15 weeks pregnant

I am 15 weeks pregnant. My next appointment is December 22nd and my next ultrasound is January 8th. The ultrasound is to check for different diseases but we will get to find out the sex if he/she cooperates!! I am not showing yet, just a little pooch. No one could tell I am pregnant unless they already knew it. I have been feeling very very faint baby movements. I can only feel it when I lay down really still. I will try and post a pic of the baby from the 12 week ultrasound.

Baby Hurt....coming in June:)

Well, we are expecting our first little one!! I am a little over 12 weeks along and I got to hear the heartbeat today. It was the coolest thing and was helpful in reassuring me that all of this is real. Tomorrow I go in to have my first ultrasound done so I am super excited about that. I can't wait to see this little one. Today the doctor said she is setting my due date for June 2, 2008 but depending on the ultrasound the date could change. It is pretty exciting because my uncle Gary's birthday is June 3 so maybe he or she will be born on his birthday?!

I am so thankful to God for giving us this gift of life and pray He will give us wisdom in raising this little one for His glory!!

Home Sweet Home

Beautiful Indiana skies!
Home Again and so blessed:)

We have been home for a little over a month now. It is good to be home and we were so shocked by the beauty of Indiana. We just can't get over the big blue open skies and the green foilage everywhere. Folks, we are so blessed to live in the community we live in! At times our trip to Peru seems like a dream considering how easily we transitioned back into the American culture. But we know it was NOT a dream and not something we will forget!

Jeremiah has a job working for Biddle construction and I am staying on the homefront :) for the time being. Once school starts I plan to do substitute teaching for one of the school districts.

Nevertheless, we have been very busy. The Lord has opened many doors to serve in our community and it has been awesome to see others who have the same heart. We are heading up a 3-0n-3 tournament ministry at Lincoln Park every Thursday this summer. Before the tournament begins Jeremiah shares something brief with them, then they all pray together. Jeremiah has asked some other guys if they would like to share in the future so that will be cool if that happens. There have been others from our church and even other churches who have come down to help and try and build relationships with the kids that come down there.

For the strawberry festival, Jeremiah's brother, Caleb, designed and ordered 5,000 tracts to hand out at the festival. A group of us met at Chapel Books and went down to the Festival each night to hand out the tracts. It was a lot of fun! On the front it had strawberry facts and on the back was the gospel message. Also, a group from our church and Liberty Chapel came together and learned and performed the drama we did on our mission trips in Peru. It was really awesome because we were able to get a spot on the main stage with little notice. It was very impactful, people from our church were saying that there were a lot of people in the audience that were crying.

Just last night a group of us went to the Ladoga Academy and held an evening "church-type" service. Caleb and Jeremiah did worship and then myself, Emily, and Nina shared our testimonies and how the Lord brought us to Him. Praise the Lord because the doors have been completely opened to us there. A man from our church has a part-time job there and Emily has been doing a Tuesday study that I will be helping her with starting tomorrow. I am pretty excited about this opportunity. These girls have unimaginable family lives and only Jesus can heal their hearts, cleanse them, and transform their lives. I am just praying the Lord might use us to help lead them to Him.

We have been praying for a revival in Crawfordsville and it has been encouraging to see that God wants to work here with the way doors are just flying open. I want to encourage any believer that might read this to reach out to others, step out of your comfort zone and share your faith. There is a great joy that comes from the Lord when you are obedient to His leading. For that person that might read this that has not given their heart to Jesus and committed to serve Him, I encourage you to do so, it is something you will never regret. He has a plan for each of our lives but we first have to come to Him!

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us while we were in Peru, it was such a comfort to know we had people praying for us! If you receive this blog through your e-mail, it is the last time you will receive it. I am deleting the feed but I plan to blog every now and again, so if you want to read my blog you will have to go to the following address http://www.adventureswithjesus.blogspot.com/

God bless,
Serah

Heading home:)

These past 3 weeks have gone by so quickly and I can't believe we will be home in only 4 days!

