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:)