Peruvian Periodicals...from the Simpsons

We made it!
This is our first newsletter letting you know what's going on in our lives and mission in Peru.

We arrived in Arequipa, Peru, on Saturday, August 29, at 6 a.m. After spending 4 days in Los Angeles doing cross-cultural and Extreme orientations. Our travel time was about 24 hours. It was a long day, but the kids did very well with all the traveling and loading and unloading the baggage! Some of the Extreme staff members were there at the airport to greet us and take us to the school where we met our host families. We were able to take a 2 hour nap before we all met together at the school to get information we needed and learned how to navigate around the city.

Our home is very nice. We have an apartment on the first floor of our host families' home, and one of our 40/40's lives with us. We have a room with Sophia, Anna and Micah share a room, and Kevin (one of the 40/40's) has a room. Our meals and house cleaning are provided by our host family, which is a huge blessing while we are in school, taking care of the kids, and fulfilling our responsibilities as a Cluster Support family. Our host family, Patricia, Miguel, Maria and Santiago are great, and they are very gracious. They have helped us out so much and are a huge blessing. Santiago is 5 and our kids enjoy playing with him and are beginning to pick up on a little Spanish too.

Our 40/40's

We have a great group of 40/40's that we are overseeing. We have been overseeing both the Iquitos and Pucallpa teams for the past month because the other Cluster Support family was not here yet. One concern was that this family couldn't make it at all, but God answered our prayers in providing another family to fill this role. So we now have six 40/40's under our care while in Arequipa. After 3 months of language school we will go to Lima, Peru, and meet our other six Peruvian 40/40's to make a complete team of twelve. We meet every Wednesday at 5:30 at our house for Bible study, building community, encouragement, and prayer. We also have various activities to have fun and hang out. Please pray that God will continue to create deep unity as a missional community, and please pray for our Peruvian 40/40's, that the cultural barriers will break down quick and that we can all work well together as a team for the kingdom.

Experiencing Peru
It has definitely been quite an experience in a new culture. Everyone who goes to a culture more than a 2 week trip will experience culture shock. There are so many new sights and sounds here in Peru. Arequipa is a very big city...many people...many taxis...many combis/buses. Our walk to school is only 15 minutes, which provides us with good exercise. We take a taxi to church on Sunday's because it is far away and we are able to take taxis or combis/buses to all the other places we need to go. Driving in Peru is quite different than in the US. Stop signs are a “suggestion” and whatever driver is the most aggressive gets to go first. You

just have to experience it! We have gone to the Plaza de Armas (center of the city) several times. It's a beautiful part of the city with many restaurants, shops, and a beautiful cathedral. There are a few larger stores to go to for various needs, and there is one large market close by where we can get fruits, veggies, and snacks. It's more like a flea market with many little stands selling food and various items.

The climate is very arid. It only rains for three months out of the year, which makes the city more dusty and dirty, although it is the cleanest city in Peru! We experience small tremors every once in a while, which also changes the weather! Arequipa is over a fault line, and there are 3

volcanoes close to us. You can see them very easily. The altitude of Arequipa is very high, which makes playing sports a little more difficult! Kevin play basketball the other day with some of out 40/40's and was breathing pretty hard! Every morning a lady walks by our house yelling, “Correo, Correo,” selling the paper, and the trash trucks come by playing annoying ice-cream truck kind of songs. In the city there are very few trees and spaces of grass because it is so dry and watering them is costly. Therefore there are very few insects and birds, but there are many dogs that roam the streets.

The meals we have eaten have been good. Our host mom is a great cook and prepares good food. We eat rice and potatoes in some form every day, and there is not as much meat or vegetables eaten in Peru. Anna and Micah have had a harder time with the food because it's all so new for them. They are constantly hungry because the times we eat meals are much later than what they've been used to and we don't eat as much protein. So we've bought some snacks to eat in the between times. We have not yet eaten some of the customary dishes in Arequipa like cuy (guinea pig) or cebiche, which is a raw fish dish. Kevin had a guys night at our house and made hamburgers and homemade salsa with chips. Last night Heather cooked for all of us, and she made lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and apple pie. We're thankful for the little tastes of “home.”

Although there are the cultural differences between us and the Peruvians, they are the same as us. They have the same kinds of struggles, fears, and joys that we have. It is the human heart and life that God is after and God is at work in Peru. Please pray that God would continue to draw people to him and that the hearts of the people we encounter would be open to what God wants to do in them. In general people don't look you in the eye when you're walking down the street, but we say hi and they respond back. When they know that you are genuinely interested in them, they are very open. The culture is very family friendly and family oriented. When we go to church everyone comes to greet you with a smile and a cheek-to-cheek open-air kiss (except not men with men!). We continue to pray that God will give us His heart for the people of Peru!

School and Church
Both Heather and Kevin have been doing well and are enjoying learning Spanish. There is a lot to learn and memorize, but they are coming along. Heather goes to school in the morning while Kevin watches the kids, and then we switch roles for the afternoon. Heather is doing classes one-on-one, while Kevin is in a class with 2 of the 40/40's. One of Kevin's professors has already taught one other group of Extreme staff and 40/40's, and he also plays soccer with some of the “Extremies”. So he has been able to hear our stories and callings over and over again. In Kevin's class one week they had discussion about church and talked about many spiritual things. He's Catholic, but does not participate in church life. He's seen many abuses and has a lot of questions. Kevin was able to share a little bit of his testimony with him that day. Then the next week they got to talking about the materialism of both of our cultures and the emptiness it leaves. The discussion got very deep, and the professor talked about the emptiness he had and how he wanted to change. He said that he was going to go to church the next Sunday. He hasn't gone yet for extenuating circumstances, but God is really doing some heart work on him. Please pray for him!

We go to the Zamacola church. It's at least a 20 minute taxi drive from our house. We go to Sunday School, where there's one class for everyone. The teacher does write the lesson on the board, which helps out greatly! I'm able to understand more that way. After Sunday School we have the worship service. It is very difficult at this point to participate because it's still difficult to understand and they speak fast. The people are very nice and gracious. The 40/40's that go to our church go to Chichani after service to do outreach nearby for a new church plant. The Peruvian church has a great heart to reach. Planting new churches is in the very DNA of every church here. It's awesome!

Receiving the Strength and Grace of God
It has definitely been a challenging transition over the past few months, but we both are nurturing and protecting our life with God! We have both received help and encouragement from the Psalms daily. We are growing in deep ways as we trust God with all the stress and culture shock. We are taking time to pray together before lunch every day. The kids have been challenging as they have been more needy and have been sick a few times. Praise the Lord that Heather and Kevin have experienced very little stomach problems! It has been an encouragement to have internet in our home so that we can video chat with our families. We continually receive God's strength, the encouragement of your prayers and emails, and the encouragement of our 40/40's. We anticipate God's continued blessing and amazing work.

Thank You
Thank you for partnering with us in prayer. Thank you for the emails we receive. Thank you for partnering with us financially. Without your partnership, we wouldn't be here, and we, together, couldn't fulfill God's calling on all of us to go into all the nations. God is going to bring about great transformation in the people and nation of Peru through our partnership! We love you and continue to pray for you.