What a joy to welcome little Sophia Noelle into our family! Her big brothers love and kiss her constantly.
This morning Brandon and I got up at the crack of dawn and went biking. We had to drive a ways to get to a semi-flat area. How we yearn for nice bike paths! The road is the main highway between the capital and world-famous Cusco. I carefully watched for speeding cars and trucks.
On the way back, we came across a one-vehicle accident. This dump truck simply drifted off the road. One observer said the driver was “ebrio” which generally means drunk—but then he said the driver was tired, and had fallen asleep at the wheel. I suspect this is what happened. Even my Hebrew students earlier this year said they were “ebrio” with their Hebrew! So as far as I can tell, while this word can mean drunk, or sleepy, it can also mean overwhelmed or "out of it".  
Here they are harvesting any decent part still left on the vehicle.
Last week I invited some youth from the churches to experience a new sport—we played hockey! They had a great time learning—and it was a great time of fellowship.
  
Nathan celebrated his 5th birthday last week!  
Our pastor’s breakfast was not as well attended as I hoped, but at least one was impacted—me. We studied the life of George Mueller, and Mueller’s passion of “be happy and content in God” really hit me. How many times I focus on my circumstances, instead of God Himself…  
Out our back porch is a beautiful 3,000ft hill, and on the other side of the hill is a village that I have passed through a couple times called Quisapata.
(The village cannot be seen in this photo, as it is behind the distant hilltop).
Just last week, tragedy occurred as 3 young men, known previously as thieves, were trying to break into someone’s house/farm to steal. The owner sneaked out when he heard the noise/saw them, called together the whole town, who captured the men, and tragically, lynched them. Apparently the mother of one of the thieves, being fed up with the behavior of her son, at first permitted and even encouraged the violence against him and his accomplices, but only after seeing the body of her son, did she break down and weep and regret his horrible end. This village has no police force, though the police arrived from here in Abancay within a couple hours of the event. At times here in Peru infuriated villagers take justice into their own hands, often after futile attempts at justice with an absent, distant and overwhelmed police force/court system. What an unspeakable tragedy. Three souls left for eternity. Many souls remained with blood on their hands. Lord, have mercy on us! Raise up your people! Build your kingdom here in Peru! | 
