February update

Olivares Family

February 2012

           February means rain! Most of our days are spent indoors as the rains have come in all their glory. The storms are marvelous and always remind us of the greatness and power of God. Isabella and Milan are fascinated with the thunder and lightning, always running to the windows, or going outside undercover to watch in amazement.

February also means carnival! It is a joyful time of year. A typical ritual is that of Yunza. It involves the planting of a big tree somewhere (here they usually cut down a eucalyptus tree, carry it among many persons to a desired location where it is placed in a large hole in the ground and then buried sufficiently so that it does not fall over.) The tree is hung with lots of gifts, and people dance around it and then slowly cut it down. The couple that gives the final cut before it falls down is in charge of organizing the yunza next year.

Carnival also signifies the festival of water. Children and adults alike, all throw water at anyone and everyone. Our first year in Cusco, we didn’t have a vehicle and thus walked everywhere; we unknowingly became the target for many rooftop water balloons. Another year we actively participated, but with an advantage. Ricky drove the van while the members of mission team opened the sliding door haphazardly to throw water balloons at random people. It’s all in good fun and anyone who is Peruvian understands it that way. The tourists on the other hand…are much better targets and the Peruvian kids love going to the Plaza de Armas with water guns!

Send a child to school project

March will be here soon and the children are preparing to head back to school. The school year goes from March to December. By this time, most kids are rather bored of their summer vacation and getting excited for school again, though the excitement fades quite quickly (Isn’t that the irony, wherever in the world.)

This time of year we receive donations that help send children to school. Most families have 4+ school-aged children and the costs of getting start-up materials are far too great to be covered by what they make in a month. Schools require a certain amount of supplies by each student by the end of the first month (end of March) in order to continue in the school. These supplies are not cheap and include things such as uniforms. Any and every help we can give them will help these children’s futures. It is our goal each year to help as many children as possible with these start-up materials. If you would pray and consider donating toward this project we would be so grateful! We invest in their lives knowing that, by the grace of God, they are the future of Cusco!

Praises and prayer requests

The church in San Marcos (San Blas) is doing well. We are currently having a weekly leadership class, a women’s Bible study and will adding one or two more house groups! As we have previously shared, we have outgrown our locale. We are still waiting for the final word and papers for the land that the community association wants to give to us. It’s not final until it’s legal. But we trust in the wonderful ways that God works. People have told us that this kind of thing never happens (giving land away for free), so if it does happen it will be a marvelous thing that we can only praise God for! So keep praying!

With love and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ricardo, Tracie, Isabella and Milan

http://rickyandtracie.blogspot.com

IberoAmerican Ministries PO BOX 1493, Monroe, WA 98272

Donations should be made out to IberoAmerican Ministries, with a note attached directing it to the “Olivares Cusco Back to School Project” or for monthly donations, “Olivares Ministry”