Oct 2007

The Earthquake

On the 15th August an earthquake of 8.0 struck the central coastal region of Peru, just 90 miles south of Lima. Around 500 people were killed and 10’s of thousands left homeless. Most of the evangelical churches in the region were destroyed. Believers lost their homes and all their possessions including their Bibles.

The region continued to be rocked by earthquakes for a week in which there were 26 earthquakes over 5.0.

It has been a privilege as a team to be involved with helping the relief effort. We (as a mission) have supplied 600 bibles to the Christians in the area, have set up a community kitchen in Pisco to feed around 100 people 3 meals per day, provided food and blankets for 4 of the churches in the Pisco area and organised for counselling seminars with Pastors & Church leaders in the area. This has been warmly welcomed. Please continue to pray for the Christians in the area and for those of our team who are involved directly with supporting the people in this area. Pray also for the local Christians that through this disaster they would be able to share their faith with others and remain close to the Lord.

The children in Max Uhle school have also been collecting clothes and food which have all been sent up to the affected areas

Community Kitchen in Pisco
serving Rice & Tuna

So the Reuters have returned and they have been such a blessing to us in the last few months.
We try and meet together once a week for breakfast or for supper to discuss what has been going on in the last week. We are also thinking about the future of the project and seeking the Lord’s will.

They have also accompanied us to school to speaking with all the tutors and this has been a huge help to us. When we first talked with the teachers in school we spoke of the need to give the children 6 months to learn the language and settle in, Phillip especially. At first this didn’t seem to be adhered to, but in the last week we’ve heard from 5 of the teachers that they are amazed at the difference in Phillip in the last 4 weeks and actually they believe that he needed time to settle in and learn the language. We don’t like to say “we told you so….” Phillip has improved vastly in all subjects, we’re especially proud that he’s actually better than some of his classmates in German! And they’ve been learning German for 5 years now!

Margo Morrow has also now left Arequipa to begin her ministry in Lima. Debbie especially has been very upset and asked one day last week “why doesn’t God let her work in Arequipa?”
We’ve also met with all the churches again and Iain and Siegfried have been visiting them individually. They have encountered a few problems like children turning up late and missing the devotional. So pray for wisdom as the churches deal with these things and work with the parents. Also pray for wisdom as Iain and Siegfried speak with the leaders in the programme to help them in different aspects.

We also managed to take a short break in July to Majes. It took about 3 hours on a bus to get there and it was so beautiful and green! The kids had a lovely time out of the city and in the open with peace a quiet. It was a lot colder than we expected and so we only stayed for 2 nights; but we took them white-water rafting and they’re still talking about it!

3 weeks’ ago we took our first youth meeting in one of the churches here. It was good to share with the young peopled aged 11-20 about the importance of studying their bibles and praying, not just for Peru, but the whole world.

We want to wish you a HAPPY CHRISTMAS! Hopefully this will be your first Christmas greeting!
We will be having a very busy few months to finish off the year!

On 1st October a new Breakfast Programme started up in a church called Cuidad de Dios (City of God) here in Arequipa with 50 children. This church had the programme in the past, but due to problems in the church, they have not had it for 2 years. Pray for the team of 8 who have signed up lead it that God would use them to speak to the children and their families. Iain went to the inauguration of the programme last Sunday.

Thank you for your prayers for Heather as she studied a TEFL course, she has now qualified and is able to begin teaching. So she will be having a class in the house twice a week for an hour each time on Monday and Wednesday. Please pray for those who have signed up for the class, there are 5 of them, a Christian girl who is at university, a Christian Pastor, a Catholic theologian from the local university, an accountant and Heather’s gym instructor. (all are in their 20’s). Pray for opportunities to share her faith over the coming months.

Then there is a Youth Leaders Conference here in Arequipa 5-8 October which Iain is going to. Pray that it will be a time to build up contacts and think about future ministry with young people.

We’re also planning a Retreat for around 150 helpers of the Breakfast Programme 23-25 November. This is an annual event, but it didn’t take place last year because the Reuters were in Germany. So pray for this event that it will be a blessing to all who attend and that we can be an encouragement to all the workers.

Sometime in November Siegfried and Iain are planning a trip to the highlands to visit all the Breakfast Programmes for 10 days or so. Please pray for safety as they travel and that they would be a blessing to those they meet.

During December we will be busy with preparing things for Christmas celebrations. Each church will receive a Paneton (typical Christmas cake), cocoa to make a hot chocolate drink and a small practical gift for each of the children in their church. Pray for this celebration in each of the churches, as for a majority of these children it will be the only celebration they will have for Christmas.

The Reuters too will be involved more and more with medical work, so pray for them as they seek to help those in come in contact with.

Heather has also begun to knit again—Dorothee and her would like to set up the knitting project again, which some of you may remember from the last time we were in Peru. The idea is to have a selection of baby clothes made and then to invite young mothers/pregnant mothers to learn to knit alongside Heather and learn to sew alongside Dorothee. This will then be followed up with discipleship/ evangelistic thought (and maybe even something to eat and drink).

Please also continue to remember our health. Iain has been very good on his diet and has lost 12 kilos. He has a list of food that he’s not allowed to eat, so sometimes meals need thought about carefully! He exercises 6 times a week and this has helped tremendously.
Heather continues to go to the gym, sometimes with Phillip.

Debbie at the moment has a bit of a chest cold which will hopefully clear quickly.
Phillip is keeping well, although recently he’s had a few accidents playing football in school and these have caused frequent nosebleeds. We are considering getting him contact lenses for sports as recently he has broken one pair of glasses completely in football and bent another pair badly!

In closing, once again we would like to thank all of your for your prayerful and practical support as we continue in the ministry here in Arequipa. We pray that you would know God’s blessings. Please continue to send us emails and letters, we so enjoy keeping up to date with what’s happening in your lives!

You see, at just the right time….Christ died for the ungodly, very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man,.. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8