Ayuma

Shortly after Christmas, my two bosses and I went on an investigation trip to a Quechua village called Ayuma. We had an amazing experience there. As always, we never know what to expect. Everything we do goes against what my culture tells me is acceptable. It never gets easier going into a random community without knowing anyone, without any notice, or any money. We go out relying on the Lord to go before us, preparing the way, leading us to the right house and hoping that someone will be willing to feed us and put us up in exchange for what little help we can provide and Bible stories.

Don't get me wrong, we might not be able to provide much help to them but what we bring them is something worth far more than anything else this world can offer. We go out with much confidence in the power of our message but a little nervous about how to work past culture and language barriers to convey that message. In the end the Lord's Word is always shared and, whether we feel confident about our work there or not, we leave with a peace knowing God is always working through your prayers on many different levels.

While in Ayuma we were very well-received. There were some men there and children who knew some Spanish and tried to translate at times when our Quechua was, well... awful. I have never met such amazing people in my life! I have to admit that before I went to Ayuma I was very burdened at realizing that my heart had changed and that the deep passion and brokenness I had once had for the lost here had slowly dissipated. I pleaded with the Lord to give me that brokenness and a love for these people but the Lord chose to withhold those feelings from me, teaching me to be obedient to Him with or without the feelings.

One of our biggest struggles with being in the communities sometimes is when the people will not let us work. They put us on pedestals because we are white missionaries and feel we want to sit around and just preach or if we work we will get hurt. However, in Ayuma we begged the believers to let us try to help and eventually we were right there with them. I'm not going to lie, it was some of the hardest physical labor I have ever done and I began to wish I wasn't out there. However, we soon realized that everyone in the village was beginning to take notice and see that we were serious about helping. We saw this as our great opportunity and worked all day long as hard as we could.


Our work consisted of pastoring sheep with the women, which was an all-day event, climbing up and down mountains, chasing after sheep that would eat themselves right off a cliff , and my personal favorite - using a warhaca, or slingshot, to through rocks at a group of sheep going the wrong way. We unfortunately only packed sunscreen with SPF 15 so, needless to say, we got blasted by the sun. The next day we helped a widow in her field all day with long sleeves and socks trying as best we could to protect our skin from another burn. That was the worst day for me because not only was I being outdone by a 60-year-old lady with a pick-ax, but my skin was sizzling from the last burn, and feeling the pain of yet another coming on was killing me.


The food there was great, but that's not the problem - it's the amount! I have never eaten so much in my life. More than any of the other communities we were given tremendous amounts of food! In this culture, it is extremely rude and offensive to turn down an offer to a meal. During the meal, you must eat with a smile. We got invited to several different houses to eat huge meals back-to-back. We tried to explain we had just eaten but they don't take "no" for an answer. For one of the meals, we were given so much food we had to leave to throw up.

Overall our trip was amazing and God gave me a love for these people that I can't explain. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be used by God to bring these people truth, joy, and peace in life through Jesus. I ask you to please pray as we struggle to do this through our broken Quechua. They asked me to tell you thank you for praying for them and please continue to pray for their village and the lost villages around them. We will be returning to Ayuma in March and we are all very excited!

Where the Team Stands

For those of you who have not yet heard, the community we were supposed to go to, Qochumi, kicked our boys out after two years of working with them. We were all devastated and confused as to what happened after two years of building relationships and working hard alongside them. It all happened so fast - they asked our guys to leave and said they didn't want to hear anymore. We all know who is behind this, but we are not surprised, just broken-hearted for the people of Qochumi. We did our best to understand and try to work out any issues, but it was clear we were not welcome there anymore.

Please continue to pray for them and the other villages that have not yet heard. The enemy is hard at work using many of their superstitions and fears to keep them from allowing us to come in. After language school, Misty and I were to work in Qochumi discipling the few believers there, but due to this abrupt change we were left searching for other communities to work in. Thankfully, word got out that there were missionaries looking for places to share bible stories, and we received an overwhelming response. There have been many villages that have few or many believers that are begging to be discipled.

We are truly blessed and are so humbled to be used by the Lord in this way. We by no means feel qualified for this but we are continually reminded that it is His work and not ours. We can barely carry a simple conversation; cooking with the women results in a lot of laughs, strange looks, and burnt food; the kids soon become our best friends and teachers helping us understand the culture and how to fit in. If there is one thing I have learned so far, it is that God does not need me - He just wants my heart in obedience.

