Saturday, June 7  (Last Update)

Greetings from Cajamarca on Saturday night,

     Well, the last two days have gone by quickly, but they weren't quite as packed as Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday morning, Alonzo took John Ferguson, Gary and I to see Cumbe Mayo, which requires a serious drive into the mountains - up to near 12,000 feet! As we drove up the mountain, the views below of Cajamarca were specacular. And the views to the sides of the roads were amazing. It was like stepping back into time. People are plowing fields with mules and horses, and women are carrying loads to market, or bringing wood back to their houses, etc. Simply amazing.
     Cumbe Mayo has been inhabited by several different groups over time, and has many interesting features, including water aqueducts to move water around which are still in use today. There are killer views everywhere, especially of rock formations at the top of the mountains. But what was most cool for me was that you can hike for miles, and Alonzo took us on one of the longer, and more strenous hikes. In fact, after we were done, he confessed that he had always wanted to do that hike, but had never felt comfortable taking a group out there.
     We went through caves, jumped rocks, fell into holes covered by grass (no twisted ankiles though), and jumped rock-to-rock. In the middle of the toughest terrain a Peruvian woman, dressed in traditional garb, showed up - she wanted money to have her picture taken (we did oblige because it was so funny seeing here out in the middle of this hairy terrain we were negotiating). It does point out the severe poverty many of these people experience though.
     We didn't get back from the hike until mid-afternoon, and after a quick lunch, Gary and I went shopping to look for a good llama or alpaca to bring back! (For you humor-challenged people that was a joke). Before dinner Gary and I talked with John Ferguson quite a while about the possibilities, both here and in Trujillo, for our next trip. After dinner we headed to church, where Gary presented his talk on Environmentalism, a Christian's Perspective. There were about thirty people there, and again, as was true the night before, there was a mix of folks from the church and the university. After his talk, several students came up to ask Gary questions, and we didn't get out of there until well after nine.
     We went back to Alonzo's house for ice cream, then, Gary and Alonzo took John to the bus terminal, as he was leaving for Trujillo on the red-eye, while I stayed at the house and talked with Alonzo's son Samuel and his wife Esther about college and computer engineering.
     Today, in the morning we did a bit of sightseeing, heading down the valley to look at the super-fertile part of the valley. Alonzo has a small cabin there, tucked in among lots of fields. He actually owns two of them, and rents them to local farmers. His cabin is pretty rustic, as in no electricity, no hot water unless heated by the cook stove, etc. But it is very cool and has some killer views. Then we were off to a nearby waterfall (a large one - the drop must be at least forty to fifty feet) where one of us (guess which) swapped clothes for bathing suit and sat on the rocks at the base of the waterfall. This proved to be very amusing for the few Peruvians who were there, and we were happy to provide the entertainment for them.
     In the afternoon we actually got a chance to rest for a couple hours, then Alonzo took us to see one last ruin - a burial site from the 1300's where holes were carved in the side of the rocks and bodies were buried. You can still see the holes high up on the side what is essentially a cliff.
     Tonight at 7:30 we went to the other Presbyterian church in town for a meeting with the high school students and some of the college students. We had been scheduled to have a meeting in the afternoon with the RUF fellowship, but they are in exams and the students cancelled the meeting. I gave my "How a Physicist Sees God" talk, and followed it with some questions about its content (such as, what is the Biblical support for talking about God making chess moves to bring your life into the configuration he desires). Afterwards we headed upstairs for food and fellowship. We gave CNU pencils to everybody, T-shirts to the RUF leaders and turned our honorarium over to RUF. Then we talked, and talked and talked! My Spanish skills were put to the test trying to speak with everyone, most of whom don't speak English well. One young woman who attends a different university practially begged
us to come back and give our presentations at her university - she assured us she could arrange it. We talked about the best way to learn English - and I pulled out my IPOD and my Spanish-English Bible and showed them what I do. We encouraged them to do the same, in reverse of course!
    It was a great evening, and we didn't get out of there until after 10:30!
Which brings me to now. As I write this it is 11:50, and we will be going back to the same church at 9:30 tomorrow for morning worship. After Sunday School, we will head back to Alonzo's for lunch, then get ready to head to the airport (we saw the airport today - it is down the valley - and all I can say is, you do have to clear some mountains!). Our flight to Lima is around 5:30 tomorrow; after arriving in LIma we will wait until 12:25 AM (i.e. Monday morning) when we will begin the Atlanta leg of our trip home. We should be in Atlanta by 8:15 in the morning, then we catch Delta flight 4489, which is scheduled to leave Atlanta at 10:05 and arrive in Norfolk at 11:45 AM.
     Please pray for our last day, for opportunities to minister, and for safety on our long trip home. This will be my last update, as tomorrow (now today!) and Monday morning will go by in a blur, and Internet connectivity will be problematic. It has been an unbelievable trip, with lots of opportunities to minister, lots of new friends made, and great reunions with our friends from last year. Gary and I are pretty pumped about a return trip, on which we would like to bring as many of you as we can. The opportunities for ministry in both Trujillo and Cajamarca are numerous and diverse, the Peru Mission folks are awesome, and many people down here are pressing us to return. I believe this truly is a case of the fields being ripe for harvest...

