Peru Crew Finale

Even though we have been home a couple days, I want to blog about our last days in Peru if for no other reason than to bring closure for me! :)

Wednesday morning the 3 seniors, with Miss Ross's help, treated us to a real breakfast of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. All week we had been munching on various breakfast breads and cereal so a hot breakfast was a treat. After breakfast we walked a few blocks to Union Church of Lima to be the chapel guests at the International Christian School. We lead in worship, performed our couple of skits and then Sydney and Nicole D both shared their testimonies. The cool thing is that when I lived in Lima, I taught at this school. At that time it was called Emmanuel Christian School and we only took up 3 classrooms on the 2nd floor. Now the school has a couple hundred kids and fills the 2nd floor and the basement. I enjoyed my tour of the school -- wow, things have changed!!! It was a fun walk down memory lane for me.

From there we took our handy dandy bus to the Peruvian Japanese Cultural center. After enjoying Italian Chicken for lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Peru (catch the irony there!) we toured the museum. It gave a great history of the Japanese in Peru. The kids had an opportunity to pray for the gospel to reach this unique people group!

Our next stop was a tour of the Huaca (archaeological dig) that was at the end of our street. We not only got to learn about the pre-Incan Lima people, but also saw llamas and the famous Peruvian hairless dogs. We then walked to the Indian Market for phase one of shopping. We ended the day enjoying a yummy Peruvian dinner at a cute restaurant at Kennedy Park.

Thursday was a true day to be tourists. We were downtown early to tour the Inquisition Museum, the San Franciscan church complete with catacombs and waited forever to see the changing of the guard at the governor palace. The riot police were out in full force, which is actually pretty normal protocol there. But, we did get to see the President of Peru and listen to his short speech! I guess that is why they were running late on the ceremony. After our time downtown we headed to the coast to tour the Royal Felipe Fort. It was enjoyable, but we were all getting hot and tired. We ended this day with another made dash to shop at the Indian market and then thew everything in our suitcases. Since we brought in so much stuff, we had lots of room for souvenirs. :)

Friday morning started early -- after a very short night. We didn't have any problems processing through all the hoops to leave the country. Although Jairus was pretty upset to leave Joe behind. Poor kid! The flight to Miami was uneventful. Thankfully we had lots of time there because it sure took time to get 18 people through immigration and customs and back to our gate. Everything seemed fine until at the last minute right before our flight left for DFW. There was a mix up on one ticket and Katie couldn't fly with us. In a few stressful moments, it was decided that Miss Ross would stay behind. (I say it was decided b/c the airlines made that decision for us -- in a not so nice or helpful way.) That wasn't the way any of us wanted the trip to end. But even in this huge hassle we can see God's provision. Both made it back to DFW Saturday morning.

Whew! There is my final summary! :)

This team has the testimony of God's faithfulness and His goodness. We experienced God! Today my pastor preached about being hungry for God’s presence. He used Acts 4 as his focus passage, but pulled many examples from the book of Acts. His main point was that God moves in a big way and we strongly sense His presence when His people pray! I sat in my pew and wept because we have that testimony – we were living proof of that truth! Praise God!

THANK YOU to everyone who prayed for us. Your prayer covering was the key to God doing mighty works in and through these kids! They will never be the same. Amen!

Home sweet home!

Well, after 28 hours of transit the first wave of the team arrived back in Fort Worth, and 2 hours later the rest of the team hit DFW airport! We were beginning to feel as if we might just live in airports and on airplanes! I want to give a brief overview of the end of our week. I will fill in more details in about a week after the kids have had a chance to share their own stories!

Elephant Day was amazing! We had so much fun and definitely got up close and personal with the elephants--some of us had elephant slobber as proof! Seeing 11 elephants in a row with 2 of our team members on top was quite a sight! They will be memorable pictures! And we spent our evening at a fabulous restaraunt (for less than eating at Chili's). The funniest thing is we were most impressed by the bathrooms--yes, we took pictures of the waterfall faucets! :)

The mango rains began Tuesday evening--we had been warned to avoid the very first rain as it breaks up the pollution--something equivalent to acid rain....had I mentioned the thick layer of pollution type smog that hangs over Chiang Mai? It is a combination of the burning of the rice fields from Cambodia and Laos as well as Thailand, and the unregulated emissions of cars. It was so representative of the oppression that hangs over the people. We have learned so much about Buddhism and how it is much more of a culture than just a religion in Thailand.

