sorry these are small, but this is some of the girls on the creative ministry team washing dishes at our sink

The last night we were there we threw a party for the little girls in the village and gave them hand massages, painted their nails, gave them lots of food and danced.

Me and Leslie took Drew's camera and played a game where you make weird faces and take pictures but you don't know when they are going to be taken.

Me and Yesabel

They roasted a pig and we got to watch them shave it and stuff...interesting

Drew tried to teach Leoncio how to play guitar

Me and Yesabel again.

Hiking

and again

Drew "eating" chicken foot soup

Our favorite little boy, Omar

Drew cooking, which the kids thought was really funny

The Group, Nestor, Leslie, me, Amy, Drew

Our nightly game of Skip-Bo

Drew being crazy

Leoncio, Lucy, their daughter Yesabel, and son Aisten

Some prayer requests:

1. Leoncio and his family to continuing studying the Bible
2. That the other believers would start wanting to attend the study also
3. That the believers would feel an urgency for sharing the gospel with those in the village

Quito Arma~the door on the far right is where we ate dinner every night.

The boys room

The "bathroom"

Leslie and one of the believers (Leoncio's mom) Yolanda

Leslie, the second from the right, became the godmother of the Huaytara Torros (bulls) soccer team

Quito Arma square

The daily past time for the kids after school, watching the gringos do nothing interesting at all!

This was our "kitchen"on the other side of the room.

This was our bed and where we slept for a month and a half.

This is the church in Quito Arma

I'm home!

One last story I wanted to share with you was once we got back from our mid summer debriefing we ended up staying in Huaytara for several days waiting on the church team to come and Leslie became very very sick. She had bronchitis with fevers over a hundred for about a week. We ended up having to leave her there and go on to the village with out her and we were there almost 2 weeks with out her. The Lord used us while we were there and kept us busy. We were able to teach in the high school. We would talk about something and then play a game that enforced what we talked about that day. It was a lot of fun. We were also able to continue our study with Leoncio and his family. Needless to say we kept pretty busy for those few weeks. Well, busy according to Peruvian mountain standards. I'm going to end this post now and then post some pictures in my last post. Thanks so much for reading and praying for me and everyone else!

Natalie

Continuation

Sorry it's taken so long for me to get back on...the last week here has been really busy.

More about Leancio, we also feel like he has had a struggle with feeling comfortable and capable to lead a Bible study or church. Whenever we would ask him to pray or read, it would take him a little while sometimes to agree to it. Please pray for strength from the Lord to fill him!

I wanted to tell you guys a little about some of my experiences while here. As you may have read earlier in my blogs, at the beginning of the summer there were 5 people on my team, Leslie Bass, Drew Jackson, Amy Long, Nestor Trinidad (our translator), and me. It was a great group, but unfortunately Amy had a heart condition and one day had an attack. We told her that if she had another one we were going to send her back to the States because it wouldn't be healthy for her to stay. Unfortunately the next day she had another one. Immediately, Leslie and Nestor went looking for a way to get Amy out of the village and at least to a bigger village. This happened only 4 days after being in the village. So, that day Leslie took Amy to meet up with the Barnabas team (encouragement team) that was in the next village. They ended up sending her home. This caused Leslie to have to be gone for about four days and me to be alone in a room for four days. Unfortunately I'm one of those people who freaks themselves out, and so sometimes it's really hard for me to stay somewhere I don't know very well by myself and it's also hard when it's a foreign country and you are sleeping on a floor with mice running around the room. God deffinately used this situation to stretch me and grow me way beyond what I could have imagined. Looking back, even though it was not a fun situation, but it was a good one.

During our mid-summer break we were in Huaytara and we found out the news about Greg Gomez, one of the Research team memebers, passing away in a vehicle accident. They were traveling on a mountain road, with more than one lane, and the driver or the vehicle fell asleep. They ran across the road and ran into the side of the mountain. They hit it hard and bounced against it several times and also ended up driving along it for a while. Greg was sitting on the side of the vehicle that hit the mountain and it made him unconscious. Once they stopped the vehicle, they got Greg and another lady in the back of a taxi and drove them to the hospital. By the time they got there, Greg was already gone. Please pray for the Gomez family and Lydia Schiver and Claudia Puente as they were his other teammates and had to deal with his death very closely.

