End of the year post

We are back in our native state of Mississippi, enjoying the holidays with family and friends. We have left Peru for a season, home again here to visit churches and supporters, raise more support and awareness, and refocus our minds and calling as we prepare to go back to Peru after a time and continue in the work. It is a shock moving between cultures, as we face conflicting emotions; sadness at leaving our friends in Peru, and joy with the happy reunions we find here in the states. But God is good and is helping our transition. We plan on placing our kids in Pearl public schools for the next term, and Dale will be busy making phone calls and lining up visits to churches and other places.....(he hopes to apply to grant institutions and foundations to raise money for the Arevelo hospital construction, please be in prayer about this!)
Here are some photos of our last days in Peru
Caleb's birthday party, Lauren's Christmas program at her school, Dale's last day at the clinic,

Springtime

It's Spring here in Trujillo, but the weather makes it still seem like winter.
We had the annual Spring Parade last week, with baton twirlers from the states here
to march and show their skills, a long-standing tradition I have heard. Rebekah celebrated her 10th birthday last month as you can see in the photo. We have been struggling financially lately, but God has blessed us with sufficient cash to get us
through the end of the year, at which time we will take our furlough. We had hoped to wait until next fall, but we will move it up to get started on more visits and fund-raising back in the states. It will be great for the clinic because next month Marcus and Whitney will be here in Trujillo, and the clinic will be in good hands with Dr. Marcus around. Our church in Arevelo continues to grow and recently we installed a permanent stage and pulpit, more photos to follow, which is a real beauty. All areas of ministry from the men's group to the children's classes are well attended and well taught. We are so glad to see this church maturing and the members bringing visitors and family members along to visit.

Improvements at Arevelo church

A team from Penn. is here now making us a new parking space in front of the Arevelo church where we attend as a family. They are mainly university students, here for two weeks. Rebekah went with me one day to help out, digging up sand and rock.
The clinic has two new interns here now, Daniel Johnston from Jackson, MS and Lydia Rice from Tupelo, MS. They are a big help and are working hard with us in the Wichanzao clinic. Here are some photos.

Fundraiser for Rocio Milagritos

 

Today the family of Milagritos had a "pollada" or grilled chicken sale. For 6 soles you buy your ticket, and they deliver your food for you, a portion of chicken, some potatoes, and beets with lettuce. They sold 200 tickets!
Pictured are Milagritos her sister, and our nurse Cinthia. Keep praying for her as she battles cancer.
And remember to give to our clinic patient fund!

Medical campaings!

 
It's been a busy past few weeks, with a lot going on down here,
Teams coming and going, and much fun visiting with them and ministering the
gospel at the same time. This photo was of a medical campaign in Cajamarca,
I was translating for Dr. Glover, and this nice couple came in, she was
shoeless and only had the use of one eye, and he was doing poorly himself, but they
were nice, and so grateful for the care they received..
Our friends from Kosciusko came and worked, and just yesterday the folks from TPC in
Tuscaloosa left after a week of medical work here in Trujillo, so today I can relax
some and prepare for all the follow up and catch up at the clinic...

Jacob is 12

 
 
Last Friday was Jacob's birthday, and on Saturday we took he and his friends to play paintball,
then came back to our house for pizza, cake and some gifts. And we added to our family a week earlier
by acquiring a kitten, mainly in hopes that one day he can deal with our rat family that lives in our sewage drains, and occasionaly enters our house to munch on our sofa. Jacob named him Levi, in honor of the Levis t shirt Caleb was wearing that day.
Switching subjects, Rocio Milagritos, the girl with cancer, has started her chemo and the oncologist gave her a fairly good prognosis. She has ovarian germ cell cancer, and has just finished her first cycle of treatment.

more shots

 
 
 
Us with Jack Vasquez, our friend and guide, in the treehouse, and later at a waterfall..

