How great to have a new link church , as their current longstanding BMS missionary retires , Aylestone will be supporting us as their new link missionaries. What a great photo they sent us of them waving to us with a photo of us on the big screen !!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
New Link Church
How great to have a new link church , as their current longstanding BMS missionary retires , Aylestone will be supporting us as their new link missionaries. What a great photo they sent us of them waving to us with a photo of us on the big screen !!
Hump it and Bump it
Pastor Jason and Pastor Scott having fun moving our furniture!!
We are so grateful to have good friends in the missionary community and we will miss not living round the corner from Jason Rebecca and the girls.
We are all hoping that this will be the last move in a long time!!!
Monday, October 26, 2009
We signed the contract
We are so excited that we are moving house. After one year at bible college then 6 months in a furnished house in Arequipa and 8 months house sitting here in Cusco it will be great to have our own furniture and really make the place our own. Tonight we signed the contract and we move in next week ! Here's a photo of Scott and our friend Marco from church reading through the contract before we signed it!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Worship band
We are so excited that we have 2 new musicians helping Anjanette out with the music at church, Diego playing guitar and Fernando the keyboard. Here is a clip of Anjanette and Diego playing. Anjanette is delighted to be playing her flute again for the first time in over a year. The plan is to teach Diego and Fernando a song or two a week and to slowly build up our repertoire, this is a major answer to prayer !! Next weekend we have a special band practice for our first baptismal service. Please pray this week for Carlotta Mercedes and Maxi as they prepare for baptism.
Friday, October 23, 2009
House Hunting
We have had a frustrating week trying to find a house to live in which was within budget, within walking distance of the cafe church, secure, with off road parking, big enough for visitors and preferably with a garden for the children to play in. I can't remember how many houses and apartments we looked at this week. Too expensive ,too small, too far away, 4th floor apartment with no lift (not good at high altitude) poor security, no garden ......
Well we have come full circle and have decided to rent the first house we saw and really liked last week but was too expensive, thankfully yesterday the landlords agreed to drop the price.
A funny story I must tell you is that here in Peru many people don't advertise their houses for rent in the newspapers and so in order to find a house to rent you literally go out knocking on the doors and asking if they would like to rent out their house!! So we have been knocking on a lot of doors this week!
Thankyou for praying about this very real need , our current landlords return in January and with the radicales leaving in a few weeks we really need to be based close to the church, God has answered our prayers and we are delighted that in 2 weeks we will be moving in to a large house in a popular area which is 2 mins away from the cafe church and the banks and supermarkets. It has a small patio , off road parking and is really safe and secure.
On Monday we hope to sign the contract , how exciting !!
Well we have come full circle and have decided to rent the first house we saw and really liked last week but was too expensive, thankfully yesterday the landlords agreed to drop the price.
A funny story I must tell you is that here in Peru many people don't advertise their houses for rent in the newspapers and so in order to find a house to rent you literally go out knocking on the doors and asking if they would like to rent out their house!! So we have been knocking on a lot of doors this week!
Thankyou for praying about this very real need , our current landlords return in January and with the radicales leaving in a few weeks we really need to be based close to the church, God has answered our prayers and we are delighted that in 2 weeks we will be moving in to a large house in a popular area which is 2 mins away from the cafe church and the banks and supermarkets. It has a small patio , off road parking and is really safe and secure.
On Monday we hope to sign the contract , how exciting !!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Skype call to Union Baptist church meeting
How great to have a skype conference call with Union Baptist church , High Wycombe one of our link churches. 2pm Peru time is currently 8pm UK time so it was a great opportunity to connect and chat with them. Jess and Sam were on form and recited a poem and sang them a song too !
We have had skype calls with a few of our link churches during their morning services this isn't quite so convenient for us and has meant Scott alone waking up to chat with the church at 0500!
Do let us know if you want to set up a skype call in your cell group,church meeting or church service.
Our friends the Rices , missionaries in Guatemala who we visited in 2000 and 2001 have recently discovered skype since their daughter has gone back to the UK to go to Uni. What a treat to have a skype call with them today too, we haven't seen each other for over 3 years so it was fun to wave at each other on the computer screen today!
