Mission Team

My busy life just got busier! :) The mission team arrived late last night and John crawled back in bed at 2:35 a.m. this morning. I am taking the kids to school and then taking the little two to see the team.  I won't be working with them today, but will be out with them with all 5 kids tomorrow and Sunday.  We are all so excited. I am going to ask the team if 2 people from each group (they will be doing two separate works) if they will write, each day, what they did and experienced so that I can post it on my blog and you can get a different perspective of the work we are doing here. I think you would really enjoy that. Thank you for praying for First Baptist McComb and the people in Oasis, Gosen and a little Baptist church here (can't remember the name.

Please keep praying for my hip. It is improving rapidly and I was able to run 3.5 miles last night (VERY SLOWLY) and it feels better this morning. The half marathon is in 2 days and is going to be a gigantic event and I really would like to participate without getting injured even more.  I'm holding out HUGE hope that I can do it, do it well and run it in under 2 hours. We'll see!

Have a great Friday!

Update, Prayer and Thanks

So I didn't get mastitis, just a clogged milk dug! Yeah!

However, now my hip is REALLY, REALLY bad. I ran 10 miles last night and today I can hardly walk. I am set to run a half marathon on Sunday morning, so I seriously pray it gets better.

We have a mission team coming from McComb, Mississippi. This team is SUPER special to us because they were our first team ever as missionaries. They are the team that had the party for our children. We are so excited to do ministry with them and just be around them again. Please pray for them as they are here to serve a local church as well support the ministry God has called us too. They will be doing VBS, evangelism, prayer walking and whatever else God leads them to do. Remember...McComb Mississippi.

Yesterday, I studied the Bible with Empleada again and this question came up. Please let me know what you think the Bible says. Who should be served first.....believers or unbelievers? Meaning: if someone has a need, which need do you meet first - the believer or the unbeliever?

John and I did a Bible study, today, out in one of our areas. It was okay. They weren't really paying attention and there were a lot of distractions. Nonetheless, it was nice that we could do it together. This afternoon, the Pastor's daughters from our church came over and we practiced our Spanish and English. It was A LOT of fun and I am getting better and better again from all of my practice. I am SOOOO Happy!

I'm sorry I have left you hanging about what was presented to us for the IMB. It will take me a little while to type it out, so I keep putting it off. Maybe tomorrow.

Prayer requests:

for wisdom and guidance in our decision making our future assignment.

for FBC McComb as they come to minister alongside of us.

for relief from the terrible nightmares I have been having for several months.

for lives to be changed the areas we are working in.
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for my knee and hip to stop hurting and for the ability to continue running.

Thankful for:

my new friend, Angela, that lives in my neighborhood.

for my hubby and best friend.

for the cutest little baby.

the mission team that is coming.

the fall-like weather that reminds me of "November" in Florida.

for Ally, Jaxson, Avery and Parker.

for shrimp.

runner's world magazine.

and the 1/2 marathon on Sunday!

Catch Up

I think I am coming down with Mastytis (sp...) again. UGH! Please pray it disappears and I don't end up feeling like I have the full blown flu tomorrow!

Updates from the kid's physicals:

Ally is very constipated (TMI).

Ally need to see an opthamologist, too. I kind of already knew that was coming.

Parker needs and EEG from the neurologist due to some coordination, balance issues he has had since birth. They aren't getting any better and since the chord was wrapped around his neck 3 times, low apgar scores and he was in distress during birth for a little while, this is a good step (almost 10 years later). I am glad we are doing this since he is not outgrowing some of the concerns we have.

Jaxson was deemed perfectly healthy in every way. :)

I am thankful for:

What God is doing in my heart through His word.

for my two girlfriends who love me enough to hold me accountable in my pursuit of the word and for sharing with me daily what God is teaching them. This is changing my life and time with God radically.

for the fact that the doctor only charged me for 2 appointments instead of 3. Would that EVER happen in America.

That hubby and I got to take a nap together today for 2 hours. I just loved that he was sleeping next to me. We were so tired.

for some good news from the IMB about our future assignment. I will share this in another post tomorrow.

checking in

I am still alive. The weekend was very encouraging spiritually, but very exhausting physically. I have many posts in my head, but really no time to get them to you. 3 of my kids have exhaustive physicals this afternoon and it will take a looooooonnnnnngggg time. So, you probably won't here from me unfil tomorrow unless I am able to write this afternoon.

