Jed and Jaime: A Series of Sundry Events...

2011-08-07T14:59:00.000-05:00

The FDA and Cancer

This really isn't new information, but is a must read if it's news to you. Don't believe it? Do a little research... No one wants to think that their own government institutes agencies to "protect" the general public who really exist to protect the interests of Big Pharma, but that's just the reality of it. Poking your head in the ground doesn't make it any less true...

WE DON'T HAVE A CURE FOR CANCER YET -- OR DO WE?

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

What if a cure for cancer has been right here all along? What if the very agency charged with protecting your health is the one keeping you from that cure?

A Lawless, Rogue Agency Out of Control

Ten years ago a former New York State assemblyman, Daniel Haley, wrote a scathing exposé on how the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) systematically shuts the door on effective and non-toxic products, many for cancer.
The FDA is the chief agency in charge of protecting and promoting Americans' health and safety. But in 10 stunning, true stories in his book, "The Politics of Healing," Haley describes how the FDA has suppressed and banned natural health cures – eight of them for cancer. He later wrote about two additional cancer cures that worked, which the FDA also disallowed.
The FDA even admitted that one of these treatments, discovered by Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, was successful with some of the most incurable forms of cancer. I shared this with you in a recent article that showed his film, but stories like this are far too common, and you can't help but wonder how many people have died while the FDA denied them cancer treatments that work.
Haley brazenly calls the FDA a rogue, out of control agency that has lied in Congressional testimonies, deliberately falsified data, and destroyed evidence to prohibit cures like Burzynki's from coming to market. The FDA's loyalties are to the drug industry, not to individuals, Haley says.
His claims mirror those of Dr. David Graham, who once worked in the FDA's Office of Drug Safety. In 2004 Dr. Graham blew the whistle on six drugs that were harming people, including Vioxx, but instead of acting on his warnings, Graham's superiors pulled him off his job. He fought back in a PBS television special when he told how he'd been chastised at the FDA for thinking the FDA served the public. The "FDA is there to serve the drug industry," Graham said his supervisors told him.

'Virtually Every' Drug Company Now Targeting Cancer Therapies

Today, the FDA continues to serve its client, Big Pharma, by making sure that toxic chemotherapy, along with surgery and radiation, are the only cancer treatment options legally available to you. This industry is huge, with 139 cancer treatment drugs in the pipeline just for women alone. All told there are over 900 experimental cancer therapies under investigation. No wonder so many pharmaceutical companies are ramping up their cancer drug research!
According to the New York Times:
"Virtually every large pharmaceutical company seems to have discovered cancer, and a substantial portion of the smaller biotechnology companies are focused on it as well. Together, the companies are pouring billions of dollars into developing cancer drugs."
Note they said drugs, not cures. That's because this industry isn't set up for a cure, even though they say that's what they're looking for. It's also why economic forecasts predict 20 million new cancers by 2025, with the $50 billion-a-year cancer treatment business increasing by 15 percent a year. Pfizer alone projects its annual cancer drug returns will be $11 billion by 2018.

The Truth about Vitamin D

Everyone's talking about vitamin D right now, especially since the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) updated their recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for it. The truth is that most Americans are deficient in vitamin D, and studies show that vitamin D supplementation can both prevent and kill many infections and diseases, including cancer.
Vitamin D isn't actually a vitamin, although scientists refer to it as such. It's actually a steroid hormone that you get from sun exposure, food sources and/or supplementation. The term refers to either vitamin D2 or D3, but according to the National Vitamin D Council, D3 (chemical name 25-hydroxy vitamin D) is real vitamin D, and is the same substance produced naturally through your skin by sun exposure.
Older research appears at odds on whether your body cares which form of D it's getting. But a study in the January 2011 Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that D3 is 87 percent more effective than D2, and is the preferred form for treating vitamin D deficiency. It's measured in international units (IU's) in nanograms per milliliter, or ng/mL. The Vitamin D Council believesthat a person's D3 levels should be at least 50 ng/mLfor your body to function properly. (To determine whether you might be deficient, you need to get your vitamin D levels tested, and ideally, you'll want to get tested regularly thereafter to ensure you're maintaining optimal levels year-round.)
Fourteen famous vitamin D researchers gave the FNB this information, but the FNB apparently ignored the information that the researchers presented because their "updated" RDA levels ended up being so pitifully low that it's doubtful it can significantly impact Americans' deficiency, let alone fight off diseases like cancer and heart disease.

Experts Protest 'Impossible' New RDA Levels

Depending on your age, the new recommendations are 600 to 800 IUs a day for adults and between zero and 600 IUs a day for children. The FNB also said that taking vitamin D in amounts of 10,000 IUs or more could be dangerous – but that's ridiculous, seeing that a 30-minute dose of sunshine can give an adult more than 10,000 IUs! Since countless studies indicate that much higher levels of vitamin D are required for optimal health, it's no surprise that experts lost no time denouncing the FNB's recommendations.
"It's almost impossible to significantly raise your vitamin D levels when supplementing (at the FNB levels)," the Vitamin D Council posted on its website.

Hidden Agendas and Conflicts of Interest

Suspecting that conflicts of interest and hidden agendas played a part in this, the Vitamin D Council filed Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests so they could examine the FNB's notes on the process. They're still waiting on an answer, but I'm wondering if it doesn't have something to do with the fact that over 1,350 clinical trials on vitamin D are currently being conducted by major drug companies, all based on the prevention or cure of many illnesses and diseases, including 388 for cancer.
Yes, cancer.
From breast to prostate, to colorectal to brain cancers, and even basal cell carcinoma (skin cancer), Drug companies such as Pfizerand Merck are currently either sponsoring or collaborating on clinical trials based on the premise that vitamin D administered orally, intravenously or topically (for skin cancer) may either prevent or cure cancer. Cancer foundations and institutes are all in on the clinical study game as well, such as the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health. Even the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Veteran Affairs are studying ways to prevent and cure cancer with vitamin D!
What's really interesting is that several of these studies are using vitamin D in amounts of 50,000 IUs a day or more – which flies strongly in the face of the FNB's claims that self-supplementing with 10,000 could be dangerous to your health. Since recent studies show that supplements of up to 40,000 IUs a day don't appear to be toxic, and that doses as low as 400 IUs a day are too low to even maintain skeletal health, let alone prevent cancer,

The FDA's Definition of Drug vs. Supplement

Over 800 studies already show that vitamin D could have cancer-prevention and/or treatment possibilities. But the problem is that it's a natural substance that can't be patented as a simple supplement, meaning there's no real revenue in it, compared to a prescription brand drug. That's why many drug studies involving vitamins of any kind hinge on how the FDA defines drugs and supplements.
A drug is defined as a product meant for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of a disease. A supplement is defined as a product that is meant to simply "supplement" or "enhance" a normal diet within the daily allowances recommended by the FDA. Drugs – and retailers who sell supplements are not allowed to tell you that vitamin D can possibly "prevent, mitigate or cure" cancer without having the FDA accuse them of selling a drug that hasn't been approved through the proper FDA process.

Again, Follow the Money if You Want to Know the Truth

That process of getting a drug to market costs an average $359 million and takes nearly 10 years– with a good portion of the money going directly to the FDA through user fees. Over the years these fees have become a major funding source for the FDA. What drug companies get in return is faster FDA reviews and drug approvals.
As a result, a kind of you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours scenario has ensued, with drug companies maintaining major leverage over the FDA when it comes to protecting their revenue sources, including making sure the $60 billion-a-year supplement business doesn't get in the way of drug sales. The history of FDA laws and regulations on file at Harvard Law School, explains how years ago an FDA task force long ago established this policy
"… to ensure that the presence of dietary supplements on the market does not act as a disincentive to drug development."
So how does this relate to too-low RDA levels for vitamin D?
A look at the clinical trials shows that most of them involve "high-potency" D3 supplements, which puts them in the drug category if it turns out they can mitigate, treat or cure cancer. And that means they can be patented – and sold to you as prescriptions at sky-high prices.

Drug Companies Are Elbowing Their Way into Your Healthcare Plan

Another way that Big Pharma has moved in on the cancer industry is through pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer drug benefits for about 95 percent of all patients with prescription drug coverage. PBMs decide which drugs flow through the healthcare system. Supposedly they choose the best drugs and prices for your plan. But what if I told you that the businesses that sell the drugs have been helping to decide which drugs your PBM pays for?
Regulators have been working hard to nip conflicts of interest in the bud, but over the years numerous court cases have shown that drug companies and PBMs working together has led to higher prices and limited drug choices – and allegations of price-setting through secret deals with pharmaceutical companies.

Official Agencies Wedded to Toxic Chemotherapy

I have an employee who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. After her mastectomy, she was told she had several months of chemotherapy and radiation ahead of her. But she sought a second opinion at a renowned cancer treatment center – and learned that chemotherapy was NOT going to be part of her treatment plan because her type of cancer doesn't respond to chemotherapy.
"And since chemo is poison, why would we want to poison you for no reason?" the oncologist told her.
That's right – a person in the business of "selling" cancer treatment actually said he wasn't going to poison her "for no reason" – something I consider unusual in an industry that is wedded to toxic chemotherapy. The employee was pronounced cancer-free four months later, without chemo or radiation, which may leave you wondering, as it did me, how many patients die every year from toxic chemotherapy they got but didn't need?
Some experts believe that as much as 25 percent, or more, of patients who undergo chemotherapy are killed by it. Dr. Vincent Speckhart, a former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and oncologist, was so concerned about deaths from chemo that he told a Congressional committee:
"After 13 years of using FDA-approved chemotherapy protocols, I concluded that such therapies were extremely toxic, poorly tolerated, and not effective in prolonging survival in most solid tumors of adults. In 1983, my patients began to request therapies other than chemotherapy. I agreed, and without even knowing it, I became an 'alternative practitioner' and was red-flagged by opponents of this form of therapy."
In other words, if you're a physician who divorces the status quo of cancer treatment, you'd better watch out. In his book, Haley talks about how this "gross government intrusion into the healing arts," costs thousands – and perhaps millions – of lives and facilitates the drug industry by squelching people like Dr. Speckhart and Burzynski.

