Is It Worth It?

Is your ministry model a good one? Wouldn't it be better to use the traditional method of going and staying?

These kinds of questions are usually said quietly to one or both of us but rarely spoken during a public Q&A.  We sometimes see it written on the faces of people who are listening to us present our ministry, especially when it's the first time they've heard something like this. After all, we spend lots of money to travel great distances to spend a short time there.

Yes, we believe it's worth it for many reasons. Here are just a few.

1. The US missionary force is dwindling. This is not necessarily a bad thing because God is raising up missionaries from many other parts of the world. The U.S. is no longer the leader in sending out missionaries. So it is fitting that we allow the nationals to do the work that they do better than a foreigner will do - that of establishing churches.
2. Time to learn the language. When US missionaries go abroad to share the gospel and plant churches, it takes them years to learn the language. Depending on the language, it may take even more years to be able to teach at above an elementary school level to help develop future leaders and teachers in that community. Yet a national church planter does not have to spend time doing that. He already knows the language and can communicate with ease.
3. It takes years to learn the culture. Most likely, American missionaries will never be accepted as one of the people. They will always be an outsider. If their race does not give them away, their inability to speak, look, and act like a national will do it.

Leadership meeting in Peru

Approximately 80% of the world has already been reached with the gospel. Approximately 77% of all US missionaries are going to these already reached places. If we are going to reach the world for Christ, it is better to further equip the nationals to reach their own people and send Americans to places that are still unreached. 

After the iron curtain fell, Charlie attended a seminar where pastors from the former Soviet block were asked, "What can we do to help you?" Over and over again, they answered. "Send us Bibles, literature, and send people to help us train leaders. One person asked, "What about church planting?" The response? "We know how to plant churches. We need Bibles, literature, and training."

We are willing to go wherever God calls us. If He wants us to spend years in a country, we will do it. For now, however, we believe that strengthening the hand of national church planters is God's direction for us right now.

We recognize that a national pastor is better equipped to reach his own people than we are. So we go in, at the request of a pastor, and teach what he needs. Sometimes our teaching provides a "second witness" to their own teaching. As one pastor put it to me recently, "I have already taught my people about this, but they will hear it better from the visiting speaker." 

When we go, we work under that pastor. We are not his boss. He is ours. We respect him as the leader of the ministry and do what we can to assist him in the building and encouraging
of his people. We want to see that ministry grow, and he knows better than we do how to make that happen.

End of 2021 Newsletter

 Dear family and friends,

The year is almost over. After 2020, we are grateful for what we were able to do, even though it was a scaled-back version of pre-Covid years. Looking back, we want to give thanks to you who have encouraged, supported, and prayed for us this year. Most of all, we want this Christmas season to be a season of praise to God for His grace in our lives through this year so we filled in this “Thankful” acrostic.

Trip to South America: For the first time since Covid shut borders throughout our world, we were able to travel. In Arequipa, Peru, I taught about Biblical finances to the Bible Institute students and spent hours with the church leaders going over qualifications for those in leadership in the church. Joan taught the children’s workers how to plan lessons and advised the children’s teachers on developing their own curriculum.

Abigail and Joan

Health: Two years have passed since my stroke. Life changed dramatically that day, but God continues to give grace for ministry. I tire more easily, but the trip to Peru proved that being able to teach invigorates me.

Abigail: Abigail is an eleven-year-old girl in Peru. When she was three, her parents asked us to be her “spiritual parents.” Due to the distance between us, we cannot do much more than pray, but we are delighted to see her growing academically, socially, and spiritually. We look forward to seeing how God will use her.

Next year: We are expecting a busy year in 2022. Right now we are planning five trips abroad: to Bolivia, the Amazon, Luxembourg and Spain, Mexico, and Liberia. Of course, much can change between now and then.

Kindness of neighbors: We were in Maine when we received a call from our neighbor about a tree that had fallen in our yard. We are thankful that they were willing to check for damage to the house (none) and to take pictures for us.

Family and friends: The encouragement we receive from our family and friends helps to motivate us in our ministry despite fatigue or discouragement.

Unreached goals: We still have things we want to do before
God calls us home. We thank God for these unreached goals as they keep us pressing on.

Love: Your love demonstrated to us in many ways has encouraged us many times. However, God’s love keeps us throughout the trials and triumphs of life.

Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayers. We look forward to seeing what God will do in the coming year.

Your partners with missionaries around the world,

Charlie and Joan Farley

Reviving the Blog

I closed down this blog for a while as it had been a long time since I had written. This week I decided to reopen it.

Since I last wrote, some of our circumstances are the same. Some have changed. Let me list some of those.

Many things stay the same. We are still living in Georgia. We are still working with IPM. We are still wanting to grow more in knowing and serving our Lord Jesus Christ.

However, there have been some changes. The biggest change in my life has been my father's passing on August 8 of this year. In the next few days, you may see some posts that I wrote surrounding those circumstances. During the year leading up to his death, Charlie continued to make trips as usual, but I cut back my travel in order to help my mother care for him. Now that he is gone, we are looking at the coming years and trying to determine our course for the future.

Charlie preaching at the closing of the VBS in Peru.

One other change. I have begun a new blog. Since writing is part of my ministry now, I thought it would be good to have a blog where I could write something short each day, (or at least most days). Since prayer is something that I want to encourage in both my own life and in other peoples' lives as well, it is a blog on prayer. In order to link the feeling of the two blogs, I have called it "Sojourning in Prayer."You will find it at https://sojourninginprayer.blogspot.com.


This blog will continue to be used to update people on our trips, but I want to keep it about our ministry. Occasionally, it may still include other insights, but for the most part, it will now focus on our travels.

Almost Missing Christmas

After we booked our trip to Peru, I realized that we would be gone most of December. I knew I did not want to walk into the house a few days before Christmas to find Thanksgiving decorations still up, so I put those away. Now what do I do? I decided I would get out the few things that mattered the most - the Nativity set, the advent wreath, a picture frame with the words, "Jesus, the reason for the season." I put those up, added a few candles and a red tablecloth to the dining room table and stood back. That was enough.

We left on December 1, heading to Pennsylvania for our mission's annual meeting. Then on December 7, we left the cold of Pennsylvania and flew to the Peruvian Amazon, where we spent the next ten days teaching.

