Joel's New steps

Joel has decided it has been long enough watching Daniel go up the stairs, it is now his turn.

The Boys update

The T-shirt says it all.

Anna, Daniel and Thomas (he's the one in blue!)

I see you!

Auntie Chloe and nephew Joel.

More Kidz Klub Photos

Chloe as Velcro(wo)man and then standing by the door as the kids leave receiving their yoghurt and cereal.

Dolly holding the heart where everyone placed their name to show that God loves us all.

Most of the team: (left to right) Joan Paul, Juan Carlos, Dolly, Chloe, Mark, Nilda, Mirella, Lili, Mayra, Monica, and Monica.

Kidz Klub2 Photos

Juan Carlos talking to the kids about the lost sheep.

You don't want to know what this game is.

Registering to get into the club.

Grandma and grandson. (I presume)

Form Peru

Chloe, Anna, Holly and Joel in Starbucks

We now have 2 more visitors in our house. Chloe (Anna’s sister) and Holly (from my parent's church in Leeds UK) are staying in Peru for the next six months. They are both using half of their gap years to get involved in life here in Peru, within the ‘Form’ structure (see http://www.form.org.uk/) a disicpleship program from our church St Thomas in the UK.

Holly and Lili

Last week they started Spanish lessons which they will continue with for the next two months, and will be serving in various areas of the church, including the Kidz Klub. As our job is very varied they will be doing all sorts of different things including going on the church mission trip to the jungle in November. Holly and Chloe at the airport on the arrival of Holly.

Also we will be studying the book of John together as well as living life together and receiving teaching on many areas of practical theology.

Chloe and Holly in the Parque de la Amistad (Friendship Park)

Kidz Klub 2

Firstly apologies for the lack posting during June. We have been seriously busy, but we should be back to it in July.

We had our second Kidz Klub in Pacifico de Villa a week last Saturday. We turned up to find out that there was the Chorillos local festival, and 10 minutes before start time 6 kids had turned up and we had more leaders than kids. However Juan Carlos and Lili went out to look for children and we announced the club over the community's loudspeaker system and an excited 119 children turned up, the majority being those who had not come before.

JOSE!

Anna had prepared a wonderfully efficient administrative system to register the kids and also to give them stickers to identify each one of them, however we are in Peru and all good plans have to be tried and tested. Due to the 80 new kids we still had a vey long wait to get them registered, but hey eventually we will have all their names!

Nilda registering 2 boys

As a result, we now have contact with over 160 children, and their families, through visiting.

The club itself went really well with many kids bringing their flyer that were given we visited them 2 weeks before.
We have an amazing team and they really showed their worth as the club improved so much from the previous time. The highlights being the passionate latin singing and Juan Carlos' lost sheep preach.

Lili leading the singing.

The main excitment for the kids as always was 'hombre pega pega' or 'velcro man' who this month was 'velcro WOman'!

Hombrecita Pega Pega or Velcro WOman

We are really excited to be involved in such a venture, and it is really blessing to be able to serve such a community.

Kidz Klub video

We have recently met an lovely American missionary family who live just a couple of blocks from our house. They have 2 lovely children who Daniel and Joel love playing with.
Anyway, John Mark joined us as part of our Kids Klub team last Saturday, as 'Nacho' and we thought you might like to see his video on the event. (And his face getting covered in shaving foam!) Click here!

Kidz Klub

On Saturday we had our first Kidz Klub in Pacifico de Villa, the place where we did the kids event for over 600 children at Christmas. To not be too overwhelmed with kids we only invited 50, but 83 arrived! Fortunately we had a great team and we were well organised so it went really well and the kids responded really well! We are planning to carry on the club once a month and visit the children and their families once a month too.

Kids waiting outside when we arrived

Daniel helps to sweep the room before we let the kids in

Our team

Getting the children involved with an activity

Mark as Hombre Pegapega (Velcro man!)
Ivania gets shaving foamed and cheesy puffs thrown at her face for the girls team The children listen to an object lesson

Cute

Well, it is nearly June so we are meant to be in the middle of the Peruvian winter, but still Lima has sun nearly every day! (normally it leaves some time in April and doesn't return until at least September!) But being Peruvian, Joel has to keep in line with the Peruvian tradition of wearing hats when you go out after 3pm as otherwise you might get a cold. It is a chilly 17'C you know.

Teaching Art

This year due to now having a car and Anna no longer being pregnant, we can travel to the school in Ventanilla more regularly. We have committed to going every other Tuesday during term time and Anna is their art and music teacher! So she gets just under an hour to do some art or music with them. So far she has been concentrating on art, the first week looking at portraits and getting the children to draw round some of their class mates and do a group collage. The second week Anna taught them to draw a face in proportions.Lili helping some of the younger children with their faces

Both times we have been since the beginning of the school year we have had a few car problems. First time we got stuck in the sand. (Note: when you get stuck in sand, don't try and drive out, the wheel just works like a digger and digs you in further!). The second time the car overheated on the way back going up a hill and we ended up in the middle lane of a highway, just after a bend. Rather hair-raising. We managed to back the car up slightly and in to the fast lane. (couldn't get to slow lane!). Fortunately, Peruvian drivers are used to being cut up and breaking suddenly and doing quick manoeuvres. I think we may have been dead otherwise!! The best bit had to be the helpful policeman who stopped by us and said "you know you can't park here? Someone might hit you".

Of course, silly us!

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Servolution- the results

A month ago we did an event as a church called ‘7 days of Servolution’ (see previous posts). This was a week organised by Healing Place church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. We were one of over 250 churches (mainly in the US) spread out all over the world that ‘served’ people outside the church.
When I heard about this initiative I felt this would be a great thing to start the church as a whole to think about mission. For me mission is a way of life and not just an event, but as I have been taught and learned, event leads to process, or should do!
Therefore I encouraged every small group in the church to do at least one hour of service in this week.

The teenagers cleaning some of the local parks.
Overall the week was a real success even though some groups didn’t capture the idea. The great thing is that many people in the church and some cell groups are now continuing to serve in different ways outside the church.
During the week one group visted the ‘hospital of the child’ and gave out free nappies and other things for babies at 7.00 in the morning!

The teenagers giving out water to people passing by. (Their t-shirts say i'm here at your service)

Other groups were cleaning parks, and the beach, while the ‘Servinators’, also known as the teenagers in the church went out all guns blazing and gave out free water to people in their cars passing by, cleaning the parks around the church and also helping in Pacifico de Villa doing surveys. Another highlight was 2 small groups clubbed together and bought over 70 packets of school equipment and stationary, something which costs a lot of money here in Peru, every year. 70 packets of school stationary
These packets were then given to Alfredo and the school at Ventanilla, which was an incredible blessing as many of these parents cannot afford to pay the monthly fee, never mind buy books and pens.

Alfredo and Violeta (leader of the 2 small groups) talking about the work in the school.