The rains in God's AMAZING providence continued through the night. It made the digging of trenches on Wednesday morning so much easier! The boys left the hotel Wednesday at 6 am under Mr. Crisp's direction to begin. The girls followed about 2 hours later. We were able to complete the entire project they had for us (planting a shrub border as protection and a boundary for the new foster home) before 10:30!!!! The kids worked SO HARD! We had really prepared them (frontloaded as Mrs. Deckert calls it!) so that they knew that it would be hot and sweaty and a long day. They hit it hard and knocked it all out (earning themselves an early shower and a brief rest before our evening activities). And the one who fell in the irrigation ditch, covering herself in mud and muck, drenched and muddy kept us laughing! She was unhurt except for a few scratches--we all wished that we had the camera rolling! We would be on our way to $100,00 on America's Funniest Home Videos!!! :)

Wednesday evening we finished up our shopping and were able to connect further with several Thai believers and some who are still in the questioning phase.

Thursday we all left the hotel at 6 am to see the monks come out of the temple and the people giving them food to "make merit". It was eye-opening...then after a sweet time of devotion at the waterfall, we climbed 306 steps to the highest point in Chiang Mai...the Doi Suthep Temple. We were able to walk and pray...it was a great way to end the trip...a quick shower and final pack-up and we were on our way!

Thank you for your prayers as we walked in the uttermost parts of the earth...our hearts have been eternally touched...

At home in Fort Worth with a piece of my heart in Chiang Mai,
Kristen Whitbeck

Last Post from Spain

Ola!

Well we had a late night last night so I didn´t update yesterday. We had a great time on Wednesday, meeting one more school until about 2:00pm. Then we started our tourist-mode! We did some shopping yesterday in the old part of San Sebastian, and of course, ate ice cream! Spaniards eat A LOT of ice cream! Today is Father´s Day in Spain so most stores and restaurants are closed. So what do we do? We go to FRANCE! A quick bus trip and boat ride later, we are enjoying the sandy beaches of Southern France. We had an AMAZING 2+ hour lunch outside where we tasted pizzas, crepes, creme brulee and many other great foods! When we arrived back "home" to Spain, the streets were PACKED with families enjoying the day off and the beautiful weather. We are packing right now before we head out for one more dinner in San Sebastian. Then the taxis pick us up at 7:00 am for our long journey back home!

Your students have amazed us all week. They have represented their families, their school, their country, and their faith so, so , so well. The workers here are so enthusiastic about what we were able to accomplish this week in opening doors for them to follow up on. They truly have been such a blessing!

Please keep us in mind as we make all of our transfers. We are slightly concerned about our connection in Madrid. We only have 2 hours to get off the plane, get our luggage, take a bus to a new terminal, recheck our bags, and go through security and customs. Things should be fine, and as even if we are running late they will hold the flight for a group of our size- in fact, they did that exact thing for another group on our Newark to Madrid flight! We will be exhausted, but so happy to see all of you at DFW!

Until then!

Alive and Well in Lima

Where to start? Where to start?

First, I now realize my last blog was filled with typing and spelling errors -- worse than normal that is. I was SO tired that night I could barely think straight. So, I apologize you had to suffer through that. I hope you got the main idea. :)

Looking at our original agenda, you would think we would be doing the same thing each day -- practice English with Peruvian students, but everyday has been a new adventure. Monday found us visiting 3 public elementary schools in a poor area of Callao. The Colegio America school is setting up a mentoring program with these schools in an effort to give their students some community service experience and honestly assist the poor schools. We basically were phase one of this partnership. Most of the children we worked with had lead poisoning and their socio-economic status was the lowest we have seen here. We quickly found that teaching English wasn't the main need. Instead we did a lot of playing, laughing, and hugging, and we exposed them to very simple English concepts. The first school surprised us since we had been spoiled at the Colegio America school. But the kids quickly readjusted and did great the rest of the day. Oh -- make sure you ask them about the bus ride! They decided the bus driver needs his own reality show "Driving in Lima!" :)

