A Lesson Taken From Kings

Right now I'm reading a series by Lynn Austin called Chronicles of the Kings. It focuses on the rule of Judah after the Promised Land split into two separate kingdoms with Israel to the north. In the south, Judah continues to be ruled by a descendant from the royal line of David.

In the second book, King Ahaz left the nation of Judah in ruin. He allowed them to become a vassal state of Assyria to avoid a raid by another nation. The Assyrians are overtaking their neighbors, leaving the land in ruin, people tortured and destroyed and finding no kingdom able to stop them in their tracks.

Idolatry has taken root in the land, people no long worship Yahweh and Judah is impoverished as the nation is paying a heavy yearly tribute to Assyria for their safety.

Upon the death of Ahaz, his son Hezekiah has taken over as the king of Judah. He comes back to his love for Yahweh and decides to purge the land of idolatry and worship only the one true Lord. He faces a heavy task of turning the government around and bring the rule of the land back in line with the Law.

As part of bringing the nation back to Godly rule, he decides Judah should become free of Assyria's oppression. He declares Yahweh Lord and true ruler of Judah. Most, if not all, of his government officials disagree with this decision. The Palace Administrator, who is an athiest, challenges King Hezekiah saying "If you want to launch a religious revival and make everyone throw away their idols to worhship Yahweh, that is immaterial to me. But it would be disastrous to allow your religious zeal to spill over into your political decisions." He further says "We cannot confuse religious idealism with political reality." pg 48

Micah is on the scene, prophesying and backing up Hezekiah's decision to serve no other master than Yahweh. He responds to Shebna, the Palace Administrator "You're wrong. There's no difference between the two. King Hezekiah isn't the true ruler of Judah- Yahweh is. Our forefathers demanded a king like the other nations, but God is our true king. Therefore, there's no difference between our religion and our politics. They're one and the same."

This statement really got me thinking. I think this is Truth that should still hold true for us today. If not as a nation, The United States of America, that was built on a foundation of Christianity, then certainly on a personal level.

Are my convictions that I hold dear based on the teaching of the Word reflected in my politics? I'll admit... I've been tempted to see them as different. I would label myself a Conservative if labels were necessary. I make my political decisions based on my personal convictions, but I have questioned whether I really should... as many people do.

Should we hold people who claim no faith in Jesus Christ to our Biblical convictions and bring that into the political arena? And I'm not saying force them to become Christians, but rather maintain our Godly convictions. I know what my answer is. I know many people will disagree with me.

Just because people choose not to obey or acknowledge the Truth, does that negate it? Does that mean it doesn't exist? Should we privately believe one thing and publicly another?

Fortunately, we are no longer under the Law. I'm not trying to tell anyone what the United States government should do. But, personally, I do want my convictions based on my faith in Jesus Christ and my politics to be one in the same. Is God the true ruler of my life? Do I allow God the true king to govern every decision and opinion in my life?

Do you?

Death by peppermint...

Okay, so maybe that's a little dramatic, but I am sooooo over peppermint! I really love the smell and taste of peppermint, but I overdid it.

I decided to make a rice neck warmer to replace the one my mom had given me a few years ago, and has since disappeared. Moving between the states, Mexico and several locations in Peru does have its downside. Things seem to go missing now and then.

My mom sent me some fabric pieces left over from the quilt she made for Kaelyn. I dusted off the old sewing machine she got for me at a garage sale a few years ago in the states (I've managed to keep track of it in all the moving!) and got to work.

I decided to make a scented neck warmer and put some rice in a bowl and decided to add some peppermint extract. I don't have essential oil, so I thought "hmmm... maybe I should add extra because I only have extract, not pure oil". Big mistake!!!!

I'm not sure I'll ever get the smell of peppermint out of the house. I decided to try out my neck warmer at bedtime, but the smell was so overwhelming I had to put it on the floor... then the other side of the room.... finally, I put it outside our bedroom. I'm hoping that after a month or so outside, the smell will have calmed down enough to bring back in to use.

Fortunately, I at least had the sense to make a removable cover. I will be washing it, for sure! The smell of peppermint has stuck to everything the warmer has touched. I think I'll stick to using the hot water bottle for now.

Little Miss Kaelyn...

is a growler! She growls all the time- when she's happy, when she's sad, and when she wants attention. And she wiggles around and kicks the sides of her crib when she's supposed to be sleeping. When we walk in to tuck her back in... she growls!!

This is what she does while Keira and I are doing school.
I think she's close to crawling. I'm not sure whether to be
frightened or excited about that!

She likes to be in her Johnny Jump-Up while I'm working in the kitchen.

I love this thing! I don't know what it's called, but
I put in pieces of food like banana and she sucks it
out through the mesh. I don't have to worry about
her choking and it doesn't require me to feed her.

