Heather's Mission Adventures

Last month at Pat's Place- June & July Events

2009-07-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

Don's 4th of July surprise birthday party- we had a blast getting it ready!

We make one small group walking to the park with Mama Joy and Papa Don

They sure play hard!

Anything can be a toy, but I think Angie is having the most fun as the monkey in the middle!

Laura and her four kids

Yarayda and her three kids

Eufemia and Nico

Daniela and Deick

Sayra and Diana, all smiles

Celebrating our social worker's birthday

Happy 6th birthday Jonathan!

Getting ready for the teams' visits

One of Angie's many fans

Pat's Place goodbye gift to Crosswave

We enjoyed a brief visit with my cousin

May Events- let them eat cake!

2009-06-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

In the last days of May we were joined by Angelina and her two sons,

Slator (8) and Diego (5 months).

The bigger people that were here to celebrate Karla's first birthday (L to R): Yumi, Ana, Daniela, Laura, Nory, Lina with Karla, Katty, Yolanda, Yarayda, and Angelina

All our kids (plus a few visitors)

Deick, who used to cry all the time, is now one of the happiest guys I know!
Diego is such a sweet baby!

Nory came back to spend the day with us. Her work as a live-in nanny is going well and she's studying again this year!

I don't think Diana liked her lunch!

Edgar. Betzy, and Yumy came to celebrate with us

We all went to eat chicken at Norky's to celebrate Mother's Day. The mom's relaxed and the kids played! Jonathan was the last to come out of the toys!

All the kids presented their moms with flowers

These were the first real flowers any of them had ever received

Mattias, my favorite rock star, had a Mother's Day show at his school

Some of the kids went to visit Betzy for her 9th birthday and brought her a lot of joy!

Katty wanted to give a gift to someone who had less than she for her birthday so we settled on two boys in the Sunday school class she teaches- my little girl is 14 and has the hand of God all over her!

As we celebrate a new year of Yarayda's life I'm so thrilled to see her depending on and seeking the Lord more every day!

Nico is now three! It's a Peru thing to ice the face...

I think Angie liked the gifts she received for her 4th birthday!

I was blessed to get away to Mira Flores for a week and ahalf of studying Spanish intensely, and to be visited by my Peruvian family...

March & April Events

2009-05-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Our newest resident, Daniela (18) and her son, Deick (1 year) before his haircut

Our women were invited to dance for two sector anniversaries-

they did a great job and enjoyed it!
We got new Peruvian sandals called yankees and the kids loved them!

Happy birthday, Luis (8)

Thanks to a great friend, we were able to hunt washclothes in the form of Easter eggs.

Deick has changed so much in his month here, he's learning to eat real food and he likes to do it all by himself

Mattias takes great care of Holly's turtle

Happy birthday, Angela (10), who got her Caldo de Gallina that she'd been wanting for months

Elva and her four children went back to the jungle (with our pet monkey, George) after a month of not being able to adjust to the Lima way of life

Dianna is turning into such a little lady!

Happy birthday, Ana, but I think her son Nico is more excited than she is!

School started up again in the begining of March- we had quite a group walking

Formation on the first day of school

February Events

2009-03-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

Buying new chairs can be a blast if they come with stickers!

Mattias, one cool dude!
Fun day out at the water park

They played together so nicely!

Ana, Laura, and Yarayda

While the big kids played, the little ones slept the day away

Katty learns how to ride our new bike

Nico helps his mom wash their clothes

Angie and her mini-me

Katty learns how to knit

Fun in the pool!

Cleaning out the algea after using the water
Lina visits us with Karla on Sundays

Cooking food for a birthday party

Yarayda's children (Luis, Piero & Angie) at the party

Can you find Pat's Place kids in the crowd?

Mattias loved the party, or at least the food!

December & January Events

2009-02-04T06:34:00.000-08:00

We had two fun weeks in the pool until the floor turned green!

We went on a trip with the church to the beach...

Although Angie is freezing, she will not get out of the water!

Yarayda and Luis burrying Piero

Nico is going to be a builder someday!

Diana, my little sand princess

My little miners visiting the mesuem inside the zoo

We had a great time with the animals

Ana and Nico in the main plaza of Lima

Katty & Lina

Laura and family

It's tradition to go around town taking pictures after your wedding, so Yarayda and Lina jumped in with them!

Nory came by to visit and was well received! She's working, studying, and doing well

Christmas at Pat's Place; we were so blessed by donations that I was able to spend $20 on each person buying a few items on each wish list.

