Peru and Beyond
Lenz Family Update
May 2004
Greetings from Cusco! It is sure great to be home again. It has taken a while, but i have finally been able
to get back into everything, get matters straightened out, and start the advance again. Thank you all for your prayers during
the past month.
CARNET RENEWAL
One hurdle that stll remains before us is a trip to Lima. i mentioned in a past letter that the government has
decided that all foreigners must travel to Lima in order to exchange their old booklet style identification documents for
the new mechanized, drivers' license style IDs. Most will have to travel to Lima, complete the paperwork and then wait for
a date to return for the pictures and finalization of the process. We found out about the order even before immigrations here
in Cusco, and were able to convince them that we needed to start the process here. Our paperwork (a stack about 2 inches high)
has been sent to Lima for processing. When it is approved and returned, we will need to travel as a family to Lima to have
the pictures taken in Immigrations there and the cards processed the same day. The downside of the whole thing is the cost
of the travel. Lima is not as close to Cusco as it seems on the map! We also hope to take a two or three day trip down the
coast to give Laura a rest after the three months of going it alone. We will probably be going by bus because it is cheaper
than flying and faster than driving ourselves. The busses have two drivers who drive straight through in about 24 to 30 hours.
It will be an interesting trip with all the kids! Please pray with us concerning the finances for the trip
to Lima and that the trip can be restful for Laura and the children.
MOTHER'S DAY
God did a wonderful thing this Mother's Day in Poroy. After a message extolling the treasure that is the wife
and mother, each man presented a rose to his wife and praised her in front of the whole congregation. Eyes were full of tears
as men confessed their mistreatment and insensibility toward their wives. We are certain that many had never said words of
praise about their wives before that wonderful Sunday - not even in private, much less in public. Please pray with
us that this would be a new beginning in the relationships between husband and wife.
A sad reminder of the reality of the situation in Peru: that night, returning home from Tica Huerta (where only
the women had shown up for the meeting... it seems the men were our "celebrating" mother's day...) we drove up on a drunken
man beating his wife in the streets. We pulled over and broke them up, but the woman wouldn't get in the van and let us take
her somewhere safe, so we fear for her safety. The sad reality is that child and wife abuse is very common in this country,
and sadly accepted as normal by most. For example, Santusa, the first new believer that i baptized here about five
years ago, celebrated her mother's day with us without her husband. In fact, she had just gone the day before to the police
to report him for child abuse. He had hit their daughter so hard that she had bled profusely and then said that she had started
bleeding on her own. Happy mother's day...
DANIEL
Shortly before my return to Cusco, Laura went to the court to obtain legal guardianship of Daniel. Although
the father had brought him to her from the hospital promising to return and do the required paperwork, he never did. About
a week after i returned, he showed up. He was upset that we had gone ahead with the legal route, but so often peruvian parents
will drop their children off in the laps of unsuspecting foreigners only o extort money from them later, threatening to turn
them in for stealing their child. We and peruvian friends felt that we needed some protection. The wording of the document,
prepared by the judge herself, was less than favorable toward the father, and we told him that we could have it changed.
He left, saying he would consult with his lawyer and return within a couple of days. That was four weeks ago, and we haven't
seem him yet. This past week, we had a home visit from the Department of Children's Rights, the ones in charge of Daniel's
case. It appears that we passed muster and will be allowed to keep Daniel. Praise God with us and please pray with
us for the continuation of the whole process. Daniel is gaining so much weight (he weighed 1.1 kilograms - that is
not even 2 1/2 pounds - when he was born!) and is responding and cooing and "talking" to us. He eats like there is no tomorrow
(understandably) and not only are Laura and two other women nursing him, but we also supplement with formula when necessary.
GABI, ALEX, KEVIN AND BERONICA
The four brothers and sisters are finally together again. Beronica (spelled with a "B") came to join the other
three while i was in the States. She is a troubled child who has almost always run her own life. She is having a hard time
believing that family life is good and the way it should be. My main concern was that she would try to cause division between
"us" and "them", which she has tried to do. It is almost funny when her brothers and sister fuss at her for trying to do so,
or tell on her when she lies or steals or cheats. We are currently sending her to school in Poroy, rather than homeschooling
her as the others. Please pray with us that she will be able to make the transition as have her siblings.
She is going through the same thing that they did when they first arrived. Pray also that she will give her
life to the Lord. At this point, she is still just going through the motions.
The representative from the Department of Children's Rights, after reviewing the papers we received for Gabi
and Alex, also told us that we would be able to adopt them after three years. She also explained the process for getting documents
for Kevin and Beronica since we haven't been able to get anything from their mother.
