January Visitors

When it rains it pours! That phrase is completely figurative in this dry coastal desert city – we get no real rain, but we do have periods filled with visitors after dry spells. January is one of those visitor-filled periods.

Special visitors for us are Bill’s parents, David and Corinne Bradford, who are here for the month of January. Since they have more than 10 years experience in teaching English as a Second Language, they have been busy helping train the new English Language Institute interns. Among other things, Corinne is helping us better the music for our churches and giving our kids piano lessons, while David is doing neighborhood visitation with our Larco pastor, Ricardo Hernandez, and taking Spanish classes.

After much anticipation, a new family, Allen and Sandi Smith and their 2 daughters, arrived this week to join our team. They will do language training in Cuzco for several months to ready them for ministry with us in Trujillo. We are eager to have them with us here in Trujillo!

This semester, we have 7 young adults here from the USA to teach English in our San Agustin Language Institute. Of course, as native speakers of English, they have a distinct advantage in teaching pronunciation. They work hard to provide a positive learning experience – and have become serious surfers on Saturday, their day off! Through their relationships, we have seen several students begin attending our churches.

Dr. Dan Doolittle, his wife, Pam, and cousin, Karen, have been attending in the medical clinic in our Wichanzao church. This clinic is administrated by the elders in that church and staffed year-round by Rocio, an obstetrics nurse. Dan is a vital part of this ministry, providing stability (he visits twice a year since its inception, which he spearheaded) and godly counsel to the many patients who seek medical care.

Dr. Dan Doolittle and Bill attending a patient in Wichanzao

(photo courtesy of Dan Doolitle)

And there's even more! Rev. Mike Ross (Trinity Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS), Rev. Roland Barnes and his wife, Peaches (Trinity Presbyterian Church, Statesboro, GA), and Rev. David Macpherson with his family (Presbyterian Church, Moyabamba, Peru) will be here next week to speak in our denominational Missions Conference. Dale Ellison, who is currently raising support to join our team, will accompany them as well. And, we are so excited that pastors and church leaders from all over Peru will be here for the Missions Conference and denominational General Assembly.

So, as you can see, things are really hopping around here! We will have more than 35 for Sunday lunch at our house tomorrow, which is always a special time of fellowship. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop in – we’d love to see you too!