Highlights of the past decade

Well, we only have 1 more day (roughly) until the start of a new decade.  Here are some highlights of the past decade in mine and Rebecca’s lives:

1999: I graduated from high school (woohoo) and started seminary!

2000: Rebecca lost her mind and started going out with me!

2001: Rebecca lost her mind again when she said “yes” to marry me!

2002: Rebecca graduated from Miami University (Bachelor in Social Work) and we got married!

2003: Mission trip to Mexico city.  I graduated seminary, and I was ordained into the gospel ministry!

2004: Surrendered our lives as missionaries to Peru, survey trip to Arequipa, Peru, deputation, and our girls were born (even though we didn’t know them then).

2005: We arrived in Arequipa, Peru to work with the Marks family in April and in August Natali and Neomi came into our lives!

2006: We took a survey trip to Cusco, Peru and saw Machu Picchu for the first time!

2007: The new year found us moving to Cusco and we started our kids club! We also started the adoption process for the girls.

2008: Rebecca turned 30!  We also received legal custody of the girls in September!

2009: We started the church! Natali and Neomi turned 5!  They made it through a whole year of K4! The girls’ adoption became final and they became Reinhardts!

It’s amazing to think that all these things, and so many more, have happened in 10 years. I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for us in the coming decade!  I never thought I’d be where I am now.  I praise the Lord for how far He has brought us and for how much He has taught us!  He has been with us every step of the way!

Happy New Year to you all! God bless!

Christmas Pictures

stockings

our family in the main plaza

celebrating with Josue and Efrain

the girls and me with our crowns

being "Knighted" Sir Jason by Scott

Becca reading a new book

happy about their presents

Merry Christmas!

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas day!  Praise the Lord for the gift of eternal life through Jesus who came as a baby so long ago!  Christmas can be a difficult time of year since we are so far from family, but we are so thankful for the family that God has given us here in Cusco.  It was great to be able Skype with all our family and get to see them all!  (Technology is a wonderful thing when it works). We also were invited to Christmas dinner at the house of British missionary friends.  It was wonderful to celebrate Christmas with them and see their Christmas traditions.  We also ate a traditional British Christmas dinner which was exquisite.  We will post pictures as soon as we get them all uploaded!

Christmas Clubs

This morning we had 39 kids come to our Christmas party and we had 4 youth come last night to their Christmas party! Praise the Lord!  It is such a blessing to be able to have something special for these kids.  It’s so great just to see their faces light up over something that seems so small to us.  We thank the Lord for giving us the privilege to work with these children and youth. Here are some pictures:

Rosa and Nelli making snowmen

The 4 youth girls doing the craft

watching a movie about Jesus' birth

little ones doing the craft

Josue helping with hot chocolate

Efrain helping clean up

boys looking forward to their presents

opening presents

saying goodbye and Merry Christmas!

Final Adoption Papers

Praise the Lord the adoption is final!  We got a copy of the final adoption decree today.  It has been 2 years, 3 months, and 3 days since we started the process. Praise the Lord for His goodness.  The actual paper hasn’t been released from the courts yet, but it should be released on Monday and then there’s another little process to be done, but the good news is that it’s official!

Fully Committed

Thursday I was visiting with one of the young men that attend our church.  He sells suspensions in downtown Cusco.  We’ve known each other for quite awhile now and he’s been coming to church since before we even had a church!  He’s a great guy and professes to be saved. So, Thursday he told me he wanted to talk to me about something concerning church.  I wasn’t exactly sure if it was going to be good or bad.  It turned out to be good.  He basically told me that I could count on him.  He said he’s committed to our church and in his words “cuenta conmigo” (count on me).  I am so thankful that the Lord has been working on his heart and that he’s taking this step of faith. He wants to get more involved specifically in “inviting people”!

The Cat and the Dog

The Lord blessed us with  good clubs this afternoon.  In kids club we played “el gato y el perro” (the cat and the dog).  The game is played pretty much how it sounds.  The dog chases the cat until he/she gets tagged.  The only catch is that the person who is the cat can tag another person to become the cat.   It’s a simple game but the kids love it. Here are some pictures:

el gato y el perro

more playing

Maria and Arturo getting Bibles

Pictures

little ones coloring

We haven’t posted any pictures lately so here are some pictures of kids club

bigger kids playing

our review game

Latest Update

It seems unbelievable that December is already here.  Since it is officially the holiday season we changed our blog so it would be a little more festive! Our latest newsletter can be found on our updates page!

Statistics on drug and alcohol use among students in Cusco

Revelo DEVIDA , el alcohol es la más consumida

Aumentó consumo de drogas legales y médicas en escolares cusqueños

 

El consumo de drogas legales y médicas entre los escolares en Cusco evidencia un incremento en el presente año con respecto al 2007, según el II Estudio Nacional Prevención y Consumo de Drogas en Estudiantes de Secundaria elaborado por la Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo y Vida sin Drogas (DEVIDA).

De acuerdo a la investigación, 16 mil ,683  escolares cusqueños consumieron drogas legales en el último año, siendo el alcohol el más consumido (13,623 estudiantes).

Estas cifras las dio a conocer el presidente ejecutivo de DEVIDA, Rómulo Pizarro durante la inauguración del Encuentro Andino de Expertos en Drogas Sintéticas, que se desarrolla en  Cusco y cuenta con la participación de expertos europeos y andinos a fin de intercambiar aspectos referidos a la información, prevención, tratamiento y control de la oferta de drogas en general y sintéticas en particular.

Detalló que el 3.2% de escolares cusqueños consumió drogas ilegales en el último año en el siguiente orden: inhalantes, marihuana, pasta básica de cocaína (PBC), cocaína y éxtasis.

Mientras que 2,529 de escolares consumieron drogas médicas (tranquilizantes y estimulantes) en el último año, siendo los tranquilizantes los más consumidos.

Otro dato que ofrece el estudio es que los escolares de sexo masculino presentan un mayor consumo de drogas legales e ilegales en comparación a las mujeres (37% vs. 32.9%) en el caso de drogas legales 3.3% y  3.0% en el caso de las drogas ilegales, mientras que las mujeres presentan un mayor consumo de drogas médicas (5.8% y  4.3%)

Asimismo, los escolares varones presentan un mayor consumo de tabaco en comparación a las mujeres, pero estas consumen más bebidas alcohólicas.

Las mujeres consumieron más tranquilizantes en el último año y los hombres consumieron mayor cantidad de estimulantes. Asimismo, fueron los alumnos de quinto año quienes presentaron el mayor consumo, seguidos de los escolares de primer año en cuanto a drogas médicas.

En conferencia de prensa, Pizarro Tomasio explicó que el Encuentro Andino de Expertos en Drogas Sintéticas se concentra en el análisis de información sobre drogas sintéticas, como el caso del éxtasis, cuyo consumo se expande entre los escolares y universitarios que concurren a las discotecas. Estuvo acompañado de Adolfo López, representante de la Secretaria General de la Comunidad Andina.

Por el contrario, el consumo de drogas ilegales disminuyó en el período de estudio. En el 2007 fue de 4.3% (917 escolares) y este año 3.1% (844 escolares).

This was taken from El Diario el Sol de Cusco.