Dave Doughty

Friday, June 6

Greetings from Cajamarca,
    Well, we actually got to see Cajamarca yesterday (Thursday).  Wednesday night when we got in, it was too dark to see anything more than the city streets, houses and shops, but today dawned bright and sunny.  And what a view!  Cajamarca is essentially surrounded by mountains, ranging from 1000 to perhaps 3000 feet above the town (i.e. up to about 12000 feet) and the view in any direction is pretty spectacular.
    As for the town itself it has some similarities to Trujillo, but some big differences.  First, it is smaller, about 100,000 residents vs. almost a million in Trujillo.  Second, there is less congestion on the roads at most times of the day.  Third, there are way fewer car taxis - instead most cabs here are the three-wheel motorcycle variety, which look like a disaster waiting to happen.  Fourth, the drivers here may, and I emphasize may, drive less crazy than they do in Trujillo.  John Ferguson, who is up here with us, said that he felt he could actually drive in this town, but he wouldn't think of it in Trujillo!  (For those of you who don't know - all the missionaries in Trujillo get around by cab!)
    We are staying with Alonzo Ramirez, the man who was my translator last year at UNT, and who is both our host and our translator this year while we are here (he is also the director of the RUF ministry here, as well as the pulpit supply for one of the two churches in town).  Lots of home cooking, thanks to Alonzo's wife, and lots of local Peruvian foods.  He has a good-sized house, so the four of us - John, Gerardo (the RUF campus minister), Gary and I are all staying here with Alonzo.
    Yesterday was another whirlwind day.  I gave my research talk at the Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca (UNC) in the morning from 10 - 12.  Then it was back to Alonzo's for lunch; after lunch Alonzo looked at Gary's research talk, and refined the translation with him, while I reviewed my Cosmological Intelligent Design (CID) talk from last year.  At 4:00 Gary gave his research talk at UNC.  Both of our research talks were well attended, with about 40-60 people at each one, and several questions after the talks.
    After Gary's talk, the Dean of the College of Science invited us in to his office, where we talked for about 30 minutes.  He is very interested in creating a sustained relationship between our university (Christopher Newport University) and his - something where professors would come down, perhaps bring some students with them, and teach short seminars (with a translator) down here.  It opens up lots of possibilities, and complexities as well.  The Dean also presented us with a not-so-small honorarium for coming.
    By the time we left it was after 6:30, and my CID talk was scheduled at one of the two Presbyterian churches in town for 7:30.  So it was a quick trip back to Alonzo's, where we wolfed down dinner, then headed to the church.
    There were about 35 people in attendance, most of them university students, but some of the church members also came.  This talk makes a strong case for the existence of a designer, not just through the fine-tuning of the physical constants, but also through the fact that earth has been designed for observability, i.e. to be able to do science!  But of course, it doesn't make a gospel presentation, and for that I need some providential help in regards to the questions.  And I got it!  One kid asked about why the designer would have created dinosaurs and then have them go extinct, and I was able to talk about knowing the plan of God - and make a distiniction between the knowing the what of God's plan (which Kelper felt he had revealed) and the why of God's plan (i.e. why did God make planets, or dinosaurs, or man?).  Following this line of argument allowed me to talk about what the Bible does reveal about God's plan for mankind, and in particular about his plan for redemption.  It was very thrilling, and we didn't get out of there until about 9:45.
    We headed to the bus station to drop off Gerardo, who took the red-eye bus back to Trujillo, then went to grab some ice cream.  This was a close call, as we got to the mall at 10:00 and all the ice cream stands had closed, but somehow the grocery store was still open. As we checked out, they were locking the place down!  But we got our ice cream, headed back to Alonzo's to enjoy it and headed to bed.
    Except that Gary and I didn't really head to bed.  We spent almost the next two hours talking about various aspects of the trip, about the campus ministries and about Trujillo and Cajamarca.  Thus bedtime didn't arrive until about 12:30!
    Today will be an easier day, which is a good thing because we have had three days in a row of nonstop action!  This morning we will be doing a bit of touring up into the mountains, but we have to get back this afternoon, because Gary has his science and faith talk this evening - again at the church.  Please pray for his talk, that the turnout will be good, and that Gary will also have an opportunity to present the gospel.  Pray for the people who come and that hearts and minds will be opened.  Pray for us, that we will present a good witness to those with whom we come into contact.  And as always, keep praying about safey as we travel!