We have had skype calls with a few of our link churches during their morning services this isn't quite so convenient for us and has meant Scott alone waking up to chat with the church at 0500!
Do let us know if you want to set up a skype call in your cell group,church meeting or church service.
Our friends the Rices , missionaries in Guatemala who we visited in 2000 and 2001 have recently discovered skype since their daughter has gone back to the UK to go to Uni. What a treat to have a skype call with them today too, we haven't seen each other for over 3 years so it was fun to wave at each other on the computer screen today!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Answers to Prayer
6 hr prayer meeting at El Puente Cafe IglesiaWhat an amazing weekend! Thanks to everyone who joined us in our day of prayer. Supporters all over the world (UK Egypt Australia USA Peru Mozambique...) prayed for 24 hrs GMT on Saturday 17th Oct, after which from 6pm-midnight Peru time we had our first church prayer meeting which was a very special time.
So here's an account of our weekend and some of the answers to prayer.
On Saturday 11am Josue one of the radicales was doing a discipleship class with 3 young lads Diego from church and 2 of his friends Alejandro and Fernando who he brought along. When the truth of the gospel was explained to them they both became Christians. Another prayer request was for more musicans in the church well Diego Alejandro and Fernando (guitar Keyboard and singing) said after the Sunday service that they would like to play their instruments in church, so this week we will have our first band practice ! Another prayer request was for more help running the cafe church and activities, one young lady Mercedes who is soon to be baptised has volunteered to help Anjanette with the childrens' activities. Another church family have pledged to help when the radicales leave in 2 weeks. One of our students from church is going to work with us in the cafe on a daily basis which is a huge answer to prayer. Two single ladies who work with another missionary organisation are also considering the possibility of working with us in the cafe church as time allows. On Sunday for our afternoon service we had a lot of visitors and the church was packed. So we are encouraged as well as exhausted! Today we are searching for a new house , our landlords return to the house we currently rent in the new year. Thankyou for your prayers this weekend was really powerful ! Please keep praying!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Prayer points for our 17th October Day of Prayer
1 clinic
Anjanette works every Friday morning at La Fuente christian missionary presbyterian clinic that reaches out to a poor community in San Jeronimo on the edge of Cusco the nurses are Peruvian the doctors are missionaries apart from one full time doctor who leaves this month
please pray that God provides a new Peruvian christian doctor to work at Fuente
please pray for wisdom for Anjanette as she works there.
2 language
Scott continues formal classes with his teacher Lily, Anjanette hopes to soon start some conversational classes with a Peruvian friend who wants to gain experience teaching spanish to foreigners.
please pray that God will continue to help us develop our language skills , especially for Scott as he preaches in spanish
3 Jess and Sam
We praise God for the way they have settled at school and made new friends and learned spanish. The level of spanish at school is hard and they find the level of english easy, please pray that they will have energy and concentration for the extra english we need to work on at home in the afternoons.
4 Pastors meetings
Scott attends a weekly meeting for all the evangelical churches in Cusco
please pray that the churches will maintain good relationships and a strong witness as they work together in Cusco
5 The marriage course
we are currently trying to work our way through The Marriage course with another pastoral couple, friends of ours Steve and Aracelly , we both have young families, churches to pastor and a lack of babysitters making meeting together in the evenings hard , we hope eventually to run the course for pastors and their wives when we have adapted it to the culture here. Please pray that our marriage will be strong and firmly focused on God.
6 Tourist cafe
Scott is doing some consultancy work helping some other missionaries set up a cafe as an outreach to tourists in the centre of town,
please pray for wisdom for Scott in this role.
7 Place to live
we need to move house in January when our landlords return, we would like to live in a secure affordable house close to the cafe church
please pray that God provides a home for us to live.
8 The Radicales
These four Peruvian young people Jacky Josue Nidian and Meri have been working with us since the beginning of August, they leave Cusco at the end of October, please pray for God's transforming power to be evident in their lives as they return to their families and home churches.
9 Please pray that God raises up workers to help us continue the work the radicales started.
10 Please pray that we will establish a workable timetable as we decide our opening hours for the cafe church once the radicales leave .
11 Please pray for good relationships in the community and with customers that enter the cafe church and attend our activities, pray that we will be able to share with them about God's love and saving power .
