Update from the Foss family

Hello everyone. I realize it has been a long time since my last post on the blog. As many of you already know, Tyler and Brenda and family are back in Canada for a few months. 3 Months have passed and we have 1 more to go. This month is going to include Christmas so we are quite excited about being able to spend the holiday season here in Canada with family and friends. Don't get me wrong, we are going to miss all of our friends in Peru very much but we feel this will be really good for our daughters to be here enjoying all the snow and reconnecting with friends.

I have had a few updates from Peru and have heard that the first two houses in Pachacamac are fully constructed and the final fixtures and paint are being completed. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement during our time in Canada and we look forward to getting back to Peru and continuing to be effective in our ministry.

Service Teams 2008

Well, our 2008 service team season seems to have come to an end. While we could still host teams until the end of the year, it isn't likely that people would still have vacation time to use in this year. Our service teams this year were from Southwest Baptist University, a church team from Indiana, the Swaback Foundation team from Illinois, Jon and Dave from New Jersey, 2 teams from Peoples Church in Wyoming Ontario, Cedar Creek Church from Ontario, 2 teams from Hespeler Baptist Church in Ontario, and Forward Baptist Church in Ontario. We also had lots of help from individuals and our friends Keith and Kim Collins sent many of their visitors to help us as well. Sorry to anyone whos details I didn't get correct, but having just taken over teams midway through the year, I didn't get a chance to get to know all of you really well. As for where we are on our workload, Manchay is within half a year of being finished Lord willing, and Pachacamac is underway with the first couple house started and is poised to host work teams for the next few years. Thank you so much to all of you who made this construction season a huge success. Next year is booking up fast so if you are interested in coming to help, contact myself or any of the Kids Alive offices to find out more information.

Forward Baptist Work Team and Liberato's Wedding

I recently returned to Peru, to host the latest work team from Forward Baptist Church in Cambridge, Ontario. The team had 11 members and we got lots of work done. The team did lots of painting, overhauled our flower gardens, put in two laundry sinks, took down and stored away all the wood forms from our new building and poured concrete on 3 sections of our driveway. I don't have any photos of their work but as soon as I can I will post some. Along with the work they were able to accomplish and sightseeing, the team also got to attend the wedding of our care centre guard, Liberato. The wedding was a big affair and the team stayed and danced into the night.
Thank you Forward Baptist Team for all of your hard work and for making the two weeks lots of fun.

Pachacamac Update

I know, finally an update on the blog. Sorry everyone, but our family recently returned to Canada for 3 months and shortly after doing that, I went back to Peru to host another team. That meant I was without a computer for 3 weeks which prevented me from posting on the blog. During my time in Peru our contractor started construction on 2 of our 6 houses.

Because of soft soil on the property, the contractor had to lay down stone and pack very coarse sand as a base. They then dug trenches and put rebar forms in them as the footing for the houses.

Finally all the trenches are filled with concrete and allowed to dry. In the last couple days I was down there, the contractor was starting some of the brickwork. As many of you know, this project has been a long time coming so we are very excited about the progress being made.

Building Update

With our last two teams from Hespeler Baptist Church we have framed and supported, installed roofing bricks and rebar on the second floor of our new building. Since the last team left Eduardo and I have installed all of the plumbing and electrical rough-in and framed in what will be an outside access to the three apartments on the second floor. Today we brought in a crew of twelve guys and poured the concrete. Above you can see their cement mixer as well as bucket hoist that they used to get the cement up to the second storey.

This will be left to dry now for the next three weeks and then with our next team, from Forward Baptist Church, we will take down all the forms and supports and begin the columns for the second storey. As mentioned above this building will have three apartments upstairs and the main floor will be used for office space and a workshop.

Saying Goodbye to Dave and Connie

This week has been Dave and Connie Rhodes last week in Peru. After 8 years service here in Peru with Kids Alive, they have decided to return back to the U.S. where they can be closer to family. As you can imagine after 8 years there were lots of people who wanted to say their goodbyes and so it has been an extremely busy week. On Tuesday night we had a party at the children's home with all the house moms and kids, all the office staff and all the staff from the Oasis. On Wednesday Dave and Connie went out for lunch with their landlords and then at night we had a dinner with our Peru missionary family. On Thursday night we went out with the boys, where we enjoyed a big meal of chicken wings, ribs, and steak and then went and shot some pool afterwards. Yesterday was a busy time for the Rhodes with looking after some paperwork and things but they managed to come out to the Oasis, Dave for a quick picture with some of the guys and Connie for a goodbye presentation by all of the children. Dave and Connie have been here in Peru since before the concept of a care centre and have been very instrumental in its development. Connie with administrative duties and Dave with planning and overseeing almost all of the workteams that have built this amazing facility. Dave and Connie, many thanks from all of us, we will miss you guys a lot and will be praying for you and your family as the Lord leads you.

Thank you HBC Team 2

Today we are saying goodbye for now to our service team from Hespeler Baptist Church in Cambridge, Ontario. This year Hespeler sent down 19 people to work at our Manchay "Oasis" care centre. The teams accomplished so much at the centre as well as visited many of our families that we minister to in the community. Pictured above is one of the highlights of their trip. Since the care centre has officially been named the OASIS, which it truly is in a desert of poverty, we figured we had better get some green on the property. We now have a lush green front lawn and our name spelled out in brick pavers which you can see as soon as you enter the door. The teams completed numerous jobs which included advancing our new 2 storey building almost to the point of pouring the concrete floor. Thank you Hespeler Baptist Church for your continued love and support of our ministries here in Peru.