I can't wait for you to see the pictures of us in the middle of the desert on the dune-buggy. It was the most terrifying, wonderful experience of my life. :)

We're Here

We arrived here safely last night. We accidentally took a "very" scary detour and it took us 4 hours and 45 minutes to get here instead of 3 hours. Hey, that's how long it took me to  run my 3rd marathon. Anyway, the hotel is absolutely beautiful and we are enjoying English worship, devotional times, and fellowship with our fellow missionaries. I never got around to writing blogs that will automatically pop up this weekend so it is probable you won't here from me.

Thankful for:

no dishes for these few days.

a beautiful heated pool with pretty flowers.

our supervisor and his lovely wife.

that my kids are taken well care of.

an easy baby that travels well.

my best friend, hubby, that I enjoy being around.

for the "very" cool air this morning. It was so refreshing.

for my 2 girlfriends, back home, who have agreed to hold me accountable, and I them, with my daily quiet times.

Pray for:

• Safety to our trip to Ica
• For the house to not burn down while we are gone.
• For the kids to sleep in peace while we are gone.
• For no major earthquakes.
• For a fun, restful, encouraging time in Ica.
• For a word from the Lord regarding our future assignments. We have a meeting with our boss and he has an opportunity he wants to discuss with us.
• For safety during our dune-buggy adventure!!!! :) 

Refreshment

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we are leaving today to go to a nearby city called Ica. I have some posts that are "scheduled" to upload to my blogger so be checking back for them.

Please pray that we will get to Ica safely and that our kids will be okay without us. They haven't been away from us, like this, in almost 3 years. We are going away for a work "retreat" that is hosted by our IMB supervisor. We decided to not bring all of the kids since I did not want them to miss school and John and I desperately need some time away. Since we don't have the money to go anywhere, we thought this would be a good opportunity to take advantage of a free trip out of Lima; my first, by the way. Of course, Baby Miles will be coming with us, but there will be a sweet missionary there who will be helping with the kids. Each day we will have a time of worship, a devotional, yummy food and 5 hours of free time (there is a pool). We are super excited and thankful that God has brought this time of refreshment exactly when it is needed.

Enjoy my "pre-written" posts and nos vemos.

Wonderful Wednesday

Still laying down  my cross to bare and picking up His cross. I'm thankful for:

the retreat that I am going on this week from late Thursday to Sunday in a city oustide of Lima called Ica. We are only taking the baby.

the opportunity to "sand board" and/or ride dune buggies in the sand during the retreat.

my good friend, Kelley, who will keep two of our boys while the two girls stay here with Maria.

for the gummy worms I found in Wong. They remind me of my childhood.

for the fact that I am 3 lbs. from my high school weight.

for sweet comments on my blog.

for a marriage of 13 years that almost didn't make it past two.

for Maria's very encouraging comments yesterday about our family. I had been praying that God would send someone to encourage me and remind me that somehow, someway I truly am making a difference here.

for Addie telling me that I have a "big" vocabulary in Spanish.

for the ability to communicate through Skype on the computer. We are johnpham777 by the way.

the mission teams that allow us to have stuff mailed to them so that they can bring it with us.

for a baby that is pooping many times a day.

for a little girl, Ally, who has a sensitive heart towards the Lord and has incredible conviction and discernment for an 8 year old.

for my 76 year old Mema. She is truly the sweetest, most loving person I know. In a few months I am going to be hugging her neck.

And for the opportunity to be THANKFUL, because it truly has lifted my spirits these past few days. It is impossible to be down when I am so busy giving thanks.

Spanish Practice

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to study the Bible with my house helper, Maria. This is something we are going to start doing twice a week. Hey, if I can't go to them, I might as well take advantage of the opportunity that I have when others are with me. It was such a sweet, sweet time and she said so many nice things about our family and how much we have influenced her. WOW! I was so surprised. I had no idea. We are doing a study called, Hacia La Meta, which translates "Toward the Goal." It is a canned study, so it requires no "prep" time and is perfect for a mom with 5 little ones. I was even reminded of some important Biblical truths during the study. Plus, it was great Spanish practice.