12 Sunday morning informal cafe church.
On Sunday mornings we serve free breakfasts , do face painting and run an informal Sunday school. In time we hope this will evolve into a morning church service, we have some families (Jess's school friends) who regularly attend our Sunday morning cafe church.
Please pray that we will effectively share our faith with those who attend on Sunday mornings. Please pray that we will receive the help we need when the radicales leave at the end of October.
13 Sunday services
we have our formal church service in the cafe at 4 30pm. Scott preaches in spanish and Anjanette plays the keyboard. After the service we move all the tables together and all spend about 1 hr chatting and enjoying drinks and cakes, there is a wonderful family atmosphere.
Please pray for the preaching of God's word, that God will raise up more musicians, for help with running the Sunday school and hospitality after the radicales leave. That people continue to feel loved and accepted.Three people have expressed a desire to be baptised at the end of October.
14 Growth of the church plant.
The church is almost 3 months old , please pray for wisdom to know what themes to teach on, how to nurture new christians and work in a culture country language and baptist convention that is foreign to us.
15 Preschool bilingual music group.
On Tuesday mornings Anjanette runs a toddler music group in the cafe where we sing english and spanish christian and secular songs using puppets props the parachute and a story. Afterwards the parents relax and chat and have coffee whilst the children play. A few mothers attend regularly and we are all really enjoying the group. The concept of a mothers and toddlers group is new here as many send their 2 yr old children to kindergarten each day.
please pray that the messages from the songs and stories will be communicated well and that we will be able to share with these ladies on a deeper level.
16 Football
Tuesday night is football night , some men from the cafe church play on a local concrete court, numbers like most groups we run are up and down.
please pray that men will come and deepen friendships during and after the game when they relax in the cafe.
17 Ladies bible study
Wednesday night 7pm is ladies bible study in the cafe church run by a lady called Carla.
please pray that lives will be transformed as the ladies study God's word.
18 Men's bible study
Thurs 4pm is men's bible study in the cafe church run by Michael/Scott.
please pray that lives will be transformed as men study God's word together
19 Adolescent group
Thurs 5pm is our adolescentes group , we have a faithful core of young teenagers attending. This group will be run by Michael/Billy/Maxi . At present the radicales are heavily involved with this group please pray for a smooth transition as Michael Billy and Maxi take on more responsibility for leadership . There is huge potential in these young teenagers please pray that each one will experience God's transforming power in their lives.
20 Youth group
Thurs 7pm is our jovenes group run by Michael/Scott. It is comprised of university students and is a small struggling group.
Please pray for wisdom to know how to encourage the students to invite their friends and also how to become truly committed to God and the church
21 Saturday childrens' club
From 10-12 we have a childrens' weekly club (holiday club style) most weeks we have 15-20 in attendence and almost every week new children come along. Some weeks we run a bible study at the same time for some of the mums who like to stay.
please pray that as the radicales leave ,for God to raise up new leaders to help Anjanette run this group.Jess is delighted that sometimes her school friends come please pray that they will continue to attend, also that Jess and Sam will behave well during the group that their parents lead and that they too will learn bible truths and lessons . Please pray for creativity as we try and think of new interesting relevant craft ideas on a shoe string budget.
22 Kids games
In September the radicales ran a special Kids games event on the local sports court. Games with a meaning and lesson about values and faith. 80 kids came then 80 kids and 20 adults returned to the cafe for refreshments. We hope to run this as a monthly event.
Please pray for opportunites to share our faith with these local families, for good organisational skills, for safety during these events and for sufficient help. Two ladies from church Carla and Patricia will run this event with us.
23 Our families.
Scott's parents live in Scotland and visited us October 2009. Anjanette's parents and Auntie Geetha live in Loughborough and all 3 are visiting us December 2009. Scott will return to the UK briefly in March 2010 to attend and conduct his sister Jaqueline's wedding in Yorkshire.Please uphold our families in prayer, at certain times of year (Christmas Easter birthdays anniversaries weddings ) we all miss each other terribly.
24. Pray for the city of Cusco and the land of Peru
Anjanette works every Friday morning at La Fuente christian missionary presbyterian clinic that reaches out to a poor community in San Jeronimo on the edge of Cusco the nurses are Peruvian the doctors are missionaries apart from one full time doctor who leaves this month
please pray that God provides a new Peruvian christian doctor to work at Fuente
please pray for wisdom for Anjanette as she works there.
