Peru Archives HOPE Humanity Outreach Partners Enterprises

Hello again from Piura. I want to share with you some recent happenings and upcoming events from Betesda Church.

We had three visitors in the months of April. My friends from Lima, A.W & Cheryl Martin and Stacy Brinkley came up to visit the work in Piura. They got to visit the church and were here to share my suprise birthday party. (see photos)

Before returning to Lima, we visited Chiclayo and then my friends left for Trujillo while I returned to Piura. They have been to Peru numerous times, but never had the opportunity to see other parts of the country. We had a great time together and look forward to seeing them again in June.

In May, we celebrated Mother's Day with a special morning program at the church. The children had made gifts for their moms and particpated in the service as well. The children presented a drama and sang a number of songs. Bro. Benito shared with all the importance of being a mother. It was a special time for all.

Some of you have written and asked about the construction project. We had to stop for a little over a month for lack of funds to continue the project. Recently we have started again and this week finished the foundation. We were hoping to start to lay brick, but the factory who makes them had closed down for a week and they are behind in getting shipments out. Once we are able to buy bricks, we will continue to complete the rest of the buildings.

Please continue to pray for this effort. For those of you who would like to send an offering, please send to: ELIM FELLOWSHIP

June 2nd we have a group of eight people coming from the states to hold a medical campaign at the chiclayo 011 (2).cm2

church in Piura. Before going to Piura, we will spend five days in Lima doing some preventative medical teachings at the House of Hope Centers.

Along with the group, Pastor Julio, his daughter Claudia, my friends from Lima (A.W., Cheryl & Stacy) and another friend Clara will be joing us in Piura for the campaign.

Please pray for this team, the ministry they will be doing in Lima and Piura. For safety as we travel and that through all that God will get the glory.

This team is coming under the ministry of my friend Gael Orr, Hope Unites. When you check out my webpage, please check out the ministry of Hope Unites as they send out groups all over the world. Maybe there's a place for you!

I'd love to hear from you, remember I'm just a couple of taps on the keyboard and a click away. diadelamadre07 017 (2).cm2

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and I want to share with you a little of what took place here over the past few weeks.

After my arrival in Piura there was much to do. After sitting idle for a little more than three months my apartment needed to be cleaned (I’m not talking dust bunnies, I’m talking DUST BUNNIES)

Then on the 14^th, three visitors from the states arrived after a long day of travel. Jim, Darlene and Alberta are from Agape Christian Fellowship of Brattleboro, VT. They were part of the team that visited us in 2005 (our 1^st visitors to Piura) and enjoyed it so much, that they wanted to return.

On Sunday the 17^th, we held a “Chocolatada” for any child who wanted to come. We didn’t know what to expect but more than doubled our numbers as we had close to 160 children in all. A group of children from Betesda Church did some skits and we sang a few Christmas songs. After a brief message, we passed out the hot chocolate and then gave a gift bag to each child. One child won a Christmas basket for his family, he had correctly guessed how many pieces of candy were in a small bucket.

A group of church members from Lima had come up to help us and they returned to Lima on Tuesday. Pastor Julio had come up to visit and brought along some family members to help with the children’s festivities.

We had the opportunity to visit Santa Rosa Hospital on Thursday morning. Janet, who is my neighbor, is doing her internship at the hospital. She hopes to become a doctor. We were able to visit the Children’s Ward and pass out stuffed animals to the little ones. Then we visited the Maternity Ward and gave out small baby items and stuffed animals to the mothers and their newborns.

This hospital receives help from the S. Korean government and they have an exchange program where doctors from Korea come and spend two years at the hospital. We met Dr. Oh, who was an ear, nose and throat specialist. He thanked us for our visit and hoped that we could return someday.

We are trying to see if it is possible to do part of our medical campaign next year in June, at the hospital. This hospital receives people who do not have insurance. Bro. Benito told us this was the hospital where his son Gonzalo was born.

On the 23^rd, we held a Christmas party for the children of Betesda Church. Those children who have been faithful and attended the Sunday School program were invited to come and have a day of fun and celebration.

We started by showing them the movie “Happy Feet” and after the movie was over we served them “Sachipapas” which is a traditional dish served at children’s parties. It is French fries, with sliced hot dogs, covered with mustard, mayo and ketchup.

After the meal, Bro. Benito read the story of the birth of Jesus and shared with the children what this season truly is about. Then we sang some Christmas songs and then gave out presents to the children.

We took some photos (check photo page) for everyone to see how excited the children were. This was a tremendous blessing as for many of these children this would be the only gifts they receive.

Sunday morning we again visited the church and took part in the Sunday School program. This would be a day of “good-byes” as the group from Vermont would be returning to the states on Christmas Day.

It was wonderful to have them here with us at Betesda. I know they will be missed by everyone here.

Let me take this time to thank all of YOU who had a part in making this Christmas a very special one for the children of Betesda Church and the area of La Legua.

Continue to pray for us and the work here. We are in the midst of getting the plans drawn up for the construction project and hope to begin in January.