The temperature change was so drastic that on the second day in the village, my feet started to swell. Every day they got a little worse. I started sitting down during our teaching breaks so that I could put my feet up. Then one of the pastors brought chairs and I was able to sit down part of the time while I translated for Charlie. That helped. On our last morning, as I struggled to fit my swollen feet into my loose sandals, I wondered if I would pick up hookworm if I went barefoot. I tugged at the straps until I could get my feet inside.  While the skin was tight and uncomfortable, at least I knew it was not permanent. My feet would return to normal when we got out of the heat. Once we got back to the city where I was not standing all day and we were sleeping in an air-conditioned room, my sandals were comfortable again.

From Iquitos, we flew to Arequipa in the southern highlands. Since we were just stopping in to see IPM's missionaries, the Araujos, and not to minister, we stayed in a hotel in the center of the city and spent most of the two days enjoying their company.

Life-sized nativity in Peru

Arequipa was decorated for Christmas. In front of the Catholic Church, people gathered to see the life-size nativity set. A two-story Christmas tree, surrounded by gifts the size of appliance boxes, dominated the central square. One night a children's choir sang there. Decorated artificial pine trees seemed like anatopisms, and I wondered what their traditions might have included before the Christmas tree became so universal.

We were privileged to be able to participate in one Peruvian Christmas tradition - a chocolatada. We attended church on Tuesday night at a new church plant. Since it was the last time they would meet before Christmas, they held a chocolatada after the service. Thick hot chocolate was served with slices of Panetone, a sweet bread with raisins and candied fruit.

We returned to the U.S. on the 22nd. When we got off the plane, I heard someone call out "Merry Christmas!" My first thought was, "What are they talking about?" Then I realized what day it was. Of course, people were greeting each other with "Happy Holidays" and "Merry Christmas!" Secular Christmas music even played over the intercom in the airport terminal.

We returned to the office to get our car and then began driving back home to Georgia. I was very glad that I had changed the Thanksgiving decorations for Christmas ones before I left.

On Christmas Eve we went to a worshipful Christmas Eve service together, and on Sunday we gathered with family and friends to enjoy a turkey and ham feast. Those two very important parts were central to our Christmas celebration this year.

There was lots of joy and celebration, yet it still felt strange. It almost felt like I had missed Christmas. Why, I wondered, when the things I valued were present? I had even spent the month of December reading Christmas passages in my Bible. So why did it feel so different?  And does it matter? As I thought of these things, I realized two very important things.

First, the cues that tell me Christmas is around the corner were missing. There were no Salvation Army bell ringers at the fronts of stores. No Christmas music played over the intercoms in malls, stores, and restaurants. No Christmas cards arrived in the mail and I did not send any. No Christmas decorations were present in the Peruvian churches. I did not bake Christmas cookies for parties or friends. I did not light an advent wreath during my morning devotions. No Christmas carols were sung. We did not attend any Christmas parties or programs. December was much like any other month of the year.

We North Americans celebrate Christmas on December 25 and extend it into an avalanche of activities for a whole month. Even though Charlie and I were busy throughout December, our activity was not based on things surrounding a traditional North American holiday. Instead it was normal ministry. When I realized that it was the cues that were missing, I realized a second, more important truth. It was good to have a different Christmas where much of the tradition was missing. Sometimes the things we use to point our hearts toward Christmas Day become so important that the  real message of Christmas gets lost in the trimmings. My heart needs to celebrate the central message of Christmas - that Christ came into the world to save sinners. It is not the gifts, the parties, and the decorations that make something feel like Christmas. In fact, all those things can lead us away from its truths.

Maybe our ministry focus during the month was exactly what God wanted. Maybe it was the best gift we could have given Him this year. In that case, I did not miss Christmas at all. In fact, it was better than usual.

- - - - - - - - - -

The days since Christmas whizzed by like a tractor trailer on the Interstate. I fully intended to write this as soon as the first days of January began. Instead, I find myself playing catch-up on this last day of the month.

Contrasts and Similarities

Contrast: In just a few hours we will be stepping onto a plane and going to Peru. In a matter of hours, we go from freezing weather to tropical rain forest. We leave an area with many thriving churches to  a place with only a few, and some of them are struggling. We go from learning from pastors who have advanced theological degrees to a place with pastors whose Bible knowledge is self-taught and whose formal education is more limited.

The Amazon River

Similarities: In both places are pastors with a deep love for God, His Word, and His people. In both places people are lost and without hope. In both places, the Bible offers hope for salvation, wisdom, healing, and so much more.

Today we go to the Peru for a conference with a group of men who are called by God to pastor in the Amazon jungle. Charlie will be teaching on Biblical counseling. Often this subject identifies areas where the pastors need guidance from God's Word.

Pray:

• For safety as we travel
• Opportunities to speak to others of God’s love as we travel.
• Wisdom for Charlie as he teaches on this important subject.
• Spanish recall and ability for me as I translate for him. I was fluent in Spanish 30 years ago, and I need some of that fluency now as I translate.

In several epistles, Paul ends his letter by saying, “Brethren, pray for us.” If Paul, an apostle who penned Scripture needed God’s help, how much more do we. So brothers and sisters, please pray for us.

January Newsletter

Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. Psalm 66:16

Dear friends and family,

God has done great things in the past year, and we want to declare His greatness to all who will listen.

Church in Guatemala

1. He funded our travel. When we started the year, we saw that the money in our travel account was inadequate for the trips we planned to take. Here we are beginning a new year, and we now have more money in that account than we did last year at this time after taking five trips and visiting six countries. How great is His provision!
2. He brought people to a saving faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Throughout our travels we were witnesses to Christ's great work of redemption. In Guatemala alone, we saw more than twenty people make professions of faith.
3. He gave us new opportunities to serve Him. IPM held their first pastors' conference in the Amazon town of Mazan, Peru, and Charlie was one of the teachers. We both taught in Mindanao, Philippines, and they have asked us to come back and teach again. Joan partnered with Levi Schooley to lead a VBS seminar in Arequipa, Peru. It was the first time they had worked together and they both enjoyed it.

   

   Teaching a game in Peru

4. He gave us the opportunity to take a missions trip "vacation" to Europe where we were able to help out in ministries in Belarus and Luxembourg.

As we look back and see His faithfulness to us in the past year, we have no doubt that He will again be faithful in 2017.

1. We expect that we will take at least five trips again this year and maybe more, and we have no doubt that, so long as we only go where He sends us, He will fund those as well.
2. We expect that He will continue to save people in the various ministries we visit around the world, and we are looking forward to be able to witness His power at work in changing people's lives.
3. We expect that He will help us as we seek to improve our skills to do a better job. In just a few weeks we are headed to Bolivia where we will visit IPM's missionaries there and take an intensive Spanish course. In addition, Charlie has been working on his doctorate so that he will be better qualified to teach at a seminary level.
4. We expect that this will be a full year. In addition to trips to Bolivia, the Philippines, Uruguay and one or two African countries, Charlie also plans to go to Cuba. We also love to teach and preach whenever we are in the U.S.
5. We expect that none of this will be done well unless God works in us and through us, so we value your prayers and support.