That's all I have for right now, I will update more when I get back with pictures and more stories! I will be arriving in Little Rock National Airport at 7:13 p.m.! I look forward to seeing everyone and talking to all of you again!

Love,
Natalie

Thank you so much!

Wow, Im so thankful for you guys and your constant support through this roller coaster or a summer. I can honestly say that this summer has been the hardest summer of my life. The Lord has stretched me and grown me in ways that were deffinately not comfortable or fun, but that I needed. I have definately learned to rely on the Lord and He has given me a new appreciation for how much I need him on a daily basis. I have definately learned to place my trust in the Lord, a lot more than I did before.

The Lord has done some great things through this summer in our village with the family (Leoncio and Lucy and kids). I really feel like after spending a month in Quito Arma that They are growing faster and more every time they read the Bible. One of the things on the heart of Leoncio a lot is persecution. Hes one of the very few Christians in the town and his friends that he used to drink with (before becoming a believer) always make fun of him. He struggles with knowing what to do in situations like that. We have tried to instruct him as much as we could on that it just depends on the situation sometimes it is appropriate to stand up for yourself and your beliefs, and sometimes you just have to pray for them and leave them in Gods hands.

This is all I have time for today. I will try to update again tomorrow but deffinately before I leave the country.

Getting ready to head down the mountain

Natalie, Drew, Leslie and Nestor will be leaving Quito Arma and going to Lima on Sunday July 27. They will then go to a Baptist Camp for a couple of days for their end of summer debrief with all of the other REAP teams. They will go back to Lima on July 31 or August 1. Natalie hopes to get to spend some time with Peruvian friends that she has met on previous trips before heading back home on August 4.

Please pray for these last few days in the mountains with the friends they have made in Quito Arma. Pray especially for Leoncio and his wife as they begin the adventure of following God in leading a house church.

Also, as I mentioned in the last post, please pray for travel safety and good health for the team these last few days.

It is hard to believe that her days in Peru are coming to a close. Thank you so much for partnering with Natalie as she has followed God in this venture by your love, prayers and support.

Jeanie

PS Natalie is scheduled to arrive back in Little Rock Monday August 4 at 6:40 PM. We would be delighted for any of you who are able to join us at the airport to welcome her back. Feel free to just show up or call or email us if you want any more details.

Seventeen Days and Counting!

We are counting the days around here until Natalie gets back to Little Rock. We sure miss her. We are, however so glad that she is following the Lord and doing what she feels called to do. We are excited to think about the Peruvian brothers and sisters (maybe even generations of them) that we will meet in heaven because of her obedience.

The team is still in Quito Arma and will likely be there until time to head back to Lima. Please continue to pray for Leoncio and his wife. They will need great faith and encouragement from the Holy Spirit to continue the work after the "gringos" are gone.

Tonight the team (Natalie, Drew and Nestor) were going back to Huyatara to get to sleep in real beds and to get a shower and most importantly to get Leslie, their team leader! She has really had a difficult time. They deicided that she probably had bronchitious. Please pray that she will continue to get stronger and stay healthy and that the others will also stay healthy.

We would ask especially for prayers for the team's saftey these last three weeks. We knew from having been in the Andes Mountains in Peru, just how dangerous the roads (and the drivers) can be, but we are even more aware of it recently. On July 5th, one of the young men who came to Peru to work with the same program that Natalie's team is working with, was killed in a bus accident in the mountains.

His name was Greg Gomez and Natalie had just met him for the first time at the mid-summer debrief. Obviously this really shook all of the missionaries up and gave them much to process. I think that the translator for their team was also killed and that a girl from their team was also on the bus but not seriously injured. Please pray for Greg's family and friends and for all of the REAP missionaries, both the permanent ones and the summer ones.


The next to the last time we were in Peru with a group from Markham Street Bapt. Natalie and some others in our group rode on one of those buses down the mountains. There was a very close call that could easily have sent the bus over the edge. All of this has caused us all to remember anew that our life and times are in God's hands. That seems a trite thing to say at a time like this, but it is so true.

We are all humbled by and grateful for your prayers.

The Latest

We got to talk to Natalie on the phone this afternoon. It has been about a week since we had been able to communicate so it was wonderful to hear her voice. She and Drew and Nestor are all back in Quito Arma, the village they were in the first part of the trip.

