25 March 2010 Update...

Hola amigos!

Thank you so much for your prayers for us during the past week or so. Things have been busy. Jeff was with a team from Oxford, Mississippi working out in a jungle area (SEE VIDEO BELOW.). Then, Jeff and Liesa, along with some teammates, went to Huancayo to make some arrangements for an upcoming International World Changers project.

Haylee and Jackson have been busy as well. Jackson is keeping his class laughing at his corny sense of humor and trying to find bugs to feed to the class pet...a scorpion. Haylee has been studying hard and left today for a retreat with the middle school and high school students at her school.

We continue to need your prayers. Please pray for...

• Haylee as she is away on a retreat with her school. Pray for a good time with the Lord and her friends.
• The whole family willl be traveling to Iquitos, Peru for some meetings with our teammates who live there. We'll also make some time for some fun things. Iquitos is on the Amazon River so we're excited about seeing that part of our world.
• April is going to be a busy month with 10 mission teams coming to work with us here. Pray for all of these volunteer teams to have great ministry work while here in Peru.
• Also, we have our REAP North Equipped for Missions Conference in Oxford, MS on April 27-29. We need a good representation by our Strategy Coordinator churches at this meeting.

Enjoy this video with some of the sights of the work of North Oxford Baptist Church...

This incredible group of students were able to train believers in church planting methodology using the book of Acts, teach English in the village school along with bible stories, lead men's and women's bible studies each afternoon, and play soccer with the men of the village each afternoon. They did a tremendous job continuing to build relationships and provide discipleship training in this village.

Updated Newsletter.

Scroll to the bottom of the page or click HERE for updated news from the REAP North Peru team.

12 March 2010 Update!

Hellooooo out there!

Thank you for praying for us and your financial support of missionaries around the world.

We've had a good week here in Peru.  Right now, teams from the following churches in the U.S. are either heading back to the U.S., working here in Peru, or are on their way to Peru in the next few days...

• Grace Community Church, VA.
• Woodland Hills Baptist, NC
• Immanuel Baptist, CO
• College Street, SC
• South Carolina Baptist Convention
• Wedgewood Baptist, TX
• North Oxford Baptist, MS
• Manna Ministries, Canada
• New River Baptist, GA
• Morningside Baptist, GA

As you see these are busy times for the REAP North Peru team.  We have prayer requests listed on our TEAM PRAYER BLOG.  Click HERE to go there!

We are especially excited to work with North Oxford Baptist Church this week.  These are our some of our friends from our hometown of Oxford, MS.  Jeff will be traveling with them this week to a village of the Ashaninka tribe.  Pray for a good foundation to be laid for a church to be started in this village.

We've had the blessings of having our friends, The Pennington's, here with us this week.  They have been staying at our house with us while they are in Lima.  It has been a great time with them here.

Here's some photos from our trip to the Water Park here in Lima, Peru (You can click on them for a bigger photo.)...

Updated Newsletter.

You can scroll down to the bottom of this page for our updated newsletter!  Or you can click HERE!

6 March 2010 Update...

This has been a good, busy week for us here in Peru.  Haylee and Jackson are back in full swing with school.  Haylee and Jackson are both taking a swimming class two days a week and Haylee has resumed her weekly guitar lessons.  Liesa and Jeff are trying to get prepared for some busy times coming up in the next few weeks.

Jeff and our teammate, Brian, made a trip to the village of Chirani to arrange for some upcoming ministry projects there.  It was a long drive, good meetings, and good fellowship.  Chirani is an Ashaninka village with no church and few Christians. On the right is a photo of how we have to cross the river on a zipline to get to the village. Over the next few months several mission teams from Mississippi will be coming to minister to this village.  You can pray specifically for some village leaders by going to the REAP North Peru team prayer blog at www.pray4reapnorth.blogspot.com .

We were blessed to have Jeremy, Crystal, and Karis Nelson here in Lima this week.  They are our teammates who live in Iquitos, Peru and we don't get to see them often enough.  You can pray for them and read about their work at www.loscoffeelovers.wordpress.com .

We are gearing up for a busy March with 10 teams coming to work with us.  We are most excited about North Oxford Baptist Church coming on March 12.  Jeff will be out in the high jungle village of Chirani with this team.  (Photo to the left is Jeff and Romera taking a walk through the village.)  We'll be teaching the village bible stories from the Book of Acts.  Pray for the work in this village to result in a strong, reproducing church.


We are so grateful for your prayers and your financial support through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.  Thank you for your friendship!



P.S.  We'll be in Mississippi in April to lead a conference in Oxford, MS.  ALL of you are invited to come and hear about what is going on in Peru and other REAP North countries.  Here are the details...

