Pollada

This past Saturday, Cristo Rey celebrated it's first annual pollada. We had a good turn out, good food and good games. We had a volleyball and soccer tournament between our cell groups. I think everyone had a fun time!

Conversion

Tim Keller has been writing a series of blog posts on preaching which is largely a review of Martin Lloyd-Jones' book Preaching and Preachers. As always, Keller has had many good things to say. One thing caught my attention, however, that I thought I would comment on. Keller highlights a passage where Lloyd-Jones says that preachers should not "assume that all…who are members of the church, are…Christians. This, to me, is the most fatal blunder of all" (quoted from Lloyd Jones, p. 146). Keller goes on to link this to the Old Side-New Side and Old Light-New Light controversies from the 18th Century and the Nevin-Hodge debates in the 19th Century over (among other things) whether one should ever assume a church member to be unconverted. Lloyd-Jones and Keller both affirm that we should expect to find that many church members are in fact unconverted and thus expect them to be converted under Biblical preaching.

This is the brief response that I left:

Thanks, Pastor Keller. Of course, a third option is to ask whether we should think of conversion as a one-off event, that once done is never to be repeated. If conversion is just faith and repentance then maybe we should should constantly call for conversion (as L-J would suggest) but without thinking that a new, more profound experience of God's grace necessarily implies that all previous experiences were spurious. In that sense, the Nevin-Hodge debate is beside the point. The real question is not: When did I first experience God's grace? Rather it would be: Am I believing the Gospel and repenting of my sins today? Assurance rightly belongs only to those who are believing and repenting now, regardless of what their previous experience(s) may or may not have been.

Sunday at the Baker's

Today we worshiped at Cristo Rey with a short-term team from Hernando, Mississippi. After church we had lunch and a time of singing and prayer at our house. It was a big crowd, but the singing was awesome! We are looking forward to a busy week with them. They will be doing construction in one of the churches on the outskirts of Trujillo.

Happy 4th of July

Yesterday after church we celebrated The 4th of July with our American friends living here in Peru. We had a great time of fellowship and had some awesome food! Later that night several of our husbands left to travel to Cajamarca to assist with a team of doctors and dentists from Jackson, Mississippi. They will have a very busy week. Please pray for safety traveling and for the many lives that will be touched by these dear friends.

Friends from North Carolina and Louisiana

This week we had a wonderful group of friends from Matthews OPC in Charlotte, North Carolina, along with friends from Rayville, Louisiana. They all worked in one of our newest church plants called Cristo Redentor. Many patients were seen by the medical team, and a lot of digging was completed by the construction team. They all worked very hard! Thank you so much!!

Happy Birthday Millie!

On June 30th we celebrated Millie's birthday. I can't believe our baby is now 8 years old! Where has all that time gone? Before we know it she will be driving!!!!!

A Night Out

Last week Wes and I, along with Whitney Ueltchey, attended a social event here in Trujillo. Our friend Edith Cordova had a very nice open house for her new hair salon and spa. It was complete with champagne, tasty finger foods served by men in white coats with black bow ties, lights, and music. Edith is very well known here and has won many awards in Lima for her work. We met her through classes she took in SALI, our language institute. We are so thankful for the friends the Lord has put in our lives!

Girls.. Girls..Girls..

Wanted to share a few of the pictures Abby has recently taken of her sisters. We have just discovered a natural talent. She really does a great job! She has started taking pictures of everything and is now our official family photographer.

I went with Wes last week out to the Wichanzao clinic. It has been a while since my last visit, and there have been a lot of changes. The second floor is now complete and houses the dental office, exam room, lab, and the new ultrasound room. The clinic has recently purchased a brand new state-of-the-art ultrasound machine, thanks to the generous gifts of many friends! We have two Peruvian doctors who have been trained to perform this task.

Dental Team

This week is the beginning of our busiest time of the year. Our short term mission teams will fill up the next few months. Our first team was a group of dentist and dental students from UMC in Jackson, Mississippi. They saw many patients in the outlying parts of the city. These dentists not only pulled and cleaned teeth, but also demonstrated the love of Christ! Thank you all for giving up your time to help with the work here in Trujillo!

A New School Year!

Our youngest angel Millie at her school program! All the kids have been back in school for 6 weeks now. We are getting into the groove of things. This is our second year in Peruvian schools and I think we are finally figuring out the system. All of the kids are doing well and have many friends!

recent sermon

Here is a recent sermon preached at Christ Presbyterian Church in New Braunfels, Texas.

Medical Equipment to the Wichanzao Clinic

Here is a great summary by Dale Ellison of our struggle with Peruvian Customs and the Peruvian ministry of health to finally take possession of donated medical equipment.  Praise the Lord with us that the saga is over.  We look forward to getting the equipment installed and in use at the Wichanzao clinic.  Special thanks to all who have prayed for this!

Online Sermons

Here are three sermons from Advent and Christmas:

"Announcing the Long Expected Birth" Luke 1.26-38 [there are problems with the first half of this recording.  I hope to have it fixed soon].