They had to leave their team leader Leslie back in Huyatata because she has been so ill. Today, Natalie said that Leslie's temperature was over 100 for about 5 days. They think it is the flu. It seems she is feeling better and hopes to join them soon, but the communication is so limited, they really don't know when to expect her. There are some other missionaries in Huyatara who have been caring for Leslie and will likely be the ones to bring her back to Quito Arma.

Natalie, Drew and Nestor have been working again with Leoncio (the school principle) and his wife. They are taking him through the book of Matthew right now. They have had lots of distractions in the village, so they haven't gotten to meet with him as often as they were hoping but they are pressing on.

As we have mentioned before, there was a group coming from Gyer Springs First Baptist Church to work with Natalie's team for several days. This is the church that has committed to 3-5 years of working with the Peruvians who live in this area. She was very excited to have them coming and looking forward to the different activites they would get to do and also thought that they might be going to some of the other villages in the area. Unfortunately, only a couple of days after the GSFBC group arrived in the area, they were informed by the main missionaries in Peru that there was a transportation strike about to happen and they would have to leave early if they were going to be able to leave the country anytime in the near future. Apparently, the strike would shut down the Pam Am Highway which is the main artery through Central and South America. So after only a couple of days, and having traveled all the way from Little Rock, they had to leave. It is one of those things that happens that you know is God's will, but you can't for the life of you understand it. We asked Natalie today if she knew if the strike was over, but she hasn't been able to see the news since returning to Quito Arma.

We were thankful that they were able to take her a rather large "care package." I knew that the food options there were limited when one of the things she asked for more than once was canned vegatables. Not that she doesn't like veggies, but not really canned ones. I sent some banana nut bread muffins as well as canned fruit, notes, a little book, her coat, a package from Stephen and more. The Gyer Springs team was wonderful to take it all!

PRAISES:
1. The mid-summer debrief was fun, refreshing and inspiring.
2. Leslie is better and has had a missionary from the US that is a nurse caring for her.
3. None of the rest of their team has gotten sick.
4. Leoncio and his wife seem to be grownig.


PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. For the team to be wise and discerning and for Leoncio and his wife to be hungry as they all study the word together.
2. Wisdom for the team as they plan their strategy for the remaining few weeks.
3. Safe travel for any and all of the missionaries, especially during this strike.
4. Natalie is doing well, but she is VERY homesick. She knows she is where God wants her but it continues to be tough.

Thanks for your love, prayers and partnership. She is so thankful for each of you! If you have a chance, you can send her an e-mail at nataloo87@hotmail.com. She may or may not get it right away, but whenever she can it will be an encouragement. She is limited on her abilty to reply even when she can get on the Internet so she likely won't be able to respond, but she would love to hear from you.

I need to keep this short

Sorry this has to be so short but let me give you kind of an overview of my time in Nasca with all the other gringos! We ate, ate, worshiped, ate, took showers, ate and slept some more. It was a great time of fellowship and relaxation...kinda. We stayed up late because we didn´t want to miss a minute of time with the other gringos. We heard many encouraging stories about what the Lord is doing in each village and through each team.

I was able to do a little sight seeing. I flew over the Nasca Lines which were created by an ancient group of people for an unknown reason. We flew in a little bity plane, and unfortunately I became motions sick due to the twisting and turning so we could see the figure from each different side.

My group ended up staying an extra day in Nasca but I ended up being sick, so I just layed in bed all day! Thankfully the Lord has been good and I´ve been with a nurse most of the time. Anyway, we are now safely back in Huaytara and will be here til either saturday or sunday. I´ll try to update more later!

Please pray for the health of out team, Leslie has the flu I think and is not feeling good. Also the safety of the Geyer Springs First Baptist Church team flying in today and tomorrow!

That´s all for now! God Bless you guys!

Natalie

It´s Only 11:30 and What a Day Already!!

Well, I think I mentioned in my last post that there is a fiesta here in Huyatara this week. Yesterday was a neat day because Leancio and his whole family came into town passing through to go to a city they move to during the rainy season. I unfortunately didn´t get to see them, but Leslie did and she told me that they had a Bible study last night with thier family!!!! I CAN¨T TELL YOU HOW EXCITED THAT MADE ME!!!! PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY!