Arm Yourself with Knowledge to Protect Your Healthcare Freedom

It doesn't help that the FDA as well as other "official cancer medicine" agencies have a swinging door of employees going back forth between the agency and Big Pharma to work. In a new book, "National Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society: Criminal Indifference to Cancer Prevention and Conflicts of Interest," former Cancer Prevention Coalition president Dr. Samuel S. Epstein shows just how bad the conflicts are.
Quoting former NCI director Samuel Broder, Epstein says "the NCI has become a government pharmaceutical company." And the ACS, Epstein says, is more interested in "accumulating wealth than saving lives." With close ties to cancer treatment businesses, the ACS has a track record that "clearly reflects conflicts of interest" when it comes to cancer treatment policies and prevention strategies, Epstein alleges.
And so it goes… So, what you can do to protect yourself from getting cancer, or what can you do if you already have it? The good news is that knowledge is power, and there are things you can do for yourself, right now, not to only to prevent cancer, but to make sure you have the right cancer treatment if you do get it.
Because cancer is almost wholly a man-made disease, it's especially important to recognize that you do have power over many things that could cause you to get cancer. Taking control of your health will put you in a position to make the best health decisions possible if you do get cancer.
Here's a list to get you started on a cancer prevention plan:
Normalize your vitamin D levels with safe amounts of sun exposure. This works primarily by optimizing your vitamin D level. Ideally, monitor your vitamin D levels throughout the year.
Control your insulin levels by limiting your intake of processed foods and sugars/fructose as much as possible.
Get appropriate amounts of animal-based omega-3 fats.
Get appropriate exercise. One of the primary reasons exercise works is that it drives your insulin levels down. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks.
Eat according to your nutritional type. The potent anti-cancer effects of this principle are very much underappreciated. When we treat cancer patients in our clinic this is one of the most powerful anti-cancer strategies we have.
Have a tool to permanently erase the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. My particular favorite tool for this purpose, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique.
Only 25 percent of people eat enough vegetables, so by all means eat as many vegetables as you are comfortable with. Ideally, they should be fresh and organic. Cruciferous vegetables in particular have been identified as having potent anti-cancer properties. Remember that carb nutritional types may need up to 300 percent more vegetables than protein nutritional types.
Maintain an ideal body weight.
Get enough high-quality sleep.
Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution.
Reduce your use of cell phones and other wireless technologies, and implement as many safety strategies as possible if/when you cannot avoid their use.
Boil, poach or steam your foods, rather than frying or charbroiling them.
You also can help by voicing your opposition to the FDA's censorship of alternative cancer treatments by sending a letter to your Congressional representatives and asking them to support H.R. 1364, a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act concerning the distribution of information on legitimate scientific research in connection with foods and dietary supplements. Call or write your Congressman now, and stop the censorship of your right to alternative cancer therapies and possibly a cure.

2011-08-05T21:53:00.000-05:00

The FDA Only Cares About One Thing...and it's not your health

This is the kind of stuff that makes me mad. This is one of so many like this that I've seen lately. Consider that the FDA consistently approves harmful chemicals for human consumption and protects big pharma companies who have repeatedly dogged proper pre market drug testing or have falsified/under-reported side effects, yet waste our tax dollars to pursue companies who care about health... boo...

2011-07-24T22:59:00.003-05:00

Crazy Stuff Keira Says

OK, so on a regular basis, Keira says stuff that is really funny, so instead of just posting on Facebook, I thought I would post it here where we can properly see it in the future. Enjoy:)

Me working on a new website: Keira, do you like the website I'm working on?
Keira: Yeah... Well, It's not that great, but I still like it...

Keira: I'm worried about losing my teeth and getting married
Me: (Trying to imagine the correlation) What?
Keira: I'm worried that it's going to hurt when I lose my teeth and when I get married and have a baby in my tummy.
Me: Oh boy...

Keira on learning that flies eat trash:
"Wouldn't it be great if we had a million flies in the house and when the garbage got full they'd eat it all up? Then you wouldn't have to take out the trash..."

Yes Keira, that would be great.

2011-07-24T22:50:00.000-05:00

A Few Pics from NYC

2011-06-19T09:16:00.001-05:00

On the Road Again

I've been out for about a week and a half with the McDonald's Gospel Tour featuring Hezekiah Walker, hitting some of the major cities in the east--Atlanta, Philly, NYC (Newark), Chicago, Detroit, etc. This has actually been a great little tour with some fun people and a decent amount of down time. If you find yourself having fun on a daily basis even having to listen to black gospel music all day, it's a sign that things are going well. Ooops... Hope I don't offend anyone who enjoys black gospel:)

So, for Father's Day today, I'll be treating myself to a trip to NYC about 20 min from our hotel in Newark, NJ. After 2 days off in this ghetto of a city (Newark that is), it's time for some real culture. My new buddy & roommate Zach Simms is going with, along with Ally Wilson & her son Josiah. Stand by for some pics of NYC. It's been too long since I've posted, I know...

2011-04-20T23:30:00.000-05:00

Shirock
I always like to post interesting things as well as personal things... Here's a cool band I've had the privilege to work with lately.

2011-03-20T19:20:00.002-05:00

Tour Pre-Production

Here's a glimpse of pre-production today for the "An Evening With BeBe & CeCe Winans And Mary Mary" tour leaving out at the end of the month. I'll be lighting 2nd on the tour and am enjoying the guys I'll be working with for this short gig. Good times...

2011-03-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

Keira & Kaelyn

So, I always thought if I had girls things would be pretty calm, but this is pretty much a daily occurrence. They wrestle, tackle each other, fight & do laps around the house. We try to take them for a mile walk every day to expend some energy, but to no avail. But yes, we love our 2 girls!

2011-03-18T12:57:00.001-05:00

My Next Tour

So, This week we start rehearsals for the next tour I'm going on. This would be a little baby tour since it's only 6 actual dates (that I'm going on), but it'll help pay the bills next month:) So who's it gonna be? Bebe and Cece Winans. We're primarily hitting the North East-- D.C., Philly and New York. I'll be lighting 2nd working with my buddy Paul Holst with 44designs.com. Maybe I'll see you along the way!

2011-03-15T12:12:00.000-05:00

Keira's Mural

I woke up this morning with plans to get back in bed for a few more minutes, but was greeted with this lovely sight. Keira, I know our walls are really boring, but did you really need to draw a mural in permanent marker? Even magic erasers weren't up to the task with this one. Guess I'll be buying some paint in the near future!

2011-03-15T11:48:00.000-05:00

Back After More Than a Year
So, as you can see by the date, we semi-abandoned our blog for the past year. After a little spring cleaning, I think we can get things going again, if for nothing else, as a means of capturing our family and all our craziness (specifically the kids).

We've been home from Peru now for a little over a year and can honestly say that we are still not adjusted to life back here. Apparently we came back at the worst time economically and after a year plus, are still living paycheck to paycheck as I try and start a new career and work whenever I can (which has been few and far between through my best efforts). It's interesting if not exhausting to feel like we've been living in survival mode for so many years now although I must say that God has still taken care of us.

So to everyone struggling to make ends meet and living on an insanely low income, we understand:) We are taking the time to enjoy all the free things with our family... Walking around the neighborhood, getting involved at church, going to the park, banana pancakes in the morning (ok, those cost something, but they're pretty cheap). Enjoy the things you DO have and CAN do!!

2009-12-01T08:30:00.002-05:00

HERE'S OUR LATEST UPDATE FOR THOSE NOT ON OUR LIST...

Hi guys!

So, the countdown has begun! We'll be back on US soil in 5 short days!! We just officially moved our family out of our house on Saturday and are staying with our friends, the Dyers, until we leave for Lima this Saturday. They've been gracious enough to host our whole family for a week--in a 2 bedroom house! The next few days we'll be packing and repacking to get all our bags to 50lbs... should be interesting.

Jaime's family has been here over the last couple of weeks which has been great & a real help. They're on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu right now and we'll be able to hang out with them briefly again before we leave. They'll also graciously be taking back some suitcases for us. One 50lb suitcase per person just doesn't cut it... Who makes these rules anyway? :)

God has provided us with funds to ship our stuff back to the US (about 3 pallet's worth) which happened last week--I ended up having to make a last minute trip to Lima to do all the paperwork 2 weeks ago which was less than ideal, but everything did work out which I was thankful for. Our stuff should arrive right around Christmas or a little after in Nashville.

I'm still looking for a job, so pray with me that I would find something that will sufficiently support our family. If anyone in the Nashville area would like my resume to pass on, I'd be more than happy to send it:)

A few things about ministry here: Some of you have been wondering how the ministry we're leaving is doing, what's new, how the cafe is going and how this ministry will be carrying on after we leave. The cafe officially opened yesterday--some of you will be happy to know--and will help tie in with the ministry going on here. The ministry will carry on under Joel Malm's leadership and Meltdown Ministries will continue to accept teams and work with foreigners. The church we all started (The Meeting Place) is thriving and we've seen some amazing things happen over the last year. A lot of people have been really blessed and we've seen people coming to the Lord and being challenged o reevaluate their lives. There is one lady for example who has been in Cusco for something like 10 years and has been longing for this kind of fellowship in English--an answer to prayer after so long. God is really using this ministry!

As I'd mentioned before, we will continue to receive support through CTEN through the end of January, and will receive personal support through the end of March. We are counting on any support we receive in theses next few months to help us survive while we re-establish ourselves in the US and as I find a job. Thank you to everyone who has continued to support us and bless us with gifts over the last little bit. You are a direct answer to prayer.

We are really stoked about the next few months---being back in the States, seeing friends and seeing the next step that God has for us--scary as that may be!

We love you all and hope you'll forgive us for being behind on personal contact as we've been overwhelmed with things to do.

Blessings, Jed

2009-11-22T07:00:00.003-05:00

Home For Christmas

by Jed

For our family, this year will be completely different from almost any year before in so many ways. As I'm sitting at the airport in Lima, Peru, enjoying my mocha, I've really been contemplating what the next weeks and months hold for our family.

As many of you know Jaime and I have made the decision to come off the mission field and will be back on US soil on the 6th of December and back in Nashville, TN shortly after that. So, we'll be spending Christmas in Nashville as a family. However, the many unknowns that loom over us sometimes dampen the excitement. Don't get me wrong--I'm ecstatic to be moving back. It's been far too long and I simply miss my country. For me the stress is rooted in some pretty important details: What am I going to do for work? How am I going to start a career and be able to take risks when I have to feed a family of 4? How are we going to even get through the next 3 months when our support has already dwindled down to less than the minimum that we need and we have more expenses in these next months than in the last 5 years?

It's hard not to get caught up in worrying--a lot--about all these things. They keep me up at night. As I was having my devotions last night, I was reminded about exactly who it is we serve. God is not someone who just kind of helps us out here and there if He can, He has infinite resources and providing for every step for us is not a problem. The problem comes on our side in actually trusting. That sounds nice, but in theory after checking out your non-existent bank account, there really is 100% trust involved.

This past year has been a bombshell of a year for us as well. It seems that the disappointments and hardships have trumped any accomplishments. Trusting other people at times has been difficult and feeling that as missionaries we have to put on our happy faces when we feel anything but, has made some weeks for us almost unbearable.