The kids all love their toys and have been playing with them all summer vacation. The women are happy with their Bibles, photo albums, and sandals.
The traditional Christmas snack- hot chocolate and Paneton

Karla has grown up so much!

I was surprised by a pajama party for my birthday!

November Events

2008-12-04T14:29:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to the beach the last weekend in November to celebrate my birthday early and to have a fun outing before I head to the U.S.

Luis, Angela and Katty burrying a friend while Nico supervises

Happy early birthday to me, a Peruvian tradition of an egg on the head (mixed with flour)

Yarayda playing with Angie, loving to smile with her new teeth!

Ana playing with Nico in the sand, that's improvement!

Laura with Diana and Lina with Karla on our first trip to the beach this season

We were blessed with a full table of traditional U.S. foods for the first Thanksgiving in Peru

Thanks to Bridget, we had the delicious treat of cuy (guinea pig)

No one is ever too old to play with Barbies!

Nico working hard to bring home the bread!

We were invited to a friend's birthday party

Karla is so big, or is she a doll?

We had a great (although very short week) with a New Covenant team from Atlanta

My kids all found new friends on the November team!

The team presented Edgar's new house to him and his family- what an exciting day!

October Events

2008-11-11T14:40:00.001-08:00

Our first big service project with this group of women and children- cleaning the chairs at the Sector 3 church. They even got recognized and thanked in the service the following day.

Little five month old Karla is growing so quickly!

Julio came to do devotionals with the kids a few times this month- he's teaching them about obedience in a special way!

Katty's mom, Yolanda, continues to come spend Sundays with us. Please pray for their connection as it's more difficult for Katty for have a relationship with her mom.

Flower from Nico?

Even though we weren't celebrating her birthday, Diana had a great time!

Since we had three birthday's in October, we went to Norkys to celebrate, as well as something special on each of the three days.

Lina turned 24

Piero turned 5

Sayra celebrated her 8th birthday in her dreamed about white dress!

September Events

2008-10-03T16:41:00.001-07:00

Everyone loves to play with our quickly growing baby Karla

The kids run and run and run, it's so much fun when you have friends by your side!
Edgar's daughter Betzy came to visit with us. She just laughs and laughs with Angela and Sayra, but then she cries when it's time to leave.

We are so blessed by generous donations! Everyone is repairing their clothes, and even making new ones for their children out of scraps

What a blessing to have bicycles donated for the little ones

Happy Birthday, Blanca- even Karla made a special card

Even the little ones are learning the importance of prayers

There is never a dull moment with Mattias around!

Piero and Jhonattan had a special day at school and we all had the joy of watching. Yarayda and her son are dancing with an apple between their heads- what a competition

Laura and her son are playing musical chairs and almost won

To celebrate a Peruvian holiday, we all took a day off and went to play in a local park

Mattias and Nico are becoming great buddies

Along with some great friends, we played volleyball most of the day

We got up early that morning to cook an excellent picnic lunch (sandwiches here are not a meal)

Thanks to some wonderful friends, we were able to bring our long jump ropes and have competitions

Our favorite part was sliding down a wall that appears to be part of a skateboard park- we did it again and again

August Events

2008-08-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Karla is growing big and strong, and happy!

Nico once cried and faught becuase he didn't want to eat, now he cries because he wants more food!We were asked to dance for the Sector 10 anniversary; the women did a fabulous job!

Happy 19th birthday Nory!

We like to take the kids to the park when their moms are in classes...
to play,

to eat,

to make a mess, to rest, ...and then it's bath time!
We were asked to dance in Sector 5 for Independance Day
Diana ate how many choclatejas???
Jeff Gordon persues me everywhere- thanks Jill!
I'm in charge of the "nursery" while Blanca does devotionals with the moms
We were blessed with Vacation Bible School while the kids had their two week spring break

June & July Events

2008-07-22T16:14:00.001-07:00

We had a very busy and blessed two months with many visits from very special people. New Covenant was here all the month of June, my cousin John came for two weeks, and then we had a group from Alabama/ Tennessee join us.

Happy Birthday Jonattan, we now have a newborn child, a 1,2,3,4and FIVE year old in the house!

The Bridgeway team actually stayed with us at Pat's Place for 10 days utilizing the fourth floor. We all had a great time!

We were blessed to have Edgar take the kids to school in style one day that we were running on "Peruvian" time.

Mattias loved playing with John and his play dough.

