Christmas in Peru

We started our Christmas season with a fun night of Christmas carols and Christmas cookies with the Peru Mission Team at the Smiths' house. Mollie and William even gave a mini-concert of Christmas carols on their violins.

Then, we took a much-needed vacation the week before Christmas - and had a marvelous time! Allen’s brother, Wesley, came for the holidays, and we headed to the beach (since it is summertime here in the Southern hemisphere!) in Mancora, Peru for a week – a major surfing hotspot for Europeans and Brazilians. The kids had a great time on the beach and even got to help a fisherman remove oysters from their shells.

On the way back to Trujillo, we stopped for a night in Chiclayo so we could visit the Lord of Sipán Museum – really interesting and very well done. The Lord of Sipán, an important governor in Peru's Mochica Culture some 1700 years ago, was buried in pyramids in this area and wasn’t uncovered until the late 1980’s. His tomb was filled with gold, silver, copper and turquoise, fashioned into intricate and beautiful pieces of jewelry and art.

Peruvians have many interesting traditions, especially in relation to holidays. The typical birthday party begins at midnight (that is when the birthday begins anyway), which applies to Jesus’ birthday as well. The entire Peruvian family gathers at midnight on Christmas Eve (“Noche Buena”) to place baby Jesus in the Nativity scene and begin the feasting and revelry that lasts into the morning.

We celebrated by feasting on Christmas Eve with our church family at the Arevalo Presbyterian Church – worshipping, eating a congregational lunch, singing, etc. But, we finished well before midnight! And on Christmas Day we feasted again with the Peru Mission Team at the Fergusons’ house – complete with a feisty round of gift-giving ala “White Elephant.”

Merry Christmas!

Arevalo Manse Purchase Needs Prayer

Parish Ministry necessitates that a pastor live among his flock, be with his people, be part of the living presence of Christ in a neighborhood. We have seen first-hand the benefits of this in Larco, and recently in Wichanzao, where seminary students and pastoral interns have been living and ministering to the people in the neighborhoods. The churches are steadily growing.

However, we have also seen first-hand the disadvantage of not having a pastor present in the neighborhood in Arévalo. Because we have no manse in the neighborhood, the student pastor has to live in another area of Trujillo, taking a bus or taxi a few days a week to visit. The church has grown very slowly and, although we have a small, faithful, involved group, the church still is not known as a strong presence in the neighborhood. We have been actively pursuing the purchase of a manse in the neighborhood, but to no avail. There have been continuous problems with paperwork, indecisive home-owners and funding.

Pastoral House Possibilities

Please join us in prayer for this very important acquisition. Pray that the Lord would open doors and provide a house for the pastor of His flock in Arévalo soon. Pray that house owners will be willing and eager to sell. Pray that the paperwork will move quickly and smoothly. Pray that funding will be sufficient to purchase the right house or houses. Thank you!

e-letter December 06

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2 Year Old in the House

Watch Out! He's 2!!!

1st Graduate of Seminary SBR

Pastors, Elders and Professors with Ricardo

A huge milestone was commemorated as the first graduate of Seminario Biblica Reformada (SBR) walked the aisle on November 25, 2006. Ricardo Hernandez, who serves as minister at Larco Presbyterian Church, completed his studies and all requirements to receive a Bachelor in Divinity degree.

The ceremony was held at Larco Presbyterian Church. A brief message on the purpose of the seminary by Professor Wes Baker was followed by a summary of the goals of our mission, focusing on the role the seminary plays in all the plans, presented by Professor Bill Bradford. Dr. Alonzo Ramirez, who is the rector of the seminary, delivered an insightful and encouraging message based on Abraham's call to sacrifice Isaac. Professor Guillermo Diaz then presented Ricardo with his diploma, followed by rousing applause from the audience. A small reception followed the ceremony; delicious Peruvian-style tamales were enjoyed by all.

Wasting no time, the Larco Presbyterian Church ordained Ricardo as their pastor the next evening!

We thank the Lord for Ricardo and his diligence, as well as the encouragement this is to Peru Mission. By His grace, His Kingdom does advance through his humble servants.

Prayers for Guillermo

Please pray for our friend and partner in ministry here in Trujillo - Guillermo Diaz. Guillermo is the pastor at the Wichanzao Presbyterian Church. He is diligent in his studies and has a sensitive pastor's heart, as well as being musically gifted - in short, he is a great blessing to the Wichanzao church. He has suffered with eye problems for a while (which is an obvious hindrance in his life and ministry) and had surgery in May. However, it seems as if the procedure did more harm than good. So, he will be returning to Lima for another procedure. Please lift him before the throne of our King and Great Physician, for complete healing of body and spirit.

Mystery Dinner

Last night, the whole Peru Mission Team participated in a rousing round of “Murder on the High Seas”, a mystery dinner game in which all of the guests are suspects in a murder case on a luxury cruise liner in 1929.