However, the one thing that I really am so blessed with is my family. I love Jaime so much and my 2 little girls have been such a blessing--all crying aside. And today, Kaelyn turns 1! I think contentment is easy to lose if we only focus on the bad, so today I choose to focus on what I'm blessed with. This year, even though the next weeks and months are full of unknowns, I know my God will be faithful and I'm excited to be going home for Christmas!

For those who do read this and especially those who pray for us and support us, thank you so much for all you've done for us. We appreciate you more than you know and wouldn't have made it this far without you.

Merry Christmas early!

2009-08-26T19:08:00.003-05:00

August 26, 2009

by Jed

So, I was just on a website that I completely disagreed with about their stance on "you can be a Christian and believe the earth is millions of years old"...

Now, I realize that plenty of people reading this will be thinking... "and?", but it really got me thinking for those who are Christians about our view of the Bible. I think it's really easy to find a theory or modern thought... evolution, sexuality... and maneuver the text to suit your convictions...or lack thereof. That way everyone can feel good about what they believe even if they're conflicting schools of thought. At any rate, enjoy this or get mad at this, but this is what I wrote this website (not that they'll read it or care) in response to what I thought purely on the exegesis of certain texts, was not so scholarly:

________

I'm a missionary working with English speaking foreigners in Peru and one of our focuses as we deal with all kinds of spiritualism, pantheism, etc. is the reliability of the Word of God and its timeless relevance in every issue. Without getting into scientific discussion on either side, as I've read good ones for both, I would turn my attention to the Bible creation account. I've heard the debate back and forth on the 6 days of creation... are they literal? If a day is as a thousand years to God, could it really be a cryptic way of giving us liberty to insert any billions of years based on that argument?

Two things strike me with this: First is that this text was specifically written to and for mankind, so to assert that God was using some other galaxy's form of a day is... well, kind of ridiculous from a scholarly point of view. I think that it's interesting that repetition was used based on "and morning and evening were the second day...", etc., almost like, "hey, just in case you're having trouble deciphering what a day is, it's morning and evening."

The second thing that strikes me in a liberal interpretation of any text, is that although I agree with you that no one's going to hell for a belief either in old earth or new earth, is that your assertion that it doesn't really matter leaves us with a big problem: If we can question what God really meant from the beginning, (and any science aside, you'd have to agree that a straight forward reading of the Bible doesn't give you an old earth), then why not question the critical things... like salvation for instance. Was the Bible really historically correct when it recorded how Jesus died and that he died for our sins? I'm playing devil's advocate here, but you see my point. I'm just saying that if I weren't a Christian and you were trying to convince me of the complete inerrancy of the Bible and it's relevance today while saying "well, this text doesn't really mean...", I might not be listening to the end of the story--i.e. the awesome story of salvation.

2009-08-03T10:57:00.004-05:00

Tres Leches Cusco style...

Here's a recipe for you to try. I normally can't stomach Tres Leches cake, but this recipe was given to me by a woman who works at an orphanage in Limatambo, about 2 1/2 hours from Cusco. It's fabulous! Pisco, the local alcohol, is used to give it a unique taste.

I haven't tried the sponge part at sea level, so if anyone tries it, let me know if it turns out! This recipe works at 11,000 ft.

Ingredients:

5 eggs
1 Cup sugar
2 Cups flour
1 Cup regular milk
1 Cup evaporated milk
1 Cup condensed milk
1/4 Cup Pisco (the "secret" ingredient!!)
1 tsp. baking powder

Chantilly for topping

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add sugar a little at a time.
On low speed, add egg yolks one at a time.
Add flour and baking powder, folding in. Bake until done.
Put milks and Pisco in the blender. Stab cake with a fork and pour liquid over the top. You can use it all if you want a soggy cake. I prefer less "sog" so use about 3/4 or maybe less.
Top with Chantilly!

I make my own chantilly by sticking a metal bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 20 minutes, then mixing chilled whipping cream until thickened and add powdered sugar to taste. I think I usually add about 3 Tbsp of powdered sugar and some vanilla.

Enjoy!

2009-07-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

What are sisters for?

Keira is starting to get to the age where she really can be helpful and I don't have to just humor her. She loves to clean, clean, clean! But... as you can see she can also make a real mess.

I let her feed Kaelyn all by herself for the very first time. I showed her how to put just enough on the spoon, avoid gagging her, and how to hold Kaelyn's hand out of the way after getting a mouthful of food. She has started getting in to the habit of sticking her fist in her mouth, then wiping food everywhere.

I think they were both happy, but Kaelyn was considerably more messy after eating than when Jed or I feed her! In fact, it led to her first bath in two months. Yes, you read that right- two months. She gets cleaned up everyday, but I have avoided fully submersing her in water for quite a long time. She has eczema and not much hair, so bathing just hasn't seemed all that important. But after this sweet potato mess, it was definitely urgent!

If you're wanting to call CPS on me, you can't because I'm in South America :)

My sweet baby girl just turned 8 months old on the 22nd. She is growing up so quickly. I love my girls!!

2009-07-22T15:08:00.005-05:00

Power Oatmeal Pancakes

Ingredients:

6 egg whites, beaten until fluffy

1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 scoop protein powder
1/2 cup oatmeal, uncooked
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flax seed
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp Canola oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preparation:

1. Place all ingredients except beaten egg whites in a food processor and pulse or blend until mixture is uniform.

2. Pour blended ingredients into a bowl and add the egg whites. Fold until just blended.

3. Cook on a griddle or in a pan!

I had to make some changes. I used 3 whole eggs because I didn't have 6 to do just egg whites. I omitted the protein powder and used yogurt instead of cottage cheese. I added some freshly ground nutmeg with a dash of cinnamon.

They are great topped with fresh fruit, no-sugar-added jam or applesauce.

This recipe is taken from the Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno. It makes 6 medium-sized pancakes.

2009-07-17T06:00:00.001-05:00

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?

2009-07-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

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.

2009-07-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

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.

2009-07-10T16:16:00.001-05:00

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!

2009-07-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

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.

2009-07-05T14:52:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-06-02T23:00:00.001-05:00

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

2009-05-13T11:47:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-04-21T15:55:00.003-05:00

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 :)

2009-03-07T00:07:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-01-23T17:31:00.002-05:00

Questionnaire about my hubby Jed

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.
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". :)
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!
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.
What is your favorite feature of his? His BIG blinky eyes.
Does he have a nickname for you? Jaimiffer.
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.
What is his favorite sport? Not so much into sports... but he does like outdoor activities like hiking.
When and where was your first kiss? sitting on a rock at the Grand Canyon.
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.
Do you have any children? Two girls and Jed is convinced the third will be a girl, too.
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.
Who said “I love you” first? Jed
What is his favorite kind of music? rock and he also really likes playing worship music.
What do you admire most about him? His passion and conviction to study the Word of God and Biblical topics and remembering facts!
Do you think he will read this? Yes because a copy is sent to his email when it is posted.

2009-01-15T08:26:00.003-05:00

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.

2009-01-13T17:53:00.004-05:00

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.

2008-11-06T12:53:00.003-05:00

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!!

2008-08-04T20:41:00.004-05:00

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!!

2008-07-18T14:11:00.004-05:00

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!

2008-07-15T21:42:00.007-05:00

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

2008-06-29T15:37:00.004-05:00

Pics of Keira

2008-06-10T12:53:00.003-05:00

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

2008-06-09T13:35:00.009-05:00

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.

2008-05-20T12:52:00.006-05:00

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...

2008-05-17T12:38:00.003-05:00

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...

2008-04-26T11:11:00.006-05:00

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...

2008-03-15T13:00:00.004-05:00

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.

2008-03-09T14:35:00.004-05:00

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...

2008-03-09T14:14:00.004-05:00

Sammy's B-day Party

Here are some pics & video from Sammy's B-day party (our friends Jenny & Roland's boy) who just turned 4... It's a "Tigger" party:)

2008-02-22T16:10:00.003-05:00

Lawyers, Empty Streets, and Movie Nights...
by Jed

Alright, so these are 3 distinct topics, but since I hadn't had a chance to post for a few weeks thought I'd give our avid readers a little update on life here.

Lawyers
Several weeks ago I was able to meet with a lawyer to find out where we stand legally to be able to start our planned coffee house here in Cusco. (Check out our website for info on that at www.jedandjaime.com/ministry.html.) I envisioned having to change our visas and having to hop through a bunch of legal hoops. Turns out that with our missionary visas and the residency status we already have, that there's no problem in us opening a cafe!!! Our proposed date to open our coffee shop is March 2009... We're working on a business plan right now and talking with suppliers, etc in Lima. Now there's just the matter of the $30 grand we need:)

Empty Streets
Except for the crowds of people walking everywhere, riding bikes, or a few sprinkled motorcycles, the streets have been virtually empty the last 2 days. That's right--no cars, thanks to yet another transportation strike in protest for the privatization of Cusco (basically to keep out foreign business owners, especially Chileans and keep people from changing the historic landscape of Cusco... There's more to it than that, but that's the basic gist of the situation). So what happens if you decide to take your car out for a spin? Some crazy Peruvians will probably chase you down with rocks and jack up your car pretty bad.

It gets even crazier out in the country here. Our friend Mike who lives about 2 hours outside of town tried to get into Cusco the other day and made it only part way due to some pretty militant (& drunk) country folk who like to take things to the extreme with boulders in the road, fires and cut down trees. They wouldn't let Mike past and at one point he had to turn his car around in a hurry as a pack of mountain folk throwing rocks came rushing at the vehicle... Good times here in Peru.

Movie Nights
We took advantage of some extra free time and had an awesome movie night with our neighbor Adeline last night as most evening activities here are suspended due to no transportation. I think we're planning another one tonight... We were pretty tired this morning so let Keira run around while we laid in bed. After some suspicious noises, I walked out of our room to find Keira sitting on the dining room table with a book and helping herself to the bowl of sugar we'd left there... and suspiciously there were no cookies left on the plate we'd left there from the night before. That might explain why she wasn't interested in eating any breakfast.

2008-02-07T16:02:00.001-05:00

Transportation strike... again.

Today there are few cars on the road- almost none. Residents are demanding that Cusco be privatized in order to preserve the local heritage and keep foreigners from opening businesses. Will it work... I doubt it. But we'll see.

It was a little eerie to witness no cars and a plethora of people out and about today. There were bicycles and kids playing everywhere. People walked right down the middle of the street causing the occasional car to honk profusely to get them out of the way.

The month of February is also Carnival. When you think Carnival most likely images from Brazil come to mind. It's not quite the same here, really it just gives people free license to throw water balloons and dyed water on friends or strangers. We've been lucky so far and I think we have Keira to thank for that. An ordinance was passed (maybe just last year) that foreigners are off limits as the government doesn't want to risk a hit to tourism... but that doesn't necessarily mean anything :) Young children are also off limits so that's why I think we've squeaked by so far. I am very careful not to leave the house without her for protection!

