This week, we met with Amanda Buthe, who is one of the Social Enterprise team members for NFS.  She is co-leading a team of 4 research students (from Korea) and they are studying the economy of Peru and the implications of using sustainable business opportunities to prevent and provide an alternative to forced labor or prostitution in Peru. This team will be coming in April-May to Cusco to continue their research and a partnership has been established between NSF and YWAM Cusco. Truthfully, many missionaries and volunteers in Cusco don’t know much about the extent of human-trafficking (especially of minors) in our city.

It’s well hidden and not talked about (unlike other cities in the jungles of Peru where the hotel sign bluntly displays “Casa de Sexo”).  Amanda told us that Cusco is a “transit point” in human-trafficking, meaning that most people are coming or going to the jungle, and pass through on buses. It is also estimated that a bunch of the businesses that are geared toward the tourists and backpackers (ahem…massage parlors) are facades for trafficked victims.

The team of research students will be able to investigate Cusco’s needs and access areas where we (YWAM Cusco and other volunteers in Cusco) can begin to combat a problem that lives and works in the shadows. The team will also be working in The Meeting Place Cafe (a strategic cafe in Plaza San Blas that YWAM Cusco is looking to take over in the possible future) as well as other local ministries that we work alongside of.

YWAM Cusco looks forward to continuing to partner with Not For Sale in the future and having a fruitful relationship as we both work together to eliminate slavery in Cusco.

Did you know??? There are more slaves today than have ever existed in human history. Human-trafficking and forced-labor is a global problem that enslaves 30 million people. How do we combat this problem at its roots? The reality is that God has a solution to every crisis and problem in the world and this issue of slavery is near to his heart.

Not For Sale is a global non-profit organization that “{uses} business creation, supply chain evaluation, and aftercare aid. By creating enterprise opportunities for vulnerable communities, offering social services to survivors and those at-risk to human trafficking, and evaluating the use of forced labor in mainstream supply chains, Not For Sale works to ensure that no one is for sale.” NSF has initiatives all over the world, including in Peru. Currently, they specifically work in Lima, Puerto Maldonado and Pucallpa. To learn more about their work in Peru: http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/global-initiatives/peru/

photo courtesy of Not For Sale logo

 

 

 

A short drama performed by our students, “The Flea Killer”.

The students, Edgar and David are serving alongside Pastor Bernardo and his four churches in Pisac (45 minutes away from Cusco) and some of it’s surrounding mountain villages. We know that numbers do not define what success is–rather obedience to the Lord defines success,but we want to give you a glimpse into what God is doing on week 1 of the team’s outreach:

*20 people have given/recommitted their lives to Jesus! Yay for increase in family and the Kingdom!
*every student has dedicated many babies, and have been able to bless parents who want to give their children/family to God
*the team is spreading joy and the love of God in the Sacred Valley! More Lord!!

Here are some photos from the week:

 

 

 

 

 

This past Friday marked the official end to our DTS lecture phase! We were really encouraged by our speakers this week, Markus and Diana Buser (from the YWAM base in Cartagena, Colombia) who taught on “Gifts and Missions”. Later that night, we had a commissioning service for the students where the staff treated them to a nice, home-cooked meal, served them, washed their feet, and “sent them out” with prayer, encouragement and prophetic words.

Markus y Diana Buser–these guys were SUCH a blessing and encouragement to us!

Children of King Jesus: Princess Bailey, Princess Maddie, Prince Logan, and Prince Nicolas

One of the strange and wonderful events of the weekend was witnessing the grand opening weekend of the new mall in Cusco, Real Plaza. Rumor had it that only 3 stores would be open this past Friday, so David and I went to window shop this afternoon. Literally half of a half-a-million people were there. You have to keep in mind that some Cusquenos have never ventured outside of Cusco before so this was probably amazing for people. The fact that you can walk into Plaza Vea (the Peruvian equivalent of a Wal-Mart or Target) and buy for example: milk, batteries, a tank-top, Captain Crunch and a blender all in the same place really is incredible. People were losing their minds like it was Black Friday in the States. Families with 2-3 kids in their buggy crammed with 6 3-liter sodas (because they were on sale), plastic tupperware, Barbie dolls and socks, while pulling along grandma by the hand behind you (because she’s completely overwhelmed at what she’s seeing in one place). Some people have protested the mall while phase 1 was being built (in the center of a neighborhood), but it has created hundreds (and soon thousands of jobs). It has really transformed the city of Cusco so far. (Cusco prides itself on the historic traditional, hence why there are no golden arches downtown advertising McDonald’s and one can forget that this, along with Starbucks and KFC exist in the Plaza de Armas unless you are looking for them). As far as the Carter household goes, we can’t complain. As joyous as it was to see the reactions of other people, I’m sure our faces reflected the same. It makes it a little more easier to live here knowing that we can get “everything” in one place (verses scouting the city and “hoping” you run into what you need).

