And We're Off!

After a three month hiatus, P3 rides again! In a few short hours, another team from Parkway will make their way to Lima, Peru for a nine day mission project. This time, my entire household is going (woot!) as well as a wonderful and talented man from the church, Jack. Our focus for this trip is to construct plexiglass and wire cases for the Carhua mummies that I have talked about before. We spent two hours tonight packing 150 pounds of plexiglass into homemade cardboard boxes - and one suitcase!! We also plan to visit our orphanage, host several evening fellowships, and visit with the schoolkids I have grown to love. Truly, God has plans for this week that we haven't even begun to imagine.

Prayer points:
1) Pray for safe and uneventful travel. The weather forecast for the east coast calls for thunderstorms. Ugh. Please pray for flights to go as planned.

2) Pray for the health and welfare of the team. All of the Sheppards have been there before, and ALL have suffered from the altitude in one way or another. This will all be brand new to Jack, so pray that his body adjusts well, also. We don't want anything to hinder the ministry, so feeling good is very important.

3) Pray for the plexiglass. Seriously. It could get lost, damaged, and (most scary...) held up by customs. It is oversize and overweight. Someone is going to question it. Pray that we will be able to get the needed materials into the country with the least amount of trouble possible.

4) Pray for the people. We will be encountering so many people this week - in the airports, in the stores, in the villages. Pray for their hearts to be open to hear about the greatness of our God. Pray for divine appointments - and that we don't overlook them as we try to "get it all done".

5) Pray for family back home. We are all leaving people behind for a week. Pray that our loved ones have an easy time caring for our families, our pets, their lives.

Jon said something interesting yesterday as we discussed our departure time (5:30 am... in 5 hours...). He said, "Well, our part will be quick since we won't have any goodbyes." That made perfect sense. Everyone I live with is going with me. I have already said goodbye to parents and friends. But then I started to think about how awesome those words are going to be someday. There is a day that is coming when we will all be together - all of us - with ALL of our loved ones that EVER lived. And there will be NO. GOODBYES.  EVER. Wow. And to top it all off... we'll be worshiping our Heavenly Father, talking with our Savior, walking with the apostles. Does it get any better than that???

I'll post a team picture as soon as we take one. =/  It's been a busy few weeks and pictures weren't a priority. If you feel led, shoot us a comment or a facebook message. It does our spirits good!

I'll end with a quote I love that sums up how I feel about going back to my second "home":

"The place God calls us to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." ~Frederick Beuchner

Benediciones!
Mo