Travel Update

Change of plans! We´ll be going to Coracora next instead of Cabana. Travel interruptions and complications due to striking workers along certain routes have affected our initial travel plans. We are now safely back in Ayacucho city and we´ll be heading out tomorrow to Ica on our way to Coracora. Since I have access to a great internet connection I am going to take the opportunity to introduce the Coracora team and ask that you lift them up in prayer also in preparation for our arrival.

Rick Byrne, Sarah Beth Davis, Thierry (Terry) Edel
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Also, since I have a little extra time, I am adding some pics from the last few days with captions. Enjoy!

This is a "combi", which is our main means of transportation to outlying areas. Combis are passenger vans with about 200K to 300K miles on them! Inside there are 20 to 22 passengers fitting in seats (barely padded) designed for about 15 people. After a 4-hour ride like today in one of these, I feel like I´ve married a couple of Peruvians.. or probably should. It´s that cozy! Notice the enormous pile of stuff on top. Ours was worse with our 3 large backpacks on top (sorry Walt!)


Here´s a shot of the typical mountain road.. gravel to the edge and then a drop. I took this pic when we all piled out of our combi so the driver could maneuver around a large tractor trailer on a mountain curve.


Ryan and Mark on a brief hike outside Vilcashuamán. The scenery outside of town was just gorgeous.

Miriam(summer missionary) with Virginia´s kids after a bible study. Virginia is one of the precious few believers in Vilcashuamán.

The Ushnu (castle ceremonial worship) is a stepped truncated pyramid with five platforms. The overlapping the stones used in its construction were cut and assembled with great precision. We were abble to climb all over it for 2 soles. (That´s about 70 cents!)

I´ll update soon..

Greg

Vilcashuamán

Our visit to Vilcashuamán these past few days has been quite an experience... and challenging. We were called into the town early because one of the summer mission students serving here (Gerica Maclin)was sick and the local doctors believed she had the swine flu. We had a 5-hour ride over gravel roads from Ayacucho city to Vilcashuaman on an overcrowded minibus. The views were fantastic, but did not top the ride from Alis to Huancayo a few days ago, in my opinion. We arrived in town just before noon on Sunday to find all three summer missionaries quarantined in the medical center on the edge of town! All three were sitting out in the sunshine bored to death when we arrived (and all three were feeling fine by the way). Mark and Miriam were allowed to leave for short periods of time, but Gerica was not allowed to leave at all. Everybody in Peru is really paranoid about the swine flu. Of course, no one on the team had it and everyone was feeling fine (they just had colds and food sickness), but being gringos did not help their case with the locals.

The "officials" at the medical center here were waiting for test results to return from Lima before Gerica could be released. In the meanwhile, rumors were being spread about the "sick gringos", which meant we all received a cool reception and a lot of stares from many. However, there were many friendly faces and welcoming greetings as well. On our second day here, the staff at the med center decided to announce to the entire town over loudspeakers that three of the gringos were sick and quarantined. Not only was this not true, but it did not help our witness at all. I am afraid there has been some damage done to the work here in the short term, but luckily it is nothing that the mission team can´t recover from. As of this morning (Wednesday) Gerica has been "set free", but no test results yet. It´s hard to figure out the logic of this, but the incubation period for the flu is apparently over for her to spread it to others, if she had it at all.

Now is a good time to reintroduce the team here in Vilcashuamán:


Miriam Horna Gomez, Mark Brown, Gerica Maclin

What a great group of kids! They are all well now, but they have all been through a lot this past week. This team really needs your prayers as they try to get back on track with their ministries and meetings here. We expect another loudspeaker announcement tomorrow morning with the test results (negative of course) to assure all that the gringos are not infected!

Tonight we were able to attend house church with a couple of the very few belivers we know about in this town. The meeting went well and everyone was renewed. I think the team will have little trouble getting back on track.

Vilcashuamán is up in the Andes mountains (about 11,500 feet) where the setting is just beautiful. At night, the stars are so numerous and bright and the Milky Way is incredible to behold from up here. It is a location rich with Incan history, including pagan worship - it was a religious center for the Incans. There are ruins all around the town square and surrounding mountainsides. Unfortunately the beauty of this town and the setting has been tainted for us by a bit of spiritual warefare. In addition to the summer mission team being quarantined because of the swine flu scare (effectively stopping their work), we have experienced tangible forces at work against us here. We have been praying through it all and I must say that I have been personally and spiritually strengthened by the experience. I am clinging to Ephesians 6:10-13 and putting on His armor!