Monday evening most of the team walked along the cliffs overlooking the ocean and timed it to see the sun set. Then we ate dinner at a neat mall that sits right in the cliffs (an amazing feat of engineering really). I say "most" because Tim Mitchell took Nicole M. and me to a clinic to have Nicole's arm x-rayed. The night before she had fallen on the concrete floor, and since it was still swollen and painful I decided to play it safe. In the 3 years I lived in Lima I never went to the clinic, so this was another adventure. But I tell you what, God's favor was all over us! We were able to get in to see an English speaking Orthopedic, quickly got x-rays and the doctor himself set her half-cast. (no broken bones, he just wanted to make sure her arm was steady and could heal) We did all of this in 2 hours!!!! Trust me when I say that this was a miracle! :)

Just FYI -- we have been blessed with GREAT health. We have had an occasional head-ache, but that is really all. Oh, and I know anyone who knows me well, will find great humor in the fact that I was the one to go with Nicole to the clinic. :)

Today we were up and on the road early for an hour + bus ride to an area in northern Lima. We had asked you to pray that we would get into a Nikkei school, and God answered that prayer better than we asked. We didn't get into the original one, instead God opened up a brand new door at a Nikkei school in Comas that Tim had no prior contact with! When we arrived at school we were greeted by Kindergartners singing and waving flags. It was so cute! We divided into 5 teams to work in the elementary classes and were blessed by their enthusiasm. After that, we were treated to a dance lesson. The dance teacher taught us 3 Peruvian dances...and it was so fun! I so should have video taped it!! We also toured an animal farm, an organic farm, and their own Japanese/Peruvian museum. After being treated to lunch we worked in the 7th-11th grade classes all afternoon. Once again, our kids did wonderful. The Peruvians were shy because this was their first time to hear American's speak English in person. But, we won them over! We also had several opportunities to share the gospel.

Tonight we have relaxed and prepared for another day. Tomorrow includes a chapel service at the International Christian School, a tour of the Japanese Cultural Center, prayer walking, visiting a Huaca (archaeological dig) and maybe even souvenir shopping.

Please keep praying for us. Specifically we need energy to finish strong. These kids have been pouring out and doing everything that is asked of them. Please pray that God will fill them again and again with his strength. Tomorrow we do get to sleep in a bit, which is a welcomed blessing. Thursday we will sight-see in downtown Lima and on the coast. Before you know it, we will be back in Fort Worth.

God is at work in Lima! I can't wait for you to see pictures and hear the testimonies from the kids!

Adios for now!

Lynelle and the Peru Crew!

Schools Day 2

Ola from San Sebastian once again!

Today we spent our second day in the schools. We traveled early this morning to the far side of San Sebastian where we met with 5 different English language classes at the upper school (primarily 17-18 year olds). Our kids paired up with these students and talked about their culture, our culture, and everything in between for over FIVE HOURS!!!! They did such a GREAT job! Even though they were having a lot of the same conversations over and over again with different sets of students, you would never had known it by their enthusiastic expressions and conversations! I will tell you though, that once we ended about 2:00, even our big talkers were exhausted (and very very hungry!). We celebrated a successful morning with an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet on the beach. Can I tell you that I think it was the best Chinese food I have ever eaten????

For the afternoon/evening we split up into two groups again- one to another school and the other walking around the city. The group that went to the school was able to interact with one of our participants from Saturday´s cultural exchange and she was SO excited to see her friends again!

It was such a great day! Tomorrow we head back to the school that some of our students were at on Monday, but this time we will be talking with younger students- 13-14 years old. Thursday is our "fun" day with a planned excursion into France and shopping---although each day has been fun! I can´t believe that our time is almost up!

Until Tomorrow-
Laura Montgomery and the Spain Team

Is it really Tuesday?????

Good morning on Tuesday (as you are preparing for bed on Monday!). We are adjusting to the time change well. It helps that we are absolutely exhausted by the time we return to the hotel each evening! Our days are full...and I am hurrying to meet the kids for breakfast in just a few minutes, so my post will not be as lengthy as my wonderful cohorts in South America and Europe! Because we do not have internet access at the hotel, and our days are so full, I have found it difficult to blog...but no news has definitely been good news!!! I will bullet point for you...

Friday night (after I posted)--Line Dancing with almost 30 Thais...and the cha-cha slide (thanks Coach ReEtta!) were the hits!

