More about the soup kichen and future projects

Another day at the Puno church projects.. The little nursery is a small day-centre group. I enjoying being with the kids and helping along with everything.. from putting the baby to sleep to running around comforting the little ones in the mornings because they don’t want to leave their mums.. but they are really happy and call me 'tio' soon enough..

These are more photos of the day of the ‘campesino’ (the country man). Most came dressed up and brought their typical food from this region..

Ihave more photos of the little baby as I have to look after him often, and one day looked after him all day.. as his young mother was in university doing exams till late…

I

Iwant to flag up the soup kitchen again..

I was thinking how this project could be helped.. to cover the cost of food, they charge very little.. I was thinking that we or a number of people could take this on.. So then they can charge nothing and even get more to come that really need the food..

Today a wee girl came and cried for ages. She is an orphan who is now being looked after by an auntie that she is really scared of. She said that her auntie would not allow her to come any more.. but the wee girl would.. I don’t know the real reason, but I suspect it's because of finances. Some of these kids as you can see are very undernourished.. Sometimes the mum or auntie just leaves a bowl of potatoes before they go to work,, the kid gets that for breakfast then when back from school gets the same,,

If we could look into the idea of supporting this project we could reach even more kids that really need it..

They say for a week it costs 120 soles.. That is 26 pounds.. a week or 104 every 4 weeks..If we could get 10 people to give 10.4 pound every 4 weeks this could cover the costs for about 12 kids.. for 4 weeks.. with out charging them at all...

Or if we could get 20 poeple to give about 5.2 evey 4 weeks this could work too..

If you are intrested in this send me an email.. Jd_lovell84@hotmail.com

I don’t know.. There are so many needs everywhere, but I can say I know these kids and they are grateful for anything they get.. and its not just food but creating a caring environment with a Christian attitude to things.

But they would like to have about 20..

They also would like prayer about opening this up to be an ´open children´s home´.. This would mean the kids are here during the day to eat and do homework, and get sent off to school clean and ready and happy,., then at night they go to ther homes... this would run week days only..

Is this possible?.. `pray for this,, God can do anything but he want us to be in on it too..not to be alone on it.. So let us pray..

After a week in Puno..

When thinking of children's work in a city like Puno you have to take into account many things. The church in this small Andean city has a big challenge as they seek to aid and encourage young kids from very difficult backgrounds, showing them that there are people who love and care for them and that God loves them too. The challenge is how to operate and continue this when you are limited in resources, finances and workers, and sometimes energy.

As I sat washing my clothes up on the roof, looking over to the blue Lake Titicaca, I wondered about the future of the varied project of nursery school, day care centre and soup kitchen, in aid of some of the poorest and most needy kids. I wondered what could be done to restart the small children’s home. I prayed, and can now only ask that you also pray for the work that gives hope to kids and a better chance of living each day.

I took the pastor's two sons out to visit the Uros floating islands. We just needed to get out and have a wee outing and it was really great to visit one of the must-see popular tourist attractions in Peru. The islands date from a time before the Spanish Conquistadores arrived. The community was at war and because they lost their land they decided to live out in the lake, building inhabitable islands among the reeds. Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, is a real wonder in itself, with great views in the clear air.

After visiting the floating islands, the weekend was completed by being invited out by long-time friends of my parents to sample some really great food.

I then returned to helping out in the nursery school. That day it was doing a presentation of traditional food for 'el dia del paisano' (the day of the countryman)..

So we set up our stall, and just like many others from other nursery schools, began to sell our food. I have to say that I enjoyed tasting some of the food on offer which was very good.

Here are some more picture’s including some of the children that came along from the nursery.. we even had a baby on site.

I looked after this baby for the morring. I have to say I'm proud to say I got it off to sleep in just 3 minutes.....

Today I took pictures of the soup kitchen to show you. I want to present this project to you as a real focus for your prayers as we want to strive to build on this number that attend. Some of those present today were some of the kids that used to go to the children’s home which is now closed.

If even one person could help out with the food costs it would help. For the running costs, they charge the kids very small prices.This helps to pay for a cook, which is really just a tip..

A soup kitchen can impact lots of lives and hungry appetites. My prayer is that with this project more kids get help and a presentation of God's love..

This is Paster Ramon and his wife Elvira.

They also ask for prayer for the idea of setting up again an open home in the future.!

Yours J-D...

Up to Puno City (4th post on 17th June)

Then the night bus to Puno. The altitude is very much higher here but I arrived well.
Am staying with the pastor, Ramon and his wife Elvira and family. They showed me the Baptist church and the nursery school that still goes on. Today it was the school's second anniversary. They used to have a children’s home. They also have a soup kitchen which provides food for very hungry and malnourished kids.

I will add more to this post later. But pray for the work up here. The donation will really go far here I will give this to them tomorrow.

Off to Ilo and Moquegua (3rd post 17th June)

Good bye Arequipa City

For the second spare week I decided to take a wee break and visit friends in Ilo and Moquegua. So I left Arequipa a bit sad and still with that vision of buying a large bit of land and setting something up for kids.

The long road to Ilo, a Pacific port further down south.

I met up with Trevor and Christine Morrow and family. Please pray for them as they continue the work in Peru with the Irish Baptist Missions Ite project. The camp centre is open two years now. They are also rebuilding the Ite Baptist church that got burnt down two years ago.

Also pray for Alistair Creelman as he does his year with Irish Baptist Missions, seeking to find God's plan for his life in Peru. Pray for all it means to be starting as a missionary and for God's work in Peru.

Off to Moquegua in the valley beside the Andies Mountains

Then the next part of the week I took a cramped car to Moquegua. This is the town where I used to live as a child when my parents were missionaries with Irish Baptists in Moquegua. Being back is like going back to good memories or a good dream.

I went to the central Baptist church in Moquegua, they got me up front to talk about my trip. They send their greetings to Strandtown Baptist. I love this town. And I have to say I thank the Lord for giving me time for this visit.

I also want to say that I got time to visit the Moquegua children’s home. Your donations helped out - here we brought nappies and lots of food. Many thanks. The home has 100 children but works with 300 in total