Moyobamba

 
Susan and I took a little holiday last week, visiting some friends in Moyobamba. Here we are enjoying our jungle river tour breakfast of eggs and patacones, (fried bananas), before canoeing up the river to check out the wildlife.
Also here is Alida, mother of Lenin and Ludvig, two brothers very much involved with the mission. We saw waterfalls, hot springs, cold springs, a lots of green, a drastic change from Trujillo. Thanks to Agnes and Kelly for keeping the kids.

happy b'day Lulu!

 
Last Sunday, while at the Bakers for team lunch, we celebrated
Lauren's 4th birthday...she is doing well,
surrounded by her friends

home visit

 
We just got back from visiting Rocio Milagritos at home, actually not her real home, for she
lives several hours away in the mountains, now she stays at the home of some relatives, close to our clinic.
Julton, our new MD, cleaned her wound, and Sonia talked more with her family about the next medical visits and
their finacial situation. Right now they have paid their bills, the clinic contributing about $200 or so.
Hopefully soon we will know the official diagnosis and the plan for future treatment. Thanks for all who prayed, and please continue doing so..

After the surgery

 
This afternoon, three days after the surgery, Sonia and I went to visit Milagritos at IREN, the new cancer hospital in town. She seems to be doing well, just a little bored, since she is in a room with 6 beds and only one other is taken. No tv and nothing to read, I left her with a pen and some paper and told her to write something or draw some pictures. Tomorrow Sonia and I will return to talk with her doctor and the social services person about how much the family owes and the prognosis of the girl. Sonia shared the gospel and prayed for her, and I took a photo. Tomorrow I want to make another so you can see her beautiful smile. Continue praying and give if you can.

Update on the chica

The young lady had her surgery today, and Abel Vasquez and I donated blood, which was
subsequently transfused, and they requested more, so Agnes is on deck to donate.
They will next do the pathology on the removed tumor....
Please be in prayer...

Good times/Bad times

 
 
 
 
Recently Julton Tomanguillo and Julie Rodgers were married here in Trujillo. Julie is a former intern from W. Virginia
and Julton is our new MD at the clinic, a young man recently out of med school. We went to their wedding and can
tell God will bless them and use them in a great way both here in Peru and in the states.
In the midst of this joy we have always the sick with us. The photos are of a young girl brought down by her father
from the mountains in need of health care. Sonia our OB nurse did the initial exam and sent the girl of 14 years for an ultrasound. The results were not good; she has a rapidly growing tumor on her ovary. You can see from the photos how much her abdomen is already distended. So we have collected some money, and Saturday I and Agnes will go donate some blood for her surgery on Monday. We expect the total cost of all her tests and hospitization to be about $1000, money which the clinic does not have. A television channel came out to film her and request donations, so I thought I would do the same. If you would like to help write a check to CMS and designate it "Clinic patient fund".
And please pray, the dianosis is not good for this young girl...even with the surgery.

Great news!

Yesterday was supposed to be the final inspection of our clinic by the ministry of health. Early in the morning I arrived at the offices and awaited Dr. Raul our chief doctor. When he arrived the secretary in charge of inspections said that a final inspection was not necessary and that she could sign the papers that day! So hopefully by the next two week we will officially receive our license to operate as a clinic and be completely legal! It really is miraculous seeing that this lady told a few weeks ago that she did not know when we would have our final inspection since the inspection team is not functioning right now...the previous delay between inspections was a year and a half/! But we feel God intervened and moved this lady to sign the papers..

time for some rest

 
 
 
 
Being back in the states for two months was very encouraging for us, and refreshing. We saw many of our family and friends, made some visits and relaxed quite a bit, especially since it was so cold, we stayed inside a lot and took it easy. Glad to be back here again in Peru, though, working and keeping busy. Susan is teaching the kids, and they now spend afternoons at the pool, since it is summer here. I am at the clinic or Casa San Agustin a lot, catching up with my admin stuff or plotting out the future for our medical ministry. The photos are our kids at grandparents, us in Starkville for a basketball game, and finally back in our house in Peru.