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