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:10-13)

Our next stop is Cabana, in Lucanas. We´ll be traveling back to Ayacucho, then to Pucio, then to Cabana. Please pray for the team in Cabana in preparation for our visit. Also pray for our safe trip (and soft seats.. it´ll be a bumpy ride!).

Here are a couple of pics from Vilcashuamán:

In Christ-
Greg

Alis (Eastern Yauyos)

There´s one word that comes to mind to describe Alis and the Eastern Yauyos area. Beautiful. The scenery here is gorgeous as you will see in the pics at the end. We arrived in a town called Alis late Monday night (June 8) after leaving Matucana at about 8am. We took a bus from Matucana to Chosica, a taxi from Chosica to Lima, a bus from Lima to Cañete, and another bus from Cañete to Alis. Travel was no small task since our Barnabas team was still travelling with the soccer team (16 people in all) for the trip to Alis. Ryan Northup - world´s best on-the-fly travel agent - did an awesome job of herding us through every step. The final bus ride lasted about 5 hours at top speed on a gravel road going up the mountain in the dark - at least the driver had no fear! Despite looking out the window straight down about 1000 feet on some of the steep mountain turns, the scenery was gorgeous. Even though it was at night, a bright full moon lit up all the canyons and river rapids below us. It was incredible. We experienced scene after scene like this during our stay in Alis. The mountains here have so much character and the landscape so very diverse, the eye never gets bored.


After arriving in Alis in the middle of the night, we all woke up to the sound of a beautiful mountain river that runs beside the hotel. That river turned out to be a great laundromat - see pic with Janelle (from my Barnabas team) washing her clothes.



The local Summer Mission Team (SMT) in Alis is an impressive and dedicated group of young folks. They have been ministering to the locals in this village and surrounding villages through Bible study/house church and they just started teaching English in one of the schools. I got a chance to go to one of their bible study meetings in a nearby village (2 hour walk..gorgeous). The meeting had a warm and sincere atmosphere of praise as the believers present were clearly being fed spiritually by the story and message shared by the Alis team. It is such a priviledge for me to witness how the Lord uses such simple circumstances to grant such incredible blessings among a group of believers.. that´s a church! Please continue to pray for each member of the Alis mission team as they continue to reflect His glory into the Eastern Yauyos area throughout the summer.


Alis (Eastern Yauyos) Team- (back) Colby Wilkins, Nick Thornton, (front) Melva Rivera Acaro, Kelly Lockhart
Hike to village of Tomas

With the arrival of the REAPsouth soccer team, Alis became a little less peaceful, but a little more blessed. They played the local Alis soccer team (apparently a pretty good team in these parts) and won, 2-1 (go USA). The Alis SMT guys had done a great job of getting the word out about the event, so over half the village turned out! There were well over 100 folks watching the game, eating fresh grilled trout, making pankekes.. it was like a small festival. Afterward the soccer team presented the town with a new soccer ball and shared the story of Nicodemus. The whole event will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the village in the future, but more importantly it will surely open doors to the local mission team to share the gospel and make an eternal impact on many of the souls in Alis. Please pray for the soccer team as they travel extensively this summer all over southern Peru to bring the same goodwill and message of Jesus to other villages.

Our soccer team (red) with the Alis team (green)

Sharing the Word and presentation of the soccer ball.

I was able to whip up a batch of tollhouse cookies for the whole gang.. that´s part of my ministry to the mission teams serving around Peru. A little taste of home and a reminder of the love and prayer support they are getting from the states. In Matucana I was able to use Salvador´s bakery oven, but in Alis I had to improvise with a portable electric oven (see pic) with two temperature settings.. on and off! All turned out pretty tasty and I was able to leave behind a bag of cookies for the Alis team to enjoy.



The night before we left Alis (Thursday night) I got my first ( and hopefully only) bout of sickness (not from the cookies!).. it was a pretty intense but luckily only lasted through the night .. in the morning I was worn out, but felling much better. Yesterday afternoon (Friday) we caught a bus out of Alis and proceeded up (and up and up) into the mountains toward Huancayo. I can´t even describe to you the incredible beauty of this land. No picture can do it justice. I "oo´d and ah´d" for about 3 hours straight, just trying to soak it all in. I know Ryan and Janelle got sick of me saying "look at that!" every 5 seconds, but I could not help it. Seeing what God has created for us on earth in such splendor and witnessing His work among believers to reach the lost is such a priviledge.. I can´t even describe.

We stopped in Huancayo, had a good dinner, and hopped the night bus (8 hours) to Ayacucho city, where I am writing this blog. Ayacucho is a very large, historical city in a beautiful setting (imagine that!) with fast internet access (thank the Lord). Tomorrow we leave for Vicashuamán, a village with another summer mission team serving. I have been told that the scenery is even more beautiful than that seen so far. We will see!

