Dear Friends,

Yesterday as I walked through Huanta, I was amazed to see more houses, three to four stories high, going up all over the place. Few people in Huanta have money to build concrete, well-made houses like that, so "everybody" knows that those places are constructed with drug money. It wasn't pleasant to realize that we are living in a city that is filling up with drug traffickers, because the coca paste comes from the jungle... through Huanta on its way out to Lima and the world. My thoughts were that we had better be careful to stay out of the way of the narcos and not to cross any of those guys, who own highly-sophisticated weapons.

That night, in a well-attended prayer meeting, one of the young fellows being mentored by Gerry, gave an excellent message on how Nehemiah and those working with him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, came under attack by the people around them...even by those who lived there within the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah and his group had to be on guard as they worked; and one of the applications was that, as we build the church of God, we must be on guard, because attacks will come. The emphasis was on Nehemiah 4:20 "Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us."

Later that night - at 12:30 a.m., as we were tucked away in our beds, the silence was broken by the blasting of an air horn.Though such noises wake us up with our hearts pounding, they are not all that unusual.We thought at first that it was a mini-bus doing the usual honking to awaken prospective passengers for the trip to the jungle, but this air horn did not stop. Loud music blared full blast in accompaniment to the horn, So... it was time for the head of the family, (Gerry), to head for the street in defense of his sleeping family. He got out of bed, got dressed and climbed the street up the hill to ask the man to have consideration for people who are tired and resting. As he approached and spoke to the man (who responded in a bellicose manner), Gerry noted that he was very drunk. At first the man gave a half-hearted apology, but as Gerry withdrew, the man hurled after him insults and ugly words. Gerry went to call a friend to be a witness. As Danilo walked inconspicuously toward the mini-bus to take down the license and make of the vehicle, he heard the man make repeated threats that he was going to go get his gun to kill our family.

Gerry says he could understand a drunk being loud-mouthed, he could understand foul language from a drunk and he could even understand one life-threat slipping from the mouth of a fool; but when our friend counted 14-15 threats made by the man that he was going to enter his house to get his gun (despite his wife's attempt to appease him), Gerry said he took that very seriously, and he called the police. The police did come, and they took Gerry's declaration; but when they went up to question the man, Danilo (standing in the shadows) heard them laughing and joking with no intention to do anything to the man, who was obviously their buddy. The next day we found out that the man was a known drug-trafficker, who used violent street kids involved in lives of crime--to distribute his drugs. When pressure was put on the Huanta police by our trusted friends, a lawyer and a police general in Lima whom Gerry has been mentoring, something interesting happened.

We had prayed, and the Lord did our fighting for us. The next morning before breakfast, there stood the man at our gate...wanting in some way to get things straight. When Gerry asked him to come in and explained to him the process of forgiveness that includes confession and repentance, the man said, "We all need a teacher to help us and to teach us the way of reconciliation. "Gerry told him about our work and said that we loved the Lord and wanted to have peace with our neighbors. The man confessed that he was stupid to have offended us and admitted that he had grown up in a culture of violence, where terrorists had once beaten him within an inch of his life. He said that, rather than choose a different way, he had opted to adapt their behavior. The man apologized to us, but before he could get things finally cleared up with the chief of police, he had to return to our house several times. We extended the hand of friendship, and he said he'd like to come back with some questions regarding his life.

As the Lord fought our battle for us, we did not gain an enemy, but the Lord made a friend out of a foe. Pray for Mr. Bustamante, drug trafficker and gang leader... and maybe a future servant of the Lord.

The years are passing and "our kids" are growing up, getting married or moving on. Our oldest son, Osman, was married year before last, two of Gerry's mentors were married last year; and now this year another couple from the mentoring group, as well as Gerry's nephew were married. Two of our orphans have just become engaged to each other, and another couple from the church will be marrying soon. At the end of May, our daughter, Keila, will be wedded to a fine young man from Texas.

All of these weddings are celebrated right here at our place, and oh, are they busy times for us. Gerry and I are the "chief engineers" of the weddings. We parent the kids and help to provide for all of these marriages. It's amazing how these events come together with wedding dresses from the Goodwill and tablecloths, vases, candle-holders, etc. from garage sales in the U.S. We can get beautiful flowers here for $20, great cakes made by our co-worker - Herman's wife, Eli, and the help of many hands from the mentoring group, the orphans and others.

In this promiscuous society, it is a special joy for us to see "our kids" choosing Christian mates with whom to serve the Lord and produce godly offspring. Praise the Lord for these young couples who are setting the pace for the other young adults from Gerry's Group and for those whom they are now mentoring in the "Second great wave"! This group of 35 teenage mentees has been discipled for four years since they were" The little Great Group" of twelve year olds. Now 16, our orphans, Enriqueta, David and Richard, as well as our son, Caleb, are part of this second wave; and their challenge is to generate the third great wave of 100 new mentees by December - with each one having the task of bringing three.

As I write this last line, Gerry is saying good-bye to Ruben and Gisela Solier (and their baby, Nathaniel), who have committed as full-time workers for the church, particularly with the young people. Now a second couple is coming in with their little Joshua... Omar and Gladis Soto, who were also married in this church. He is being considered as assistant pastor under Gerry. Ruben Pino, (engaged to Maruja, both, orphans who have grown up with us here) is up for candidate as pastor of missions.

Please pray for these young couples, who are leaders and examples for the youth. Pray that Gerry will have restful, restoring sleep and have energy to focus on this movement.

For the family