Another Peru entry....

26) “Everyone who keeps on hearing these messages of mine and never puts them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27) The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and battered that house, and it collapsed, and its collapse was total.”

When Derrick & Chuck were telling me about the houses and the landscape in Peru, this verse immediately came to mind; as with the guys, also. Millions of people in Peru have built their houses on sand. Not only have they built their houses, the houses are made from cardboard & pallets. There is a lot of pollution there and it hardly rains. It's like a double-edged sword. If it were to rain, the pollution would be helped and it would wash some of that crap away. But if it rains, it would wash all of the houses away and there would be major mud slides. The following pictures are to show what Derrick, Chuck & the rest of the guys saw through out all of their journey.




Houses built on a mountain of dirt & sand.



A desert of houses.



More houses. They are literally stacked on top of each other.



This is a typical taxi there. I put this picture in to show the pollution. It looks like it's overcast, but that is just the pollution.



Again, a field of houses on sand. It's also a good picture of the smog & pollution. Let's see the environmentalists try to deal with this one...it would be tough.

It's just the beginning...

There are like 2000 pictures from Peru. Trying to pick my favorites, plus my favorite stories, is going to be hard. I'll start with these.




How smart is this? Gas stations in the medians. You don't have to exit the express way or get out to pump your own gas. They have attendants that pump it for you.








It doesnt' matter if the gas door is on the other side, they just stretch it on over, like with the white car above. I think this has got to be one of the greatest ideas known to man. Now I'm sure that someone could give me an arguement as to why it wouldn't work out well. But for now I think it's the coolest idea!

It's dadgum 3 a.m....

...and the baby is awake. So I am going to take this time to post Derrick's Peru pictures, actually taken by Chuck, the dad-in-law.



Guys from FIREmexico with Ron (far left), missionary to Peru.



Beautiful picture of the coast & a lighthouse.




Derrick & Scott preparing to surf.



Scott strikes a pose.



In they go...



Derrick caught a wave! CORRECTION: Not Derrick catching a wave. Apparently Derrick's wave was too far off of the coast for a decent picture. And since I hate lying, when I found out I had to clear it up. This is a picture of some random guy surfing.



He looks like a pro coming out of the water, doesn't he?



Scott, Derrick & Chuck on the beach.



Nice shot of my hubby! Oh how I miss him.

Team picture day...

FIREmexico Team...from left to right, The Lee's, Us, The Pricer's, and the Jones'.



This is our first family picture.




Do you notice anything that slipped into this family picture? Yes, that would be Bryar.




Derrick having fun on the trampoline!




Our oldest having fun, too!


There are more fun pictures of the Pricer's & the Lee's on the trampoline, but I don't have those. If I get them I will post them. It was a fabulous day of taking pictures, fellowship & playing. I'm not sure if I've said this before or not, but every Wednesday me & the kids go over to Scott & Melody's house. Derrick & Scott go to the Bible study at the church plant and me and the kids hang out with Melody & her kids. This past Wednesday we went to the outlet mall to eat at the food court & let the kids play. We were quite a site, walking in as 2 adults and 6 kids, 2 of which were in carriers that we were hauling. It was a great play time and great pizza!

(The following is a story that my kids and the Lee's kids are NEVER to hear)...When we returned to their house, Melody realized that their bunny rabbit was missing. She went outside looking for it, but it was night time and hard to see. When their security light came on I looked outside and saw white fur on the ground. Yes...their dog, Sisco, ate the bunny rabbit. The Lee's are going to try to replace him without the kids knowing, otherwise they will be seriously crushed. The pet ducks are fine and somehow escaped. We can't tell our kids, either, because they would be crushed as well. They were very attached to Chun the bunny...may he rest in peace.

Derrick preached at "El Encuentro" (the Encounter church) on Easter Sunday! There were not as many people there because most people take the week of Easter to visit family. But we had a great time with the people that were there!





Yesterday was moving day for the Pricer's. It was CRAZY! It was an all-day event for us. The kids had a blast, playing in the dirt & "helping" to carry in boxes.

Afterwards, we went to Scott & Melody's to visit. We ended up eating some DEEEE-LISH-USSSS broccoli & cheese soup, homemade by Melody. Well, one thing led to another and Derrick went somewhere with Scott. Needless to say, because of all of the adults talking & kids playing, we didn't arrive home until about 1:30 a.m. I'm typing this at 11:22 a.m. and my kids have both JUST gotten out of bed. And Chila the dog was crazy-insane by the time we got home. She was starving, thirsty, & hyper. It was all worth it though, to hang out with some great friends and let our kids have some great playtime together.

That is my update for now. My mind is still asleep.

First Sunday of the Church Plant...

Yesterday was the first church service of the church plant, that came from the crusade. There were 51 Mexicans and the rest were the Americans. Karyn led worship and Scott gave the Word. Brittanie Pricer translated for him and that was the first time that I had ever heard her translate. Andy took over towards the end because Scott was wearing her out with some big words. It all turned out pretty well. The team prayed for them. And afterwards, Dr. Peters prayed a blessing over them as a new congregation. We are really excited to see where God takes this! Here are some pictures.

This is a picture of Raul and his wife. Raul is giving his testimony. His life was radically changed from the crusade. He was a drug addict. But after accepting Jesus into his heart, he stopped taking drugs and has not had any withdrawls! He has been a wonderful servant, also. He testified that he and his wife were only married according to the law and that they were going to get married in the church! God is awesome!!!

Scott preaching with Brittanie translating.

We have also had our dear friend, Darcy, staying with us for the past couple of days. The kids are in love with her. This morning they all had a breakfast date. Here is a picture of them eating Choco Krispies together. Our son is doing the "I'm going to irritate my Mom and not smile because I think it's funny" thing, so he's not smiling. We have enjoyed talking to Darcy and pulling from all of her years on the mission field.

Have a blessed day!

Crusades...

The crusade is starting tonight! Scott, one of our fellow team members, has a vision for crusades & church plants. After a lot of hard work and planning, the first one will start tonight. Scott had a group of people that came to help. Andy also has some people coming. And we have a team from FIRE Church coming, also.

Here is a picture of one of the tents that was set up this week. Nevermind my goofy husband, standing in front of the tent.

On a husband note, Derrick is feeling better. I was a brave woman and I gave him the other 2 shots. He took them well, but I still hate being the person that had to give him the shot. He is coughing a lot of stuff up, is tired and a little weak, but he's so much better than before. Thank You Jesus!

I hope to have some pictures from the crusade in the up coming days! Blessings!