"A Cause to Celebrate" Luke 2.1-20

"Presenting the Infant King" Luke 2.21-40

Covenant OPC Construction Team

The saints from Covenant OPC in Orland Park, IL sent a construction team down last month to begin building the new manse for the Wichanzao parish. Pastor Juan Marquina and his wife Mirian have been living for the past year and a half in one of the classrooms in our education building. As you can imagine, they are eager to see their home finished and to move in. We've run out of money for now, but thanks to the generosity of Covenant Presbyterian, we were able to lay the foundation, the floor, the first floor walls, and finish the first floor roof. We still have a long way to go before it is finished, but we are half-way there! Please join us in thanking God for the generosity of Covenant Presbyterian Church!

Peru Mission Thanksgiving e-Bulletin

Click on the image to see the Bulletin in a readable form

Travels

I recently visited Grace Presbyterian Church in Lexington, VA where Dr. Paul Carter is pastor. It had been about 15 years since I last drove through the Shenandoah Valley. I forgot how beautiful it is! The only thing that matched the Valley, was the wonderful hospitality of Pastor Carter and all the saints at Grace. I also enjoyed Sunday lunch with the John Pearson family. John is RUF Area Coordinator. Grace PCA and the RUF from Washington and Lee University sent a construction team to Peru this past spring for the second year in a row. I spoke to a Saturday evening gathering, telling about the work in Peru, and then preached at their two services on Sunday morning. You can listen to the sermon here.

Medical Ministry Update

This is from a recent eBulletin that we sent out updating everyone on our medical ministry.

* * *

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers, you did for me" Matthew 25:40

We have been blessed to have many medical professionals come and give of themselves, their time, and their resources to help serve the hurting people of Peru. In an effort to keep you updated on the spread of the Gospel through our medical ministry we will send periodic updates on current happenings so that you may labor with us through your prayers and through your financial support.

We have attended 3,000 patients since we opened the Wichanzao Clinic in 2002 and currently see up to 20 patients a day. Our aim is to serve with a level of compassion that is not seen in most Peruvian clinics. Not only are we able to offer medical services in one of the poorest and least served parts of Trujillo, we are also able to extend a higher quality of care through visiting American professionals, donated supplies, and medications from the US.

We currently occupy the first floor of our two-story facility. Having only one exam room and one dental room we are eager to finish the second floor which will add two additional exam rooms, and a room for sonogram and EKG, a laboratory, an additional waiting room, and office space. Stage two for the Wichanzao Clinic is to expand into the vacant building next door, which will increase our pharmacy area, provide more exam rooms, and give patients a larger waiting area. Each of these steps, however, requires help from our friends who have a heart for this ministry.

Because we seek to serve a very needy community by offering medical services at an extremely low cost, covering our operational expenses is very difficult. Including our doctors' salaries, and a full staff, it costs us $75/day to run the clinic ($1500/month) . We need $4,000 to complete construction of our second floor, and approximately $15,000 for renovation and expansion next door. Once we complete these expansions we will be able to serve many more patients in need and provide even more services in our clinic.

Jesus always preached the gospel in the context of acts of compassion and we consider this to be one of our chief responsibilities.  The Lord has greatly blessed this ministry, but we very much depend on the prayers and support of many friends. Please consider a regular contribution toward our operating expenses, as well as a specific gift enabling us to complete construction of the Wichanzao facility.

•Please pray the Lord gives us wisdom as we seek to run this clinic efficiently and effectively.
•Please pray that the Lord would use these acts of compassion to open hard hearts.
•Please pray that the Lord would bring true healing to those we seek to serve.

Joshua and the Great Comission

I spent this past Lord's Day at Bryce Avenue Presbyterian Church in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Pastor Henry Fernandez was ministering in another church in the presbytery, so I didn't get the privilege of fellowship with him and his family, but I did enjoy a wonderful time with Dr. and Mrs. Charles Bell (in whose home I stayed). I gave a presentation of our work during the Sunday School hour and then preached in the morning service. The sermon, "Joshua and the Great Commission," can be heard from the BAPC website by clicking here. After the service the church invited everyone to stay for lunch in the fellowship hall. There I enjoyed conversations with many folks. One of the highlights for me was meeting Dr. David Kuiper. Dr. Kuiper is a researcher at the national laboratory in Los Alamos, but most interesting of all, I learned that he is the great-grandson of Herman Hoeksema, the famous theologian from the Protestant Reformed Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI. I have frequently used Hoeksema's Systematic Theology over the years, as well as consulting from time to time his Commentary on Revelation. He also has a three volume commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism that I don't own, but I've heard tell that it is an important work that I should acquire.

Thanks to all the saints at Bryce Avenue PCA for a wonderful weekend, especially to Dr. and Mrs. Bell for their warm hospitality.

Hamas Leader's Son Converts

I've been convicted of late about the importance of praying more consistently for the conversion of leaders of both Islam and atheism. I never new about Yousef Masaf, and so I have not prayed for him by name, but the Lord seems to be answering somebody's prayers because, according to the Israeli Daily Newpaper Haaretz, this son of a top Hamas leader has recently converted. It is a fascinating story that you can read here.