Today was a day of excitement. As we were getting ready to head out to the shanty town, Pachacutec, an earthquake hit. Being that this was our first experience with an earthquake, it was a bit scary. Last August a devastating earthquake hit just south of Lima and many lost their lives and homes. That memory is still fresh in the minds of many here in Peru. It was also in our minds as we waited through the rumbling and shaking.
At first we didn't know what was happening. Noah and Rachel were on the roof and Evan thought something collapsed because the noise was like thunder and the building shook. When the lamps started falling and glass from the light fixtures smashed, we realized it WAS an earthquake. Praise God! We are all safe and the damage in Peru was minimal.
Our clock hit the floor and stopped working just 6 seconds after the geological survey said the earthquake struck (this our super accurate $3 atomic clock that we got at the Sole Store here in Lima ;c) ). Evan discovered that the epicentre of the earthquake was just 12 kilometres away from our apartment, just off the coast and produced a 5.4 Richter Scale earthquake. The epicentre was beside the island (photo) just across the water and down the street from where we live.
We also spent the day with Doris (who runs the orphanage near our home). She took us to Pachacutec, a shanty town on the outskirts of Lima. Doris runs an orphanage, soup kitchen and day home there. Once a month she holds a breakfast for the single mothers who have their kids at the day home. After a time of worship and devotional, Evan taught an interactive class about childhood fever. 
It was a lively time of discussion. These women daily deal with incredible hardship- extreme poverty, no electricity or clean water. We were truly blessed by the time we spent with them. I have included a couple of photos of the children. 
Please pray for the children and moms at this home. Many of them love the Lord and have a joy in the midst of the tremendous hardship.
At first we didn't know what was happening. Noah and Rachel were on the roof and Evan thought something collapsed because the noise was like thunder and the building shook. When the lamps started falling and glass from the light fixtures smashed, we realized it WAS an earthquake. Praise God! We are all safe and the damage in Peru was minimal.
Our clock hit the floor and stopped working just 6 seconds after the geological survey said the earthquake struck (this our super accurate $3 atomic clock that we got at the Sole Store here in Lima ;c) ). Evan discovered that the epicentre of the earthquake was just 12 kilometres away from our apartment, just off the coast and produced a 5.4 Richter Scale earthquake. The epicentre was beside the island (photo) just across the water and down the street from where we live.
We also spent the day with Doris (who runs the orphanage near our home). She took us to Pachacutec, a shanty town on the outskirts of Lima. Doris runs an orphanage, soup kitchen and day home there. Once a month she holds a breakfast for the single mothers who have their kids at the day home. After a time of worship and devotional, Evan taught an interactive class about childhood fever. 
It was a lively time of discussion. These women daily deal with incredible hardship- extreme poverty, no electricity or clean water. We were truly blessed by the time we spent with them. I have included a couple of photos of the children. 
Please pray for the children and moms at this home. Many of them love the Lord and have a joy in the midst of the tremendous hardship.
3 comments:
Hey Benslers - wow - I've never experienced an earthquake either - was it really scary? You have some beautiful pictures there - the one of the island that the earthquake was close to is awesome and the kids are sooooo cute!! I don't know if you noticed, but under the posting "A Taste of Peru", I made a comment but I commented after you had posted several other postings.
sorry - I wanted to say more. Last week we had an Agape Feast and the Annual General Meeting and this week we had a baptism with 17 people getting baptized! Ryan Congo got baptized and it was a surprise for Robyn and Tara!! They were definetely surprised!!
Nathan Mills and his wife, Kim?, were there and they thanked the church for praying for them - it was good to hear of God's protection for him especially since our son, Matthew, has joined the army. He has been in Basic Training for 5 weeks now!
Well, I should go - I'm glad that God took care of you guys when the earthquake happened.
Love you and miss you!!
Katrina
Glad to hear you guys are safe and sound after the quake. I've only experienced one earthquake (can't remember the magnitude). I remember that water sloshed out of our fish tank, the china all "tinkled" in the china cabinet, and the door chimes in our hallway were banging together. It was pretty scary at the time, but a good tale to tell on this side of the event! :-)
Those children are so beautiful!! Thank you for sharing pictures and telling us about them so we can be praying for them.
Lisa
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