2008-02-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

So here's the proof! Keira FINALLY learned to say my name two weeks before her second birthday. Yay!!

2008-01-24T21:20:00.000-05:00

Think she's tired?

Keira didn't get much sleep while we were out in Limatambo for a week. And she has been off her schedule completely and doesn't like going to sleep on her own after sharing a room (and my bunk bed!) with us during that time. She refused to sleep this morning and this is what happened at lunch...

She didn't finish her food...

2008-01-24T21:12:00.000-05:00

aaaaaaaand we're back!

I know it has been a very long time since we've posted. The YWAM team just left yesterday morning after a 3 week visit, so check back in the next day or two for some new posts, pictures and videos.

I just had to put a couple Keira photos and a video up really quick. This is Keira "helping" Clarisa clean today. She's RELENTLESS!

2008-01-12T19:22:00.000-05:00

YWAM Ensenada

So for those checking our blog hoping for some new pics, videos, and great stories, hang on for about another 8 days and we'll give you more than enough. We are deep in the middle of 3 weeks with a YWAM team from Ensenada, Mexico and have been incredibly busy. Jaime's been in Machu Picchu for 2 days with the girls while I've been Mr Mom at home.... Keira's actually been extremely good for me, amazingly. Jaime gets home late tonight. Tomorrow afternoon we leave for Limatambo, a town just under 2 hours from here to work at an orphanage doing all kinds of stuff... the YWAM team is pretty psyched and so are we.... stay tuned for more!

2007-12-25T11:38:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve in Cusco, Peru

Merry Christmas everyone! Here's a brief video clip of Christmas Eve dinner at Hostel Cristo Blanco with the owners who invited us over with our neighbor Adeline. This is the hostel where the YWAM team will stay next week.

At 12am on Christmas Eve the whole city goes crazy and sets off a million fireworks. I guess it's kind of like New Year's Eve... Keira wasn't all that fond of it though as you'll see in the photo below. I don't think she could shut her eyes tight enough.

2007-12-22T20:41:00.000-05:00

Train 'em young... that's what I say

2007-12-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

Here is Keira's latest "trick". Yes, we teach her to perform on demand :0) Jed always says to her "Guess what?" and then says "I love you!" She has started answering on her own. She's such a little lover!

2007-12-13T14:42:00.000-05:00

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree,

how lovely are thy *fake* branches... This year marks the first time ever that Jed and I have had a tree. We have a grand total of 8 ornaments generously donated by my mom so we improvised with some ribbons and stuffed angel bears. You'll notice there's no tree topper as I haven't yet found anything worth spending money on. We'll work on the beauty of the tree for next year!

It's just nice to feel like we get to celebrate Christmas a little bit in the way we are traditionally accustomed to. Now I need to get working on some paper snowflakes so we can feel like we're in the right season!

Last night we went to a Christmas party with other missionaries. We sang Christmas carols and had a white elephant gift exchange. The gifts of choice? Why candles and chocolate, of course! What else would missionaries die for and have a plethora of in stored up gifts from the states? We did mange to come away with neither of those things. We are now the proud owners of a random red LG used jersey and a smallish mallet. Jed is actually excited about the mallet, I was trying to figure out if it was for testing reflexes or a giant hammer-head eraser :)

2007-11-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

More Keira!
by Jed

For those of you who can't get enough Keira pics, here's a recent picture of her running around with her favorite little doll.

We'll be sending out a newsletter soon with some more details, but for those who keep up with our blog, you are privy to more info & sooner... here's the latest:

Right after New Years, Adrienne Wanner, a friend of ours from Global Frontier Missions who is a DTS leader at YWAM in Ensenada will be bringing down a group of 15 girls to do ministry here with us in Cusco for a couple weeks. This will be great for us and hopefully open some great doors for our ministry and be a real help to some partner ministries down here. We are really excited about this and have a lot of work to do to gear up for this. We are also cementing a few more things for the Commission Expeditions team coming down next summer. We are STILL trying to recruit people to work with us down here as the work is starting to get more and as soon as our ministry starts in the cafes/ pubs here and we have several things going at the same time this next summer, things will start exploding...in a good way! Check out our website if this interests you (http:www.jedandjaime.com/ministry.html). We are looking for musicians, team leaders, a pastor--short term,/long term...check it out.

For those of you afraid we missed out on American Thanksgiving this year---we didn't. We got together with about 40 other missionaries and their families & had a DELICIOUS traditional Thanksgiving meal complete with killer desserts and kids running all over the place. Keira was in her glory with so many kids needless to say. SO yeah, Happy Thanksgiving (late) to all you Americans out there!!

2007-11-12T10:42:00.000-05:00

Our new friend Fania...

The picture to the left was taken at our favorite restaurant Jack's Cafe and features Keira with our favorite waitress Fania (FAH-nee-uh). Keira absolutely loves her and gloms onto her every time we visit. I think she partly loves the marshmallows that come her way!

Soon after we moved to Cusco I told Jed that I really liked Fania and thought she was someone I'd like to be friends with. She's a lot of fun and we always look forward to seeing her.

A funny little side note- Fania came over wearing the necklace and earrings that you can see in the picture. Of course, Keira was fascinated and wanted to wear them so Fania put the necklace around her neck and hung the earrings over the tops of her ears. Soon after, Keira INSISTED I strip her down to her diaper (something she has never done before) and strutted around the apartment holding her head high and still so the earrings wouldn't slip off. Sometimes I don't know what goes through that girl's head!

2007-11-12T10:23:00.001-05:00

Peruvians Know How to Rock!

Saturday had us going to an Annette Moreno concert. Our friends Mike and Alyssa were able to come in from Limatambo to join us.

For those of you who have never heard the name Annette Moreno, she is a Christian singer who lives in the states and was previously a vocalist with the Mexican Christian group Rojo.

The concert was supposed to start at 6:00 pm. We had the sitter come stay with Keira and Fisher and we decided to go a little early to get tickets for Mike and Alyssa.

It was nice to get good seats, one of the few rows that had a back rest, but nothing happened until 7:30ish, of course! We should have known they'd still be setting up and planning the event at the time it was supposed to be starting :)

It was unlike any concert I've ever been to in the states. They started with a local group performing a couple choreographies, then a professional Christian dance team from Lima came on and shook their stuff. They were off the hook! I think that was my favorite part of the whole concert.

After Danza 3:16 performed, Annette's band came on and her bassist sang a few songs. He was really good, too! Apparently he has a few of his own albums out, we were a little confused about what was going on at first.

Finally at 9:45 Annette came on and we stayed to listen to about 4 songs. By that time we lifeless parents who are accustomed to waking up at 5:30 am were too pooped to stay through her whole set and listen to the 3, yes THREE local bands that were set to perform afterwards. It's too bad, really because Jed had just met a guy who was going to perform after her set that is interested in hooking up and playing with Jed in some of the cafes and pubs around town.

All in all, a good time was had by all. Keira and Fisher were super excited about the light sabers we brought back for them (yes, they were STILL awake when we got home at 10:45!). We were able to network a bit and even ran into a missionary couple we met last week. They invited us to their Thanksgiving dinner- yay!!

2007-11-08T21:29:00.000-05:00

Good times... Good times!
by Jaime

Last night we went to a Missionary Worship night that our next door neighbor (also a missionary) told us about. She was going to go with us, but there was a national transportation strike set for today so she had to move up her travel to Arequipa to yesterday. So we put on our brave faces and struck out alone to an unfamiliar part of town to meet a bunch of people we've never met before.

Jed decided to call ahead so we wouldn't get the penetrating "who are you...?" stare when we knocked on the door. It was a good thing we got the phone number because the taxi driver decided he needed to drop us off at the wrong place. We knew we were in the vicinity, but Jed decided to call once again and ask for some guidance when we found ourselves standing in the middle of a dark dirt road and rushed from all directions by 5 very large, mean sounding dogs. I was very proud of myself and thankful for God's help when I started frantically praying for protection. I managed to not freak out and instead stood very still clutching to Jed's arm.

We finally made it and had a wonderful, wonderful time! Everyone made us feel so welcome and there is even a couple here from AK! Unfortunately, they're heading back to the states in 2 1/2 months but it was still fun to meet them. It was so very refreshing to worship in English with others and fellowship with other people who can identify with us and this crazy missionary life we lead.

The missionaries get together once a month and most of them live within 5 minutes from each other. I was even invited to the the monthly "Ladies Luncheon" that features a salad brought by each woman in attendance. My word, I mean, my WORD! That is so grown-up sounding! I have never been a part of a women's group except for the small women's Bible study I was a part of in Nashville. And I'm pretty sure "luncheon" is definitely a grown-up thing to attend. So I'll get to pretend for the day :0) and hang out with some cool chiquitas.

God really does watch out for us and sends us encouragement right when we need it... thank you Father!

2007-11-02T06:32:00.000-05:00

Keira Early Morning
I heard Keira making all kinds of noise this morning like at 5:30am... at 6 I finally got up with my camera 'cause I had to see what was going on. The culprit was a doll whose head was too big to fit through the bars of the crib. I guess if I was her age I might be angry too...

2007-10-31T17:25:00.000-05:00

Back in Business!

by Jed

That's right---we're back in business and ready to post some more fun stuff. After 3 weeks without internet, I was finally able to fix it this past weekend. I hope that never happens again because we pretty much had no idea what was going on in the world and couldn't communicate very well with anyone. This here is our new Keira carrier for styling around town without a stroller. Incidentally it weighs a ton and since Jaime uses the "you're the man" excuse, I get the honor of hauling her around. A good workout though I will say.

This past month we had a great visit from some friends Adam and Becky from Pennsylvania (left) and had some fun showing them around and speaking English...hehe. I went a little picture crazy, so here's a bunch of other pics we took this month.

This is Keira in her favorite reading corner (her stashed car seat)...incidentally Keira can't read just in case you thought our not even 2 year old was a genius.

This next pic is of Fisher, her buddy who she gets to see at least once a week. They actually watched a movie contentedly for about 20 minutes. Keira didn't like it when Fisher tried to hold her hand, although she will kiss him...go figure.

Several weeks back we went to Limatambo about an hour and a half from here to help my buddy Mike do some building and to hang for the week. Here are some random pics from that week.

By the way I need new batteries for my drill.

Here's Keira playing in the dirt with Fisher. We gave up trying to keep her clean...

This last picture is us helping out building with adobe at a local church. Did you know that you can literally dig mud out of the ground and slap in on a building? I felt like I was building make-believe like when I was 5.

2007-10-05T15:29:00.000-05:00

Crazy Keira!

