The beautiful thing about Genesis 15 and God's covenant with Abraham is that God was the only one who went between the pieces. Abraham was in a deep trance. God made the covenant with himself, because he knew we would never be able to keep our end of the bargain.

In times like these, I am loving my work here in Peru, I am frustrated with the conflicts we deal with, I am encouraged by the work I see happening in people's lives, I am discouraged by the lack of work I see happening in people's lives, I am excited to be involved in so much, I am tired from being involved in so much, ... you get the picture? Yet in what could be a roller coaster of ups and downs, the thing that keeps me grounded is knowing God's character and knowing HIM. He is the one who is faithful, even when I am faithless, even when I am running, even when I am teaching Bible study but not taking my own time to reflect, meditate, and drink him in; He is the one in whom I have my assurance, ... not in my own works, pride, or reputation.

I had a really nice visit home, and was able to see my family and a few friends, visit my church, get a bunch of doctor's appointments out of the way, and generally soak in the US culture and wonderful foods we have. Then, I was ready to come back to Cusco and get back to the work here and everyday life.

I have 2 interns working with me for January and February, one from the US (Alinda) and the other a Peruvian that I worked with in Lima (Ana). I have been enjoying both of these young women immensely and I believe God is blessing our time together.

After 3 days of a spiritual retreat for the MTW Peru Missionaries, there was a VBS in a new church plant called Yanama, about 1 hour's drive outside of Cusco. Two weeks later we had a VBS in our main church in San Jeronimo, which the girls attended in order to help out, while I stayed home trying to tie up details for our Adopcion training and discipleship for that weekend. Adopcion was incredible, thanks to God working through Mark Berry's teaching. Adopcion is a grace based discipleship training in Spanish which unpacks the gospel and teaches practical ways to apply the gospel to our hearts and to every day life.

Immediately after Adopcion, we held our own VBS in our church plant in Santa Monica, which we are in the middle of this week. After a bit of a rough start with organization, the team has pulled together beautifully to help things run smoothly and to love these kids!

All of this has so far been about "events". But what about the people? In almost every one of these events, my role has been one of either support, or helping with the music, or helping with details and organization. The one area this month in which I am working with relationships is with my interns, Ana and Alinda.

We have been studying the basics of Salvation, as well as a book on The Attributes of God (or the character of God). It has been a joy to study what Scripture says about salvation, God's character, justification, sanctification, etc and watch them grasping the realities of God's love for us and our security in him in a deeper way. Please pray for Ana and Alinda, that God will work in them through our time together, so that when they go back to the States (Alinda) and to Lima (Ana) that God will use them to disciple and teach others, even if only through the witness of their lives.

One of the sweetest times I have had this month was during our Yanama VBS. Since I was not teaching, I went with several people to a house to build benches for the church. During this time I was able to enter the kitchen of this house and visit with the grandmother, mother, and youngest child of the house. The kitchen was a small dark room with an adobe fire burning stove, a table, and a dirt floor. The smoke from the fire left the room through the eaves. They gave me a small footstool on which to sit while we visited, and showed me their 15 or so guinea pigs that lived in one corner (guinea pig, or "cui", is a delicacy here). It was a different world from the one I had just left in the US. Both worlds were filled with love and affection, but so different. What a privilege to be able to be a part of both worlds.

Tomorrow I head out on the "quick" trip to Santo Tomas. You remember Santo Tomas, the 10-12 hour bus ride? Switchback dirt roads through the Andes Mountains? Us all getting sick with GI problems every time we eat there? :) Please pray for our trip! We have 3 people flying in from the US who are planning to bring a team here this summer and are considering Santo Tomas. We will drive to Santo Tomas in Keith's truck (my team leader) so hopefully it will be less than a 10 hours trip. This is rainy season so the roads are usually bad, but its been an unusually pretty week weatherwise and we have had good reports on the roads. The plan is to drive to ST tomorrow, spend Saturday there in order to scout out work and ministry possibilities with our church there, head back either Saturday night or Sunday. Please pray for all of us on the trip: me, Keith, and our 3 visitors, for safety and health.

One last praise and thank you before I go: while I was home in the US over Christmas, Marlys Roos organized a "Spanish Book Brunch" for me. Many of you in Atlanta were invited to eat, hear a bit about what is happening here, and to buy books. With donations and my free book allowance, between $600 and $700 worth of Spanish books have been ordered for our ministry here in Peru. I and all of the missionaries here were floored.... In a wonderful way! Thank you to all who contributed to the purchase of Spanish books!!! Please pray for us to know the best way to use these books here to help kids learn!!!