From Jennifer--
Our last morning in Peru. Everyone is looking forward to our return to the US but are leaving behind new friends, rich experiences and the miracle which is "Villa
Milagro". All have enjoyed meeting Larry and his wife Joy and all of the Peruvian team.
Yesterday was packed with many patients in the town of Jesus. We walked through their market at lunchtime but no one wanted to take home any chickens, tire sandals or straw hats. We came home tired but all of the young folks still had enough energy to have a face-drawing art lesson from one of our artists, Sue Coon. After lots of harassment of the teacher, a few "students" had produced a portrait.
Thanks to everyone for praying for us while we have been gone and we will arrive back in LR on Continental flight 2996 at 11:52 AM, Saturday morning.
Dios le bendiga, God bless you.
Jennifer Blankenship
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Thursday morning
We have a very special prayer request this morning. One of the employees at Villa Milagro, Jaime Rivera, found out this week he has a tumor. He is going to the doctor today to get a biopsy to find out if it is malignant. Jaime (pronounced Hi-me) is a very important part of VM. He and his brother Orlondo have been drilling the water wells all the years since Larry started the water well drilling ministry. His brother Orlondo passed away one month ago and now, if Jaime is sick, the water well ministry is in jeorpardy. Over 300 wells have been drilled in the region because of this ministry and countless lives have been saved in many communities because of clean water being available. Please keep Jaime in your prayers.
Yesterday, we worked at a community about an hour away called Matara. We had a record setting day...540 patients! In all the years I've been coming to Peru, we've never seen that many people. We were so busy, but yet at the end of the day, everyone said they enjoyed the day. Our artists ran out of supplies and we ran out of some medicine in the pharmacy and gave out all the Bibles and toys, but we scrambled around and managed to provide what was necessary and we promised to send back Bibles for those who didn't get them. Janice has fell ill with an upset tummy, so we are going to let her rest today. We will be going up the road about 30 minutes to a place called Jesus. We haven't had a clinic there before and not sure what to expect, but we are repacking our supplies and going to throw in everything but the kitchen sink.
Again, we ask for your prayers for the Rivera family as they mourn for Orlondo and now are faced with Jaime's health problems and also for all the ministries associated with Villa Milagro.
Yesterday, we worked at a community about an hour away called Matara. We had a record setting day...540 patients! In all the years I've been coming to Peru, we've never seen that many people. We were so busy, but yet at the end of the day, everyone said they enjoyed the day. Our artists ran out of supplies and we ran out of some medicine in the pharmacy and gave out all the Bibles and toys, but we scrambled around and managed to provide what was necessary and we promised to send back Bibles for those who didn't get them. Janice has fell ill with an upset tummy, so we are going to let her rest today. We will be going up the road about 30 minutes to a place called Jesus. We haven't had a clinic there before and not sure what to expect, but we are repacking our supplies and going to throw in everything but the kitchen sink.
Again, we ask for your prayers for the Rivera family as they mourn for Orlondo and now are faced with Jaime's health problems and also for all the ministries associated with Villa Milagro.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
From Sue:
Hi Daughter and friends,
Another workout today! Went to a women's shelter (att one time the home of a wealthy owner). We didn't have much room...a little porch about 10 ft. long and 6 ft. wide, two rickety tables eons old. Little old chairs and a bench that lost it's side before we left. We could only seat 10 children at a time, but we had shifts of them all day (from 8 till 6 pm). We took pictures of thte babies (so cute) and, in general, had another busy day ministering to these very poor people. They always have to close the gate for the line never ends.
Tomorrow--we get up early--leave at 7 am and are going up in the mountains! Wish you were here! Love, Mom/Sue
Hi Daughter and friends,
Another workout today! Went to a women's shelter (att one time the home of a wealthy owner). We didn't have much room...a little porch about 10 ft. long and 6 ft. wide, two rickety tables eons old. Little old chairs and a bench that lost it's side before we left. We could only seat 10 children at a time, but we had shifts of them all day (from 8 till 6 pm). We took pictures of thte babies (so cute) and, in general, had another busy day ministering to these very poor people. They always have to close the gate for the line never ends.