Here's a video of Keira especially for her cousin Cate. Please excuse the poor quality. I took the video longwise and then Jed had to spend ages trying to get it turned. Whoops!

2007-09-30T08:15:00.001-05:00

Pjs and shoes...

It seems Keira shares a shoe fetish with her cousin Cate. She has been obsessed about the "right" shoes lately, forcing Jed and I to show her the few pairs of shoes she has until she deems one acceptable.

The first thing she wanted this morning was her "foos" as she calls them, reaching and crying for them before she was even out of her crib. But she didn't want just any shoes, she wanted her pink and white tennis shoes. So here she is still in her pjs, without having eaten breakfast yet, but happy with her foos on her feet. At least she matches!

2007-09-29T16:03:00.000-05:00

Rockin' in Pisac!
by Jed

Here's a short video clip to check out of us playing a concert in the town square in Pisac (an hour from here) last night...I know you can't see, but I was actually playing drums...it was a little dark. It was an outreach we were able to do through part of the Spring celebration in the community. Our little digital camera only records 35 seconds at a time, so if you wanna donate a real video camera we'll show you some really great videos, I promise:) We've got some cheesy videos of Keira coming too for those of you who need a Keira fix...

2007-09-27T15:01:00.000-05:00

Yay, a clean house!

Clarissa, our new cleaning lady just came over for the first time this morning. She also cleans for our next door neighbor and our upstairs neighbor and we met her earlier this week. She is a real blessing for us because it is difficult to find people who are trustworthy, even among the believers. Clarissa is a Christian and her husband just lost his business when the authorities accused him of selling pirated goods. That is a HUGE joke because EVERYONE here sells pirated stuff, but his is actually legit. He is in the process of trying to gather all the receipts for his things from Lima so he can reclaim his property and reopen his business. Receipts are not an automatic here as they are in the states and Canada. You have to ask for them and sometimes they still aren't available.

So we are happy to provide Clarissa with a job and to have our house deep-cleaned once a week. The crazy thing is we pay her $4 for 4 hours of work plus about 40 cents to cover her transportation and that is good money for her. Keira loves her, so that is a huge plus! She has such a gentle spirit and I actually like having her in the house. We can even trust her to be alone in the house for a while so we can go out and let her clean in peace without Keira underfoot. I pray we can be as much a blessing to her as she is to us.

Speaking of people needing money I've really been struggling with what do about all of the children and adults around Cusco who beg for money or food. I was asking myself this morning "what did Jesus do?" when he was confronted with all of the people asking him directly for help. I'm sure he did not tell them all no or "otro dia", but we would be broke and foodless if we helped every person we come across when we go out. It was so easy for me before to just say no when we lived in Lima, Mexico or the states, but Jed and I give something out almost every time we go out now. It breaks my heart to see the young kids asking for money when they should be in school. It makes me angry when mothers use their kids to play on the sympathy of the foreigners by taking off their shoes and letting them run barefoot in the cold (yes, I've seen it done purposefully), but it makes me really, really sad when a child walks away dejectedly at the first no or shake of the head. It can't feel good to have to beg off of others and it's not fair when a child has that kind of responsibility. There is so much physical need here, let alone spiritual.

2007-09-22T10:48:00.000-05:00

Washing Machines, Neighbors & Friends

by Jed

I spent a good deal of time this past week running around town looking for parts to fix a leaky connection from a spigot to our washing machine. You'd think it would have been an easy task, but the majority of people here wash their clothes by hand, so it proved to be a bit of a process. I went to at least 15 different hardwares stores and it was obvious that none of them owned a washer. In fact, we were only just able to do laundry today after a week of this nonsense and it's still leaking a bit. A job for tonight when the water from the city gets shut off. That's right, we only have water until about noon, then we use the water that we have in a little tank--that we share with a neighbor. So, we don't flush the toilet in the PM if we don't need to and we usually don't have any water by dinner time. Good times...

A really cool thing this week... We finally got a chance to talk to our next door neighbor "Adeline" who we knew was from Canada and was a missionary... we just didn't know anything about her or if she was a Christian missionary (she'd been traveling and we're gone a lot). We found out that she's an evangelical missionary and she's really nice! I even ran into her in town the other day while I was practicing with a group from church for an evangelical concert we're playing next week. We actually were coincidentally going to her church to try and get a bass player when we ran into her. We think that's pretty cool... We have also been getting some good "hang" time with our new missionary friends Mike & Alyssa and are planning to spend a week helping them with stuff at an orphanage/ school they work at about an hour and a half from here. We'll try & get some pics of them soon and their little boy Fisher playing with Keira.

2007-09-10T12:20:00.000-05:00

Keira Videos
by Jed

Yes that's right...just what you've been waiting for...videos of our notorious little girl. For those of you who like to know all that "what Keira does now" stuff here it is: She STILL insists on calling both me & Jaime "da-da"--works for me, but Jaime's not thrilled. She has mastered the use of the word "agua"--that's right our daughter who only says like 10 words is bilingual:) When she's thirsty she'll say the word about 20 times in a row to make sure we get the point that she wants water. She overuses the word hot, but knows what it means. She has a multi purpose word "foo" which depending on the context can be for "foot", "shoe", "food" and of course "poo". Other words she can say: book, dog, duck, hallo (like "hello for answering the phone in Spanish), up, down, that, and of course "no". She can also bark like a dog.

She loves attention and will put on a show for anyone when we're out. She understands commands in Spanish like "Dile hola/ chau" (tell him/her hi or bye). She'll wave at everyone when we leave a place. Her new favorite thing is to wake up by 6am and cry till we bring her in our room where she proceeds to jump up and down, laugh and sit on us. Maybe I'll have to start taking naps. She will sing on command and loves playing my guitar or drums and will throw a fit if I don't give her my guitar pick.

I'm sure there's plenty of other things, but for now, here are some videos:

2007-09-02T11:43:00.000-05:00

Jaime's Reflections

Jed has been gone for the past few days and gets back this evening. Keira and I have just been hanging out and having fun. She's been a little whiny and I really think it's because she knows our life is different without Jed and feels that. I feel so badly for all the kids in this world who aren't able to have both their parents with them all the time and their life keeps changing. Kids know those things and it really shapes their lives. I feel bad for the parents, too, who want to give their children so much more.

It's the first time I've been on my own since Keira was born and I've had so much time uninterrupted to just think. I can't believe how much thinking and analyzing and reflecting I've done. I can overwhelm myself and was kind of depressed for a little while, but I've enjoyed the last day or so and have realized a lot of things. I was kind of lonely at first and didn't know what to do with my time, which is strange for someone like me who thrives on alone time...well, not all the time but some. I had forgotten how to enjoy it!

One thing I realized is that I need to start journaling more. I love to write and it helps me sort my thoughts and hear from God, too. It helps me to escape distraction and get to the root of things. I also think I need to keep track of those things in case God shows me something He wants me to share with other people that may help them. I've been thinking a lot about how when we die we are going to be accountable for our time and management of our talents (or gifts) that God has entrusted to us, among other things. I have really been slacking and I may not be much of someone hugely great and special but I really need to be a good steward of what God has given me.

Another thing I realized is how strongly I feel about Crisis Pregnancy Counseling and the issue of abortion. I've never been a huge advocate of social issues, I definitely have my opinions and convictions, but haven't necessarily felt the need to take part. I think the platforms of "Pro-Life" and "Women's Right to Choose" are horrible labels.

I am definitely against abortion, but the two labels misconstrue the heart of the matter and confuse people as to what their advocating for. It has nothing to do with rights of the unborn vs. rights of the woman. And people who stand behind “Women’s Right to Choose” are not pro-death. By lobbying for women's right to choose I believe people who really mean to do good are condemning thousands of women to torture and heartache. Most women do not WANT to get an abortion, they feel stuck and see no other option. Most of them do value life. They don't have anyone to offer them hope or how they could manage a pregnancy. The choice to carry out an abortion is not a light-hearted decision by any.

Women in hopeless, horrible even nightmarish situations need people to come alongside them to show them a different way and help them carry their burden. Actions have consequences and choosing to give birth to a child will have difficult consequences, but aborting a baby takes a piece of a woman's soul and destroys her. Abortion can seem like an easy "fix", but really it gives women a burden that will change their lives and usually not for the better. Life is sacred and whether a person wants to acknowledge it or not, they feel that conviction when they choose to have their baby killed. I feel women deserve better and if all the people who supported women's right to choose did something to help them this world would be a better place. We are supposed to love people and help them and legalizing abortion and leaving them with only the right to "make that choice" and suffer the consequences is not how we do it.

Of course as Christians we can offer women (and men who are involved) hope and a free life in Christ who will help them through the crisis. But even spirituality aside for those who aren’t interested or feel like it isn’t appropriate to offer any religious propaganda to those who need counsel, it is our responsibility to tell women the truth and that truth is that abortion is not the only option in a hopeless situation- no matter how bad. I really feel like I need to stand alongside women in that situation somehow. I don't know how, but I have this conviction and it doesn't do any good without action.

I know there will be some people reading this (IF anyone checks our blog anymore) who do not agree and that’s fine. I don’t wish to offend anyone, but I need to speak what’s in my heart. I respect that people may feel differently than I do.

I’ve also started reading the book “Boundaries With Kids” by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. I haven’t gotten very far, but I love it so far. I hope to teach Keira how to respect boundaries and create them in her own life to “love and live better”. It is a Christian book and I have been so impacted that I want to read the authors’ first book “Boundaries” which is for adults. I think I could have been a much more effective friend and saved myself a lot of heartache if I had applied some of these principles.

That’s it for my long-fingered report. See what happens when I have so much time to think?!

2007-08-29T20:34:00.000-05:00

Big Surprise!

Yesterday was probably the best day for us yet here in Cusco! We went downtown in the morning to pick up our first package (yay!) and as if that wasn't enough, God blessed us in a huge way.

There aren't many people that travel here with small children so when we saw a gringo couple walking toward us on the street with a toddler and a baby it caught my attention. After quickly noting their children, clothing and accessories I was about to say to Jed that they looked like locals when they said "Are you Jed and Jaime?" You can imagine our shock! It turns out they are missionaries that we'd emailed with about a year ago before they came down. They had contacted us with visa questions. They live 2 hours from here and neither of us realized we'd be so close. Someone from CTEN had told them or a friend of theirs that we're here now and they recognized us from our website.

We immediately liked them both and that was compounded by the fact that their favorite restaurant is also our favorite place to go... it really doesn't get better than that :) They have a little boy (very cute!) a couple months older than Keira and the sweetest little baby girl you've ever seen. She was a month early so she is not quite 6 pounds yet and so precious.