Dave Doughty

Thursday, June 5

Greetings from Cajamarca,
    Yesterday morning, after breakfast, Gary, Dave and I all headed in different directions.
    Gary headed back to the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, where we had done our talks on Monday and Tuesday.  This time, however, he visited the Biology department, where he was given a tour before his talks.  He met the Dean of the college and the chair of the Biology department, and he dropped in on students in an Anatomy and Physiology lab.  In the lab, the students had three complete skeletons, taken from the remains discovered at the Moche village in 1945 (this is the village we visited on Monday).
    As far as his talk went, he had the largest crowd we have had all week - approximately 130 students and faculty in a very packed room - and there were about fifteen people standing at the door.  This talk was a combination of his science and his science and faith talk and was very well received.  He was able to make the point that we need to change people's hearts in order to get them to change their attitudes about the environment.  After his talk he was swarmed with people who wanted to talk to him.  The Dean invited Gary back to his office, but alas, Gary had to exit in order to grab lunch and make the bus to Cajamarca.
    Dave Davis headed up to the clinic to work, where he planned to work until 2:00, eat lunch and then head for the airport.  More about Dave in a minute.
    As for me - with help from Dale (Dale is the guy who takes Dave Davis up to the clinic each day), I booked a taxi to come pick me up at 9:45 and stay with me for about two or three hours.  This gave me time to finish packing, bring all of our bags down to the hotel desk, and check out.  Then, my taxi driver and I headed up to Wichanzao.  I wanted to see Dave Davis in action, and I wanted to check out the church and the neighborhood.
    When I arrived at the clinic, Dave was in a consultation with a woman, and after a quick picture I headed up to the second floor and the roof to take pictures.  While the first floor of the clinic is completely finished, and is very nice, the second is under construction, and the roof makes an excellent platform from which to look at the Wichanzao neighborhood (and the giant mountain right next to it!).  Two minutes after I got to the roof, Dave came charging up the stairs, telling me that the woman he had been talking to may have received Christ right there - and he said it with tears in his eyes.  I later told him that events like that were what made this work so thrilling.
    I then went over to the church, not certain who would be there, but lo and behold the new pastor - Juan Marquina Garcia - was there, and he and I sat down at talked for over an hour - in Spanish!  He is very easy to understand, and since most of the information transfer was coming my way, the conversation played to my strength - listening, and minimized my weakness - speaking!  Here is a brief summary of what I learned.
    Pastor Garcia is from Trujillo (actually he was born in Trujillo but raised in the Moche village just south of the city).  He worked with RUF in Trujillo back in 2003-2005, then went to Cajamarca where he worked as a youth pastor in  the church there for two years, until his call to the WIchanzao church.
    Pastor Garcia has a great plan for the church.  When he came last year (when we were here last year there was no regular pastor) there were almost no records of the church.  Nobody knew who were members and who were not - not even the people themselves!  He fixed that.  More than that, he and the church developed a vision statement and a mission statement.  Their vision is to be a church that is holy, united, and mission oriented, to bring glory to God.  Their mission statement (the means by which they plan to accomplish their vision) is to know, practice and teach the word of God.
    The church is really flourishing.  They are adding about one member per week, and two weeks ago they had eight baptisms.  Back in October, on the 31st, they had a Reformation Day party for the neighborhood, and 150 people, most of them not church attenders, showed up.  They currently have one service in the morning and one at night, typically attended by different groups from the church, and they are planning to add an early morning service in July.
    The most amazing news, to me at least, was that they have two seminary students who are working in the really poor neighborhoods - the reed shack towns.  I met one of them - Jose - and have his email address, so I hope to continue to get updates about the work.  Anyhow, there is a new shanty village, called Clementina, and they have actually built a reed chapel in the village (pictures when we get back!).
    Finally, he is interested in having us come back during one of the school vacations, and do a VBS for the children of the neighborhood.
    By this time it was pushing 11:45, so after a couple last quick pictures of Dave in action, he and I said our goodbyes, and I hopped into the cab for the ride back to the hotel (for our bags) and then to Allen Smith's house where I met up with Gary. We grabbed a quick bite of lunch then headed to the bus terminal for the 1:30 bus to Cajamarca.
    The first two hours of the trip are flat, with lots of desert along the sides of the road.  But after you turn for the mountains, the views get pretty spectacular.  So does the road!  Besides the bumps and jostles, our bus once had to back up about 200 feet to allow an even larger truck to pass us!  Eventually though, the sun set, and we were able to nap a bit, before the stars came out!  They were pretty eye-popping at about 7:30 because we were still an hour out of Cajamarca.
    We arrived at 8:30, and Alonzo was there to pick us up!  We stayed at his house last night, and I am writing this email on his dining room table, connecting to the Internet via his wireless access!
    Today we have three talks.  I have my science talk from 10-12 at the Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca, then Gary speaks in the same venue from 4-6.  This evening from 7:30 - 9 I will be speaking at Alonzo's church on Cosmological Intelligent Design - the same talk I gave last year in Trujillo (Gary will give his science and faith talk tomorrow night at the same church).  Pray for us, pray for our listeners, and pray that God would use these talks to bring glory to his name.

