Family

Our Last Three Months of Ministry and Upcoming Time in the US

Our Last Three Months of Ministry and Upcoming Time in the US

The last three months have been intense. In particular, Katie has been doing really special work. In October she went to the Connections conference in Brazil, visited our house church’s missionary in a mountain community of Apurimac, and worked in a medical campaign in Cusco. Between those things we hosted an alumni group as part of Harding’s celebration of 100 years. All of that led into an incredible November. She got to go to two of four sessions of a personal finance course that Paty did with a group called Féminas, a group of women with tough lives, most of whom are sex workers. Katie and Paty have been building relationships with them over the last couple years, and at the end of the personal finance class the women suggested a Bible study as a next step. See more below in the article about CUDA and please pray for that opportunity!

What do we do every day?

What do we do every day?

We have been living in a small apartment at this hotel since March 16 when the quarantine lockdown went into effect. At that time we had the HULA group here with us until they left two weeks later. After that Jeremy’s parents and siblings were with us for another two weeks and then headed back to the US on a repatriation flight. For the last 4 months it has been us and the Spanish teacher that came with HULA, Debora, and her daughter, Sira (7 years old). Also living at the hotel is the owner, Zenet, and her daughter, Nathalie (17 years old), and one hotel worker, Yulisa. We have become a family seeing as we have been locked in the hotel grounds together 24/7 for 5 months now. We have celebrated 4 birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Peru’s Independence Day together. Arequipa’s birthday, August 15, is right around the corner.

Jose Antonio Meets his Grandparents

Jose Antonio Meets his Grandparents

One of the biggest challenges for our family living in Arequipa is being so far away from family. Despite the distance, however, we’ve experienced the tremendous blessing of Adileen getting to know her grandparents. Katie’s mom, Ann, got here the day Adileen was born and stayed for a month! Katie’s dad, Kin, came for a visit during that time as well. Then my parents came for a week when Adileen was a month old. Since, they’ve both been able to come for another visit and we’ve also gotten the chance to visit them in the US, as well as Adileen’s cousins, aunts, and uncles. Throw in FaceTime and Adileen can recognize and (on a good day) name all of our family. All of this and Adileen doesn’t turn two years-old until January! 

August's First Birthday

August's First Birthday

It's hard to believe that August is a year old already! This year has been full of love and learning.First birthdays are a big production here – food, gifts, party favors, clowns, decorations, cake, and games. We had August's party at a big park near our house. Planning and preparation was a cultural adventure in itself! It took several days to get everything ready. Many friends and neighbors came together to help us make it all happen. It was truly a beautiful picture of community.

New Life in Peru

New Life in Peru

Jake and I are so happy to say that our sweet daughter, August Adele, is now two months old and doing very well! The transition of having a new life in our home has been packed full of love and learning. When we found out we were expecting we were thrilled. The creation of new life is amazing and is a strong reminder of how God works beautifully within this world. As some of you may know, shortly after finding out I was pregnant, my sister's son, Jackson, passed away suddenly at the age of four. The past seven months have been a whirlwind of emotions. On one hand we are grieving the loss of a beautiful life and on the other we are celebrating a new one. Trying to reconcile those two extremes has not been easy, especially being so far away from my family. These two significant events in my life have caused me to ask deep questions about faith and how God works in this world.

Two Years in Peru

Two Years in Peru

We have been in Peru for 2 years now! The past 2 years have flown by! It really seems like time moves faster here. Two years ago we said goodbye to family and friends, got on an airplane and moved to Arequipa as a family of 2. It took months for me to learn the language, figure out where was the best place to go grocery shopping, where to go for certain imported products, to make friends, meet neighbors, and I think it has taken the whole two years to make it feel like home.