Sunday, July 13

Well....up early this morning for breakfast....make sure our bags are packed and catch our flight from Trujillo to Lima.

Once in Lima we were picked up by a friend who arranges tours around Peru. We took in a little of the Peruvian culture with a visit to a museum full of ancient artifacts and mummy's. We were unable to view the mummy's due to the earth quake of last year that affected the coastal areas from Lima and south of there. We got a real history lesson though of all the different so called dynasty's of the country. Very interesting!

From there it was off for some lunch. There is quite the Asian influence....specifically Chinese. They are quite proud of the food that is a mixture of Peruvian and Chinese. It was very good.
After lunch we visited one of many catholic churches in the city. This one of the oldest with three different levels of Catacombs. They used the catacombs for burying monks, benefactors and in later years commoners.

Our stay in Peru ended with a visit to Mira Flores, where we did a little shopping. We visited one of the Indian markets. I think in three years I have done enough shopping that I have learned to keep my hands out of my pockets. It is a very neat part of town though. We almost go stuck down there due to a festival of some kind. There had been a very large parade during the day and we were leaving with enough time to get to the airport to check in and get through to our international flight. I am thankful that we had a very good driver....he forced his way through some of the traffic, all the while looking out for our safety.

Our flight home was uneventful....with one exception. If you have ever been out of the country you know that you fill out an immigration form when you arrive to your destination. You are told to not lose the bottom portion of your form because you need it to leave the country. I reminded my team going in of that and guess who ended up losing his form...yep! Me!!!!! I ended up having to pay a $15 Sole fine. Not bad.....about $5 U.S.

We arrive back in Phoenix late morning on Monday. It is good to be home to see my family and will be good to get back to the normal routine...but sure do miss the people back in Trujillo! I also miss the weather. It was 65 or 70 everyday. I got home and it was humid and the monsoons are underway.

Please keep our brothers and sisters in Trujillo in your prayers...they are growing in the faith! What generous, awesome people they are! We love them dearly and will continue to pray for them everyday. I pray daily for Loys and Theresa and his family and Mike and Dannel and their family for the awesome sacrifices they are making to take God's word to all nations!

Love,
Mitch & Anna

Saturday, July 12

I want to thank everyone for their prayers while Anna and I have been here. Please keep us in them for a while longer. We will be leaving for Lima in the morning and taking a tour before catching a flight late tomorrow night for Houston. We will arrive back in Phoenix early Monday morning.

In some ways it will be so good to be home. We miss Ashley and Derek a lot and the dogs of course. We are sad however that we are leaving our brothers and sisters in Christ from the barrio. The last day there was bitter sweet. The pictures on this page represents everything that I continue to return to Peru for. It's always good to go and work hard and accomplish something that can the people there can see. The bottom line to what we do on this mission trip is develop long lasting relationships that mean something to these people.

We had an awesome day...starting with putting up some new walls for one of the women who teach kids classes in her home. The walls are made of thatch but they will be good enough to hold classes and keep the sun and wind off the children.

This afternoon....we did nothing but play with the kids. We mixed in a little men vs. women volleyball. The men won of course! The end of the day meant long good byes. We have many great memories of all the people in Villa Hermosa-Milagros. And we are bringing back greetings to many who have already been here for a mission trip.

For those that are waiting for some additional word...Anna got up this morning and joined us in the barrio all day. She said she was fine....but I think she willed herself to be there. She is doing so much better tonight. She is just fine! I don´t think she would have missed today for anything. Annita.....the mother of the girl I baptized last year......really took a liking to Anna and gave her a special gift today. Yesterday, she gave Anna a pair of earings and some perfume from Avon. They have so little and are so generous! Annita´s family really loves Anna and hope that I bring the kids next year.


This will be the last post until we get back to Phoenix. We love you all very much!

Mitch & Anna

Friday, July 11

I am going to keep it short tonight. Anna has come down with something and I want to get back to the room. I think she has a touch of the flu. Please don´t be too concerned....she will be fine. She needs a good night rest. Do keep her in your prayers.