Swine Flu shwine flu!


Today it was announced that schools here in Cusco would be closed for 2 weeks due to the arrival of the Swine Flu. I really believe that quarantine is the best option for preventing the spread of disease, so for that reason it probably isn't the worst thing ever. I do, however, also believe that the swine flu is being hyped up to be much worse than it really is.

We're in the midst of a bad flu season here in Cusco with lots of illness. Many of the children living in the hills and outskirts of Cusco don't have very good nutrtion or health, so keeping them home is probably good for now.

Not so good... the effect the illness and strikes, etc. are having on tourism. Businesses that normally thrive during this time are reporting low sales. I don't think the poor state of the economy helps much, either.

Keep up your immune system! We drink strong ginger tea and take grapefruit seed extract when we start to feel like we're battling illness. I swear by that and apple cider vinegar for a sick stomach. Put a tablespoon or so in a glass of water and drink it up. Sounds weird, but it does neutralize the stomach acid and reduces nausea.

Stay healthy!

Homeschool with Keira

We originally considered putting Keira in a preschool program here a few days a week to meet friends and work on her Spanish. We decided it would be a lot of work to get her there and back and the idea of school here is not that great. I don't think 2 1/2-3 year olds should spend the majority of their time sitting at their desks doing worksheets. So... we're homeschooling, which is what I really want to do anyway.

In the picture above she is working on a sticker book from Grandma Polly. It requires her to match objects, shapes, colors, etc. School can be fun, right?! We also have the P3/4 Core from Sonlight. They are great books! Check it out if you aren't familiar with Sonlight. At this point I plan on schooling both of the girls using the program. Keira is always eager to do school!

Yesterday I took her to a small playground near our house and she had fun playing with some little Peruvian neighbors. I took some "cute" pictures, but the camera was on the wrong setting for dusk so, alas, no picture to share. Keira's happy face will just have to be enough.

In about six months or so I'd like to put her in ballet or some kind of a music class. Jed and I may wait until she's about 5 to start piano (unless she shows she has the concentration for one of us to teach her piano at home before then), but I think there is a rhythm and music class she can participate in.

The Meeting Place Game Night!!

We spent the 4th with friends from our English church here in Cusco. I wouldn't call it a 4th of July celebration as not all of us are Americans and that wasn't the intent, but it was a fun way to spend a night that is a special holiday for us Americans back home.

Below are our friends Tim and Lucy along with Lucy's sister Catherine (in the back) and her friend Sam who are visiting.

Our church is growing! We had about 30 people at our service last Sunday and we are filling up our small space quite well. We are brainstorming ways to fit more people in as we continue to expand.

Social events and outings are a big part of our ministry as building community between visitors and residents of Cusco is one of our goals.

There were about 15 of us that played Mennonite Manners, Chinese Poker and Golf. I think the next game night we'll go for a game of Mafia!

We also have in the works an outing of white-water rafting, pool and darts at a pub, and karaoke. Woohoo!

Coffee House Update
by Jed

Here's the latest update that we sent out as an email a few days back:

Hello!
We know some of you have been wondering, so we thought we'd give a quick update on our coffee house down here. We thought we'd hit a wall a couple weeks back with some legal stuff which has been somewhat discouraging. It was looking like we'd have to completely change at least one of our visas to an investor's visa & spend a lot of money on legal stuff to do it.... oh yes, AND find a way to put $25,000US in an account down here for several months. This would also limit us being able to use foreign volunteers and set us back months in even thinking of opening because of legalities. So, as we prayed and talked things over, we had a better idea.

We just talked to our lawyer this week, and we are going ahead to officially register Meltdown Ministries as a non-profit organization here in Peru. What that means is that the cafe would run as something of a "subsidiary" of Meltdown and be non-profit as well. Income for the cafe would directly fund the ministry which would be great. This would require far less cost in start up and allow us to somewhat freely use foreign volunteers. Using English speaking (Christian) volunteers to work alongside us ensures that we keep our focus on the ministry which was the original point of the cafe. As a non-profit, we also would not be required a huge chunk of money in the bank to start. We will be able to start going forward with things by the end of next month... technically. We are still about $10,000 short to be able to open although we have already bought a great coffee grinder & waffle maker and will hopefully be building the bar this month and buying the espresso machine. Exciting times! Tomorrow our whole team has a coffee workshop with an American cafe owner from Lima which should be really helpful & a lot of fun. Over the next month, we will break down some of our remaining costs for people interested in maybe tackling a specific smaller sized project. Stay tuned for that...

So, that's the brief version of everything going on down here. We're gearing up this next month for interns and teams that are coming and are continuing working on our growing church (www.themeetingplacecusco.com)

. Thank you all for your prayers and please continue to pray for the funding we need for both the cafe and the church.

