and down from Puno we came

Above is a picture of Puno, it could be Ireland it it wasn´t for the thousands of houses still waiting on the second floor to be built! It was heard to know what to say for this post, Puno has been a wonderful experience, its a special place and the only place i´ve been to that i gueninely dont know if i could live there! the journey up took about 6 hours while we waited to see who would be the first to puke. Thankfully all arrived without needing the plastic bags and while a few felt the effects of the attitude the first night everyone acclimitised well. what i couldn´t get used to was the fact that everytime i went up the stairs in the church i had to take a rest afterwards, panting like i´d run a marathon, or that singing songs in church left me with a sore head, or that the lack of oxygen made the funky chicken seem like a crazy thing to do! there were benefits to being in the altitude though, sitting on the roof of the church at night, the stars were soo clear and filled the sky! Puno has its own crazy weather system and i could sit at night watching thunder storms and lightning flashing over Lake Titicaca and when it rained in Puno it sounded like the roof was going to fall in with the noise of the biggest halestones i´ve ever seen.

but what about the work....

well our first week was spent with the Alliance church in Puno and we were involved in a lot of street evangelism and open airs.

- Praise God for many opportunities to share the gospel and for those that listened and asked questions and for those in Jayllhuaya who gave their lives to Jesus Christ.

(Evangelism in Puno and in Jayllhuaya (pronounced Hulliaka)

(taking time out after a hard days work for some cake!)

Pastor Juan and his wife Estelle have recently moved to Pastor the church in Puno and would appreciate your prayers as their settle into the work and life in Puno, especially for Estelle, who is from the North of Peru, which has a very different climate, and is having health difficulties as she adjusts to life in Puno.

(the team after the youth night, jam session)

We took a morning to head out the the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, there are hundreds of families living on the various islands across Lake Titicaca between Peru and Bolivia, living in straw houses (you can see them in the photos below). It was great because I wasn´t the only ´tourist´ and for many of the team they were amazed as me and enjoyed the shopping as much as me. Many of the islanders are fishermen and as we were enjoying some local speciality of fish i heard the song, ´There´s Power in the blood´in Spanish of course, i headed off to investigate to discover a packed Adventist church on the Islands. There are in fact two churches on the Islands, one Mormon and one Adventist who also have a school. I dont know if there is any current evangelical witness to the Islands, I cant quite imagine a Baptist church floating on Lake Titicaca but its certainly something to pray for,

- Pray for the many families on the Islands who dont know Christ as their saviour, and for a christian witness in this very unique place

(taking a boat trip between the floating islands, ´Los Uros´)

(Trevor enteraining some of the kids from the Islands)

(From left: Kaiti, Luz, david, Kaiti, Marisol, Vanessa, Jorge and behind Danielle on one of the Island were about 30 people live, 5 families in total)

We then headed to Cristo Salvador Baptist Church were Paster Ramon and his wife Elvira minister. As a testament to God´s timing, i had just agreed to help with a BYE team in Grove Baptist over the summer and arriving at the church read that there is a pre-school held in the church called ´Pequeno Grove´which is supported by Grove Baptist. It was great to see this ministry in action and meet the teachers in the school as they were enrolling children for the year.

- Pray for the school that there would have many enrolled for the academic year and for the teachers as they share the gospel with the children

While in Cristo Salvador we presented the Amazing Journey (the whole story of the Bible presented through story boards and with actors, a resource which also exists in Ireland!) to the children and young people associated with the church. We also got to help hermana Elvira as she feed about thirty kids lunch, who knew i missed peeling spuds. Its a great ministry and she gets to make sure that the kids have a good meal everyday and has the opportunity to encourage and guide the kids as they grow up enjoying her lunches.

- Pray for the kids that come everyday for lunch that they will know Christ and that they will be part of the church family

(some snaps from the Amazing Journey - Viaje Increible)

The weekend was hectic! Saturday started with a fast! Not sure how i managed to agree to a fast, i´m going to have to blame my dodgy spanish because i dont remember agreeing to a fast but praise God for the experience anyway. We headed off in a combi to the campo outside Jayllhuaya to meet and pray with 5 Baptist churches in this area. We sang and Danielle preached, while being translated into Quechua. We spent time praying for the churches, for the sick, and for new leaders for the respective churches. It was a great priviliege to share this day of prayer and to lift up the Pastors and the churches to God. May He grant more churches in this area and more people ready to serve him in Puno and in the surrounding countryside. Life in the country isn´t easy, there isn´t piped water which means no indoor toilets, its cold, people live in mud houses and can live long distances from schools, church and the larger towns. Travel is dangerous at times and some of the roads we were on weren´t much more than mud tracks, as we bounced along in the combi. I´m not sure how the early Baptist missionaries to Peru managed considered in those days there wasn´t even electricity.

- Pray for the 5 churches that we shared with, for Pastor Cesar, Pastor Feliz

- Pray for their assocation with Baptist Missions and the Missionaries that it would be a mutually encouraging relationship and for future partnership

- Pray that the believers we meet would come down to the Church conference in April at the Camp Centre and that this would be a time of encouragement for the believers

(Church in Hosanna - where we met to fast and pray) (with some of the believers before the meeting)

(sharing with the young people over soup lunch)

The fast ended with a soup lunch at 4 pm and then off to a youth meeting in Jayllhuaya with Pastor Cesar in his church in Jayllhuaya. They have a large youth group and it was great to share with them, play some games, sing and be encouraged at the young people God is raising up in the church.

- Pray that the youth group there would continue strong and serve in their area and the other churches

Sunday we headed off the countryside once more saying goodbye to Puno and after a 5:30am start we arrived in time for church at 9:30am, spending time with Pastor Oswaldo who ministers to many churches across puno and the countryside. The church was packed with believers from different churches across this side of Puno and we had a great time being part of a service in Aymara and I shared my testimony; at the end the Pastor asked if everyone understood and one guy said ´yea some of it´! The countryside in Puno is like a different world and the services were filled with a lot of joy and a feeling that the people here really looked after each and sared for eachothers needs. Sharing lunch after the services, enjoying the most amazing fish, you could see the community that surrounds the church.

- Pray that God would protect His church in Puno and the surrounding countryside and give strength to those who minister there

- Praise God for fellowship in the churches and the hospitality

- Praise god for Pastor Oswaldo and his ministry across the churches, pray that God would protect his journeys and continue to give him widsdom as he ministers amongst the churches

(enjoying the Lord´s day and the hospitality of the believers and the food!)

We head to Tacna in the morning to Manantial de Vida to help with their anniversary service

and to work with the kids and young people there. We will be there until Sunday and are then returning to the campsite to do some work in Ite, what we´ll be up to i´m not quite sure yet but will keep you posted!

Prayer points for Tacna

1) For Manantial de Vida that God would bless them with another year of growth in the church

2) For the two kids clubs we have responsibility for

3) For Pastor Abraham and his family as they minister in the church

For the Team

1) Unity for the team and mutual encouragement and support

2) For Guido, the team boss, he has fractured his foot and is hobbling around on crutches for two more weeks, for patience and strong arm muscles

3) That we would honour God in all our preparations, work, actions, words and free time

4) For me, that i would enjoy my last weeks in Peru, that i would finish well and that my leaving wouldn´t spoil the team dynamic