Saturday--House of Blessings--we painted the boys dorm, tilled the VERY HARD soil for a garden to help them move into a more self-sustaining role AND we played with beautiful children who are orphans from the tribal area

Sunday--Church at House of Blessing, as with the Peru team, we worshipped in English as they did in Thai...all the songs they sang, we knew. I also cried as we worshipped, remembering that God is not American and that His language and the language of Heaven is WORSHIP! We then did Children's church with the 6-10 year olds...a Thai in every American lap seemed to be our motto...these kids just want to be held and loved. And our students responded beautifully!!! The tears when we left were many and they have precious stories to tell about their special buddies.
SUNDAY NIGHT--the walking market--oh my goodness!!!! These kids know how to shop (and eat)...there are not words to describe this market...it is huge and full of beautiful handmade Thai items. The songthaew (our bus) was FULL of their new purchases!!!

Monday--yesterday we served at the Cummins Foster home. They foster children who are ready for adoption. Some stay as little as a year; most stay for 3-4 years. Precious family who love on these oprhans with the love of God until He places them in a permanent family. Our hearts were moved. We will return there on Wednesday to finish a huge landscaping project on their new land...they will start building withine the month and be able to house many more children.

Tuesday--IT'S ELEPHANT DAY!!!!! We are headed to the elephant camp this morning!!!! This afternoon we will have some time with 2 members of the Chiang Mai team here to work with them on spiritual mapping and prayer walking.

We have had sweet times together in our devotions and are learning a lot about walking together. Thank you for all of your prayers as we go! I will try to update one more time before we begin the 30 hour journey home on Thursday afternoon.

From the nations,
Kristen for the Thai Team

Schools Day One

Today was a wonderful day once again in San Sebastian! We split up into two groups today- one group was at our first school interchange and the other walked around the city.

SCHOOL: The students met with about 15 students who are learning English. We shared information about America and our daily lives. The photo albums were a great help in starting conversations! We were also able to spread the word about the Chat Room, so this was a great first open door into the schools to tell people about this new opportunity! Our students did great and were wonderful representatives of our country, our school, and you.

WALKING: We spent a long time walking around the main boulevard in the old city and the port, and then walked around a central mountain that follows the beautiful beach. We did a lot of walking!!!! (Which is a good thing- it helps offset all of the bread that we are eating!) It was a great time to reflect on the different culture, atmosphere, and people here in San Sebastian. Our kids are so in-tune to the atmosphere here...you would be so proud of their maturity! They will come back to you with such a mature outlook on different cultures and the needs of different cultures. ;)

We were able to spend about an hour on the beach as we waited for dinner and had a blast. Spanish culture is so different concerning when we eat, sleep, etc. We usually have a hard time finding a place that is willing to serve us dinner at 7:00. Most places don´t start dinner service until 8:30-9:00! As we waited, we played in the very, very, very, very cold Atlantic! I think some of the boys got pretty drenched from playing around. Although the water was cold, today has been beautiful with highs in the low 70s. Several students got some sun on their faces, too! What´s even better is that the outlook just improves over our last few days here- light jackets in the morning and evening, and gorgeous weather in between!

We are so proud of each of your students and are so encouraged by the growth and maturity we see in each one of them! Tomorrow we head to another school, where we will stay as one group the whole day at the school!

Blessings,
Laura Montgomery and the Spain Team

Lovin' Lima

I feel like we have lived 5 days in the 2 days since I have blogged! There is so much I could tell you. I have been making mental notes throughout each day of blog topics. Unfortunately, my exhausted mind may not remember it all.

Saturday was awesome with a capital AWESOME!!!!!! About 80 high school students came for our English club. They had many opportunities to practice their English as they rotated through our stations. They ran relays, played bingo, learned idioms, played Apples to Apples, made bracelets and crafts, learned to line dance, and played ultimate Frisbee. They also clearly heard the gospel through the "sin" skit and the explanation of the bracelets at the final assembly. Both LCCS students and the Colegio America students had FUN! Watching the students interact, you would have thought they had worked together all week, not just for a few hours. It was hard to tear ourselves away! It was a great experience anyway you look at it. And Tim Mitchell felt like it gave a good foundation for the religion class he will be co-teaching this semester at that school. They will study the life of Christ in this class.

Saturday evening didn't go quite like we had originally planned. (Act surprised --sarcasm.) The Japanese business association canceled their evening events where we were going to do a program, because of a memorial service for a family member that died a year ago. A special service on the first anniversary is a culture expectation. Because of that we only had 4 people come to the ESL (English as a Second Language) class that Tim and his wife, Joy, teach on Saturday nights. The upper classmen stayed to help with the ESL classes while the underclassmen did some prayer walking in a cool park filled with water fountains and light shows.

