O the weather outside is frightful!

The silly tree down the street has changed colors. We believe he moved here as a young sapling and, as Cassie says, you can take the tree out of the north but you can’t take the north out of the tree. While that tree is the only thing in Tallahassee that even remotely evinces autumnal feelings, we are still thrilled with the prospects of kinder weather and all of the other delights that fall brings. Meanwhile, we are turning down the air conditioner, and Cassie is baking pies, strewing gourds and leaves about, and lighting spicy candles.

As we prepare for what passes as a change in seasons in Florida, we are also preparing for a real change in seasons in our life together. Baby Jane is expected to make her grand arrival in November. In preparation, Gigi has blessed us with a beautiful bassinet, and Mamaw has sent oodles of outfits and other baby sundries, as well as generally taking care of Cassie from a distance (mainly through a steady steam of packages! Our mailman has been very busy of late).

Caleb is keeping busy with school, and asks for particular prayers for diligence and patience with his thesis. School and work have not allowed as much time for fund raising as we would like, and yet we are so blessed by our friends’ continued generosity and encouragement as we continue to raise support for the mission field. Last Sunday we received a visit at Westminster from Jeremy and Amanda Ross (missionaries in Lima) and were joyful to hear news from Peru and stories of God’s love and powerful renewing there. We can hardly wait to be back in Peru, working alongside our brothers and sisters to proclaim Christ’s kingship! At this point, God has given us 21% of our needs, bringing us ever closer to our goal.

If you would like to give toward our work in Peru, you can do so securely online by clicking here. Otherwise, send us an email (caleb.cassandra@gmail.com) and we will get a prayer card to you. Thank you for your prayers and continued support!

Hogar de Esperanza

Hogar de Esperanza is an orphanage in Trujillo, the city where Peru Mission is also based. It is a very special place where orphaned and abandoned children from extremely difficult circumstances are shown the love of Christ through the selfless and tireless labors of men and women who have given their lives over to love, protect, comfort, provide for these children. Over the past few years, Hogar de Esperanza and Peru Mission have ministered together in a variety of ways (my sister Susannah worked at the orphanage for a few months a few years ago). This ministry is very dear to the hearts of the Peru Mission team.

We recently received an update from Hogar de Esperanza in which they share a bit about the desperate situation so many children in Peru face, a situation from which ministries like Hogar de Esperanza are working faithfully to rescue children. The following is an excerpt. We ask you to pray that God would bless the work of Hogar de Esperanza, to comfort the comfortless, and cause those that suffer to turn to Him, Lord of lords, for peace and redemption.

Poverty in Peru

The average of poverty in rural Peru is at 59% of the population, with 13-14% national illiteracy.  Police continue to abuse the rights of children living in the streets. Countless numbers of young girls are sex trafficked on a regular basis, children in the rural areas live in destitute poverty without opportunities for change, and kids living in the streets face discrimination, drug abuse, and exploitation as they struggle to survive. These are just some of the realities of life faced by the poor living in Peru.

Rural Poverty Portal tries to answer the question in regards to why rural Peruvians are poor. They state that rural poverty has its roots in:

• “high rates of illiteracy, particularly among women
• lack of essential services such as education and electrical power
• lack of secure property rights to land, forests and water
• ineffective animal and plant health services
• poor transport infrastructure and marketing systems
• lack of well-defined territorial organization and planning”

The children and families we reach each and every day come from situations just like the ones mentioned here. Pray for our children as we fight against poverty by providing basic needs, education and God’s love.  Life in the surrounding areas of Hogar de Esperanza  is difficult and our ministry continues to pray for guidance as we reach children who face these hardships.

Lausanne 2010

Our friend and sister in Christ Clara Lee will be traveling to South Africa in October to be a part of the Lausanne 2010 conference on world evangelization. Check out the Lausanne movement’s website for more information about this incredible global missions movement. You can also give to Clara’s trip by visiting Redeemer Presbyterian Church’s website here. Please keep Clara in your prayers as she makes this important trip, and please continue to pray for world missions!