November!

Well, back to the normal routine after a sabbatical month, especially for Mike.  I've been carrying on with counseling and discipleship, but the ladies gave me a break from teaching.  It's nice to just be a learner sometimes.

Mike has a headful of new ideas for the curriculum and we are ready to start plugging away on the seminary curriculum.  Praise God that the sabbatical month has been a time of refreshment and renewal.

Sunday we will be visiting a church with serious problems and no pastor.  One of the congregation is feeling the call to be a pastor, but this is a church that has shrunk radically in the past year or two, and even the few that are left don't seem to be working as a team.   We would appreciate your prayers that the teaching will help them to work together as a pastor and church.  This is a replanting situation and we'd like to get the new guy up to at least starting from ground level instead of trying to climb out of a hole.

In the meantime, Paco has gone to Ancash where he is giving out glasses and clothing and helping with the new believers that have joined the group there.  He is also training Jose Marco, the missionary who is regularly working there.   Jose Marco needs guidance.  Please pray for travel safety, the new believers and the Ancash group, and for Jose Marco. 

As always, please pray that this ministry would glorify God and encourage His people.

A recipe for you: Estofado de Pollo

Photo from Cocinando con Pasion. (there's a video there in Spanish of the preparation)

Sister Maria always said the true estofado de pollo has raisins and olives!  She was a comic-turned-cook that worked for us ten or twelve years ago (wow! Time flies!). She taught us all a lot about Peruvian food and many Peruvian jokes.

This recipe is authentic, yet easy to cook in the US. I have added a few substitutions that you can use. I've cooked it a lot of times there.


Brown chicken pieces (4, 6, 8) however many you like in oil.

Remove the chicken and saute a diced onion (preferably a red onion, to get that Peruvian flavor) in the same oil.

Add 2 cloves of minced garlic, a small can of tomato paste (or chopped natural tomato 2 cups) add salt to taste, 1 ½ cup chicken broth, 1/2 cup peas and 1/2 cup sliced ​​carrot, mix well,

Add the chicken, ½ cup of raisins and ¼ cup of black olives cut in half (without pit), 1 or 2 bay leaves and 2 or 3 chopped dried mushrooms (you can substitute ¼ cup  chopped canned mushrooms), add 3 or 4 potatoes cut in quarters, 

cover and cook until the chicken is tender and potatoes are done (test with a fork), stirring from time to time to avoid sticking and drying, if it is dry add a little chicken broth,

It should be left with juice but not liquid.

Serve it with white rice!

Peru holding steady

On October 1st, the President of Peru dissolved Congress.  Although this caused shock and widespread protests in Lima (mostly in favor of the dissolution and worried that Congress would hang on) for about 24 hours, since then things have gone on pretty much as normal.  Elections to replace the Congress are planned for January 26.

In the meantime, Chile and Ecuador have been plunged into violent rioting over economic issues. In spite of the enormous constitutional crisis that is going on here, Peru has remained peaceful.

Thank God for a peaceful transition, and pray for continued peaceful and constitutional resolution of this crisis.

Please pray for a pilot group

Not actually airline pilots like in the photo!

As we develop classes for internet use, we need a pilot group that we can work closely with.  You could call them guinea pigs, but here those are food!
Ideally this group would be in Lima, but would for schedule or distance reasons prefer internet to a live class. The group would also need to have a coordinator who will tell us what is working and what isn't, so that will need to be a thoughtful person with good communication skills who wants to help shape the program.  We have a few potential candidates, but one essential is that it be a group that has a real desire to study.  So far we haven't really found this. 

Pray that God brings us a good group.