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We landed in Houston around 6am yesterday, and drove into Winnie around 8:30.  It was a fantastic father’s day.  Not looking forward to a return to the standard routine.  I’ve got to work hard to make sure I can go again.
I can honestly say that I’ve never been so happy to see Christle and the girls as I was yesterday morning.

Huanuco

We arrived in Huanuco around 5pm today. No one in our party has spent the night here. Our drive from Tingo Maria went well, except for the one person who got motion sickness, and the taxi that Pastor Kevin was in broke down 15 minutes outside of Tingo Maria… He caught another one quite quickly.
We ate at a restaurant one block from our hotel, and then had a reflective conversation for a few hours. It was really good.
I just got off of Skype with Christle and am headed to bed… Goodnight!

Progress in Tingo Maria, Peru

We´ve been making progress over the past few days.  Monday, all we did was put 100 corner posts together for 25 bunk beds.  It is a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I´ll post a picture of what they look like if I can remember.
Monday night we went to minister on the street.  Apparently, the pastor of the church we are visiting got a permit to do a service on the street.  We brought sound equipment with us and within a few minutes of setting up,there were nearly 200 people surrounding us around 9:45pm.  At the end of the service, around 30 people came to the altar call, and we know that 6 gave their lives to Christ for the first time!
Yesterday, we worked hard at the orphanage until around 2:45, and we went to a village just outside of town known as Shipibo.  They live on the river, a 5 minute walk from outsiders, and speak a completely different dialect from the rest of the Peruvians.  It looked like the village had about 40 people living there.  We returned to the orphanage last night and worked until we finished building the beds somewhere around 9:45.
Today our goal is to finish grinding off exposed screw tips, sanding where we need to sand, and stain the beds.
We are returning to Huanaco one day early because the forcast right now includes rain every day, and that rain could delay us if we try to make it last minute.  If we waited until then, we could miss our flight out of Huanaco if there were any complications.  We will still be leaving Huanaco on Friday and leaving Lima late Saturday night.

Work

Today we begin working on the beds at the orphanage. We want to increase the number of children they can take in so that there’s less children sleeping on the street at night. They are very poor here.
17 of us came to Peru from Winnie. So far, no one has gotten sick and everyone is staying safe. We start our journey home on Friday and actually land in Houston on Sunday, June 20th around 6:30am… At least, that’s the plan.

First Night in Tingo Maria, Peru

The night we stayed in Lima was very short, but I did not sleep very well at all.  We arrived in Tingo Maria yesterday around 4:15pm, ate dinner around 7:30pm, and just enjoyed not being in a vehicle.
I slept great last night, as did everyone else that I know of.  They were raving about the coffee last night and this morning at breakfast, so I decided to have a cup… and then I had a second cup.  Cane sugar is so much better than the stuff we´re used to.
We´re attending a church service in about a quarter of an hour and then we´re doing two services with a translator this evening.  I´m really looking forward to it.
Keep us in your prayers, and ask God to lead us in every step we take.

Getting Ready to Leave

I’ve got most of my packing done and I’ve made most of the preparations.  I’ve got my passport ready and bought travel insurance.  I’ll do my best to keep you updated of the progress.
Thank you for all the support, financial and spiritual.  Please continue to pray for our team and that we allow God to lead and work through us.
We’re leaving Winnie on Friday at noon, and plan to arrive in Lima, Peru around 11:30PM.  As far away as we’re going, we’re going to be in the same time zone!

Every Day

Every Day I have to start the cycle over again.  Giving my life over to God is currently a struggle.  My body fights to maintain control, but I have to submit to Him.  I fail often, but not as often as I did before.  I have a headache.
I’ve raised most of the money needed for the Peru mission trip in June!  Or shall I say, God has provided almost all the money needed for the mission trip.  Thanks, Mom, for all your help, too.

Soda

I’m not planning to just quit soda.  I’m going to ween myself.  I usually bring 4 in my cooler to work every day.  Tomorrow, I’m going to replace 2 of them with water bottles.
Next week, I’m going to replace another.  The following week, I’m just going to bring water.  The week after that I’m going to go without soda.  I know it will be difficult because I’ve been without soda for a few hours… it’s an addiction.  I have to have a plan, though, and this is the best I can come up with.
God Bless!

Time

I have spent countless hours wasting time on an online game.  I’m not gonna say what game, because then I might actually be guilty of hooking someone else into it’s claws.  It’s a fun game where you work with others around the world, building cities, making friends and enemies alike.  It’s free to play and interesting to see how a game like that changes with online interaction.
I started out on it innocent enough… looked interesting, met a few people.  The game requires time to build and interact to make it great.  If I were single, I could have maintained it and not let it control my time.  However, it was taking way too much of my time.  I gave it up today.  Well, I’m gonna log on to send a message to my former co-players, but after that, I wont log back on.
Time is one of our most precious commodities.  It is limited, as gold is limited.  The longer it takes to realize that, the less time there is to correct it.  So long, unnamed game.

Well… It’s Been a While

It’s been so long since I posted anything, I doubt anyone is checking my blog any longer… not that too many people were checking it in the first place, other than family and spammers (and those are probably just bots).
I’ve recently decided to improve my life.  I’m kicking out old habits, or rather, old Masters.  I’ve enslaved myself to many Masters over the course of my life.  They’re not all terrible… Dr. Pepper wouldn’t be a terrible Master, unless Dr. Pepper is abused.  I probably drink 10 times as much Dr. Pepper as I do water.  That’s a Master that I’m kicking.
The problem is coming up with something to fill the voids… and water isn’t going to do it all by itself.
Everyone has at least one Master, whether it be crack, cannabis, football, cigarettes, alcohol, basketball, porn, TV, golf, career, school, Coca-Cola, Apple computers, food, vegetarianism, global warming, politics, Dr. Pepper, etc…
I have decided to follow Jesus.  My goal in life is to have one Master… GOD.  The one true God.  The One who cared so much for me that He sent His only son to live a perfect life on this world, die on a cross for my sins for no other reason than because He was sent here to do that, and then rise from the grave.
I do not intend for this to stir up controversy.  I am not putting this on my blog to say that I am righteous.  I am telling you this so that I can have others out there to hold me to account.  I need help to rid myself of other Masters.  Yes, I have a job, but I can still serve only God and keep my job.  Yes, I have a family, but they are a gift from God.  How great it is that he has given me this gift that I can serve Him by loving and taking care of them!
I have not been doing the job God has given me to spread the Good News.  I’ve been on a mission trip in the past, although I can’t say I really did it for the right reasons.  My church has scheduled a mission trip in June to Peru.  At first, I wrote it off as something I couldn’t do.  I’ve got too much going on…  I can’t raise that kind of money…  The worst part of it is that I was being selfish, and I was writing God off.  First, I should make the time to do something God wants me to do.  Second, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He can raise the money if He wants me to do this.  He has led me to do what I know and try to raise the money.  He can do it without my help, so I’ll offer all the help I can give to let His glory shine.
I’ve applied for my passport.  I’ve sent out letters requesting donations.  I have a loving family that is also helping to organize a fundraiser.  God is the only one, though, who will make it happen if He so chooses.  I want to serve Him.  I want the kind of faith that will give Him glory.
I ask for your prayers.  I ask you to hold me to account.  Most importantly, I ask you to seek your heart, and turn to God if you haven’t already.  Make Him the only Master of your life, because that will help me to keep Him the only Master of my life.