I made it safely to the states with our three kids. If you happened to hear the story of our departure, you know that it was not the easiest of trips. We missed our international flight and were totally rerouted (this happening after all the drama with Ana’s passport). Greg posted that people pray for less stress for me, and I want you to know that if you prayed this prayer, God was gracious to me. Though stress was going to be a factor (I was traveling without my husband with THREE kids for crying out loud), everyone was overly helpful, we got on a flight THAT night out of Lima, and my sister made all the connections with me (there was a chance she wouldn’t with the crazy delays out of Arequipa). So, thank you for praying for our travels. I returned early with the kids to participate in the festivities of my best friend’s wedding. Greg will join us the end of September for a one-month furlough. We will hit Tullahoma, Memphis, the Dallas area, and Tyler in a whirlwind trip. It has been a blessing to already be spending time with my Tullahoma family. We look forward to seeing so many more of you!
My article is short this month. First of all, Happy Five Year Anniversary to Team Arequipa. If you have supported this work in any way, we consider you part of the team. It is an absolute blessing to see the faithfulness of God as we look back on what he has done in the past five years. For me, I am in awe of how he has blessed the Living Libraries program. Lucia (the Peruvian in charge of the program) and I have worked so hard this year to see how the program flows in all grade levels serving an entire school. It has been a great year, and our plan is to open three more libraries next year. It will be a lot of work, and CUDA saw the need for us to hire another employee for the program. I am honored to introduce you to our newest Living Library team member, Felicitas. She is a Christian with a passion to teach. She is gifted in working with the children, and I am so excited to see how Lucia and Feli work together in these months that I am not present. Please pray for our library team, and pray for the schools that we will enter next year. We will be in contact with so many teachers and students. It is a huge blessing to be in a place to influence so many toward the glory and work of our God.