We are particulary excited about the upcoming additions of phase 2 and 3 when they open the Papa Johns, Infanti (the baby store) and the Cineplanet Movie Theater. We think about doing future “treasure hunt prayer outreaches” at the mall with teams or DTS students and then reconvening at Dunkin Donuts to swap stories about what God did. It’s very strange to think, “wait, we’re still in Cusco….15 minutes from where we live…” However, this has been a “long-time-coming” for Cusco and we are grateful to live in a beautiful place that is embracing convenience.

The cool thing is that you can look at the giant infrastructure and say “it’s just a mall”. It looks like any other newly constructed mall in the States. It’s nice and clean inside. But what we are seeing is God using it to bring more cultural identity and value to the people of Cusco. Every Tuesday night for the past year and a half, our leaders host a “Prayer For the City” night. After dinner, we pray and worship over our city because God said that it is the key to transforming our city. We have been praying for cultural transformation and we are seeing it with the building of this mall.

We felt like God was saying:

“Cusco is worth having nice things. Cusco is just as worthy of a city as Lima (or Atlanta or Charleston or Pamplico or Swansea). The people of this city are coming out of the old, or maybe traditional ways of living and stepping into a new season. It’s symbolic of the growth in the city but also a growth to be hungry for change. A change that will be created by Me.”

Meanwhile, everything is going well with the school. We are all getting ready to go on outreach, making final plans for the churches that we’re visiting. We’ll explain just a bit about how the outreach phase of the DTS works. Our goal is partner with and work alongside of local churches. So to that end we generally stay with a church for a week at a time, serving in whatever capacity needed. As a team, we come with a set of things that we can do to serve the local group of believers (dramas, teachings, kids programs and preaching) but at the same time we are flexible and try and do our best to meet the needs of the individual church. David will be going on the first week of outreach to some communities in the Sacred Valley (Dec. 16-23). Then they will be coming back to Cusco for three days to do some Christmas outreach in the city and to celebrate Christmas. After Christmas, the students will leave with Edgar and Saulo to visit two more communities in the Sacred Valley, then off to two weeks in the jungle (Puerto Maldonado), then to Arequipa (Peru) and Iquique (Chile).

Prayer Requests:

1. for the DTS students’ financial provision by Dec. 15th so that all of them can leave for outreach, and for their evangelism and service alongside the churches they will work with over outreach phase, for open hearts of the people to receive salvation, healings and miracles!

2. for financial provision for our family (we are going to Bolivia at the end of December) to renew our tourist visas (good for 6 months).

We are thankful for many things this year: our family of 3, our new house, turkey cooked in an oven bag for 4 hours, our DTS staff and students, living in beautiful Cusco, the Andes mountains, our family and friends around the world, our supporting family, seeing answered prayers, new revelations from God, resting, dreaming with the Lord and so much more! We hope you and your family had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are some of our friends over for Thanksgiving dinner. We ate way too much food (it was Nico’s (pictured in the front) first experience with turkey—he loved it, along with the other American traditions–mac and cheese, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato & green bean casserole, cheddar biscuits, sweet tea, salad, deviled eggs, lemon pound cake and apple pie) and sat on our fat couches and watched “Elf” in Spanish of course (since all of the Americans can monologue the whole movie). Imagine trying to explain what exactly a “casserole” is and why Americans love them so much (while Bailey gags because she hates the word “casserole” almost as much as Maddie hates the word “membrane”) and trying to explain the different versions of what happened at the First Thanksgiving from what you were taught when you were in kindergarten verses what really happened (thanks to watching The History Channel)…but all in all the Peruvians loved their first American Thanksgiving, because we are all thankful to God for so many things and everyone comes together around food.

Que rico!