A couple of weekends ago, the church we attend, the english church, had everyone over to their house. It was a nice time of fellowship. They had a stage set up for anyone who wanted to sing karaoke or share a song. The church is mostly young people so there were a lot of people dancing and acting silly, it was a good laugh! The church is in english because the pastor and his wife realized their were a lot of Peruvians that want to improve their english, so many start out coming for this reason and then later give their lives to the Lord. The church is young but we have seen growth in the short time we have been here. It has been a blessing to this church grow:)

Last week, Jeremiah was really sick, we think it may have been food related but he is better now. This week, we have been packing and cleaning our apartment to prepare to leave this place we have called home for the past four months. We feel so blessed and comforted to know that the Lord has already gone before us to provide us a place to live. It makes it so much easier knowing he already has everything mapped out for us and we don't have to worry about things like jobs or anything else we might need. God is so faithful even when we are not.

We want to thank all of you that have prayed for us while we have been in Peru. We feel so blessed by our families and our church family and cannot wait to see all of you. This has been an awesome time growing and learning from the Lord and also growing as a young married couple. We are so thankful that the Lord gave us the opportunity to see with our own eyes that He is working all the way in South America, and therefore, ALL over the world. His love truly has no bounds.....no culture, no language, no people is untouched by Him. It is an amazing thing to think about, God is everywhere, ALL of the time!

The pics are of us with some friends and the other is of all the bible college students saying good-bye to the church in Lima.

Love,

Serah & Jeremiah

P.S. If you think about it, please pray for safe travels and that our flights would be on schedule:)

Back from the mission trip

We just got back from our mission trip to Iquitos Saturday evening. It was soooo amazing that we did not want to leave. I pray that we can go back there someday.

The first day there we spent with the church. They were having their 4 year anniversary celebration in the park near the church. All the children came and we played and swam with them in the pool. They were so loving and would come up to you, hug, and love on you.

We spent a lot of our time ministering to the kids that live and or work on the streets. All of us fell in love with them. They were so sweet. You can tell they are starving for human love and affection because they come up and hug and love on you. A lot of these kids come from a poor community where the houses are made to float on water during the rainy season. These kids grow up with different sicknesses because they live in very unsanitary conditions. The families use the restroom, bathe, drink, swim, and cook in the water their houses float on.

On the boulevard we performed dramas, sang children's songs, told bible stories, played and colored with the kids. It was such a blessing because these kids have to work all the time and it was a time where they could just be kids. I can't believe the reality of these kids lives. It is one thing to hear that there are children all over the world who live on the streets but to actually see, touch, and play with them is another thing. My heart is broken for these precious children but there is such hope in knowing that God has a plan for them too and that all they need is Jesus in their hearts.

Jeremiah shared at the church in El Terminal on Sunday and again in the jungle on Thursday. He did a really nice job and was not even affected by the breaks in his message from using a translator. Praise the Lord!

On Thursday morning we left for Panguana. We traveled by boat for 3 hours on the Amazon River, then walked 20 minutes into the jungle in order to reach the village. It was amazing to see how these people still live. They live in huts with palm leaves for roofs and boards as their walls. They use the same water for restroom, bathing, drinking, and eating. So a lot of the children grow up sick here too. The church here is wanting to eventually put in a well so they can have clean drinking water. Jeremiah and the other guys helped with putting up a fence around their new church so they can keep out the animals. It was incredibly hot there so we had to make sure and stay hydrated.

That night we slept on the floor on thin mats with mosquito nets around us. As I was getting in my net a bat comes flying right toward my head. It was so scary, I thought it was going to bite me. Then all night we could hear rats and bats moving around. My friend Beth woke me up in the night to go to the bathroom with her and when we got back to our beds she had a cockroach in her bed. I felt so bad for her. She finally killed it with her shoe. It was an adventure that is for sure.

One night while we were doing children's ministry on the boulevard Jeremiah met a gentleman named Kiki who spoke English. They were talking for a long time. Jeremiah was telling him how empty his heart was before he accepted the Lord and this guy said, "So if I don't even have a heart does that mean I can still have Jesus." Kiki made a decision to accept Christ into his heart. Praise the Lord! That same night, Laura, one of our team members, was talking to a boy named John about Jesus and he also prayed to accept Jesus into his heart. Our second to last night there, Sandra ran into the sister-in-law of a guy that goes to the bible college with us....she accepted the Lord also. Praise the Lord.