Dave Doughty

Wednesday, June 4

Greetings from Truillo,

    Well, yesterday was a true whirlwind. We started at 8:30 and didn't finish until 11:30 last night!
     In the morning Gary and I were back at the National University of Trujillo (UNT) to give our science and faith talks. We had good sized audiences of from 50 - 70 students and faculty and we were both able to talk about sin and salvation.
    In my talk, titled ''Science, Faith and the Physicists,'' I presented four or five quotes from each of four physicists, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton. These men were all devout men of faith, and all of the quotes dealt with some aspect of faith, salvation or the relationship between science and faith. Kepler explicitly writes to a dying friend about the hope he has through his faith in Jesus Christ and Galileo makes a strong case for the ''two books'' argument ' i.e. that there can't be a final conflict between the book of God's words (the Bible) and the book of God's works (creation) because the both come from the same author. Newton has a couple great quotes about sin; in one of them he confesses to not loving God for who he is. This allowed me to talk about how most of us only think about big sins, murder, adultery, etc., but that Newton had correctly (in my judgement) pointed out that all of us sin when we don't love God for who he is. I had several questions from the audience when I was done, and it was clear from the questions, that people in the audience had never really heard this before. At least two of them had a hard time accepting the fact that these men were believers, saying that perhaps these statements were made to avoid persecution. I was able to gently point out that even Galileo's statements were made many years before his great battle with the church.
    Gary's talk was titled, ''Environmentalism, a Christian's perspective, and it was really great. He makes several excellent points, one of them being that if man is simply an accident of evolution, and all the rest of evolution is in harmony with itself (i.e. nature), how is it that man is not? He then presents the Christian viewpoint, using quotes from St. Francis of Assissi, to talk about the brokeness of nature (the fall) and the brokeness of man, which causes us to misuse these resources that God has given us. He also quoted extensively from an article by Calvin DeWitt which suggests a number of enviromental stewardship principles consistent with a Chrsitian worldview. He then talked about a wetlands restoration project he is currently working on, using it as an example of how we can apply these principles in our lives, to, in some small measure, restore the beauty and functioning of creation after man has used its resources.
    After the talks we spent a good amount of time speaking with students and faculty. Several students wanted to know some books to read on the subject of science and faith, or on Christianity. After a quick consult with John as to what is commonly available in Spanish, we recommended John Stott's ''Basic Christianity.'' Another student and I got talking about Francis Schaeffer's book, ''No Final Conflict'' (it's out of print but you can sometimes find it used on the Internet), and I recommended some other Schaeffer books for him to read.