Love to all, Jed & Jaime

The Cafe - The Latest and, well, not the Greatest
by Jed

OK, so we thought for those actually checking this out, I'd reward you with up-to-date info on our endeavors here in Cusco with the cafe.

As some of you know, we received some extra money this past month for the cafe project which is wonderful news... We decided straight away to start firming up details of actually registering and starting the business. We'd already done our homework and talked to lawyers, etc. about the logistics what with us being US citizens and all. What we were told is that because we already had our residency, (albeit through a religious and not a work visa), that we could open a small business which is in fact what we're doing.

So, we were a little surprised when we visited a different lawyer (just to make sure), and found out that that is not the case... whether something changed or what, we're not sure, but we now have to get an investor's visa for Jaime so we can start this cafe. (This is a reliable lawyer by the way, recommended by an English friend who opened a business here and by the US consulate.) The entire process would cost $1800, which we could do with some of the money we got, BUT, the catch is that we'd have to find a way to get $25,000US into a bank account here for 3 months as part of the requirements of obtaining this visa. We are working towards finding a way to do that, so if you've got $20,000 or so that you can spare for 3 months, we promise to give it all back:) But that's not all...

We can also only hire one foreigner for ever 5 Peruvians we hire and really we'd only like to hire 1 or 2 Peruvians, seeing as it's a small business. Actually, the requirements are that we hire a minimum of 2 and possibly three Peruvians. We could also find ourselves getting fined if we have a bunch of "volunteers" working at the cafe even if we're not paying them. Since this is actually a business, if US citizens, for example, (interns, friends, other people working with our ministry, etc.) are volunteering in our cafe and immigration comes in (which they can), we could be seriously hosed. Unfortunately, that's a huge part of our plan with the cafe... having foreigners there working to have a really cool vibe, people speaking English and having a doorway into our ministry even though we will not be a "Christian" cafe. So now what?

So now we're in talks with our lawyer to see if we can open our cafe under a non-profit organization that we could officially open (Meltdown Ministries for example) and possibly have a little more freedom to have foreigners volunteering there. PRAY! We're also open to other ideas to be able to involve interns, volunteers, etc to help connect this to our ministry. If anyone has ideas, we're open. In the meantime we're praying and waiting to hear about the idea of a non-profit.

April 21, 2009
by Jed

Well apparently we've been too busy to even post, but thought I'd throw up a few cute pics of kids and then we'll try to be a little more consistent :)

All right...

I decided it was time for a new background! I wonder how long it'll take for Jed to notice... and to tell me to change it! I've wanted to change it for quite a while, but he doesn't want something girly or distracting. What do you think about this one? Can you read the posts okay? Does anyone even check our blog anymore? Ha!

We have so very, very much to write about. I'll try to write a blog tomorrow. We've been super busy with the move, kids, new team members, things actually taking off with our ministry, etc. I've also been waiting for our computers to get networked (I have a new latop- yay!) because all the photos are on the desktop. We can't figure out how to get it to work. I can't access the desktop from the laptop. I'll have to just forge ahead and not wait. Maybe I can trade Jed for a few minutes to get pics uploaded.

More coming soon!

Questionnaire about my hubby Jed

1. Where did you meet? We met at Festival con Dios in October 2002 when Jed was working on the tour and it was held at my university.
2. How long did you date before you were married? We got engaged 4 months after we met and married another 4 months after the engagement. So I guess that's a total of 8 months of dating or "talking". :)
   
3. What does he do that surprises you? He is really hospitable- more than me. I mean to be, but don't always think about it. Jed loves to be generous!
   
4. What is your favorite quality of his? His exuberance- Jed is very excitable and it keeps life interesting... even when I say I'm annoyed by it first thing in the morning.
   
5. What is your favorite feature of his? His BIG blinky eyes.
   
6. Does he have a nickname for you? Jaimiffer.
   
7. What’s his favorite food? I would currently say tetrazzini the way I make it, but I guess it isn't really tetrazzini because I completely changed it.
   
8. What is his favorite sport? Not so much into sports... but he does like outdoor activities like hiking.
   
9. When and where was your first kiss? sitting on a rock at the Grand Canyon.
10. What do you like to do together? Eat chocolate! Hike, kayak (more theoretically than actually because we've only done it twice), watch movies and t.v. series and... everything else! We like to go to bed at the same time 98% of the time as well.
    
11. Do you have any children? Two girls and Jed is convinced the third will be a girl, too.
    
12. Does he have a hidden talent? Hidden? He's very good at laundry and making waffles! He's also artistic and musical, but that isn't really hidden.
    
