A Farewell Toast to Peru!

On February 27, 2014July 9, 2023 By David CarterIn #peruLeave a comment

A few things we will miss about Peru (in no particular order):

The beauty of the Andes Mountains and for high altitude (which makes your lungs “stronger”; David at 14,500 feet at the village of Siusa)

Our neighbor’s dog, Paco. He was the perfect “pet, without having to own a pet.” He basically hung-out with us to say “hola” and that’s all we wanted.

Our missionary friends! (pictured with Eric, Jen, Carrie and the Allens). It was so nice to converse in English and practice our Spanglish with friends.

The best polleria in town: Los Toldos…1/4 roasted chicken + fries + salad + choice of drink = 13.50 Peruvian soles = approximately $3.75 USD

Our Peruvian family. Jesus, Amauta and their families (pictured here with Papito Claudio y Mami Janett, a study abroad student and Alejandra)

Our precious church family at Iglesia La Unción

Meeting our DTS students, seeing them grow for 5 months and sending them out as official YWAMers. We love you and know you will do great things: Bailey, Nico, Logan and Maddie!

Exploring up the Amazon River en route to Leticia, Colombia for a YWAM Conference

Seeing a wonder of the world: Machu Picchu (and being able to share that experience with David’s parents), who were gifted tickets by their precious church family (Thank you First Baptist of Swansea (SC) for giving us/them that gift!)

Getting to partner with friends, Eric Lovin and Jen Smith and their ministry, Spirit-Led Expeditions, while working with the Quechua in Chinchero and in Pucamarca. The village started their own community feeding program, a ladies knitting co-op and a discipleship class in a neighboring village in a little over a year!

I’ve had the privilege to buy turkey for Thanksgiving and cook it ourselves, TWICE…I’ve conquered my fear of basting and dressing the turkey, since this year the face and feet came inside the bird in addition to the bag of giblets….for the record, oven bags make a very succulent turkey.

Fresh bread, empanadas and pastries at every panaderia, for cheap! 1-2 soles each = 0.28 to 0.55 USD

Learning Spanish with Jimmy

one of our tutors at Mundo Antiguo Spanish School who brought us along to meet his beautiful family and that one time we went up to tour Senor de la Huaca (a Catholic pilgrimage/blessing site to christen his mom’s bus and having a picnic in the mountains.

All of the prayer and worship nights with DTS Staff: The Allens, Saulo and Edgar

Beautiful friends from Charleston stayed with us in our first apartment in Cusco before they hiked the Salkantay Trail to Macchu Picchu and it was wonderful to hang out with the Strauss family!

The best landlord in all of Larapa, Cusco: Senor Roque Milton-Medrano (and friend David, thank you for making us feel so welcomed to Peru).

Our mentors and friends: Clark and Beth Barnard. Thank you for connecting us to Peru and her people and for this tasty fish dinner in Iquitos! Thank you for being a dad and mom (I know to so many), but especially to us homesick Americans! We will feed you pancakes Clark, anytime!

Thank you, Peru for all of the memories! We hope to bring our kids to visit you someday!

DTS Graduation!

On February 21, 2014July 9, 2023 By David CarterIn #peru, TestimoniesLeave a comment

I was listening to a Bethel podcast this morning and Eric Johnson was talking about “ministry is not defined by what you do. It’s not about what job you do. Your ministry is defined by who you are.” When we truly believe our identity as a son, or a daughter of King Jesus, God can use each of us to do more than we ever thought possible. This is your calling and destiny: know who you are and God will open many doors and exceed your expectations.

The DTS graduated this past Wednesday night. Congratulations to Maddie, Logan, Nico and Bailey! These guys may “officially” be YWAMers, but more importantly they know who they are in Christ. These guys have all experienced tremendous personal growth over the last five months and have also seen God do some pretty amazing things.

Over the course of their 2 month outreach phase, they saw God provide financial miracles to cover school tuition. They saw Him lower bus-ticket prices overnight and get the students safely to their outreach locations despite mudslides wiping out the roads. They saw Him restore relationships within their own families. They were able to speak to and minister to over 1,500 people and saw 150 people commit their lives to Jesus!

Each of these students will move-on to do incredible things for the Kingdom of God, whether they remain in their home countries, or if they travel abroad. Whether they enroll in university, or start a job in the workplace, God has many dreams for each of them to fulfill throughout their lifetime!
God gets all the honor and glory for this school….nothing we did could have made it this successful!

A Perfect Day Off in Peru

On February 10, 2014July 9, 2023 By David CarterIn #peruLeave a comment

Because some might be wondering what a perfect day off looks like for the Carters…

After an unexpected drop-in from a friend (very early this morning), he gave us some fresh bread and yogurt for breakfast. This specific kind of bread is typical of the countryside and comes in a flat, round shape. We decorated it heavily with large amounts of butter, cinnamon and brown sugar and lightly toasted it in the oven. It was delicious, paired with the french-pressed, Peruvian coffee.

Just finished reading The Veil, by Blake Healy. If you are looking for a great read to stir your soul, this would be it. The book is Blake’s story of how he “sees in the spirit”, meaning that he sees angels and demons, just as clearly as you might see a dog or a tree in the physical world. I won’t spoil it with a book review, but both David and I read this in less than two hours….it’s that good!

David, Miriam and I popped in on the students, who just got back from outreach yesterday. They are all pretty tired, but today is their free day before we start debrief tomorrow. Then we left, to run some errands at Plaza Vea (the Peruvian version of Super WalMart). Hey, if you have to do some grocery shopping, why not at the mall…?

David bought me a surprise lunch-to-go (note: David has always been a fan of the “hot-lunch” offered at grocery stores, particularly the Clemson Bi-Lo), so I laughed when we met back up on Aisle 7 and he has added a rotisserie chicken and a styrofoam container of fries to our cart.

We went home and wolfed-down our yummy chicken and fries with cold Schwepps (David had “the perfect glass of ginger ale” (on ice, out of a mason jar) while watching the ever-important The Walking Dead (Season 4 mid-season premiere). What are you thinking, Carl?!

Afterwards, the three of us took a nap. It was one of those naps where you only intend to sleep for 20-30 minutes, but find yourself waking up two hours later to the sound of a thunderstorm….whoops, guess we really needed that… I awoke myself with a hot shower in our bathroom, which has a glass ceiling) while the rain beat down inches from my head—glorious. Then, our family of three snuggled.

Just a perfect day-off in Peru.

Team Carter's Big Adventure

Tag: #cuscoperu

A Farewell Toast to Peru!

DTS Graduation!

A Perfect Day Off in Peru