The last day there we went to the zoo and that was a lot of fun. We have pics.

This trip was one that I pray I will never forget. There are many needs in Iquitos but God is able to provide and do a great work there.

Our last night in Iquitos, we took the street kids out for ice cream and said our good-byes. There were two boys that I totally fell in love with, Golbit and Brandon. I said bye to Golbit a couple of days before but Brandon was there on the last night. He gave me a wooden ring and said "for you" and told me he loved me. It was so heartbreaking to leave them. They knew we were there to help and love them so it was hard to just leave them. They are in the Lord's hands.

Then when we got to the airport all the street kids that we took to get ice cream were there to say good-bye to all of us. We were so surprised. They used their own money and time they could be working and earning money to take a bus to the airport and say good-bye. It was heartbreaking....we were all crying. Pray God would send more workers to Iquitos. There is so many needs but not many bodies to do the work.

Our pics are updated on our shutterfly account. Just go to adventureswithjesus.shutterfly.com We will be adding more in the next couple of days. There are lots of good ones.

We love you all......and are so thankful for the prayers:)

D-Day

Today we leave the bible college campus at 4 p.m. to catch a plane to Iquitos, Peru. Our plane leaves at 7:20 p.m. The plane ride will be about an hour and a half long. We have been preparing for the trip and the ministries we will be assisting with for the past couple of weeks. There are 8 of us that are going to Iquitos together and we will all be staying in the home of 2 missionaries that live there. Iquitos is a large city surrounded by the jungle and is located at the mouth of the Amazon River.

As I said before we will be doing various outreaches in the city of Iquitos through dramas and evangelism. We will also be doing an evening outreach to the children that live on the streets. I (Serah) will be sharing on the second Saturday (actually the day we leave to return to the bible college) at a women's study. I plan to share how I came to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Also, I plan to talk about how much God loves us and wants to fellowship with us...I plan to share from 1 John and Psalms. If I come to your mind, please pray God would place His words in my mouth.

We will also be going to Belen....a floating city on the river and will probably do some children's ministry there. Then for one night and one day we will actually be going into the jungle to minister to the people in a small village there. This is where we may actually have to walk through some parts of the Amazon river due to the river being high (it is currently rainy season). Jeremiah will be sharing this Sunday morning at church and will also be sharing with the village in the jungle. Remember him in your prayers also.

I hope everyone back at home is doing well. We miss our families and our church family lots and are excited to see everyone. I know many of you that read this have been praying for us (we so appreciate it) so if you guys have any prayer requests we would love to pray for you as well. Feel free to e-mail us with any prayer concerns and we can pray for ya'll too.

Some things ya'll could pray for us are:

- Unity within our group going to Iquitos and that God would move and touch lives there

-God's protection and good health for us and our team during our time in Iquitos

- That God would continue to grow us and our willingness to obey Him in these last four weeks here

- For God to line everything up for our return to Indiana (only 4 more weeks)

We will be returning from Iquitos on April 26 so I will write another update shortly after we return. We will probably have lots of pictures too.

The pics taken above are taken at Larcomar, a huge mall that is built into the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. I don't like to think about earthquakes when we are there.

Much love,

Ser & Jer

P.S. I just read that ya'll experienced an earthquake this morning.....it's a great way to wake up, huh!

Earthquake

Hi all! We are doing good. Classes are good and we are learning a lot. We are taking a class on Romans right now and it is really good. There is a lot of reading and quizzes everyday but it helps to get a good understanding of the book.

The big news is that last night I woke up to shaking but I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not. I asked Jeremiah if he felt it and he said he didn't. I don't think it lasted very long but like I said I was half asleep. Then this morning I got up to go to the bathroom at 7:50 a.m. and layed back down for a few seconds when all of a sudden everything started shaking (it was really loud) so I woke up Jeremiah and we started running around to get dressed and safely out of the building to go stand in the "earthquake safe zone".

