20 Things We've Been Up To

Since we are still waiting on a camera from the States, we will have to fill you in on the goings-on around the Bradfords in Peru with words only:

1. Clementina Chuch Plant - a community that was served by the Independent Presbyterian Medical Campaign organized themselves, donated a lot for a church building and requested a pastor from Wichanzao Presbyterian to begin a new church plant there (Dale Ellison has pictures).
2. Wichanzao Marriage Conference - Bill led 2 nights of Marriage Talks at Wichanzao Presbyterian. Good turnout, honest questions, encouraging time for all.
3. Larco Baptism - Ivan, though converted at a young age, lost interest in the church while he pursued his career, but his mother and sister never stopped praying for him. He recently returned to the Larco church and was baptized.
4. Seminary Classes - Bill continues teaching Greek and also started a new course on Church Planting based on the manual published by Redeemer Pres. in New York City.
5. Arevalo Women Meetings - led by Allen - continue studying "Holy Habits" and rotating activity schedule. Attendance is down a bit because of the cold winds whipping through the unfinished church building in the winter.
6. Construction Buck Stops Here - Bill is overseeing and prioritizing all the construction projects - from wiring the Arevalo Church to advancing on the Wichanzao Clinic Expansion to demolition at Larco to make way for the new sanctuary.
7. Chris and Ava Barnes visit - The Barnes, an encouraging, talented young couple, spent a month in Cajamarca working with the Ramirezes. They whisked through Trujillo to say hello on their way home.
8. Website Redesign - With the help of Chris Barnes, our http://www.perumission.org/ will soon see a long-awaited major overhaul to more adequately represent all the many different things going on around here. We have committees at work - we'll keep you posted!
9. Church's Plan of Action - Bill is in the process of compiling a document to guide the churches in writing up a personalized 5 year Plan of Action.
10. Arevalo Prayer Meetings - Tuesday nights at Arevalo are An Evening of Prayer, led by Bill.
11. Summer Interns arrive - USA Summer/Peru Winter Interns are already hard at work teaching English at SALI along with our other hard-working interns. Welcome to Ry Lewis, Michelle Harris and Hamilton Manifold!
12. Virginia Friends Visit - from Hampton, VA, to Trujillo and Cajamarca - Dr. David Doughty and Dr. Gary Whiting are teaching science and Christianity lectures at the universities, while Dr. David Davis is attending patients.
13. Wichanzao Presbyterian Clinic - We are planning how to serve the community in a sustainable way, organizing ourselves better with a local board, connecting with local doctors and dentists to serve with us, and we are resolving security weaknesses at the Wichanzao Medical Clinic, which is located in a poor, high-crime neighborhood.
14. New Accounting System - We are in the process of upgrading to a comprehensive accounting software system that will help tremendously with the many, many different accounts Peru Mission has to keep up with.
15. Translation Projects - we continue to work on the translation of a year-long Sunday School curriculum - more details later. And we are beginning the 2nd edition of our famous English/Spanish cookbook.
16. Art Class - Allen started a Saturday morning art class at Bellas Artes. The whole family participates in the homework assignments so we are all learning more about proportion and light. Photos will be posted when aforementioned camera arrives.
17. Kids' School - Kids are doing great in homeschool - have been diligent and disciplined in catching up after taking a break to attend Peruvian school. Also, their Spanish is improving tons with their Spanish classes. And their violins sound more magnificent every day!
18. William's Golf Tournament - William competed in his first golf tournament - and came in 2nd in his age group, despite being really nervous!
19. Indiana Jones at the Movie Theatre - The economy has changed so much in Peru. We had a family outing to a stadium-seating movie theatre and then had a semi-friendly discussion over where to eat: Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut. And we were in Trujillo, Peru - not the USA! We also just saw the signs on the future Starbucks in Trujillo location.
20. Bill's Wallet - is long gone - thanks to a guy on a motorcycle who whizzed by and grabbed it out of Bill's hands as Bill paid a taxi driver.