Your partners with national missionaries around the world,

Charlie and Joan Farley

A Picture Summary of 2016

Take a trip with us and see where we were and what we were doing abroad during the past year.  We each took five trips and went to six countries.  Five of those trips we took together and we each took one trip alone. That does not even count the trips we took within the U.S. where we went to Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Minnesota, Florida, North Carolina, California, and probably some other states too.  It was a busy and blessed year, and we are looking forward to an even busier one this year.

We put together a Prezi presentation online of our trips abroad. Just click on the link, and it will take you there. Then you can cruise through the photos and, if we visited you, maybe even find a photo of yourself.  Just tap on the link and then in the new window use the arrow keys to go through the presentation.

God is Good

September Newsletter

GOD IS GOOD.  We know this is true regardless of our perceptions, but lately it has been obvious in our ministry.

One of the VBS classes

GOD IS GOOD in Arequipa, Peru. In July, Joan traveled to Arequipa to conduct a children’s ministry VBS training.  Levi Schooley, also in the children’s ministry department of IPM, co-taught the class with her.  Almost as soon as the class was over, Joan lost her voice.  God was good to give her the strength to teach and then give her the chance to observe during the second week when she had no voice.  It was a very busy week with both a leadership conference and VBS going on, but it was a delight to see several children make professions of faith.

GOD IS GOOD in Guatemala.  A week after Joan left, Charlie left for Guatemala.  Giovanni Avendaño asked him to teach on finances in the Bible institute.  He taught each week in the institute, preached in the services, visited in homes, and taught Sunday school.  Joan arrived after he had been there 10 days, and she taught the children’s teachers, participated in children’s club, and visited with people.  During the time they were there, they were privileged to see the Lord of the Harvest bring saving faith to more than twenty people.

Charlie preaching in Guatemala.

GOD IS GOOD to provide for our travels.  One of the blessings of frequent travels are frequent flyer miles.  When we were booking our tickets to Guatemala, the travel account was dry, but we had frequent flyer miles we could use.  So instead of using financial gifts this time, we were able to use miles to book round trip tickets for Charlie and the return trip for Joan.

GOD IS GOOD when we cross paths with people.  As she waited for her flight in Lima, Peru, Joan met a young woman who had missed her flight.  Natalia needed to charge her phone, so she asked if she could use Joan’s computer to charge it.  This gave Joan an opportunity to share God’s love with her.

GOD IS GOOD in allowing us to go to Europe.  Last year, Joan’s brother invited us to go with him to Belarus on a mission’s trip.  Even though this is our work, Charlie thought it sounded like a great “vacation” too.  So we are flying out on September 10 to participate in a leadership conference there and get to know some of our Belarussian brothers and sisters.

On our return home, we will be stopping in Luxembourg where we will spend time with missionary friends, Tim and Kathy Heijermans.  They have asked us to do a children’s ministry seminar for children and their parents.  We have known the Heijermans for many years, and it will be great to see firsthand the work that they have been doing.

GOD IS GOOD to give us the energy to do what He calls us to do.  Whether it is battling laryngitis in Peru, a stomach bug in Guatemala, or bronchitis in Minnesota, God has enabled us to keep going. We are blessed.

GOD IS GOOD in providing people who pray for us and support us.  Thank you.

Yes, it’s true.  GOD IS GOOD – all the time.

Thank you for your prayers,
Charlie and Joan Farley

Missions: Growing in Latin America

In the early years of working in other countries, sometimes North American missionaries made the mistake of not emphasizing the Great Commission in every church.  It is, after all, not easy for a pastor who is not supported financially by the church to encourage the church to reach out further than the immediate area.  Local church planting continued to happen as young men and women were trained for the ministry and sent out, but it was unusual to hear of missionaries being sent by their local churches to other countries.  When it did happen, they often went to the United States to raise their support.

That is now changing.

Every Sunday morning in Arequipa, Peru, the people of Alto Selva Alegre rise to their feet to say their mission statement together:

The Baptist church of ASA exists to worship God and to prepare workers who will carry the gospel from Arequipa to all nations and thereby glorify God.

A ladies' meeting focusing on serving God.

There is an excitement in the air.  This church realizes that they are responsible for their part of fulfilling the Great Commission.  Young men and women are considering the call to missions.  One young man has been raising his support to go to India.  The Peruvian churches who are supporting him are praying that his visa, which was denied once, will be granted so that he can go.

Not only is this church aware of their need for missions, but other churches in Arequipa are sending out workers as well.  A leadership conference, held in Arequipa while I was there, highlighted two missionaries every night - one with ministry within the country and one with ministry outside of it.  A missionary to Turkey asked for prayer in language learning.  He needs to learn Turkish in order to effectively reach out to neighbors and friends, but he and his children also need to learn English in order for them to go to school there.  Another missionary talked of the great things God is doing in Venezuela in the midst of the economic difficulties in that land.

In Bolivia, we met a missionary who is part of a group that is praying that God will raise up 100 Bolivians and send them around the globe.  We also spoke with a pastor whose desire is to see his church plant many other churches throughout Bolivia and go on to send out many missionaries.

In other countries, missionary fervor is growing as well.  In Uruguay, we talked with a man who is considering becoming a missionary to Israel.  In Guatemala, the church where we were has several missionaries they are already supporting and want to increase their missionary budget.   We spoke with one man who realizes that the U.S. is in spiritual trouble, and they are considering the possibility of sending missionaries here.

I love how we all have a part.  I go there, and they come here.  God is sending His people around the world.  Their paths cross each other along the way so that one thing may happen - more people from every tribe, language, and nation will one day gather at the throne of God and worship Him as one mighty throng.

Whispers

A teenage girl leans in to a close friend and whispers about the boy she likes.  A child reaches up and pulls down his dad's head to whisper his desire for ice cream.  Husbands and wives whisper their love for one another in the darkness of night.  During a concert, a proud mother whispers to her guest that her child has the next solo.  

Whispers are for two people.  We do not speak in whispers when we want others to hear.  We might speak quietly if we want only a small group to hear, but we do not whisper.

Yet this week I am learning about another kind of whisper.  Friday night I lost my voice.  After that, only whispers escaped my lips.  Any attempts to vocalize caused pain.  I have lost my voice before, and it has usually returned in a day or two.  This time is different.  Four days later I am still without a voice. I can only speak in whispers.