Tomorrow--we get up early--leave at 7 am and are going up in the mountains! Wish you were here! Love, Mom/Sue
Tuesday morning
We had a very busy, but rewarding day at clinic yesterday. We saw 340 patients, some with serious problems, most with common ailments such as headache, backache, and stomachache. Janett and Faye had the best job...giving out toys and goodies to every patient. They wanted to be able to say something in Spanish as they handed out their gifts, so they asked Faye's grandson Levi how to say Jesus loves you. He told them what to say and they practiced and practiced before clinic started. They were quite proud of themselves as they said "Christo te lame" to each person until Levi informed them they were saying 'Jesus licks you'--it should have been "Christo te ama" --I think they gave up and just filled a bag and handed it out without saying anything. I think the people got the message anyway. About to head to another placed here in town for another full day.
Naomi
Naomi
Monday, June 7, 2010
Monday night from Rachel Lee
Wonderful day today. I shadowed the Doctor all day and got a first-hand look at how a medical missions team works. Many of the people needed help, and they were very appreciative of the work that the medical team did for them. Lots of children to see and patients to treat, and though by the end of the day we were tired, it was a rewarding experience. 100% certain that I want to be a Pediatrican. LOVED all that we did today and I learned a lot, for example, how to do blood pressure. The team worked well together, sending LOTS of people from the waiting lines to the doctors to the lenses distribution and then down to the pharmacy. The children come to play by the 100s so Clayton and the other activities/children's corner people did a wonderful job keeping them busy and showing them Gods love through attention and care.
Excited about visiting the Women's Clinic/Shelter tomorrow. There are so many needs here, and you feel so good at night falling asleep and knowing that what you did that day helped someone, even if it was only one person.
This group has taken me under its wing and treated me like another member of the team. Glad to be here and priveleged to work with this wonderful group of people.
Rachel
Excited about visiting the Women's Clinic/Shelter tomorrow. There are so many needs here, and you feel so good at night falling asleep and knowing that what you did that day helped someone, even if it was only one person.
This group has taken me under its wing and treated me like another member of the team. Glad to be here and priveleged to work with this wonderful group of people.
Rachel
Monday
from Sue Coon--written on Sunday:
Dear Catherine and friends, Thanks for thinking of me. You must consider coming next time. You would be very good working with this crew.
It has been a "life changing" experience each day since I arrived...2 days. From buying food for 10 families in 3 hours --the market is another story....
Delivering them to the homes, after assorting the food for an hour...4 out of five homes our team delivered to were lacking of husbands.
Today (Sunday) we went to church (2 hours) and observed seven baptisms.
Then lunch (ample--three times a day), rest for a bit (30 min).
Ann Snyder and I packed up our art supplies and the whole group (22) went to the orphanage and was shown to a room with tables and chairs. When it was announced that drawing and painting would be conducted in that room, immediately a little girl grabbed my hand and the room was full of children (20) in a few minutes. For nearly and hour, they drew, colored, painted to their hearts content. Luckily, Martha interpreted, came in and saved us. They were all jabbering in Spanish! Fun was had by all--and in the universal language (with a little help). Then after 30 paintings were placed on the benches, they all ran out for hotdogs and marshmellows over an open fire, they had ice cream, soccer and lots of hugs.
This place is so needy and yet, the people seem to be happy with what ever little they possess! Love, Mom (Sue)
Dear Catherine and friends, Thanks for thinking of me. You must consider coming next time. You would be very good working with this crew.
It has been a "life changing" experience each day since I arrived...2 days. From buying food for 10 families in 3 hours --the market is another story....
Delivering them to the homes, after assorting the food for an hour...4 out of five homes our team delivered to were lacking of husbands.
Today (Sunday) we went to church (2 hours) and observed seven baptisms.
Then lunch (ample--three times a day), rest for a bit (30 min).
