Saturday, June 13th

After a very eventful day, we have all arrived safely in Lima. We left my house just after 2:00am to go to the Dulles Airport near Washington DC. We were using two school vans to transport us and our luggage. After traveling for about 45 minutes, we got a call from the other van telling us that they had a flat tire and that the tire treads seemed to have put a leak into the break fluid tube. Since that vehicle was not going to continue, we had to return to the school to get the other van. After picking up the van (thank you again Miss Butler for your help), we met back up the other van and transferred the luggage. We were now about 90 minutes behind schedule. We made it to the airport at 5:30 and our plane was set to depart at 6:30. The check-in ladies worked very quickly to get us all checked in and sent us on our way with gentle reminders that we really should have arrived earlier. All our luggage was marked as late arrival and I was not sure we would get them on time. Of course we still had to get through security and get to the terminal 30 minutes prior to departure or according to the FAA rules, we would not be allowed to board. We made it with about a minute to spare and were allowed to board the plane after another reminder to arrive earlier for international flight (even though we had tried).

The flights went as scheduled and were very smooth. Some team members were able to get some sleep on the flights. We arrived in Lima on time and went through immigration before heading to pick up our luggage. I was not expecting to get all of our luggage, but the Lord allowed all of our luggage to arrive which will save us from having to come back to the airport when it would have come in at a later time.

We have gotten settled in and had a great Peruvian dinner of "arroz con pollo" (chicken with rice). We will get some rest tonight before starting our ministry events tomorrow.

There is one more thing that I would like to share with you about Saturday. We had a van and a car waiting for us at the airport in Peru but we knew that with all our luggage it was going to be difficult to get everything in to those two vehicles but we had a backup plan. As expected, we did not all fit so I took two of the guys and secured a taxi to take us to our Lima home. The first taxi that we almost got changed his price so we went with a different one. As we started home, I began to talk to him about our purpose in coming to Lima and had the opportunity to share the gospel with him. He admitted that he had never accepted Christ as his Savior but was very attentive to all I said and asked good questions to indicate that he was listening and that God was working in his heart. Its about a 30 minute drive from the airport to where we are staying and we talked the whole way there. As we arrived, I gave him a tract and he thanked me deeply and told me that what I said had given him a "shot of spiritual thinking, but not like drugs, a good shot." He also told me that he had not had a chance to eat lunch and that he would take a break and go talk to God. When we had talked about praying to ask God to forgive us, he had asked if he needed to pray on his knees. I told him that outwardly he did not, but inwardly God was looking for a humble heart. Please pray for Alejandro that God will continue working in his heart and bring Him to a saving and growing relationship with Him.

Thank you for your prayers.