Whisper a prayer in the morning.  Whisper a prayer at noon.  Whisper a prayer in the evening to keep your heart in tune. 

So goes the song.

Yes, I have whispered my prayers all through the day.  Whispered prayers are as effective as those I have prayed with a loud voice, and maybe even more so, depending on the state of my heart.  My inability to communicate with others has given me more time for prayer.  Whispers work in my prayers to God, and I love the fact that He can hear my whispering heart even if everyone else is crying out to Him with a loud voice.  Whispers work in my prayers.

But there are so many times when whispers do not work well.  When I am out on the street, desperate to catch a child's attention because of an oncoming vehicle, a whisper will not do.  When I am in church and everyone around me is lifting their voices in praise to our Almighty God, my little whisper is not enough.  When I am out on the street inviting children to Vacation Bible School, parents eye me suspiciously when they hear me whisper to their children.  Yesterday, in a large group of people, I wanted to chime into the conversation, but a whisper is not heard over the buzz of friendly banter.  I cannot even give directions from the back seat of a vehicle.  Obviously, I cannot teach so long as I am voiceless.

I am sometimes called a quiet person, yet I am realizing how vocal I really am.  Everywhere I turn, I find that I miss using my voice.  I want to be able to call out a greeting to a neighbor on the street, thank a child effusively before she runs off again to play, and join in the conversation around the table.  But most of all, I miss being able to sing, to lift my voice in praise to the God I love.

For that, whispers will not do.

Miles Apart but United in Purpose

Outside my window a blue sky beckons.  It has not rained here in months, so a light haze covers the city.  The consistent weather patterns are part of reason that Levi Schooley, IPM’s children’s evangelist, and myself are here in Peru right now.  Vacation Bible School usually falls during their long break in January and February.  However, those are the rainy months here, and after years of having difficulties caused by the weather, they decided to have their VBS this year during a short break in the middle of the school year.

Last week Levi and I presented “Lost in the Desert,” a curriculum based on the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites.  Next week, the three churches who participated in the training plan to put on their VBS.  On Monday they will distribute flyers, and then on Tuesday through Sunday they will hold their VBS.  Pray that many children would come, that souls would be saved, and families would be reached.

This is cold season here.  Pastor Araujo and his family were all battling colds when we arrived.  Naturally, Levi and I both caught colds as well.  One day I felt quite sick but hid it from my hosts as I knew I needed to teach that night.  Then the other days were a little better.  Last night I could not sing because the cold had robbed my singing voice.  Today when I awoke, my voice was gone completely.  How good it is that we were able to finish our teaching.  Praise God with me for His sustaining power.

While I have been here, Charlie has been at home in Georgia helping with our church’s VBS.  It ended on Thursday evening, and on Friday he flew to Guatemala.  He has jumped into the ministry there, helping today with visitation and speaking at a men’s event tonight.  Tomorrow he will be teaching.  Pray that his ministry there in Guatemala will be effective.

Levi teaching through a translator

Tomorrow Levi will be preaching here.  Pastor Araujo has asked him to address the issue of children getting saved.  Evidently it is common here to think that a child below the age of ten cannot get saved.  Pray that Levi would be able to biblically encourage the church and the parents to lead their children to Jesus.

It will be ten days before I see Charlie again.  This is the first time since we joined IPM that I have left him at home while I traveled for ministry.  It has felt strange to not have him here, and I rejoice that we are together in ministry.  This is also the first time that we have been separated on our anniversary.  I am glad for modern technology that allows us to stay in contact with texts.  Praise the Lord with me for 18 years of being united in our purpose of serving the Lord together.

Tomorrow as Christians around the world lift their voices in praise to God for His amazing work on our behalf, I pray that you too will join the 24-hour chorus of saints who exalt him together.  Even though I am far from you and cannot hear you, God hears us all and is delighted by our praise.

Cultural Differences that Let You Know You've Been Abroad a While

We were gone too few days to experience what some would call 'reverse culture shock,' but we are finding ourselves amused by some of the differences we are noticing now that we are back.  It started as soon as we touched down in the airport in Miami and has continued all week.

So let me put it this way.  You know you have been abroad a while when you:

Protected trees in the middle
of a Bolivian street.

• get excited about how inexpensive something is and then realize that the price is in dollars. 
• find that seat belts actually work and you are expected to use them.
• lean in to kiss the cheek of someone who has offered you a hand shake. 
• look for fresh milk at the grocery store in one-liter plastic bags.
• see a blue-eyed person and wonder what country they are from and how long they have been here.
• cannot find the bill you need to pay for your items because they all have green on them.
• wonder why the driver stopped for a red light when there was no oncoming traffic.
• say "Muchas Gracias" to the clerk who has been speaking to you in English.
• think it strange that so few properties have fences and walls around them.
• automatically toss your toilet paper in the trash can instead of the toilet.
• wonder why people are watching baseball when there surely must be a good soccer game available to watch.
• miss the shade of the protected trees in the middle of the streets, sidewalks, and parking lots.
• are surprised by how few forty-year-old cars are on the road.
• wonder if the tap water is safe enough for you to use it to brush your teeth.
• think it is normal for a taxi ride across town to only cost a couple dollars.
• see a construction site and wonder why they would spend money on a porta-potty.

Since we were only gone a couple weeks, it is not taking us long to get back to the way of doing things here.  However, I am grateful for the tapestry of cultures that we get to enjoy, and we look forward to going again where there will be new things to learn when we go, and thing to unlearn when we return.

February Highlights

Looking back, these are some of our blessings from this month.

Twice a month our church goes out into the neighborhoods to visit those who need encouragement and to share the gospel.  In February, Charlie was the prayer partner as one of the men in our church led a young man to the Lord.

We attended a Valentine's Banquet in our church.  In addition to a fine dinner served by the teenagers and an excellent message on marriage, there were also some games.  Charlie and I won the word game and came home with a prize.

Charlie flew to Iquitos, Peru, and from there took a boat downriver to Mazan where he and a couple other men from IPM held a pastors conference.  While they were there, God answered these prayers:

The town of Mazan

• Safety for the men when their boat hit a log at full speed and had to pull over for repairs.
• Encouragement and growth for the pastors who attended.
• An ability for Charlie and the other speakers to complement each other in their teaching, thereby giving more in-depth understanding of the subject matter.
• God is growing His church in the Amazon.  One church Charlie attended was almost double in size from his previous visit last summer.

While Charlie was gone, I went through the small neighborhood where we live and invited the ladies over for a morning coffee.  Six women and one teenager came, and it was a good time of getting to know each other.  When they left, I handed each one a rose.  It is my hope that this is beginning of some lifelong and eternal friendships.

