2009 Children's Christmas party in Cusco

Christmas time is quickly approaching and it time to start planning for Christmas in Cusco.

We have successfully had a Christmas party for the children in San Marcos the last 3 years and last year we gave out over 170 gifts! Hopefully this year will be no exception.

Our hope is to provide a small gift for nearly 200 children; and have a big party with favors, Christmas bread, hot chocolate and other Christmas goodies. We also hope to have a small party celebrating with all the adults during a Sunday service in early December.

We need between $1500-$2500 for this entire project. We are always looking forward to Christmas to remember the birth of our Savior, and to share God's love through this celebration with the kids. As we have shared in the years past, most of the children in San Marcos do not celebrate Christmas with their families, not even with a simple gift or a family dinner. Would you please pray about making a donation toward this project?

If you feel led to be a part of this years party, you can donate online through PayPal or mail your donation to IberoAmerican Ministries home office.

Please click here to make an online donation

Cusqueña Wedding

We just got home from Carlos and Araceli's wedding. They are a young couple, without much money, so this evening was a small civil ceremony at the municipality building, followed by a reception with maybe 20 people in the building where Carlos works as an English teacher. It always facinates us the manner than Peruvians "party". People generally dress nice; men wear suits and ties, women wear pant-suits. The bride wore a long wool coat, almost touching the ground, completely covering her nice dress.. she wore it the whole time. Her hair was definitely done up all fancy though. The civil ceremony was typical and short, with the coordinator asking the bride and groom more than once if they are SURE that they want to be married. Then following it up by saying if there is anyone in the room that has any reason why they shouldn't marry, now is your chance to say something. Well, no one did.

Then we left for the reception. We loaded our van full of the bride's family, so they didn't have to take a taxi. Then we all went inside and sat down and waited.. and waited.. and waited while everything was still being set up. When it finally started, Carlos and Araceli danced the typical "waltz" and then called up every family member (and us included) to dance with them. But in general Peruvians are very quiet. They sit around the room, not talking or laughing. They just sit there.  At least there were fireworks out the window. Today, Oct 24th, is day celebrating Señor de los Temblores (Lord of the Earthquakes). He is the saint of Cusco. I will explain the story in another post. Finally the food was served. The dinner was the most interesting part.

Imagine a room full of nicely dressed people eating a greasy chunk of pork. But this pork is nothing like what is served in the States. It's a young pig, called Lechon. Roasted whole, then cut into large pieces. It is mostly skin and fat. My piece still had hair attached. I picked through the fat and got only a few bites of actual meat. And then they brought us more... and more.. I was done after the first round.. but we ate everything we could. I am astonished every time I see the Peruvians eating Lechon, because they will eat it all, even the skin. Hands get all greasy as they pick everything off the bones. Napkins are not served. Drinks are not served. No salad. Just pig and a tamale. At 10pm.

Needless to say, Isabella didn't eat anything, not even cake. We offered, but she only drank 3 glasses of juice (which was not a good thing because she has been sick for the last 3 days... it went right through her). She was a trooper and had fun playing with her friend Abram. She calls for him and says, Abram, Ven! (Come here!). It's cute and everyone says they are pololos (boyfriend and girlfriend). We finally left after the cake was served and when Isa was just too tired to stay in a good mood.

God's princes and princesses. Los pricipes y princesas de Dios.

Finally.... an update! (English version)

We are happy to be back. We are so thankful for Jorge and Janet and the work that they have done the last 3 months in encouraging the church and teaching the Word. It may be a little premature, but we are excited to share that our friend Karla, from Tacna, Peru, has decided (or more like agreed to our steady pleading, eh hem, encouragement) that she come back and work with us full-time! Karla will be a blessing in many ways, especially in the children's and women's ministries and with the new projects for 2010.

My pregnancy is going well. Our son is growing right on schedule and is healthy! Although, I was recently diagnosed with Placenta Previa. There is a good chance that it will correct itself in the upcoming weeks. However, it is a very serious condition with many risks for both mama and baby. So for now, I have been placed on rest, no lifting, no exercise or any strenuous activity. With a toddler this seems highly impossible, but Ricky is helping in every way possible and is doing an amazing job.

When Ricky shared with the church on Sunday, they responded in accord that they will help pick up the slack. Groups are being formed to clean the church and help in other ways. I am thankful. We are encouraged that even though this is a tough situation for me, it will allow the weight of certain activities to rest on the church body; that they will work together to care for their church building and members.

Praise God, Marlene made a decision to follow Christ on Sunday! Also Jorge's sister wants to be baptized and three adult couples want to be officially married.

In November and December we will receive three teams from the US and Canada. The first team will be doing community outreach, evangelism and a construction project. The second team is a medical team. The third is a small group who will help specifically with this year's Christmas party.