13. Who said “I love you” first? Jed
    
14. What is his favorite kind of music? rock and he also really likes playing worship music.
    
15. What do you admire most about him? His passion and conviction to study the Word of God and Biblical topics and remembering facts!
    
16. Do you think he will read this? Yes because a copy is sent to his email when it is posted.
    

We rented a new house!!

Now I'm sure some of you are reading this saying to yourselves "What the heck?! I thought they just moved into a place a few months ago!" Well, you're right,but we planned to move out around March all along and let our friends the Browns move in.

If you remember, we have partnered with a missionary couple from the UK to see our respective goals come to realization. Since their arrival in Peru 2 years ago, they have had the vision of opening up a hostel as part of their ministry. We, of course, as part of our ministry goal want to open a cafe. We realized that with prices for a locale being what they are that we would both be hard-pressed to find somewhere that we could afford if we each ventured out on our own. God provided us with a solution when he gave us this old hostel. So, we took this place with the intent that the Browns would live here and run the guest house while we live in a separate location and focus on the cafe located in the courtyard of the San Blas House. The Browns went back to the UK for 4 months so we moved in to run things until they get back, which will be February 22.

Anyway, back to the house! We have been praying that God would provide us with a house that would feel like a "real" house where we could finally fully unpack after 4 1/2 years, be warm, have a house full of sunlight, a bathtub, hot water in the taps and where we could see ourselves living for a few years and happily raise a family. We added the HUGE request that such a house would be located in San Blas within a 5-10 minute walk from the cafe/church plant location. We have been assured time and time again that we would never find such a house in the artsy area of San Blas with enough room for us to comfortably live. But did we let that stop us from asking? NO!

It's a good thing because once again Big Daddy upstairs came through and has provided us with a wonderful 3 bedroom house with great landlords! It's located 7 minutes from the San Blas House (cafe/church/guest house) and has all of the things mentioned above- woohoo!!! We are so thankful and feel so blessed to have found such a location. Everyone we have told about the house cannot believe that we have been so fortunate and that we found it within the first week of spreading the word that we were looking for a place.

Thank you Jesus!!

Here are a few pictures. We'll post more when we move in March...

Master Tub-my favorite feature of the house!

View from master bedroom.

Living room wrapping around to the kitchen on the left.

Finally!!

Two months after the fact, we'd like to proudly announce the birth of our daughter Kaelyn Elisabeth, weighing in at 8lbs 13 oz. just like her big sister at birth!

Yes, I know we're a little behind but better late then never, right?

Keira loves being a big sister and is very good with Kaelyn. I always wanted a sister (until I realized how spoiled I was being the youngest and only girl with two brothers!) so I'm excited for them to grow up experiencing sisterhood.

Random Facts

So I was tagged by my sister-in-law Jenny a few weeks ago and am just sitting down to do this. With Jed at Machu Picchu with his friend Peter I have some free-time on my hands! Plus, we are way, way, way overdue for a blog. As always. Sigh...

Here's how you play:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Write six random things about yourself.
3. Tag six people at the end of your post.
4. If you are tagged, JUST DO IT, and pass the tag along.

Random Facts about Us

1. Jed, Keira and I all have a mole on our left temple... in roughly the same place. Genetic? We'll see if the new baby does, too!

2. Back in February I received an email from a friend in North Carolina. We email each other a few times a year and they came to see us when we were in Tennessee on furlough almost 2 years ago. She said "Jaime, I had a dream last night that you are pregnant. You better go get a test, girl!!" I thought that was funny because I was "due" for you know what that very morning. and had been very cranky as I am around that time. So I wrote back and said "Oh, that's so funny! Sadly, I'm sure that I'm not as I have all the symptoms of you-know-what." Three days later... a positive pregnancy test! So thanks to my friend in North Carolina I found out I was pregnant with baby number 2!!

3. Jed is a celebrity in Peru among our friends at BCM in Lima. The reason? He was on tour with Michael W. Smith and his name appears in the credits of one of his concert videos. He can also be seen walking backstage- and Jed has a VERY distinctive walk! And he had his four-inch spiky black hair in the video. They picked him out in the video and were soooo excited to show us. Very impressive (wink, wink)!

4. Keira and I share a very intense love of swings. I grew up with a swing set that my dad built for me out of telephone poles. He was a power lineman so had access to those sorts of things. That swing set was my most favorite place on earth through 8th grade when we moved out of our house. Sad day for me. I spent countless hours on that swing. After that, I lived to find a swing to bring me joy when I went out and about with my friends.

I love them SO much that Jed proposed to me on a swing! Keira shares my passion as she wants nothing but to be on the swing when we go to two of our missionary friends' houses here. For the Harvest Party she spent the majority of her time on the swing and only got off when we forced her to- literally kicking and screaming. Someone get that girl a swing of her own!

