Dear Praying Partners!

We are now the proud owners of Peru resident cards, with all their accompanying rights and privileges. Believe it or not the most awaited privilege is being able to buy a cell phone plan that doesn't eat up phone cards like a one-armed bandit! Gordy's been counting the days to be able to get a cell phone he can actually use without counting every second.

Three houses are well under way, with double foundations poured, and the families making adobes, to be ready for teams to come in May and June to help build them. They are such different families and so needy, each in their own way. The Lord in His providence knew just whom to put to work at Marta's house - some of the women from the Lima, OH/Lima, Peru team. One of the women from the El Alfarero church in Lima, Peru, especially spent some extended time talking in the afternoons with Marta. Marta's story breaks your heart. Before the earthquake she lived a normal life with a normal family in a nice house. Now she lives in what one of our ladies called a "basket house" - made of woven reeds, with a plastic roof, about as big as your living room (if it's a small one!). She and her teenage daughter and little girl salvaged what they could of their belongings from under the rubble left from the earthquake. Six months ago her husband left her. Marta almost had a breakdown; she's at the end of her rope. She'd give up, too, but she has two girls, so she can't. Instead she gets up before daylight and spends most of the day working in the grape vineyards, and then comes home to work on her adobes. She's the most beautiful, petite little woman, with the saddest, most hopeless eyes you can ever imagine. She smiled one day when we working on digging her foundation. It was a day to put on the calendar. Please pray for Marta, that she will find a new hope and joy in Jesus.

We're packing again. We'll be saying good-by tonight to everyone at Bible study; tomorrow we leave for Lima and Sunday we fly for Wisconsin. We're actually only there for one day, and off to a board meeting and retreat in Tennessee for Mission Data Int'l. Then back home for two days before the New England District Conference in MA. It'll be great to be in New England for a few days. And finally, a couple weeks actually home in our own bed! We're going to have to dig out some wool sweaters. We still look forward for our house cooling down to 85 at night here in Peru.

Gordy's just finishing up his second beta test of an online Basic Evangelism course. He's really pleased with the way it went, and looking forward to seeing short-term mission teams, and others, using it for training.

We've had a chance to have some guests the last week or so since the teams have gone home. Gordy's boys have been meeting here for their Bible study and have enjoyed trying some American breakfasts... some of them can eat as much French toast or pancakes as American kids! Pray that they will continue to grow in their walk with the Lord while we're gone.

And we just had a young couple, Joel and Diana over for dinner last night who want to practice English. He drives a "moto-taxi" and has become one of our regular drivers. We have a wide open door to talk with them about spiritual things. Pray for wisdom as we develop this friendship... and for patience. They have a typical Peruvian two-year old son - a one-boy demolition squad. Weren't sure we'd still have any furnishings in our apartment when he left! 

Thanks for praying -
Gordy and Bear

 

Dear Praying Partners,                       April 10 2009

We're enjoying a bit of spring in northern Wisconsin... and a bit of winter. We woke up Sunday morning to three inches of snow! Everything was wonderfully white, and absolutely gorgeous. Not sure that anyone else was quite so excited about it as we were, so it was a good thing that by afternoon it had all melted away. We're back on track to looking for the first spring flowers.

We had quite a whirlwind arrival in the States. We were only 24 hours in our home, before the Mission-Data board retreat in Tennessee. It was a profitable and enjoyable time, as always, with good friends. Back home for another 48 hours, then off to the NEDA conference in MA, and even a Sunday in Wethersfield EFC... all three services and an AFB! It was a great weekend of connecting with old friends and meeting new ones. We even got to spend a night with supporters in Boston whom we haven't seen in over five years. People's kids sure grow up quickly. 

We've been catching up on mail, taxes, bills, paperwork, and visiting with prayer partners and supporters almost every day. Next weekend we'll be at the district conference here in Madison, and the following weekend training a team in MN that's coming to Peru in August. And the weekend after that we head back to Peru already! And that's our whirlwind tour of America!

Pray for us that we get everything accomplished that we need to in the next couple weeks. And for the teams that will be coming to work with us almost as soon as we get back to Peru. We have teams coming all summer. Pray for them and us as well, that we'll all plan well, and prepare well, and minister well together.

Pray for Felix and Nancy Zavala, and their daughter Maureen, who have been commissioned as missionaries from our sister EFC denomination in Peru, as missionaries to Chincha. Felix is an elder in our largest EFC church in Lima and has been working in Chincha since before we arrived. He actually stays with us a couple days each week. But now they are looking for a place to live in Chincha, and are needing to raise funds to support their ministry with us. Pray that they would be able to move soon and be fully engaged with the teams coming throughout the next months.

Thanks for praying,
Gordy & Bear

You can contact the Grovers at gordy.grover(at)efca.org (please note that in order to avoid email being added to spam lists, we've listed the Grover's email addresses above with the spelling of the @ sign; therefore when you email them, replace (at) with @) or you can contact them by mail at 914 29th Avenue NE #1, Menomonie, WI 54751, (715)688-9985(H+W)