Happy Father's Day!

Well our potluck turned out really well! Everyone brought food or drinks and most of it was different. Susie made a turkey and bread pudding (one of my new favorites!), Kathy brought dressing (one of my all time favorites!), Shay made deviled eggs, and I made a pound cake. It almost seemed like Thanksgiving! But then we added to that several Peruvian dishes. It was a lot of fun. We talked about Father's day and what the traditions are here. Mostly, the dads just drink all day long. We talked about the importance of family and the importance of God our Father, so hopefully our students will look at Father's day differently now. I will try and post pictures as soon as I get them.

On Father's day I went with the Austin's to the beach. Arnold wanted to go surfing for Father's day. I had planned to go but then decided it was too cold, and when I talked to my mom she told me I couldn't because I have been sick. Oh well, maybe another time. We still had fun sitting on the beach, freezing and watching them surf. The Austin's are so nice because they have practically adopted me into their family. They're always looking out for me and letting me hang out with their family. It has definitely helped me to be away from my own family for so long.

Here are the girls on the beach...


Arnold and his middle son, Ben


Two summer missionaries and I


It was definitely weird to be in winter clothes sitting on a beach for Father's day. I was trying hard not to think about all of you who were probably on the lake or grilling out!

This week we've got classes and then we're going to have a movie night on Friday. We're also going to help Kathy cook two days for a big mission team coming down. I'm excited about that because it is always warm in her kitchen when preparing such a big meal!

Some prayer requests....
-Shannon (with the broken leg) now has an apartment near the office and is going to begin helping us with the English Fellowship classes. Please pray for continued healing for her and also for her finances. Even though insurance is paying for this she still has to go through getting reimbursed for everything.
-Some of our teams are having issues with each other and not working well together. Please pray that these things would get worked out.
-I am going to the doctor tomorrow, well to the ENT actually, because I have been sick for more than three weeks now. Please pray that the doctor will figure out how to help me get better.
-Next Wednesday we will all be going to Nazca (about 6-8 hours south of Lima) for our mid-summer debriefing. This will be a few days of rest and relaxation for many teams. The teams that are way out will start traveling the 25th. Please pray for safety as everyone is traveling.

Thanks! Miss all you guys!

2007 Summer Missions Team

The summer missions team is in blue and the REAPSouth team is in red.

Father's Day

We have been having a lot of new people come to our Bible studies lately. It's pretty awesome. Please be praying for these people. We're trying to plan lots of events for the next couple of months. We're going to have a potluck this weekend and a movie night the next. Tonight we are going to do a lesson for Father's Day. Now we did this for Mother's Day as well, but people were already way into it. Mother's Day is bigger than Christmas here and most of that has to do with how the Catholics see Mary. But Father's Day...well, they know what it is, but it really isn't a big deal at all. I think I've seen one sign somewhere about it. When it was Mother's Day there was stuff everywhere. SO tonight we're going to talk about God the Father and also our earthly fathers. Please be praying for us this week as we talk about this. We are really trying to show how important God is and how He is our Father.


On another note, Shay told me I talked in my sleep the other night...in Spanish! How awesome is that??

Well I'm back from Arequipa. It is definitely good to be back in Lima. Being a translator and leading a team around Peru is very tiring, but I'm definitely learning a lot from doing stuff like that.

The missionaries here could really use some prayer right now. It seems that the majority of the new summer missionaries are sick. Most have stomach problems, which is normal and should pass, but it is hard on them being sick and in a new place. We had one girl go to the emergency room last night in Lima, but she is doing better. Another girl went to a hospital near her village. I'm not sure what exactly is going on with her, but she has decided to go back to the States. Shannon had her surgery tonight on her ankle. I have heard (although I'm not positive) that she is going to be placed on the Lima ESL team. I'm excited to have her on my team definitely, but she will need some recovery time and stuff. A lot of people are also very homesick too. There are a few who could really use some prayers as they are really wanting to go home right now.

Our Lima team is also very worn down. Please pray for the missionaries here, especially the Austin family. We have so many details to figure out and we need a lot more translators now than we have needed in the past. There are times when we all want to run away and head for the beach for a vacation, but we're trying to get through it all... of course we can't do it on our own and this is really teaching us to look to God as our strength.

I'd love to hear from you all and what all is going on in the States! Send me an email if you'd like at heather@reapsouth.org.