DECEMBER TRAVELS
Hello Everyone,
We wanted to update all of you on where we are at and what we have been up to. In early December Daniel was in Dallas at a rehab facility. We felt that he was situated for a little while which gave us the opportunity to see friends and family. First, we drove up to Estes Park, Colorado where an old friend of ours from the Charlotte Eagles was getting married. Then we drove to the East coast to spend some time with friends and supporters in Virginia. After that, we spent a few weeks in the Charlotte area visiting more friends and family. We had some things in storage (mostly our bikes and camping gear) and we decided we would take all of that back with us to make our time here more enjoyable.
Heather still had some people that she wanted to see but also needed to be back in Colorado Springs where she would start orientation to restart her old job in the cath lab. So instead of making the 2-3 day drive, she flew out and I met her in Colorado Springs later. I drove to Texas and spent a week or so with my mom and finally joined back up with Heather in Colorado Springs. I have not done the math on all the driving miles but it was a lot. Big thanks to my cousin and my mom who let us put all those miles on their vehicles.
We wanted to update all of you on where we are at and what we have been up to. In early December Daniel was in Dallas at a rehab facility. We felt that he was situated for a little while which gave us the opportunity to see friends and family. First, we drove up to Estes Park, Colorado where an old friend of ours from the Charlotte Eagles was getting married. Then we drove to the East coast to spend some time with friends and supporters in Virginia. After that, we spent a few weeks in the Charlotte area visiting more friends and family. We had some things in storage (mostly our bikes and camping gear) and we decided we would take all of that back with us to make our time here more enjoyable.
Heather still had some people that she wanted to see but also needed to be back in Colorado Springs where she would start orientation to restart her old job in the cath lab. So instead of making the 2-3 day drive, she flew out and I met her in Colorado Springs later. I drove to Texas and spent a week or so with my mom and finally joined back up with Heather in Colorado Springs. I have not done the math on all the driving miles but it was a lot. Big thanks to my cousin and my mom who let us put all those miles on their vehicles.
URBANA
In between Christmas and New Years, we had the awesome opportunity to represent South America Mission at Urbana. Urbana is the biggest mission conference in the world and is held every three years. It had an attendance of around 15,000 people. Urbana is geared toward people who are considering pursuing God's call into missions. The age range of the attendees varies a good bit but the majority of the conference is college students or recent graduates. It was an honor to represent our mission at this huge conference but the best part was being able to talk to students about missions. Yes, one of our goals was to hopefully recruit new missionaries for SAM but our main goal was to give prayer, guidance, and encouragement to young Christians trying to follow God into a ministry field. We really loved the time we had to talk to these students and hear their hearts for missions.
NEXT STEPS
Now that we are back in Colorado a lot of people are asking us what are our plans. Heather and I were able to get part-time jobs to supplement some of the cost of living of being back in the states. The part-time jobs allow us to continue to work for and have an active role with South America Mission while also still providing time for us to continue to process with Daniel's care. We enjoyed the recruiting trip to St. Louis so much that SAM asked us to represent them at the Global Focus Week at our old alma mater Liberty University in mid-February. We will also be going out to Biola University in March for a similar trip. The SAM office recently received a new mobilization director and we will be helping her with mobilization and recruiting while we are in the states. This obviously was not what we had planned but we have already seen God working in the people we have been able to talk to that potentially could join our team in Ayacucho and other SAM projects in the near future. Being back in Colorado we will also be around to go with our church to Juarez, Mexico to build a house with Casa Por Cristo a ministry based out of El Paso, TX. This is a life-changing short-term mission trip both for the family served and the people building. We are super excited that we finally get to build together and be utilized as translators.
The other question we are getting is when will we be returning to Peru? The answer is that we hope it will be soon. We have been hitting a lot of walls with Daniel's insurance so it has been extremely challenging to keep him in a facility to get the rehab he needs to improve. The insurance decided that he no longer needed the level of care of a post-acute rehab and had him transferred to a skilled nursing facility in the Dallas area. We are now trying to get him moved to a skilled nursing facility closer to Midland so that he can be closer to friends and family. In October we applied him for a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) grant through the state of Texas. The waiting list is around 150 people and as of right now he is at number 46. If he receives this grant, it would provide the financial means to help get him accepted back into a good rehab facility. As soon as we can get his care to be consistent we believe that we will be able to return to Peru. With that said we are staying motivated in our Spanish learning, we are following up with two schools in the Colorado Springs area and will hopefully be starting classes by next week. We are also looking for ways to stay immersed by finding a Spanish church, and different friends and acquaintances we can hang out with and practice as well.
The other question we are getting is when will we be returning to Peru? The answer is that we hope it will be soon. We have been hitting a lot of walls with Daniel's insurance so it has been extremely challenging to keep him in a facility to get the rehab he needs to improve. The insurance decided that he no longer needed the level of care of a post-acute rehab and had him transferred to a skilled nursing facility in the Dallas area. We are now trying to get him moved to a skilled nursing facility closer to Midland so that he can be closer to friends and family. In October we applied him for a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) grant through the state of Texas. The waiting list is around 150 people and as of right now he is at number 46. If he receives this grant, it would provide the financial means to help get him accepted back into a good rehab facility. As soon as we can get his care to be consistent we believe that we will be able to return to Peru. With that said we are staying motivated in our Spanish learning, we are following up with two schools in the Colorado Springs area and will hopefully be starting classes by next week. We are also looking for ways to stay immersed by finding a Spanish church, and different friends and acquaintances we can hang out with and practice as well.
We are so grateful for you all staying with us in this trying time. We continue to ask for your prayer and support. We thank God every day for what you have done for us and ask for His incredible blessing on you all.
PRAYER
PRAISES
- Pray that Daniel can get the care he needs and that he will receive this TBI grant.
- Safe travel while here in the states.
- Continued Spanish learning and maintaining our knowledge.
- That we can focus on God no matter what happens throughout this process.
PRAISES
- That Heather was able to get a job at her old hospital and they are extremely supportive and flexible with however much time she will be in the states.
- A family from our church is letting us live in their basement "apartment" and it has been a HUGE blessing to us.
- Jaime making it safely to Colorado with all the time he spent on the roads.