    One student in particular, Daniel, who had been at the talks the day before, was very interested in what we had to say, and we kept talking all the way out to the gate. He was also very interested in going to the RUF meeting this Friday night. I think he even exchanged email addresses with John Ferguson. Please pray specifically for him.
    A little after one we finally left and headed to the Bradford's house for lunch where we met up with Dave. He had again met a good number of patients at the Wichanzao clinic, and as before always got into a spritual discussion with them by asking if they were in church last Sunday. He also had an interesting talk with his nurse, Nila, who has had an unusually difficult life. A single mom, raising four children alone, she left the catholic church about 30 years ago, and was unchurched until two years ago, when she was introduced to the church by a woman who worked for the Bradfords. She became a Christian, and now works in the clinic. Dave has a lot of other good stories, which I am sure he will relate when we get back.
    After lunch I went back to the university to meet the physics department chairman, while Gary and Dave headed back out to Wichanzao, so Gary could see the clinic and the church. At five, Gary and I were due at a different university, Universidad de Ceasar Vallejo (UCV), to give our science talks. Those two talks went from five-thirty until nine. Peru Mission is trying to get an RUF ministry started at UCV, and hosting these talks is a way for them to gain credibility, and visibility, at the university.
    You may have noticed that there was no time for dinner in the schedule! So late last night, about 9:30, we went out with our translator Eduardo and his son (Eduardo, besides being a translator par excellence is the pastor of the Arevelo church), Gerardo (the campus minister) and his wife, Allen Smith, and the Ferguson's to a nice Italian Restaurant - Vallentino's, where we had eaten last year. (For team members from last year - we actually ate at the same long table on the second floor by the window!) Lots of good food and great discussions - and pretty soon it was 11:30!
     As I said - it was a long, whirlwind kind of day. But we all loved it!
    Today, Wednesday, will be our last here in Trujillo. Dave will be working at the clinic until 2:00 or so, then he will grab a quick byte of lunch and head to the airport for his flight back to Lima. Just after midnight his plane back to the US leaves Lima, and two flights later he should be landing in Norfolk tomorrow morning around 11:45 or so.
    Gary has another talk today, to a group of biology and environmental science types. This talk is back at UNT at 10:00 this morning. And I will be heading up to visit the Wichanzo clinic (I want to see Dave in action!), church and neighborhood. After a quick lunch at Allen Smith's, Gary and I will board a bus at 1:30 which will take us on a six hour trip to Cajamarca. John Ferguson (in charge of Peru Mission's campus outreach) and Gerardo (the campus minister for RUF at the universities in Trujillo) will be accompanying us, and we are pretty excited about that.
    Please pray for a good witness for all of us, for open hearts, and for safe travel as we all head out from Trujillo this afternoon.

