Well, this is a hello from the Thompson family. We have almost been here in Lima, Peru for a month now, and we are glad to report that things are going well. We’ll start from the beginning…
John Mark posted a little bit about the night we got in, and we would like to reiterate that the night of the 26th of May could not have run more smoothly. John Mark was there along with Mark Burgess, a friend the Davidsons have made since moving here, to pick us up, and it was such a wonderful feeling to see some familiar faces.
By the next day, we had hit the ground running. Through some connections that the Davidsons have made, we were able to immediately begin the process for acquiring our visas. Now, we hope to be official with our visa cards (like the Davidsons) in a few weeks!
For the rest of the week and that first weekend, we searched the Classifieds for listings of houses that might be up for rent within our budget. All the while, we were staying in an apartment that we were able to secure for a month while we looked for more permanent housing. John Mark and Tara had picked up the paper from the Sunday just before we got there, so we were able to immediately begin looking for a home. Here we are on our first Saturday morning in Lima checking out the delicious all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast at Mangos, a fantastic oceanside restaurant here in Lima (and, yes, you might have guessed it…the Davidsons introduced this to us as well).
Through the faithfulness of God, the first Monday that we were here, we found our home. We were so blessed with an easy house hunting process, and much of that was due to the direction of the Davidsons. Their family has allowed God to use them in ways that have been unimaginably helpful to us. Part of their reasoning for arriving in Lima earlier this year was to help pave the way for the rest of our team when we all arrived. We feel honored to be associated with this family. God has given them some true confidence and courage to really learn this huge city and the way it works (or at least the main areas in which our team hopes to work in the future). Thank you, John Mark and Tara, for the hard work you’ve done, the difficult times you’ve weathered, and the ways you’ve made our transition into this new city much more manageable. We look forward to being able to pass on what you’ve given us to the rest of the team!
So, by the following Saturday, June 6th, we were receiving the keys to our new rental home, and on top of that, we had the treat of celebrating our 2 year old, Cailyn’s, birthday on the same day. That night, we celebrated with the Davidsons, and the kids were completely entertained by the wonderful gift that John Mark picked out for Cailyn. We were all impressed.
Since the 6th, our family has been busy checking out all of the places you would go if you had to furnish a home. We praise God that we have our list of items that are packed in boxes to be shipped from the States to us in Lima, because it has helped us to know what we have coming and what we still need. While not every day has been peaches and cream, we have truly enjoyed our time here as we learn this new life. God has planted us in a wonderful neighborhood, and we have loved getting to know the area. The Davidsons have played such a key role, as I mentioned earlier, in the way God has blessed our time here, and we are so thankful for that.
Here’s Cailyn enjoying one of our new couches…
Slowly but surely, we hope to feel settled in our new home. Cailyn is doing such a great job here, and while I’m on that subject, allow me to solicit your prayers for our children. I would ask anyone reading this to pray fervently for all of our sweet children as they are all going to be going through some time of transition (not that they all shouldn’t be pros at that by now!) for a number of months in the future. It is so important to all of us that our children feel loved by us and that they know the comfort of a Christ-filled home. Please pray that God would give each of us the wisdom to know just how to parent our children so that they may know His love.
As of now, the Davidson family is in the USA spending some time with their families as well as their supporting church, so we are actually here in Lima flying solo for a few weeks. We eagerly await July 7th, the day that our teammate, Mark Clancy, arrives. Until then (and after then probably!), we plan to continue making our house a home, learning more about our neighborhood and the people we live near, working on our Spanish, and patiently waiting until the day God brings the rest of our team to Lima.
“Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.” Psalm 9:11
