I want to thank everyone for their prayer support for my wife. She is comforted by all the letters, cards and emails. We have a long rode ahead and she has an unwavering faith in God. She is quoting a lot of scripture to all visitors, nurses and doctors. It is amazing how she is so encouraging to all that come into the room. Her neurosurgeon, who operated on her brain 5 weeks ago, comes about everyday and checks up on her and then spends about 10-15 minutes just finding out how she is doing (he does not charge for the visits). We have had a lot of visitors to Vickie’s hospital room, and it has been so very encouraging. One special visitor was our first adopted boy from the orphanage, Marcelino. He is now a freshman at a private school in Kansas City. He gave Vickie a poster of some of the children that have been adopted in the US. We have the poster hung up in her room and many doctors and nurses asked about all those smiling faces.

The children at the orphanage have a full day of activities. We have five volunteers from U.S., and they are helping with the many new programs we have started. In one program, we are teaching the kids how to make handicraft that can be sold. In another program we are teaching them how to set up a garden and plant a crop. A new program for the older children is sending them to a private school in Trujillo to learn English. We also have individual tutoring sessions to help with the homework from school. Also on Friday nights we have film night with popcorn and an evening of fun.

I want to thank all of you that have supported the water project. We have a lot of people in Alto Salaverry wanting their homes serviced with water. It is hard to imagine a house without water, but in many parts of Peru there is none. The great joy I get out of this project is to see the children get a drink out of the water system and after drinking have a big smile. Thanks for your generous support.

I have been focusing on my wife’s health but the orphanage is functioning very well. We have two Peruvian co-directors and an American family Joel and Robyn Hanson. They have done a wonderful job coping with the many challenges that Peru presents. Please visit their blog site for more pictures and updates on a weekly basis: http://www.joelrobynhanson.blogspot.com . Pray that God gives them wisdom and direction in administrating the orphanage. Vickie and I are praising God for such wonderful supporters.

Chau,

Dave