VBS, major sharing, and crazy motocar drivers!

This is lakin....it was her birthday yesterday, so Sarah and I bought her a blanket from the market!

This is the market place where they sell the best juice I have ever tasted. Sarah and I made a special trip yesterday for the juice!...and for lakin!

This is at the at the VBS with the ninos....it was craft time!

This is Dustin sitting beside me, Renzom in my lap, and Frances to the side of Sarah. The two older boys live at the campamento and Renzom is just adorable...he is also at the campamento quite frequently.

Well, another week passes here in Nauta! We have been here for two weeks now, and have found ourselves adjusting very comfortably to the peruvian culture.....once again! The American Team has arrived here in Nauta, and we have been working alongside them for the past week, and will continue with them for the next two weeks. We did a vacation Bible school with children from the local neighborhood. The theme for this week was obedience. Several characters from the Bible were chosen whose testimony of obedience to God radically shook the lives of people around them. We talked about jonah and the whale and david and goliath. We ended with the gospel message and how through Jesus´ obedience to his Father had cost him his life. But through that obedience, the whole world now had an opportunity to know Jesus intimately and spend eternity with him and then how we are to ultimately go out and make disciples of ALL nations! The peruvians have been working with us, and we have been teaching them how to do Vacatin Bible School with the kids here.

This morning in our church service, I stood amazed at what I saw. With one guy playing the guitar, and the pastor´s wife beating a shabby little drum, I saw what true worship really is. There were no lights, there was not a full band and they did not have the best singers....it was simply worship. I saw a true intimacy with Christ, that I have failed to see most of my life. Sometimes I wonder why people in foreign countries with nothing seem to truly grasp the fact that Jesus is absolutely there everything. They live without watching junk on television, and having things consume there mind. They simply adore Christ for who he is. All I could thing was....how can I go back to the States and maintain this mindset of worship. How can I make Jesus my everything when I live in a culture that has so many other distractions. Christ has to be treasured above All, or we are merely putting idols in front of him...and this is exactly what Christ has called us against.

Sarah has been doing a lot of translating. Last night she had to translate for a pastor here in town of Nauta, and it was quite interesting. The pastor was talking about how we, as Christians, can lose our salvation if we are ever involved in sexual immorality. Obviously, we do not believe that anyone who truly knows Christ can lose there salvation. Yes, he calls us to live righteous lives, and to be holy just as He is, but we also mess up. The leader from the American team was frustrated by this sermon. He was able to speak in church today and preach against these lies that are so often taught here in Nauta. The majority of pastor´s here in the area believe that salvation is never a guarantee, and it can be lost. This is absolutely heart breaking. We have friends here that are so confused, and do not know what to believe. Most feel that when they do fall, there is no use in trying to win there favor back with God, and they completely give up on the Christian life. How sad it is when people feel as if they have to win favor with God. He has extended his hands of mercy and grace over our lives, and how sad it is when people feel as if they have messed up to much and have lost there salvation. Pray for the youth and adults here in Nauta. I am learning more and more that the majority of Nauta is living without Christ in there lives. They have heard the gospel message, but most have rejected. We are praying that through the kid´s ministries here in Nauta, they can come to know Christ and take the word back to there families!

On a lighter note, Sarah Booth is the most giving person I think I have ever met. A few nights ago, Sarah was in a large amount of discomfort. There are two things here in Nauta that can make a person extremely uncomfortably.....Bug bites and Chiggers. She allowed a few ladies at the campamento to check her bites out, and we realized that these were not bug bites, instead they were chiggers. With chiggers, the itching never stops. As we were talking to Crystal tonight on the phone, she said that we should be careful because they can spread very easily in bed. Well folks, Sarah sleeps right next to me. As I am writing this, I feel some extreme discomfort and feel semi confident that Sarah may have passed her chiggers on to me! I finally am accustomed to the bug bites, and now on top of that.....well, you know!

Late last night, Sarah and I were on our way home from campamento. We live up on a big hill, and most motorcar drivers can never make it up and we end up having to walk. Also, here in nauta, a person should never have to pay more than 2 soles for a ride in the moto.....unless your American. Our driver last night was having a very difficult time making it up the hill, so Sarah told him we could walk. Sarah asked how much the cost was, and he said 3 soles. Well, this just did not sit well with sarah....so with a forceful voice she looked at him and said ¨Are you crazy, you couldn´t even get up the hill¨. The moto man was conning us. Well, the next thing we know, we have fiver elderly men circling the moto pushing us up to the top of the hill. It was proably the most humorous thing I have seen in a while. Once we arrived to the top, we asked the moto man how much it would cost, and he said........2 soles. Sarah set him straight!

Things continue to go well here. We continuously are learning that we can do nothing on our own strength, but Christ has to be in everything we do. We recognize that we need him so much, and daily we beg for the Spirit to guide us, and lead us in the way we do ministry here. We can do nothing apart from Jesus. Pray for Nauta, that they will truly look at Scripture for what it says, and that the pastors here will quit leading the people astray!

Kelly B.