Fergusons' Arrival

We are happy to present the Fergusons - who arrived safely and soundly this morning to join in the labor of Peru Mission! We look forward to seeing the Lord work through them here in Peru!

Celebration Week

There's a lot to celebrate around here this week...

We have wrapped up our summer short-term team season, and were so blessed to see the Lord work uniquely through each group. We saw so many generous, gifted brothers and sisters come down and serve the church in Peru. Our Church Plant in Arevalo especially saw a lot of change, making huge strides in the building program and drawing many to the love of Christ demonstrated through our USA brethren. Thanks y'all!


This Friday is Fiestas Patrias - Peruvian Independence Day. The schools, institutes, military and anyone who gets the chance marches in military-style parades for a week all over the country. And the new Peruvian President will be inaugurated in Lima in the midst of much pomp and circumstance. Presidents from all over will come to the inauguration ... Chile, Brazil, etc. Fireworks will abound no doubt! We are participating as well, and have our Peruvian flag hanging on our house - the picture shows the view of it from inside.


And on Thursday the Fergusons arrive! They are joining our team full-time and will focus their efforts on University Ministry. They have been working with RUF at Texas A&M for several years, so they bring lots of experience with them. They also bring their 5 children with them - which is what our kids are most excited about, of course!

Praise the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me praise His holy name! Praise the Lord, oh my soul, and forget none of His benefits.

Jackson/Greenville/Colleyville Hard at Work

Missionary Kids' VBS





Cheryl Reese Teaching Mollie and Abby to Quilt





Rachel Reese Teaching Violin





English Classes at Arevalo





Elizabeth and Laura Collecting Water for Construction





Bill and Bob Peck





James Clark





The Construction Site





Matt and Spencer





Robert Spears in the Elevator Pit





Daphne Clark Teaching the Women in the Church





Cheryl Reese Teaching Quilting to the Arevalo Women




Sara Douglas and Juanita





3 Happy Children with New Twin Lakes Camp Shirts

Jackson/Greenville/Colleyvile Team

It is a joy for our team and our churches to welcome a 22 member team from three churches (Pear Orchard Pres in Jackson, MS/Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC/Colleyville Presbyterian Church in Colleyville, TX) to Trujillo during July 12-25. We look forward to serving the Lord together with them. On behalf of Peru Mission and the Presbyterian churches in northern Peru, we want to thank them for their sacrifice of time, talents, and treasure to help their brothers and sisters in Peru! Our prayer is that they will be blessed, and at the same time that the Lord makes them a blessing to the folks in the Arevalo Parish of Trujillo. The following is a summary of their activities and arrangements during their visit.

Projects and Activities
1. Construction in Arevalo: We will continue working on the foundation of the church’s medical clinic. Other teams have dug the holes for the footings, and we have poured concrete for eight out of 32 of them. This work involves assembling rebar cages for the columns, connecting them to rebar gratings that sit as a base in their footings, and pouring in cement over the top of the gratings, leaving the cages sticking up in the air. Later (when we raise more money) these cages will be framed and cement will be poured around them giving us 32 columns as the structure of the first floor.
2. English classes: Previous teams have held English classes for children in the neighborhood that have gone very well and been very well received. Parents are excited to have their children learning English from native speakers. This has been a great boost to our efforts to build relationships and trust in the community. These classes will be led primarily by the Pear Orchard team, with help from missionaries and/or missionary interns.
3. Women in the Church Meetings: All three Trujillo churches have what they call their “Liga Feminina” that meets weekly. Mrs. Reese and one or two more from the Pear Orchard team, along with missionary and pastors’ wives will lead these meetings on Friday, Saturday, and Tuesday afternoons.
4. University Science Lectures: Dr. Paul Reese, Associate Professor of Biology at Belhaven College in Jackson, MS, is holding a day long biology conference at the University of Cajamarca, speaking specifically about the morality of genetics.
5. SBR Seminary: Rev. Robert Spears of Greenville will lecture in our Seminary.
6. Missionary Kids’ Vacation Bible School: All together, the missionary families have 13 children. The Reese and Clark Families from Pear Orchard have kindly prepared to put on a mini-VBS for them.
7. Musical Concert: On Sunday at 5:00 PM (i.e., one hour before the evening service) the Reese family will hold a concert at the Larco Church.
8. SALI Party: Once per month (or whenever there is a team with us) we have a party at our language institute so that students can enjoy North American type snacks, and conversation with North Americans. It is a very good way of building relationships and getting the students better acquainted with the church and mission.
9. Sociedad San Agustín: This is our name for RUF. It meets on Friday night. Not everyone is required to go to this, but some may enjoy it and our university students always appreciate the opportunity to get acquainted with North Americans.
10. Worship Services: We will worship in Arevalo on Sunday morning and in Larco on Sunday night. Rev. Robert Spears from Greenville will be preaching the sermons.
11. Tourist Trips to Moche and Otusco: Moche has the Temples of the Sun and Moon. These are about 30 minutes from Trujillo and it takes just over an hour to walk through with a guide. Otuzco is a mountain city about two hours from Trujillo. Pear Orchard will take a bus up there, visit the main sites in the city, and then return home after eating lunch at a restaurant on the town square. Greenville will visit Moche, return to Arevalo for lunch, and continue construction in the afternoon.

Accommodations and Meals
1. The team will be staying at the Hotel Country, which is two blocks from the Baker home, one block from the Smiths’, and one block from the Bradfords’. Past teams have found the accommodations comfortable and convenient.
2. Lunches will be prepared in Arevalo by some of the ladies in the church. Suppers will be in missionary homes.
3. We will eat out at a restaurant two nights and for lunch on Saturday. The Saturday lunch will be at the Huanchaco beach. The teams will get to try the typical Peruvian food cebiche.

July 7th Arevalo Women's Meeting

We had a delightful ladies' meeting in our Arevalo church yesterday. Allen was elected president of this eager group of ladies, so we are blessed by the prospect of being very active with this group all year. Each week, along with our devotional study on women in the Bible, we enjoy another type of enriching activity, such as crafts, singing, educational talks, etc.

This week the Bible study, led by Bill, focused on the compassion and hope offered in Luke 7, in the account of Jesus raising a widow's only son from the dead. During the activity time, we demonstrated how to cook chocolate chip pancakes - which were enjoyed by all.

Besides our core group of regulars, several new women showed up wanting to know how to sign up and pay for these meetings. They were so surprised when we said, "just come with open hearts!"

Please keep all these precious women in your prayers - along with the influence they may have in their families and community.

Happy 4th of July

Of course, Peru is business-as-usual on USA's Independence Day (they celebrate their own Independence Day on July 28th - a really big deal around here). So, we do what we can to make the day festive for those of us who do want to celebrate!






























Thanks to the Smiths for hosting our 4th of July bash! For a fun video of our limbo and games, see the Smiths' blog!