We are thoroughly excited that this year the medical team will reach out with a 2 day clinic in San Marcos for the people and neighbors of the church, but will also hold a 3 day clinic in a poverty stricken village outside of Cusco. We will take advantage of the knowledge and skill of our doctors and nurses to serve in a pueblo where there is no medical access. This year we will partner with the Red Cross again, as they will provide us with certain "VIP" privelages (not exactly) for getting the medicines in country as well as our much needed Quechua translators.

Blessings in Christ, Thanks for praying for and supporting us!

Tracie, Ricky, Isabella and our little guy

Here is a brief Quechua lesson for those who want to try their hand at the ancient native language:

Quechua - Spanish - English

Jaq - Uno - One

Iskay - Dos - Two

Kinsa - Tres - Three

Tawa - Quatro - Four

Pich'qa - Cinco - Five

Imata Munanki - ¿Que quieres? - What do you desire/want?

Imata Sutiki - ¿Como te llamas? - What is your name?

Por Fin.... Nuestras noticias (Version Español)

Estamos contentos de estar de vuelta. Tan agradecidos somos por Jorge y Janet y la obra que hicieron en estos ultimos tres meses de animar  a ala iglesia y enserñar la palabra de Dios. Tambien, podria ser muy prematuro, pero estamos muy contentos compartir que nuestra amiga, Karla de Tacna, Peru ha decidido (mas bien accedio a nuestras peticiones) volver aca para trabajar tiempo completo con nosotros. Ella será una bendicion en una variedad de formas, especialmente con los niños y mujeres, ademas con los nuevos proyectos para 2010.

Mi embarazo esta yendo bien. Nuestro hijo esta creciedo bien y esta saludable. Pero, recien fui diagnosticada con Placenta Previa. Hay una buena posibilidad que mi cuerpo mejore solo en estas semanas. Pero, es una condicion seria, que puede causar muchas complicaciones para mamá y bebé. Por ahora, tengo que descansar, no levantar nada, no hacer ejercicios o cualquier fuerza. Con una niña muy activa esto suena imposible, pero Ricky esta ayudando en cada forma posible y lo hace muy bien.

Cuando Ricky compartio con la iglesia el Domingo, todos respondieron en acuerdo que van a ayudar mas. Grupos se estan formando para hacer el aseo de la iglesia y otras cosas tambien. Estoy agradecida. Estamos animados de que aún es una situacion dificil para mi, va a dejar un poco mas  de carga sobre los hombros del cuerpo de la iglesia; que trabajan juntos para cuidar a su iglesia, edificio y miembros del cuerpo.

Damos gracias a Dios, por Marlene, quien dio su vida a Cristo el Domingo pasado. Tambien por la hermana de Jorge, quien quiere bautizarse, y por las tres parejas de adultos que quieren casarse oficialmente en la iglesia.

En Noviembre y Diciembre, recibiremos tres equipos desde USA y Canada. El primer equipo hará un trabajo comunitario, evangelismo y construccion. El segundo será un equipo medico. El tercer equipo es un grupo pequeño que viene a ayudar especificamente con la fiesta de Navidad.

Estamos muy contentos que este año el equipo medico tendra una clinica de 2 dias en San Marcos para la gente y vecinos de la iglesia, pero que tambien tendran una clinica de 3 dias en un pueblo de harta pobreza que esta afuera de Cusco. Aprovechamos del conocimiento y habilidad de los doctores y enfermeras para ayudar un pueblo sin acceso medico. De nuevo este año, nos juntaremos con la Cruz Roja, para que ellos nos den acceso "VIP" con las medicinas al pais y que tambien nos proveen con los traductores de Quechua.

Cerramos todo con decir muchas gracias por sus oraciones y apoyo! Bendiciones en Cristo,

Ricardo, Tracie, Isabella y nuestro pequeñito

Los Chibolos.

Se ven tan lindos, no? Ellos son de los mas traviesos! El niño de la izquierda se llama "hombre araña". El usa un disfraz de hombre araña... todo el año.

The boys.

Cute, huh? They are the biggest trouble makers! The boy on the left goes by "spiderman". He wears a spiderman costume... all year.

cuanto les extrané... how much i missed them!

This is Elian. I missed her crazy hair days! Su pelo me da tanta risa. Extrañé a Elian.

It's good to be back and see all these little faces once again. and see that they were well taken care of while we were gone. Estamos contentos de ver todos estas caritas de nuevo. y ver que estaban bien cuidado mientras no estuvimos

home

phew.

it has been three very long months.

we left on Wednesday. With 24 hours of traveling, after going through 5 different security checkpoints at four different airports, one tremendous lightning storm while flying over the ocean close to Panama, and a less than 1 hour lay-over resulting in one missed flight.... we are home again. finally!

we are tired and thankful to be here