In the afternoon, the Pastor's daughter, Addie, came over so that we can exchange English for Spanish and vice versa. We spoke for half an hour in English and I asked her a ton of questions and I corrected her when she made mistakes. And then we switched to Spanish and she did the same for me. She seemed so relieved when we switched to her native tongue. Boy, do I know that feeling. I think that our levels are very, very similar so it made for a great mix. I think she did very well and she said the same about me. She said I just need to practice some of the more "complicated" verb structures (subjunctive) and prepositions. Well, I didn't learn many prepositions in C.R., so I am not surprised to hear this. It was a good confidence booster to be able to communicate very well with both of them. The Spanish is definitely "there" it just needs to come out more often. My fluidity will return as I continue to practice. I will study again next week with Maria, and Addie is planning on coming over again as well. I feel good about both of these activities since they are in my home and not causing me more stress.

Still Looking Up

Thankful for:

long phone conversations, in English, with my girlfriends back in the States.

My hubby who took Jaxson to the eye doctor last night so I didn't have to fight traffic.

the money to buy Jaxson's glasses and medical insurance.

that Jaxson's other eye is perfect.

excellent doctors in Lima that speak perfect English.

my empleada (house helper) who is a loving, Christian woman and brings such joy to our house when she is here.

a baby's first tooth.

the friend who sent me Cadbury eggs and the other friend who is going to send me more eggs.

money to buy groceries every single week.

a house with wood floors instead of just plain ol' concrete or dirt floors (tierra).

an oldest child who loves his siblings so very much and treats his little brother like a king and still kisses his momma in public.

A hubby that everyone likes.

for God calling us to a ministry that is by no means "dead."

for the opportunity to see God work here in ways that have absolutely nothing to do with us.

for the refreshing "cooler" air these last few days that have really felt beautiful.

for the opportunity to run 13.2 miles on Sunday alone.

for a crying baby that needs me right now.

Shaking

In the early morning hours, we were awoken by the shaking of the bed. It was quite scary as we realized it was an earthquake. It only lasted about 20 seconds and didn't seem too violent, but it was pretty strong nonetheless. I am praying that no one was hurt and it wasn't a monumental earthquake somewhere in Peru. The rest of the night I dreamt about earthquake type stuff. I think I prefer hurricanes in Florida as opposed to earthquakes in Peru.

http://www.livinginperu.com/news/11993

I found this article to confirm it wasn't just a mouse under our bed.

Success

Tonight I learned of 3 families that we went to language school with that are no longer on the mission field for one reason or another. And those are only people we keep up with. There might even be more than that. After Saturday's post of feeling like I haven't had any success, I guess I just want to say that my time here is a sucess. I HAVE MADE IT! I will never forget the IMB Counselor telling me that "I am a wild card." Translation: I am a loose cannon with a lot of baggage and if I make it it will be a long shot." But I AM still here and I have made it and I am far from a wild card! SUCCESS! SUCCESS! SUCCESS!

Thank you Lord for sustaining me and keeping me on the field despite the odds that were stacked against me from the beginning.

Somebunny Loves Me

As most of you know, I am in love with the Cadbury Creme egg. It  does not exist here and I crave it every Easter.  Well, my friend, Michelle, from college, who lives in Australia, was so kind to ship me some eggs that she found ALL the way to me here in Peru. Australia to Peru! That is a long trek.  I was so happy and suprised to receive them.   I was generous and shared the "little" eggs with my kids. There were three "big" eggs in the package. I ate two, but not at the same time, mind you. I had one left and wouldn't you know, some little thief cute kid stole it and gobbled it up as quick as they could. I was more sad that I wouldn't get the third egg than I was about the actual thievery itself.  I must say that every single bit of the two eggs were pure heaven. I loved them and they were worth every fattening calorie. 

My other good friend, Amy, has promised to send some eggs to a team  that is coming next week, so hopefully this blog will serve as a reminder of how heartbroken I will be if she forgets!

Anyway, the reason that Michelle knew I loved Cadbury Eggs is because a few months ago she went back and started reading my blog from the very beginning. She read every single post and remembered my favorite chocolate Easter passion. How cool is that?

Anyway, do you know how everyone has a "happy" place they should go to when they are sad or in pain? Well, my happy place is the chocolate river in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. It is my favorite place to go when I need to just check out. And in my happy place, it is also filled with Cadbury Eggs.