Last night we went out to Jack's for dinner and we really clicked with them. It is a real answer to prayer to have English speaking friends and missionary friends that we can relate to. After two years, it is a real treat! God has blessed us with amazing Peruvian friends and short-term visitors to Lima, but it is really nice to have someone here locally that we can let down our guard with and just have a good time together. Sometimes it is really difficult being real with people back home in the midst of struggles because they worry too much or just can't relate the same way. And it is nice to have someone to relate to culturally, as well. So I really hope we can be an encouragement to each other. I know Keira will have fun causing trouble with her new little friend, too!

Mike and Alyssa, if you read this, thanks for being our friends!

2007-08-23T13:13:00.000-05:00

Video Tour of our Apartment in Cusco
Well, It's been a few months, but now that our lives have settled down a bit, we can hopefully keep our blog a little more up to date. Here's a little video clip tour of our apartment for friends & family who wanna see where we live. Enjoy:)

2007-05-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

Random Stories
by Jed

Well, it seems that Keira might FINALLY get around to walking. Since Sunday, Keira has actually been standing on her own for short spurts of time. She is a bit of a fraidy-cat though and isn't that thrilled about it, although that could have something to do with the fact that we have hard tiled flooring...She seems to like it more on our bed where she can propel herself into us without any worries. Speaking of being a fraidy-cat, Keira has several phobias that we've noticed. Her latest is a phobia of little inch worms...I'm talking about the really itty-bitty ones you can hardly see. Last week we found one & I put it on my finger to show Keira how they wriggle around. She did NOT like that at all. It might as well have been a little alien. Yesterday she was playing on the floor by my feet and I heard a similar whimper and looked on the floor to find--sure enough a little inch worm. I'm not entirely sure what the deal is since she plays with beetles & pops the dead ones in her mouth...hmmmm

This past weekend we decided to go for a nice Saturday afternoon walk and no sooner had Jaime closed the door, but we realized the only key we had was inside. Yes, our door locks automatically every time you close the door. We have to leave the key in the outside of the door all day to make sure we don't get hosed. Anyway, Saturday we got hosed for the first time in 2 years. So I had to find the least destructive way to get into our house. I was able to get a ladder & climb up on the roof & pull back a section of roofing on one end and hang drop from the rafters to open the door. That reminds me I still haven't nailed the roof back on yet...

Last night as I was teaching English I was hit with the thought that I may actually know what I'm talking about as I rattled off an explanation for a question about an auxiliary verb and past participles...I stopped to think and realized I wasn't just making it up... Not only that, but it's funny to think of myself as being in charge in a classroom situation in general-- Telling students not to talk, to pay attention, that I'm giving them a pop quiz, or that they need to study. Then I go home and tell my daughter to make good decisions when she's thinking about yanking all the toilet paper off the roll...I feel like such a grown up.

2007-05-07T15:21:00.000-05:00

Here's our little munchkin. As you can see, she has gotten over her dislike of apples. She'll chow down on onions, dirty potatos, oranges- anything, if given the chance!

2007-05-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

Our Little Drummer...

Here's a picture of Keira with her proud father. She cannot get enough of the drums! Jed is so excited and plans to give her lessons as soon as she can sit on the drum stool by herself. One of her favorite things to do is to sit on the floor by the bass drum and pound away while he is playing.

She also loves the guitar and is currently trying to figure out how to strum with a pic. Maybe we'll have another musician in the family!

2007-04-22T14:55:00.000-05:00

The Good and the Bad
by Jed

A little over a week ago we finished building 2 more houses with a team that came down from the US. Now when I say "finished", I mean we built the whole structure, put up the roof and all that kind of stuff. They're still working on the bathroom, windows and other finishing touches. This team was great and we had a good time. These houses will be for two more families who are students here and will be a big blessing to them. Now if only we could build our own house:)

So yesterday I went to church by myself (the bus here broke down again and Jaime wasn't feeling well, so I went alone). Church was great and I always enjoy getting out and being able to see people and worship. Afterwards I took advantage of being within 10 min of a supermarket and did some shopping for groceries. Jaime made me a specific list of necesities, mostly meat and fruits and veggies since we are on a really tight budget this month... You know, those months when you look at your bank account and look at your bills and just decide to pray since the mathematics get a little fuzzy:) Anyway, here's the crummy part: I went to a bank, got out some US$ and changed it for Soles (the currency here) on the street. I do this all the time--it's safe and I've never had a problem. Yesterday however, I got passed a counterfit bill worth about $35US which apparently isn't uncommon here. To make this story short, I had to give up the 100 sole bill in the supermarket where I tried to spend it (not knowing it was fake) and of course we're now that much more short this month. The moral of this story is that even if the exchange rate is worse in a bank, it sure beats losing 100 soles. Incidently, 100 soles here could take 20 people out to eat some great chicken in town....Not that I was planning on taking anyone out to eat but...

2007-03-31T16:28:00.000-05:00

We finally got our stuff...yay!
by Jed

Well, for those who actually read our blog, you may have noticed a lot of --well--nothing lately. We are back in Peru and have gotten through a couple crazy work intensive weeks so are going to attempt to start sharing our little stories for those who wanna know what’s going on with us.

So since we’ve been back I’ve built a house, hosted several groups who have come down and been working all week long on getting our recent shipment of things cleared through customs.

This past week I’ve left the house every morning by about 5:30am to take taxis, buses and all manner of transportation to get into town where I’ve been meeting up with a lady from our church to go to the shipping yard and customs to deal with our shipment of stuff. Yesterday we FINALLY cleared the last of the documents, paid all the insane customs duties and hired a truck to bring all our stuff back to our house.

First of all, you cannot believe the amount of work, and paperwork, standing in lines and all the different charges they invent here in Peru. I have never in my life had anything more complicated to do—ever. Someone seriously needs to tell them that it would make everyone’s lives easier to put all the charges on one bill and pay it at one time. They can divide the money between themselves after that with a handy dandy computer program that they invented in the 90s and everyone would be happy. Then they can hand my stuff over on the same day I pay the bill since it IS in fact my stuff and have just one person be in charge of looking at my passport. I promise that after I’ve shown it 20 times in the same shipping yard that it hasn’t changed.

At any rate, our stuff finally did make it back to our house on Friday afternoon after I dealt with a corrupt truck driver who wanted to charge me an extra $40 upon arrival because it was farther than he thought. This was from a “professional“ truck line who’d given me a quote based on me telling them exactly where I live. I guess it would be too obvious to actually check a map before giving a quote and making a contract. Anyway, I paid the crook an extra $15 which he wasn’t happy about, but it was literally all I had and I told him (in the nicest way possible) that I more than fulfilled my contract and that any other truck driver would have been more than happy to make what they made. In the end he ended up leaving with the three empty wooden pallets of mine (I was a little distracted), so seeing as those are worth about $20 each he should be pretty happy.

After all is said and done it really is nice to have all our stuff in one place and God really did protect us and give us just enough money to pay for it all (almost to the dollar!) I have had to pray about my attitude in regards to the corruption here, but I’m doing better today…really. God also provided us with an extremely knowledgeable lady from our church to help walk me through all the steps so I am extremely grateful for her.

2006-12-10T17:10:00.000-05:00

So, for those of you following our events on our blog and wondering if we dropped off the face of the planet, here's a quick update:

We are currently in Alaska visiting Jaime's Family for Christmas and enjoying some great Christmas weather! Keira's loving the freedom of crawling around on carpet (something we don't have in Peru). The first day she just sat there petting the carpet like it was the best thing since sliced bread. Not sure what we'll do yet when we get back to Peru.

From here we'll be going to Nashville, TN in January and then up to Canada to visit my family for a couple weeks. Then it's back to Nashville to pack up stuff and hopefully ship a bunch of stuff down to Peru. We'll be back down south (South America) at the end of February. SO, all that to say,that we've been travelling and are a little preoccupied right now. We'll try and post a few funny photos as we get a chance...

2006-10-19T19:36:00.000-05:00

Paseo!
by Jaime

On Tuesday BCM managed to STUFF all of the IBYM students and the missionaries into three vehicles to head off on the annual excursion. This year's destination: Parque Villa El Salvador. It's a beautiful park that has a small zoo, beautiful gardens, picnic areas, a swimming pool, a theater, small lake with motor and paddle boats, 4-wheelers, horse rides, and lots of soccer fields, basketball courts and volleyball courts.

Keira seemed to enjoy the birds and monkeys and we enjoyed hanging out with the students and having a change of scenery. Jed and I decided to hop on the 4-wheelers. They didn't go very fast and the loop was pretty small, but it was still fun.

Keira seems to attract attention anywhere we go. There were several small schools spending the day at the park and we made two 11-year old friends, Roseana and Gabriela. They kept showing up everywhere we went and played with Keira and were glad to be in some pictures with her. Unfortunately, she wasn't in a smiley mood but they still wanted us to email them a picture as proof of their new "gringo friends". They were full of questions and wanted to know why we are living here, so it was nice to have an invitation to share about Jesus.

2006-10-16T10:46:00.000-05:00

I'll pass on the Guinea Pig...
by Jed

Yesterday was fantastic with a touch of spring in the air. As many of you know, we’re at opposite seasons to the upper hemisphere and have just finished up winter here… Not that it was all that cold, but mostly dreary and cool enough for sweatshirts every day. Yesterday we took full advantage of the afternoon & went for a walk beside a dried up river bed near the camp here and then walked into town. We decided to try out a new restaurant that we’d passed before but had never eaten there. It was a patio restaurant with a thatch roof up on a hill a little bit overlooking the road coming into Picapiedra our small town. They served up some Pachamanca which is this tasty meat cooked in the ground with potatoes. They offered us Guinea Pig, but we told they maybe next time… I just can’t bring myself to eat those little guys. Keira fell asleep in her little strap-on carrier which made our time out really peaceful as well. Not that we don’t enjoy her awake time but, well, you know…

And then just as it starts getting really nice here, we’ll be heading up to Alaska to enjoy some below zero weather. It’ll all be worth it to see some snow and be with family for the first time in years...

2006-10-06T20:52:00.000-05:00

Being a Missionary Part 2 ransportation

by Jed

If you've never used public transportation in a Latin country you haven't fully tasted of the culture. Since we don't have a car here, we rely heavily on an unpredictible array of taxis, buses and "combis" or little vans. The main object really is to fit as many people in as you can to make it worth their while. From our house to get to our church, we walk a 1/2 mile to the top of the road near the corner store, catch a combi to a place 7 minutes away called "Manchay Bajo" where we find a taxi. The taxi sits in one place until they fill up with enough people to justify the expense of gas. The ride from here is about 15 minutes, so they'll have 6 people in the car to start, and go from there. Of course we could pay the full $3 to go straight there, but it starts to add up and we prefer to pay our one Sol each which works out to about 62 cents for the both of us. I sometimes end up in the back of a station wagon just like when I was a little kid. You can also pretty much bring whatever you want on the bus--live chickens, your pet, a bag of live guinea pigs (these are not pets here by the way kids, so brace yourself if you go to the market and see these little guys skinned & ready for the grill).

