Actually we’re moving tomorrow, but today we’re loading the van for the big move to Huntsville, AL. Last time I had a large army to help move, but today I’ve had Matt help me. We’re making progress, and the apartment is starting to get that vacant look again.
A lot has transpired since the last post. Last Thursday we had our graduation from CGC. Before that we’ve had the occasional run of classes, we went to a Ranger’s game, and we enjoyed our last month in DFW.
We’re excited about this next stage. We’ll be arriving in Huntsville on Wednesday to begin our four-month internship with our overseeing church there. Then, it’s off to Cusco, Peru!
Please pray for our safe travel. And, I’ll try and do better about posting.
I’m here in Huntsville for the week after seeing my sister get married this past weekend. The ceremony was at our sponsoring church (where we grew up and where my family attends), Memorial Parkway Church of Christ. Afterwards they had a reception on the church lawn under a big tent. It was a beautiful wedding and a great night to reunite with family and friends. Best of luck to the happy couple, Ashley and Charlie!
Barton’s back in classes this week learning about conflict resolution styles with the rest of the team. He’ll be flying back to Alabama this weekend for our Friends and Family Retreat, held at Memorial Parkway.
We’ve been running at full speed since returning from our survey trip. Two weeks ago we had a team retreat in Howe, Texas, where Barton spent his childhood. We stayed with some old family friends of his. We had a great time and were able to sort through some core issues before the end of our time here in Dallas. I’m including some pictures from that retreat as well as a few from the wedding. We just finished up the final version of our Vision and Strategy document after countless hours of prep work. This will be a very useful tool to us on the field as we will have already outlined policies for different situations we’ll encounter while we’re in Peru. Last week we had a great series of classes from a marriage counselor, Galen Jones. He presented some really practical material that will help us with many of our relationships with others.
Cole is growing fast and getting stronger ever day! He reached a milestone this week (rolled over from his back to his tummy) and my mom was able to see him do it for the first time. He can now roll both ways and he’s well on his way to being able to sit up. It’s been so much fun to watch him grow!
I’m grateful to be able to spend some time with my family for a little while and for many of my family members to meet Baby Cole for the first time. He’ll get to meet even more of his family at the retreat this weekend. We’ll be sure to post more details about our retreat this weekend later.
Below is a special edition of the Cusco Chronicles newsletter. Just coming off the survey trip, we’re excited about sharing with you the great things that we were able to experience. Thanks again to all of those who helped to support this trip. You brought us one step closer to reaching our goal of planting God’s church in Peru! Enjoy the newsletter.
It’s Tuesday, May 12, and Allison, Cole, and I are back home from our almost three-week-long survey trip. A special thanks goes to all those who supported us on this trip. We’re extremely grateful for your generosity. I’m going to try and back up for about a week and let everyone know how our week went spent in Cusco, Peru, which will be our new home in a few months!
On our first day there, we arrived in Cusco from Lima and quickly checked into the hotel. Afterwards, we spent the rest of the day touring the city in a big van. One of the members of the church in Cusco works with the tourism industry in the city, and she accompanied us on several tours of Cusco throughout the week. She was very kind and helpful as we got to know the city. We ended the day eating at one of the restaurants in the city.
The next morning was spent again touring the city, and after lunch we toured a brand new hospital. We were all very surprised by how nice the building is, and we were excited to learn about the details of the hospital: the insurance plan, the size of the rooms, etc. We ended the day with a devotional.
Thursday we drove around and familiarized ourselves with the four or five different districts of the city. It was exciting to dream about where we might plant the church where others could come and easily worship with us. We also check out several apartments and were encouraged with the quality and prices of the places. Thursday night, before I went to bed, I felt a little funny but was excited about getting up early in the morning and joining the group on a trip to Machu Picchu.
Early Friday morning I woke up only to find myself nauseous and sick. I was running a low-grade fever and so the Kizers and stay back in Cusco for the day, while the rest of the group enjoyed Machu Picchu.
After spending Saturday morning resting in the hotel room also, I felt a lot better and got out that afternoon to meet with the church leaders in Cusco. There are basically two congregations in Cusco. We met with the first, which meets in the San Sebastian area. The leader here actually planted the second (Wanchaq) earlier in his life. We had a great meeting with he and his wife, and I was encouraged as he told us that the city had grown from 60,000 to 400,000 in the last 30 years! Afterwards, we met with the second church, the Wanchaq congregation. Several of the members met us at the building and we had another exciting meeting. They were thankful to have more workers come, thankful to all of our supporters, and they mentioned that they had prayed for years that someone might come to Cusco. We were humbled when we heard of their prayers. Our team will benefit from the great group of Christians who are already in Cusco. That night we ate downtown and then took a van ride up to the top of the city. We stood on the mountains overlooking the city and prayed for the future of the church and for the future of Cusco. It was a great way to end the day and the week.