We held a ceremony for 20 couples today. Eventually, they will all stand before the justice of the peace and God to be married. Anna and I stood before all of these couples and gave our testimony. Not something that I was expecting.

Most of the morning we were busy setting up for the weddings. We also delivered two back packs to a couple of the kids in the barrio. Roger Winkles had a back pack full of goodies for the girl that he and Livonia sponsor. Her mother was so taken by the event that she was in tears the whole time. She was so overwhelmed by the generosity.

We also took a back pack to an little boy named Henry. He is a special little guy that Deb Courts sponsors. He was so thrilled to get the stuff that Deb sent. His mother and father have crafted a letter to Deb that I know she will be thrilled to get when we get back. We are leaving what ever money is left over from our budget to help the family. Henry´s monther has uterine cancer and will either need to undergo treatment or have surgery.

The afternoon was focused on the couples getting married. We had gifts for them that included an Old and New Testement Bible....a plaque with the poem "It Takes Three" and a picture of the couple. They had the community center completely decorated and six different cakes. It was quite beautiful.

Our evening ended with a praise session and prayer at the end of the night. We had an awesome day.

Mitch & Anna

Thursday, July 10

Hello to all!

I think the fact that this trip is starting to wind down is hitting us all. We just completed our evening devotional and discussed our final two days. A couple of my team members talked about how hard they thought it was going to be on Saturday when we leave for the final time.

Today was a great day! Lots of hard work, as we poured more cement. We worked on cement columns inside the classrooms that they have started. Once again it was the young guys coming to the rescue. Esaiah Harlan and David Spidle did a lot of the heavy lifting and pouring to get the cement into the wood forms. We also poured another footing for an extension of the clinic. I am always amazed at some of their primative measures for creating things....but they always work out well.

Lunch in the barrio was always a treat. Annita, Theresa and Carmen always worked really hard to keep the kitchen clean and preparing a delicious lunch. This photo shows my typical position for about 30 minutes after each lunch!

This afternoon...more teaching for Roger and Kris. They taught another small group of women about forgiveness and confessing sin. We have one more small group on Saturday. They have done a great job. Kris has been amazing with much of our translation needs! I´m so glad she is here.

I can´t begin to tell you how proud I am of my team. Anna kept up with myself, David Spidle and Esaiah Harlan today. She really wanted to get in there and work around the concrete today! David and Esaiah have really worked hard! David was sitting on top of the walls of the classrooms pouring cement down these forms. John Spidle, Glenn Bedal and myself worked hard too....we worked hard at trying to keep up with the young men. I hope I am not giving you the impression that Roger didn´t sling some mud....because he did too! Roger has actually been the one I have counted on to work on lessons for the women´s groups. He has been awesome and really flexible.

Tomorrow(Friday), we will be doing some construction again...however...our afternoon will be filled with celebration. We are going to go through marriage ceremony for 20 couples. It won´t be official right away...it is a pain to go through the process here.... Licenses...fees...judges...the government....newspaper ads...more fees......judges.......you get the drift. We will start the process for them and then when all 20 couples have done everything needed....a justice of the peace has agreed to marry all 20 couples...free of charge.

That is it for tonight! We love and miss you all!
Mitch & Anna

Wednesday, July 9

Well, not much to pass on today. As we expected, we spent the day in Huanchaco. A transportation strike kept us local and commuting by foot.

We took a long walk down the beach as a group this morning....just kind of checking out the various shops and hostals along the way. The beach in Huanchaco is such a cool place to be. Even though it is a real small community there is a lot of action. There are a large number of hostals in the town and of course one of the main attractions is the fisherman using these boats to get there catch. We watched two of the area men come in with nets full of crab. The tradition of using the reed boats for fishing and surfing is still used today. We headed back to our hostal around noon and had lunch together. Then most of us spent the afternoon at the beach. Three members of our team took surfing lessons and spent about an hour or so surfing. This picture is one of my youngest team members, David Spidle, catching a little surf!