2 language
Scott continues formal classes with his teacher Lily, Anjanette hopes to soon start some conversational classes with a Peruvian friend who wants to gain experience teaching spanish to foreigners.
please pray that God will continue to help us develop our language skills , especially for Scott as he preaches in spanish
3 Jess and Sam
We praise God for the way they have settled at school and made new friends and learned spanish. The level of spanish at school is hard and they find the level of english easy, please pray that they will have energy and concentration for the extra english we need to work on at home in the afternoons.
4 Pastors meetings
Scott attends a weekly meeting for all the evangelical churches in Cusco
please pray that the churches will maintain good relationships and a strong witness as they work together in Cusco
5 The marriage course
we are currently trying to work our way through The Marriage course with another pastoral couple, friends of ours Steve and Aracelly , we both have young families, churches to pastor and a lack of babysitters making meeting together in the evenings hard , we hope eventually to run the course for pastors and their wives when we have adapted it to the culture here. Please pray that our marriage will be strong and firmly focused on God.
6 Tourist cafe
Scott is doing some consultancy work helping some other missionaries set up a cafe as an outreach to tourists in the centre of town,
please pray for wisdom for Scott in this role.
7 Place to live
we need to move house in January when our landlords return, we would like to live in a secure affordable house close to the cafe church
please pray that God provides a home for us to live.
8 The Radicales
These four Peruvian young people Jacky Josue Nidian and Meri have been working with us since the beginning of August, they leave Cusco at the end of October, please pray for God's transforming power to be evident in their lives as they return to their families and home churches.
9 Please pray that God raises up workers to help us continue the work the radicales started.
10 Please pray that we will establish a workable timetable as we decide our opening hours for the cafe church once the radicales leave .
11 Please pray for good relationships in the community and with customers that enter the cafe church and attend our activities, pray that we will be able to share with them about God's love and saving power .
12 Sunday morning informal cafe church.
On Sunday mornings we serve free breakfasts , do face painting and run an informal Sunday school. In time we hope this will evolve into a morning church service, we have some families (Jess's school friends) who regularly attend our Sunday morning cafe church.
Please pray that we will effectively share our faith with those who attend on Sunday mornings. Please pray that we will receive the help we need when the radicales leave at the end of October.
13 Sunday services
we have our formal church service in the cafe at 4 30pm. Scott preaches in spanish and Anjanette plays the keyboard. After the service we move all the tables together and all spend about 1 hr chatting and enjoying drinks and cakes, there is a wonderful family atmosphere.
Please pray for the preaching of God's word, that God will raise up more musicians, for help with running the Sunday school and hospitality after the radicales leave. That people continue to feel loved and accepted.Three people have expressed a desire to be baptised at the end of October.
14 Growth of the church plant.
The church is almost 3 months old , please pray for wisdom to know what themes to teach on, how to nurture new christians and work in a culture country language and baptist convention that is foreign to us.
15 Preschool bilingual music group.
On Tuesday mornings Anjanette runs a toddler music group in the cafe where we sing english and spanish christian and secular songs using puppets props the parachute and a story. Afterwards the parents relax and chat and have coffee whilst the children play. A few mothers attend regularly and we are all really enjoying the group. The concept of a mothers and toddlers group is new here as many send their 2 yr old children to kindergarten each day.
please pray that the messages from the songs and stories will be communicated well and that we will be able to share with these ladies on a deeper level.
16 Football
Tuesday night is football night , some men from the cafe church play on a local concrete court, numbers like most groups we run are up and down.
please pray that men will come and deepen friendships during and after the game when they relax in the cafe.
17 Ladies bible study
Wednesday night 7pm is ladies bible study in the cafe church run by a lady called Carla.
please pray that lives will be transformed as the ladies study God's word.
18 Men's bible study
Thurs 4pm is men's bible study in the cafe church run by Michael/Scott.
please pray that lives will be transformed as men study God's word together
19 Adolescent group
Thurs 5pm is our adolescentes group , we have a faithful core of young teenagers attending. This group will be run by Michael/Billy/Maxi . At present the radicales are heavily involved with this group please pray for a smooth transition as Michael Billy and Maxi take on more responsibility for leadership . There is huge potential in these young teenagers please pray that each one will experience God's transforming power in their lives.
