he had seen this time and again in South Africa.  And he was right!!  We were all overwhelmed and moved to tears.  We separated the people into two groups.  One group was hearing the Good News of the Gospel and the other was receiving canes and being trained.  At the end of the sessions, we brought all the people together and Bevie shared her testimony and each person received a solar powered audio Bible.  I wish you could all have been there with us.  The presence of the Lord was amongst us and it was beautiful.

Check out this link.  This is Nancy, a young woman from Cajamarca.  Nancy is a believer and has been blind from birth.  She was so excited to receive her cane and audio Bible.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=572802996153682

Thank you Global Cane Outreach!  Your hearts to serve the people of the Andes was inspiring to us and a blessing to the communities of Baños del Inca and Cajamarca.  May the Lord continue to bless you and your ministry.

Looking Forward

"For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God."                                                                                                                                           Hebrews 11:10

Here the Bible is speaking of Abraham, who by faith was looking forward to the fulfillment of God's promises.  He saw by faith.  We too should be looking forward.  Not only to seeing God's promises fulfilled,  but also looking forward each day to what the Lord wants to do in our lives and through our lives.

Here in Baños, we are looking forward to the next few months.  Here is a brief overview of what's coming up!

On September 16, Global Cane Outreach, a ministry to equip the blind and share God's love, will be arriving in Baños to spend 10 days.  They will be training us and together we will distribute canes and audio Bibles while sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They will also minister alongside of us at some of our regular ministries such as English class,  Aldea Infantil Orphanage,  and a local pre-school and kindergarten here in Baños.  We are excited to welcome them and are looking forward to reaching out to our community in a new way.  Here is a link to their website if you would like to read more about
Global Cane Outreach:    http://www.globalcaneoutreach.org/about-us.html

Ryan and his family will be leaving on September 22 to head down to Lima where Ryan will be the guest speaker at "Speakers Week" at the CC Bible College in Lima.  Afterward they are leaving for the States where they will spend 2 1/2 months.  Although it is always a challenging time when your Pastor is on furlough, we are all looking forward to trusting in the Lord's faithfulness and anticipating that He will continue the work that He has started.  Please pray for the Petrik family's safe travel and be sure to connect with them for a personal update!

We have also been planning ahead to December and scheduling several chocolatadas.  A chocolatada is a traditional Christmas celebration here in Peru.  It's a great time to serve the community and share the gospel.  Please pray with us as we look forward that the hearts of those who come will be prepared to hear the Good News!

We pray that as we head into a new season, you are all "looking forward".
"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3: 13-14

  A fun day at San Nicolás Lake!

"GO INTO ALL THE WORLD"

 And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." - Mark 16:15

We have been so very encouraged and blessed these last several months as we have watched this verse in action in the lives of others who came down to Baños del Inca to serve along side us here.  

In May, the Wise Family, Zach and Melissa and their 3 children along with Melissa's sister Kristen, moved to Baños for a month.  They explored the culture and ministry opportunities as they shared the love of Christ in the community.  They continued their trip afterwards by visiting Lima and Cusco.  Please pray for this family as they continue to seek the Lord's direction for their lives.

Following in June, Merv from Sonora, CA came and spent about a month and a half.  From the day we met Merv, we could see his joy at being here and the love he developed for the people of Cajamarca could only come from the Lord.  Merv immediately immersed himself in the culture and served the people here with his whole heart.  Merv is a teacher and has a special love for children.  He visited several local schools and plans to return next summer to volunteer his time at a school in San Nicolas.  We will miss Merv but are eagerly anticipating what the Lord has in his future!

At the end of June, EPIC Youth Group, also from Calvary Chapel Sonora, came for 10 days. We were so blessed, encouraged and inspired by this amazing group of young people and their adult leaders. This group had prepared for months and it was very evident as they displayed God's love by sharing the gospel in many areas. It brings to mind the verse from 2 Timothy 4:2: "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." They came as true servants and on the day they arrived in Baños del Inca (after a very long trip) they put on a wonderful Festival de Niños for about 150 children and a good amount of parents!! We put on programs in 3 local schools, evangelized in the Plaza de Armas of Cajamarca and Baños, at the local animal auction site at Pecuaria, they led worship at Refugio, taught our Sunday School and gave our English Class a treat as they had a conversation evening. And this is just a brief snapshot. You can see that this group came with a purpose and a call. Please pray for this group. That this trip would not be just a one time experience; but that their faith would continue to grow and that each one would continue to seek guidance and direction from the Lord. Thank you EPIC! We hope you are able to come again.

…make disciples of all nations...

MAKING DISCIPLES


Making disciples is important because it is the Lord’s chosen method of spreading the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.

We are ALL called to make disciples. Jesus himself commanded us in Matthew 28:19-20:"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

In about three weeks, we will welcome the Youth Group from Calvary Chapel Sonora.  This is a team of about 40 people (youth and adults).  They will spend 10 days here in Baños del Inca ministering and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  For some, this will be their first time out of the country.  For more, it will be their first time in a developing country.  Please join with us in prayer for this time.  Pray for safe travel and health while they are here.  Pray that this team comes "proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance" - Acts 28:31  Pray that the hearts of those who hear the Word will be softened and open.  And pray that the team members will be changed and challenged to serve the Lord on a new level.  Who knows?  Perhaps the Lord could be calling someone to serve him on the mission field in the future!

ALDEA INFANTIL ORPHANAGE

Our relationship is growing and becoming closer with these beautiful children.  Twice a month on Friday afternoon we are blessed to spend a couple of hours playing, doing a fun game and craft, having a snack, and most importantly we are teaching the Word of God to these precious lives. We began leaving them with a Bible verse to memorize and we were so pleasantly surprised the following time when so many were able to recite their verse!  They are beginning to get a hunger for God's word.  