Each guest was given various sets of clues throughout the evening to unravel the mystery of the murdered Captain. Everyone was expected to stay in character all night in this “living theatre” type activity. We had all kinds of guests, including a German race car driver, a quirky French priest, a Swedish chef, a Southern Belle artist, a hobo, a Russian émigré, a famous rodeo cowgirl and a top-class vaudeville entertainer (who actually treated us to a fabulous show on the piano). Everyone got "dolled up" for their role and really hammed it up, even using 1920’s slang, making the evening the "Bee's Knees" for all!

University Ministry Sports Day

We had a really fun day of fellowship on Saturday! The University Ministry (Sociedad San Agustin) organized a Sports Day. 10 different teams competed in the soccer tournament, representing different churches and areas of ministry. 2 teams competed in the Volleyball Tournament. The Pastor Team, and the Intern Team as well, gave it their best shots - with sore muscles to prove it today! - but they just couldn't compete with the young, used-to-playing-barefoot-on-concrete-everyday, energetic kids from Wichanzao - not to mention that Gringos just really don't ever stand a chance against Peruvians in soccer - especially this version called "futbolito" (soccer on hard concrete - no nice grass - and few rules - anything goes)!

Wichanzao Clinic Progress

Orland Park Team Hard at Work Day 5

Watch Our Growth in Wichanzao

Orland Park Team Hard at Work Day 1

Visiting Team from Orland Park, IL

We are so excited to have this group of 18 folks from Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Orland Park, IL, here with us this week. They will be working hard on the new expansion to our medical clinic in Wichanzao. We broke ground on the expansion a few weeks ago in preparation for this skilled group from Orland Park - they bring with them many who are quite experienced in construction. Besides doing construction on the new expansion, an Infectious Disease Doctor and an Oral Surgeon with their team will attend patients in the clinic. We have witnessed the Lord work through this group of generous brethren during their several past visits - and look forward to seeing God bless our church through their skills and talents this week!

The current medical clinic in Wichanzao has grown slowly and steadily since its opening in 2002. We expect that expanding our modest laboratory, and adding equipment such as ultrasound and x-ray machines will enable us to help even more people, as well as enabling the clinic to become completely self-supporting. This proposed expansion has become all the more urgent as plans continue to develop for the opening of grades K-3 in our Christian School. The current clinic occupies space on the first floor of our education building. We will need this space by no later than January 2008 for adding additional grades in the school. The clinic will include two floors with a combined floor space of over 2,500 square feet. It will have a pharmacy, laboratory, x-ray and sonogram facilities, along with the following outpatient clinics: pediatrics, Ob-Gyn, general medicine, and dental.

Please keep this team in your prayers, as well as the many in the neglected, needy people in the Wichanzao neighborhood who will benefit physically and spritually from this clinic expansion.

e-letter October '06

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10 Year Old Slumber Party

Prayers for Paul Reese and Family

One of the special, unexpected blessings we receive as Peru Mission Team is developing close bonds with the brothers and sisters from the USA who come to work with us. Some of these special friends was the Reese Family, who were with us in July. They uniquely and tirelessly used their many gifts to bless our team and the brthren here in Peru. We received disconcerting news last week: Paul Reese - professor at Belhaven College, father of 8, faithful follower of Christ - has been just been diagnosed with an advanced case of multiple myeloma cancer that has affected around 90% of his bone marrow. His situation is very serious and he began tests with doctors in Little Rock, AR, last week to begin aggressive treatments. His wife Cheryl is with him in Little Rock, while the children are spread out, being cared for by family members and friends. We plead for your prayers on behalf of the entire family, and especially for Paul's healing and relief from pain.




Paul & Cheryl Reese eating
Sunday lunch at our house
in July 2006

Parenting Series with Arévalo Women

Today we are beginning a Parenting Series at our Arévalo Women's Friday Meetings. Not only has one of our favorite parenting books, Shepherding a Child's Heart, been translated into Spanish, but Dr. Tedd Tripp has also released a 6 CD series of talks presented at a conference in Mexico. The translation and sound quality are great - but the best part, of course, is that our ladies have the opportunity to receive wise counsel that they desperately desire to receive. Dr. Tripp skillfully teaches parents how to discern what's going on in the hearts of their children.

From the Shepherd Press website: "Shepherding a Child's Heart satisfies the hunger for fresh, biblical approaches to child rearing. Shepherding a Child's Heart is about how to speak to the heart of your child. The things your child does and says flow from the heart. Luke 6:45 puts it this way. "...out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Written for parents with children of any age, this insightful book provides perspectives and procedures for shepherding your child's heart into the paths of life."