Also, today we found out the Alan Garcia, the President of Peru was going to be coming to Huyatara today. We were told that he wasn´t going to be here until about 8 tonight but as we were sitting up at our hotel about to do some Bible studying a helicopter came and sure enough it was Presedente Garcia! CRAZY!!! There were all kinds of people here today to see him. Even several people from Quito Arma came!! It was great! Well that was a quick update...it´s time to go eat lunch!

I´ll update again soon!

Natalie

IT´S ME!!!!

Hey Gang!! I´m finally back in a village that has quite a bit of civilization...lol. The interesting thing about this village, Huyatara is that this week they are having this HUGE festival and there are lots and lots of people here. One thing that´s kinda rough is that there are TONS of drunk people. You can be praying for protection in case we run into any of them.

My time in Quito Arma was good overall. When I first got there I was definately in culture shock. As my parents have told you I was not quite expecting what this village was like. There were no paved roads, it was all dirt, which I´m fairly used to. The first place offered to us to stay in had dirt floors and mice and was really not a place I wanted to stay in. The next place was a lot nicer so we ended up getting both little houses to stay in. The boys (Drew and Nestor) stayed in the first one, and then us girls (at first Amy, Leslie, and I) stayed in the better one with concrete floors. Thankfully however, the Lord provided some mats for us to sleep on. That made it a lot better, but the mice still ran around sometimes. We had some benches, and a lot of shelves that we were able to use and then we brought a cook stove and gas with us to make breakfast and lunch. We ate dinner in a little tienda (store) in the village. The lady that Cooked for us was named Eliza and was a very good cook. I did begin to get tired of rice and chicken because that´s pretty much all that she cooked for us. Thankfully though we never had anything wierd.

Our ministry in Quito Arma was awesome. The first week we had about 5-8 people at each meeting, however it ended up dwindling down to just Leancio (The principal of the school there) and his family. Needless to say we ended up investing a lot of time in that family. His wife Lucy is also a believer as well as his Mom, Yolanda. Our times with them were very sweet. We met almost nightly with them and then tried to meet with them at least once during the day, the guys with Leancio and Leslie and I with Lucy and Yolanda. The Guys talked about a lot of important issues with Leancio including quiet times, spiritual warfare, accountablilty, and many others. Leslie and I went over the books of Ester and Ruth with Yolonda and Lucy. They were great times. We also met some times with another school teacher named Ada. Please be praying for her that she will be interested in reading the Bible we gave her and going to study the Bible with Leancio and his family. There is also another man that we met named Cleto and he was really interested in the Bible and we gave him one also. Pray that he will be interested in reading and studying also. The Lord allowed us to meet this woman named Emily and her husband Erasmo and thier son Samuel while we were there. They are not from Quito Arma but were there because of Emily have a year contract as a nurse there. They are strong believers and really want to infulence people for the Lord. Please pray that in the short time they have left (until July 10) they will be able to make a big difference.

I cannot tell you how many things I realize that I take for granted every day in the States. I mean really, having a toilet you can sit on (and put toilet paper in), taking a scaldling hot shower if you want, eating different kinds of food all the time, having constant internet and phone access, and even having constant electricity. God is so good to us! I´m so thankful that he has provided for me in such a way. But anyway, how wonderful it feels to feel girly again. I took a "hot" shower today for the first time in about 3 weeks...it´s crazy how amazing it feels to be actually clean. And sleeping in a bed! WOW! What a difference that makes!

Next week we are headed to Nasca and get to have a time of debriefing and fellowship and being clean and eating!!! I´m really excited to get to hear about what the Lord is doing and see all the people that I bonded with the first week I was here!! I love my team mates and all but seeing other people is such a blessing!!

Well I better let this be all for now! I hope that this finds you well and I would love to recieve e-mails from you all!´ I probably won´t be able to respond to all of them, but it´s always nice to hear encouragement!! I love you guys and thanks for your constant support!!

Natalie

"Showers" of Blessing

Hey Prayer Warriors,

The team will be leaving Quito Armo on Wed. to head to another town called Huaytara for 3 days. Hopefully, there will be some showers and beds awaiting them.

They will be leaving Huaytara on Sat. June 28 to head to a city called Nasca where they will have their Mid-Summer debrief with the other teams from around the country. After about 4 days of showers, rest, sharing "war stories," showers, prayer, fun, showers and who knows what else, they will head back to the reigon they have been working in.