What's your favorite chocolate treat and where is your happy place?

laying down my cross

Yesterday during my long run, I was thinking about how each one of  us has our "cross to bare." I have a friend whose son died years ago during his teenage years and she has a broken heart that will never go away. Another good friend of mine has terrible varicose vein problems, on her legs, that not only look horrible, but cause her an immense amount of chronic pain. And another sweet friend has an incredibly manipulative difficult mother-in-law who won't obey her "wishes" on how she wants her children raised. This same friend also has a cute baby that refuses to sleep through the night. And then there is me with my constant struggles with a mentally abusive, drug-addicted mother, living in a foreign culture that constantly seems "foreign" and trying to speak a language that I don't get enough opportunities to practice and subsequently end up looking pretty dumb. So....we all have our "thing." I bet right now you are thinking about the "thing" that plagues you and is always there as a reminder of how much you need God, His strength and His guidance. I think that without these things, we might become so self-dependent that we forget our need for Him. Even Paul, in the Bible, had his "thorn in his side." I often wonder what it was. It definitely wasn't a mother in law or varicose veins. :)

Anyway, in light of ALL of our problems, I think it is best to look "up" (thank you Jonatha for that gracious and much needed reminder) instead of dwelling on the issues at hand. So, instead of daily reminding you how hard my life is here and constantly lamenting about my cultural struggles, I'm going to daily post a list, on top of my normal blogs, of things I am so ever grateful for. How can one stay down when they are focusing on such blessings? And praise the Lord I have a lot of them. I can think of 6 right off the top of my head! :)


So I am setting down my cross to bare and picking up The Cross that has blessed me with this life of freedom and intimacy with God. 

I am so thankful:

for perfectly healthy kids and for so many children.

A good-looking, intelligent, thin husband who takes care of the "details."

I am thankful that he also cleans rugs :) (see previous pictures)

that my hubby allows me to spend a lot of time running because he knows it makes me a better mom and wife.

for my children's school.

for a sweet baby that smiles and grabs my face to kiss me when he sees me.

for my relationship with my very kind dad (Papa Dean).

for cheap Peruvian food that is quite healthy.

for Papa John's 2 for 1 specials on Tuesday night.

for the gardeners in our neighborhood who work so hard to keep the grass green, the bushes trimmed and the flowers looking beautiful.

for friends that haven't seen me very much these past 3 years, but still faithfully call me and are committed to a long distance friendship.

for the sweet lady, whom I've never met, when I asked for a discount on a new blog, on her own accord felt led to donate her services to me.

for God's immense patience with my impatience, struggles, doubts and faithlessness at times.


for friends, like you, who are reading my list.

for my favorite color, Red!

Easter Party

Phamily Life

Parker and I stargazing at night. Yes, there were a TON of stars and YES that is a bug on my neck!

Cleaning Rugs

In the states if you have a dirty rug you can simply rent a steam cleaner to get it nice and clean. Here, you have to beat the rug out and then srcub it by hand and let it dry in the sun all day. It took John about 4 hours, and lots of creativity to get our rugs clean. Look at the the "thingys" he built to help the process. So funny! I thought you might enjoy seeing these. Next time you clean your carpets with a steam cleaner, think of us.

A banana farmer

I have two banana trees in my yard from the previous missionary. I water them constantly and look what we have now! Lots of bananas. You can practically see them growing by the hour (no kidding) they are growing so fast. It is a neat process to watch. The red hanging thingy will release more bananas in a few weeks. The only problem is that I have no idea when I should actually cut them down.

A Girl's Night Out, Ballet

My friend Kelley and her 3 girls. She has 2 boys at home.

A cutey - no matter what

Had a bad day

Today is one of the worst days I have had in about 3 years. Our stress level is so high around here. Please pray for our family and please pray that I can hang in "here" for 3 1/2 more months. I'm sure you can tell from my recent posts that culturally I am not in a very good place. The outside stress of living here is causing inside stress as well. My missionary friend who has lived here for over 10 years says that it is VERY hard the last few months before stateside assignment. This is almost as hard as when we first got on the field. I am feeling that "kind" of stress inside and I also feel like my first term has been a failure on almost all levels. John disagrees with me, but inside I feel that I have been very useless and have failed in so many areas.

In happier news, Jaxson got glasses today. I did it ALL by myself. I took him downtown and back (John says this should be considered as one of my successes). We went downtown because there are 3 blocks FULL of optical stores and the selection is so big). Anyway, We picked the glasses and had them made, ate lunch (for 1.75 a plate, apetizer, drink and desert) and were home in a record time of 3.5 hours. :) Once the kids go to sleep I will post a picture of Jaxson with his new lenses. He was like a girl picking them out. I let him pick the ones "he" wanted. This was so hard for me, but I'm not the one who has to wear them and I truly wanted them to express his personality and not mine.