 CLEAN WATER SYSTEM FOR  CARHUAQUERO

Thank you Zach Wise from Sonora, CA for bringing a filter system that will provide 100 gallons a day of clean drinking water to the people of Carhuaquero! The Wise Family have been visiting Baños for the past month and we have been able to minister together on several occasions.

 

 FUN, FOOD AND FELLOWSHIP!!

Last Saturday night the Youth Group of Refugio met at our house for an evening of games, BBQ, and fellowship.  Thank you Don and Stacey Brower for planning such an enjoyable night.

PRAYER REQUESTS AND PRAISE:

As we head into a busy season, please pray that we don't get distracted with the details and daily schedules.  But that we would maintain a close, intimate relationship with the Lord and allow Him to direct our time.

Please pray for our health.  This is cold and flu season and our entire household has been fighting a virus; some worse than others.  

Praise that we are beginning to see members of our church with a desire to serve; that they are seeing the church as a family and that our Lord has given us all gifts to use to serve one another and be good stewards of God's grace.

Back home in Baños del Inca!

 "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand."
                                                                                                                          Proverbs 19:21

Our trip home to the States started off a little rocky, but we clearly saw the Lord's purpose could not be thwarted!   While leaving Lima on an early morning flight, we ran into a problem in Immigrations.  We arrived at the airport at 5:30am.  We checked our bags and got our boarding passes.  Don and Caleb were with us to see Hannah off.  As we approached security, Jan asked Don if he would stay at Starbucks in the airport for one hour.  Jan was concerned about legal issues regarding traveling with Hannah as she is under 18 years of age.  We proceeded through security and then onto Immigrations.  Stan and Jan were processed through quickly; but as the Immigration officer scanned Hannah's documents, we quickly realized there was a problem.  The officer asked where Hannah's papa was.  Jan explained that he was in the airport.  We could go get him.  No, he stated that he needed permission for Hannah to fly with us.  Jan gave the officer a notarized document from Stacey giving permission.  The officer said that he needed a document from Don also.  Jan again stated that Don was in the airport.  The officer went around to each Immigration officer asking what could be done.  NO was the answer he received from each one.  At that point we were not hopeful.  The officer took us to the other side of the room and told us to wait there.  He consulted with someone in a side office and then left.  He was gone for over 30 minutes!  You can imagine the scenario going through our minds.  But back he comes and he gestures for us to follow him back to his station.  He lays a paper on the desk.  Hannah realized that it was the notarized document from Stacey, and at the bottom, she recognized Don's signature and his resident visa number!  The officer explained that he had gone out to Starbucks and found Don who explained the entire situation; the officer had Don write his permission and sign.  The officer explained that since Hannah now is a legal resident of Peru, she now exits the country as such and falls under the legal jurisdiction of Peru.  He was going to let her go this time.  We thanked him for going over and beyond his duty.  We clearly saw that our God is in control and His purposes will stand!

We were incredibly blessed, encouraged, and refreshed from our time in the US.  We are grateful for our friends, family, and church.  Thank you to all who took such good care of us.  

Aldea Infantil Orphanage

Refugio is blessed to be able to minister at this state-run orphanage.  After many months of prayer, the Lord has made a way for us to be able to serve the children and staff on a regular basis.  Two Friday afternoons a month we catch a combi (bus) and make our way to Cajamarca where we get to love the children from 2:30pm to 5:00pm.  We start each day outside playing and then move inside and are teaching a Bible lesson, using puppet skits to reinforce the lesson, a craft, games, and a snack.  Please join us in prayer for this ministry.  Currently the state of Cajamarca is in the process of deciding whether to remodel or close the orphanage.  We know how the Lord feels about children; please pray that the officials will decide that these children are precious and need a safe, clean place to grow and prosper and learn how much our Lord loves and cares for them.  

 "but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."    -    Matthew 19:14

PRAYER REQUESTS:


We are excited for this next season of ministry here in Baños del Inca and Cajamarca.  Our English class continues to draw people into the church and is a blessing to our community and to us.  We are looking forward to the Youth Group from Calvary Chapel Sonora coming in June.  This is a group of about 40 youth and their adult leaders.  Please pray for safe travel for this group and that the Lord will move in their hearts for His purposes as they serve Him here in Peru.  Please pray also for a new opportunity that we are exploring and seeking the Lord's guidance for.  We would like to be able to minister to the local Baños del Inca primary school children once or twice a month.  The public schools here in Peru are very open to this type of ministry.  Join us in prayer as we go forward.  

"It's like America, but South"

How many of you remember this quote from the movie "Up"?.  Do you remember young Ellie and her adventure book?  

We frequently quote this to each other as we laugh about the cultural differences and ways of life here in Peru.  And during this past year, we have been filling the pages of our adventure book as the Lord has led us through many varied experiences and challenges.  

And in 2 weeks, we will be embarking on a new adventure.  We are coming back to Santa Cruz for a 5-week visit!  We are VERY excited to be coming to visit family, friends and our church.  And at the same time, we are experiencing some anxious thoughts and moments.  It has been about one year that we have been living here in Baños del Inca.  We love the way of life here (well, most of it!).  We love our ministry and our new friends and church family.  And here in Peru, 5 weeks is a LONG time. 

 We will be leaving Cajamarca for Lima on February 19th, spending the night in the airport, and then leaving Lima for San Francisco on February 20th.  Please join us in prayer for our upcoming travel and our time in the United States.  We are looking forward to seeing all of you in the U.S.; visiting and catching up!