Anyway, we end up in a central area called "Huertos de Manchay" which means gardens. Interestingly enough, there's no gardens and if you didn't know where you were, you might actually think you were in the desert in Iraq...really (check the picture). In Huertos we find a bus which for another Sol will take us to church. By car this would be less than 15 minutes away from Huertos, but they take the scenic route to once again stuff as many people in the bus as they can, so that ups it to at least 30 minutes or more.

Getting on the bus is only a courtesy slow-down, so you gotta move fast. Getting off is the same way. I've actually seen people totally bite it in the dust getting off the bus. There are no set bus stops though, so you can get on and off wherever you want. Last night coming home from church I was so packed in to the bus I literally couldn't move. Fortunately I'm about a foot taller than everyone else, so I could actually breathe. You're thinking 'boy I really hope someone gets off soon' and next thing you know they're stopping to squish 5 more people in.

One fascinating thing here is the sense of fashion. As we drive by these houses that are made of pretty much any material about the size of a bedroom and have the roof being held down by extra bricks, some young people will walk out in nicer clothes than I have talking on their cell phones. It's a very interesting clash of worlds.

As much of a hassle and extra time that public transportation takes, there are 2 things that I am thankful for--not having to deal with the other kamakazi drivers and not being the target of corrupt police officers pulling Americans over for bribes. Last year I had to pay $15 to a police officer at 1am who talked around in circles for 10 minutes without a real reason for giving us a ticket and kept telling me there was an easy solution to let us go. When it was clear there was no other way out, I gave the little crook what he wanted and went on my way. The police in the US are pretty awesome compared to the police here. I just want to go back to the States and give the nearest officer a big hug... I probably won't though...

2006-10-05T12:20:00.000-05:00

Being a missionary PART 1
by Jed

It's funny that growing up I never really enjoyed school and especially didn't like English class. It's not that I got terrible grades or anything, I just wasn't particularly fond of it. In addition to that, I definitely didn't care about languages and since I grew up in Canada, didn't even think about learning Spanish. All that to say that with no plans to ever do so, I'm now teaching English 6 times a week, and have to speak Spanish every day to do pretty much everything. Pretty funny how things turn out sometimes. It's amazing as I teach English, all the things I never thought about in regards to the intricate grammatical structure of the language. There's nothing better than being in front of 20 students and trying to explain what "doing" means in the question "How are you doing?" without time to think about it...."ummmm, it's uh...auxiliary...yeah that's it...auxiliary"

Contrary to popular belief, living in a Spanish speaking country for a year or 2 does not necessarily make you fluent, especially if you're not studying Spanish. We often take the "scenic route" so to speak in explaining something that could have been said in half the time because of one word we can't remember.

I like to think that when I talk to people in English and it's their second language that I use simple straight forward language and stay away from the idioms. I follow most Spanish conversations pretty well, but there are a few people here who chose the most complicated ways to tell us the simplest things. Finally after a puzzled look they'll strip away the idioms and break it down for me--ah, that's better, I think. Why didn't you just say so?

2006-09-26T20:10:00.000-05:00

Happy Spring!!!
by Jaime

Well, I suppose that's only true if you live in the southern hemisphere... so Happy Fall to those of you up north!

On Friday we celebrated the arrival of spring by making spring hats and bird nest cookies. The celebration of spring is a big deal here in Peru and many schools have banquets to honor the day. With such a small school and young students, we decided to have fun a different way. The children were very creative in thinking of things they love about spring to decorate their paper plate hats. Some of their favorites? The sun, flowers and bunny rabbits! We don't actually see any bunny rabbits, but one of the students has a pet rabbit and we talked about how many baby animals are born in the springtime.

The IBYM students were participating in an olympiad that day complete with competitions in shotput, discus (with a flat, roundish rock), high jump and triple jump, just to name a few. At lunch we feasted on ceviche, a classic Peruvian dish of fish cured in lemon juice and onions. Later that night everyone attended a banquet where the winners of the olympiad were announced. It was quite a sight to behold with everyone dressed in their finest!

We hope you are enjoying a beautiful fall or spring wherever you are!

jaime :) <><

2006-09-12T20:52:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to Me!
by Jaime

I was very surprised when I walked into our kitchen/dining room/office/living room Saturday morning and saw an oven sitting in the middle of the room! Somehow Jed managed to buy, transport and bring an oven into our house all without my knowledge. I LOVE surprises and was very impressed that he pulled off such a feat. Especially since I kept voicing my concern over seemingly low funds in our bank account. I've been talking a lot about a stove the last few weeks and dragged Jed into stores to look at them, but was sad that I didn't think we would be able to afford one. Little did I know he had already purchased one and that's where the missing money had gone! It was hard for him to keep his mouth shut with all the pressure.

After a year without an oven I really appreciate all the options available for cooking and baking with such an appliance. We've been using a two-burner camp style stove for the past year and our food has been somewhat basic with limited room and no oven. But this opens up a whole new world!

So what did I make first? Brownies of course!! Yesterday I made some muffins with oat bran, flax seed, carrots and apples as we are attempting to eat healthier. And I've been able to prepare lunch and dinner, having all dishes hot and ready at the same time. What a wonderful thing! I'm stocking up on recipes I want to tackle over the next few months.

It was a special birthday indeed!

Jaime :) <><

2006-09-02T15:04:00.000-05:00

License to Drive
by Jed

Last night we went out for our favorite in-town “dining”—pollo a la brasa. That’s basically a really good rotisserie chicken with some herbs inside that are so tasty you’d swear they’re illegal. They serve up ½ a chicken with a whole lot of home style fries and side salad all for the price of about $3US. We can’t make it that cheap in our house really. On the way back home we always walk past the orphanage where in the evening the kids are often hanging out on the balconies overlooking the dirt road. They always get excited when we walk by and if I don’t see them, yell my name until they get my attention. Pretty cute little kids let me tell you. The icing on the cake last night so to speak (besides the fact that one of Jaime’s students Luisa actually brought over some cake for us), was that Keira slept through the entire night without a peep for the 4th night in a row. It’s a miracle and mom and dad are happy.

Keira is now mobile—that’s right, she got her license to drive her baby walker and although she has very little interest in crawling, loves to boot around our living area in that thing and she’s pretty fast—AND she’s found all the things she can reach and shouldn’t touch which are coincidentally her favorite things to visit. Number one on her list is our kitchen trash. She smiled quite contentedly this morning after knocking it over. We babysat our 3 year old neighbor for an hour today and got a glimpse of what’s in store for us. Oh, the fun has just begun.

2006-08-28T22:00:00.000-05:00

Screaming Keira...
by Jed

Well the title pretty much says it, but let me elaborate. Our little baby has an extremely loud voice that apparently she wants everyone to hear. 1' o clock in the afternoon, 10 at night or 3 in the morning....preferably at the most inconvenient times. She can be holding something contentedly, just sitting in her stroller at lunch and suddenly decide to yell for all she's worth. Or better yet in the middle of the night whenever she wakes up... wet diaper, bored, lonely, can't find her soother---who can tell? Our neighbors have told us that they've poked their heads outside late at night on more than one occasion to see where the screaming was coming from. Keira actually cut her first tooth this week and is working on the second which I'm sure has added to her vigor. You know, I'm not really sure what I expected, but I kinda thought--you know-- they eat, play a little, and mostly sleep with the occasional diaper change. Who knew it would be so much work...and doesn't she know I like to sleep at night? But just as my mind starts drifting to the orphanage up the street, I hear her laughing and I remember just how much I love her...

2006-08-14T20:24:00.000-05:00

Friendly Household Spider?
by Jaime

This not so little guy (He's pictured next to a standard-sized fork for reference) fell out of a blanket I had cuddled up in the night before on the couch. Jed quickly snapped a picture while I made sure he didn't scurry too far. Evidently, he had made a thick web of a home inside one of the folds of the blanket. The SAME blanket that our little Keira had been lying on just moments before.

This guy is just one of about 8 spiders of the same size we've killed in the last 1 1/2 weeks. And you know what they say about all the spiders left in hiding when you see just one... I think it may be time to spray again.

Fortunately, they're not poisonous and aren't likely to sneak up on you to bite anyway, but as a definite NOT fan of spiders, I don't love to see them scurrying around- especially when they are clinging to my little baby's mosquito net covering her bed.

Despite the fact that I don't like spiders- thanks to the movie Arachnaphobia I saw when I was about 10- I've gotten somewhat used to seeing them around all the time. I still occasionally look for fiddles on the backs of the smaller spiders I kill, but have decided it's best not to dwell too much on potential hazards and just kill them.

Alaska, free of creepy crawlies such as these, was such a nice place to grow up! All you had to worry about were bears- and they're pretty hard to miss :)

jaime :) <><

2006-08-14T19:31:00.000-05:00

Finally, the last report on La Merced!
by Jaime

The last day we were in town we went to check out a Christian camp located nearby. How do you reach the camp? Well, first you hop on a little cable car thing (I'm not sure of the official term) then you hike about 1/2 mile up a steep hill. The trip across the river was fun! Of course, I wasn't one of the ones pulling us across by tugging hand-over-hand on the center cable. But it was a fun little adventure.

The camp property consists of 350+ hectares. I'm not sure how many acres that is, but that is a LOT of green trees, hills and room for over 14 beautiful waterfalls. Around the property you can find parrots, an adorable baby cow and a baby bear who eats papaya and....rice! What else would a bear living in Peru eat?

Jed made an instant best friend of the monkey who lives on the little island in the middle of the lagoon that serves as center stage for the housing area. He was surprised to find the little guy jump onto his back when he leaned down to take a picture of a few of us in the water. He quickly passed the camera to me so I could get a few pictures. He was enjoying it until he realized the monkey didn't want to jump off his back!

jaime :) <><

2006-08-11T21:03:00.000-05:00

Ashaninkas

Sorry we haven't posted for a few days. We've had a few technical difficulties combined with time restraints...

One of the neatest opportunities we had was to visit the Ashaninka indians near La Merced. The Ashaninkas from the Amazon have a fascinating history of fighting off the Spaniards, Franciscan missionaries and others who have done their best to enslave and obliterate them since the 1800s.

We visited a pueblo of Ashaninka indians who still live all together and offer a glimpse into their native culture. It is a very touristy thing to do, but interesting nonetheless. We were greeted by several people dressed in native clothing who told us the history of their people and the gods they worship. As they were telling us, in Castellano (Spanish), about their gods I felt very sad and couldn't help thinking that someone needed to tell them about Jesus and a God who loves them unconditionally. My Spanish isn't that good and I was also wondering if they are a people similar to the Mixtecos we worked with in Mexico who take a long time to befriend before they can accept or hear anything ousiders have to say.