Today, we had 2 unique church experiences. This morning we worshiped with 6 Peruvians, 6 missionaries (the Mitchell family) and the 19 of us in a tiny room on the 5th floor of a business building. This little church started just a few months ago in a Chinese restaurant primarily for the workers at the restaurant. They have met in a park and for the last 3 weeks have been in their own space. We shared special music and a skit. We were fortunate that they had powerpoint for the words and the sermon outline, so many of our kids were able to get the gist of what was going on.

This evening we worshiped with the church that we (Joe and Lynelle) attended the most when we lived in Lima. It was SO cool to take the kids there. And it was the first time to introduce Jairus to this church family. We really surprised them when we showed up! Here too we were invited to sing a few songs and they would have let us do a mini-concert had we wanted. :) They were so friendly and welcoming.

Tonight in share time, ALL the kids agreed that today was a special day. Having cross-cultural worship services was very eye-opening. One special moment tonight was when the church sang "Open the Eyes of My Heart" because it was a song we all knew. So in both languages we praised God together!

I could also write about our authentic Peruvian dinners yesterday and lunch today. Parents, just start planning now -- we will have a team reunion at the Peruvian restaurant in Dallas, and your student will want you to go. Even though almost every student tried beef heart today (and liked it) and ceviche, you can stick with the more tame Peruvian food that day. :) :)

Oh I have got to get to bed... so I can't tell you about the Indian market or the ice cream dinner or meeting Wu or the long list of funny happenings. This team has really gelled. They are having fun serving the Lord. They are growing! They are experiencing God in a new way, and it is exciting. Tonight during our daily debrief time I just cried as they worshiped. God is at work!!! And I am so blessed for being a small part of it. THANK YOU for sending your children.

Please KEEP PRAYING!!!! Tomorrow we will be with a public school or two working with with Kindergartners. Our Tuesday schedule is still up in the air. Our specific prayer request is that we can get into the Nikkei school on Tuesday. Please join us in praying to this end. Also, please pray for Wu's salvation. The kids can tell you this awesome God-story when they get home. Just trust us -- and pray.

Good night!

Lynelle and the Peru Crew

Sunday in San Sebastian

Ola from San Sebastian once again!

First, I just wanted to point out to all of you Peru and Thailand parents out there that we are fortunate to have Internet access for the sponsors at the hostel each night. So it is a little bit easier for us to update than where our wonderful, beautiful cohorts are- and we miss you all very much and think about you often you wonderful, beautiful cohorts. (Even though I will say that all of the non-alphabetic characters on the Spanish keyboard are in different places so I keep on having to find all of the _, @, ", etc.!) I also am required to use a little bit more ambiguous wording concerning our activities compared to the other groups, but I know that you are hearing our heart through our updates!

Today we started the day with a wonderful time of singing, reflection, and reading. It was great! Then we took the train to a nearby beach-side city where we met another couple who are social workers who specialize in cultural exchanges. He showed us his almost-completed store front where they have gotten a permit to hold a Bible Association. Basically, it is a place where members of the association can come and study the Bible as a piece of literature. After a quick outside lunch, we then watched and played with about 11 kids from a couple of families to give their parents some much-needed free time. We played outside (a lot!), did crafts, read stories, and watched Larry Boy! (Lynelle, I know Joe would be jealous!) It was a great time of fellowship and service for us.

Tomorrow is our first visit to the schools. We have been invited to participate in cultural exchanges in three schools Monday through Friday. The social workers we are partnering with are very excited about this new open door to exchange cultures!

Until tomorrow!

Laura Montgomery and the Spain team

Chat Room

Greetings from another great day in Spain!

Today we spent the whole day working with Spanish/Basque teenagers who wanted the opportunity to improve their English skills and exchange information concerning the differences between Basque and American cultures. This event was one of the first held at the new storefront for the "Chat Room". We played a lot of get-to-know you games, had a photo scavenger hunt around the city, and just shared a lot of information about our cultures. We had a great, fun time. It was wonderful seeing our students take the initiative to start conversations with the students and getting everyone involved with the activities.

