The Englund Family

Musin on a Sunday Morning...

2012-01-29T07:00:00.003-07:00

It’s early Sunday morning and I find myself soaking up the crisp morning as I look out the front window. I have been reminded of how God works once again…Just last night, I was talking with an old friend from my career days in the insurance business. I heard his testimony of how God used the man’s son to get to the heart of his dad. I was so excited to see how through prayer, 4 years of it, finally got his dad into a relationship with Christ. Don’t underestimate the power of the prayers of a young person. So often, they are genuine, without doubt and full of faith that God will surely answer the prayer. That is what He does!

From a ministry standpoint, there are so many things I can write about, but I will try to keep it as short as possible.

It is always exciting to see people come to the Lord. A while back, just after our arrival in Cusco, a young man from England who had been coming to The Meeting Place Church finally conceded to give his heart to Christ. He returned to England and continued to walk with the Lord. Just a few days ago, I got word that he had been baptized and was letting all those around him know that his heart belongs to Christ. It is just like God to give us a little boost of motivation to keep us pushing forward.

The Meeting Place Café, Guest House, and Language Institute

We are currently in the off season. With that being said, God has been blessing our mission with business. We have been a bit slower in the café, but the guest house and language classes have been going strong. In all, when most businesses are losing money, we are hanging in there. One nice thing about the café when it is a bit slower is that we have more opportunity and time to really tell our story and share our vision.

MotoMission

God is continuing to work in this new endeavor. We are currently waiting on equipment to arrive here in Peru. Once this arrives, we will open for business. The arrival date is February 8^th. Check out our new Facebook page which can be found at MotoMission.

Additional partners are needed for our MotoMission project. Our business model requires a reliable vehicle to use as a support vehicle for the motorcycle tours. We also will be able to use the same vehicle for our family needs and other ministry needs such as group mission trips and other logistic items. If you can support this need, we would be blessed in a number of ways. Any amount would be helpful and no amount is too large. We are trying to raise about 19K for this vehicle. I would like to have the funds ready to use as soon as possible so in order to be able to offer our large tour packages when a client is ready to sign up. If you would like additional info, please let me know. All tax deductable donations can be made through CTEN (Make checks payable to CTEN c/o Scott and Teri Englund) and sent to PO Box 291307 Kerrville, TX 78029-1307 or call at (800) 872-5404 or online at http://tinyurl.com/cuscoscott. For donations for the vehicle, please drop us a note to let us know it is for the vehicle. Thanks so much!

If any of you have prayer requests, please send them our way. We enjoy praying for you and supporting those that support us. May God continue to bless you in every way possible…

The Englund Family

US phone 208-850-1851

Skype Name Scottiedawg_2

The Englund Family Needs Your Prayers!

2012-01-17T08:38:00.007-07:00

It seems like it has been a while since I sent out an update. We have been up to our ears in business, are dealing with some tough issues that create a lot of stress and pressure, and are also making some changes which leads to long days and a lot of extra work for our family and volunteers. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we are thankful that we will be able to take a break soon. But for now, we know what needs to be done…Our hearts are excited for the days to come.

So, in this newsletter, I wanted to give you a list of current prayer items. Some are needs and some are praises. We serve an abundant God and for that our family is so excited about the future. We ask that you join us in prayer and continue to support our ministry through prayer. What a huge support it is to know that we are not just some missionary family in a far off place. Your partnership in prayer is vital to our ministry. Thank you for your faithfulness.

I have also included some pictures of recent things so you can see some of the things we are up to in the past few weeks.

Here is our prayer list:

We are moving…As we move forward with our MotoMission project, we needed to have a home that included a place to store the equipment. God has blessed us with an amazing place at a great price, and it fits all of our needs. It is located close to the kid’s school, has the garage space for the MotoMission equipment, and is in a safe and tranquil neighborhood. We love it- What a praise!

