Dearest Friends,
Amazing Beginning
AS we arrived at the Atlanta airport, a young man who was a baggage carrier rushed up to greet me. I had not flown this airline in years, so I had not seen him in a while. He said that he was so happy to see me and remembered my husband and I. He said that we were always kind and different from the other people he met. He asked how Mike was doing. When I told him of Mike’s death, he was very sad, but agreed with me that Mike knowing Jesus makes this rally sad story, a story full of hope.
There was some confusion with our Brazilian friend’s arrival in Cusco. No one was at the airport in Peru to pick them up. I got a phone call from Sam in Ireland whose wife is the sister to Gerson, our Brazilian director. A lady overheard me talking about the problem and asked if I was working with Donna Saune in Peru. When I said yes, she said that she was at the airport with a team going to Peru who had the contact numbers that I needed. When I called the numbers that she gave me, Donna just “happened” to be at their house visiting. The story gets more bizarre. The lady who helped me was an old friend. At first, I did not recognize her. Forty years ago when we were teenagers, we helped to start Riverside Church in Atlanta. I had not seen Janet in 30 years. God is amazing!
An English pastor friend’s wife came to their rescue. WE had met them on a previous trip. Now we are all together and grateful!
Our Bags
We are in Peru and already I have wondrous stories to tell you. Before we even left my home, I saw the Lord provide through the concern of friends an extra bag for the trip. Since we plan to start a new team, resupply an existing Peruvian team, and send equipment to Brazil through the Brazilian directors who are hear serving with us, we cannot arrive with too much equipment. Everyone gave up all of their bags and traveled with their clothes in their carry on luggage. I was so happy to see all 10 pieces of our luggage when we arrived in Lima. With our six carry on pieces, we had quite a pile.
I was not so happy with the difficulty that the customs officials gave us, but I kept smiling and determined to have a sweet spirit. Because of all their questions and their examination of our bags, we missed our flight to Cusco. However, God was kind to us. They finally decided not to charge us import taxes. We were able to get on another flight and arrived only 2 hours late. Our friends had been waiting a very long time. I was very concerned for them.
They greeted us with such joy. I was humbled and challenged by their deep love for Jesus. These are very special people and it is an honor to serve with them!
Prayer Requests
Praise God for the opportunity that He gave us last night to attend church with our friends. The pastoe wanted me to share missionary stories, but we had no translator. So, I spoke in English to my Brazillian friend who has limited English and only a few Spanish words. A young man could understand enough Portuguese that he could put her story in Spanish. We triple translated to make the pastor’s request possible. And by the response of the crowd, God really blessed our efforts.
Many people seemed touched and they rushed to greet us after the show. The children were the best. I got so many hugs! I tower over them as my 5’5” height is tall here.Their smiles are so sweet. Most have sunburned faces. It is really cold at night and really hot during the day. The high altitude makes working very different.
We begin doing shows in this area today. It is a very rural area , with great needs.Please pray that we can get a good translator. Please pray for a wonderful response.
In Jesus,Linda for Logan Souther, Malachi Armstrong, Fabianna and Gerson Simioni