Please pray for Misty and I as we leave this Saturday to go to our next community, Falsuri. We have heard that there are a handful of believers here that have been asking to have someone come and share more Bible stories with them. We are very excited and nervous. Trips are always amazing times of growth and precious times with Jesus but, like always, there are many trials and rough times ahead. Please pray for wisdom, clarity to speak and understand the people, God's moving in the hearts of the believers and unbelievers of this community, and protection from the attacks from the enemy. We will be gone for a month and really depend on your faithful prayers. Thank you so much, I love you!

A Big Thanks!

Once arriving back to Sucre on Dec. 23 we were able to rest and spend Christmas with our friends Trent and Kay who are the bosses of the guys Xtreme team. We had such a great Christmas with them. We watched Christmas classics like: A Christmas Story, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, Its a wonderful Life, and Home Alone. We all cooked our favorite side dishes and had turkey. It wasn't grandmas cookin but it sure was delicious! We tried to get in the Christmas spirit as best we could in the summer temperatures but the Lord blessed us with a cloudy cool day on Christmas.



I was greatly surprised to find a big box full of Christmas gifts waiting for me. I just want to thank everyone for their sweet cards and gifts they sent me. I was not expecting anything and came home to lots of my favorite treats, lotions, candles, and the biggest of all a brand new computer! A big thanks goes out to the Awana kids for raising all that money for me to get my computer. I love it and use it all the time to talk to my family. I heard about all you did to raise money for me, but you know you didn't do it just for me but for Jesus, so He says thank you to and He is very proud of you! It was the best gift I could have ever gotten! I love you guys and can't wait to talk to you!

To my core team I can't begin to express what you mean to me! Your faithful prayers and continual support gives me such peace and strength to continue through the rough times in the communities. I by no means feel alone with all of you lifting me up back home. Thank you to everyone else who is praying for my team and the lost here. Your prayers do not fall on deaf ears. God is blessing our team in many ways and opening up many opportunities to share His love and we couldn't do it without you! THANK YOU!!!

Language School

As of the beginning of October my team and I have been in language school studying Quechua. Our time there was amazing! We were able to form great relationships with our teachers and other students who were from different parts of the world. It was so cool to meet so many different people and learn about their culture, traditions, and beliefs. The Lord opened up so many opportunities for us to share our testimonies and beliefs with many people we met while

being there. However the most lasting relationships were made with our teachers who we met with everyday. It became very clear the Lord was really working in their hearts as time went on. Several times one of us would come home and share how the Lord opened a great opportunity to share our faith, stories, testimonies, etc. They were very curious and showed much interest in what we did and made comments about the difference they saw in us as compared to the other students. Of course we told them the reason we are different is because Jesus has changed our lives.

Kelli asked one of our friends what she believed in and she told us her family was Catholic but she really didn’t know what to believe in. She told us she was open to anything and was interested in hearing what we believe. We were very excited to have found someone so honest, willing, and ready to listen. Over a course of 2 months she hung out with us and we all became very close. We continue to pray for her and praise the Lord for the many times we were able to share His love and truth with her. Please pray for the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all of our teachers and friends in Cochabamba.

Well, I bet you are wondering about the language now, right? This was a different story. Quechua is a very difficult language and proved to be a big struggle for all of us. It was very easy to get discouraged with this being the second language we learned in 8 months. We found ourselves struggling to remember how to talk in English. The other day I made out a grocery list and intending to write ham I wrote jam (the j is silent like h) this is how it is spelled here. So Misty bought jelly thinking I meant jam making it a total of three jars of jelly. We felt we were all going crazy. You know it gets bad when your partner speaks different languages in her sleep.

The main difficulty is not the pronunciation of the many plosives but the length. Quechua is a very literal language and the average word in Quechua is about 12 letters long. A one page bible story in English or Spanish can be anywhere from 2 to 3½ pages in Quechua. This wouldn’t be that big of a problem if we weren’t working with some of the hardest working people in our time. It isa struggle for them to find time to stop working long enough to listen to a story and when they do they are usually so tired they either struggle to stay awake or pay attention. I don’t mean to sound like a downer but these are some of the harsh realities we are facing. So, this being said, we appreciate all of your prayers and ask you to continue praying for us in this area specifically. I will do my best to keep you updated with the language-learning process.