Hey Guys,I know we weren't supposed to come back to Huaraz until the 31st, but Tommy's plans changed, so he came to get us early. Hurray for hot showers! The plan is to NOT come back to Huaraz again, so after lots of running around today we were able to get everything done and in order for the rest of our stay in Tapacocha before the team comes.
Well, I have some very exciting news to tell all of you. After almost 2 months of wondering if God was even working in Tapacocha at all, one of the families that we were having Bible studies with decided to follow Christ with their whole hearts and to share Him with their neighbors and friends! Their names are Loucho and Claudia. If you've been on one of our trips to Tapacoch
a you probably remember Francisca, the older lady who is always so nice to our teams. Loucho is her son and Claudia is her daughter in law. Claudia runs the only resturant in town. (And her food is SO good) They were both already believers in Christ when we met them, but had gotten far away from God and never really grew up in their faith. We started going to their house to read the Bible with them and everything just took off from there. In our conversations we've been talking to them about what the Bible teaches us to do as believers. After reading a passage of Scripture and discussing the meaning, we ask them to think about what God is telling them to do.
We're thrilled with how God is working in the lives of the people in Tapacocha. We've talked with several people who are used to the kind of work we're doing and all of them said that its very rare to be this far along in teaching and dicipling in such a short amount of time. Only God can do that! Praise the Lord!
a you probably remember Francisca, the older lady who is always so nice to our teams. Loucho is her son and Claudia is her daughter in law. Claudia runs the only resturant in town. (And her food is SO good) They were both already believers in Christ when we met them, but had gotten far away from God and never really grew up in their faith. We started going to their house to read the Bible with them and everything just took off from there. In our conversations we've been talking to them about what the Bible teaches us to do as believers. After reading a passage of Scripture and discussing the meaning, we ask them to think about what God is telling them to do.First they wanted to invite the kids in the village to their house once a week for a Sunday school. We 
have now had 3 meetings and have an average of 15-20 kids every week. They also wanted to invite their neighbors to come to their house for Bible studies and we've been doing that for about a month and a half. For both the kids Sunday school, and the adult Bible studies, we've been teaching Loucho and Claudia how to teach on their own when we go back home. In one of our study times they told us that neither of them had been baptized and both agreed that they needed to obey God in that way. So, we will have our first baptisims in Tapacocha sometime next week! The picture at left is where we'll have the baptisms. It's an irrigation pond owned by the village of Tapacocha that fills with water about every four days and is drained by removing a rock that covers a hole. The water flows to the fields below to water the crops. Of course it's freezing mountain water, so we're going to heat rocks in a fire and put them in the pond to help warm the water!
Then, just last week Loucho told us he felt God was telling him that he should legally marry his wife Claudia! Most people in the mountains never marry the person they live with, because its usually very expensive. So, for them to choose to get married now is a huge encouragement to us, because it shows us that God is truly working in their hearts and they are choosing to be obedient followers of Him.
have now had 3 meetings and have an average of 15-20 kids every week. They also wanted to invite their neighbors to come to their house for Bible studies and we've been doing that for about a month and a half. For both the kids Sunday school, and the adult Bible studies, we've been teaching Loucho and Claudia how to teach on their own when we go back home. In one of our study times they told us that neither of them had been baptized and both agreed that they needed to obey God in that way. So, we will have our first baptisims in Tapacocha sometime next week! The picture at left is where we'll have the baptisms. It's an irrigation pond owned by the village of Tapacocha that fills with water about every four days and is drained by removing a rock that covers a hole. The water flows to the fields below to water the crops. Of course it's freezing mountain water, so we're going to heat rocks in a fire and put them in the pond to help warm the water!Then, just last week Loucho told us he felt God was telling him that he should legally marry his wife Claudia! Most people in the mountains never marry the person they live with, because its usually very expensive. So, for them to choose to get married now is a huge encouragement to us, because it shows us that God is truly working in their hearts and they are choosing to be obedient followers of Him.
In addition to all that, we've made good friends with Pastor Jose in the town of Cotaparaco, right below us. We were able to attend one of his worship services and meet the group of believers there. They believe the same way we do, and it was nice to see their genuine love for God and spend some time fellowshiping with them. Pastor Jose has agreed to come up to Tapacocha once a week to encourage and continue to teach Loucho, Claudia, and anyone else that shows up after we go back home. We also plan on him marrying Loucho and Claudia. We don't know when yet, but Loucho and Claudia want Zeke and I to be there if at all possible, so it will have to be soon!
We're thrilled with how God is working in the lives of the people in Tapacocha. We've talked with several people who are used to the kind of work we're doing and all of them said that its very rare to be this far along in teaching and dicipling in such a short amount of time. Only God can do that! Praise the Lord!Now we can hardly wait for the LifePoint team to come the second week of November! I'm so excited! We'll have Louise Becker, Gail Hershey, Abe Kobylanski, Mike Benedetti and the leader of the group, Jonathan Taylor.
Please pray for safe travels for the team coming to Peru on Novemeber 7th. Pray for Loucho and Claudia to continue to be filled with a fire for God. Pray for Pastor Jose as he goes out of his way to support us and the believers in Tapacocha. During the rainy season he'll be walking up the side of the mountain, in the mud and rain, in order to teach the Word of God. And pray for the rest of Tapacocha, that God would open their eyes to the truth, so that they might have a relationship with the one and only true God, and Jesus, His Son.
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