The cost of living in Lima

Jaxson is getting glasses. He was born with a cataract and his latest appointment (the first in two years), showed that he is near sighted in that eye. They do not recommend surgery at this time and his glasses will only have one lense that is prescription. He is going to look so cute. We will go pick them out tomorrow and they should cost around $30. In case you were wondering, John left at 4 p.m. for the appointment and returned at 9 p.m. Yes, he did a few errands while he was out, but the bulk of it was at the appointment and driving. I'm glad it was him and not me.

But this morning I "got mine" when I drove the kids to school and I timed that it took me 31 minutes to go less then 2 miles. The entire drive to school is exactly 6 miles. I repeat - 6 miles. It took me 41 minutes this morning. Homeschooling is looking better and better every single time I hope in the car (and I'm not kidding about that).

Tonight I am going to see Swan Lake with Ally and my girlfriend and her 3 daughters. Can you believed I only paid $10 for the two of us to go? I love that we can actually do cool things here at reasonable prices. Maybe that makes up for the unbelievable traffic. And...John and I ate out at lunch today, our Friday tradition, and we only paid $7 for 3 plates of food, 3 appetizers and 3 drinks. We bought 3 because Avery was with us and we just order her food and then we eat it.

Our vehicle needed a new fan motor this week. Instead of replacing it, a guy rebuilt/fixed it. It took him 4 hours and he charged us $8. WOW!!! We just can't help but wonder if this is partially why so many Peruvians are poor.

Gotta go get ready for the ballet. Have a great Friday Evening!

Pressure

The Pastor's Wife at our church has really been putting a TON of pressure on me to attend the weekly Book/Bible study that the church offers on Thursday mornings at 9 a.m. John has really been encouraging me to go. But the truth is that I have zero desire to go and I don't have peace about it at all. Now you are probably asking why I wouldn't have peace about going to a Bible study. Well, I'll tell you. John is completely OVERLOADED in every single sense of the word. He is taking a seminary class, starting a new church, maintaining the other church, discipling several believers, constantly has a ton of administrative work for the IMB (ie., it took him over 6 hours yesterday to do 1 expense report), mission teams coming all summer and the immense amount of work that goes with that, and he is planning this huge pastor's conference for next year. And all of that in a culture that you can't get very much done very quickly. And every day there is something "extra" that pops up like a flat tire (today), a sick kid (yesterday), a school activity, an IMB conference (next week), IMB paperwork for our stateside, etc... You get the point, I'm sure. He just has a lot on his plate (notice I didn't even touch on the 5 kids and their needs) which means I have a lot on my plate. So if I am gone from the house for this study, then that means that he has to stop EVERYTHING so that I can go and then it just creates more stress later on because things have to get done regardless. Plus, on Thursdays there are 3 kids at home instead of 2 and I am spending 2 hours in the car everyday taking them and picking them up. It's crazy. It's really not that far away - like 10 miles or less, but the traffic is unreal here. It's making me not want to ever leave the house. On average, I go 2 miles in 20 minutes during peak hours. I can run there faster than that. I digress. Back to the study....they are studying "Becoming a Woman After God's own Heart" By Elizabeth George. Great book! I have read it twice and studied in a group once. So of course, I don't want to do it again. But still, there is the pressure on me to attend so that "the women of the church can get to know me better and pray for our family." How sweet, but I just honestly feel that I need to be home taking care of the house and trying to support John every single day instead of adding more on his plate (trust me, he helps me enough as it is). So today, I e-mailed the sweet Pastor's wife and just told her that I can't do it. And no sooner than I sent the e-mail we realized we had a flat tire in the van. See, it wouldn't have worked out anyway. So John had to stop and change the tire and then go try to get it fixed. Then I took the kids to school and stopped at a grocery store to buy tickets to see the Swan Lake Ballet tomorrow night ($7 for 2 kid's tickets...woohooo). I stopped at the ATM to take out all of our money for the entire month (fees are high) and we envelope budget. The ticket place wasn't open even though they were suppose to be. I waited for 20 minutes for her to arrive. I then went to get the tickets and her printer was broken. An hour of wasted time in the grocery store and it was still broken and I walked out with no tickets. This is so common here. Well, I went to get my keys and I couldn't find them. Jaxson had left them on top of the ATM machine. Praise God they were there when we went back. All I could think is that there is always "something" in this country and it is a good idea that I'm not doing the study. John needs me, the kids need me and I need me to not be stressed out or overbooked. I am trying to leave "margin" in my life for days like today. And trust me, living here you needs LOTS of it!!!

