October Prayer Letter 2011

To Our Supporting Churches and Faithful Prayer Warriors,

I Thessalonians 1:2-3, “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;”

Our family is reading the New Testament in chronological order for family devotions and this morning we began I Thessalonians. We are thankful for all of your prayers on our behalf and understand that each of you are serving God in various ministries and need prayer as well.

As mentioned before,we have changed Spanish teachers and have been making improvements in our conversational Spanish. Pastor Silvano (our tutor) has helped Jon go through the verses we’ve memorized in class and through presenting the Gospel with the tracts they pass out on visitation. This has helped Jon to present the gospel more clearly in Spanish and as a result was able to lead another Peruvian to the Lord on his own! How exciting it is to understand enough of the language to share the gospel more confidently with others each day!

It’s exciting and a little scary to think that we are now parents of a teenager! Our oldest son Matthew turned thirteen on October 5^th adding a different level of challenges to us as parents. Matthew was able to attend his first youth conference where it was evident that God was working in many hearts. We are praying for those who made decisions at the conference.

All of our kids began school at the end of August. Please continue to pray for Nisha as she juggles language school, homeschooling, and her ministry in our home. It’s a blessing to have Jon’s parents down visiting us and for the gifts from the States that they brought with them.

We were able to spend time with the Gary Greenwood family in September when they visited us in Lima before returning to the mountains from their three month furlough in the States. We were excited to see them and plan to join them in March of next year. We ask for prayer concerning the ministry in Andahuaylas where there is the possibility of receiving some land in order to build a camp ministry, prayer for our growth in our understanding of Spanish, and prayer for the preparation of our future move to Andahuaylas.

Again, we thank each of you who faithfully support us prayerfully and financially. We count it a privilege to serve God in Peru!

The Harris Family

Jon, Nisha, Matthew, Nathan, Becca, and Katie

Family Day at the Church

It was a blessing to have Jon's parents with us during family day at the church.

There was a time of fellowship and games.




Grandpa was able to use his carpentry skills to put together some wooden games such as the stilts, three-man skis, bean bag toss, and balloon dart board.

Nisha helped prepare the plates to feed over 500 people that came to the service.

There was a baby dedication time.

There was great preaching on the topic of the family.

Matthew's 13th birthday!

Matthew's birthday was on October 5th but he wanted to celebrate his birthday with his Grandma and Grandpa who arrived in Peru on October 12th. We went to "Jockey Plaza" which is one of the largest malls in Peru.

Here Matthew is waiting for his Starbuck's coffee to be made.

Peru's form of Chuck-E--Cheese is "Happy Land".

Nisha doing her best to win tickets by shooting targets with the water gun.

Of course, Matthew's favorite was the basketball shooting game.

Grandpa even got involved with the bumper cars. What a bang of time that turned out to be.

Back at the apartment, the family had some cake and ice cream with some games.

Just having some family fun!

Matthew racing with the three man skis in the youth group.

Photo with a pringle mascot in the grocery store.

Becca enjoying making sculptures with clay.

Twins wearing their new dresses given as gifts from the States.

Enjoying good fellowship with the Greenwood Family.

Play time in the dirt near the animals.

Becca's two favorite classes in school are Bible and Art.

The children combine their M&M's to design different things before eating them (getting to play with their food).

9-11 remembrance service at the American Embassy in Peru

On 9/11 Jon went to the American Embassy here in Peru for a memorial service.

A tree was planted in the courtyard with a plaque in memory of the attacks on U.S. soil by terrorists.

I was able to hold the emblem from the pulpit for a picture.

This is Jon with the American Ambassador in Peru, Rose M. Likins.

Jon with the Ex-President of Peru, Alan Garcia

The Marines marching in the Flag for the National Anthem and pledge.

A Peruvian children's choir who performed songs for the ceremony.