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!