Sshhh, don't tell

Alisha has her 17th birthday party tomorrow.

We're having a photo scavenger hunt in a 4 square block area.

Here are a few of the things they'll have to find:


What do you think? Too easy? Too hard? Here's the playing field. Our house is the one by the park.

Hands and Feet Children's Village - Haiti

Here's an update I just got following hurricane Gustav...please pray the orphanage in this time of devastation:

Please pray for Haiti. Hurricane Gustav pounded the southern coast of Haiti Monday and Tuesday, and heavy rains continue today. Thank God all of our children and staff are safe. However we have had major damage to our property, even worse than when Noel hit last November. Two of our children's houses on the lower floor have 3-4 feet of water in them. Many of our perimeter walls have been destroyed. Larry, one of our new US staff, cannot get his truck out because it is covered in boulders. We are so thankful that Larry and Michelle are there caring for our kids. Please pray for them as they try to figure out how to begin the overwhelming cleanup process. Please also pray for our neighbors as most of them have lost quite a bit. One of our neighbors' tin roof flew off forcing the family to stay with a neighbor.

We know God is in control but we definitely need your prayers and support during this crazy time. The internet is down in Haiti right now, so we will send more updates to as soon as we have them.

I'm at a loss......... We made it through Fay, but got POUNDED by Gustav. The center of the storm made landfall DIRECTLY over our little town (of Jacmel). PLEASE pray for this devastated island nation... and pray about possibly being a part of their recovery (whatever that may mean)! If you have ANY ideas for fundraising, I'm ALL ears!!!

All Aboard

As we usher out the old, the beginning of the new wave of workers are coming along side us. We have with us right now two semester missionaries.

Kathryn Oder is working on our enhancement team, replacing Brad for the next 4 months as their team goes into various villages in the Andes, beginning in a places called Laramate. She will be with Kristen Seay and Melissa Reynolds. Kristen has been with us almost a year serving on the enhancement team. Melissa has been with us 8 months and has been a part of firming up our English Bible Study / Translator ministry in Arequipa. She is now trading hats, as she joins the enhancement team. Pray for this team as they leave out this week, encouraging the believers and training key people in simple church leadership.

Nicole Yardley (right) is also with us until Christmas. She replaces Melissa (left) as head of our Arequipa team. She has had a hard beginning in that we had switch which institutes and universities we were working in down there. Pray that it isn't a complete restart of the ministry and that many who have participated in the past will learn of the new location and continue to participate in our classes and serve as translators.

More Goodbyes

To some he's LJ, to others, Lorne, still to others he is know as Santiago.

Who he is, is another incredible journeyman who I was blessed to have come to know and love. Ultimately serving on Extreme Team, reaching the hard to reach tribes of the Amazon basin, Lorne was one of our great storytellers. You might wonder what that has to do with ministry and I'd say, well, EVERYTHING. Many people groups can't read or write. A bible or bible study in their hands is nothing more than firewood...useless. They sure can't read it. Even if they could read, the Bible isn't widely available in their language. That's where storying comes in. Take a parable, a story from the bible and tell it in a form that is easy to memorize and then repeat to others. Now you have an Oral Bible in the making. It has the added benefit of not taking up much space which is important among some of these migratory tribes. Here is Lorne teaching others how to share the Oral Bible with others.

Goodbyes

Well...

I've said it before and sadly enough, I'll have to say it again.

We said goodbye to another team member, Brad Borggren. He was with us as journeyman for the last two years and has now returned to Little Rock, AR.

While with us, he wore many hats including that of discipler. Brad led our enhancement team which went to villages adopted by our churches back home in an effort to bring deeper discipleship to the new believers that accepted our Lord.

Please pray for Brad as he has returned home and is praying about the next step in his life that may include working with college students.

Also pray for his upcoming wedding to Crystal, another journeyman who is still serving in Africa until this fall.

Alisha turns 17!!!

Today is Alisha's 17th birthday. We woke her up with singing and a cinnamon roll from a local shop and a few presents. Today for lunch I am going to surprise her with pizza delivered for her and her friends.


Please send Alisha an email or e-card to wish her a Happy Birthday. It really does mean alot to us down here. (Thank you to those who have already sent well wishes!)

God Bless you!
His
Susie

What's New Pussycat

whoa-oh-oh-oh

Some of you may wonder what's become of Rachel, our cat. She is the most people oriented cat I've ever seen. She loves sitting with you, sleeping with you, whatever....and whoever. She loves to climb into the laps of everyone who stops by for a visit. Here she is in her LSU shirt. She is of course, a tigers fan.

Summer Missions

Our summer missionaries have come and gone. 60 some-odd people gave up 8 weeks of their lives to serve alongside us in southern Peru. Here's the group:


They served in about 15 areas in teams of 3-5 persons. Our meeting at the end of their time here was filled with many stories of what the Lord had done through their obedience to come and serve. Many were saved, some were baptized, and those committed to our Lord were strengthened to carry the gospel to their own.

If you would like to know more about serving in Peru as a summer missionary, email me at arnold@reapsouth.org. We would love to have you be a part of our work next year.

Can you stop at the next restroom?

I just returned from our national leadership training in Puno. It was a 19 hour drive to the location where the training was held. You can imagine the bathroom breaks.

At one point, PawPaw had solved our bathroom dilemma. When PawPaw came to Peru following the earthquake, he brought what he called the "Bumper Dumper" with him. It's a simple idea, a toilet with a trailer hitch. He even installed the trailer hitch on my old truck. The problem is...I have a different truck. I guess I need to get PawPaw back down here to do some work on the new truck bumper so that those long road trips aren't so long.