Rich & Ramona WagnerMarch 26, 2009Greetings from Rich and One of Luke's Relatives!Ramona and I pray this finds you growing in His grace as we enter into the season of celebrating His Resurrection. We have been extremely busy since we last reported to you on our work, so buckle up, hold on and enjoy the update! I went with a MTW Medical Brigade to two small towns south of Cusco. The main group went by bus, with several of us going on motorcycles to give us some flexibility while on site. It took the motorcycles 12 hours to make the trip, after one of our group laid his bike down to avoid hitting a horse. He wasn’t seriously hurt, but his motorcycle completed the trip on a truck. The horse just ate grass and watched us. Santo Tomas was the larger of the two towns, and had a hospital building we used to see patients. With about 40 medical people we were able to see several hundred patients. We had translators and local pastors with us who were able to pray with people in Spanish and Quechua and direct those interested towards the local Presbyterian mission. Usco was the other town and we set up shop in the local health clinic. We had so many patients that we had to cut off registration both days that we were there. We all slept on the wood floors of the clinic. So many people said that they had either never heard of Jesus or just expressed spiritual problems that the local pastor from Santo Tomas will be starting a small study group in Usco. At church that Sunday, people from The Medical College of Georgia, MTW, Usco and Santo Tomas worshipped together for the first ever in that mission, speaking English, Spanish and Quechua, all in the same service. We also celebrated the Lord’s Supper for the first time in two years at that mission, and the first time ever for some new believers. It was actually completely unplanned. We didn’t have any of those little cups you normally use for the Lord’s Supper, and 60 people using a common cup didn’t seem to be a good idea under the circumstances. Then I remembered something Hixson PCA in Chattanooga did one time. They used a common bowl and everyone broke a piece of bread off of a loaf and then dipped it into the bowl of wine. We used a cereal bowl, because that’s what we had. Many of the Americans in the service remarked that it was the most spiritually moving Communion service that they had ever been a part of. We also anointed with oil and prayed for the sick, another first for that mission. Ramona is back teaching women and has started with “Peacemaking Women” by Tara Bartel & Judy Dabler. She will teach it again to a second group of younger women missionaries starting in another month or so. I continue to teach the seminary class on Thursday night. We are now studying Old Testament prophesies and their connection to the New Testament. We have started a six-month study of the book of Luke on Sunday mornings at the Buen Pastor Church. I preached two Sundays on an introduction to the book, then mentored the Quechua Christian who preached the week after I did. We will rotate through all of the church leadership with preaching gifts as we proceed through our study. My first sermon on the introduction was an hour and 15 minutes long, the longest I have ever preached in my life. No one went to sleep or left, and the congregation was very enthused at the end. So I guess it was fine. They have never done a study like this before and are really excited about it. I did go a bit long, but there is so much to cover in the introduction and I only had two weeks. For example, did you know that Ramona has one of the same DNA strands that Luke had? Important stuff like that you can’t just make up, or leave out. We continue to provide purified drinking water for the entire village of Altiva Canas, and 5 area orphanages. We now have six children and a 73-year-old blind man in our MTW orphanage. That doesn’t count the 45 children in the Noah’s Ark orphanage we are involved with. Both are on MTW property in Pallpankai, a small village outside of Cusco. We have learned that trying to move over 50 kids and support staff to church on Sunday is a nightmare, and overwhelming to whatever church you might visit. So we are starting a Sunday experience for that group, right where they are. I’m sure you noticed “experience” as opposed to “worship” or “church” service. I have been assigned to pastor this group. I’m still working through what we will do. Last Sunday we first met as a 60-member group in our outdoor stadium. We sang mostly children’s level songs, prayed, prayed for the sick and then broke up into two groups; adults and all the children. I led what was then a group of adults in a short study of the Luke passages for that week. We spent the rest of our time in prayer. The children watched the Jesus Film for Children in Spanish. Based on the book of Luke, they were getting some of the same teaching as the adults. We then all came together for a meal, because after all, we are Presbyterians! We are all happy with how it went. I’m thinking we will keep the first part, and the adult part the same. The children will take more work. Right now, the plan is to divide the time and children into three groups, and rotate those groups every 20 minutes, more or less. Then they will rotate through a three-part worship/learning experience. They just wont know it. They will sing in one stage, do crafts in another, then participate in an, on their level, Bible study. Thank you for praying for our friend Bud Lenz, who had the heart attack in the jungle. He had to have an angioplasty in Lima and is now back in Cusco. He is regaining his strength, but we have put off another jungle trip for a while. He is the one playing the guitar in the picture on our Photo Bucket page. Please continue to pray for our children with special needs. All of our kids are challenged in one way or another. Some only emotionally, most are Fetal Alcohol children; some are really severely physically challenged. Remember Rosita, the teenager we got after a 1st PCA Chattanooga Medical Brigade? She has made a profession of faith, been baptized, joined Buen Pastor church, and has been returned to her family. It is now a safe situation for her. We praise God for what He has done in her life. Please pray for Beltran – he has cataracts on both eyes and spinabifida. He is also a Fetal Alcohol child. He is out of the body cast from when he broke his leg. You could see right through the bones on his x-rays. It was heart breaking. Other than love him and provide for all his physical needs, we are at a loss as to what we can do to improve his life. Fabiola is the weakest of the weak; born with Down’s syndrome and an AV Canal defect in her heart, we have been told she will not live more than two more years without heart surgery. Her mother abandoned her. She never got enough food, and never got medicine. She was emaciated and close to death when we got her. The surgery that she needs is not available here. We are working to try and take her to the States for surgery. Please pray that God will work this all out. There is no money to pay for doctors, hospitals, etc. And you all know the cost of medical care in the States. Only God can do this. Ramona and I were privileged to hold her, standing in as her parents, when she was baptized a few weeks ago. She is so weak and so little, that Ramona and I have been concerned that with so many other kids, and limited staff, that she might get overlooked or forgotten at our MTW orphanage. She is two years old, but is the size of a 6-month-old baby. We were so concerned that yesterday Ramona and I took Fabiola into our home to stay until something changes. If God provides a surgical option in the States, Ramona will take her up there, stay with her the whole time and then bring her back. We understand that after surgery adoption is possible, and there may be couples called at adopt this little girl. If that possibility doesn’t work out, she will be constantly and patiently attended to and loved on for as long as God allows. He is in control. There are updated pictures of the events and people mentioned on PhotoBucket: http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd146/WagnersinPeru/ Please continue to pray for our support account, and the Josephine House account. And as Ramona’s multi-great, great grandfather Luke wrote quoting Jesus – “Peace be with you.”
Rich & Ramona Wagner
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