The first week of that will be spent in Huaytara. From there they will be going to a village called Tombo.

I am not really sure what their objectives will be in these two locations, but it is likely that when Natalie is in Huaytara and/or Nasca she will be able to update the blog herself so she can fill us in on more of the specifics. She may also be able to access her e-mail but we are learning that nothing (except that God is on the throne) is a sure thing.

Please pray for travel safety. The mountain roads are incredibly treacherous and the native drivers are pretty daring and not only put themselves in dangerous situations but also endanger anyone who happens to be on the same road. It is a blessing and a curse that as parents, we know so much about these conditions!

The team from Gyer Springs First Baptist Church will be leaving around July 4 th to spend a week or so working with Natalie's team. I am hoping to get to send a little care package to her by them.

I guess that's about it for now. Please continue to pray that God will be honored in everything that happens.

Blessings,
Jeanie

Keep Praying

Sorry it has taken me so long to get out another update. The Internet availability is not what we have hoped for. We have, however, gotten to talk with her on the phone a couple of times since the last post. She is still pretty homesick at least sometimes. During the day, things are kind of quiet because all of the adults are working and all of the kids are in school. That seems to be the hardest time.

Here are some items for prayer:

1. Pray for Leoncio, the school principle. The goal that the team has for their time in Quinto Arma is to plant a house church. They feel that Leoncio may be the man that God has anointed to be the leader of the church and have challenged him to consider that. He has been very interested in studying the Bible with them and seems to be feeling this is God's calling for him.

2. Leoncio has already been encountering some spiritual warfare. He tried to talk to his uncle about the Lord and the idea of the church and his uncle told him that he thought the team was trying to take advantage of him and meant no good. The same night, Leoncio had a dream that the team was not genuine and did some harmful things. However, the team feels like after spending some time with him talking, praying and teaching him about spiritual warfare, that he is on board again.

3. Pray for Leoncio's wife. The girls are studying the book of Esther with her. They want to help her learn about being a woman of God, a wife and a pastor's wife.

4. Pray for Nestor. He is their translator and he is not a believer. The kids are concerned that because he doesn't agree with them about things, that he may be putting his own "twist" on some of his translations. He especially has had a problem with the idea of wives being submissive. That's not too surprising since lots of believers have problems with that! :) Pray that Nestor will be saved and be able to see with spiritual eyes. However, pray that whether or not he responds to Christ's invitation, he will translate accurately.

5. Please continue to pray for health and safety of the team members and that God will speak through them and glorify himself.

6. Pray that many villagers will come to know the Savior of their souls.

7. Pray for the meeting of all of the mission teams that will happen in about a week and a half. They will be going to a city (not sure where) for a time of debrief, training, etc. They will then return to their assignments for the second half of the trip.

8. Gyer Springs First Baptist Church of Little Rock is the church that has adopted the people group Natalie and her team are working with. Their church has been sending teams to this area for several years. They will be sending a team up there in a few weeks, so please pray that the students and the folks from GSFBC will work well together and accomplish God's purposes there.

Thank you so much for your prayers, love and support for Natalie. You are a blessing!!!

On the Gound- Literally

Dear friends, this is Jeanie. Wayne, or I will be updating the blog for a while because the village they are in has an old, very limited computer. We will be as accurate and thorough as we can but since this is second hand there might be a few missed details.

We finally got to talk to her on the phone today. The only phone in the village is a satellite phone. We can only call (she cannot call out) a couple of times a week because the phone serves all 200 people in the village.

She can receive e-mail, however, at nataloo87@hotmail.com. Right now that is a better way to get a message to her than posting on her blog. If you have time to send her an e-mail, I know she would really love to hear from you.

She would really appreciate concentrated prayer right now. In our last few communications with her she has shared that this has been a much harder experience than she anticipated. Of course, one of the reasons is that it is just a hard thing to leave your family, friends, country and familiar surroundings and comforts and go to a remote part of a foreign country for two months to share the gospel and live with people you have never met before. HELLO?! That's one reason we aren't all there! :)

Also, they (and we) can easily forget that there is a very real and powerful enemy that is doing all in his power to discourage and defeat these brave, faithful young adults from sharing the hope of Christ and the love of God with this remote village.

