Twim Lakes Camp. . .way down south, is here!!

We are so excited this week has finally arrived! On Saturday, twenty-seven Twin Lakes Camp staff arrived in Trujillo, Peru. Our mission is partnering with Twin Lakes to have our first children's camp in Trujillo. Yesterday we enjoyed worshiping with the group in two of our mission churches, then we had them in our home for food, fellowship and some English singing and prayer. . . .



Today there are MANY preparations being made. Our girls enjoyed "helping" the group get ready and looking at all the camp supplies they brought down. Then, tomorrow is the BIG day. . . .the first day of camp!!

Please pray for this wonderful group of camp counselors, for Matt Nasekos & Andrew Vincent (Twin Lakes Camp directors ), for my husband as he continues to pull together many details and the 30 Peruvian helpers and translators. Pray for the health and safety of all the children and workers. And most importantly, pray that many children will hear and understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ this week!

More pictures to come. . . .

Christmas Cheers

Smith Family Christmas Letter 2007

Click here to zoom in (or just click on the letter).

Sunday School at Wichanzao

Because we have three churches/church plants in our Trujillo mission, we spend periods of time ministering at each church. For a long time we were attending the church plant in the Arevalo community where Allen was helping to lead worship and train worship leaders. But for the past several months, we have had the privilege of attending our church in the Wichanzao community and fellowshipping with a wonderful body of believers. The church is blessed with some fantastic Sunday school teachers and it has been the highlight of our girls week to attend. They have been studying the book of Genesis and each week they learn about a different part of God's creation. Below you will see them learning about how God made the heavens. For this class they set outside in order to see "the heavens".




Also, I wanted to thank First Baptist Church Ferriday for sending the school supplies and candy for our kids in Wichanzao. As you can see it was well received and enjoyed by all.

Becoming a little more Peruvian

Being that Mary Allen is almost 6 months old, I thought it was time to try some rice cereal, which of course is the recommended first food for babies. When I went to the grocery store here I was appalled to see that the second main ingredient in the rice cereal was sugar! As I looked at the other baby food, they all had "azucar" as the second main ingredient! Being the Dietitian that I am, this just wasn't going to work for my little one. So, I went home and pureed some rice and gave it a try. So here she is becoming just a little more Peruvian by eating her share of rice.
I suppose I should not be surprised about the added sugar. Peru presents one of the best places for the growth of sugarcane due to its geographical situation. Its desert climate and soil have created one of the best regions for sugarcane growth. Also, it never freezes in northern Peru, so they are able to grow the crop year around with no off season, so there is plenty of sugar to go around!

Christmas card anyone?

It's that time of year when everyone is getting their Christmas card list together. Last year we really enjoyed receiving your Christmas cards and would love to hear from you again this year. So, if you think about it, send us a card, better yet a picture of your family so we can update our refrigerator. Postage is less than a dollar and you can mail it to:

Allen Smith Family
Larco 100
Trujillo, Peru
South America

Love,
The Smith Family

Girls Night Out

One of our friends here in town invited us to join them in going to see The Nutcracker performed by a local ballet company. So last night we, along with several other moms & daughters, got dressed up and had a fun night on the town. Abigail and Adeline enjoyed wearing their fancier dresses and going to the downtown municipal theater. Since Mary Allen goes to bed at 6pm, she had to miss the fun and stay home with her daddy, maybe next Christmas Mary Allen.