I know many of you are shocked to find new information on the Baker Family Blog Spot! I am so sorry I have not kept up lately. Life has been incredibly busy with seven kids, husband, dog, and hamster! The kids are doing great. Of course we are staying busy with the usual: school (now 6 out of 7 homeschool), violin, tennis, biking, running around in the park with all your friends, and swimming! We also like to try and go out and help with the short term teams while they are here.
The kids enjoyed a ride with Mr. Sonny House not too long ago. It was a real treat to go down the streets of New Braunfels in this really old car. The kids worried about us getting in trouble because Millie wasn't in a car seat. I told them I couldn't imagine us getting a ticket because we looked so cute! It was a blast!! Thanks Mr. House!!!
Lenin Celiz left Peru for Jackson, Mississippi yesterday, arriving today. As the mission's architect and supervisor of construction projects, we were loath to part with him, but it's only for two months, and it is for a very good cause! Lenin is one of our most faithful and gifted parishoners in Trujillo. He is a man with a quick, playful smile; contageous optimism; an ardent faith in the Lord Jesus; and a zeal to make Him known.
In addition to being an architect, Lenin is also a carpenter from the city of Moyobamba in the upper jungle of Peru. Lenin grew up working with mahogany, cedar, and other tropical hardwoods in his father's mill until leaving for Trujillo to study architecture. He will spend two months studying English at Jackson State University in the mornings and working with millwright Mike Boyett in the afternoons. Our plan is for Lenin to get experience with the kinds of hardwood doors that are currently being made in the US, so that he can return to Peru and set up a shop to build those doors here for export to North American markets.
This project has been in the works for several years, but now at long last it seems that the Lord is bringing it to fruition. Exports of raw mahogany and cedar have dimished to a trickle from places like Brazil and Peru, as these countries have begun to crack down on the black market trade and put severe restrictions on the legal trade. Developing countries are now more interested in selling value-added products than simply raw lumber. Our hope is to set up a shop that will make the finest quality mahogany and cedar doors and furniture for sale in Peru and the US. In addition to providing jobs for people in our churches, we are hopeful that this will generate a profit that can be used to build new church buildings.
April 19th marked a new occasion for rejoicing among the Peru Mission team. Allen and Sandi Smith, have officialy begun their ministry with us in Trujillo. They arrived in Peru from the States with their daughters Abigail and Adeline, back in the third week in January, but spent February 1 through April 15 in langauge school in Cusco. On April 19 they made their way up to Trujillo after a few days of paperwork in Lima. We now have them officially moved into their new home. They will continue langage studies as Allen eases into responsibiities around the mission. We want his transition to be as smooth as possible and will not load him down with much to do just yet, other than studying Spanish, doing visits with our pastors, and helping out with church music. Please pray for Allen and Sandi as they continue to adjust to a new city and a new home, and as they continue learning Spanish. You can read their blog updates here.
In addition to the Smith Family, we have also welcomed to the team Mr. Caleb Sutton from Valparaiso, Florida. Caleb is actually an old hand around here. He first visited Cajamarca and Trujillo back in the year 2000 on a short term trip with his church. Since then, in addition to other short term trips, he has done two internships with us. One for about nine months in 2003 and then again in 2005 as a summer intern. Now, however, he is back for a much longer tour of duty. He finished a bachelor's degree in English at the University of West Florida this spring and graduated about 10 days ago. We are delighted to have Caleb back for at least two years. He will be teaching English in SALI, as well as helping with the university ministry and church music. Please be praying for Caleb and his ministry with Peru Mission.
We have begun a new sport here at the Baker house, swimming. So far we are loving it. Abby, Katheryn, Olivia, and Noah are all taking classes 3 days a week for an hour a day. Katheryn has been working on getting a breath between strokes without raising her head out of the water. Olivia has been working on getting her entire head under water and not just the tip of her nose. Abby has been amazing me at how fast she is on her back. She has a"bad" backstroke. She beats all the other kids to the other side of the pool almost everytime. And Noah is our frog. He doesn't really like to swim on top of the water, but boy can he go when they practice swimming under water. They are having a lot of fun, and I'm just a little proud of them!