One of the difficulties is that she, and we, were expecting this village to be pretty much like the ones we worked with when we went to Peru with our Markham Street Bapt Church group for several years. It is much more primitive than most of those villages. Lots of dirt, no bathrooms, no showers, limited electricity and outside communication possibilities.

We expected they would be sleeping in beds, at least most of the time, but instead are sleeping on concrete floors. She did tell us today that they had been given some thin mats but they didn't help a lot. (One good thing, however, is that though it has been uncomfortable, at least her back has not bothered her much. That is a major reason for praise since she has had periodic back problems since childhood.)

She has also had stomach problems. On her worst day so far she threw up 4 or 5 times. (Not fun when there are not any bathrooms.) Most days, however, she has mainly felt nauseous and not been able to eat much. Please pray that she overcomes this so she can stay healthy.

Another tough thing that happened this week is that one of the girls on her team, Amy, has a heart condition that flared up and she ended up having to go home. She and Natalie have much in common and Natalie will really miss her, not to mention her concern for Amy's health.

Though they will surely miss Amy, their team seems to be gelling and she really likes all of them. The team leader, Leslie, has been in this area numerous times so that is a good thing. I think the communication problems with the translator that she mentioned in a previous blog entry have improved She has also really enjoyed her interactions with the villagers.

One of the best things about the trip so far is that they have had a good response from a man (I think he is the principle of the school, but I am not positive.) who had accepted Christ last year. On their first or second day in this village they invited the man and his wife to come and study the Bible with them and bring a couple of friends.

Not only did he and his wife come, but they brought several others with them. I think that they have had 8-10 for several nights this week. Those who have attended have been very interested and have asked many questions. The team really senses God moving in this village right now. Their plan at this point is to stay there for another week or so and then to move on to another village.

Sorry this has been so long, but then, those of you who know me I'm sure are not surprised. :) Maybe Wayne will do the next update and it will be a little more to the point! Thank you so much for partnering with Natalie in this mission. Your prayers and support have, and do, mean so much to her and to us! She hopes to be able to upload some pictures and be able to update the blog herself when they move to the next village. Until then we will update when we have news to share.

Blessings on each of you,
Jeanie

PS Please pray that Amy will get home and get the care she needs with out any problems.

Latest E-mail from Natalie

Hey Mom and Dad! I hope this e-mail finds you well! I love you guys so much and miss you soo much also!! We arrived yesterday in our village for a few weeks called Quito Arma. This town is much more rough than any of the villages we've been too in the past, except Pillipampa.

Last night we had our first meeting with about 8-11 people. Some of whom were believers, and some of whom were not. We studied Mat. 9:35-38. It was really good. Many of the people had questions when we were done with the Study and we had many opportunities to share the Gospel with them.

When I first got here yesterday, I wasn't really sure what to think. I was a little shocked! But I think that it will get better and that it will be a good growing experience for me. We are staying in this old house off of the plaza that is nice and cozy except we are sleeping on the floor and we get to live with mice...at least kind of.

Today we sent Dave Hughey from Geyer Springs First Baptist Church home until he brings a team back in July. I have to admit that it was hard for me to see him drive off. Just having that security of him being around was wonderful. Now, its up to us to really stick together and bond as a team.

After breakfast this morning we went prayer walking. That was awesome to see more of the village and people. We got to see the gorgeous mountains that God has placed around us. I really feel that The Lord is going to take care of me and help me grow and use us in a great way here in Quito Arma.

Tonight we have another meeting at 5:00. Please pray that the people who were there last night will bring friends like we asked them to. Also pray that we will be able to teach effectively to help the people grow. Leslie, our team leader is going to be doing most of the teaching tonight, pray for her, that God would speak through her

I guess I never told you who all was on my team, Leslie Bass is the leader, she's from Little Rock, but goes to Union University; next is Amy Long from Alabama, who goes go Covenant College on Look Out Mountain in Tennessee; and then there is Drew Jackson from Mississippi; and last but not least there's Nestor, our translator from Lima. Please pray for our communication with Nestor, its very difficult sometimes to get across what we are trying to say.

Unfortunately, right now I'm feeling a little nauseous. Please pray that will get better. I'm really sorry that my thoughts are so scattered. I'm just having a hard time processing everything. If you have some time I would really appreciate it if you could update my blog for me. This computer wont let me. Thank you so much!