After the long day, we had dinner at a Sports Club Restaurant. We were able to sit on the bottom floor seating with a little girl´s birthday party. We all enjoyed watching High School Musical 3 on the big screen t.v. in Spanish...with English songs! Some of us were more interested in the local futbol game on the smaller tvs though! After stopping at a marketplace for some more water, fruit and pastries, we are heading in for the night. Tomorrow looks to be a much simpler, calmer day of reflection and taking care of some local social worker children while their parents can have a few hours to themselves.

Until tomorrow night!

Peru Crew checking in again!

Good morning from Peru! As the crew is getting up and around I have a couple minutes to update the blog.

What a day we had yesterday! After experiencing some interesting Peruvian traffic, we arrived at Colegio America bright and early. We created quite the stir when we entered the high school's Fridaymorning assembly time. :) Right away we had to put our flexibility exercise to work. We had prepared for teaching in 3 groups of 5, but the English director had us set up to be in 5 groups of 3. Ok, no problem! We quickly regrouped! The kids handled this change beautifully!

I wish words on a computer screen could capture the energy and awesome interactions I witnessed yesterday. Our kids were master special operation teachers! Our teaching teams worked with kids from 1st grade to 10th grade. We pulled kids (usually 12-15 kids) out of their classes for 45 minute special classes with us. Sometimes we did numbers, colors, and shapes, others times we played bingo and concentration or Apples to Apples. Across the board, we were blown away by their English skills. What their English coordinator considered remedial was by far better than our Spanish! :) Oh -- and before I forget, Make sure you ask about the pork and sweet potato sandwiches we had for lunch!

I tell you what, our kids came home TIRED from a high-energy day of teaching. But they all can testify to God's goodness! We had favor with the director and her teachers. The students loved us! Some wanted our autographs! :) But our day didn't end there. After a delicious dinner of Pollo a la brasa and papas fritas we spent hours preparing for our English club today. We are running 4 stations that include conversation games, dance, ultimate Frisbee, crafts and bingo. Plus doing skits and dances for 2 assemblies. But most importantly, we will clearly share the gospel this afternoon in our closing assembly. Each Peruvian will make a witness bracelet which we will use to share the gospel. Pray for this time!

Tonight we are doing ESL classes for the Japanese business association. Again we will have a great platform to share the gospel!

Our kids are healthy and happy. They are enjoying the country, the Peruvian people, and each other. My heart beams with pride for them! They are doing super!!

Please keep praying for us. We need it! Don't let our good reports convince you that we are doing fine and don't need prayer. On the contrary, I believe we are finding such favor because you are praying!!!

Please forgive me -- no pictures this time because I am out of time. We need to make sandwiches and get this day started!

Lynelle Wolfe and the crew

Meeting TINA...(aka This Is Not America)

Greetings from Spain!

It´s 8:45 pm right now after a very long day of orientation, getting acquainted with San Sebastian, and reflection. Oh...and did I say that the weather was beautiful, clear, sunny 70s??? (We hear it is just a little bit cold and wet back home in Fort Worth!)

First, we all slept wonderfully, trying to overcome our lack of sleep for the previous 36 hours. We started off the day at the meeting room of the hostel, where we learned more about the service work done here at San Sebastian. We also met TINA...or This Is Not America--- differences in our distinct cultures. We are excited to be helping out with a "chat room" day to help Spanish/Basque students practice their English skills and learn about our culture while we learn about theirs! We also found out that we will be busy in schools Monday - Wednesday! We are very excited about that open door, too.

We spent the afternoon walking around San Sebastian. There were a lot of people at the beach today due to the warm weather, and we traveled up to the top of a mountain to see the glorious sights down below. On top of the mountain we were able to have some quiet time as individuals and groups to reflect. We have grouped the kids into 3 groups--Team Marshall, Team Justin, and Team Sam. Let´s just say the guys are enjoying leading their groups - they are being great young responsible gentlemen! Then we headed back down for an ice cream treat and then helped prepare the brand new storefront, "Chat Room", for our big day tomorrow. Dinner was then at a local restaurant where we tried many different and very tasty region specialities.

The kids (and us!) are pretty tired - like we warned in our letter before leaving, we are walking, walking, walking, walking! (Which helps burn off all of the yummy calories we are consuming!) We were also able to go to a marketplace this afternoon and get several bottles of water for each student to carry around. Tomorrow we are going to try and go back for some fruit. We are eating a lot of bread! We are all in good spirits, good health, and look forward to the week to come.