Our church held a missions conference while Charlie was gone.  By the end of the conference, they came within a few hundred dollars of meeting last year's goal, and they decided to raise their faith promise giving by 28%.  This is a huge blessing to the missionaries who attended who are raising support to go abroad.  They can now add our church to their list of supporters.

Charlie arrived safely home on Sunday afternoon, in time to celebrate together with our church on their victory of raising their faith promise goal.   

January Highlights

Looking back over the month, here are a few highlights:

1. At the beginning of the month. we went to Minneapolis.  When I walked into my brother's living room, four of his five children got up to give me a group hug.  One of them had just flown in from Kuwait and another was getting ready to return to England.  I was able to see the fifth the next day.  It is so seldom that those five people are in the same location at the same time that I knew I was blessed when I got to be there then.
2. I was able to catch up with a few friends in Minneapolis while Charlie attended classes at Central Seminary.

   

   Amazon River, Peru

3. A photographer friend agree to take pictures for our new prayer card.  
4. We are participating in the children's ministry of our church here in Georgia.  
5. Details for Charlie's trip to the Peruvian Amazon came together, and he is now booked and getting ready to go. He will be teaching in a pastors' conference.
6. I attended the funeral of my friend, Char, via live-streaming.  What a godly example she was to me throughout the years that I have known her.
7. I am working on the children's ministry class I will be teaching in the Philippines. 
8. I am almost ready to send the "Lost in the Desert" curriculum to the printers.
9. On this, the last day of January, we walked into a church to give some Spanish materials to them to take on a missions trip to Nicaragua.  When the teacher of the ladies' Sunday school class saw me, she asked to share the Word with a ladies' Sunday school class. I did not go expecting to teach, so I looked back at the things the Lord was teaching me this week in devotions and shared from Psalm 18.
10. Then tonight I got to hear my husband preach.  It was a good end to a good month.   

So Little Time - August newsletter

Dear Faithful Friends,


We returned to our home in Georgia after a 10-week trip. During that time, we travelled by car through the upper Midwest, Canada, Maine, and back home. We also flew from Boston to Peru and back again. We give thanks for God’s grace for His protection and enablement. Even though we felt constrained by our limited time in each place, we are thankful that God, who is not bound by time, can multiply our short time and our meager ministry to do great things to glorify His name.

Four years ago, we met Daniel and Sonia Araujo who are investing their lives in making disciples in Arequipa, Peru. It was good to walk into their church on that first Sunday morning and see some familiar faces and new ones as well. Many improvements have been made to the church building. In addition, their son Junior was only beginning to be fully involved in the work of the ministry four years ago. He is now an integral part of their team. In fact, he is largely responsible for a new church
plant in Majes, a desert town about two hours away.

We arrived in Arequipa on June 20. For the next two weeks, we taught every night. Charlie taught a course on Hermeneutics where more than thirty people attended, and nine completed the course The following week, Joan taught on Christian Education. Forty people attended her course, and ten also completed the course work.  On Sundays, Charlie preached in various locations.

On our second Monday, we traveled seven hours over the mountains to a remote village in the Ubinas district. More than a decade ago, God placed this area on Daniel’s heart and he began to make the long journey over the mountains to win people there to the Lord. The growth has been slow, but now several of these villages have a small church. On the day we were there, six small local assemblies gathered for a big celebration together that included a baptism, a feast of alpaca stew, and a combined evening service. Charlie also had the privilege of preaching that day, and our nephew, Jeremy, who joined us on the trip, was his interpreter through most of those days in Arequipa.

The Araujos feel the pressure of time. What pastor do we know here in the US who is pastoring one church, filling in as pastor for another, planting a third church and working as a missionary in a district of multiple towns where there is no church?  So many people to win and disciple. So little time.

From Lima, we flew to Iquitos, the largest city in the world that is unreachable by road. Pastor Giovanni Avendaño, IPM’s Latin America director, met us there. From there, we took a boat down the Amazon River to the town of Mazan. For the next three days, we met with four men who are interested in becoming missionaries with IPM. Charlie taught classes that would help the men in their respective ministries – Communication; Dealing with Anger; Church Discipline; Marriage and Divorce; etc. Joan gave an introduction to IPM’s Children’s Ministry. Brother Giovanni went over IPM’s Policy and Procedure manual. When we were done, the four men were very appreciative. One of them told us as we were getting ready to leave, “Thank you for coming. I was so discouraged that I was ready to give up on ministry and go back to secular work. Now I feel ready to go back. I know I have made many mistakes simply because I did not understand God’s way of doing things. Pray for me and my family as I make the changes we need.” With limited resources, these men are struggling to make a difference in their areas for Christ. Pray for them.  On the Amazon River as well, there are so many souls, and so little time.

Peru has many children and often we were enchanted by their smiles and friendliness (some of the Mazan children are pictured on left).  It was obvious that Peru is an area where children’s ministry is needed. One night when we were sitting in a restaurant in Mazan, we saw four teenagers carrying a
stretcher to the hospital. The form on the stretcher was small and covered by a sheet. The restaurant owner told us, “He died this morning. He is the second ten year-old boy to die this week. The other one drowned on Sunday afternoon.” So many children. So little time.

We came back with hearts burdened for Peru, and especially Mazan and all the needs there. Please pray for IPM as they determine the best way forward to help these men.

In October, we are planning to go to Uruguay for IPM’s regional conference. We want to connect personally with IPM’s missionaries from all over Latin America and inquire how we can best help them. Joan is hoping to have a sample copy of a VBS curriculum for them to look over. Pray that God would help her complete that in time and that we would be able to get it translated as well. Pray, too, that God would supply the $3,000 we need to make this trip.

Thank you for your prayers for us. We felt God’s enabling grace on this trip and we saw His hand redirecting our steps.  Without Him, it would have been a disaster. It would have been so much time, with so little accomplished. Instead, because of God’s work, we believe that much was accomplished that will last into eternity.

Co-laboring together with you,
Charlie and Joan Farley

Just a Spoiled North American

Coming back from a month abroad can have several effects on me.  Sometimes I return aware that I miss being abroad and I am disappointed by how fast the time went by.  Sometimes I feel so blessed by the amenities we have here.  This time, though, I came back so very conscious of how spoiled I really am.  There are so many things that I have come to expect after living a life of relative comfort here in the United States.  Being abroad this time was a reminder to me that the rest of the world often has relatively few of the things that I think are normal.


As a North American, I often do not even think about what great blessings these things are.    