The next morning we worshiped with the Wanchaq congregation and then our group traveled to the airport to begin the long journey home. We finally arrived home the next day (yesterday) at noon.
Enjoy the pictures and video from our time in Cusco, Peru!
Taking a 2 month old baby across multiple countries over a span of 3 weeks has definitely kept us on our toes! I thought it would be good to post a little video of Cole at our hotel room in Cusco so everyone can see how he’s doing. No culture shock for this baby! He’s done really great and has barely even cried on any of our many flights. When we flew 9 1/2 hours from Atlanta to Santiago, the lady in front of us was shocked to see that we had a baby with us when we were exiting the plane!
Also we’ve discovered on this trip that Latin Americans love babies! We can’t go anywhere without everyone we see on the street commenting on what a beautiful baby he is. And people love to pass out advice on babies here! It’s much worse than in the states. It’s very common for people to bundle their babies up to the extreme anytime they go out (even if the weather feels hot) so anytime a little inch of his skin is exposed, I hear comments about how cold the baby must be! It’s practically sinful to take the baby outside without a hat. It’s pretty funny! But it does feel good to be moving to a culture where babies and children are so adored. We have definitely received a lot of special treatment traveling with a baby. People always want to bump us to the front of the line, or help out in any way they can. I have no doubt that Cole will feel very loved in Cusco!
It’s Sunday afternoon, and we’re still in Asuncion, Paraguay. We’ve had a great but busy time here. We arrived safely here on Wednesday. Thursday, we met with church leaders and asked questions and did research. That night we traveled over to Chris and Vicki Fry’s home (missionaries here) for a Bible study. Then we did a bit of sight seeing around the city. Friday, we met with the team at the church building and had another q and a session with them for several hours. Then we left for Cuidad de Este (City of the East) and we spent the night in Brazil for the trip to Iguazu Falls. Saturday (yesterday), we spent our day at Iguazu and it was amazing (the pictures will say it all). Then we returned to Asuncion, Paraguay. Today, we worshiped with the church and had a great service. Now, we’re about to head over to some members’ house and have “tea time.” We’ll head out for a day of traveling early tomorrow morning – our final destination being Cusco Peru!
We’re doing great! I wanted to give a quick update with pics. Enjoy!
We’re currently here in Santiago, Chile. I’m writing this post in the home of a missionary couple of the Providencia Church of Christ in Santiago. We arrived here early Saturday morning and have really enjoyed our time here, although it has been extremely busy. I’ve just returned from a one-on-one Bible study in another part of the city with the missionary we’re staying with. Even though the whole study was in Spanish, it was great to be a part of it. We’ve also worked in a local children’s home, worshiped with the church on Sunday, met with the missionaries this morning, and did a little sight-seeing this afternoon. Tomorrow we’ll do some more research and meet with the missionaries, and finally leave for Paraguay on Wednesday morning.
Santiago is a neat city. It’s a lot different than Cusco. It doesn’t have the rich culture, but it has every modern convenience you could think of. There are many times I forget I’m in Latin America until I talk to one of the nationals. Most would say it is a very European city. Overall, I’m glad we had the opportunity to see the city and meet with the church here. Enjoy the pics and video!
The video is of the Sunday morning worship service at Providencia Church of Christ …
I wanted to make this an extensive post, showing where we’re going to be and when, but I just don’t have the time. We’re flying out tomorrow afternoon for our survey trip and returning Monday, May 11th. We’ll be doing research for our work in three areas: Santiago, Chile, Asuncion, Paraguay, and – of course – Cusco, Peru.
Please pray for us and our safety. We’re very excited about this trip, and we hope to share some video and pics when we return.
I knew that my creative wife would always be putting Cole in interesting outfits and have him doing interesting things. I’ve been on guard, and so I wasn’t surprised this morning to find him wearing this:
It’s good to see Cole supporting the work of his dad. I wonder if I can get him to wear something like that when he turns 13.
We’re still in the process of fundraising. Allison and I have set up a one time fund for departure and settlement through our supporting congregation, Memorial Parkway Church of Christ in Huntsville, AL. You’d be surprised at the expense of what it takes to move a family from America to Peru. Right now, we’re lacking approximately 75% of our funds. This is partly due to our upcoming survey trip expenses that took away a good bit of the funds.
We need a lot of help with this, and, already, individuals have been so supportive. People have been so generous but have also shown their dedication to evangelizing Cusco, Peru. If now is a good opportunity for you to help out, then thank you for partnering with us in Cusco, Peru! Here is a form that you can hopefully upload and print out. It will give you the specific ways in which you can help out. I will also try to make it available in the sidebar soon.