Supper this evening was back in the central part of Huanchaco...then back to our hostal for evening devotions, dessert and now time for bed. I wish I had more to share tonight. It was just a good relaxing day.

We will be back in the barrio tomrrow....putting our backs to good use in the morning. We have more construction projects to do....then a women´s lesson again in the afternoon!

Keep us in your prayers...all of you are in ours!

Love,
Mitch & Anna

Tuesday, July 8

Hello to all!

What a great day! We went into the barrio this morning and got started on a couple of construction projects. We added some room to one of the ladies that teaches the young kids stories. Nothing to special.....four walls made of bambo and reed. In the picture to the right, Anna is trying to re-weave some of the exsisting material to use on the new structure. The other place we worked on was a house for a mother and her young child. They are currently living with a sister in the barrio and it is not a good situation for them. So we are starting them out with a similar structure. Reed walls and a covering. The thatch wall in the back is what we started with. I came by the same place a day later and the picture to the left is what I saw. Someone must have decided to help this woman out financially, because we found mud bricks going up.

We also worked on some footings for an classroom that Loys has started. We mixed and dumped cement for the footings most of the afternoon. They have a need for more room. It is near the clinic that we worked on last year. Anna got right in there with us and helped mix the cement. She would help fill buckets with sand and rock as we mixed! She worked so hard today. My whole team is doing a great job. Here is the interesting thing. The clinic was initially started last year as one small building. When we arrived it was four of those small buildings long and it looks like they would like to make it two stories.

Our last item this afternoon was meeting with a group of ladies that meet every Tuesday afternoon for bible study. Roger Winkles, who is on my team, taught stories to them and discussed grace and forgiveness. We had a craft with them afterwards where they wrote their sins on a clay pot....then smashed it into pieces and glued them to a wooden cross!

We are getting an unscheduled day off on Wednesday. There is a one day transportation strike. We are told not to try to go to the barrio...there will be a lot of rock throwing and rocks blocking roads. We will hang out in Huanchaco and may be do a little surfing!!!

Love to all!
Mitch & Anna

Monday, July 7

Hello to all,

We had a day off to play tourist today. Our morning started like every other day, except we drove about 45 minutes south of Trujillo to see some of the businesses that the project has started.

We toured a farm where they have milking cows, guinia pig, and snails. They have worked out some interesting relationships to really start producing in all three of the areas. They will send out their first shipment of snails to Europe very soon. They have different contracts already in place with some of the mines to sell the guinia pigs to the workers for food. Here, they are a delicacy! I am hoping that when we tour Lima that I can try some of it. We´ll see.

We also tour Huaca de Luna! Many of you have heard me describe this site from my first trip to Trujillo. It was one of the early civilizations in Peru. It dates to about 700 years after Christ. It is a very intersting site.....5 different temples built one on top of the other as power changed hands.
This evening we had dinner at Mike and Danell´s. They had a local friend of theirs come in and cook us some traditional Peruvian dishes. It was all very good. A lot of fried food. And we had a little fun on top of it.
Check it out!!!!

Tomorrow, we will return to the barrio. We are going to dig in deep and get some construction work done in the morning. Then in the afternoon a lesson with the women. We are going to talk about confessing your sins. We will be doing this in group settings...much like small groups. The barrio directors are trying to ecourage small groups for studying.

Until tomorrow night! Good night! Buenes Noches!

Mitch & Anna

First Full Day in the barrio

Hello all!

Morning came way too soon this morning! After a day at the park with the people from the barrio we all woke up sore this morning. Not much has changed after our day in the barrio today! We are all very sore and tired! It is a good sore though.

We arrived at the barrio at 9 a.m. this morning and got ready for story time with the children. We are all very proud of Kristin. She taught three different groups of children this morning and she did it all in spanish. She was awesome. The whole team was great today....helping out with our craft, moving tables and chairs, and most importantly interacting with all of the kids!

The one thing that is different this year is that they are cooking all of our lunches in the kitchen they put in, in the community center. The center even has it´s own bathroom now. We don´t have to order port-a-johns any more. The meal we had today was mashed potatoes shaped like a football and then stuffed with ground beef, a boiled egg, raisens and a calamota(sp) olive and then it was deep fryed. I´m not sure if that gives you a good picture or not. It was very good!