• Safe drinking water flowing out of the tap.  We purchased bottled water the whole time we were gone.  Even though many of the places had safe water, we knew there were places where the safest thing for us was to buy bottled water.
• Water that flows into our home 24-hours a day instead of having just a half hour to fill your buckets so that you have water for the rest of the day. Although this was the case in only one location in Peru, it was a reminder to me that this is a reality for many people in the world.
• Hot water in the shower.  On a hot day, I do not mind a cold shower or even a cold bucket bath; but on colder days, I really appreciate the reliability of hot water flowing from the shower head.
• A washing machine that does a good job of getting my clothes clean rather than having to wash them by hand on the rocks.
• A dryer that quickly dries our clothes, even the towels and jeans, on rainy days and adds softness to them.  We do not have to wait days for things to dry on rainy days.
• A car rather than having to rely on public transportation.  I appreciate the lower prices of public transportation, however.
• Public transportation that runs on a schedule instead of "when the seats are full."  A trip that could happen in two hours might take all day since you never know when departure will happen.
• Refrigerators that allow you to purchase more than a one or two-day supply of fresh food at a time.  Daily trips to market allow for fresh food, but they certainly take time.
• Ice in our drinks.  We would have avoided asking for ice anyway, but it is nice to be able to put ice in my beverage if I want some.
• All-day electricity.  In the jungle town, we had electricity from 6:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m.  We charged our cell phones and computers during this time.  During the hottest part of the day, however, there was no availability for anything that might cool you, not even an electric fan.



Charlie enjoying a frozen Passion Fruit drink on our last day.

• Fresh vegetables that can be eaten raw without pre-soaking in anti-bacterial vegetable wash.  I came back craving salads.  Fresh fruit, on the other hand, was something we had in abundance.  Now I find I miss the variety of fresh fruit juices that were available there.
• Screens on our windows and doors.  I walked into our hotel room, and one of the first things I noticed was the screens.  How grateful I was for them as we saw that most of the homes did not have them.
• A variety in our breakfasts.  This may have been the first time in my life when I said that I had enough white rice for a while. Every morning we had the same thing - white rice, white beans, plantain, and eggs.  It was tasty and I was grateful for it, but it is nice to have some variety.
  
• Covers on my bed.  It was warm enough in the jungle that we did not need covers, but I missed having a top sheet.  Yet I was grateful for what we had.  I am not sure how well I would have fared in a hammock instead.
• Septic systems that allow you to flush your toilet paper and the availability of toilet paper in public rest rooms.

There are other things I could likely mention, but that is enough for now.  I am willing and ready to give up any of those things for a short time.  I could also learn to live without them, but I find it is not as easy as it used to be.  I really have become a spoiled North American.  Maybe it's time to shed some of these comforts and learn to appreciatethe advantages of living without them.

Children of the Amazon

We wandered through the streets of the town, marveling at the beauty of dark thatched roofs against clear blue skies.  Flowers abounded and palm trees swayed elegantly in the warm breeze.  It was, from what we could gather, a typical Sunday afternoon here.

Children scattered down the road in front of us, laughing as they chased each other between the houses and back on to the street.  As we walked further, we heard laughter coming from the river's edge.  There children splashed each other in the shallows.  One boy dived into the murky water and emerged a few seconds later within inches of his friend, startling him.  They both squealed in delight.

We walked on.  The front yard had been converted into a soccer field.  At first I thought it was sand, but on closer inspection I realized they had made good use of the sawdust from the nearby lumber mill.  

"Goal!" one small boy shouted.  He spun, his fist beating the air, and his friend slapped him on the back.  Another chased the wayward ball down the narrow street.  When he returned, they took their positions again and the game resumed.  We walked on, careful to not get hit by a stray ball.

There certainly was no lack in the number of children here, I thought.  They seemed to be everywhere:  children carried wood home in small bundles for cooking fires; others played happily at their mothers' feet while they tended the small stores in front of their houses.  I smiled at the joy and blessing they were bringing their families.

The next day we visited Pastor M.'s family. His eldest daughter was staying with them after the birth of her baby who slept peacefully in the tattered hammock in the kitchen.

"What is her name?" I asked.

"She doesn't have one yet," her mother told me.

"How old is she?"

"Ten days old."

Ten days old and not yet named.  How different things are here, I thought.  Is it because you do not want to name a child that might not survive?  I decided I would leave that question for another time, but here was another example of a beautiful child in this beautiful town.

On Tuesday I wandered into the market.  A round-faced girl with shining eyes, no more than four years old, ran up to me and grabbed my hand in her little one.

"Why are your legs so white?" she asked me.  Reaching down with her other hand, she stroked my leg from ankle to calf.

"God made them that way," I told her.  I smiled at her.

She happily chatted on, tugging at my hand the entire time.  Eventually she asked, "May I go to your house?"

"I don't live here," I told her.  "My house is very far away."

"Oh," she said. "I really wanted to go to your house."  Eventually, she let go of my hand and ran off to play again.

The next day when I headed out for a walk, a makeshift barricade prevented moto-taxis from using that road.  I carefully stepped around the barricade, wondering why it was there.  A few moments later, I got my answer.  Outside the school, dozens of children stood in groups with their teachers, lining up in neat lines.  Independence day was coming, and they were rehearsing for their part in the parade.

"Now let's march," called the teacher.  "Left, right, left, right."  The children followed their teacher, marching down the road.  Some looked my way as they passed, smiling for my camera.

Later that evening the seven of us sat in a restaurant, discussing the events of the day.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw four teenagers walking quickly down the street carrying something between them.  It was a stretcher with someone on it.  The figure under the sheet was quite small.

"What is that?" I asked.

"It looks like they are carrying someone to the hospital," one of the men said.

"But his face is covered," I said.  "Is he dead?"

By this time the restaurant owner had joined us. 

"A ten-year-old boy died this morning,"  he said.  "You should have heard the father wail."

"Who was it?" Pastor M. asked.

When the owner told him, a look of deep sadness spread across the pastor's face.

"I know the family," he said.  "The children occasionally come to special children's events.  I talked to that boy about his need of a savior, but I do not think he ever made a decision to follow Christ."

"That's the second child to die this week," the owner elaborated.  "The first one, also a ten-year-old boy, drowned on Monday."

My heart sank.  Two children dead in this short span of time while we were here.  Thousands of children in this town who need a Savior, yet so little gospel witness here.  Who will tell them?

"Lord," I prayed.  "Help Pastor M. to reach these children.  Raise up more workers who will reach these precious souls before it is too late."
 