The Alabama team took us to a beautiful Park, Parque de Las Reservas, full of many different lit fountains. The favorite of all was the one you can play in, "trying" not to get wet.
All the kids found special buddies on the team while we enjoyed the park.

Miss Sabrina, Pastor Tony's wife came almost everyday to Pat's Place during her week in Peru to counsel the women and children. God did some awesome work through her!

We celebrated Diana's first birthday with a typical Peruvian "Matinee". Our beautiful little princess had a great time, but I think we enjoyed it more!

Thanks to Julio, a wonderful servant in the church, our party was complete with a clown who ran the whole show!

Piero and Luis love their "new" jammies brought by the team- what a blessing!

Lina and her almost two month old, Karla and doing just great!

My Trip to Trujillo

2008-07-22T10:04:00.001-07:00

We were excited to finally get to Trujillo after 9 hours on the bus (all night long). Behind us is their main PlazaThese are the ruins of one of the Peruvian Wonders, called Huaca de la Luna and Huaca del Sol. It was truly amazing to see the artwork and intelligence put into this work by the Moche Indians. This is part of the wall of the fourth temple (there were five, each one built over the other every 100 years). The temples are an inverted pyramid with each new temple bigger than the last, but the outside structure was in the shape of a regular pyramid as each 100 years the bottom layers grew to support the building.
The natural colors of each floor have been preserved over the years because they closed up the older temples by closely placing adobe bricks to the walls, filling in the whole area, and then building the next temple on top. You can see the layers from the third and fourth temples. This is looking at Huaca del Sol from inside Huaca de la Luna. It has yet to be excavated, but it's the bigger of the two.

We finally got to visit with Blanca's family the day before we left. It was great to see her dad's only remaining blood brother who reminds us a lot of him.

The Colonial buildings in Trujillo were beautiful and very colorful.

We also saw the ruins of Chan-Chan.

The long walls and their designs caught my eye everywhere we went.
This little lagoon was one of my favorite spots in the middle of the main part of Chan-Chan.

May House Events

2008-05-15T15:46:00.001-07:00

Lina made it home safely with Karla Genoviva. All the kids are very excited to welcome their little sister!

We were able to visit Lina and her newborn baby girl. Mom and daughter are both doing very well.

A lot of good friends have been coming by to visit and encourage Blanca. These are some of my best friends, Jessica and Chacha.
To celebrate Yarayda's birthday, we brought the tables downstairs to have a picnic so that Blanca could join us. It was a very enjoyable time.
Happy birthday, Yarayda! She's enjoying her donated tennis shoes very much.
All the kids at Pat's Place love my Peruvian nephew, Mattias, especially Angie and Nico.
I was able to spend a few days with my family in Ohio while we celebrated my cousin's graduation. Almost all the cousins were together.

Katty played a protective mom in the Mother's Day skit at church to thank the mothers for their tender care.
We all visited Blanca in the hospital to wish her a happy Mother's Day. It was good for them all to see her, as she was dearly missed during her four day stay.
Yarayda was able to see her mom for the first time in eight years. Unfortunately the circumstances were not great, as she was in town for Yarayda's sister's funeral, but it was a wonderful heartfelt reunion.
Yarayda's mom met her other three grandchildren for the first time, and we were able to send a care package for Yarayda's oldest son. That's the next family reunion we are praying for.

Angie and Melani hug goodbye as Melanie leaves Pat's Place with her family after two months. They will continue to play together and visit, as we counsel and pray with Veronica.
Happy 13th birthday Katty! She was inaugurated into her teen years with a frosting facial, thanks Blanca!
Happy 8th birthday Betzy! Angela, Sayra and I went to bring her a little party. Betzy is a sweet girl with CP, whose dad has worked as a team bus driver for years.
Happy 2nd birthday Nico! I've never seen someone so young open present with so much gusto!
We're learning to make boxes to store the jewelry they are making. Anna is the star student!

April House Events

2008-05-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

Once a teacher, always a teacher. I love to help the kids with their homework, especially math and English.

Nancy's son, Daniel (the first Pat's Place residents), came to visit us with his aunt. Nancy and Daniel still speak fondly and often of the many things they learned during their time here.

There's always a lot of laughs with Pastor Bruce in town!

Our kids learn the importance of helping out and being responsible. Sayra,7, is sewing her purse.

