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

Climbin' that Mountain!

Hey all -

I have not heard directly from Matt, but he was able to call his wife, Shellie, for a brief conversation this morning. They do not have cell phone access out at the camp, so he was unable to connect with Shellie (or me) last night. All is well - he did not mention that anyone was sick, so I'm optomistic that God is answering prayers in that area!

Today they rode out to a "mountain of sand" for each of the campers to climb. It was not an easy feat - most made it, but a few did not. The camp theme is "You Can Do It," so this was an excercise to help them see they could do anything!

Meals are pretty much chicken and rice - you might not want to make that for their "welcome home" meal. Last night's activities were supposed to include a talent show - tonight is supposed to be a birthday celebration, which is neat, as Tommy (who is dear to my heart as his mom) is turning 17 tomorrow. But their schedule could have changed, and remember, FLEXIBILITY is key!

Marco sent pictures - I will try to upload them as a PDF - they were all in a Word document, so not anything easy for me to make "pretty." Hopefully they help you see all that they've been up to. The river/rocks area is next to the camp - it looks gorgeous!

That's it for now - they are planning to call and e-mail tomorrow (to most of you, not necessarily me!) Hopefully we'll hear directly from them on the blog!

Until then -
Wendy

The work begins...

Flexibility. That's what Pastor Matt told this team they would need to "pack" for this trip. The most important thing he told them they could do is to do whatever is asked of them. They did that today. They put in a full day of hard work for the first day of camp. They haven't reached their final destination of the youth camp at this point. Their first day was to work with the entire group (nearly 80 youth and leaders) at another site. If I understood Matt correctly (sometimes I have a hard time understanding him when he's on his cell - we've never had to talk transcontinentally, not sure if that was the issue, or if he might just mumble???) they were at an orphanage/children's camp today, pouring cement for a soccer field. They worked very hard all day, but he said it was a good day. Because it is winter in Peru, it was dark by 6:00-6:30 pm (they are in our same time zone-CST), so they didn't have to work past dark. Tonight they will sleep on a cement floor (thank you, Lord, for sleeping mats!). The building they are in tonight is only part way finished - not sure if there is any type of roof, and Matt said if it were located here, it would house 8 people; tonight, it will hold nearly 80! Flexibility...good thing they packed it...

Matt said they will head to their actual camp "site" tomorrow. He does not know what is on the schedule at this point for tomorrow. He did say they will not be going to the dump site, but instead will do construction on Monday at the Nor Oeste church site. It's hard work, but the team has done well, and the cooler days (60 degrees today) makes labor easier.

Matt asked that we continue to pray for the team's health/well-being. This was the first full day of foreign food - so far everyone is feeling well and not have tummy issues. Pray that continues. It might be hard to be at the camp and be sick. Also hard to be separated from the team if they need to be at the guest house...So please pray for health and strength for the team. Matt has not been able to receive data on his phone, so the team won't be able to update the blog until late on Friday. Until then, I'll try to keep you updated when he's able to give us all a call.

Good night praying friends -
Wendy

They made it!

Hello again!

Matt just called - they have landed and are in the van headed to the guest house. Everything went well and they are doing well. They all yelled "hi" on the phone - that's to all of you! They will call in the morning on the way to the camp. Hopefully they can update us before they leave, but I think it's an early morning start to get out to the camp.

Thanks, all, for your prayers for their safe arrival. Keep praying that they stay healthy and that they will be able to show the hope they each have in Jesus Christ!

Good night, all!
Wendy

Almost there...

The team is waiting in the Lima airport - should be loading soon for this last "leg" of the trip to Trujillo. They are doing well - tired, but doing well. Matt said their last flight was "uneventful," but nice. They were served a good breakfast and watched a couple of movies during their flight. He also said that as soon as they are settled down and get a chance, they will have team members blog so you don't have to keep hearing from me! That's it for now - hopefully a short note later when they call to say they've landed in Trujillo.

Have a nice evening - it's gorgeous here in Minnesota!

In Lima

They landed just a few minutes ago...All is well. Thanks for praying! Maybe they will get a chance to update us during their wait. Hopefully customs will go well for them!

Later,
Wendy

Up, Up & AWAY!

Hey all -

The team is en route to Lima! They left about 8:53 am (EST), and should arrive in Lima about 1:15 (CST). Hopefully they are getting a bit of sleep. Tommy and Matt both said the team is tired. They will call me when they arrive so we know they made it safely. My understanding is that LAN Airlines treats people really well - full meals, lots of individual tv's, radio stations, etc. Should have been a neat experience for them all! If you want to track their route, Lori K. gave us this link that helps you watch their progress: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/LPE2511
Check it out when you can.

Later -
Wendy

God is SO GOOD!

Just got a call from Tommy - seems tonight's flight was cancelled so they are putting everyone up on a hotel! Yeah! Sleep in a bed! WOW! This is a HUGE blessing when LAN airlines changed the flight time 2 times since we booked this flight originally. God is taking care of this team! Thanks, God!

I'll let them post some things once they get settled...They don't have their luggage, but a night's rest in a bed (and a shower in the morning) will be WONDERFUL!

Gratefully reported -
Wendy

Update - it was a maintenance issue on the plane that has caused the delay. Please pray that it is resolved so the team can proceed in a safe and timely way.

Kayla's Blog

http://chocochippancakes.blogspot.com/

It's all good!

Hey there!

OK, so those of you who know my technical capabilities (or lack thereof) know it's amazing that I got this blog up and running...It's taken a lot of work to get this team off the ground and on their way, but God has been SO faithful! He's provided every step of the way! Though we haven't always had a clear picture of what this project will look like, we know God has helped this day to come and has cleared the way for our team of 9 to be on their way. I am so excited for them! And I hope they can use this blog to update you (or I will help do it on their behalf) on all that God is doing.

Right now, they are hanging out in the Miami airport - waiting for the flight from Miami to Lima, Peru. I'll try to check in on them in a bit and see what's happening down there. Their flight doesn't leave until almost midnight, so they'll maybe get a chance to even update this blog before leaving the US.

Until later...
Wendy C.