Things have changed a lot in the last few months, but our current leadership team feels a lot more stable and long term and we wanted to introduce you to the people who we regularly share our lives with and work alongside. For those of you who don’t know us very well, I have also included a description of our family too!
Mark:
As Mark is nearing his mid-thirties, he is beginning to realize how much having kids has made him more introverted! With a rapid pace of life, he has actually begun to enjoy his own company and likes to sit and watch a good film. He still loves getting out and playing sport or hanging out with friends though, and hates the idea of spending our day off in the house. He is always looking for new places to go and loves adventure. He is team leader of our team and is responsible for overseeing all that is going on. Being apostolic in nature, he is constantly looking for new ways to develop or improve things. He loves the fact that every day is different and there are constantly new challenges and people around.
Anna:
After being pregnant for what seemed like ages (I was pregnant for 5 months with Solomon who we lost and then very quickly pregnant with Kaleb, who was born 3 months ago), I finally feel ‘normal’ again and able to partake wholeheartedly in life again! I am loving being a mother and spending time with the boys, and also loving spending time with our community. I feel so privileged to always have people around to help me out with the house, the cooking and the boys as needed, and although life is exhausting, it is also incredibly enjoyable! My role on the team is to support Mark and the other leaders, and so that often means having lots of conversations and praying with people as I get moments throughout the day, and supporting Karina in her role as head of children’s work in Pacifico.
Daniel:
Daniel is turning 5 at the end of November and is a very helpful and kind boy. He is currently into making raceworlds for his ‘Kerwizz’ cars and loves racing them around the different tracks he makes. He still loves reading and making inventions (tennis rackets stuck to cars to make them fly, or stuck to his arms to be a bird – unfortunately discovered on that occasion that he couldn’t fly!). He is a natural leader and likes to organize his Peruvian friends and Joel (his gringo (American and British) friends are no so willing to be bossed around!)
Joel:
Joel (3) is a smiler and is affectionately called ‘Joely’ by most people here – he even refers to himself as ‘Joely’. He is now a complete chatterbox when he gets a chance to be and loves to be outside or doing things all the time. He is an all or nothing boy, and he shows all of his emotions on his face – he can go from a huge grin to pouty disappointment in a second (usually when his 100th request of the day for more bread is refused!). Oh, and he loves to eat, although he is currently refusing to eat his lunch most days (which increases the requests for bread in the two hours after lunch he is not allowed to eat if he hasn’t eaten his lunch!) He is very sociable and loves to be with people and making friends with anyone he meets. He has a collection of soft toys, which he affectionately calls his ‘kids’ and they all have to be tucked in at night!
Kaleb:
Kaleb (3 months) is a very relaxed character, but also very alert – I think he is going to be very bright! He has some gorgeous smiles and is beginning to giggle (sometimes at no one in particular!) which brings a smile to us all! He currently has an amazing ability to sleep in a kitchen full of people!
Haseena
Hassena is our current intern from our Sheffield, UK church. She has been with us since August and is going to be with us until the end of January. She is a trained medical doctor and is hoping to specialize in psychiatry when she returns home. Here she has been learning Spanish and focusing on working with the children in Pacifico. She has been supporting the Sunday school leaders and has been visiting various children in the Sunday school to teach them about ways God talks to us. This all began when a few of the children started receiving visions and dreams, and Haseena has been recording them and helping the children make sense of them. It is very exciting and encouraging and I will write about it in another post soon. She is also in charge of the Christmas Nativity play and has already cast the play and started organizing people to make costumes. We are looking forward to seeing Shaun as the star of the play (literally!).
Rosa
Rosa is 18 and has been living with us since June this year and is from a Shipibo tribe in Pucallpa in the Amazon Jungle. We invited her to come and with live us so she can study at university here for three years. She has chosen to study nursing and is studying Monday to Friday in the evenings. During the day, she spends time studying and doing practicals (so far just visiting the Morgue, which was an eye-opening experience for us all as she told us about it afterwards – lets just say that there are not the same rules in the UK as in Peru!)- she also loves to cuddle Kaleb and has a gift for getting him to sleep, as well as being the most regular chef in our house! She has a good sense of humour and is always joking around, although she can also be very mature and sincere when she needs to be.
Karina, Lili and Ronald
Lili:
Lili (30) has been living with us for 3.5 years now (except for a 4 month return to her parents’ house). She is one of our small group leaders and Sunday school teachers and spends most afternoons doing pastoral visits and is in charge of Nido en Casa(Nursery at home) which is run for preschoolers of missionary children on a Tuesday and Thursday morning, (which Joel attends). The other mornings she spends time individually with Daniel and Joel doing Spanish classes with them which are always lots of fun. Lili is learning English and is very caring and practical and loves to cook when she gets a chance!
Ronald:
Ronald (27) is Lili’s brother and he is our full term Peruvian intern. As well as being a small group leader, he is also involved in worship and the pre-teenagers and teenagers group. He spends much of his week visiting people and helping out with practical things that need to be done. He sleeps with in our next door neighbour´s house, but spends much of the day at our house when not out, either playing the guitar or listening to new songs on Youtube (or both!). He is a very encouraging, patient and sincere guy and always willing to lend a hand.
Karina:
Karina is a young, bubbly grandmother in her early forties. She recommitted her life to the Lord last year and under Anna’s support, she is heading up the Children’s ministry. She makes jewellery and festive crafts to sell in her spare time. Always up for a giggle, she is a great encourager and although she has some difficult family circumstances, she keeps persevering.
Angela
Angela is Karina’s sister and is as bubbly as her sister, often joking and having fun. She lives with her four children (and often Karina too), in an apartment opposite our house which she likes to keep meticulously clean, I’m told, often to the detriment of her punctuality! She also recommitted her life to the Lord last year and is one of our small group leaders.
Shaun and Amanda
Shaun:
Shaun (28) and his wife Amanda have recently moved into a house nearby to be part of our team. Shaun is from Maryland and loves junk food and fizzy drinks (although manages to stay very thin on it) but hates sea food (to Mark’s approval!). He joins Mark in a love of Rugby and has even named their dog after the passion. Shaun has just taken over the church small groups and is in charge of writing the questions for the groups each week and making sure the leaders are supported in their roles. He is also a great Bible teacher and takes turns with Mark to share in the various meetings. He is determined to teach our boys American English and has already taught Daniel to wiggle his bottom and make raspberry noises when he comes into the room. Shaun and Daniel have also gone into business together, buying and selling fish on his phone application – they are currently saving up for a shark!
Amanda:
Amanda (26) is from Texas. She is very friendly and lots of fun and adds many smiles to our team. She regularly treats us to her baking and is learning to play her new guitar which she was miraculously donated. She is helping Ronald with the worship group (she sings beautifully) and is also spending time each week visiting the women in Pacifico and at Krochet Kids. She loves children, babies and animals and can often be found playing with Daniel or Joel (or smothered under a cushion Joel has covered her with!). Amanda has a pastoral heart and will no doubt come alongside many of the women in the church as time goes on. She also recently gave her take on our community, which you can read about here.
You can read Amanda and Shaun's blogs at:
www.amandalaura.blogspot.com
www.shaunwissmann.wordpress.com
and see their website here
Haseena, our current intern from Sheffield, UK, plays with Joel after lunch
Sunday evening after meeting together in Los Cedros, people often hang out in the kitchen
Our sitting room often looks like this!
Amanda showing off our weekly timetable, to try and keep track of our 11 leaders!