5. Jed is very creative. And he loves to make me surprises! He started our first scrapbook before we got married, he has made me countless cards from cut paper, etc. He even wrote me my very own story about the White Eskimo Princess (yes, that's me!) for my birthday one year.

This year for my birthday he created a Jennifer Garner/Sydney Bristow webpage for me about how Sydney Bristow is on assignment as me in Peru. That earned major points as I love Jennifer Garner and Alias is my all-time favorite t.v. show. It's a joke among some of my friends that the two of could be sisters. And our kids are around the same age- Violet and the one she's expecting. Yes, I am excited about that I know it makes me a big dork!

6. Poor Keira has an irriational fear of spiders. And I mean the teeny tiny, crush with your finger kind of spiders. It developed out of the blue and that fear has been extended to flies and "fuzz". Yeah, lots of fun! She's pretty good now about staying calm long enough to identify fuzz, but she cannot handle it on her hands. And we have taught her to tickle, or as she says "stickle", the flies in an attempt to make them seem less lethal. It works unless she's in her bed sleeping and a fly comes in her window. Then it's scream bloody murder and no more nap time!!

Hmm... I'm not sure that anyone reads our blog much as we are sooo terrible about updating. I'll tag Micah and see if she gets the tag! Micah, give us some fun random facts about you!!

San Blas House Update
by Jed

For those looking for more pics on the San Blas house, you might have to wait for a couple weeks. We have been insanely busy the last 2 weeks, & it's actually a small miracle that I'm writing a quick update right now:) But, I thought I at least owed it to those of you who like to keep up with what's going on down here.

Right now I (Jed) am working feverishly at the San Blas place to get things at least to a point where it's livable. I am redoing all the electrical in our room & Keira's room and hired a guy to install plumbing for our washing machine which just got finished today. Supposedly we're getting internet & phone installed tomorrow & hopefully have electrical in the kitchen started which is going to be a MAJOR task. I am working all by myself with the exception of the guy who did the plumbing so it's been extremely frustrating. Anyone wanna come down & work??? hehe

We are moving in 4 days & we've hardly even started packing not to mention that I really have no time & Jaime is getting very pregnant. We've even asked our favorite waitress Fania at Jack's Café to help us move that day because we are so short people.

Speaking of short, we are also about several thousand dollars short for getting basics done this month, so we are praying super hard that God will come through for us possibly even before next "payday" which isn't for a month still. Isn't there some rich celebrity dying to unload a few grand for a tax break? :)

All our friends from BCM in Lima are actually here in Cusco this week! We had met up Sat night with Raúl & Carola Torrejón & fam which was really cool... Then, this morning while I was working, I stepped outside for a sec, and EVERYONE was right in front of the door (some 20 + people). I walked out & in unison I hear "JED!!!" It was good times seeing everyone from BCM. I gave them a little tour of our new place.

Well, that's it until the next time. Pictures will follow, I promise!!

My Super Rad Day
by Jed

Let me tell you why today was a super rad day. First, let me set the stage... A few months ago some Canadian guys came down to help out with a Wycliffe building project (you can check backwards a few posts ago and see their pic --Mark, Wes & Alisdair). At any rate we got some good hang time in and I was even able to meet up with them again in Lima before they left while I was there looking for café stuff. Meanwhile, another team of Canadians came down over the past couple weeks (who I wasn't able to meet) and Mark had asked if I needed anything brought down, so thinking of all the crayon & pencil marks Keira has made on our walls, I said "Magic Erasers".

Fastforward to today, & Carletta & Sandy, two girls working with Wycliffe down here call up to say they're going to bring stuff by my house this morning (as I hadn't had time to go out to Larapa yet to pick stuff up). So they come to the door to deliver the goods... Magic Erasers, a fat jar of peanut butter and REAL maple syrup. THEN, they hand me this guitar case and I'm like, "what in the world?..." I open it up and what would you know, those crazy Canadians pitched in and got me a BEAUTIFUL acoustic/electric guitar!!!!

So, long story short, I'm having a really rad day, and had been planning to get a new acoustic guitar for a while (but without any money, it's been kind of hard). I can't even tell you how excited I am. I'm including a quick pic of this beauty. For those guitar buffs who want to know what it is, it's a Tanglewood TW66 cut away complete with abalone inlays on a rosewood neck and it sounds even better!

Hostel & Café!!!!
by Jed

We have had a CRAZY last few weeks, but this e-mail we just sent out explains the results & everything that's been going on. We hate having to ask for money, but I guess sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and ask:) Enjoy, and don't forget to check out the pics below...

Greetings from Cusco!

