Tuesday

Hi all..
Today was a very full day of work for the team. We split up into 3 different parts.
The ladies had another cooking class, this time making apple crisp on the stovetop. It was full of some of the same ladies that came yesterday. Nancy and Lina shared their testimony and it really moved the ladies that were there. One of them stated that she was glad she had someone to relate to in her struggles and was surprised that some of the things she had experienced happened in other places than Peru.
Some of the men, Eric, Shane, Randy, Tim and Dave Block were invited to talk about business values with a class of students at a culinary school owned by a believer in Tarma. About 30 twenty-somthings asked questions about what we did and how we were successful at it. In turn, we were able to talk about God´s role in all of life, business, family, church. A bit different than what you might expect at a technical school in the US.
The basketball clinic went well. Jay was invited to visit two other schools in the afternoon to work with the coaches in their own environment.
Several people also visited a private school English classroom. The classroom teacher is a staff member with ADIEL, the mission work hosting us in Tarma.
Pray for continued opportunities to cross the bridge from these ¨everyday¨ contacts to opportunities to show the love of Jesus in word and deed.

Your mission team in Tarma

Monday

Well, we have almost completed our first full day of activities. The ladies had a cooking class at a tiny restaurant called Pepino´s Burger. We had ten local ladies for a class on making hash browns and french toast. They had never made anything like it, so they enjoyed it very much. Karen and Chris gave their testimonies to the ladies, also.
The men and Lina and Nancy went to shadow with a gentleman named Chicho, who owns several large shops here in Tarma. The ladies had a wonderful response with several women in tears. Pray that God has reached into their hearts with His love.
Some of the men spent time in the Plaza in front of our hotel doing surveys about the people and their belief in God and how they see the Holy Spirit and Jesus. They met a young man who is very sincere about his relationship with Jesus and spent a lot of time talking with the guys.
This trip has started out with a bang!! Thanks be to God for all the things he is doing with us here. We are so excited for tomorrow to begin. The last thing that is happening tonight is a presentation by Tim on time management. In Peru, people do not necessarily live by the clock...when you say 7, they may show up at 730 or 8 or not come at all. Life is quite relaxed here.
Please continue to pray for us all....Tim has had some congestion and sleep issues and Mark´s stomach is a bit off. Pray that we stay healthy and ready for the work the Lord has for us.
On a side note, it doesn´t matter where you go, the Packer game is still available to be watched. We came back from David´s English presentation and there were all the guys, camped out on the couch and watching the Packer game on Peruvian ESPN....you can take the guys out of the country and they STILL find football!!!!
Your Tarma Team

It is Sunday!!! What a beautiful day to worship the Lord together. We had a wonderful little service after breakfast with Joel playing guitar and all of us singing. We went over the schedule and boy, is it packed with stuff to do!!! Please continue to pray for all the people here in Tarma and for all of us! We can feel your prayers as none of us are suffering from the altitude or other things at the moment.
Today is market day, so we went and bought all the ingredients for the cooking class....apples, potatoes, cinnamon, sugar, oil, etc. We will be going to the Indian Market in Lima when we get back, so not a lot of shopping has been done.
We are going to be planning the week´s activities today and resting a bit before Dave´s English for English teachers class this evening. Pray that the teachers show up.
Look for a post tomorrow, late.....
Gracia por sus oraciones.....
The Tarma Team

At last we have reached Tarma!!! It was a loooooong bus ride through the mountains, but they are so beautiful! Gods handiwork is very visible in all the beauty that surrounds us. We met Bethany, Elsa, Luis and Meredith and had dinner at a restaurant next to the hotel. All of us are very tired, but very happy to finally be here. Our hotel is the Hotel Galaxia on the Plaza de Armas in central Tarma.
Everyone is ok and ready for a week of wonderful ministry here in Tarma!! Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts that got us here. Continue to pray for the ministries with the businessmen, the ladies and the basketball players.
Your missions Team in Tarma

Hola from Lima....

We made it through the first leg of travel with no problems!! Praise the Lord for that!! Today we are getting on the bus to Tarma and traveling in the mountains. This is a public bus, so we will be traveling with many other people today. Please pray for travel safety and the opportunity to witness to the people we are with. We are all excited about this mission and just pray that God will use our talents in the way He wants to. Thanks to all of you for praying for us, it has definitely been felt.

Your Mission Team

Hello all...
Today we leave for Chicago to get on the plane for Tarma.....if we haven't got everything by now, its not important. Pray for the team that we will be humble servants to the work that is going on there and that we will reach people for the Kingdom...
Next post from Tarma!!!!
Your missions team,
Mark, Karen, Hal, Tim, Eric, Lina, Shane, Chris, Jay, Randy and Joel

Countdown to Tarma!!! - 9 Days to go!
Here is a first post on our mission to Tarma, Peru from November 4-14, 2010.
Our mission is to go to Tarma with Faith EV Free supported missionary David Block to plug into his English as a second language ministry (ESL). We will be networking with 4 missionaries on the ground in Tarma: Bethany Kerr, Julio Rojas, Elsa Coruacho and Meridith McAllister. They work in various schools and have Bible studies in several businesses.
The main work with be presenting the Gospel through practical business studies such as time management and financial studies, among others. The men that are going will be presenting these, while the women will be working with the women on cooking and ESL teaching in a preschool and Steven Hawking High School.
We are exited about this mission as this is a new area for us to be going into. We ask for your prayers and thoughts as we go about this work of the Lord.
The people going are Mark and Karen Demers, Shane and Lina Hoffman, Eric Nei, Jay Grooters, Randy Grooters, Joel Duke, Nancy Richardson, Tim Friedrich, Hal Havisto and Christina Quam.