We've had frequent visits from our friend and sister in Christ, Dr. Rebeca, this month as a nasty flu bug made it's way through all the residents.
Luis and I enjoyed the benefits of our church fund raiser. Once a month we cook and sell food to help purchase the building.
My mom and I took Veronica and her children on a walk to the market. Outings almost always have a little benefit!
Yarayda, along with all the women in Pat's Place, learn to cook nutritious and economic food. It's delicious!
Lina is in her last days of pregnancy and boy has she grown!
We received many precious gifts this month from very generous people.

All children received fuzzy blankets from my sister and aunt.
One play pen was bought by a member of my mom's church, and Blanca's son donated his so we are now able to easily keep the little ones on the second and third floors.
My parents bought new shoes so Piero can now fill the uniform requirements.

The best gift we received were visits of encouragement and the knowledge that there are so many wonderful people out there praying for us!
April is a big month of celebrations.

Angela turned 9

Angie turned 3

Luis turned 7

March House Events

2008-04-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

Katty , Angela, Sayra, and Luis are ready to go off to a day at school. They are so excited to have their new backpacks donated by Fountain of Grace Church in Prattville, Alabama!
Happy 24th birthday Anna!

Adrian, my daddy, being the house dad. All the kids love him and want to be with him, next to him, hugging him, etc.

I wanted to make this year's Easter a little more exciting (it's not really celebrated at all here, nothing out of the ordinary special) so I invited my (Blanca's) family and we threw in some American traditions (Easter egg dying and hunts!). They had a great time!

George, our house pet got the best deal out of the celebration since he loves egg yokes!

Angela and Sayra had a great time, as did all of us.
The women are learning to make beautiful jewelry

Who has lived at Pat's Place?

2008-03-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Heather and Blanca were the director and assistant of Pat's Place for three years. Please pray for wisdom and energy to be used to their full capacity as they find their mission outside of Pat's Place.

Elva and her four children lived in Pat's Place for a month before going back to their home in the jungle very blessed. She calls and reports that all is good and that she's spending time reading the Bible we sent with her.

Lina and 1 year old Karla left Pat's Place after a year to be salt and light to the family she lived with before. Please pray as she struggles through their insults and harsh treatment, and thinks about returning to Pat's Place.

Veronica and her two children lived with us for two months before deciding to return to the father of her children. She calls often to ask for prayer and advice.

Ruth and her three chidlren are preparing to move into a home of their own. Her two oldest daughters were especially affected by the changing power of the Gospel while living with us.

Estella was only with us for two weeks before she decided to go back with her boyfriend, but I pray that seeds were planted that will one day come to fruition

Nory lived with us for two years before coming a live-in nanny. She continues to visit and we can see that she is growing and maturing.

Marcela and her 11 year old daughter Nicole were with us for two months, but we know that their lives were changed forever.

Nancy was Pat's Place first woman, along with her four year old son Daniel. Although we haven't seen Nancy since her nine months with us, Daniel visits frequently with his aunt and will never forget what he learned in his time here (he still corrects his aunt- "this is how we did it in la casa Pat")

Angelina (27) was hiding from a very abusive man. She along with Sleyter, 8, and Diego, 6 months, went back to live with him after only one month in Pat's Place. Please pray for Angelia to remain strong in the Lord and seek Him with all her heart.

Daniela (18) was orphaned at 12 and ended up looking for love/ affection in the arms of an abusive drug adict. She is fleeing from him after a relationship of three years (due to being a minor and not having anywhere to go) with her year old son Deick.

Laura (30) and her four children: Angela (10), Jonathan (6), Sayra (8), Diana (2). They are in hiding from a very abusive father and uncle (of the kids) as they learn to seek their Heavenly Father and depend on Him.

Yarayda (34) and her three kids: Luis (8), Angie (4), and Piero (5). Although the children have visits with their father who left them for another family, they are in hiding from another very abusive man who thinks they can't live without him. They are learning that they can live and live well with the help of our King.

Ana (32) and her son Nicolas (3) are learning to move beyond the hurts of their past and look for the blessings of our Father.

14 year old Katty now lives with Heather and Blanca as they continue to teach her the importance of looking to her Heavenly Father above all else. She has grown tremendously in her two and a half years at Pat's Place and I'm excited to see what He does in her life! Her mom. Yolanda, was the second woman to live in Pat's Place, but left after five months saying she wasn't going to change. God isn't done with her as we see her weekly and see how He's steadily continuing His work in her!

The house pet, Curious George, traveled back to the jungle of Tingo Maria with Elva and her children where he is happily swinging from tree to tree and eating the best nature has to offer him (insects and worms, as well as a pluthera of fresh fruit).