A Day in Iquitos, Peru

We arrived last night at 6:00 p.m.  The sun had just set, but the air was clear.  We picked up our luggage and headed out to the parking lot to find the expected shuttle to the hotel.  Instantly we were swarmed by taxi drivers wanting our fare.  The shuttle was late, but we assured them we would wait for it.  Behind me, a person was so anxious to get to her car that she ran into me with her luggage cart, pushing my feet out from under me so that I landed on her suitcases.  Thankfully, I was not hurt.

We waited for about a half an hour for our ride.  The hotel van eventually drove in, but the driver was unaware that we were waiting, so he pulled into the departures section of the airport rather than the arrivals.  We took our luggage to him and we pulled out into traffic a few minutes later.

On all sides we were surrounded by motorcycles and motorcycle-cabs.   Palm trees lined the main road.  We passed a plaza, and I thought we might be getting close since our hotel is near the plaza.  However, it was only the first of four plazas that we passed on our way to the hotel.

We settled into the second floor of the hotel.  Our room overlooks the main road, so traffic noise is fairly constant.  We could not see much in the darkness, so we decided to head out and find some supper.  Our colleagues at IPM had suggested a restaurant, and it did not take long for us to find it.  Obviously a popular place, it was filled with customers.  Judging from their appearance, almost all were tourists.

Charlie ordered roasted garlic chicken with a side of plantain chips.  I ordered a burger with a side of french fries.  I love the freshly squeezed lemonade they have here, so I ordered that to go with my meal.

When we were finishing our meal, I noticed that one of my earrings was missing.  Oh well.  It had fallen off once before, so it was to be expected that I would eventually lose it. Then Charlie noticed a little girl trying to reach something under my chair.  It was the missing earring.

We thanked her in Spanish.  Then her parents spoke up.

"Where are you from?" they asked in English accented with German flair. 

"The U.S." we replied.

"We were trying to guess," they replied, "and we both guessed wrong.  He thought you might be German and I thought you might be French or maybe French Canadian."

On our way back to the hotel, we walked through the central plaza.  Children played.  Couples held hands and talked softly.  Tourists gawked and took pictures of the fountains.  I think I could get used to living here, I thought.

This morning we woke to cloudy skies, but I could see the water of the Amazon River from our room.  We have to get out there, I thought.  A few minutes later, the phone rang.  Aladino, was one of the men who will be in the classes next week was here to greet us.  Charlie went down to meet him.  They walked down the road a while, taking in the view of the bustling city - the boardwalk along the river, the fish market, and people hurrying off to do their business of the day.  Later they returned, and we told him we would meet around 11:00 andto take a walk through town.

At breakfast, there were four choices of juice - papaya, cocona, camu-camu, and chirimoya.  I knew what papaya was, so I tried a couple of the others.  A buffet of scrambled eggs, fresh bread, various meats such as sausage and bacon, and fresh fruit gave me plenty of food to choose.  I savored the excellent coffee.  We may be in a coffee producing country, but often instant coffee is served, so I really appreciated the brewed, flavorful coffee.

At 11:00, we headed out together.  We continued our walk down the boardwalk in the opposite direction from which Charlie had gone that morning.  I stopped to take a few pictures of the river.  Eventually we found the main market.  Teeming with people and produce, I was glad that we had a guide to maneuver through the stalls.  I saw fruits I had never seen before.  Aladino gave us the names of those we had not seen before.

Charlie also needed a hat to keep the sun off his bald head.  We found one that could work in a small department store, but the price was higher than he wanted to pay, so we kept looking.  A few blocks later, on a stand at the side of the intersection, a woman had a rack full of men's hats.  He asked her price.  Satisfied with her prices, he began to look.  A little while later, he had his hat.  He offered five soles less than she requested.  She accepted his offer, and he walked away with a new hat.

"May we take you to lunch?" we asked Aladino.  "Perhaps you know of a place nearby?"

We walked some more and eventually came to the place he had in mind.   We ordered a plate of fried chicken with rice and beans, and a side of fresh fruit.  The meal came with a drink.  One of the drinks was "Cebada" which we had not had before, so we ordered that.  We were unsure what it was when we tasted it.  Later we found out that it was a drink made from roasted barley with added lemon and sugar.  Tasty!

When we finally returned to the hotel, we said goodbye to Aladino.  "We'll see you tomorrow," we told him.  I headed upstairs for a nap.  After the busy weeks we have had, I needed some rest.  Today was a day for rest.  Tomorrow the work starts.

The 26-Hour Day

The sleep of a labouring man is sweet.  Ecclesiastes 5:12

At 2:45 a.m. I heard it - an alarm going off in another room.  We lay in bed, waiting for it to stop, but its owner did not respond.  After about ten minutes, it finally stopped.  Now we were fully awake, on about three hours of sleep.  Five minutes later our alarm sounded.    

At 3:45 a.m., we climbed into the back row of the 12-passenger van. The pastor’s family climbed in after us.   Four-year-old Abigail slept through the transfer from her bed to the van.  Junior, the pastor’s only son, drove to the first stop where we picked up a mother and her seven-year-old son.  They joined us in the back row.  After several more stops, the van was stuffed with twelve adults, two children, and miscellaneous bags at people’s feet.  Another car, also filled with passengers, started to follow us.  At the gas station, Junior filled the van’s tank as well as a five-gallon jerry can.  One of the men climbed to the roof to tie the jerry can up there with some other luggage.  Now it was 4:45 a.m., and we were finally on our way out of the city.

The van sped up when it arrived at the highway.  I settled into my seat, leaning against Charlie, hoping for some more sleep.  After about five minutes on the open highway, we turned off and started the ascent up the mountain on a gravel road.   Twists, turns, and bumps in the road kept sleep away, but eventually I dozed a little.  

A couple hours later, at the entrance to a tunnel through part of the mountain, we stopped to wait for the other vehicle that had fallen behind.

“Can we get out?” I asked.  Charlie’s knees were bumping up against the seat in front of us, and my legs were longing for a stretch.  They let us all out, and the men made a beeline for the bushes.  “If you need it,” I was told, “the tunnel up ahead will provide privacy.”  

Around us, the sun continued to rise, casting shadows on the mountains, slowly reaching into the valleys.  Misti, the volcano that guards Arequipa, was showing off his beauty, and the passengers’ cell phone cameras were capturing the scene.  

Before too long, the other car caught up with us, and we reloaded into the vehicle.  

“Is it possible for Charlie to sit somewhere else?” I asked.  His legs were really too long for the back row.  This time they let Charlie and me sit up in the row behind the driver.  The change in seating turned out to be a greater blessing than I realized at the time.