We looked up the earthquake activity on a seismic activity chart and it registered at 4.4 quake 45 miles north of Lima at 1:40 a.m. and another one at 5.4 only 10 miles west of Lima in the ocean at 7:51 a.m. It was pretty scary for all of us gringos who have never experienced anything like that before. We decided we should keep our passport/visas and some other stuff in a bag that we can grab quickly in case their would be a big one.

A couple of weeks ago I went to an orphanage close by to play with the children. Myself and another girl took a couple of the missionary children to the orphanage to play with the kids. It was a nice time but heartbreaking at the same time. They are treated well and are in a Christian environment but it was sad to know most of them were there because their parents simply cannot afford to care for them. They had a set of triplets around 1 and a half years and twin boys who were probably around 3 years old. The triplets were a little stand offish and seemed to lack social skills but they were so precious with their big beautiful brown eyes. Also, some of the older kids play really rough and would push around the missionary kids.

We are still preparing for our mission trip to Iquitos and to the river community Panguana. I will be teaching one of the children's church age groups. I am not sure which one yet but I think it will be fun. Jeremiah is teaching during the Sunday service and he may be teaching a study in Panguana too. It sounds like we will be very busy while we are there. We are still not sure if we will be able to go to Panguana or not because it will be the end of rainy season and the river might be too high. As of now, I guess you can get there but there are parts of the trail from where the boat stops to the community where you have to walk through the Amazon River. This makes me a little scared if I have to do this because they have anacondas and piranas in that water. I am sure it is not that big of a deal since there are people that walk through those waters everyday but with all the stuff I have seen in movies I can't help but be afraid. So please pray for us:)

Well, I am sure most of you know by now but we are planning on returning to Indiana in May and will be moving back. We believe the Lord is leading us back home to serve there, at least for now:) So we are really excited about coming back and seeing everyone. God is so good to show us our next step but we don't know much more than that.

We love you guys!

God bless:)

Update....................

Jeremiah got an A in his first class, Inductive Bible Study, and is almost finished with his second class. His next class will be a study over the book of Romans. I am free to go to all of the classes now that I am finished with all my kitchen duties.

Steve Saint will be coming to speak to us on Thursday or Friday. He was portrayed in a movie some of you may have seen called End of the Spear. End of the Spear is a 2006 docudrama film that recounts the story of Operation Auca, in which five American Christian missionaries attempted to evangelize the Huaorani (Waodani) people of the jungle of Ecuador. Taking a unique spin on actual events from the 1950s in which five male missionaries were speared by members of the Waodani tribe, the movie tells the story from the perspective of Mincayani, one of the tribesmen who killed the missionaries, and Steve Saint, the son of one of the murdered missionaries. The two eventually form a bond that continues to this day.

That was a description of the movie found on Wikipedia but I encourage all of you to see it. Steve, his mother, aunt, and some other women eventually go in and live with these people after their family was killed by them. Many of the tribesmen eventually received the Lord. We are pretty excited to get to meet him and listen to what he has to say to us.

We are preparing for our trip to Iquitos and learning our parts in the drama. If you want to view the drama will be doing performed by another group please go to the following site:http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ee73e63418003b47d7d5

Jeremiah found out he will be sharing on Sunday morning at the church in Iquitos so please be praying the Lord will give him the words and that they would be a blessing to the people there.

Keep us in your prayers! We miss you guys!

Love,

Serah & Jeremiah

P.S. The following is a video of Jeremiah saying hello to all the kiddos back at home!

Missions trip, spider, new friend, new classes, & la playa

We found out today for sure where we have been assigned to go on our week long mission trip we will go on in April. We are going to Iquitos, a city located at the mouth of the Amazon River and will be taking boats into the jungle for a couple of days to help minister to a river community in the middle of the Amazon jungle. All together there is 7 of us going on this trip, Brian, Beth, Sandra, Kiah, Garrett, Jeremiah, & I, it is awesome because we happen to be pretty good friends with all of these people. We are super excited to go on this trip and see what God is doing there and what He might do while we are there. We had our first trip meeting today and will start practicing a drama that we will perform while we're there. They used these on our trip to Pisco to get the message of Jesus across to the people and one of them was so powerful that it brought tears to both of our eyes.

