A Report from Peru!

Greetings to you all from Peru!

I am very excited to report that the Lord answered all our prayers for my travels here! Thank you so much for praying! I had no problems with making flight connections, and I received a green light at the airport in Lima. Praise God!

It's been great to be back in Peru. I love seeing the dust-swept mountains surrounding the city,
hearing the friendly chatter of Spanish all around me all the time, catching up with old friends while meeting new ones, and of course, visiting the Earnhart family.

Yesterday, we spent all day preparing for the young ladies' retreat - "Doncellas de Dios." The Lord provided a wonderful banquet hall for the facility, so we set up shop early yesterday morning to clean, decorate, and begin food preparation. Here are some pictures of preparations:

The banquet hall ready for our use.

Sarah throwing water on the ground to help settle the dust storm that was created by sweeping.

Aunt Becky and Sarah being goofy. :-)

Abbey and Fernanda working on setting the tables.

A quick pose with my new friend, Lucia!

The tables - ready to go!

The booklets for retreat attendees.

Abbey helping one of the ladies from church with food prep.

Amanda smiles for the camera! She was a trooper!

Ready for guests!

A very cheery and creative entrance to the main area where the sessions would take place and dinner would be served.

The polka-dot cake.

After dashing home for showers and a round-up of last-minute gear, we headed back to the banquet hall in a taxi. Little by little, mothers and daughters began to trickle in for the start of the festivities. A group even came from Arica, Chile, 45 minutes across the border!

Since Peruvians operate on a much different schedule than Americans, some attendees didn't arrive until nearly two hours after the "official" start of the program. However, the Lord worked everything out so that they didn't miss anything important. Sarah had planned the schedule with alternating courses of the meal, skits, songs, and testimonies with plenty of cushion time throughout, and then the main message at the end of the night.

The Earnhart Ladies
(Sarah likes to give creative faces for the camera.) :-)

Young ladies from the Earnharts' church, Iglesia Bautista Calvario

It has been SO good to see my friend, Pamela, again! She and I were very close when I lived here before...despite the fact that we spoke different languages. Jesus provides a bond that surpasses languages! I am grateful for improved Spanish this time around such that I am able to communicate so much better with her!

Dinner was a very fun experience! I sat with a great table of ladies! One girl I knew from before, the others were new friends. They liked practicing their English with me, and I had a blast talking to them in Spanish and getting lessons from them as well!

What a wonderful sight to see the banquet hall full by the middle of the program! Here they are watching a skit.

Sarah was the speaker for Friday night. She is a gifted communicator and speaks Spanish fluently. She spoke on the topic of what it means to be a daughter of God with her emphasis being on salvation and a personal relationship with God.

We know of at least one woman who became a Christian after hearing this message. Her story was one of the highlights of the whole weekend! We were praying for her daughter to be able to come to the retreat, knowing that would take a miracle, but were floored when the mother walked in too! God did an amazing work in her heart last night and we could only stand back in awe and praise His name.

Today, we started at 9:00 in the morning and went all day until late afternoon. Throughout the day, there were messages, songs of praise, a craft, lunch, games, and more messages! The above picture is of me speaking on the topic of "Living with Eternal Purpose." Becky Bjur, on the right, translated for me. Her family serves in Chile as missionaries and Becky grew up speaking Spanish. She did a fantastic job!

After days and days of prayerful planning of my messages, the Lord blessed and they all went really well! Thank you for praying! The girls seemed engaged and responsive. They especially were attentive during the final session of the day, "A Love Story Written By God." Praise the Lord for the seeds of truth that have been planted!

For the craft, the girls decorated picture frames and then each received a picture that had been taken of them the night before in their fancy clothes.

This is Brenda. She is the girl we were really praying would be able to come.

Fernanda and Abbey - two peas in a pod!

Lunch time!

Playing the "human knot" game.

Sarah did a great job preparing and leading this retreat, along with her mother. It was a joy to work alongside them!

The whole weekend was delightful, and I think the girls who came greatly enjoyed the experience. More importantly, we pray they will take the truths we shared from God's Word and be "doers of the word."

To God be the glory...great things He hath done!