A couple hours later, Charlie asked them to stop.  The twists and turns of the mountain roads had finally caught up with him, and he was sick to his stomach.  Junior quickly stopped and yanked open Charlie’s door.  He got out just in time.  Sonia, the pastor’s wife, prepared some tea with hot water from a thermos and gave it to him.  It helped settle his stomach, and we were once again on our way.  On and on we traveled, bumping and turning.  Eventually I dozed again. 

By 8:30 my stomach was growling, and I wondered if there would be a stop for breakfast.  But we kept going.  On and on we rode, winding our way up to the 16,000-foot mountain pass, high above the tree line.  

“Look!” someone shouted pointing to one of the volcanoes in the distance.  Volcano Ubinas had just burped.  A cloud formed above and grew larger and larger as steam and ash rose into the sky.

Bumping over the gravel and feeling my stomach lurch, we continued in a descent over the other side of this mountain pass.  Trees, birds, and insects reappeared.  Mile after mile of terraced farming hugged the sides of the mountains.  Our van hugged the mountain, avoiding getting to close to the side where it dropped off into deep canyons.

I kept thinking we must soon be arriving at our final destination.  After almost six hours of travel, we rounded a bend.  A crowd of people stood on the side of the road with large bags of goods.  They were members of the church in that town.  Junior stopped to greet them and began to talk to them about how to get them to our ultimate destination.

“Junior,” Sonia called out to her son.  “Why don’t some of us get out and they can ride?  They have been waiting a long time for you.  Some of us can wait here for you to get back.”

I welcomed the idea of putting my feet on the ground to allow my stomach to settle.  We got out.  They got in.  After they left, the eight of us started walking down the road at a leisurely pace along the river gorge.  I stopped frequently to take pictures of the blue skies, desert hills, and the green valley below us where the grey river sparkled in the sunlight.  After about an hour of walking, we saw the van approach.  Junior turned around and picked us up, and we drove on for another half hour to the village of Cadagua.    

“Breakfast is waiting,” we were told when we arrived.  It was now 1:00 p.m.  

We followed our hosts to the back of the house.  A corrugated metal roof and a small tarp provided shade.  There people sat on benches, boxes, and a few chairs.  Steaming plates of noodles and a red sauce with mystery meat came out of the kitchen.  Since we were surrounded by guinea pig cages, it was no surprise when we later discovered that most of the meat in the sauce was guinea pig.  I should have known when I discovered the small head in the sauce.  I did not eat much.  My stomach was still turning after all the hairpin turns, so one of the young men in our group finished my plate for me.

Evidently, both Charlie and I looked a little green.  One of the women from the Arequipa church came over.  

“Would you like a cup of tea and some soda crackers?” she asked kindly.  

That sounded like just the right thing for our upset stomachs.  We leaned back into the wooden bench and waited while she found cups and prepared us some tea.  As we sat quietly drinking our tea, the women   One man stood next to a table and sawed his way through the bones of an animal, adding the chunks of meat to the pots as well. Children played, swinging from the rafters of the corrugated awning and teasing the guinea pigs.

swirled around us, cutting up vegetables, and adding them to the large pots on the fire.

“It’s time to start the program,” Junior called to everyone.

We joined him in front of the house.  There to one side of this town’s Main Street sat a truck-tire  tub overflowing with water.  Junior began the service, leading the group in singing with his guitar.  “He decidido seguir a Cristo.”  (I have decided to follow Jesus.)  Our voices filled the mountain air.  A few people emerged from neighboring houses to join us to see what was going on.

After singing several songs, Pastor Daniel Araujo stepped forward.  Carefully, he explained what baptism was and why this teenage girl had decided to be baptized.  

 

 “Please share with this group why you have decided to obey the Lord in baptism today,” he instructed her.  Joy flowed from her while she reverently shared her faith in Jesus Christ.  Then she stepped into the frigid water, sat down in the tub, and was baptized in its confined space.  When she arose shivering, we sang again.

When the baptism service ended, Junior once again shouted out instructions. “If everyone would head to the community center, we will be showing a Christian movie,” he announced.   

He drove the van over to the community center and began to set up the computer projection system for the movie.  Men hung a white sheet on one wall of the community building.  People rearranged chairs to face the “screen”.  Soon we were all watching “Facing the Giants” in Spanish.  I went to see if I could find a place to sleep in the van, but someone else had already thought of that idea, and I was afraid to wake them by opening a door.  So Charlie and I sat against the back wall, and I dozed for a while, my head on his lap.

By the time the movie was over, the huge pots of stew we had seen over at the house had been carried to the community center kitchen.  We dragged our chairs from one side of the center to where tables had been set up on the other side.  

Apparently we were the honored guests because our table was served first.  Charlie and I insisted on sharing a bowl since we knew we were both still too queasy to each much.  Several varieties of potatoes, huge pieces of squash, sweet carrots, and alpaca meat were served us.  Delicious.

The conversation in the room lulled as people began to enjoy their food.  An alpaca feast is a rare and welcome event, and the whole community had been invited.  When the last plate of food had been served, those of us who had received food first were done.  Women went into the kitchen to wash up metal plates.  Men washed down wooden table tops, folded their metal bases and stored them in the corner.  They quickly stacked the blue and white plastic chairs in another corner.  When the work was done, the last event of the day was announced – a church service.  Everyone moved back to the other side of the room to enjoy that event together.  

Singing and testimonies were shared as the various churches represented took turns to give testimony to God’s blessings in their lives. This gathering of believers represented people from five of the surrounding villages as well as those of us who had come from Arequipa.  In addition, many of the people from town had come for the feast and to see what else was happening.  Charlie was invited to preach, and our nephew, Jeremy, translated for him.

When it was all over, it was 9:00 at night, and I was anxious to go home, but there were still people who needed to go home before we could leave.  Junior loaded the people from the nearby villages in the van and left.  Charlie stretched out on the floor to get some sleep before the long arduous journey home.

“I can’t drive,” Junior said, when he returned almost two hours later.  “I’m dead on my feet.”  Roberts, one of the men from the church, took over and we left.  

Away from the city and few lights, the full moon shone almost as day.  Stars seemed close enough to reach out and touch.  This time the bumps, twists, and turns did not keep me awake, but they did for Charlie.  He was sick to his stomach the whole way home, and trying to sleep only made it worse.  

When we finally got home, it was 5:00 a.m.  I crawled into bed, grateful  to be able to stretch out and glad that the ground under me was solid.  I cannot remember the last time that I have been so glad to get to bed.  If I felt that way, I am sure that Charlie felt the relief even more than I.  How grateful I am that God gives us the gift of sleep.