Holy Trinity Church - Day 6

***Special guest blogger Emily from the Holy Trinity Church Service Team***

WOW is about all we can say.

Quick run down of the day- pllllease ask us for details later, we're wiped, attempting to reflect on this experience and planning for another full day.

7:30 bfast

8 boys left for The Juniper Tree

8:30 girls left with Brenda (Tyler's wife) to go grocery shopping for "Love Gifts" for some of the ladies of the Oasis Care Center then we went to visit them in their homes. We we're welcomed into 3 homes and it was moving to say the least. No words could do it justice. We visited with these women, whose stories, we could never compare our own to, encouraged them through scripture, then would pray for them and their family.







Noonish girls arrived at the Tree to help complete the boys mighty hard work, we broke for lunch and then did a good clean up of all our materials, and unloaded some more materials that "Mucho Machi" (house dad who has the only license to drive the Kids Alive bus, only speaks Spanish, but we did teach to say "Sup Bro", Richardo also tries to teach him English...all around GREAT DUDE) had brought back to the Tree.





1:30 went to some ruins, super cool to see the the desert meet the ocean, with a bit of lush valley in the mix. So thankful we opted to ride the tour, instead of hike the tour.







3:30 picked Edwardo up from The Tree and said more goodbyes....gross.

4 hit Manchay and dropped Edwardo off for the last time, again, another goodbye...gross.



4:30 hit our neighborhood (Lo Molina) and said goodbye to Tyler...we were super sad to say goodbye to this legit dude. What's great is that he totally started making cracks on us, by the end of the week, praise the Lord for the hearts of these missionaries here!



packed, regrouped, hung out

6:30 dinner YUM YUM YUM AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN.

7:30 went to the Lima mall.

10 arrive back to apartment...and now reflecting.

goodnight and God Bless.
it's been great.

Finale Team Macho Machi

Holy Trinity Church - Day 5

***Special guest blogger Emily from the Holy Trinity Church Service Team***

WE FINISHED THE WORKSHOP! PRAISE THE LORD! We finished our assigned project in 4 days and we're able to start digging the trench for the electricity to be brought out to the workshop, since it is towards the back of the property. We were even able to put the piping in, and glue the piping together. Successful day. Biggest highlight of the trench digging...was finding 2 dead chickens. Then, having to move the duck coop to dig the trench behind the coop.







Lots of animals at The Juniper Tree, if we haven't told you yet. 2 goats: Ya and Yo. A dog named Negrito. 7 chickens. 7 ducks. (Who don't like each other.) And now a little kitten.



...But what was even more successful was the 4pm bonfire, s'mores, sing song, volleyball and conversing with all the children and house mothers. The little ones LOVED the s'mores and kept asking for mas, with lots of chocolate on their faces from their previous s'more. All this lead into dinner with the children in their homes, where conversations continued and relationships were strengthened. Everyone was having way too much fun to stop and take any pictures.

AAAAND JUST WHEN WE THOUGHT IT HAD GOTTEN GOOD...THEN CAME DEVOTIONS. One of the older boys, such a cool dude, lead us in worship. His buddies we're playing backup on drums and various other instruments. A room of about 50, mainly children's voices, singing unto the Lord, pretty powerful. And listen to how awesome this is...THE JUNIPER TREE IS GOING ON A MISSION TRIP! In the middle of August, the kids are headed to help Earthquake victims and are going to evanglize and share Christ's love to the hurting, so they did they're dance for us and then we joined in. Check the youtube video of some Xtreme Kids trying to be as cool as the Juniper Tree kids. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkDzVf8dNAM





When it finally got to our turn...we read the story of the woman at the well, then re-enacted it with a skit. Lane was the well. Hunter- Jesus. It was awesome. Mal was the Samaritan woman at the well....the rest of us, dressed as either a Pharisee or a disciple.

All this...just the tip of the ice burg for sure. A very busy remaining 48 hours-- please pray for strength and good health, strong finishes. Tomorrow morning-the girls will go visit with local women who need encouraging, please pray that the Lord gives us His words.

Psalm 34: 5 "Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed." AMEN AND AMEN. What we witnessed tonight...

The weather is here. Wish you were beautiful,
Team Vanilla Cookie Monster.

Holy Trinity Church - Day 4

***Special guest blogger Emily from the Holy Trinity Church Service Team***



Amigos!

Today was a whirlwind. A lot of progress has been made at The Juniper Tree. Whitney, Emily and Edwardo (the man giving the OK on the ladder who works for KidsAlive) built the forms for the roof of the workshop. So much so, that we're going into a business named 2 Chicas y un Drill. Mark, Lane, Richardo y Arthur helped to complete the Super Board/Fiber Cement board in high altitudes.

A girl at The Juniper Tree has an English exam in September- so everyday, 2 of us sit down with her, to review English words and make flashcards. Today, Duncan and Tyler spent an hour with her in the morning. They felt like she is almost ready for another lesson. She seemed to be catching on very well. They really enjoyed their time with her-all smiles after leaving their tutor session.

Katie and Mallory spent all day working on shelves for the workshop, you'll see them sitting on one of their completions, giving it a trial run. They perfected the table top saw. Katie has requested a table top saw for her birthday gift and a planer. She's considering leaving her Law Practice to make handmade crosses, out of scrap wood, to sell at the Flea Market. :) You'll see one of the older boys, joining them in the fun!







