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We made it home (as most of you know) all safe and sound. Hopefully, we will be able to post some photos on the web soon and will put a link to pictures here. We had a wonderful trip..safe travel...all luggage and medicines made it there and through customs without a hitch...no one got sick...we all made new friends...and, hopefully we made a difference in a few lives, if not many. Thanks again for the prays, for your support, for the team members who went and took time from their family and work, and for family members who supported their loved ones while they away from home. Naomi

Thursday--from Naomi

We started our day going to Monte Sion School and being entertained by some of the school children They were so cute. The school continues to expand, work has started on the 4th floor. We came back to Villa Milagro to hold clinic for the workers and their families here. Larry also had a few people come to be seen that he was concerned about. The first little boy seen broke our hearts--cancer growing on his face that would have been operated on back in the states--condition too bad now to help. We are truly blessed with our health care back in the US. We finished our work about 5 PM and had hoped to go to town, however, it is raining and don't know if we will be able to go. They are roasting a whole hog (not a razorback) for our supper tonight. We will be leaving here about 9 AM Friday...back in Lima for the day Friday and Friday night...leaving Lima about 7 AM Saturday with plans to return back to Little Rock about 9 or 10 PM. We've had an awesome trip! All are still well.

From Naomi--Wed. night

We made it back from Magdalena about supper time all safe and sound, but very tired. We saw lots and lots of people the past 2 days. We stayed at a place that was run by 2 nuns...very clean which was a nice surprise because when we stay out on the road, we usually stay at 3 star hotels...Doyne says you can tell it's a 3-star hotel because when you lay down and look up, you can see 3 stars through the roof. Magdalena is in a valley with beautiful mountains completely surrounding it. Last night the sky was clear and we enjoyed sitting on the roof top of the monestary and just looking at the stars while listening to Whino music (that's dogs whining in the background). The night came to an end when we saw a bat fly just over our heads and one landed on my hand. I jumped up screaming and someone shined their flashlight on me only to warn me that the bat was clinging to my pant leg. Eventually, they got the light closer to discover it was only a huge katy-did...thank goodness!!

We have been fed very well while here and everyone feels confident they they have gained at least 5 pounds.

We will hold a clinic here at Villa Milagro tomorrow for the workers here and also have plans to go visit the school at Monte Sion. Tomorrow afternoon we hope to get a little free time to go to downtown Cajamarca and see the plaza.

Everyone is well...we've been blessed that no one has been ill. Thanks for your prayers.

Maggie, I hope your hand is OK. You know my standard advice...take 2 ibuprofen and call me in the morning. ha And, yes, we are all spoiled back home. You remember how these people appreciate anything you give them. I saw a little 2 year old walking down the street drinking water out of a little medicine bottle that we had emptied.

Sandy, I'm having serious spades withdrawal. Everyone here is too pooped to play. I'll be ready to play next week!

From Naomi

Thank you to everyone back home who has written ( I love you kids and your messages made me cry). We all are enjoying hearing about how things are going back home.
I have harrassed everyone here to write messages for this blog. Please excuse any misspellings and blame them on me and my typing...most of the people have hand written messages and I type them in. I appreciate the team members who have written messages for the blog because it interesting to get their perspective on the 'adventure' we are having. As you have read in the other messages from tonight, we saw lots of people today, mostly children. We did have some "walk-in's" (just like at home-ha) that were adults. We had seen an 88 year old lady in the same town on Saturday who complained with hearing problems. We put ear drops in her ears and told her to return to the school today to have her ears washed out. She and her husband came in and waited while we tried to get the children seen. Bro. Tuck was handing out Bibles near where they were sitting and the husband asked Bro. Tuck for some reading glasses. We did not expect to see adults today and had not brought our trunk with the glasses, but Bro. Tuck dug around in some boxes and found a pair of glasses. He put the glasses on the man and then gave him a Bible with John 3:16 highlighted. Tears came to the little old man's eyes as he was able to read the verse. While the couple waited for the ear wash, one of the translators noticed that the woman had a piece of plastic wrapped tightly around her index finger and told me I might want to look at her finger when I washed out her ears. I unwrapped the plastic and found a very deep and infected cut. I was amazed that she had not mentioned the cut, which was what was needing attention...forget the earwash. Our great nurses (Stacey and Tamra) cleaned the finger and bandaged it and then we gave her a shot of strong antibiotic (thank you Lynae at Mammoth!), and some antibiotic to take at home (thank you everyone who donated money for medicine and Bibles. Hopefully the finger will heal.
Mom and Ruth--I thought you would get a kick out of this. Larry Johnson was complaining about not being able to hear and how he couldn't afford to get new hearing aids. I told him I had my grandmother's hearing aids he could have. He said, "Well, do you have her teeth too?" He about fell out of his chair when I said, "Yep."
We have a early start tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers...we are all well and having a great time. Love, mom/Naomi