God is good!! Today we signed a lease for a hostel and our future café!!!!!!!!!!! There is so much to tell, but we'll try to stay on point. I know this is long, but please read to the end :)

We have been loosely working with another missionary couple, Roland & Jenny Brown (with Latin Link) from the UK over the last 4 months or so and have more recently been talking about how we can work together more closely to see both our visions met. We also have been looking at moving out of our small apartment and moving closer to central Cusco, but had not been able to find a place. Last week we casually looked at a hostel for rent in Plaza San Blas, the 2^nd major plaza in Cusco and a 5 minute walk from the center. After negotiations this past week we have decided to partner together to rent this place for our joint ministries! This beautiful location has 7 bedrooms, a courtyard, 4 bathrooms & a nice size kitchen. We want to stress how strategic this location is!! Additionally, we have the possibility to rent more space connected to this hostel in the future if the need arises.

Jaime and I will be moving into the hostel or "San Blas House" as we've affectionately called it, in about 3 weeks and we probably will be staying there until next March or April to help offset the rent and to be close to the ministry as we start this big project. We will need an additional $250/month to cover our housing ($500 total).

Here's how it will work:

Guest Accommodations

Roland & Jenny will be running a guest house primarily for teams, churches and random individuals that come in from different countries. Some of these guests will not be Christians which will be a great opportunity to invest in their lives. The groups will be able to use the courtyard for meetings, etc. and we will also help out some with this. If you have any teams coming down to Cusco or if anyone needs a reasonably priced place to stay while they're here, let us know!

Café

We have a name & logo (stay tuned) and now we have a location! Our tentative plan is to open in March/April to the public as a breakfast café with hours roughly from 7am-2 pm. Before then we will be honing our skills, acquiring necessary equipment (i.e. espresso machine and Belgian waffle maker), and practicing on the "guests" (not free of charge!). We are looking for someone ministry-minded who has a passion for coffee and preferably experience in the art of espresso to join our team as soon as possible. The café, for those who aren't familiar with our vision, will be a point of contact for us in the community of foreigners to build relationships and share the gospel.

Church Plant

We now have an official location for our church! The café and church will share the same space as our aim is to have a laid-back, non-threatening and central location for the church. We are continuing with our Friday night gatherings which we will be focusing on more intently. Our aim is to see this morph into the church. As a quick recap, for those who are again unfamiliar with our vision-- Our target is the thousands of English speaking people living in and passing through Cusco who desperately need to know about Jesus. Check out our ministry page for more details. We are looking for people with specific gifts to help with our church plant ministry (i.e. a pastor, musicians, leaders). If this is you or you know someone who may be interested, check out www.jedandjaime.com/ministry_team.html.

Additional Ministry

Part of our partnership with Jenny and Roland includes an after-school ministry that Jenny is heading up in an under-privileged community of Cusco. Volunteers can stay in the San Blas house and we will encourage guests looking for volunteer opportunities to be a part of this exciting project. Volunteers may additionally be able to help us with our café in the future :)

Two-Phase Plan

What we are doing is a ginormous step of faith as we do not yet have the thousands of dollars needed to see our vision materialize. Through much prayer, counsel from our mission organization and waiting for God to provide this one open door (after many, many closed doors), He has led us to take this step knowing that He will be the one to provide. We will be able to move forward with this vision by separating it into smaller achievable steps. The great thing about the San Blas house is that it allows us to ultimately save thousands of dollars to see this through, and to start our vision now!

For every phase of our vision WE NEED MONEY that we don't fully have yet! We are looking for individuals and churches who want to be a part of this vision financially and can take on parts of this project to help us out. Most of these are onetime costs and the hope in the future is that the café will help generate income to support the ministry. Please prayerfully consider joining us to make this possible! In addition to financial support, we are looking for people to come down and help with projects. We can use people as soon as August!

Phase 1 (Starting in August 2008)
-Officially open San Blas house for guests in August. Jenny and Roland will help over see much of the accommodations.
-Start Bible study/church plant meetings on location utilizing the café area.
-Hosting teams
-Renovate kitchen as it is not usable even for cooking breakfast for guests at this point. Although we will initially use our own appliances, we will need money for some immediate appliances and a general renovation of the kitchen including cabinets, ventilation system, electrical work and minor plumbing.

Here are price estimates:
-Kitchen ventilation system - $650
-Kitchen sink & plumbing - $250
-Gas hook-up - $150
-Counters/ Cabinets - $700
-Paint & some tiling - $150
-Dishes, utensils & some cookware - $500
-Misc appliances - $200
-Electrical - $275
-Tables & chairs - $750
-Sofa cushions (already have the furniture) - $150

TOTAL= $3,775

We also have ongoing rent for our portion of the building (includes church plant) until the café helps pay for it - $350/month.