Ann Snyder and I packed up our art supplies and the whole group (22) went to the orphanage and was shown to a room with tables and chairs. When it was announced that drawing and painting would be conducted in that room, immediately a little girl grabbed my hand and the room was full of children (20) in a few minutes. For nearly and hour, they drew, colored, painted to their hearts content. Luckily, Martha interpreted, came in and saved us. They were all jabbering in Spanish! Fun was had by all--and in the universal language (with a little help). Then after 30 paintings were placed on the benches, they all ran out for hotdogs and marshmellows over an open fire, they had ice cream, soccer and lots of hugs.
This place is so needy and yet, the people seem to be happy with what ever little they possess! Love, Mom (Sue)
Monday morning June7th (I think)
from Naomi:
I put in the title I think it's June 7th because when you are down here and out of routine, it's really hard to keep track of what day it is. I'm sorry we haven't been posting as much and I haven't been able to post any pictures, but the internet service here is very sporatic. Everyone is well. Yesterday we went to church at Monte Sion Baptist Church and experienced a great service...a little long...but great none the less. It was the church's 18th anniversary and they had visitors from several other churches. The church was packed. The regular church service was over at noon, but then they had a baptismal service baptising 7 people, including an 84 year old woman and her husband. After the baptism, we sang another song while waiting for the pastor to dry off and get dressed so he could come back and offer the Lord's supper. That consited of homemade unleaven bread and homemade grape juice (you can't buy grape juice here). So the service wasn't over until 1 o'clock which seemed even longer sitting on the wooden benches with a very straight backs. After lunch, we went to the orphanage and played with the kids until late afternoon and the weinie roast started. They got to roast marshmellows (I should say burned because they all liked to stick them right in the flame or directly on the coals) then it was all topped off with ice cream cones. They had a great time. We found 2 or 3 kids we are thinking about sticking in our bags and bringing home with us. On the way home, Celso (works here at Villa Milagro) saw a woman on the road who we had tried to deliver food to on Saturday, but she wasn't home. He stopped and told her if she would go home, we would bring the food over to where she lived, which was within walking distance of VM. We gathered the food and went across the field to her "home" which consisted of an area of about 9X9 foot, poles stuck in the ground and 2 or 3 pieces of plastic wrapped around the poles to make the walls, nothing over the top, but she did have an umbrella to cover herself and her little girl when it rains. She goes out and collects plastic bottles on the street during the day and brings them home to wash them and try to resell them for her living. As it turned out, the little girl was sick, so we got to do a little doctoring as well. Today we will be going to a school here in town called Mantoch. We'll be seeing people who will be coming from all over...I'm not sure how they get the word out, but we are ready to get to work.
Thanks for all your posts and prayers!
Les--will pass along your thanks to Aunt Martha, she said she had to 2 best escorts a woman could ask for Friday evening and Saturday!
I put in the title I think it's June 7th because when you are down here and out of routine, it's really hard to keep track of what day it is. I'm sorry we haven't been posting as much and I haven't been able to post any pictures, but the internet service here is very sporatic. Everyone is well. Yesterday we went to church at Monte Sion Baptist Church and experienced a great service...a little long...but great none the less. It was the church's 18th anniversary and they had visitors from several other churches. The church was packed. The regular church service was over at noon, but then they had a baptismal service baptising 7 people, including an 84 year old woman and her husband. After the baptism, we sang another song while waiting for the pastor to dry off and get dressed so he could come back and offer the Lord's supper. That consited of homemade unleaven bread and homemade grape juice (you can't buy grape juice here). So the service wasn't over until 1 o'clock which seemed even longer sitting on the wooden benches with a very straight backs. After lunch, we went to the orphanage and played with the kids until late afternoon and the weinie roast started. They got to roast marshmellows (I should say burned because they all liked to stick them right in the flame or directly on the coals) then it was all topped off with ice cream cones. They had a great time. We found 2 or 3 kids we are thinking about sticking in our bags and bringing home with us. On the way home, Celso (works here at Villa Milagro) saw a woman on the road who we had tried to deliver food to on Saturday, but she wasn't home. He stopped and told her if she would go home, we would bring the food over to where she lived, which was within walking distance of VM. We gathered the food and went across the field to her "home" which consisted of an area of about 9X9 foot, poles stuck in the ground and 2 or 3 pieces of plastic wrapped around the poles to make the walls, nothing over the top, but she did have an umbrella to cover herself and her little girl when it rains. She goes out and collects plastic bottles on the street during the day and brings them home to wash them and try to resell them for her living. As it turned out, the little girl was sick, so we got to do a little doctoring as well. Today we will be going to a school here in town called Mantoch. We'll be seeing people who will be coming from all over...I'm not sure how they get the word out, but we are ready to get to work.