There are a couple of guys attending the bible college that are from Iquitos. They are really nice and Jeremiah has become pretty good friends with them. He has been showing them some workouts. It is so funny to see him with them because they are seriously like half his size, by height & weight (they are super tiny). Their names are Job, 19 and Rolando, 20. They are brothers and have great hearts for the Lord.

We started the 1 Corinthians class Monday and it will last for 3 weeks. Next we will spend a week finishing up the Missiology class, then Romans for 3 weeks, medical missions class for 1 week, mission trip to Iquitos for 1 week, then finish up with the Exodus class for 3 weeks.

Last week I was sick again for a couple of days so that wasn't too much fun. One of the American students was bit by a very dangerous spider on campus. He was in a lot of pain and his lungs started closing up, he was very lucky that he got to the doctor and they were able to diagnose him so quickly. Don't worry this is not a common occurence in Lima.

Yesterday I went to dinner & a movie with one of the college interns, Beth, and a lady I met from our church named Vivianna. She is Peruvian but has lived in Romania, Venezuela, Panama, and Texas. I guess her parents were both Peruvian Ambassadors who represented Peru in all these countries. Her dad is currently a Deputy Ambassador in Egypt. She has been living in the states for a number of years. Her mother passed away 4 months ago in Venezuela and she promised her that she would come back to Lima to care for her 90 year old grandmother. She is a strong Christian woman who desires to serve the Lord wherever He might take her. We had a really nice time talking and getting to know one another. I hope we can become better friends.

I will be taking spanish classes next week starting Monday & Wednesday. Also, I think I might take this class to learn how to teach ESL (English as a Second Language). There is an American girl named Grace who teaches the Peruvians how to speak English and she is offering to teach us how to teach ESL. She said it is a great opportunity to minister on the mission field since there are a lot of people who want to learn English.

We just got back from the beach and Jeremiah not only went swimming in the ocean for the first time but he also went boogie boarding with fins and all. Brian & Garrett, who he has become good friends with, helped him out. Garrett is from Maui, Hawaii and Brian is from Maryland. Beth, Amberly, and Jessica went to the beach with us too. Beth is Brian's fiance and one of the girls that I have gotten to know better the last couple of days.

If you check out our new pictures on our picture site you will see pictures of all these people, the beach (la playa), and some funny pics of Jeremiah trying to get out of the ocean with his fins on.....haha......I had fun taking these pics.

Please continue to remember us in your prayers. We need God's continued protection, direction for our future, and pray that the Lord would show Himself to us more and more each day! We will be praying the same for all of you back at home. May God bless you all!

Love,

Serah & Jeremiah

P.S. If any of you would be interested in planning a group to come on a short-term mission trip to Peru let me know and I can give you some information on how to get started. There is a girl named Ivy that plans these trips for churches to come down all of the time.

Cultural differences

Hello! I hope everyone is doing well. We are very good. The Lord is teaching us so much about ourselves and about Himself. It has been so great and we feel so blessed to be here in Peru.

Last week I went to the English classes again and was able to share with one of the guys why we are in Peru. It was pretty cool to talk a little about Jesus with him.

Jeremiah finished his first class (Inductive Bible Study) last week with a final on Friday. That class was so awesome and we have learned a great way to study the Bible.

On Valentine's Day we went to the Dolphin hotel and watched a small dolphin show. It was fun. They weren't as professional as Sea World but it was cool because we were so close to them. I am uploading my pictures of the dolphins so you will have to check them out on our picture site. That evening the girls had a little valentine's day party where we exchanged gifts with one another. There are pics of this too.

This week is a free week because it is the week they have a Surf Camp for the youth in the area. There was limited space so we decided not to go on this outreach. The sun here is really strong and it wouldn't take much for us to get severely burned, especially if we were on the beach for a whole week.