Here are a few landscape shots, but they don't nearly depict the beauty I wish a camera could capture.





Pray for Ryan, Janelle, and me (Greg) as we travel and minister. Also pray for the Vilcashuamán team we will be visiting tomorrow. Thank you all so much for your prayers thus far.. your support is critical to the success of all the different teams serving here this summer.

In Christ-

Greg

Matucana

It is great to be back in Matucana! I have been able to reconnect with many of the folks I left behind a few months ago - it´s like seeing family again. It is a unusual feeling to visit a place that I thought I would probably never see again and to see people that I would always miss. Unfortunately my reunions with old friends is blunted a bit by my atrocious spanish, but smiles and hugs go a long way. I am trying to cram a few of spanish lessons into this trip with a book I got in the states, "Learn Spanish in 24 Hours". I´m on hour 4.

Good work continues in Matucana and surrounding villages. The Summer Mission Team (SMT) here is doing very well. Again, their names are Josh Corrick, Chelsea St. John, and Andy Turner (see pic). I would consider this team to be a model team because of the preparation they had under their sponsoring church, FB New Port Richey, FL. Dennis and Cheryl Brown have done a marvelous job preparing these kids for the summer and I believe Matucana will see even more progress because if it. Please be in prayer for this team as they continue to reach Matucana for Christ. The Spirit is also definitely at work here through the local believers. Gary (the chef) who we met on my first trip (check out the old blogs) is now a new baptized believer and on fire in his witness to others. The SMT team is discipling him almost daily, at his request!


Matucana SMT - Josh Corrick, Chelsea St. John, Andy Turner.

It turns out that the traveling soccer team was also scheduled to be in Matucana this weekend as well, so we all came up from Lima together yesterday.


Soccer Team- (back row) Dwayne Parton, Calvin Morisey, Adam Velez, Elijah Elkins, Emily Pulley, Matt Hanner, Paul Kinman, Dustin Baker, (front row) Sharon Parton, Jana Stanford, Luciano Alleca, Bethany Russell, Josh Johnson.

Their soccer match was today and, in true Peruvian form, many of the local players (actually the entire opposing team) did not show up as promised. Instead, a group of small kids showed up eager to play, so the afternoon was not a loss. The team played all out and the kids did great to keep up with them - some kids were really good! It was a great game to watch and everyone had a good time. After the game, Dwayne Parton spoke to the kids about Christ and Christ-like behavior on and off the field.


There is a huge festival planned tonight in the town (pagan, of course) so pray for rest amongst the teams here.. the loud music in the plaza, fireworks, and general noise will probably keep many awake all night. Tomorrow we´ll be hiking a bit and attending house church at the Almonicid´s. I´ll also be visiting Augusto (Pepe the squirrel story) tomorrow which will be a great time of fellowship. My Barnabas team has a special treat planned for the local SMT team tomorrow night that I will tell you about in the next blog.

We will be leaving Matucana Monday morning and heading to our next stop in Eastern Yauyos, a village called Alís. Continue to pray for the Matucana team and for the Soccer team as they travel all over Peru this summer. Pray for wisdom and discernment in our Barnabas team as we minister to other teams - also for our safe travels.


In Christ-
Greg

Village Assignments!

During the last few days, three teams (called Barnabas teams) have been training here in Lima. The purpose of a Barnabas team is to minister to the many Summer Mission Teams (SMTs) spread all over southern Peru. Ministry here means to support, encourage, and serve the onsite SMT teams, including resolving conflict if necessary. Most of the SMTs are composed of 3 or 4 college-aged folks and a translator when needed.

My Barnabas team is made up of 3 people.. me and two others:
Ryan Northup who is a journeyman missionary with the IMB, and
Janelle Armstrong who just finished her freshman year at Greenville (SC) Bible College.
That makes me the old guy..by far!

Today our team got our village assignments. We were the last team to receive them, but it was worth the wait! We will be visiting 6 villages over the next several weeks, ending up in Nasca (ever heard of the Nasca lines?) at the end of June for a mid-summer break. This schedule will mean a lot of travel, but we'll get to see a lot of Peru. I am posting our list of villages below in the order we are planning to visit, but without dates because travel will be flexible and according to the needs of the teams we are serving. We will be in each village only a few days, then we'll move on to the next. I will update you on each location as we travel. During the following weeks as I introduce each village and the SMT onsite team, please be in prayer for the summer missionaries and the village where they are serving.