From Stacey

Luke, Ashten & Matthew--Hope you had a great day at school today. We worked at a school today. We saw 238 children. We gave them lots of stickers after we did their vitals. I thought of you so often today. I hope that play practice went well tonight. I know you all looked good in your costumes. I can't wait to see the show Sunday. We will be going over the big mountains tomorrow to go to another town. I won't be able to call or write for a few days. I love you all so much. I miss you, Mommy

Brian--I tried to call you several times tonight...unable to get you. Hope everything is OK. We went to a school in a town called Huaraclla today. We saw 238 kids with a few adults scattered in. We saw 181 before 1 PM. A lot of work and a lot of people. We will be going to Magdalina tomorrow. It is over the continental divide. We will be gone for 2 days, so I won't be able to call or write. We are leaving @ 0630 in the morning. David thinks that it will take 3 hours to get there. I will call when I get back. I miss you and love you! Wish you were here! Love, Stace

From Dr. Wilbur

To: Joan
From: Paul
We are having a great time. The area around Cajamarca is beautiful. The group is great and the facilities very comfortable. So, stop worrying, we are safe and well. Today we spent the day at a school and saw mostly children. Tomorrow we will drive over the mountains to a town on the east side of the mountains. Will stay there for the night and return here Wed. night. I am sharing a room with a very nice doctor from Springdale and enjoying working with him. It won't be long until it is time for the wedding. Has any plans changed? I hope the clinic went OK Thursday. Keep the clinic in line and I will take care of the follow-up next week. While you were in church singing in the choir Sunday, I was singing in the Baptist church in town. I will be home when you come home from church Sunday. Love, Paul
PS--Say hello to Maureen, Emily, and everyone at the clinic.

From Dr. Welsh

I've been extremely blessed to get to know so quickly a big variety of Peruvians. We've been twice to the little village of Huaraclla and met locals of all ages. My patients ranged from two weeks to 88 years, and they have all been remarkably patient with my poor Spanish. (I've had two wonderful Peruvian translators who've helped tremendously.) Many of the diseases are the result of poor nutrition and unclean water. The new well being drilled at the school will help a lot. Our team works well together, improvising as the situation demands. It's not all work--we had a great time soaking at the Inca Baths yesterday. The landscape here is magic, with mountains all around and a very green valley in the middle. The land is cut up into thousands of little farms and from our van the landscape is a constant show. Then we get to meet the good people who live here, and all the work becomes a lot of fun. Mary and our kids would love it here. I miss you all and will be home soon with plenty of stories.

From David

Net, Hannah, John David & Mom: Everything is going great. Because of snoring I have a room by myself. Larry has a new couch which is very comfortable and I have throughly enjoyed sitting by the fire early in the morning. See you in a few days. Love, David

From Carter T

I was just thinking about dear friends at FBC Hartwell. Your associate pastor is having a fruitful and unreal mission in Peru. Hope this reaches you by Wednesday so Steve can tell you what a great time the August mission team is in for. Someone please ask Kenton Adams (376-2723) to see if my well pump is turned off. Heard you had a freeze! Cool here, too. Carter T.

From Jennifer

Naomi is making me blog. It's a stretch. Peru is quite picturesque, women is straw hats carrying their babies on their backs, pigs and goats and cows and sheep in the streets, and lots of flora. The kids are beautiful and soft-spoken. They are appreciative of the bibles and care we are giving. Of course, the people are very gracious to us. The Lord is using every resource available to proclaim His name and we are a small part. The folks who claim we should only minister in the States are incredibly naive about the rest of the world's population and the need for the gospel. So, I'm here and glad to be a part. Love to all. Jen

From Tamra

Hello Dof, Mom, and my four sweet children: We were at a school today and saw mostly children, about 238. A busy day but very satisfying--the people are very appreciative. Tomorrow will go over the mountains and be gone two days so won't hear from me. I won't be able to email either. Dof, please give Sylvia the Blog site so she can look it up. I love you all and continue to keep us in your prayers. Tam

Easter--from Naomi

It is Sunday night about bedtime. We've had a great restful day. It started out beautiful and sunny, but after lunch if started raining and has not stopped. We originally had plans to go to Porcon today, but things did not work out, so we stayed here. I'm glad we did because we were able to attend church at Monte Sion. You who have been here know how they welcome us to worship with them. Since it was Easter, Pastor Helmer preached this morning. For those of you who have not been, usually one of the pastors with the group preaches in English while someone translates into Spanish. Pastor Helmer, of course, delivered the message in Spanish, which meant most of us didn't have a clue what he was saying, however, we knew he was talking about the resurrection and smiling the whole sermon...it was a very enjoyable worship service.
After church, we had a large, delicious meal, as usual. Everyone is claiming to have already gained 5 pounds and we've just gotten started. They feed us so well here. This afternoon we did get to go to the banos and take the hot baths. Dr. Beller pulled a sneaky on us and had a massage instead of a bath. But, it cost him though...$6.00. He reported it was the best massage he's had in years. The rest of us didn't know we had a choice. It just shows how observant Dr. Beller is, and he doesn't even speak Spanish.

This week is nation health week here and a reporter from CNN came to the clinic yesterday and did a story on us. Actually, it was CN&N--Cajamarca News and Notices. We got to watch it on the news tonight so now we feel like we are all celebrities.