After lunch we had family time...playing ping pong, some games in the courtyard. One of the games that my family had to do was a potato sack race. I think I came in second on that one. We also played some volleyball, which they are very good at. Loys had a lesson for us later in the afternoon. He talked about why we can´t be ashamed of our faith and that we have to tell others. He used the illustration of being fishers of men! It was very good!

We all had supper in downtown Huanchaco tonight. They always have good food. We are all thinking about hitting the sack. We will get a day off tomorrow for a tour at some of the businesses that the project has started. A tour of one of the archialogical sites and a meal of native Peruvian food at Mike and Danell´s.

I hope this finds every one well! Anna and I love you all very much. Anna says she is still feeling a little lost with the language barrier....but I keep reminding her that I am too sometimes and it is ok. She is doing a great job and getting along just fine.

Love,
Mitch & Anna

Fun in the Sun

Hello to all!

It was a really good day! We went to a big park where they have three or four swimming pools, three soccer fields....volleyball etc. We had a ball with about 48 people from the barrio who help Loys and Theresa run the program in the barrio.

These people have committed themselves to the program and are serving in various areas. Annita, who is the mother of the young girl I baptized last year is the President. She oversees all areas. Some are in charge of the kids church choir. Some are in charge of sports and recreation and many other areas! We started the morning out with some ice breaker games. This one is me getting ready to slurp down this Peruvian treat, then race 20 yards away to find a small cookie buried in a mound of flour. I won this contest and got a small bag of goodies. Anna got in on the fun two. One of the other ice breaker games involved an apple between the forehead of partners. Anna and Kris couldn't keep the apple from falling. It was so much fun!

I got to play goalie today. I found out how out of shape I am(as if I didn´t already know that)! Anna was a scream to watch this morning. She was all over the soccer field chasing down the ball! The very first ball kicked her way suprised her and knocked her over! She got up laughing and went on with the fun! It is fun to watch her take this all in. We all played volleyball before and after lunch. Anna spent a lot of time with some of the small children and Danell this afternoon.
It was such a beautiful place to have some fun and fellowship with our friends!

We just got done with our evening meal and are all going to sit down together for discussion and study. We have some planning to do for tomorrow. One of the things we continue to talk about is be ready for change and be flexible. We´ve seen quite a bit of changes already and that is ok. All things for the Glory of God! They are expecting a transportation strike in Peru on Wednesday. We may not make it into the barrio but will change days if we have to.

Everything is going really well....but we are very tired and will sleep well again tonight! I´ll see if I can get Anna to write a few words a little later.

Love to all!
Mitch & Anna

Happy 4th of July

Family and friends,

As most of you know already, we arrived safetly this morning in Trujillo. It has been a very long 24 to 48 hours.

Once we got to our hostel late this morning. We got a chance to take a little nap before getting together with Pato from Project New Hope. He gave us a little lay of the land as far as the project goes. Mike and Danell joined us. Then a few words from Danell on Hope for Kids and some of the projects she is involved with. Loys and Theresa, who are the missionaries in the field joined us as well. I think they are starting to see some of their plans take seed.

It has been a good day for reaquainting ourselves with the team here. Also a good day for just taking a deep breath and catching up after a long trip. Anna has really be taking it all in. I am actually really anxious to get back to the room and talk with her a little bit about the day. I am really interested in hearing her insight on this as a first timer.

I got a little caught up in some last minute changes today. It is ok though....I remind myself about needing to stay flexible and roll with the changes. It looks like we will get a little more construction than we previously thought...and that is ok.

This flowering bush or tree or whatever it was is an example of some of the exotic beauty that this country has. The flowers sat atop a large stem.

I am going to keep it short tonight! Thanks for all of your prayers. We are heading out at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning for a day of recreation with a group fromt he barrio that helps Loys. Should be a good day of relationship building!

Love to all!
Mitch & Anna