The ladies are eager to learn and are inviting their friends. Please pray for these women as we search the Scriptures with Dr. Tedd Tripp to learn how to lead our children to repentance and restoration with God.

Parenting Talks at Orphanage

...from Allen's desk...

Two of the other missionary wives (Jami Baker and Heather Ferguson) and I spoke to the house mothers of Hogar de Esperanza, an orphanage in Trujillo where one of our church members is director. Most of these women have never had children of their own, but are now responsible for a houseful of children - up to 12 children at a time. Needless to say, they feel overwhelmed at times.

I spoke first on the foundation of unconditional love that is required before (and after) we discipline – used that great book: How to Really Love Your Child by Ross Campbell. It has some great practical advice to give these “new” parents - asserting that the number one need of children is unconditional love. We can demonstrate this every day through eye contact, physical contact, focused attention and clear communication - always attending to these important needs before administering discipline.

Heather and John adopted 2 foster care children last year to join their family of 3 sons, so she had great real-life examples and advice. Jami presented a helpful reflection on how they tailor communication and discipline tactics to fit the unique personality of each of their 7 children. Jami also presented several useful guidelines for conducting family worship.

Although I can carry on conversations, my Spanish has not really advanced to the “Speaker” level, so it was extra work me to prepare in English, then translate, then speak for myself as well as translate for the other 2 wives. It was a good exercise in practicing Spanish - and made me realize that I really need to study Spanish grammar again!

Please pray for these house mothers, who genuinely desire to visibly demonstrate the love of Christ to these precious, needly little ones.

...from Bill's desk...

Sunday night while preaching at Larco Presbyterian Church, the lights went out, pitch black, during my last point. I said to the darkness, "Do I continue?" And the darkness responded, "Yes!" So, I continued letting them have it while they shined their cell phones in my direction.

I preached on the Ethiopian Eunuch. What a glorious passage! Luke loves to show Isaiah fulfillment in his two-volume work (cf. Lk 4.16ff.). Well, if the Eunuch is reading Isaiah 53, he's also surely read Isaiah 56:3-5. Remember that Mosaic Law didn't permit Eunuchs to enter into corporate worship in the temple. But, Isaiah 56 looks to the Messiah--and faith in Him gives "a name better than sons." But how? Mosaic Law prohibited Eunuchs from entering, just like sons of Aaron with defects being restricted from service, just like sacrifices being unacceptable if blemished. God demonstrates his holiness, perfection publicly to teach his people he is not a back pocket God like the pagans'. But, when the perfect, holy sacrifice appears to take away our defects, there is no longer any use for those laws. The powerful, yet marginalized eunuch now finds total acceptance. How many Christians are blocked in their growth by some obstacle or past sin, which they feel will always impede their being truly "within God's walls." The Eunuch surely did. But, the Gospel wipes it all away--even defects seemingly irreversible, unchangeable, severe. Well, I pressed it--I'm thankful for the Gospel--and I'm seeing more thankfulness for it among our people.

I'm currently teaching Greek I and II, and an Introduction to OT class in our SBR Seminary. We went through a general timeline and now are going through the individual books--in Genesis right now. But, this latter class is taking me a long time, just because I haven't developed handouts yet.

I’m heading up to Cajamarca today for Presbytery with Wes and Cullen Baker and Ricardo Hernandez. We are actually examining Ricardo, our first seminary graduate, for ordination, along with Juan Marquina for Licensure. I will stay till Sunday night to also attend a vigilia (all night worship service) in a rural church and worship in the Los Rosales church on Sunday.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. We keep you in our prayers as well.

Blessings, Bill

Larco Ladies' Pijamada

With much consternation, we feel constrained to report on the dangers of missionary life in Peru. Missionaries must be on the alert at all times. Without warning, and much to the delight of onlookers, the missionary, and actually just about anyone around, may be humbled for the enjoyment of others. Since a picture is worth a thousand words let us demonstrate just what may happen in Peru at any moment:











Allen and Jami: Cajoled into a Whipped Cream Fight at 2 am

The Larco Presbyterian Church Ladies hosted a Pijamada (in the States we call it a “Lock-In” – a slumber party full of activities), a delightful time of fellowship and Bible study among several generations of sisters in Christ. Dany Hernandez organized the evening to provide an evening of fun for all and give the young ladies the opportunity to glean wisdom from older Christian ladies (Titus 2:4-5). Elva and her family opened their home to us - even cleared out their living room and threw down several mattresses around the room. We sang, played games, had tape wars, whipped cream fights, ate, discussed 3 aspects of biblical womanhood and even caught a couple of hours of sleep. We had a great time!

Please pray for these young ladies – that the Lord would be their #1 love, that they would have patience for the Lord to reveal His plans for their future, that they would respect and love the Law of the Lord, and that they would bring honor and glory to God in all that they say, do, wear, think.