Our after dinner entertainment was one of the Worlds Largest and Finest Car Collections. We walked down our street, turned left, beat on a door and then...lights came on. Richardo had a BALL- note the picture.



It was reallllly cool. Tyler, the Construction Czar/host missionary, took us on a mighty nice tour.

We're excited that tomorrow is our evening with the kids. We'll have s'mores, devotions, songs and a skit! More to tell tomorrow.

We love you all and appreciate your role in our lives.

En Cristo,
Team USA (because we heard you are taking it to the next round in the World Cup)

Holy Trinity Church - Day 3

***Special guest blogger Emily from the Holy Trinity Church Service Team***

Back to the work site. Today we almost completed the exterior walls for the workshop, and started to install the interior walls. Tyler and Lane went to the Peruvian Home Depot for lots of supplies, so that tomorrow we can make our final push on the workshop.









For an afternoon snack, we walked into the town of Pachacamac for an ice cream snack. More soccer was played- chicas vs. chicos. Duncan scored 2 goals.

Dinner was served at the team apartment with two of the missionary families. After dinner, we drove into town (more or less) to enjoy a TASTY TREAT - ice cream and peach frozen drinks at San Antonio's. This was a lot of fun and a good time to get to know the missionaries better.





Calling it a night...tomorrow morning will be here quickly.
Thank you for the prayers-please continue to pray for the country of Peru and all that serve it, day in and day out.

signed,
team 'hoop der it iz.

Door Creek Church - Day 9

***Special guest blogger Ella and photographer Kristin Karls from the Door Creek Church Service Team***

The last and final day of our trip began with an early wake up call for breakfast at 7 AM. We had an 8:00 tour of the Islas Ballestas where we saw dolphins, humboldt penguins, and many different kinds of birds. Our tour guide Luis also showed us the mysterious Candelabra (a gigantic impressed image of a candelabra on a sand-dune) which was found in the late 1800s. It's uncertain how or who made it; when we asked why it didn't wash out of the sand we learned that it's because of the lack of wind and it only rains 22 millimeters there a year. We were also told that Guano (bird poop) is collected there for fertilizer. Overall, it was a breath-taking experience. After the tour we walked around the Paracas markets and then went to the Reserva Nacional de Paracas and saw some amazing sights and views. Shout out to Leo for the awesome driving, big appetite, and excellent sense of humor. We had an interesting lunch experience where a bunch of waiters and waitresses ran up to our van trying to get us to go to their restaurant. After lunch we headed back to Lima and had a delicious pizza dinner at the Fieje's home and sadly said our goodbyes.

This experience was life-changing and humbling for all of us and we are so thankful for all of your prayers and support.

Holy Trinity Church - Day 2

***Special guest blogger Emily from the Holy Trinity Church Service Team***

getN’ 2 werk.

Huveos for breakfast and microwaved bacon, toast and jam. We had us a buff-ette.
Then we loaded up the clown van, got some air in our tires, picked up Chica, dropped her off, picked up Eduardo, and took him with us to The Juinper Tree. He is the Master Carpenter.



Got right to work. Whitney’s words were, “I can do a drill.”
Tyler and Duncan played Picasso and panted a new clothes shed, which is on the roof. Arthur and Lane failed miserably, but the comeback story of the year- is their successful screen installation. The rest, helped to construct “walls” for what will be a workshop for the younger boys at The Juniper Tree- to learn life skills. That was tough work. You will see the photos, from the start of the day to the end of the day and the fiber cement (Super Boards) that we put up with lots of screws and bad drill bits. 3 of 4 walls are completed as of late afternoon. Lunch break was interesting. We forgot the cheese for the sandwiches, so ham, bread and condiments were the tasty treat. The loud noise during lunch was our workshop structure collapsing. Or taking a little siesta. (Not our fault) We did quickly fix it, though.









Dinner = Delish. Tradition Peruvian Pepper Chicken (Ají de Gallina).
Tonight we’ll be on our rooftop, hanging out as a group and laughing ridiculously.
Team Dy-nasty

Holy Trinity Church - Day 1

***Special guest blogger Emily from the Holy Trinity Church Service Team***



We arrived late last night in Lima, after an easy flight, Lane was asked if he needed a taxi, but he said no, multiple times. Richard quickly made fun of Arthur’s coordinating hair color and luggage. The Peru Kids Alive team quickly found us and escorted us to the vans.

Quick sleep, farmers breakfast and departure for church. Lane was asked to come up front for the congregation to sing Happy Birthday in espanol and ingles. Preached on discipline for 1 hour and 15 minutes, in Spanish.





After church, a traditional Peruvian meal of Boston Market look alike, with all the missionaries and their families. There are 3 missionary families here, with a combined total 8 children. Frozen lemonade – was actually limeade- was tasty tasty.

Drove about an hour outside the city to tour The Juniper Tree Home, where the children now reside. Team USA got crushed by Team Peru, the average age of the Peruvian team was 5 and Mark had to remove himself from the game after getting a “boo boo” from getting schooled by a 4 year old.















Leaving the Juniper Tree- we went to Manchay Oasis Care Center, a day care center and preschool for at-risk children, which also has created a program for some of the moms of kids in the program.



Thankfully, Richardo Barefoot came along. He was riding shotgun and entertaining Machi with his attempts to speak in Spanish.

WE SAW A LLAMA AND AN ALPACA TODAY. (for you Susan)

We are happy, healthy, thankful and tired.

Love,

Team AWESOME