¡Hola de Peru!

The time was getting closer...Monday morning we planned to leave our house no later than noon. Inevitably, many things happened that delayed us many hours. Sunday we had to bring Renita to the E.R. because she had hurt her wrist the night before. Kaleb thought it might be broken so we went ahead and brought her in. Sure enough, she broke her wrist. This was 2 days before leaving! So Monday morning amidst the scurry of final packing, Mom had to bring her to get casted. Two hours without Mom put us significantly behind. :) But by 4:30, we were on the road. When we arrived at Kaleb´s house, we had a quick supper and headed to his home church. It was such a blessing to worship God with all the college people there and to hear about His marvelous work in their lives this summer. They gave us an awesome send-off prayer and in the morning we headed to Washington D.C.. Wednesday morning we had a good ole American breakfast courtesy of a family Kaleb knows, and we headed to the airport! As you can imagine, 11 people´s luggage for 6 months is a big load. After getting all checked in, the excitement began to rise. For most of the kids, this would be their first time on an airplane. So, we said goodbye to Kaleb and Lacey and excitedly began the security process...the girls were squealing with glee as the airplane took off. It was like a rollercoaster for them. :p We had a short layover in Houston, then a 6 hour plane ride to Lima. We arrived in Lima around 11:30 and got through customs without problems (praise God!). We claimed a little corner in the aiport and tried to sleep as much as is possible on the cold hard floor. Thank God for suitcases to sleep on! :p In the morning, some of us left at 9:30 and arrived in Iquitos around 12:30 and got settled in the apartment at Iquitos. The rest arrived in Iquitos around 5pm. We were all exhausted by this time and went to bed early...9:00! ;) In the morning, Lorena, a Peruvian lady who is in charge of the mission, helped us get breakfast and brought mom and me to the market. Mom´s first experience was overwhelming I´m sure, but it went well and we got a good idea everything in the market. Yesterday, our first day was spent mostly unpacking, organizing, and resting. Also, learning how to work with the Peruvian food, and trying to communicate with the locals! The little girls already have a little group of Peruvian niños (children) coming in to the courtyard to play. They will pick up Spanish fast I´m sure! Last night we went to a church called Filedelfia, a fairly large church. They asked us to sing a song for them, and were delighted with all the blonde headed children, especially the little ones! Today Mom and I went to the market with Lorena and bought food for the next couple of days...4 chickens (freshly killed) some hamburger (ground right in front of us) and some vegetables. Dad has been busy collecting supplies and planning. The first team from America comes in Sunday, and work begins Monday morning! Thank you all for your prayers, and please continue to pray for health and specifically that we will be able to adjust to our surroundings and the language! Also, pray for Mom and Bethany...they are both a little down. Bethany with a little fever and Mom a sore throat.

I will upload pictures soon!

Larinda