Hardts2serve

For those of you that might not know we have a little “hiccup” in our paperwork proceedings.  The judge says that we need to notify the biological mom that the adoption is final.  This process has to be done through the courts, which means it could take a while.  This step is not mandatory for all judges, but each judge has their own criteria so it is up to them.  We were a little discouraged, but we started praying, and the Lord has been answering.  The judge allowed us to mail the papers off instead of them having to go through the courts, and he allowed us to send them to missionary friends there. Our friends are going to take the biological mother with them to the judge so it will go faster.

So, this afternoon we got the papers from the court and mailed them off through DHL because it only takes 48 hours to arrive in Huanuco.  DHL proceeded to tell me that they couldn’t guarantee the papers getting there in 48 hours because of the national strike.  I told the lady at the desk: “We’ll pray that God will allow the papers to get there”.  Guess what? I just read on the internet that the strike has come to an end!  Praise the Lord! Now we are praying for the papers to get to Huanuco and back to Cusco in time for the judge to give us the final papers.  February starts vacations for the entire judicial system of Peru!

The Lord blessed us with a great weekend!  We had a great kids club with 23 (1 visitor)!  Also, we had 8 come back to our youth meeting!  With the kids we played a review game over that past few lessons. We’ve been talking to the youth about taking advantage of their youth, and taking advantage of their time. Yesterday we talked some more about that and about how they should use their talents for the Lord. This morning we had 2 visitors at church!  Efrain brought them both and we praise the Lord for that!

The Lord blessed us with a great afternoon of ministry today.  We ended up with 21 kids (3 visitors)!  We also had a good time with our youth. Praise the Lord 8 came!  We went over Ecclesiastes 3:1-9 and 11:9-12:1.  We talked about how now is the time to serve God and about all the opportunities they have right now in their lives.  Please keep praying for the salvation of these children and youth.

A trip to the post office here in Peru is a little different than in the U.S. (especially if you get a box).  Today we got what we had been waiting for from our home church and we had to go to customs to pick it up.  There was a long wait but since we had other errands to run we went and did them and then came back.  It was well worth the wait!  We couldn’t believe all the stuff that was sent.  Thank you to all our church family at T.H.B.C.!  All the goodies are such a blessing!  We are truly blessed to have such a great church family!  Here’s a picture of everything:

Well, we only have 1 more day (roughly) until the start of a new decade.  Here are some highlights of the past decade in mine and Rebecca’s lives:

1999: I graduated from high school (woohoo) and started seminary!

2000: Rebecca lost her mind and started going out with me!

2001: Rebecca lost her mind again when she said “yes” to marry me!

2002: Rebecca graduated from Miami University (Bachelor in Social Work) and we got married!

2003: Mission trip to Mexico city.  I graduated seminary, and I was ordained into the gospel ministry!

2004: Surrendered our lives as missionaries to Peru, survey trip to Arequipa, Peru, deputation, and our girls were born (even though we didn’t know them then).

2005: We arrived in Arequipa, Peru to work with the Marks family in April and in August Natali and Neomi came into our lives!

2006: We took a survey trip to Cusco, Peru and saw Machu Picchu for the first time!

2007: The new year found us moving to Cusco and we started our kids club! We also started the adoption process for the girls.

2008: Rebecca turned 30!  We also received legal custody of the girls in September!

2009: We started the church! Natali and Neomi turned 5!  They made it through a whole year of K4! The girls’ adoption became final and they became Reinhardts!

It’s amazing to think that all these things, and so many more, have happened in 10 years. I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for us in the coming decade!  I never thought I’d be where I am now.  I praise the Lord for how far He has brought us and for how much He has taught us!  He has been with us every step of the way!

Happy New Year to you all! God bless!