Thanks for all your posts and prayers!
Les--will pass along your thanks to Aunt Martha, she said she had to 2 best escorts a woman could ask for Friday evening and Saturday!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Sat June 5, 2010
Started out at 8:00 this a.m. Went to the market and bought food to distribute to needy families. We learned that God has truly blessed us in the US and that there are many needs around our world. Buying and negotiating the price of food in the market was really eye-opening - especially the meat market (many cow heads staring at us as well as pig snouts) Home-Town Market & Miller's seem real upscale now!!!
Our "left-behinders" just arrived, safe and sound. They seemed none the worse for wear - Martha was glad to arrive safely too.
Looking forward to anniversary celebration at church tomorrow. Three are being baptized. Everything is going well and the weather remains beautiful.
Keep us in your prayers - we miss you!
Stephanie, Kim & Melissa
Our "left-behinders" just arrived, safe and sound. They seemed none the worse for wear - Martha was glad to arrive safely too.
Looking forward to anniversary celebration at church tomorrow. Three are being baptized. Everything is going well and the weather remains beautiful.
Keep us in your prayers - we miss you!
Stephanie, Kim & Melissa
Friday, June 4, 2010
Friday night June 4
Everybody is here minus 3. We pray they get here as quick as possible! Other than that, everything has went pretty smooth. We touched down on the plane at our destination in cajamarca and the scenery as soon as you step off the plane is amazing! There are mountains all around. You really can not get the full effect until you see it for yourself! I was also worried about the food, and tonight we ate chicken and rice with ice cream for desert!! In the morning we get to eat some biscuits and gravy! So maybe it will not be too bad :) Everybody is worn out from the trip up here. We leave in the morning to buy food to distribute to some families in need. I know today was a hot one back in Arkansas, just know we are burning up down here in this 65 degree weather. I hope all is well! Keep us in your prayers!
From Clayton
From Clayton
Friday night June 4
We made it to Cajamarca...well, most of us did. We were boarding the plane in Lima to fly to Cajamarca and they stopped on of the boys that was with us and told him they saw a soccer ball (with air in it) in his checked bag and they considered that pressured air and would not allow it to be loaded on the plane and they could not remove the ball, but he would have to go take the ball out himself and he would only have 15 minutes to do that before the plane was leaving. Of course, there was no way for him to get to where he needed to go and back in that 15 minutes...we left Martha Robertson with him to translate and his brother with some money so they could get a hotel room at the airport. We were hoping they would get the early morning flight and be here by 9 am, but right now they are saying it will be tomorrow afternoon before they get here. We feel really bad that we are not all here together! Please say a prayer tonight and early in the morning that they are able to get on the morning flight!
Friday morning-June 4, 2010
We made it to Lima all safe and sound with all our luggage and supplies. This was the easiest trip through customs we have ever had. All the fraidy cats (Janett, Janice, Stephanie, Chasity) made the flight fine and now we can all believe it that Janett Miller has finally come to Peru! We are having breakfast at a hotel near the Indian Market in Lima and after a short shopping excursion to the market, we are headed back to the airport at noon for a 3pm flight to Cajamarca. Thanks for all the prayers!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)