Saturday we had our ministry in Chorillos again. It was a lot of fun and the kids are really starting to warm up to all of us. Jeremiah brought his hacky sack and was teaching the kids how to play....most of the kids here are naturals because they all play soccer and have the foot eye coordination down to a T.

I just thought I would write a list of cultural differences that remind us we are definitely not in the U.S. anymore! Here we go!

1.) Pedestrians do not have the right of way
2.) Taxi's honk non-stop
3.) You must pray AND close your eyes before you enter ANY form of transportation (taxi, bus, combi, etc.)
4.) Wild dogs roam the streets of Peru and they are EVERYWHERE (don't worry they are nice, just a little mangy)
5.) If you are a female you are to kiss cheeks with males, females, and children when you greet or say good-bye and if you are a male you are to kiss cheeks with children & females
6.) Drinks are served room temperature
7.) Milk comes in a box and does not have to be refrigerated until you open it
8.) You must bring toilet paper with you if you want to use a public restroom
9.) You cannot put toilet paper in any toilet or you might regret it later
10.) The sun is VERY powerful
11.)The month of February is there Carnaval month, which means that when you walk down the streets you are in danger of getting hit with water balloons, buckets of water, or even buckets of paint. (Jeremiah has gotten hit with a bucket of water/ water balloons like 4 times......hahaha)

That is all I can think of for right now. God Bless and remember us in your prayers.

We love you all,

Serah

Ministry

Hola!

On Thursday, I went with the English pastor, Rick, and his wife, Beth, to a conversation club. This is at an institute where around 30,000 people are studying English. As one of their classes they have people come in and talk to them in English so they can practice what they have learned. Also, we are allowed to talk to them about the gospel and can invite them to church. This time Jesus didn't come up but they were invited to church. Beth said it is important also to make friends with the people.

At first, I was really scared to go because Jeremiah couldn't go this week and I didn't know what it would be like. But I felt that the Lord wanted me to trust Him and be obedient by going to this meeting. Afterwards, I was glad that I went because it wasn't even scary AND it is an awesome opportunity to be able to talk to people about the Lord. I pray that my time their would be fruitful and the Lord would bless it. Please join with me in praying for Rosa, she is one of the ladies I met on Thursday and we talked a lot.

This week we were assigned our weekly ministries and we were assigned to Chorillos. Chorillos is a district in Lima and is in the slums. We just got back from there and will be going there every Saturday to help with the children's ministry. These children come from poor families but I couldn't get over how clean most of them were.

We basically just play with the kids, help them with coloring/art projects, and try to keep them involved in the lessons/songs. It was such a blessing to be around these children. They were all so excited to be there and were so welcoming to all of the gringos.

We are both doing really well! Please don't forget about us down here, we really need your prayers. We are praying for everyone back at home too.

Some requests:

-Protection

-To learn Spanish, maybe even have someone offer to teach us

- To be good stewards of our time

- To grow in the Lord

- To be lead by God in what we are to do after this semester

- To be thankful for this opportunity the Lord has given us

We love you guys!

Serah & Jeremiah

P.S. The first picture is of Jeremiah at the bible college (just outside of our apartment), the second picture is of me and the ministry in Chorillos, and the third picture is of the neighborhood we went to for the ministry. I will be posting the rest of our pics on our picture page (www.adventureswithjesus.shutterfly.com)

Weekend retreat

Hola!

We just got back from our retreat trip to BarBar Blanca in the mountains of Peru. The men/women usually go to separate locations for this trip but this time we went to the same place. The women/men did separate activities while we were there.

It was a nice quiet time away from the city and also a great opportunity for me to get to know some of the girls better. We went on hikes, sat around the campfire, had bible studies, and worshipped the Lord with praise songs.

In the morning I went and sat on a rock next to the rushing river to be alone with the Lord. It was such an intimate time communing with the Lord in the middle of His glorious creation. There is something about being in the middle of nowhere that makes you realize how small you really are. It amazes me how God takes care of every little creature, each having its own purpose & place.