Phase 2
-Café open to public (7am-2pm)
-Church meeting weekly with full band and outreach programs both through the café and
on the streets
-Guest house continues to run
-Hosting teams

We will have the expense breakdown of phase 2 available on our website in the near future (or on request). Some of the items we will need for this are an espresso machine, commercial Belgian waffle maker, oven, stove, fridge and more dishes, etc. We will also need a sound system primarily for our church plant possibly before the café opens to the public.

We are excited about this next step and need your prayers and financial support to see this through. Thank you to all of you who are supporting us and have faithfully prayed for us to get to this point. Keep praying!! We welcome any questions and are attaching some pics of the main area of the San Blas House so you can see. We'll also keep updates and more pictures on our blog (jedandjaime.blogspot.com) for those who want to stay updated on our new place.

Lots of love,

Jed, Jaime, Keira & bun in the oven

P.S. If you'd like to donate to a specific part of our project, please include a note with your contribution for the "San Blas House" plus any specific designation. Click here to give on line through CTEN or send checks to Commission to Every Nation address listed below with separate note designating that it's for us.

P.P.S. If your church is interested in sending down a team to help with specific projects, please contact us about opportunities. Family groups/individuals are welcome too.

Prayer points
- smooth transition into the San Blas House on or before August 13^th
- direction and growth for our Bible study/church plant
- our need for people to join our team here in Cusco
- opportunities in and around Cusco to open doors & share the gospel
- immediate need for additional $250/month rent
- funds needed to complete phase 1
- wisdom and direction for our overall ministry
- for our little baby due at the end of November

Entrance to San Blas House (future café)

View from balcony

Roland in downstairs courtyard

Upstairs lounge

Pics of Keira

Scottish Invasion
by Jed

We get totally stoked when we get to meet people with a passion for God coming through Cusco. Around 2 weeks ago we met some cool girls from Scotland who'd been traveling all over the world--literally--with their own ministry called "Soul Touch". We think their ministry is pretty cool, so check it out when you have the chance. We had them over for waffle breakfast along with Jaime's friend Melissa & our neighbor Adeline. Did I mention they had pretty rad accents?

Jaime & Erica

Lorna, Jaime, Erica & Jed

Lorna, Erica & Adeline

Adeline & Melissa

Good times... GOOD times!

Okay, so you may or may not be aware, but that is a quote from a movie that Jed and I often repeat in our house. We are such nerds.

My friend Melissa came to visit us from Alaska for the week and it was great! Not only did she bring some all-important Goldfish crackers, chocolate chips and a year's supply of beef jerky from my parents but we had a lot of fun hanging out.

Thursday of last week Melissa and I did the Sacred Valley tour that had us stopping at 3 different locations to see what the Incas were up to years and years ago. It was quite interesting! I'll share a few photos with you...

Pisac Temple- those are agriculture steps that served as their own form of greenhouses...
pretty smart people!

A sample of the steps we used to get between our bus and the temple... pretty sure it would classify as unnecessary activity by my OB!!

Inca face carved in mountainside across from Ollantaytambo temple.
Next to it on the right is a storehouse where they dried seeds, etc.

Aqueduct emptying into a temple at Ollantaytambo.
Every year on June 21st the sun shines on the end where the water empties.
Outside a perfect shadow is cast as it shines through the windows and door.

Proof that I was there and really walked up and
down all those steps...don't tell my doctor.

Chinchero, our last stop at an altitude of 12,300 ft. That's over
1,000 feet higher than Cusco- definitely will make you gasp for air!
This is a glimpse of the Catholic church built on the foundation of the Inca Temple
there in the 1700's. During the Spanish Inquisition they demolished all temples.

It is also VERY cold in Chinchero as evidenced by this woman
spreading potatoes on the ground. They are small spuds that
have a very high water content. When it freezes at night they are
dehydrated- kind of like flash freezing? There are two types-
one is called chuno and the other moraya.
She will return to collect them in the morning.

Traditional weaving demonstration in Chinchero... this Quechua woman is
showing us how they grate a particular root plant into warm water
to wash the wool.

Next step is spinning it into yarn.

This woman has "paint" on her hand and face made from
crushed larva found at the base of a particular type of cactus.
It was dark purple, then turned bright pink when mixed with lemon
juice. They use it to dye yarn and also to paint their faces during
Carnivale. They use a variety of natural plants and herbs to make dye.

Dying the yarn in boiled water and powdered dye made from
natural substances. They mix in salt to preserve the color.

This traditional weaving method is still being practiced in the
community of Chinchero. It has been passed down for centuries
and the children start learning and participating in the method at
just 5 years old.

So, is this is enough to convince you that there is a lot of history and culture in our area and that you really need to come see us?! I hope so! I was really struck by the time and energy the Incas put into building their temples out of stones they dragged for miles and miles away and their focus on the sun. Their whole life literally revolved around the sun and it is very evident that it was the most important thing in the whole world to them. Can others say the same thing about us Christians and the way we live our lives... I want Jesus to be reflected that way even if I'm not transporting stones from quarries miles away to build a temple.

