Homeward Bound!

The team is in Miami! The plane landed about 6:55 (EST). They are doing well. I received a fun message from Matt in the night...Here's what he said: "We are safely in Lima and just finished a traditional Peruvian meal - El Papa Juan's Pizza..." Makes me laugh! I have missed my boss' sense of humor! It's been mighty quiet at church without him and Rhonda! It's been quiet at home, too, without Tommy. He also has a great sense of humor - and his brother and sister (and Mom & Dad) have missed him! So it will be good to have them all home. I'm sure you're all anxious to hear from them.

Arrival time - keep checking the flight status for their flight. They are supposed to land @ 3:51 pm - so we're hoping to pick them up by 4:30 - which means back at church by 5:45-6:00 depending on traffic. I'll do my best to bring the call list so we can call you if there are big delays...NWA.com - check flight status and enter flight # 573. You can request updates sent to you...If I hear anything more from the team - I'll let you know.

Have a great day and we'll see you all soon!

Wendy

PS - Here are couple of pictures Lori K. sent me off Facebook. I'm not sure when they were taken, but Tommy has his "church shirt" on in the one, so I'm guessing one of the church gatherings - maybe the evening youth service??? Catch the story from the team when you get them home with you! Enjoy!

God hears our prayers!

Hey all!

Thanks for praying for this team - God is listening! Kayla is feeling much better today - feels "great!" They are tired, but doing well. So please keep praying that all things go smoothly and that everyone has strength/settled stomachs for the return flight. Please also pray that their "farewells" with the Peru team go well - hard to say goodbye...

I will try to update as I hear from the team...

Wendy

Let's Pray This Team Home!

Can't believe it's almost time for them to come home! YEAH! I don't know about you, but I've missed these guys - all of them! I've really appreciated getting to know them better this year - so it's sad to see this project end...But it will be so nice to have them home!

When I've talked with Matt, it sounds like the whole camp got hit by some flu bug...Many Peruvians were sick before our team got sick - and their cases were more violent. None of our team has been vomiting - though some have come very close. Kayla was battling fever earlier today, and really has been quite sick - she rested a lot today. Most of the team worked on construction. Tommy said they had to build big trenches, about 15-20 ft long and 2m deep which is 6ft. And he thought that there were other smaller projects, but that was all they were doing when he left to go rebuild Juerg's computer (Tommy is a tech-guy after all). Tonight they were headed to Marco & Olenka's for dinner. I wonder if Matt will hold Fabianna again...She seems to have taken a liking to Pastor Matt! With three girls of his own, he's a good daddy, so it's no surprise that a little girl would be comfortable in his arms!

The team leaves tomorrow from Trujillo around 3-4 pm, then will fly to Lima. They wait in Lima until 12:20 am on Wed. to fly to Miami. They get in to Miami at 7:05 am on Wed. morning. Then they fly out approximately 1:00 pm to get back to Minneapolis - then home! Please pray that all flights go safely and smoothly - for ease in getting through customs and getting out of Peru and into America...And that the team feels well while they travel. There is not time this trip for delays and a hotel stay...it will be a long trip (24 hours). So pray for God's strength and touch for their health needs.

Matt said tonight they just have not had fast enough computers and enough time to get to the blogging or uploading more pictures. Their days have been full. They are looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow before they pack up and head to the airport. He said this has been a good trip, despite some sickness, some bug bites and other things they've experienced, God has done His part and lives were changed! Like he mentioned yesterday morning - 7-8 students gave their lives to Christ this week! That is worth celebrating!

I can't wait to sit down with Tommy and hear what God taught him! I hope you all get a chance to connect with these team members and hear first-hand what they experienced and how God opened their hearts and minds...

Good night -
Wendy

So good to hear from the team!

We got to hear Matt's voice during 1st service today! He is doing much better - not sick like last night, so that is good news. There were technical difficulties 2nd service - that was a bummer! We kept calling - got his voicemail. He kept waiting for us to call...

I did get to talk with Matt toward the end of 2nd service (Riverside's 2nd service). The team is doing pretty well, but Tommy, Anna, Matt and Sam have all had the crud...Matt anticipates it will go through the whole team before it's done. Other teams down there are getting fevers, etc. Thankfully, our team has not battled that - at least not yet. He said Tommy was the worst so far - my poor kid! Birthday boys suffers - hopefully the love songs carried him through (or the Immodium!) They have been able to do stuff yesterday and church today, but they have taken it easy if they were not feeling well.

Their schedule is full today, but Matt is hopeful that they will be able to upload some pictures on a faster laptop that they located and hopefully will be able to update this as well. Please keep praying - for safety during construction, for sickness to be short-lived and manageable, for no dehydration, etc. Matt said he won't be calling me until some time tomorrow, so hopefully they will be able to update you along the way until I hear from them again.

Blessings on this beautiful MN day -
Wendy

Quick Update

I haven't heard any more today - hopefully we will get some good pictures from the team later today after their excursions...All their Facebook notes have sounded so good - I'm thankful for that!

I posted a few new pictures of some of the team - with their new friends. They all seem to be making friends easily, but that's how loving the people in Peru are - they win you over quickly I understand!

Enjoy!
Wendy

Birthdays-Peruvian Style

Dear Families and Friends -

I have a wonderful boss, who let my son call me today on his 17th birthday. THANK YOU, MATT - You are my favorite FM Pastor of all time - no exceptions!! It was so good to talk to him (and hear everyone else in the background!) Tonight they are back at the guest house. The computers are slow, so they will try to update this tomorrow or Sunday. I have to admit, Tommy sounded older tonight (I honestly thought he was Matt at first - his voice was almost as low as Matt's tonight - that's the allergies he's experiencing). When I asked if they'd done anything for him last night when the camp celebrated birthdays, he said, "Oh yeah - didn't Matt tell you? It's a tradition here to take a full cake and give it to you - then shove it in your face!" Welcome to Peru, honey! Here you go! He said he was a gracious sport - and I'm guessing it was a nice change from all the chicken and rice!

Overall, they are doing pretty well. Tommy said everyone's allergies are pretty bad - feeling lots of effects from the dust. No one is sick yet, despite not having bottled water until tonight. Please pray that the filtered water they drank at the camp will stay "filtered" inside and not make these guys sick. Some of the team have felt like throwing up - hopefully that was more the bus ride and not something else brewing. They also received many bug bites that have their legs swollen. Apparently the e-mail instructions to bring bug spray never reached our team...most unfortunate. Hopefully some Benadryl will help them all sleep and get rid of some swelling.

Tomorrow's schedule includes the market and hopefully the beach. Please pray all will feel good to be able to enjoy a more relaxing day. Sunday is church, church and more church - but we'll get to hear from them when Pastor Matt calls us during our worship services at 9:00 and 10:45. Monday is still scheduled as a construction day. Then they start for home on Tuesday night.

I will let the team fill in a lot of blanks & details I haven't been able to tell you about (because I only get a few brief minutes on international cell time!) Hopefully they will get a chance to talk to all of you soon! Please keep those prayers of support coming their way so this team can finish well.

Blessings on your night -
Wendy

Oopsie Daisy!

I forgot one little thing today. A knowledgeable friend told me it's not dark at 6:00 pm because it's winter in Peru, it's because Peru is so close to the equator. It's always like that - 12 hours sun/12 hours dark because of the proximity to the middle of the Earth! So much for my geography training...

Grateful for your patience with me -
Wendy