The Lord has really been speaking to my heart about staying in constant communion with Him, and challenging me to ask in every situation I find myself, "Lord, what would you have me to do?" I can't say that I have always been obedient but I have a desire to and I am praying the Lord would remind me that it is Him that I should fear (in reverence) and not what other people think.

On the way back to Lima from the retreat we stopped because myself and a couple of other girls had to use the restroom. Well, this was major culture shock let me tell ya. I opened this wooden door to this outside restroom and there is a cement slab with two elevated spots to place your feet, in the middle their is a small hole in the ground. The hole was to pee in and you had to do this standing up. This was a men/women's restroom. At first, I was like there is no way I am doing this but I had to go so badly that I didn't have any other options.

Jeremiah started his Inductive Bible Study class today and thinks he is really going to enjoy it. I will be able to sit in on this class on Wednesday and Thursday so I am excited about that.

Oh, and I am feeling much better now. I was sick most of last week so that was not much fun.

For those of you that would like to pray for us, please pray for:

-Health

-Safety

-Learning Spanish

-Our total surrender to His will for us while are here in Peru

-Direction for what the Lord wants for us after this semester

We love and miss you all! We love to hear from people so feel free to write anytime.

"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you, died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:1-3

Jer n Ser

1st week of classes

Hello everyone. So far we have survived our first week of classes. We usually wake up around 6:30 or 7:00 because we have to be down for breakfast by 7:45. Everyone meets for worship and morning devotions at 9:00 a.m. Jeremiah led worship on Tuesday morning.

They have block classes here so you have one class for 3 hours a day for 3-4 weeks and then you go on to the next class. This week we have actually had two classes a day. In the morning from 9:30-12:30 we have had a lectures class. The first part of the week the lectures were about the Islamic religion, today they covered purity, and tomorrow they will be giving a class on how to use e-sword (an on-line bible software program). Then in the evening we have the Missiology class (theology of missions), it is actually a video class taught by a missionary named Rod Thompson. It is really good.

I work in the kitchen to help prepare lunch on Mon, Tues, and Friday's. Then I clean up after breakfast on Wed. and Thur. I have met some really nice people working in the kitchen. Jeremiah has been working during dinner clean-up since he won't start the T.A. position until March.

We will be leaving to go on a Men & Women's retreat early Saturday morning and the men and women will be separate. I guess we are going to a place in the mountains called BarBar Blanca. We are not sure yet if we will be camping or staying in a log cabin for the night. It should be a good opportunity to get to know some more people. When we get back from that trip the Inductive bible study class will start. Also, we will be choosing a weekly ministry to get involved with soon.

Yesterday I got really sick from the salad I ate at lunch. It was really awful, my chest is sore from vomiting every 20-30 minutes yesterday afternoon. There were 3 0r 4 other girls that got sick at the same time too.

We are learning a lot and most of it is coming from being in a foreign land and having to totally rely on the Lord for His strength. Please pray that the Lord would humble us and break us of our pride that so often gets in the way of serving Him.

You are all in our thoughts and prayers. We love you all so very much!

God bless!

Check out our new pics of our apartment by clicking on the link to the left that says Jer & Ser's pics!

1st Update!

Hola!

We left Indianapolis on Monday, January 21st and arrived in Lima late Tuesday evening. My grandparents, Jeremiah's parents & brother, Josh, took us to the airport. I road with my grandparents and Jeremiah rode with his parents. On the way to the airport the most awesome thing happened.....my grandpa accepted the Lord! He couldn't believe it could be so simple. What a joy it was to pray with him and KNOW where he and my grandma are going. I just called my grandma and she said they are going to church (Woodland Heights) tomorrow. PRAISE THE LORD!

When we arrived in the airport Tuesday evening there was a young man there to pick us up. He didn't speak much english so it was a little difficult making conversation. It was overwhelming and a little scary driving to the bible college. People were everywhere and the drivers are wild. When we finally arrived to the bible college everyone was very welcoming and the Director of the college, John Buchan showed us to our room. We were suprised to learn that we didn't just have a room but an apartment! John said they had some extra room this semester so we got blessed.

