June 20,
2003
Dear praying friend,
God is amazing. He allows us to get in on the work of changing eternity.
We had a great campaign out in Sicuani. People ran when they saw me (because I’m so big).
Five people were saved and the national missionary was encouraged. Amanda
Kaiser arrived safely
from Trujillo the day before the trip. She acclimated to the
high elevation (12,000 feet) quickly and went with us on the campaign.
The day after we got back from the campaign, we repacked our
backpacks for the trip the next day.
We helped with a birthday party for the sons of a lady on the property.
We did games and helped corral the kids. Immediately after
the party we jumped on a bus to Urubamba. We stayed the night at the seminary there and went to Machu
Picchu first thing in the morning. We had a good trip.
Lots of nice pictures and a sunburn. We stayed the night back in Urubamba.
The next morning we took off to Arin and dropped in unannounced on the Tim Whatley Family
(another BMM missionary). They have no phone so un announced is the only way to go without planning your next trip during your last
visit. We helped with lunch, loading for a trip into Urubamba and home schooling Brianna (K5).
We took out a watermelon and were very well received. We
were able to listen in on a revision meeting of a new Quechua Translation they are working on.
The current one has been rejected by almost everyone that speaks the language.
An
ecumenical group that included Jehovah’s witnesses and Mormons
translated it. They need a translation that tells the whole unpolluted
truth.
We stopped in Pisac and climbed some in the ancient Inca ruins and a mountain before returning to Cusco, filthy and exhausted.
God provided several opportunities to share the gospel and tracts along the way. His Word will not return
void. We have that promise in Isaiah 55:11.
On Friday left for a trip to Santo Tomás with Andy, Sarah, and Josiah.
They returned Saturday. Buddy, a BJU student visiting the Whatley’s, Amanda, and I stayed on.
Amanda and I helped with cooking and the kids while Buddy helped put a floor into the new parsonage.
Saturday we visited a few churches (one a 2 hour hike around a mountain, down into the valley and back up the next mountain) that meets
only when the missionary can come.
We also helped one of the ladies in the church haul her chuño.
Chuño was a staple in the diet of the Incas. It continues
to be in Peru. See link below.
Sunday we were at the church in Santo Tomás. I was able to give my testimony in the morning service and teach the lesson for the junior church.
Sunday night Amanda gave her testimony and we sang with one of the girls in the church. Monday we left for Chukchuk,
a natural hot springs.
Right after sunset we hiked down into a canyon with flashlights and packs in hand.
Amanda and I didn’t want to sleep with wet hair so we slept right away.
The next morning we got up and headed down to the water. It was so hot that it burned my frozen toes.
We were practically sitting in a natural Jacuzzi in the dead of
winter (Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere and the seasons are
reverse those in the USA). God's natural wonders amaze
me! Tuesday we hiked back out of the canyon.
The rest of Tuesday was spent resting while Buddy and Ken Loveall (the missionary that lives in Santo
Tomás) went out to where there are a few families that want to start a church.
They came back telling stories about a newborn lamb and a newborn sister in Christ.
Wednesday we made an apple pie, cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies before heading out by bus to
Cusco. It was a grueling 12 hour ride, and passed relatively uneventfully.
We got in about 3 a.m. and rested until 6 when we got up to take Amanda to the
airport for her flight to Lima. She then has a 12 hour bus ride on to Hogar de Esperanza
orphanage in Trujillo.
I came back and made cinnamon rolls for the family and the seminary students (there are 7 dorm students here on the property).
I rested for a bit and got a shower. God is constantly showing Himself to us and using us.
Praise His matchless name!!!!
Rachel Tarvin