Maggie, you asked about Jamie, Nancy, Orlando and Raquel. They are all doing well and taking great care of us as usual. You also asked about anything interesting that happened. We thought we were going to get to deliver a baby yesterday. A man brought a woman to the clinic who looked like she was about to pop a baby out just any minute and the man said she was having the baby. She was kinda wobbling around so we put it into to high gear trying to find a place where we could lay her down and examine her. Before we even found a place to lay her down, Dr. Wilbur, Dr. Welsh and I had a grand discussion about who was going to get to deliver the baby, which I won because I saw her first and got dibs on her...it didn't matter that they had a little more experience than me...OK...a great deal more experience, but they were gracious enough to let me think I was going to get to do it and let me examine her first. Much to my disappointment and most of the rest of the team, the husband was drunk and didn't know what he was talking about. She still has a good month to go before any birthing is going to go on. I was even looking for some castor oil to speed things along, but that was not in our medicine inventory. We gave her some vitamins and sent them on their way.

Ruth, Doyne and I are hoping all the junk you sold at the yard sale was mostly our junk and that you made us bunches of money while we are off down here spending it!

Everyone is having a great time. All are well and well fed.

Love, Mom/Naomi

Easter--from Dr. Beller

The scenery is unparalled. The people are beautiful and worthy. The missionaries are talented, tireless, and motivated. Our hosts know what the people and the ones who have come to help need and bring us together seamlessly.

Great food, great fun, great satisfaction.

I do not miss you all very much. Tell Duke there are two dogs in every block. He has is made there as do all of you. Count your many blessings.

I love you,
Bill, Doc, Dad

Easter Sunday from Stacey

Luke, Ashten, & Matthew,
It was so good to hear from you all. Hope you had a great Easter. Don't eat all that chocolate in one day! We are helping a lot of peole here. I have taken a lot of pictures for you all to see. I love you and will see you soon. Have a good week at school. Love, Mommy

Brian,
Glad you made it home OK. Hope your reunion was good. I miss you. Will call you soon. I love you, Stace

Shirley

Hi everyone,
I am working in the dental section again, but with a different dentist. I also get to hold all the babies while the Moms are having their teeth pulled out. Yesterday, I rode in the back of a stake body truck to get to the site. We went down a beautiful valley that was surrounded by mountains. My grandson,Matthew is with me and he turned 17 yesterday. They made a birthday cake for him. It was just a great day. Pat will you look at my email account and get Katelyn address and send her the blog site. We are getting ready for Church which is in Spanish. Thank you for all the prayers. Love

From Bro. Tuck

Dear Friends at FBC:
Things are going great here---after a LONG trip getting here. The team consists of wonderful, dedicated people. Our team is in for a special treat in August. Tell them to work on their Spanish now. And, keep those cards, letters and mission dollars coming in. You are doing great things by sending some of your own to Peru. Love, Bro. Tuck

From John Covington

Dear Ashley and Family--Things are going great here. The mountains are so beautiful that a picture can't start to capture them. Me and doctor Beller pulled some where around 80 teeth yesterday. Several people didn't have any teeth left. A lot of people are geting help that haven't had help in a long time. How are things going in Rosie. You better check on my dogs and pet them every day!! And maybe take thyem hunting a time or two. Anyway, I love you all and I love it here but I love Rosie more. See you soon. Love, John

From Tamara April 8

Hey Dorthy--Loved getting the messages--keep them coming..Easter Sunday and will be going to church this morning and fun/relaxing activities this afternoon. Will do clinics the rest of the week---pray for safety and for us to do "good."

Thanks for keeping up with the kids for me. Tell them mom says hello and I love them and miss them. Tam

Saturday April 7

Thank you everyone for your prayers and messages. All of our luggage and medicine made it to Villa Milagro Friday afternoon by the grace of God. They never let us bring 2 suitcases on the plane from Lima to Cajamarca and we did not expect the other bags to arrive until Monday or Tuesday because of the holiday weekend, but once again, God was taking care of us.

Today we worked at Huarancla sp?, about 45 minutes from Villa Milagro. We had a great first day. We saw over 140 patients and Dr. Beller pulled over 80 teeth. Everyone worked very hard and we were all tired and ready for supper when we returned back to VM 7 PM. We celebrated Matthew Wunderlich's 17th birthday with cake and ice cream a round of "Happy Birthday" in English...he had had enough Spanish for the day.

Tomorrow, we will celebrate Easter at Monte Sion with tradition Peruvian service. We hope to visit the orphanage tomorrow afternoon.

Everyone is well here and hope all are well back home. Will pass messages along to the rest of the gang. Keep them coming. Love to all. NR

We made it!

All safe and sound and not too far behind schedule. All of luggage with medicine/clothes should arrive this afternoon at 4 pm today. We are all well and the weather is beautiful. We are resting today and hope to get to the hot baths this afternoon before we start our work in the morning. Everyone is pleased with our accommodations and Larry is the gracious host, as always. Will try to check in tomorrow evening after we return from clinic. Naomi