Updates
Immigrants.
"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God," Eph. 2:19
After almost 10 months, many hours, trips to town and Lima, apostilled and officially translated papers, and much cost and frustration, we are PERMANENT PERUVIAN IMMIGRANTS! Praise God! Thank you all for your prayers. It is truly a miracle that all of our paperwork went through. We were the first people in the whole country to move from a religious visa to an immigrant visa, which of course meant that no one quite knew how to go about it, and made the whole experience more difficult than usual. The benefits of having a permanent visa are similar to citizenship, but without the right to vote. We also have fewer restrictions for how long we can be out of the country. We are so very excited about this change and to see how God is going to use this to further His kingdom here!
We drove to Lima last week for paperwork for gun and driver’s licenses, and passports. It was an arduously long, but uneventful trip over the beautiful Andes mountains. Within the first hour of our arrival in the capitol, we learned of the sudden death of a friend of ours that had just arrived in Lima a couple of hours before us. He had a massive heart attack, and died ten minutes after going to the hospital. We went to the ER right away to comfort his widow, and waited with her through the night until her children arrived from the airport. It was so hard: very reminiscent of our own losses and trauma. But it was so good: to weep and pray together, and speak peace to the brokenhearted. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
This month seems to have been full of loss surrounding us. A young man from our neighboring tribe who we have watched grow up, died suddenly of unknown causes. The children's taxi driver’s young daughter who was just barely a year old, died suddenly of pneumonia. It is an ever-present fact that our days are numbered, so while we yet live, we are to preach the gospel, rescue the perishing, care for the dying, and those they leave behind.
Please keep Vann in your prayers. He is dealing with extreme pain from another kidney stone, and a migraine that has lasted almost two weeks. The combination of the two is difficult to say the least.
The children are all doing super well, enjoying and excelling in school. The other day we were given the opportunity to share Jesus with some people, just because of the kid’s good manners and behavior at the dinner table! We’re so proud of them, and pray they keep growing in their love for God.
Looking back over the last few weeks, it is so evident that God has gone before us and paved our way. He is the reason that we live here, and He is the One that will complete the work that He has begun!
"Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ" — Oswald Chambers