What’s going on with Little Bear:

How far along? 18 weeks–Little Bear is the size of a bell pepper. Gender? We find out in a few weeks! Movement? Yes! Felt by both David and I. LB favors a left-jab, especially at night. Food cravings? turkey and sweet potato casserole (satisfied), homemade onion rings (satisfied), animal crackers, fried shrimp, Hawaiian pizza and a bucket-sized Coke and roasted asparagus, Are you showing?  Yes, loving the jeggings, Belly Button in or out? in, Total weight gain? I have no idea, This week? David feeling LB move was big. We joke that “I was just making it up at first, but David can confirm it’s all true now”. More people grabbing my stomach this week. I can eat “astonishing” amounts of food for my size–according to David, he can’t believe that I can say that I’m still hungry after 6 pancakes with honey and half a casserole dish of lasagna (in a a day). What can I say, I’m hungry! Looking forward to? Being a family of 3 next year for Thanksgiving.

Jen at 18 weeks

Well, we are 9 weeks down in our DTS! The students are preparing for their outreach with dramas, preaching, kid’s programs and excited to minister in other parts of Peru and Chile. Their outreach starts December 16th and David’s going with them for a week to translate in one of the communities in the Sacred Valley. This week Pastor Farfan (from Cusco) lectured 2 days on “Cultivating a Christian Character” and the rest of the week we talked about some of YWAM’s early foundations.

We brought “treasure-hunting” back this week for local outreach. Here’s what happened when God told us to go to the Plaza de Armas:

1. (Jen and Logan) “Find an old man sitting on a bench in Plaza San Francisco near a kid who is rolling around in the grass on the hill.” (When I got to that plaza, a girl was yelling “Jennifer”, but to her friend across the way. I joked with Logan that “too many people in Peru have my name,” but then realized the Lord was making it obvious to not leave the plaza yet (He called me by name after all). I sat down and realized that there was one older man in the plaza who didn’t move from a bench. I went over and starting talking, got to pray for him and he was really surprised that I was a “normal person” doing this and we got to talk about the fundamentals of Christianity (he was Catholic and interested in what makes us similar as Christians).

2. (Bailey and Maddie) “Orange and pink”,”a woman on the steps of the cathedral”,”an alleyway near Plaza San Blas”. (They went to the steps of the cathedral in San Blas and found two women selling various trinkets. One had an orange manta (the traditional brightly-colored cloth Peruvian women wear on their backs to use as a huge purse/baby carrier) and the other lady had a pink one. The girls tried speaking Spanish to them, but they weren’t understanding and when Bailey was trying to say “Can I pray for you?” another woman walks up and she was fluent in Spanish and English. The Lord provided a translator at the exact moment when needed and the women were very excited.  One of the ladies was so encouraged that she kissed their hands and wanted them to come back the next afternoon to pray again.

3. (David and Nico): “Plaza de Armas and sitting on the benches”. David got to spend some quality time with Nicolas (our Peruvian student). They had a lady approach them and the guys prayed for her and for her family. She went away encouraged.

We have been really encouraged to see how the Lord is shaping our students in boldness. They were all really encouraged by this week’s treasure hunt and talking about their expectations for outreach. We plan on sharing a Thanksgiving meal with them at our house (after explaining what Thanksgiving is to the Peruvians) and they find it odd that we are so set on getting a turkey (because turkey is expensive here).

We had our second check-up at Clinica San Jose for Little Bear and everything is great! Baby looks completely normal on the ultrasound (has doubled in size) and all my test results came back normal. I don’t seem to have any “high altitude symptoms”. I finally caved and bought some jeggings because my skinny jeans are well, too skinny. Yes, I did just buy some jeggings, that’s jean-leggings if you are still confused—and yes, I rock them well because at least they are comfy and fit over baby. Doctor’s visits are quite funny in another language. I can’t calculate my weight in kilos (in my head) and when I swore the question addressed to me was “Do you have tall men in your family?” David comes to my rescue before I formulate an answer to translate the question as “Does your family have a history of high blood pressure?”. Hilarious. We will find out in a month if we have a daughter or a son, but either way, Little Bear is an athlete. Lots of movement happening down there (and I can actually feel it, though not quite strong enough yet for Daddy to feel). The three of us went to a bakery and had some delicious looking red-velvet cake that turned out to really be dry and crusty. Oh well, points for trying. 🙂

Some things to pray for:

1. For continued health and growth for baby

2. For our DTS (staff and students) in their last 3 weeks of lecture phase before outreach phase

This past weekend/week we have seen so much breakthrough in so many areas…it’s been simply put–victorious!