REAP North Equipped for Missions Conference

April 27, 28, 29    Oxford, Mississippi 

Host: First Baptist Church, Oxford, MS 

This conference is for church leaders who:

·         Are interested in becoming Strategy Coordinator church partners.

·         Are currently working as Strategy Coordinator church partners with REAP North.

·         Want general information about leading your church to become more involved in missions.

Cost is $59 per person for the conference. Fee DOES NOT include lodging.

Airport transportation to/from Memphis is available.  Please schedule airport transport at reapnorthperu@gmail.com.

Conference Hotel… Downtown Oxford Inn & Suites  (662-234-3031 or 800-606-1497) will provide standard rooms (double bed) for $89 per night.  The event to identify the rate is “Missions Conference – First Baptist Church”

Website -- http://www.downtownoxfordinn.com

Conference begins at 5:00 p.m. on April 27 and ends on April 29 at Noon.  (Oxford is approximately 1.5 hours from Memphis airport.)

DEADLINE FOR CONFERENCE REGISTRATION IS APRIL 2, 2010.

To register or for more information contact Jeff or Liesa Holeman at reapnorthperu@gmail.com .   You may also call 601-914-6705.

Pray for this team from Southwest Baptist coming to Peru.

This team is led by our former student, Courtney Hunter.  Please pray for them!

Emily Knox sure picked a winner.

Since the first day I met Emily Neal Knox I knew that the Lord was going to use her in BIG, BIG ways.  She has beautiful children and has a great ministry.  But, what makes me so proud is her husband Steve wearing an Ole Miss Hat.  Good Job Emily!

 

Pray for Chile.

Although Chile is our neighbor to the south, Lima was not affected by the massive earthquake this morning.  However, please pray for the people of Chile and the effort to minister to them during this disaster.

21 February 2010 Update.

Hello world,

We are so thankful for all of you out there who pray, give, and come to Peru to help take the gospel to lost.  This week your prayers have kept us safe on mountain roads, given us a clear ability to speak truth in a foreign language, kept us healthy, and have opened the doors for new ministry opportunities.

Two churches from the United States began their ministries in Peru this week.  First Baptist Jesup, GA and First Baptist, Hesperia, California both were there this week to begin church planting work among the indigenous people of Peru.  Thank you for praying.

We have a busy week ahead as Haylee and Jackson return to school after their summer break.  Also, things are beginning to get a busier as March approaches.  Spring Break begins what we call our 'busy' season which lasts until Labor Day in September.  We are so thankful that we have a team of missionaries who work so hard.  We are so blessed to have co-workers who are more than that...they are family and dear friends.  Not every missionary has the teammates that we have.  We know we are blessed.

There are several things you can pray for this week...

• Please pray for the large number of student projects we have coming up in the next few months.  We have so much that has to be organized.  Pray for Mindy McCord, our student project coordinator, as she has so much responsibility.  The great news is that she can handle it.  Pray for her and the planning that needs to be done.
• Please pray for Roebuck Baptist Church from South Carolina as they work with the Ashaninca people on the Tambo River this week.  They are out there teaching woodworking skills to them so that they will have another way to support themselves.  More importantly, they are sharing the gospel and discipling new believers among the Ashaninca people.  Pray for safety, good health, and open doors.
• Please pray for our mission organization, International Mission Board.  There are so many important decisions that must be made over the next few months. We know God is faithful and will take care of us like He always has been faithful to do.

Our house in Lima.

Our street in Lima.  The hair salon, vet, little hardware store, and bakery are

right across the street.  Fruit and veggie market is right around the corner.

The first utility pole on the right is where the taxi drivers stop to pee.

A good Word for today...

Some friends from Yungay, Peru.

This is Pastor Joel and his wife Hilda from the Bible Baptist Church in Yungay, Peru.  We were blessed to work with them this week as they seek to see their new church grow in a very difficult place.

Please pray for them!

We've been out in Ancash Peru this week...

We've had a great week working with FBC Jessup, Georgia and also visiting some of our friends who live in some remote areas of the Ancash Department (sort of like a state in the U.S.) of Peru.

Jackson standing on top of the Lottie Moon truck.
 

 

Liesa, Haylee, and Jeff with a glacier in the background.

Some recent photos...

6 February 2010 Update...

We have had another good week here in Peru.  Here's a recap...

• Monday...Team meeting with most of our REAP North Peru team.  We are blessed to have such an outstanding group of team members.  
• Tuesday/Wednesday... Office work and planning. Phone calls.  Answering emails.  Meeting about student ministry projects.  
• Thursday/Friday... Visit to Canta with our new team members to show them some of the villages where there is great work going on.  Explore future International World Changer sites.
• Saturday... A little housework.  A lot of watching basketball.  