We originally thought we were leaving on the missions trip Thursday morning but John informed us that Thursday's bus was full and that if we want to go on the trip we would have to be ready to leave by 7:00 in the morning. We decided we would do that and we just got back last evening from that trip.

We left the bible college around 8:30 to go to Pisco and arrived at the church in Pisco around 1:30 p.m. Marco & Monique Laura are planting a church in this town where the 8.o earthquake hit in August. This quake devastated an already poor community and killed many family members. A group of about 150 of us stayed at the church for 4 days & 3 nights in order to minister to the people in this community.

Everyday they had a free medical clinic for the people to come visit and to hear the gospel message/to be counseled. The first day we were there we folded flyers and went out to hand out to people at the Plaza de Armas. The second day we went to the Plaza de Armas to hand out tracts and those who could speak espanol witnessed to the people that were there. We played with the children in the neighborhood near the church. The thrid & fourth day there was a Festival for the children during the day and in the evening there was a Festival of Life for the adults. At the children's festival I helped paint the children's faces and play games while Jeremiah played/talked with the boys that didn't really get involved with the games. It was amazing, there was probably 200 children there and they were having so much fun.

The Festival of Life was so awesome! They played worship music, gave a message about why we were there, and at the end offered an invitation to those who would like to accept Christ. It was unbelievable there were at least 150 people that went forward. After they accepted Christ in their hearts they all walked through a line we had formed around them. We clapped for them and they were all giving us hugs.

The Peruvian people are very loving and friendly. One of their customs is to touch cheeks with you and make a kissing sound. Women do this to all women/girls and men do this to women/girls. We have felt so blessed by the Peruvian church here. Many of them have been very protective of us and are taking care of us very well!

Oh, forgot to mention that we were blessed yesterday because we were able to go on a boat trip to the Paracas Islands for free. Two people in our group were unable to go so they asked if we would like to fill their spots. It was awesome......their were birds of all kinds, penguins, and sea lions. Animals were everywhere.

I have posted a few pics at the top. One is of the new church in Pisco and the other two are of some of the children we met. One of the little boys was fascinated with Jeremiah's biceps...haha! He kept asking me if I would be his mother, it broke my heart because he may have lost his mother in the recent earthquake.

I am going to post all the pictures we have taken since ight before we left and since we have been here on our shutterfly account. You can go to this sight by clicking on the link on the left side of this page that says Jer & Ser's pics.

Today, Jeremiah & I had orientation. This is where he got his schedule and his work assignment. Everyone was either assigned housekeeping, kitchen, or T.A. duties. Jeremiah was assigned T.A. (Teacher's assistant) duties. He is at that meeting right now finding out what that entails. We will be meeting with John Buchan in a couple of days to find out where I will be working the 20 hours/week.

We love and miss everyone back at home!

Adios!

The haircut

Hola!

Well I just thought I would give a quick update before we leave. A lot has happened since my last post. We got all moved into Caleb's then the day after Christmas we left for West Virgina to visit with my Aunt Laura & Uncle Al. They have been a huge blessing in that they agreed to take our dog Tessa. It was so hard leaving her but I was relieved to know she has an awesome home. She is now living on approx. 4 acres with grazing cattle. I hope to attach some pics of the cattle farm & my aunt laura....if I can figure it out! We had a wonderful time visiting my aunt and uncle. They are truly blessed to live in such beautiful country! This pic is of my Aunt Laura w/ their pet cow, Soozee!

Another praise is that we sold our truck! Yeah! We had been praying that our truck would sell before we leave so that would be one less thing to think about! The Lord sold it for a good price and we are so thankful!

The big news is that I decided to chop my hair off! I have always wanted to be brave enough to go short but I NEVER EVER thought I would go through with it. BUT I DID! YEAh....and I love it! I hope you all like it too! It is going to be so low maintenance for Peru. I hope you all like it too!

I didn't exactly get the pictures placed the way I wanted too but I will figure it out next time!

Only 7 more days until we leave for Peru! Our church is having a going away party at Chapel Books this Saturday at 7 p.m. if any of you would like to come.

God Bless!