Dave Doughty

Tuesday, June 3

Hello again from Peru,

    Well, yesterday was quite a day, but today will be even more so.
    Dave Davis was at the clinic in Wichanzao for most of the day, although we actually were able to meet him for lunch at the John and Heather Ferguson's house.  We had a nice lunch with them, during which Dave diagnosed John as having kidney stones.  It was really something to see - John asked Dave about some pain he had, and Dave asked where, and then Dave asked a couple questions and then said ''I think you have a kidney stone.''  Besides the obvious medical problem, John is supposed to travel to Cajamarca with us on Wednesday, so please pray that this issue, and his pain, will be resolved and relieved.
    Dave returned to the clinic to do a minor surgical procedure (i.e. there was some cutting and suturing involved).  Many of the patients are members of the Wichanzao church, but not all, and Dave has developed a great way to get into spiritual discussions with the patients coming to the clinic- he simply asks them if they were in church last Sunday.  They either say yes, then Dave can ask where, and the conversation rolls from there, or they say no, and usually they feel guilty about it, and so they give an explanation and the conversation rolls from there.
    Please pray for Dave as he will be at the clinic most of the day today.
    While Dave was at the clinic Gary and I gave our science talks at the National University of Trujillo.  As last year, at 9:00, the appointed start time, the lecture hall was pretty sparse, but when I started at 9:30 there were probably about 40 people, including the chairman of the physics department.  The crowd grew over the next hour, so that when I finished there were about 75 people.  We had some time for a few questions, then had a short food break (juice and cookies).  After the break Gary started, and about twenty minutes into his talk a professor and a group of his students came in which boosted the crowd to probably 85 students.
    After Gary's talk and question period, we ended the presentations, and then, as last year, students and faculty came to the front to ask us questions.  Some wanted to have their picture taken with us, others asked about tomorrow's (i.e. today's) talks.  John Ferguson commented, ''You guys are like rock stars down here.''
    Today will be a long day for us.  In the morning, from 9 until 1, we will be back at National University of Trujillo, giving our science and faith talks.  I will go first, presenting ''Science, Faith and the Physicists,'' Gary will follow with ''Environmentalism, a Christian's perspective.''  We both have some killer quotes about science and faith, which we hope will spur questions, discussion and chances to clearly present the good news, the buenas nuevas.  Then this evening, from 5 until 9, we will be presenting our science talks at Cesar Vallejo University, where they are trying to start an RUF ministry.  Please pray for those talks, and pray for us as it will be a long day, and we aren't sure where dinner is going to fit in!
    Please continue to pray for open minds and hearts at our talks, as well as for us to have the energy for this long day, and for safety as we travel around.