Here's some prayer requests for this week...

• Please continue to pray for the financial condition of the International Mission Board.  Pray for increased giving by Southern Baptists so that the work of your missionaries will be strengthened.
• Pray for our REAP North Peru team as our work begins to speed up as more teams arrive to work here in Peru.
• Pray for First Baptist Hesperia, CA and First Baptist Jessup, GA as they work in Peru this week.
• Go to our team prayer blog at  http://pray4reapnorth.blogspot.com.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Update from Peru. January 31, 2010.

Thank you so much to all of you out there who love us so much that you take the time to pray for us. We constantly are aware of your prayers. God is so good to provide just what we need at just the right time.

This has been a busy and good week. We have a team from College Street Baptist Church in South Carolina here working in a mountain area. They are one of our strongest strategy coordinator churches and have seen amazing things happen among the Ambo Quechua. They have seen a steady increase in the number of churches being planted in their area. Their ministry teams are led by Randy and Sharon McManamay (retired school teachers). Please pray for them this week as they bring light to the darkness.

Liesa and I spent the first part of this week in Atlanta, Georgia for the International World Changers Retreat. On Wednesday evening we returned to Peru with the leadership teams of two IWC projects we'll have in the Canta, Peru area this summer. These two projects will bring nearly 200 students to Peru to minister here in Peru. On Thursday we did some orientation work here in Lima. On Friday and Saturday we toured the mountain villages around Canta. Today we were able to spend some time wrapping up some loose ends and our friends Danny, Laurie, Derek, and Lou are headed back to the U.S. tonight. Please pray for the International World Changer projects that the REAP North Peru team are hosting in Canta, Huancayo, and the Amazon Basin.

We have a busy month of February coming with tons of planning that has to be completed before our schedule begins to get a little crazy in March. Please pray for our team as we seek God's wisdom as we coordinate the work of so many people this year.

And, most importantly, we say 'See You Later' to Jessica Dooley who is finishing up her Journey-girl term. Jessica has been a vital part of our team and we'll sure miss her in many ways. Please pray for Jessica Dooley as she returns to the U.S. and begins seminary this fall.

Please pray for our REAP North Peru team...

• Boots and Katie Holder (Rebecca, Elizabeth, Joseph)
  
• Jeremy and Crystal Nelson (Karis)
  
• Jake and Dodie Glover (Hannah and Abigail)
  
• Tommy Smith
• Jim Gilstrap
• Mindy McCord
• Amber Smith
• David and Cameron Olson
• Jessica Dooley
• Sandi Bridges
• Brian and Felicia Henderson (Skylar and Sydney)
  
• Jeff and Liesa Holeman (Haylee and Jackson)

Thank you so much for being such faithful prayer partners!

International World Changers 2010...

Liesa and I have been here near Atlanta, Georgia for the past few days attending a retreat for IMB personnel hosting International World Changer Projects in 2010. Our REAP North Peru team will be hosting around 300 students attending four projects this summer. We are excited about the opportunities for ministry coming this summer. However, we need your prayers. 300 folks are a lot of people and we must plan well in order to pull this off in a way that brings honor to the Father. Last year we hosted over 700 volunteers in Peru. This year that number may well push the 1,000 mark. God is blessing as our IMB leadership reduces the size of our team.
Please pray for our REAP North Peru team and the HUGE task that God has given us. We need you praying now more than ever.

PRAISE...Last week Ingleside Baptist Church from Macon, GA led a Pastor/Church Leader training conference in Huaraz, Peru. Over 350 pastors/church leaders attended this training conference. Thank you to Ingleside and our REAP North Peru team who worked very hard in making the conference a huge success. Please continue to pray for Peruvian pastors to receive this important theological training.

We're back in Peru...

After four weeks of vacation and visiting with churches we're back in Lima, Peru. It has been good to see old friends, new friends, and sleep in our own bed. We've got a busy few weeks ahead as we prepare for another year of ministry here in Peru. We are so thankful for all of you who pray for us and support us through your gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program. Please pray for these specific requests...

• Please pray for the millions of people of Peru who have little or no access to the Gospel and/or discipleship training.
• Pray for the REAP North Peru team as our schedule gets busier over the coming weeks.
• Please continue to pray for Haylee and Jackson as they grow up as kid missionaries.
  

From the Cotton Bowl...

Happy New Year!

We have new prayer requests for January 2010. Just scroll down and read them and/or print them out and share them with your bible study group.

Merry Christmas!

Here's a video from Haylee and Jackson's Christmas program last week...