Convenient Foods

Look what I found here in Lima. I think I bought them all. When you find American food, that is easy to prepare, you BUY it and then you BUY THEM ALL!!! SCORE!!! We have eaten a lot of burritos the last few days with these re-fried beans. I have NEVER seen them here before. And how cool it will be to have canned beans without soaking black beans for 24 hours. And sausage? And diced tomatoes? You just gotta buy them when you see them. Happy Missionary!!!

Pictures from the Jungle Trip

Honestly, I am so thankful for people, like these, who are willing to go out into places that are not easy to reach.  It sounds adventurous, but it actually very hard, tiring, uncomfortable work. Anyway, keep praying for this team until tomorrow night (and my sweet hubby, too). John says he has not been this tired in a long time - to the point of massive headache.  :(   When I see these pictures, I am just so thankful for my daily blessings and my bed. :)

Amazon Jungle

Happy Sunday. The mission team, and my hubby, are going up the Amazon River today into the jungle. Please pray for them. Please pray for us as I had a fender bender last night. We are all okay, but it was a very emotional and ugly experience. More importantly, keep the team in your thoughts and prayers and pray for extreme safety.

Missionary Kids

To be a Missionary Kid means you are a Third Culture Kid. You are 2 cultures mixed together which really makes you a third culture.  It's special to be an MK or a TCK and sometimes they are the only people who understand each other and what it means to live in a culture that is not your own, but then is sort of your own.

Each year, our mission has a special MK retreat for students that are 7th graders or older. This year, Parker was able to attend his first ever retreat. It was in the same facility that we had our meetings, but he was in a room with a peer and had complete freedom and was on a different schedule than us. We only saw him a few times during the week.  All of the Mks really bonded and learned a lot about the Lord.  All that to say, here is a picture of the older Mks. They are connected in an indescribable way. This particular group is from all over Central and South America.

Here is a really cool description of what it means to be a Third Culture Kid (TCK). I feel like a TCAdult (not sure if there is such a thing). :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_culture_kid

Medical Clinic - Poverty :(

Unfortunately, I do not have time to post everything I posted on Facebook (mainly pictures) so please feel free to click on the link to see the pictures, poverty and process, from today's medical clinic. You DO NOT have to have Facebook to access the page. Click below for access:

Phamilyof7inperu

And....

You can pray for me. Here is the reality...I am working behind the scenes, here at home, and I LOVE IT. However, when John leaves the kids go crazy and mommy starts crying (LOL). Not really, but it makes for a long, tiring week. I ask that you pray that this trip will be different on my end...peaceful, obedient, fun and that it flies by. :)

A lot of hard work

The mission team has arrived and they are already working hard to get ready for tomorrow's clinic in the city. They have had very little sleep after two long days of traveling.  Serving is often tiresome, but in the end it is worth it.  Let's get some people healthy this week and point them to the Lord.

A Trip to the Jungle

Please pray for John and a team from Winnsboro, Texas (Pine Street Baptist Church and Journey Baptist Church) as they leave tomorrow, for a week. They will be serving in Puerto Maldonado which is a Gateway City to the Amazon Jungle. They will be offering free Medical Clinics to the people of the city. Also, they will be heading up the Amazon River, via boat, to offer medical care to the natives that live in the jungles of Puerto Santa Teresita and Boca Inambary. It is our hope that no one becomes ill and that all are safe and that many nationals will be blessed from the work of this mission team. Also, think of me, and the children, as I will be here holding down the fort.  It's great to be a missionary. 
https://www.facebook.com/phamilyof7inperu

The Mission Team from Texas

A Glimpse of the Amazon River in Peru

The national Missionary who will be leading the trip

A glimpse of the gateway city - Puerto Maldonado

Dominican Republic

We just came back from a 10 day, all expenses paid,  retreat that was held in the Dominican Republic. Our mission sent us there as a time of refreshment, encouragement, and teaching. Our guest speaker was Dr. David Platt, author of Radical. This trip was exactly what we needed at the right time. Here are a few pictures of our time there.

Here I am with Dr. David Platt

Trying Harder

I pretty much stink when it comes to keeping in touch with our ministry and prayer partners. I felt really convicted to let people know what we are doing overseas and how God is working.  You can find us at Instagram - phamilyof7inperu
on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/phamilyof7inperu
and of course on this page.

I hope this helps because I might not ever get a newsletter sent.  Look for prayer requests, ministry events, life happenings and praise reports. Thanks for joining us on this journey. I really hope I can be more consistent through social ministry.

Prayer Partners

We are praying for 50 prayer partners.  Will you join us as we seek to to serve the Lord and people in Lima, Peru?  This blog will serve to post pictures, prayer requests and short updates. We have not used it in years, but it will be a good place to post quickies. :) Lots of good things are happening in ministry and in our lives. It is our desire to be more diligent in communicating with you all.

We have 19 prayer partners now. :)

You can find us on instagram at:

phamilyof7inperu

Blogging??? What's that!

I have not blogged in over 2 years. It took me 10 minutes just to figure out to how to even log into this thing. I could not remember log-ins, passwords.....nada. But now I am here.

I think I might start blogging again. Does anyone even follow this anymore?

The end

This next season of life in Peru will not include a blog. I don't think anyone reads anymore, anyway. I will be making it private where only I can read it becaue I don't want to lose the 3 years of memories and photos. However, I will no longer be blogging. We had a great go at it and I enjoyed all of your comments and feedback. I hope God blesses you all.

Untangled

I think I've spent the last ten years of my Christian Walk "doing" good things and trying to "be a good person." I want to spend the next just "being" God's girl.....just basking in His love and giving that love back to others. I don't want to be entangled in a legalistic web of do's and dont's that aren't scriptural and don't necessarily point people back to Christ. The freedom I feel in the Lord is truly invigorating. And because of that freedom, each day I am experiencing His love in a new way. Instead of having a relationship with God that exemplifies the word "conviction," I feel that I am moving into a relationship that echos "freedom and hope." After all, He is the one that gives me hope and He came to set the captives (me and you) free. Why I ever tried to entangle myself in a bunch of rules and regulations, in the name of Christ, makes no sense, when Christ came to untangle us. This next season of ministry in Peru is going to look totally different for us. But more importantly, I hope this next phase of being God's Girl is radical and life changing for myself and for those God places in my path.

Thought I would pop in and say hi so that they don't close down my blogger account. :)

We are plugging along in our stateside assignment. We are less than 3 months to go and then we return to Peru. It is with great anticipation that we go "home" in January.

The kids are all doing very well. Miles is walking and talking up a storm. Parker just turned 10 last month, Miles turned 1 and this week we will celebrate Jaxson's 7th birthday.

John and I have been in a rough patch these days, but we are confident that God will guide us out of it and sustain us while we are in it and that are marriage will only be stronger and better on the other side of this.

I'm still running a lot and am currently training for the Walt Disney World Marathon for 2011. One of my goals, that day, is to break the 4 hour mark. :) I am training hard and am feeling like it is a real possiblity.

Well, that's all for now. I'm off to a 5k with my 3 oldest kids this morning.

Have a great fall morning.

Love,
Jess