The Report Says it All
by Jed



Unfortunately these are the results I picked up from the lab today-- You don't have to know Spanish to understand Giardia. I think I've probably had parasites for at least 3 months now which explains a lot...

Update on Café Location
by Jed

So, for those wondering how things went with getting the location for the café, they didn't. The owner wanted 4 times what the place was worth and an unreasonable deposit, so me and my Peruvian connection promptly got up and left the meeting. There really wasn't anything worth negotiating. The good thing is that we still have about 9 months to really start getting worried & we know if this wasn't the place, that God's got something a lot better. We'll keep any possibilities updated on our blog...

Café in San Blas
by Jed

Alright, so we haven't written for a month.... BUT that is also an indication of how crazy, cool & busy things have been...

First of all, I've been planning all sorts of things in connection to my trip to Lima next week (May 6). I'm going there to look for/ talk to suppliers for coffee machines, furniture, to-go cups etc. for our café that we plan to open in San Blas (Cusco) in March 2009. For those who haven't gotten the memo, we will also be using this café on Sundays for Cusco's first all English church which we are already in the midst of planting. We are currently praying for a really cool pastor who wants to come down and use his gifts helping us with this part of the ministry. Check out www.jedandjaime.com/ministry.html for details for that and for musicians, café workers, and other leaders we are currently recruiting.

Second of all, we have been looking for locations for this café here in Cusco, specifically San Blas, but up until recently it was starting to look like getting a place was going to have to wait until right before we were ready to start business (between Jan & March '09). This is mainly because things only go on the market for a month or 2 tops and we still have a few months to go.

Here's the biggest problem: Typically, real estate is so hot here, especially in San Blas/ Central Cusco area, that many previous business owners are actually able to sell their business to the next business coming in and that's pretty much the only way to get the place. Basically, that means you could be spending upwards of $20G just to get some furniture, a few machines, maybe a fridge and some decorations from the previous business (not the people who actually own the building) and still have to spend about that much buying all the stuff you really need. Then you don't actually own anything except for the furniture, fridge, etc & then you pay monthly rent to the actual owners of the building. Make sense?

SO.... This past week, through a series of random events, we were able to find a place that wasn't on the market & is currently not being used as a café (ie. no pay-out for useless stuff). There is nothing final on this, but the owners are at least very interested in renting to us and willing to wait until Jan to start renting. This could be a HUGE blessing if it worked out and the place is in the perfect area and the perfect size for both a café and church plant. So, here's a video clip or 2 of the place. Try to imagine us investing about $12 000 fixing the whole place up and all the junk in the courtyard/ inside gone. Then imagine some great food (can't let the secret out as to exactly what we're serving up quite yet) and killer coffee, some couches, comfy tables and chairs, live music and you'll be somewhere close to the idea that we have for this place when we're done.

Our rough estimate (for those interested in helping us raise the funds we need) is somewhere around $30-40,000 total (including renovations, equipment, furniture, and 3-6 months operating cost). Considering that this business will recoop hopefully everything within 1-2 years and be supporting the ministry/ church plant we have, we consider this an excellent investment both financially & spiritually. We will be putting the final touches on our business plan available for anyone to see within about 1 month.

Here's the potential location of our café...

ATEK Building in Larapa
by Jed

Every now and then we work with other projects with other missions to keep in better touch with what's going on and for me to have some fun playing in the mud. This will be one of the projects that Commission Expeditions will be working on when they come down here for the month of July. If you're interested in an adventure missions' trip this summer, check out their site.

This construction project is for an ATEK facility based out of Larapa (15-20 minutes from downtown Cusco). What's ATEK? ATEK exists to contribute to the spiritual and physical development of Quechua communities by promoting the use of the Cusco Quechua Bible, developing Bible based resources and providing training to aid believers in evangelism... This is a project in partnership with SIL (Wycliffe).

Here are some pics of me this past week with 3 guys from Canada: Mark, Wes & Alistair working with adobe on the dorms for this project. For anyone who hasn't worked with adobe, it's basically mud and straw molded into bricks (that are incidentally fairly heavy) and for mortar you use....mud! That's right, one big mud building...good fun:) For more pics check out our new photo site here.

Game Night

There are actually a bunch of other missionaries working in and around Cusco, so hanging out is always lots of fun... Every month here we have an English worship night and here's a pic at Justin & Tammy Hettinga's house for a game night. Note the fireplace... we're a little jealous since our landlords promised us one over 8 months ago when we moved in and we still just have a hole in our ceiling. Promptness is not a virtue here in Peru...