Here's the plan:
First stop is Matucana! This is the town I served in back in February and March. I cannot wait to get back and visit and see old friends - we leave for Matucana tomorrow (Friday). The SMT team serving there this summer is Josh Corrick, Chelsea St John, and Andrew Turner. Please be in prayer for all!

Next stop, Alis. Alis is a village in Eastern Yuayos. The SMT team here is Colby Wilkins, Nick Thornton, Melva Rivera Acaro, Kelly Lockhart.

Next stop, Vilcashuaman. (Sorry, I can't help you with the pronunciation) The SMT team there is Miriam Horna Gomez, Mark Brown, Gerica Maclin.

Next stop, Southern Lucanas. I don't know the village name yet, but this is the general location. The SMT team serving is Kim Hiser, Kelly Pajar, David Jacobs, Shane Hess.

Next stop, Chavina. The SMT team is Juan Carrascal, Michelle Adum, Jim Wells, Liza Gonzoles.

Our last village, Coracora. The SMT team is Rick Byrne, Sarah Beth Davis, Thierry (Terry) Edel

Then we go to Nasca for a mid-summer break where all teams will converge for R&R and debriefing on progress in the villages. I'll be posting pics and more info as we go...

In Christ-
Greg

Training days

Since last Monday, the REAPsouth team in Peru has been training 100+ college students from around the US to go out into villages as summer mission teams for sponsored church planting projects all over southern Peru. I am writing this blog on Wednesday night, but there is no internet access here so it will post later.. probably Saturday (we are at the IMB camp in Chosica and will not return to Lima until Saturday).

Much of the training is the same material that I had in January of this year. But a real treat has been learning from Dr. David Sills, who authored the book "The Missionary Call". He has been speaking to us about the "call" and sharing his expertise from the field in South America. This past fall when I was first praying about mission service (to anywhere, really) I picked up this book from the bookstore and it truly became one of those defining moments in my decision to seek out mission opportunities - it is an excellent book. The fact that Dr. Sills is here lecturing sort of blows my mind... but I am coming to expect these 'coincidences' in my life.

What's next? After the training here is over, I am heading back to Lima for more training as a Barnabas team member. The 100+ students are heading out to their towns and villages to serve. There's even a traveling soccer team that will be holding exhibition games in all the villages being served by the college teams.

I have to say a word about these young folks serving this summer. I cannot be more impressed with a group of college (and a few in high school) kids who have offered their summer to the service of the Lord. Their worship style is a bit different than 'my generation' but their genuine heart for the Lord is palpable in worship and dedication. Please pray for these young folks as they travel to the field and begin to share the gospel with southern Peru. I will be posting specific names and requests for prayer throughout my stay (through July 2), but for now just ask God that He bless and protect the REAPsouth summer misson team.

My team is still not assigned to its villages, so I will update you as soon as I find out where we are going!

Greg


-- Post From My iPhone

Peru-bound Again!

A warm hello to all who followed my blog earlier this year and a big welcome to all of you new visitors! I hope you'll find this continuation of my Peru blog a blessing to you.. I know that when you read it (and especially when you comment) it is a blessing to me!

Why am I resuming this blog?.. 'Cause I'm going back to Peru! A few weeks ago I felt the strong urge to look for opportunities to travel back to Lima and work with the REAPsouth program again. I can't adequately explain the change and growth in the Lord that I experienced during my first trip, but I can say that it has attached itself to my heart and won't let go. I'm still unemployed here in the states and looking for a job, but I also started looking at flights and contacted REAPsouth regarding their needs. I committed the details to prayer and everything fell into place perfectly (imagine that) and now I'm on my way back - staying through June and returning July 2.

I'm starting the blog a little early this time to share some of my pre-trip experience with prayer and faith. It's a fact that the closer you get to the Lord and service to Him, the more the evil one attacks - that's "the devil" for all you newcomers ;). Well that's been the case with me these last few days. I've really had to put on the full armor of God that Paul talks about in Ephesians 6:10-18. The flaming arrows have been a-flyin'! It's almost been comical the kind of junk being thrown at me lately, but it makes me even more anxious to get out into the field. I know the Lord is really going to move in great ways among the people of Peru this summer and I am looking forward to witnessing it! Even before I get there, I have already had the priviledge of fighting these few battles at home on my knees.

While that may sound a bit heavy for a first blog entry, I wanted to share it with you because I am really energized now for the trip and the mission - a curious by-product of the flaming arrows and the shield that blocks them!

Finally, in the next verse after Paul talks about armoring up for battle, Ephesian 6:19 says: "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel"

No need to add to that except to ask that you please make the same prayer for me.

In Christ-
Greg