All that to say, I'm not doing the study and I hope the Pastor's wife understands and stops the pressure. John is fine with me not doing it. I'm sure I need the fellowship BADLY, but it will have to wait until July 31st. :)

Thanks for listening!

I just need an Air Conditioner!

Today I was burning up ALL day and I was little bit "on edge." I took the thermometer outside to get a more accurate reading and it said 101.4 after 10 minutes. No wonder I was sweaty, sticky and irritable. Oh how I wish I had an A/C to crank up. The fan just isn't doing the job. I kept moving it around today so that it was blowing on me no matter where I was.

So we are hoping to buy annual Disney Waterpark passes (Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach) for the entire family when we are in Florida. It will cost us $520 plus tax for 6 of us with the FL resident discount, but we can go every single day for a year. Too bad we will only be there for 6 months, but they don't sell 6 month passes. So, we are starting to try and earn money and save up now since we definitely don't have that money. The school is having a yard sale at the end of next month and I am going to sell everything that isn't nailed down or used daily. I hope this gives us a big jump start to our waterpark passes. We have less than 4 months to earn the money. We are all excited so I'm sure I can convince the kids to come up with creative ways to add to the savings.

Ally stayed home sick today. I am proud to report that we had one week, last week where no one was sick.

Enjoy the videos of Miles. Please tell me if you have a problem watching them.

See for yourself!

For the first time since Miles was born, six months ago, you can see a video of him. And if you make it to the end of the 2nd video, you can hear me speak Spanish! I hope you enjoy these!

Welcome Home

Welcome to my new blog home.

Thank you Mary, Mary Quite Contrary for such a wonderful, undeserved gift. I love my new look.

I am going to keep the blog open for now and it shouldn't be a problem as long my link is not shared. Let's try to keep it private by not sharing it.

I am so excited for my new look. Let Mary know what you think by commenting. She'd be happy to help you if you need to update your blog. Check her out!

In the next few days, when time permits, I will be adding pictures on the side again as well as making some tweeks. Be on the lookout for changes. Too cool! Thank you God for this sweet blessing.

It's a coming.....

I know you've been waiting with baited breath, but today I will unveil my new blog. So come back later for the grand opening. Can't wait for you all to see it - it's SOOOO me!!! And I'll tell you ALL how God totally blessed me with this upgrade. He is so good!

Breaking News

This just in - literally - baby Miles has cut his first tooth. I am such a bad mom. It has already broken the skin and I just realized that he has it. But before I beat myself up too much, I need to tell you that the reason I didn't notice it is because it isn't one of the bottom two teeth that children normally cut first. And it wasn't one of the top two teeth that usually follow. Nope! His first tooth is his upper, right incisor. How interesting! We've known he was special all along and now he's just proving it!

Baptism Sunday

Today we had baptisms for the new area, Gosen, that John is planting a church in. We have known the family of peace there for over a year and a half, but finally are available to start working in the area. Anyway, we have met three times and have seen decisions for Christ and today was a beautiful day of baptisms.This is the ENTIRE group! A few members from the church plant in Oasis and a family from our Bible study in Santa Rosa came out to watch and support the baptisms. That meant so much to us. God is really working. This is the ENTIRE reason we are here. I am so proud of John for making a difference here.

Alina - Received Christ on Easter

The river in Lurin outside of Lima, Peru
Aldo being baptized. His parents were baptized today as well.
Sandra!
Reinaldo, Aldo's Father!
Susana - Reynaldo's wife, Aldo's mother.
Brigida loving on Miles. She and her daughter hold him constantly. I can't pry him out of their arms. He loves them, too!
Everyone in this picture was Baptized today! There were 8 in total!
Marita being Baptized.

Pro0f I was there! :)

A view from the top!

Orlandine being baptized!

The church plant in Gosen. This is different than the other group picture. The other group picture has the people from Gosen and some of the group that came from Oasis and Santa Rosa.

Jaxson being baptized, but check out the guy in the back!

Jaxson was over the moon excited. He took his first Lord's supper tonight as well.

View from Below
Close-up of the church group at Gosen.

God is growing a church in Gosen and He is doing it quickly.