Update - July 2008

Dear friends,

Most of you have access to the web and thus have been able to keep up with our happenings over the past couple weeks. We've been here for a little over a week and it seems like at least a month! We have accomplished much and are beginning to feel like we're home. I say that even as I type this letter with the sweat running down my back and no electricity at all. This is the biggest challenge of living in this place; the lack of electricity and the extreme heat. We were able to find a large house the day after we arrived and are slowing furnishing it. It is a perfect set-up for guests and short-term teams. We live downstairs and upstairs are three guest rooms with a large sitting area. So come along for a visit. There are certain months of the year that we understand are very pleasant, mainly spring and fall. The winters and summers are brutal. We have also purchased a Nissan 4X4 which will be great when traveling these mountains. We've begun to pick up a bit of this language and I am enjoying it a lot. I was worried that at our age we might not be able to learn too much but it's coming. We forgot what it was like to not understand a thing that's going on and the frustration of trying to communicate. There are very few here who speak English. We've met several important people in the government and have been warmly welcomed everywhere we've been. Pray that we'll be able to find a suitable building for our language center.

When we left the States on June 17^th my mother (Nancy Pierce) was in the hospital in Pittsburg suffering from pulmonary emboli (blood clots in the lungs) and a tumor on the pituitary gland. Our family encouraged me to go ahead and get on the plane as she was stabilized and getting good care. Since then she has had all kinds of setbacks and complications and is really suffering. My sister Debbi has been there with my dad through the past couple of weeks but now has to leave. My family has decided that the only solution is for me to fly home for 2 weeks to help with her care; it is a lot for my dad to handle alone. So I have a ticket to fly to Pittsburg on Friday, the 28^th of June and return on July 12^th. Please pray urgently that my mother will come out of this crisis and get back on her feet; she has suffered terribly through this ordeal. Pray for strength for my dad also. You can imagine the strain of sitting all day long in a hospital watching your loved one suffer. Thank you for remembering me as I travel in the coming days. Darrell will be here alone; he has many projects in this house that will keep him busy for the next 2 weeks. We know that God's timing is perfect; we are at peace even in the midst of this storm. He does all things well. Just pray.

If you'd like to help out with any financial needs, please send your gift to:

The Alliance

P.O. Box 35000

Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500

Forever grateful for YOU,

Darrell & Cheryl