So how did your day go?

We started out our last day sitting at the airport in Trujillo. The fog was so bad that the plane we were waiting for past over without stopping. We were kind of stuck in a rock and a hard place. We ended up running to the bus station and buying tickets to Lima to make sure we would at least make our flight home. The bus ride from Trujillo to Lima is 9 hours long. Not what any of us wanted to hear. Just as Carol was returning with the tickets the weather cleared and the plane landed on it’s return to Lima. We jumped on and headed out of Trujillo to Lima 2 hours late.

We were picked up in Lima by Eric our tour guide. They took us into Lima and we spent several hours touring the city and seeing some of the area. A nice break after working the last two weeks. Lima is an interesting city and a very historical one.

One of the most interesting sights we saw and were able to walk through was the Church of San Francisco which was built in the 16th century. We went into the catacombs where over 25,000 bodies had been buried and the skeletal remains are still visible.

After several hours it was to the airport once again to check in and return home except.... our plane was 3 hours late and we missed our connection in Atlanta. Our team was spilt up and the last group of nine arrived at Seattle at 11:45 PM. It was one really long day.

I think today was a reflection for most of the people who went to Peru. I know it was for me and my wife. We are still tired but we are really missing the new friends we made there. There is grass to cut, gardens to weed, work to go back to but we miss Peru. It takes a few weeks to get back to normal so if you have a love one who went remember that.

Here are some photos of people that have been helped from the members of RVCC who purchased homes at last years auctions.

So for the 2007 team it’s time to close out the blog and plan for next year. Thanks for the prayers and support. Thanks to a great team of people.

Fred

So there are three of us working with the elderly Peruvians the other day. One of the women hands Margie Knudson a small plastic holder of old Peruvian money. This is money that no longer has value here. Margie is a bit befuddled as to why so she asks, “Why would you give this to me”? The old woman replies, “Because you could have went anywhere in the world but you came here to help us.” No dry eyes after that.

We just spent the weekend at a youth retreat. 23 teens from the barrios. Kids who have never been to anyplace like this because their families have no money. One of the first things that happens is one of the girls passes out playing basketball. I find out she has had nothing to eat all day, it is now 6pm. She comes from a very poor family and sometimes they get nothing to eat because there just isn’t any food.

13 teens come forward on Saturday night and give their lives to Christ. On Sunday 12 are baptized in an old unheated swimming pool. The adobe walls we built here will one day crumble and fall. The paint we put on the walls will one day turn old and peel away. 13 kids will have eternal life with Jesus. If we never come back to Peru, one day we will all meet again.

How do we measure the success of a mission trip? Is it the amount of work we do? The walls we build or the roofs we put on. I don’t know but I can think of 13 reasons why this one was successful.

We are in the wind down phase of the trip. Today we will paint the walls of a church in the city. On Tuesday we will spend our morning touring the houses that our members purchased, cooking a meal for the elderly, and saying good bye to the new friends we have made. This is the hardest part of any mission trip, the goodbyes.

Wednesday we fly early to Lima and tour the city. 1230 AM we head home arriving at Seattle a bit after noon on Thursday. All this depends on the flight getting out of Lima on time. If it’s late we could miss our connection in Atlanta. We will call once we clear customs and know if we will make our connection.

On a side note, crusty old Ron Williams charmed these teenage boys. I don’t what it was about him but he became known as Master Ron and the kids fought to sit by him at meals.
Whenever he entered a room they shouted out “Master Ron” several times. Maybe it’s a sign we should leave him here.

Almost forgot, we finished three houses minus the roof which someone else will finish. Another team will be coming in behind us to start more houses. God is good!

This has been a great team to serve with and this is the last blog update until we return.

Fred

Hola friends & family,
The team has been building casa's and making new friends at the camp. God has blessed us with many new faces to remember and pray for as we continue to spend our time in Peru. We are heading to the beach tomorrow with 20 youth and several families. I miss everyone, but you can tell from the photos that we are busy with building, kids, visiting the elderly and seeing Trujillo. Love to all, serving in His name,
Carol


Hello my family....
We are very busy, but all es bueno here. Happy birthday, Daniel!!!! Welcome home, Ruthie!!! I miss you all. Thank you for praying for all of us. I'll see you soon!

Rachel

This has been a great trip. Not because of what we are doing but because of who I am getting to do it with. This team is awesome! It is very different in the fact of our age difference. I have 6 members under 25 and 6 members over 50 and all work as hard as any team I have ever lead. John Carlson who is the oldest, 69, is the guy we are all trying to keep up with. He is a crazy man on the work sites.