Dave Doughty

Monday, June 2

Greetings,

    As I write this, it is about 6:30 Monday morning, here in Trujillo, and the last three days have gone by fast.  Let me give you all a quick update.  (I plan to do more regular updates, now that our schedule has settled down a bit - so please forgive the three days of silence!)
    As most of you reading this know, our team consists of three doctors - Dr. Dave Davis, a physician, Dr. Gary Whiting, a professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Christopher Newport University, and me, Dr. Dave Doughty, professor of Physics and Computer Science at Christopher Newport University.  We are here in Trujillo to do medical ministry in the clinic at Wichanzao (Dave Davis) and to give talks at two universities here in Trujillo (Gary and I).  Later this week Gary and I will be heading to Cajamarca to give talks at additional universities.
    Our flights Friday went like clockwork, with the only notable event being a pretty hard landing in Lima (probably the hardest hit I have ever felt!) right on time at 10:50.  And unlike last year, when we got to immigration there was no huge line!  Still, with immigration, baggage collection and customs it took almost an hour to get through the system, and lo and behold when we popped out of customs there was a man from the Ariosto hotel holding a sign with my name on it!  We hopped into the hotel van (we actually had a short wait for another customer  who never showed up!) and 20 minutes or so later we were at the hotel.  All in all a bit smoother than last year.  But it was still about 12:30 local time (1:30 body time) before we got to bed.
    Saturday morning we had a tour of Lima which was interesting, as our driver/tour guide spoke less English than I did Spanish!  It was a marvelous tour though, because we were the only ones on it, so there was no real set schedule.  Thus he waited while we toured one of the ruins (Huaca Pucllana I believe it was called) right in Lima.   And when we went to the plaza he watched the changing of the palace guard at the presidential palace with us.  And we did the same tour at the catholic church as our team did last year, and the catecombs were again the highlight - its just not something you see every day!  And at the end of the tour he dropped us off at LarcoMar where we ate a long lunch then walked down to the beach.  All in all it was a great day.
    By 6:00 we were back at the hotel for the drive back to the airport and our flight to Trujillo.  What caught Garys attention was that after we landed the plane turned around ON THE SAME RUNWAY and taxied back to the terminal!  After collecting our bags we popped out of the airport to be greeted by Allen Smith from Peru mission, who had been organizing our trip.  Also with him were Dale (also of Peru Mission), who will be working at the Wichanzao clinic with Dave, and pastor Eduardo, the pastor of the Arevelo church, and the translator of our talks!  It was great to see him again, and to meet Allen and Dale.  They dropped us off at the Paraiso Hotel, which is a bit further from the town square than the Hotel Colonial was last year, but is a couple notches up in the quality department!  All in all an equitable trade.  
    (One interesting note - on the way back from the airport we saw a mall!  Yes a mall!  There are now actually two malls in Trujillo - change is coming to this town!)
    Yesterday we worshipped at the Larco church, which is where most of the university students go.  (For those of you who do not know, there are three churches here in Trujillo with which Peru Mission is working - the Larco church, which is closest to downtown, the Arevelo church heading north and the Wichanzao church, even further north.  Both Arevelo and Wichanzao have clinics attached to them, while Larco is the largest church.)
    Bill Bradford, another of the Peru Mission missionaries and our main contact person last year, was the guest preacher and he preached on Matthew 28:19-20, with an especial emphasis on baptism, because they were having a new believer baptized later in the service.  They also celebrated the Lords Supper - both sacraments in one visit!  Singing was a lot of fun - they have a praise band which Allen organizes - and I was able to translate most of the words to the songs.  I am afraid I did not do as good a job with the sermon!
    Lunch was with Brad Ball and his family.  Brad was one of the original founders of Peru Mission and his goal here is to start a company which will hire locals to produce furniture.  He has an MBA (finished during his last trip to the states) and has a great plan to disciple the locals both in how to work and how to be family men as well!
   Later in the afternoon pastor Eduardo dropped by our hotel to get familiar with our accents as he will be our translator today and tomorrow!  He will be great!
   Last night we went back to the Larco church for the evening service, where we got more details of the university talks we will be giving.  Dinner was at the Smiths house, and then it was back to our hotel where we collapsed.
    I have to get going - breakfast is calling, and my talk starts at 9:00 (Gary follows at 11:00) but please pray for us.  Pray for Dave Davis as he ministers at the clinic in Wichanzao.  Pray that todays talks will be interesting, and that many of the students and professors will come back tomorrow.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will prepare the hearts and minds of the people who come.  We are very excited to be back, speaking at the universities, and Gerardo and his students are also excited to have us back (more about Gerardo in my next update).

    More later!

                   Dave Doughty

Last modified: 6/08/08                                        © Calvary Reformed Presbyterian Church                                                             
403 Whealton Road Hampton, Va 23666  |  Office: 757-826-5942    Fax: 757-826-5389
www.calvaryrpc.org  |   crpc@calvaryrpc.org
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