As for school for the kids, Teri needs a break. She has done and outstanding job with homeschooling, but she is tired. Emma, our littlest daughter is just like I was when I was a kid. Love her to death, but a tough student…The kids are excited about going back to normal school, but along with that comes all the pressures of meeting new friends, teachers, rules, schedules, and homework. Please keep Kayle and Emma in your prayers as they transition back to school. They start at the beginning of March.

One area, in which we need prayer, is with The Meeting Place Church. We recently have had a major change in the structure of the ministry. The vision of the church/ministry has changed over the past year and has wandered from its original focus. Along with some structural issues and accountability issues, we have decided to change the leadership of the church from one person ( a pastor) to a group of leaders that will direct the ministry. In doing so, there are some discomforts with relationships, and hurt feelings. However, I do know that God is working from every angle of this situation. We covet your prayers that Gods will be done in our ministry here at The Meeting Place.

MotoMission-the MotoMission project is moving forward and are going to be able to open the doors in the next week or two. We have the bare essentials to start the operation. The momentum is great! However, to do the project as it has been planned, we are still trying to reach our goal. From a financial perspective, we are still a bit short on being able to purchase all of the equipment that is needed. Our next purchase needs to be a vehicle. For the nature of the business, we need to make sure we purchase the correct vehicle that will serve the needs of the business. We also want to be able to use the same vehicle for our other ministry needs. Please pray and ask that God will provide for our transportation needs. If you would like to join us in helping us purchase a vehicle, we would be so blessed. You can make a donation by clicking on the following link. Please send us an email to let us know if the donation was for the vehicle so we can keep an accounting of the vehicle funds. Here is the link: http://www.tinyurl.com/cuscoscott

Volunteers…as many of you know, we are a volunteer run business. We do have a few real employees, but we operate mostly on the help of volunteers. To keep the consistency of our atmosphere, we need steady volunteers that can come and join us in our ministry. We can handle any type of time commitment, and can arrange housing, language school, and give a wonderful opportunity to serve. Please keep this need in your prayers. If you know anyone that may be interested, please help us get connected. My email is scott@themeetingplacecusco.com.

There you have it! Our big prayer needs! Although these are the big ones, please keep us in your prayers with regards to our family, health, marriage, support raising, business, ministry, safety, and spiritual needs most importantly. Satan surely does not want us here and he has made it quite apparent. We do serve a much bigger God and for that we are moving forward with confidence.

We are so thankful for all of you that continue to lift us up in prayer and financial support. We would have no reason to be here if it were not for your partnership in this ministry. Thank you from the deepest parts of our hearts. Know that we pray for you all. If you have a specific need, make sure that you communicate that with us. It is always amazing to see how God answers the prayers of my daughter Kayle. Things happen when she prays! She has a special connection with God that continues to bring me to my knees as I see a faithful God answering the prayers of a young missionary girl in Peru. So if you want a 12 year old girl lifting up your needs, send us your prayer need and expect that God will be working on it. If it is important to you, it is important to us. We are all on the same team.

Many blessing on you all! Onward and upward…

The Englund Family

Missionary Pig Wrestling-A Blogworthy Story From Last Week

2011-12-11T06:54:00.011-07:00

It was just last Tuesday. Our typical Tuesday where we, as a family, go to a small community outside of Cusco to minister, get ministered to, and just interact with the kids and youth of the area. We generally have a routine. We meet at the market, buy fruit, pile in a run-down taxi while getting taken advantage of because we do look like tourist. Nonetheless, we arrive at Huilkarpay.

Each day, the government sends a teacher to teach the young kids. Walter is the teacher’s name. He is a faithful guy that works with the kids in areas of basic education. While he opens up the community classroom, we get a chance to connect with the other kids that are a bit older in age. It is unmanaged, but we generally have our positions that we tend to. Teri, usually connects with a couple of the youth that need help with their English homework. She has made a good connection with Carolina, although, as Carolina has a few boys hanging around, Teri usually has a few others that she helps with homework as well. Once that is done, then the volleyball comes out.