We had fun dressing up in their native clothing, wearing face paint, playing a game similar to badmitton without rackets, participating in their dance and looking at and purchasing some of their handicrafts. Before we left, they also took a few willing participants on a "raft" ride. I don't know what it is really called, but they look like wooden rafts that someone pushes around with a long pole or paddles while standing up.

At one point right near the end Carlos, our director, called us together and told our new acquaintances that one of the missionaries had something to share with them. He preceded to thank them for sharing their lives with us and then Raul Torrejon stood up to share. Raul told them how he had read about them and had long wanted to come meet them and share the love of Jesus Christ with them. It was a very special message that he shared and they thanked him for sharing. They told him that several groups had come to preach to them, but that this message was very special for some reason and they appreciated someone caring enough to tell them about Jesus.

They also asked BCM to return to their village so that they can bring all 500 or so of their children to a Compartiendo campaign to hear about Jesus and play games and sing songs. The Bible has not yet been translated into their language, so many of them will not be able to read it, so please pray that those who really want to know more about Jesus will be able to regardless. They invited BCM to come stay in their village for a few days when they return to do Compartiendo. Pray for this opportunity and that God will pierce their hearts with the truth that is evident in His very creation.

2006-08-09T19:03:00.000-05:00

These pictures go with the post below.

Waterfall: Velo de la Novia

Mmmmm...yummy termites! Seconds please!

2006-08-07T18:20:00.000-05:00

The Land of Waterfalls, Fruit and Cool Trees...
by Jaime

The whole purpose of our retreat to La Merced was for all of the missionaries to reconnect and relax with one another. Life is very busy here at the camp and we often find ourselves tending only to business and letting relationships and fellowship go by the wayside. This was just the thing we needed and our schedule included several tours as well as time to relax by the pool.

We saw many waterfalls and I thoroughly enjoyed the long, sometimes challenging hikes to get there. On the first hike we walked through a gathering of butterflies- all sizes and colors. I have never seen anything like it before! I was afraid to walk through them because I didn't want to hurt them.

I took the liberty of treating myself to a different fruit drink every day. The fruit in the states pales in comparison to what is available here. I drank carambola (starfruit), cocona, guanábana, melon y leche (canteloupe and milk- really, it's tasty!). I wanted to try an avocado and milk blend, but didn't get the chance. I love avocado! My goal is to start buying these fruits myself and make up some juice in our blender.

At the end of the first day we also went to a botanical garden. I thougt it was going to be a bit boring, but it was fascinating! We had a guide who walked us through and told us all about different jungle plants and trees. There are a myriad of healing plants to be found... among them uña de gato (cat's claw)- it is credited to replenish the immune system, treat ulcers, cancer, arthritis, and even to treat AIDS. I hear it's gaining popularity in the states and you can grab it up for super cheap here. The tree has thin vines cascading from it and have what look like cat's claws on them.

Another cool thing we saw was Sangre de Grado... a tree that "bleeds" red liquid when struck with a machete. When you rub the liquid on your skin, it turns a whitish, pearlescent color. It is said to be good for skin abrasions as well as stomach ulcers if taken internally.

One of my favorites things about the tour was a tasty treat Jed and I tried. At one point our guide snapped a leaf off a tree, used it to scoop something off a tree and licked it. I thought he was eating ants and was about to turn away with disinterest when I heard he was eating termites. Several people claimed they had a "woody" taste and were actually tasty, so I had to try them for myself. To my surprise, they really do taste like wood! I would say how I'd imagine cedar to taste. Jed and I wanted to take some to go because they were so delicious!

¡Chau!

2006-08-05T19:10:00.000-05:00

La Merced: The Adventure Begins

by Jed

We just got back from an excellent week in the high jungle of Peru in La Merced. Well, the adventure started before we got there... On Monday Aug 1st we packed the van at 7:30pm and sent the women ahead of us while us guys headed to the bus terminal by public transportation an hour away. This was because at the last minute the other van broke down and we couldn't fit everyone in the one van. No surprises here...

Upon arriving, the functional van died--short circuit--but fortunately in front of the bus terminal. Good timing I'd say. However, come to find out that we were handed bad information and there are no more buses leaving from the terminal this night. Whoops! The "search committee" came back around 11:30pm with the news--they had finally found a bus that was leaving right away and we had to get there in a hurry. This was a "special bus" meaning it left from the street, you could barter your fare, and it was first come first serve. By the time we got there it was full on pandemonium. Jonatan Odicio (who is fortunately tall) was literally holding back people who were pushing and yelling while 23 of us got on the bus in a real hurry. I thought someone was going to get beat up and one of our girls got pushed and fell trying to get on the bus. Little Keira was oblivious fortunately.

It was a full time job keeping Keira from her volatileness (is that a word?) through the night and we arrived in La Merced at about 9am exhausted but thankfully safe and sound. Pictured above are Jaime and Ana waiting in the bus terminal

The adventure continues tomorrow with Jaime narrating...

2006-07-30T20:56:00.000-05:00

Rice, rice, and more rice...
by Jed

Yesterday Prisilla, one of the 3 year old missionary kids here came over as she often does to "play" with little Keira. She has no problem helping herself into the house, asking for something to drink, and not telling her parents where she is. She's pretty cute though... Making conversation with her, I asked her what her favorite food was. "Arroz", she aswered cooly like isn't that everyone's favorite food? "Arroz" is rice for those who have forgotten highschool Spanish. Then as an after thought she added "y arroz con pollo" (and rice with chicken). Not the American response you'd think of which would be something like pizza or ice cream.

To appreciate her response you need to understand that Peru could quite possibly rival China for its rice consumtion. They do rice at least twice a day and also have no problem serving up rice pudding for dessert. So I guess it's a good thing she likes rice. It gave us a good laugh because although we typically like rice, we've eaten more in the last year than in our whole lives and regularly joke as to what we might be having for lunch. Rice and chicken? Rice and beef? I might add that while we're in the States over Christmas that we won't be eating any rice.

2006-07-29T20:16:00.000-05:00

Conoce al IBYM
by Jed

Last night was the end of “Conoce al IBYM” a special 3-day event where kids from churches and other young people potentially interested in attending the Bible School here got together for some good teaching and a lot of fun. We had a speaker down from a Bible College in Minnesota who did a 3 day series on prophecies surrounding Israel. Their family lived in Israel for 2 years and they had some great pics & stories. It was completely fascinating. There are at least 38 specific prophecies regarding Israel that have been fulfilled or are being fulfilled in our time. Really cool stuff.

Our good friends Tanya & Carolyn came to visit us this week. Well…truth be told, we just met them this week, but they were a blast and we got to hang out some, play games, and show them around a little. It was really nice to speak English this week.

Monday night we leave for La Merced…somewhere 8 hours away from Lima by bus, with all the missionaries here and our little Keira. This will be a test run of what a whole day in a plane will be like when we go up to Alaska for Christmas. We’re looking forward to this though… it should be fun and a chance to recharge before we go back to teaching and all our other responsibilities when we get back.

2006-07-27T15:05:00.000-05:00

¡Viva Perú!
by Jaime

This week the kids have been enjoying daily lessons about Peru's liberation from Spain. July 28 marks el Día de Indepencia in Peru and is a big event celebrated with a parade by all of the school-aged kids.

Since Shirley Cook Private School (our little homeschool was recently named in honor of the American woman who started the Pennies for Peru ministry) isn't big enough to have a parade of their own, one of the missionaries taught the kids how to march so they won't completely miss out on this imporant aspect of their culture. It was quite a sight to behold! They wouldn't cut it in the military, but they are pretty adorable doing their "left, right, left".

I learned that Don José de San Martín is credited as the "Liberator of Peru" when he proclaimed independece in 1821 and the flag is red and white because when he arrived in the country, he saw a red and white bird. There are 3 "símbolos patrios de Perú": the Peruvian flag, the shield, and the national anthem. The current flag is the third version and many times sports the shield, but officially is just plain red and white.

Pictured are 4 of the 6 students marching to the national anthem "Somos Libres" (We are free!).

Jaime :) <><

p.s. We will try to post a new entry every day or so, so be sure to check back often! Last night we weren't able to due to a pueblo-wide power outtage.

2006-07-24T17:28:00.000-05:00

Cows and goats everywhere I go...

by Jed

Everytime I walk out the door, and through the gate to walk to the top of the road, there are inevitably livestock waiting to greet me...and usually in a herd. And those danged goats are always chomping on our bushes which really can't spare any leaves at this point. Have you ever noticed that a bleating goat actually sounds like a person trying to imitate a goat? ....weird, I know.

I'm actually starting to walk and explore places in the morning around here....a little exercise--some time to pray. I always pass this one dog though who sits up on a wall and barks like he's going to jump off and take a piece out of me. I finally found that if I don't make eye contact with him that he doesn't act like he's going to eat me.

Yesterday was my culture day...a day when I get to feel something under my feet besides dirt. Sundays are when I play drums at church in the AM and have practice in the afternoon at 4pm, so between those times, I go into town. The mall, Starbucks, and Ace hardware are among my favorites. I expeically love sitting on those comfy couches in Starbucks. I'd trade our bed in for just one of those little couches....I would. I think it's on the way home when I'm sitting half sideways in the back of a stationwagon taxi with 7 other Peruvians after a 30 min bus ride that I realize I'm not in Kansas anymore.

2006-07-23T10:26:00.000-05:00

Sundry?

Yes, sundry as in varied, different, assorted- not like sundried tomatoes :) Well, Jed and I were contemplating a name for our blog, something a little more interesting than "Jed and Jaime's Blog". He really likes the movie A series of Unfortunate Events, so we went with that and changed it up a little. "Sundry" seems much more intesting a word than just "assorted".

I've been toying with the idea of doing an online journal or blog for a couple years now. I love reading my sister-in-law Jenny's blog, so Jed and I finally decided to start this blog as a joint effort. Sometimes we have funny little stories or interesting observations about living in another culture that we'd like to tell someone, but they don't seem quite email-update or newsletter worthy, so this will be the place we put them.

We will also share glimpses of what it's like to be a missionary in sharing our joys and struggles, lessons God has been teaching us, and stories about our little Keira and whatever strikes our fancy on any given day. Our goal is to be real and give our family, friends and supporters a taste of our life and to know us on a more personal level. Sometimes we'll attempt to be profound and sometimes just light-hearted.

We hope you enjoy reading in the future and that God is able to speak to you through our sharing, too!

Blessings, Jaime (and Jed) :) <><