20 Youth group
Thurs 7pm is our jovenes group run by Michael/Scott. It is comprised of university students and is a small struggling group.
Please pray for wisdom to know how to encourage the students to invite their friends and also how to become truly committed to God and the church
21 Saturday childrens' club
From 10-12 we have a childrens' weekly club (holiday club style) most weeks we have 15-20 in attendence and almost every week new children come along. Some weeks we run a bible study at the same time for some of the mums who like to stay.
please pray that as the radicales leave ,for God to raise up new leaders to help Anjanette run this group.Jess is delighted that sometimes her school friends come please pray that they will continue to attend, also that Jess and Sam will behave well during the group that their parents lead and that they too will learn bible truths and lessons . Please pray for creativity as we try and think of new interesting relevant craft ideas on a shoe string budget.
22 Kids games
In September the radicales ran a special Kids games event on the local sports court. Games with a meaning and lesson about values and faith. 80 kids came then 80 kids and 20 adults returned to the cafe for refreshments. We hope to run this as a monthly event.
Please pray for opportunites to share our faith with these local families, for good organisational skills, for safety during these events and for sufficient help. Two ladies from church Carla and Patricia will run this event with us.
23 Our families.
Scott's parents live in Scotland and visited us October 2009. Anjanette's parents and Auntie Geetha live in Loughborough and all 3 are visiting us December 2009. Scott will return to the UK briefly in March 2010 to attend and conduct his sister Jaqueline's wedding in Yorkshire.Please uphold our families in prayer, at certain times of year (Christmas Easter birthdays anniversaries weddings ) we all miss each other terribly.
24. Pray for the city of Cusco and the land of Peru
thankyou Pebbles at Godstone Baptist
how wonderful to receive gifts pictures and messages promising to pray for us from the Sunday school group Pebbles at Godstone. Always such a huge encouragement to receive mail from our link churches thanks for taking the time and for teaching your young people to pray for mission from such an early age!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Drawings from Jessica's book
dressing up and dancing at the barbeque with Natalie and Neomi
high altitude cooking with Nanny
Nanny and Grandad went to Machu Picchu
Grandad acclimatises playing football with Sam
Jess and Nanny doing craftJess has written a book about Nanny and Grandad's visit here are some of the pictures in her book.
Monday, October 12, 2009
wonderful visit
Couldn't resist adding this pic of Scott's parents and the Inka . We all have had a great time together and are grateful for loving supportive family and a wonderful visit.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Cultural lessons with a difference
here is a video of Samuel and his grandfather doing some Scottish dancing!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
parade in the plaza today
Well like many days in Cusco we witnessed a parade today but seeing through Nanny and Grandad's eyes was a real treat they were so excited and loved the sights and sounds of the musicians and dancers! When I took the photo of a man dressed as a gorilla I was surprised that the gorilla expected a kiss in return!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Exploring the sacred valley with Nanny and Grandad
We had fun visiting the llama sanctuary the terraces and ruins in beautiful Pisac and also Ollantaytambo
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Ausungate school play.
hill and tree outfits
the finale
Sam is far right, the dancing green tree
Jessica is far left back row, a hill wearing a white hatThe school play was about caring for the environment, it was held in Cusco municipal theatre and was very civilised apart from the stampede to collect your child at the end of the show!
Jess was a hill and her class recited a poem. Samuel was a tree, his class's theme was enjoying nature and he was a tree who swayed in the breeze to the music "The Bare necessities".
the travellers return
Scott Gordon and Vicky returned late last night from a wonderful 2 day trip to Machu Pichu. They were weary from all the walking but had a great time. Here are a couple of the hundreds of photos they took!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Harvest celebration with a difference!
Thanks to Fiveways Methodist church in Lower Gornall Dudley, as part of their harvest offering they had a collection of dressing up clothes for us to use in the childrens' corner in the coffee shop! So thoughtful of them to include us in our harvest offering, we look forward to the parcel arriving soon and we will indeed remember that all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above!
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