Torneo de Tenis

I played in my first Peruvian tennis tournament this past week. After babies and a broken knee, I have finally started back playing competitively. The perfect weather here coupled with South American clay courts is a tennis player's paradise. The tournament was a blast, I came in third place (20 competitors) which is much better than I expected. More importantly, I made a lot of new friends. One interested thing, the lady I played in the Semi-finals (pictured above) was Miss Peru 1996.

A visit from Tucker Robbins

I must say, there is never a dull moment working with Peru Mission. This week brought us a visit from the famous New York designer, Tucker Robins (pictured above). When Parish Furniture, Peru Mission's largest economic development project, attended their first furniture market in New York last month Tucker took a quick interest in their unique furniture designs and Peruvian woods. This started a relationship that we are praying that will be beneficial to the success of Parish Furniture and the lives of many Peruvian men. Tucker and a couple of his partners, came to Trujillo this week to talk with the Ball's, meet the Peruvian carpenters and further discuss their collaboration.

The missionary families were invited to go out to Clementina on Wednesday to be a part of a promotional video that Tucker is making to promote Parish Furniture. We will share the footage with you when it is released, but until then, here are some snapshots of folks trying out the furniture for the video:


It is always exciting to see how the Lord connects people for His purposes, we are all very excited to see what He will do!
To learn more about our Parish Furniture project, visit here.

Adeline turns 5!

Adeline turned 5 years old yesterday and we had a busy week of celebrating. She had a party in the park with all the missionary kids playing lots of fun games. She also had a party at her preschool where they made her feel very special by all making her homemade cards. We are so thankful for 5 years with our Adeline!
Party at school. . .

Patti gets married!

Our dear friend Patti was married yesterday. It was a joy to be a part of her special day. For a little over three years now, Patti has been working in our home since we have lived in Trujillo. She has been a huge answer to prayers in helping us with our home: watching the girls, cooking, and cleaning, (which is no easy task while living in a desert). Our daughters adore her. In fact Patti is Mary Allen's best friend and the reason most of her first words have been in Spanish. She has such a servant's heart, always going above and beyond what she is asked to do. If you have every visited us in Peru, she has probably been a blessing to you as well as she stays busy cooking for our many visitors and short-term teams that come down to visit us.

Allen giving the newly weds a blessing at the reception. . .

Patti even served us at her own wedding reception. . .

The culture here is not welcoming for faithful Biblical marriages. In fact, as you might notice from the pictures, Patti and José are already expecting a baby. This is very typical that couples have children before they are actually married. In fact, most of the weddings we have attended, the children of the couple are in the wedding.

Please pray for Patti and her husband José as they begin a new live together.

Our friend and photographer, Robin Eby, also snapped some great pics, check them out here

Surfing Huanchaco Beach

Huanchaco beach is located about 8 miles from Trujillo, where we live. It is a fishing and surfing community that we spend many weekends, especially during the hot months.



Props: photos taken by a local surfing school

Happy Easter!

The big missionary kid Easter egg hunt. . .

We hope your weekend of celebrating Jesus Christ's resurrection was a blessing.
Happy Easter from our family to yours!
Family photo: props to Robin Eby

New School and New Smile

Abigail started first grade this year and entered a new school. It is an all girls school located close to our house in Trujillo. She really loves it and we have been very pleased with the school. She is the tallest in her class and the top student in her "Clase de Ingles"(English class) :-)


Another change in our six year old, if you look closely, you will see that she just lost her first tooth.

Teaching Hebrew in Lima

This past weekend we went to Lima where Allen kicked off the new year of the Reformed Biblical Seminary by teaching an intensive Hebrew course. It was amazing to see students with no knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet begin to translate portions of scripture, after just four nights of class.

Allen also had the privilege to preach on Palm Sunday at the Los Olivos Church in Lima, a sister church in our denomination.

Please pray that God would continue to bless our efforts to equip men for the ministry.