The area we are working in is very different also. Nothing but sand. As far as the eye can see. The bricks we build are made from clay and sand, the mortar is clay and sand, no cement is used in the process. We make a foundation of rock, pour on mud, set the bricks, and do it all over again. The exciting news is that we finished our first house today. There are many in all sorts of progress but this one will be done once it is roofed.

All the people from RVCC who helped raise money for these houses, rest assured you truly made a difference in the peoples lives here. The one we will finish today belongs to a single mother who lost her husband three months ago. She has three children and is moving out of a bamboo hut to a brick house. It’s a huge step up for her and she is out working with our team as hard as anyone. All the houses I have seen under construction have family members working on them. 18 have been completed.

Speaking of working hard. I stopped by one work site today and watched a mother with her two year old strapped to her back hauling 4 bricks at a time to our construction team. Her husband was in a mud pit mixing it up with his bare feet. The people there are amazing.

Life is tough for these people. I have never seen anything like the poverty I have seen here. Most live on rice, no running water, most do not have power, yet they all have a smile on there face. Many are coming to the small church here and lives are changing.

Fred

Hola friends!

It’s been just a few days working in the barrio (neighborhood) that Rainier View supports and already lifelong relationships are being built. The barrio sits right on the coast. It’s view would draw only the richest of Americans to purchase if in America. Here however, the people sit on the land, constructing structures out of any materials they can find until they have enough funding or assistance to purchase the mud-made bricks houses are built of. Most don’t work and can’t read or write, making life more difficult than what is already seemingly impossible.

Our team has been split into smaller groups working with the elderly, providing crafts, fellowship, and classes such as CPR and First Aid training, and with families that we are building houses for.

In just two days, my group has bonded with a family of four consisting of a mother and her three children (all girls). The simple adobe brick house we are building for the family is no larger than some of the rooms in the hotel we are staying at, yet it’s quite larger than the tent-like structure that they currently reside in.

The excitement of Rosa, the nine year old that has become attached to most of the group, is enough to drive us all to work harder. As she worked beside me, hauling more bricks than I could ever carry, Rosa explained to me that her father died. Life is extremely difficult for the family. Seeing the joy in her eyes as she watches, and helps us, build her new house is rewarding beyond words.

I knew before I left that I would miss my family, and I do. However, the work that is being done here through Christ is more rewarding than that which would be experienced otherwise. The team is awesome, and the work is such a powerful message to the people here. God is good!

Love you all (especially you Matt!). See you soon!

- Crystal

Hi mom and dad. Peru is awesome, and I hope you are both doing well!
Amor Chris

Hello my dear family and friends!
I am having SUCH a great time in Peru, it has been so amazing to see how different everything is here. I love everything from the traffic and upside down moon and especially the people!!! The people here are SO incredibly loving and friendly, they greet us and say goodbye with a kiss every single day. I have loved getting to know the missionaries and their families, and especially the Peruvians---I have been having GREAT conversations with so many of them and have made really great friendships. Oh and the food here is FANTASTIC!! Dad and Daniel, you would have LOVED the ribs I had at a nice restaurant here, and some AMAZING fish called ‘ceviche’ ... Well I have loved it, our team is great, and I am doing well!!! Oh and our plane gets in at 12:30pm on Sunday, and you can either pick me up at the airport or at church. I love you all and I hope you are all doing well!!! Have an amazing few weeks!!!
Love you all!! Melissa

Hola (pretty much the one word I know in spanish:) Family and friends,
It has been amazing down here in Peru. There is so much going on here and i see God’s handiwork here. I have met many brothers and siters in Christ in Peru. So far I have worked in the barrio that our Church supports. I love working in the barrio because of the sweet kids and their families. They have been so welcoming. In the barrio we work with the elderly, teach CPR, do activities with the youth and build houses for the families. The team that i am on have been building a house for a family of a mom and her three daughters (the father died three months ago). We have finished building all the walls and now need to put on the roof. The house we are building is the size of a bedroom in an american home. I was shocked of how little the houses were and truly humbled because the little girl Rosa(the daughter of the women we are building the house for) who helped us build was always smiling. And of course being with the kids is my favorite part. They are sooooo cute and always smiling. I just hug them the whole time and play (while they laugh at me trying to communicate without knowing spanish). well i have sooo much to say but Fred is rushing me because he wants to go to bed:) (Fred is old you know and it is almost 10pm and past his bed time). I love you Mom and Dad and yes you too seth and logan. i miss you all!!!!!!! Oh!!!!!!!!! I almost forgot the whole reason why i wrote this blog. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!
( i apologize if it is a little crazy and random i am exhausted)
Chiao (as they say in Peru)
Nichole

Hola/HI Celeste, Ed, Marlo, Danielle, Ryan, family, and friends. I am doing well, God is good, and taking care of us. Thank you to all who are praying for us.

Love Margie (The Whiz) Knudson