1. We have seen the generosity of friends and finances this week and God is using both to show us over and over that He loves to take care of our little family! We are growing a stockpile of friends’ baby hand-me-downs and starting our diaper/wipes collection. I have made a Mommy-friend to go shopping with (thanks Julia Henley).
2. Frustrations had been building within our staff team about a few things over the past month, but God ordained many loving confrontations this week. Conversations happened that needed to happen and there is forgiveness and healing. It makes for a better staff team with love and listening. so good.
3. David and I have started going to a new church and we received blessings from our former pastor to go where we feel like God is calling us! We would still recommend our former church to anybody–it’s great and was wonderful to us for a year, but God likes to remind us that for David and I, our ministry is with relationships. “Go where you have relationship.” Since Amauta and Jesus Presa are that relationship that we have been building for a year, we felt released to continue that friendship and go to church with them. This weekend, God gave us more confirmation that it is where we need to be!
4. Learning and experiencing the truth that “when the Holy Spirit is working inside of you, you don’t have to defend or promote yourself. The Holy Spirit in you already speaks volumes about you and your character. You don’t need to strive to prove or defend who you are”. (David)
5. Based on the testimony of the events this week we have what David is referring to as “a slow confidence in the Lord” (meaning trust and confidence in the Lord for “the long haul” of doing missions) that He will provide our every need both now and in the future.
6. The speaker this week is Pastor Bernardo (from Cusco who did YWAM here in 1988) and he is talking about stewarding what God has given you. Nothing is mine. It’s all a gift. We are so thankful for our wonderful house that we have been given! We are thankful for the gifts of furniture and baby items and everything! We are thankful that we can have friends over for dinner or afternoon tea. Woah, the Lord is good!

All About Little Bear:
How far along? 16 weeks this week–Little Bear is the size of an avocado. LB’s eyes are moving to the front of the head, which is more up-right at this point. The ears are where they should be and there is a scalp pattern forming. Little Bear can pump 25 quarts of blood with that awesome heartbeat now! (Give or take a few quarts at high altitude). Grow Little Bear, grow!
Little Bear? David is “Bear”. I am “Boo-Boo”. So logically, baby is “Little Bear”. It’s just who we are in the land of nicknames.
Gender? It could be a boy….or perhaps a girl. We think we know.
Names? It’s a surprise. God gave us a beautiful name but we want to wait to reveal it.
Movement? Not yet.
Food cravings? Olive Garden breadsticks, chili hotdogs, (someone at church had a birthday and there was a spice cake so that was also craved and eaten this week), Zaxby’s chicken fingers drenched in Zax sauce and French fries (perhaps the Bojangles variety)
Have you started to show? Yes, I feel “more pregnant” 🙂 My first pair of skinny jeans that I may have to say ‘ciao’ to for awhile….
Belly Button in or out? My belly button is the size of a pencil eraser and I’m afraid will always be an innie.
Total weight gain? I don’t keep a scale in my house but I’m going to say I’m healthy for my baby.
This week? Last week was picking up more yoga–the prenatal moves feel so great! This week more resting because I’ve been having some tummy-issues (poor LB is acquiring a taste for Powerade and Ritz). David sings to LB and I’ve been reading aloud “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson. We both find it hilarious.
Looking forward to? David: “Baby’s arrival. I just want to hold Little Bear already and be a Daddy.”
Jen: “Baby’s personality to find out which quirks have been adopted from each of us and what is unique to Little Bear.”

(Photo by: themetisgroup.com)

Clark Barnard, the national director of JUCUM (YWAM) Peru, came this past week to teach on healthy relationships and communication. In this photo, Corbin is clearly communicating that he doesn’t want to be in the picture…

Then on Sunday, we joined Amauta and Jesus Presa for church at La Uncion and then (because Baby wanted McDonalds), we went to McDonalds. Here are new friends, Carlos and Anthony.

Baby update: Jen and baby are doing great! Jen passed all of her blood tests a few weekends ago. Baby is at 14 weeks this week and is roughly the size of a lemon. S/he has all of h/is/er organs and can hear this week. We are starting to play worship music really loud at our house and talking/singing to Baby. This is Jen’s profile at 14 weeks.