I love you guys and couldn't ever express to you how much I love you and how much your constant prayers mean to me!!!
Love, Natalie

LIMA!!!

Landing on the ground in Lima was an overwhelming feeling of joy, yet it felt weird to think that I´m here this time without many people I know, and the fact that I couldn´t share it with many of the people that I know and love from back home. I know that God has a great plan for my time here and I´m very excited to see what that is.

When I got in last night, I had a really hard time finding the person that was picking me up from the airport. It was a little scary for a while. FINALLY I found them and we got back and moved into a hostal for a few nights. Tomorrow morning we will be leaving for a camp for the rest of the week where we will be doing some training. One thing that they told us that we were going to be doing that I´m very excited about is the Amazing race! It will be great!!!

I will write more later, I think I have someone waiting on me! Love you all DEARLY!!!

Natalie

Peru Bound

Well, today's the day! I leave here around 12:30 pm and I'll arrive in Lima, Peru at approximately 11 pm (CST). God has been so good! I raised all the money I needed and MORE!!! This was all in just 2 short weeks! My nerves are beginning to kick in, making me rely on God for my strength! Which, I guess is a good thing! I'm asking the Lord to help me to just completely focus on him and sharing the gospel during this trip! I know he can do it!

Tonight was a special evening for me and my family and boyfriend Stephen. My parents fixed a nice dinner of London Broil, potatoes, salad, Sister Shubert's rolls (one of my favorites), and a fruit dessert with strawberries, blueberries, and peaches, with ginger ale and ice cream on top. I guess you could call the dessert a Loaded Ginger Ale Float...LOL!

Anyway, I will leave you for now, but as I travel please keep me in your prayers! Also keep my parents, Wayne and Jeanie, brother, Nathan, and boyfriend, Stephen in your prayers as they TRY to have a good summer without me! ;) Just kidding, but do keep them in your prayers!

In Christ,
Natalie

ALMOST THERE!!

Well Boys and Girls....

WE'VE ALMOST MADE IT! I leave in 4 days for Peru! I almost have all my financial stuff in! YIPPEE!! I'm very ready to see what the Lord is going to do in and through me while I'm down there! Please keep my health and safety in your prayers. I found out that I will not have protection from my Hepititus A shot until a few weeks into my trip due to the closeness of my shot to my trip. Pray that God will protect me from that! Also, be praying for safety during my traveling. Another thing to be praying for is that my language skills will just flow out of me! I know a lot of words, and I "know" a lot of sentence structure, but putting all of that together in the right context is a little bit of a challenge for me. Thank you all for your amazing support and love and prayers during this time!! I can't wait to show you what all God's going to do!

Natalie

Getting Ready for my Trip

Before Peru Do

After Peru Do

NEW INFORMATION!!!

Well Boys and Girls, things are falling into place! Last week I got final conformation from the IMB (International Mission Board) that I was able to go on the trip. I spent the last week writing support letters, figuring out my flight schedule, getting insurance, and just sorting everything out.

So, some praises:
1) The IMB gave the conformation for me to go,
2) My letters got out to the people, here at least, the day after I sent them out,
3) I get to work with a group from a church here in town Geyer Springs First Baptist Church.

Prayer Requests:
1) That I would be able to figure out everything that I need to do to get ready for the trip,
2) That God would continue to prepare me spiritually
3) That God would prepare the hearts of those people in Peru that I'll be ministering to
4) That God would prepare those of us that are going to be working together
5) For Leslie Bass (our team leader), Drew Jackson, Amy Long, and Lauren Gross, my team members
6) That God would supply the funds for my trip quickly

Finally, I'll found out where I'm going to be, I will be in the Upper Huaytara Section of the Huancavelica Segment of the Ayacucho Quechuas (I know, that's a mouthful!). Anyway, this is going to be in south central Peru. I'll update you again before too long.

God Bless you all!!

Natalie

Hello and Welcome!

Thank you all for visiting this blog. I will post updates as regularly as I can regarding the things that the Lord is doing while I am in Peru. I will also post some things during my preparation for the trip such as prayer requests, and any other information that I would find useful. I'm so excited about what the Lord is going to be doing while I'm in Peru! Please keep me in your prayers. They are crucial!

Thanks again!

Natalie