Well its been a while since I posted last, we are now staying at Baptist Mid Mission's compound in Lima. We are having a great time exploring the city and visiting local churches.

Our last week in Pisco was great. We ran our final kids clubs on Saturday and many kids got saved. We had a emotional parting with our church family in Pisco. It was nice to spend time with them. As most of the church has only been saved for 3 years or less we tried hard to be a good example of what strong Christians should be. Though to be honest there were many times this baby church showed me what vibrant Christianity looks like. They spent a lot of time together as a church. When we went out to do evangelistic things around the city, there would almost always be a good size group of them with us. They were actively serving God in a way that convicted me of how I spend my time in the states.

I love the church in Pisco, when we left I told them they were in my heart. A cool thing that's part of their culture is that the ask you when your coming back when they say their goodbyes. Its really touching and makes you feel that they really enjoyed you being with them. Some of men asked me one night and I told them that I hoped to come back to Pisco, but if it wasn't God's will I would see them in heaven.
Its a cool thing to realize as a Christian, even if distance and various things keep us from seeing each other again in this life; I will see my Peruvian brothers and sisters in the next life. So I say goodbye with sadness but I know its not permanent.

Talk to you Later,
Ryan

p.s. Pray that we would give God glory with the remaining week. And praise him for his greatness in providing us a family around the world.

Hitchhiking on the back of a beat up old truck

Our very small bathroom

We have 2 weeks left here in Peru and its been amazing. We have learned a lot and been involved in almost everything the this church does. We even attented our first baby shower. In Pisco we were told its normal for the men to attend as well as the women. It was fun, we were laughing most of the time.

One of my favorite days here is Sunday. We attend church in the morning then go to a families house in the afternoon for lunch. While we are waiting we play soccer with some men in the neighborhood. We have been playing with them for several weeks now and last Sunday one of them invited everyone over to his house after the games. We had a good time of fellowship and Pastor Zubieta and Titus had the chance to share the gospel with them all. One of the men seems very interested in becoming a Christian. Its great how God suprises you with amazing opportunites.

The weather here has been great its been about 70 during the day and mabye 60 at nights. Its funny because this is their winter, when I tell them how cold it gets in Wisconsin their pretty suprised.

Pisco is in the state of Ica and this part of Peru is mainly desert, so its been weird getting used to the sand and dust everywhere. The other day we went to an area that was very green and I was loving every minute of it. When I see green it makes me think of Wisconsin.

Its funny how different this place is from the states. We are in a appartment that doesn´t have hot water so we have been taking cold showers for weeks. There are always dogs walking the streets(their a great way to get rid of food you don´t want to eat). For transportation you walk or take a taxi everywhere. And most of the things you buy are in open air markets or shops that specialize in something. There are a few Walmart type stores in Peru but not anywhere near us. And the taxies are very interesting. There are a few full size cars, but most are little 3 wheel motercycles with a cab on it. The other day I was thinking how normal its all become but how weird it is compared to the States.

Its also been a growing experience living with 3 other guys in a small appartment with a small bathroom. To give you a idea of how small are bathroom is, there are about 5in between the front of our toilet and the wall in front of it. I will have to post a picture next week. Its been a good experience and we have been solving our issues like Christians. You always have to thank God for the opportunites he provides for you to grow in your walk with him.

Well talk to you all later,
Ryan

Thursday we got packed to leave Santiago and took a taxi to an oasis near Ica. Some of us climbed the nearby sand dunes, it was so much fun. After that we explored a bit of Ica and then took a bus back to Pisco, our home in Peru. We took a much needed nap once we got back to our appartment and then went to church.

Friday we got up, ran to a local Panaria for some bread for breakfast, did 3 hours of Spanish language study and then grabed lunch. Normally for lunch we go a local resturant that gives us a beverage, soup, main dish, and desert for 5 soles. 5 soles is less then $2 dollars. After lunch we ran some errands and then grabed a taxi for a pretty coastal town called Paracus. We spent the day there checking out the area and playing with pelicans.

Many times we take trips to nearby cities to check out if the have a Bible preaching churchs so Titus can see where he should start a church if its Gods will for him to come back here as a missionary. And on top of all that its fun to check out the area

Well I have to get off the internet cafe is closing, goodnight all.
Ryan

Some kids pushing me on a swing, lucky it didn´t break.

Today is kind of a relaxing day here in Peru. We are in a place called Santiago just outside of Ica visiting a church that Titus helped with construction after the earthquake.

They had their service last night but we will not be going back to Pisco till Thursday because Peru has a national taxi strike today to protest something. The taxi drivers that are ignoring the strike are charging a lot to take people anywhere. We heard that some taxi that ignored the strike had people throwing rocks at them. We saw a some kids puting rocks out in the road so that people driving by would have to slow down.

Peru is very interesting. Its nothing like I thought it would be, the area we are in seems to be mostly desert so everything is kind of brown. Pisco still has a lot of earthquake damage and there are piles of debris sitting in many of the streets. When I first got of the plane I thought this place was kind of dirty, but by now I am pretty used to it.

In Peru they eat chicken a lot. Most restaurants start the meal with Sopa con Pollo (soup with chicken). Its interesting because sometimes you will have a chicken foot, or other body part, nothing is too weird for your soup. They always give you a little dish with lemons and rocoto(a hot sauce) on it to go with your soup. Your soup is normally kind of like chicken noodle and then you squeese a wedge of lemon into it. Its really good. I normally add some of the rocoto too.