There are so many things that we could mention about interpersonal squabbles and the daily battles of living
together with so many people, but the best thing is to say that God is working in the lives of all those living here. Please
pray with us that they will not run from the battle, but into it. There has been so much growth in
the women and children alike, that there is much to glorify God for.
CONSTRUCTION
Construction on the house has been delayed because of the trip to Lima and the lack of funds necessary. We are
doing a few odd things and preparing the wood for the floors, including purchasing and milling additional pine and cypress
trees. We had intended to get water from Tica Huerta, but recently learned that their spring went dry and no longer have water
for themselves, much less us. We have been looking for some missionary well-digging group to sink a well on our property
so that we would then be able to supply the community with water. If anyone knows anything about groups that do this, please
let us know so that we can contact them. Please pray with us that we will be able to get a well dug
and get back on track and complete the house before our lease in Cusco is up in August.
As far as the expansion of the church building, we recently found out that there may be some hinderances to
the construction. Although the brother that lives there with his family has a document that promises them the house after
the death of the owner (his mother-in-law), and can legally do anything they want with it, there seems to be an aunt involved
that is not totally for the work. Construction was initially delayed due to the onset of the rainy season, during which the
economy worsened and prices almost doubled on iron products such as nails, wire and rebar necessary for the construction.
The upside to all this is that an abandoned house across the street (for those of you who saw pictures of the believers of
Poroy, it is the house we took the picture in front of!) was put up for sale and we have been given permission to use the
money donated for the expansion to buy the property. We will be able to use about half of the existing construction, adding
a second floor and roof. When we first spoke with one of the owners, they were willing to sell at a reasonable price, but
seeing our interest, have increased the price from $15 to $20 per square meter - an outrageous price for Poroy. They have
also told us that someone else is willing to pay that price and that we should call back Monday. Please pray with
us that we will be able to purchase the property at a reasonable price.
COMMUNITY CHURCHES
In Poroy, the church was glad to have us back. It was good to be able to sit back as well, and it was kind of
fun to sit back the first Sunday and just experience what God had been doing in my absence. It was wonderful to hear the message
that God had given to Abelardo and to witness the fruit of the years of discipling as well as see him come out from under
his older brother's shadow.
There was recently a celebration in which the people burn candles to the cross (distinct from the day of the
cross). One of the sisters from Poroy refused to burn candles and participate in the celebration with her parents. As a reward,
she was kicked out of her house for several days. At first she just wandered around, but finally sought refuge with some of
the other believers.
It was also good to be able to visit the communities again and see the growth there. In addition to visiting
our older works, i have finally been able to visit Ayarmaca, a work started by Abelardo just before i left for the States.
What should have taken about 30 minutes to reach, took us about 2 hours as road after road had been cut off and we finally
found a back road in. It was well worth the trip as the brothers gathered around to learn fromt the Word of God.
Please pray with us for God to complete the good work that He has begun in each of these areas.
ON THE HOME FRONT
The girls (Hannah, Rachel, Gabi and Rebekah) have started taking ballet lessons from a fairly qualified (and
demanding) teacher. This is a long time dream for Hannah and to some extent, Rachel, as we were never able to give them consistent
lessons in the States, for one reason or another. Their first recital is this weekend and they have been practicing hard to
catch up with the other girls. Gabi needed a shotgun for her part and i made one for her out of wood, praying that the "rich
girls" in the class wouldn't laugh at her for not having a "bought" one. As it turns out, the teacher said they were perfect
and asked if i would make some for the other girls... all 14 of them! It was one of those "tomorrow" things, so we spent one
whole day cutting and whittling and sanding. It was a good project for the boys, with only a few minor cuts.
For the boys, we were able to get some weights recently and have been working out three days a week with all
the boys, from Joseph up. Good male bonding time... Corban has especially been beefing up and i have to work hard to keep
up with him! We wrestle a lot for fun and he is geeting tougher to beat all the time. Someday, he will beat me... but not
yet!
Thank you all so very much for your prayers and support. If you have special prayer requests,
please email us and let us know.
As usual, your tax deductible support (and/or anything extra that God might put on your heart at this time to
help with current needs) may be sent to:
Global Consulting Group
PO Box 7254
Waco, TX 76714
Please be sure to include a note saying it is "For Bud and Laura Lenz"
PLEASE NOTE: All
donations are tax deductible and every cent that you send comes directly to us - the mission takes out nothing
for overhead or expenses.
May God bless each and every one of you abundantly,
Bud, Laura, Sarah, Corban, Berónica,
Hannah, Kevin, Caleb, Rachel, Gabi, Alex, Joshua, Joseph, Rebekah, Charity, Daniel