Until tomorrow--- The Spain Team

Great Day around Chiang Mai

Sawatdeca (Hello!) from Thailand! Whew!!! We have had a busy day! We boarded 4 songthaews before 9 am and headed all over the city on a cultural scavenger hunt. In the midst of finding out information from a monk at a temple bult in 1366, trying fruits we had never seen before, and sampling a snack of a variety of fried insects (Eewwwww!!!), we had divine appointments along the way! The afternoon found us playing with beautiful children at Agape House. This evening the students are downstairs mingling with about the same number of young Thais--some first generation believers, some who are still seeking. They should sleep well tonight!!! Tomorrow (Saturday--we keep reminding ourselves what day it is) we will be working at the House of Blessing Orphanage on a building project. Tomorrow night we will close with a time of worship in the park. Please pray for health, strength, and for us to be light bearers everywhere we go!

Hello from Spain!

Hello from the beautiful seaside of San Sebastian, Spain!! The Spain team made it- luggage and all- safely to San Sebastian on time. After two quick bus trips to the hostel, we are getting ready for a pizza dinner (and birthday cake for our two birthdays!) and then SLEEP! The craziest part of our trip was at DFW with the cancelling of our original flight, delays in travel to the airport due to rain, hurrying to try and get on a much earlier flight, that flight being delayed until almost our first, orginal takeoff time, and then finally waiting on the tarmac for almost 45 minutes. Whew! Our trip through Newark and Madrid was easy compared to all of that! We are tired, but excited about starting our week here!

Peru Crew

The Peru crew is checking in all safe and sound!

We were late leaving DFW and unfortunately sat in the airplane a long time, but everyone got along fine. In Miami we just had enough time for a bathroom break and to walk to the international concourse. As soon as our group found some floor space, they started calling for the first boarding group. The overnight flight to Lima was uneventful. Everyone tried to sleep, some found more success than others. (Just FYI – even Jairus did GREAT! What an answer to a prayer – he has been a trooper and is responding great to the high school kids. Katie, Hannah, and Nicole D should have a good refresher in the alphabet after the flight to Miami. And A’lia and Colton will forever have to count to 3 and jump with Jairus everywhere we walk. I tried to warn them!)

We had no problems maneuvering through immigration and everyone got a green light through customs! Yea God!! Tim Mitchell was waiting for us with a BIG bus hauling a luggage cart. Now we have settled into the guest house for a little nap before we start the day.

Along with the general prayer requests, here is how you can pray for us for today and tomorrow.
Today we will have orientation and organization. We need to sort through the 800 lbs of stuff we brought in and get organized for tomorrow. Please pray that we will be efficient with our time and for everyone to be able to work together in their teams.

Tomorrow we will leave here about 7 to head to the Colegio Americano school. Pray for favor with their English director and with the students. Pray for a smooth transition of our group into the classrooms. Also pray that our kids with shine with the love of Christ – they will teach English with excellence and also be a bright light. May that school be different because we were there. May the Peruvian students be drawn back to our English Club on Saturday because they know there is something different in a spiritual sense.

Thank you for praying. You are a vital part of this team. We need you!

I will try to update tomorrow night and Lord willing may even have some pictures to share.

Lynelle Wolfe :)

Almost there

We are at the Taipei airport in Taiwan...only a 3 hour flight away from Chiang Mai...where we will hit the ground running! Thanks for your prayers! More soon! Kristen

To Peru!

On Wednesday, March 11, 19 people (15 students, 3 adults, and Baby J), will head to Lima, Peru! The team will be working in schools teaching English and cultural exchanges. Two of the trip leaders were missionaries in Peru and look forward to leading a group back to serve!

To Spain

On Wednesday, March 11, fourteen indiviuals (11 students and 3 adults) from LCCS will head to San Sebastian, Spain to work among the Basques people. San Sebastian is on the Northern coast of Spain along the Bay of Biscay and only a short drive from the French border. The students will be partnering with the missionaries, teaching language and cultural classes.

To Thailand!!

On Tuesday, March 10, 17 students and 3 adults will fly out of DFW to Chiang Mai, Thailand. They will be working with missionaries there to serve the children in three areas: an orphange, a home for children who are HIV positive, and a foster home. We are excited to embark on our first LCCS mission trip to Asia!