This is a Ceviche, its uncooked fish maranated in lemon. The acid in the lemon cooks the fish without cooking it.

Well it been another week, George and I have been learning alot of Spanish. Last night I could distinguish the different words Pastor was using in his message, though I didnt understand half of them.

Its been amazing how easy it is to share the gospel with people here. When we are dealing with children many times we just start playing soccer with them. Then after about 20 minutes we ask them to sit down and we share the gospel with them. They will sit there and pay close attention throught the whole presentation. Its so different from the states. We just go to a soccer field see kids playing and start playing with them.

Tuesday I got the chance to preach from Eph 5:1-14 with Titus translating for me. It was alot of fun. It was just weird talking through a translator. I had to pause after every sentence while he translated for me. I know it was hard for Titus but he did a good job of translating it.

Wednesday we took a trip to a nearby town called San Clementa. We are exploring the area so Titus can figure out where he would like to come back as a missionary. So we are taking trips to various nearby towns to get a feel for the area. It was a cool town of abou 20,000. We found about four Pentacostal churches there but we are not sure if any teach the gospel or not. From what Titus says the Charismatics in Peru tend to add things to the gospel.

Tonight we went out with the Pastor and people from the church. We visited a family of beleivers in another part of the city, then walked around handing out tracts downtown. It was alot of fun. Pastor´s 10 year old son got saved about two days ago, and he probably handed out the most tracts. He was so excited about telling others.

Please pray that God would,
1. Use the gospel in these peoples lives.
2. Help the young church in Pisco grow both in numbers and maturity.
3. Use the four of us for his purposes.
4. Help us with our health, a few us have some intestinal problems.

With love,
Ryan (aka Mateo here in Peru)

This has been a amazing week. God has been helping us with our Spanish and given us many opportunities to talk with people. On Wednesday we played soccer with some of the local kids and invited them to church. As I am writing this two of the kids are hanging out with us in an internet cafe. On Thursday we walked the streets handing out tracks, then went to the church service at 7. One of the older men in the church really got a kick out of me. He told me I would lose my extra weight walking the streets of Pisco. I laughted and told him I needed to lose it. I am really loving the people.

I think we will learn alot about ministry from Pastor Zabiato and the church in Pisco. What impressed me is how much work he puts into the ministry. We have been out with him almost every afternoon and he has a Sunday morning and night service, as well as a Tuesday and Thursday night service.

Please pray for us, tomorrow we start a childrens program at 10am, then we will walk the streets handing out tracts, and finally we will help with a teen program Saturday night. I am excited but kind of nervous. We will rest in God and trust him to give us ¨"...the will and to do of his good pleasure(Phil 2:13)."

Also pray that we will be good examples to this church, almost all of them are first generation Christians who have been saved two years or less.

With love to my Church family and all my friends,
-Ryan

Walking the streets handing out tracks with Pastor Zabiato

The church we are working with

The other three members of the team acting crazy on a pier

Our hotel for most of the first week

Having some fun in front of the church we are working at.

Me in front of the church Titus interned at for a year

Picture from the missions compound we are staying at in Lima

Church in the center of Mexico City

Picture from outside our hotel window in Mexico City

We are staying at a missions compond in Lima getting ready to leave for Pisco in the morning. Today we exchanged some of our money for Soles and stoped by a Gas Station to grab breakfast. For lunch Titus' Peruvian family gave us a amazing meal that had chicken and green rice. The rice had ground up spinich and cilantro on it and it was all very good. We had a great time praticing our Spanish with them. Now we are getting reading to go do a bit more shoping and get ready for Pisco.

This place is beautiful, as I am typing this I am looking out the window at some mountains that I am dying to hike.

See you later my friends, please pray for us.

Hello I writing to you from Lima, Peru. We have had a great time so far. We just got into Lima about 11pm last night. The 22 hour layover in Mexico City was great. We stayed at a Holiday Inn near a mall that had a SuperWalmart. After we got a good nights sleep we took a taxi to the center of Mexico City. There was a Old Catholic Church, street vendors, and some people doing traditional dances. It was fun walking around and checking out the buildings.

After we went back to the hotel George stayed there to finish some homework, while Titus and I ran across the street to check out the mall. It was cool checking out a Walmart in Mexico, to bad I had left my discount card in the hotel. Titus and I even grabed a BigMac at a McDonalds.

Well this has been a crazy week but I am almost ready to go. For those of you that don't know my mom had a small stroke on Saturday. The cool thing is she seems to be recovering well from it. She even went back to work on Wednesday. Please remember her in your prayers.

Tomorrow the Peru team will drive to Chicago and stay at someones house for the night. Then on Saturday we will go to the airport for our flight that leaves at 2:00pm. I am thinking of watching Motorcycle Diaries tonight to get ready for Peru.

Chau

When we get to Lima we will meet up with Jairo the fourth member of our team. From there we will grab a bus to Pisco. Once we arrive in Pisco we will settle down and meet up with Pastor Zubieta. We will be working with his church Primera Iglesia Bautista de Pisco for several weeks. We plan to do a children's program like Vacation Bible School, street witnessing, and also work with the believers in the church. Jairo will also be working on our language skills for two hours every day. I am very excited to see how God will work.

I thank my church family and friends for their prayers and financial support. Please pray for our safety, that we would be able to communicate well, and that Jesus would use us to accomplish his purposes in Pisco.

I am getting ready to leave for Peru. Titus, George and I will meet up in Chicago on the 19th and fly out on the 20th. Right now I kind of feel like a pin cushion as I got two shots on Tuesday and I will be getting another one today.