I have been looking forward to coming to Collique and seeing for myself what my husband, Jack, fell in love with 4 or 5 years ago.  One of the first things I noticed was the people who have been working together for a week and the relationships they had developed.  It was apparent at breakfast …READ MORE

The OSA staff asked me to see a man downstairs in a wheelchair on Wednesday. Don Luis was too weak from vomiting and malnutrition to climb the stairs. He has advanced inoperable stomach cancer.  We gave him some medication to comfort him. Elizabett spoke with him. Last night on returning to the hotel I found …READ MORE

I just completed my third trip to Collique.  It was such an emotional day but also so heart warming.  I thank God for the opportunity to provide new shelter for yet another family in Collique.   Things have changed so much since my first trip here in the construction field.  My first home I helped build …READ MORE

A beautiful young woman caught my eye when she walked through the door of OSA today. She had radiant skin, a sweet sounding laugh and I also noticed a colorful scarf she had wrapped to cover her head. For a moment, I wondered if we might have something in common. I watched her sit and …READ MORE

We went to Collique today which is about 20 miles outside of Lima on the side of a mountain. Words truly cannot express the level of poverty these people live in. Collique gets about 1/2 an inch of rain a year, so everything is dry, dusty, parched, and brown. The smell of human waste is …READ MORE

The lady looked healthy enough but had a handful of medical reports for me to review. What’s wrong? Well, the doctor told me I have heart trouble. What happened? He did all these tests. They were terribly expensive. He gave me these five prescriptions. These alone were going to cost me 500 soles a month, …READ MORE

We’ve passed Collique, I said, as the bus kept going uphill. The water tanks on top of the hill that we usually look up to see were below us. The large cross on the mountain top that  looms in the distance from the OSA House was now before us. The bus stopped and turned around …READ MORE

In verses 11 and 12 of Jeremiah 20, God tell us that He has plans of us plans for good and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope.  When we pray, He WILL listen.  He WILL find us when we seek Him, IF we look for HIM in earnest. When Luis spoke to …READ MORE

Noondays at OSA House I spent last week in Peru participating in the Operación San Andrés (OSA) medical campaign.  It had been a couple of years since the last time I had seen Collique, its dusty hills, its people, and the OSA house. As we arrived to the OSA neighborhood I was greeted by many …READ MORE

Yo Tengo Gozo We come here to minister to the people of Collique. My role in doing so has involved working with the children in VBS and part of that meant helping the “guys with guitars,” Kevin and Rob, sing and lead the kids in music.  Over the course of the week it became apparent …READ MORE

Howdy from Collique! This week I am once again singing with the children.  Last year it was piano and handbells.  This year it’s two guitars. Me and Kevin Sinclair who is the youth minister from South Main Baptist Church. The children are full of enthusiasm and love to sing the songs quickly.  Let’s sing “mas …READ MORE

Today I saw in the clinic a 76yo woman who had travelled by bus from the Amazon jungle, over the Andes, and all the way to Collique to be seen in our clinic.  She was also visiting family in Lima, but had come at this time because she had heard that we were going to …READ MORE

This was a great day in Peru. We attended church for a service in English. The people were super friendly and there was a reception after the service. Lunch at my favorite restaurant is always a treat and the food is wonderful. Tomorrow we look forward to the first day in Collique. This trip is …READ MORE

The Road to Collique… As we make preparations for our trip to Collique this next week, please be in prayer for the whole team, specifically those from our South Main family listed below: Fran Campos, Luis Campos, Ruth Campos, Kris Dill, Jim Flynt, Ginger Hamilton, Kathy Kronzer, Lore Lagrone, Sam Law, Susan Moore, Carol Shattuck, …READ MORE

Dear Parents and Readers, Today was our last day in Collique, where we hosted our first-ever block party out in the community of Collique. For those of you who don’t know, Kees and Elizabett Abring, our OSA Missionaries (coming up on their first anniversary in August) are absolutely incredible. Kees, born in Holland, and Elizabett, …READ MORE

Thursday – June 14 Today was breath-taking. I spent my morning at the preschool down the hill from the OSA house. The children were so welcoming but they were very shy. Their smiles of joy were just amazing to see and I had waited all week just to see them smile at me. We spent …READ MORE

So, today was different, but in a good way. Instead of doing vbs with the older children, we got the opportunity to play with the kids in the preschool down the hill from the OSA house. It was an amazing experience because, even though I came here knowing almost no Spanish, I was able to …READ MORE

Hola people in America, Peru is really fun and exciting. In construction we have been building shelves and bringing them to the occupants of the houses in Collique. It is a very eye-opening experience. The people are very humble and nice. Another part of construction that we are doing is painting the walls of the …READ MORE

“Everybody go suurfiiiin’-surfin’ USA!” By the end of this week I will refuse to listen to the Beach Boys ever again. I’m teaching the OSA children a dance, and I’ve learned this means standing awkwardly with a beach ball saying “¡Muy bien!” over and over because I don’t speak Spanish. Needless to say, Adriana does …READ MORE

Today was a beautiful day. I have never been more full of Joy. The beautiful children I met today just made my heart smile. I met a little girl that fell in love with the camera that i’ve been carrying around. She tugged me along and took pictures of her friends and even of me–a …READ MORE

After much travel and very little sleep, we started our day late with a ten o’clock breakfast. We then congregated for morning worship where we sang a few songs and listened to Luis Campos’ testimony. It was very interesting to hear about the origin of his work in Peru while also learning about his life …READ MORE

After hours of seemingly endless flying, we landed safely in Lima. Stepping out of the airport you could already tell this isn’t the same country in which we started. We took a bus to Hotel Señorial and got to our rooms pretty quickly. We settled into to our quaint rooms, and, seeing as it was …READ MORE

“Take bread for the journey and strength for the fight, comfort to sleep through the night, wisdom to choose at the fork in the road and a heart that knows the way home…” -“Traveling Mercies” by Billy Crockett, a favorite song of our Youth Packing. Planning. Preparing. There is so much work and love that …READ MORE