With me, it reminds me of my days at Karcher Nazarene Church in Idaho. I get a chance to interact with a handful of young men and boys that crave male attention. Their fathers are workhorses. They are not culturally played with or interacted with in a fun setting. That is where God has given me a desire to serve. I bring the soccer ball.

Our goal is to reach people through relationships. I have been able to connect with these young men by just playing with them. It is quite rare for a Peruvian adult to play like I play. So we play soccer, they try to gang up on me and I make sure they understand the rules; Play fun, but not dirty. Have a good attitude and not whine, and if you want to dog pile on Mr. Scott, you better have a plan. I have a lot of experience in wrestling with large groups of youth group dudes. It is no different in Peru. I still have my tricks to win the battle.

So each week is a blessing to just be able to reach out to these guys. I am getting to know all of their names, their families, their lives. This is by far the best part of missionary work. Our goal with this community is to assist a local evangelical church to plant a new cell group in this community. We have to get to the people in order to do it.

NOW THE FUNNY PART

We had just wrapped up our time with the Huilkarpay kids, and it was time for our long walk back down the mountain. It is about 3.5 miles that we walk back as there are no taxis that regularly run the route. We typically gather our backpacks, our large bag of toys and the group of volunteers and head down the long and dusty dirt road.

On this particular day, there just happened to be an old 70’s Chevy long bed truck passing through the little community. It was a beater to say the least, but it was running, had space in the back for our group of 10, and was going the direction we needed to. We were already tired from all the playing, one of our volunteers was waiting on a foot surgery and was in pain, and we had a bunch of kids that would be wiped out by the end of our hike down. So, I gave the universal sign of “hey, are you going our way and can you give us a ride?” sign. They stopped, gave us the get in signal and the story began….

I stayed on the ground to help the 5 young girls get into the back of the truck. It was a rough sort of truck as the front half of the bed was wooden slats. I guess it may have been designed that way to give the animals that they carry around a good view of the spinning drive shaft. We told the girls to stay towards the back where there was some sort of metal to stand on. The truck had a large steel lumber rack that was ideal for us to hang onto while we stood strong as the driver raced down the hill.

There was also something else in the back of the truck; three bags to be exact. Each bag seemed to be just lying there as the girls started to enter the bed of the truck. All of the commotion somehow made the bags comes alive. They started moving. It was not long before there were 5 screaming girls in the back of the truck. They could not get away fast of far enough. The screams continued. As we realized the danger in the situation, and there really was none, we did our best to calm the girls down. We realized that there was a 35 pound pig in each of the bags. They did not like the noise, or the uncertainty of the possible predators that were screaming outside their polypropylene feed sacks that were tied up on the only end in which they could escape. So they started to wiggle as any scared little piggy would do.

We got the situation under control. The girls turned their screams in to laughing, although a bit apprehensive. It was funny! The truck began the decent down the rutted out dirt road as if he were in a rally car race. As we did our best to hang on, one of the little piggies decided he wanted to see the view. His snotty little nose wiggled through the string that was securing the end of the bag. Once he got his snout through, out came his body. During this process, the driver stopped, his Senora jumped into the back of the truck with us, and the driver quickly returned to his rally car race.

The lady started her attempt to get the pig back into the bag. It was not working so well. The pig actually got further and further out of the bag. She did have a good hold of hind right leg of the pig. But that was it and she was using both of her hands. Knowing that the pig could potentially get hurt by falling through the bed of the truck, or just jumping over the side to escape the large load of gringos, I jumped in to help secure the swine. While I wrapped my left arm around its midsection and my right forearm on the back of its head, Kass, one of the volunteers was able to work the bag back over the pig’s body. All of this while we raced down this hill as if were really late.

We got the pig back to where he needed to be. It was not exactly what I thought my day would look like, but it was an adventure nonetheless. You never know what your life will look like on any given day. There is a verse in Proverbs that talks about not boasting about tomorrow as you never know what today will bring. Well I can assure you that this was not on my to-do list for the day.

Scott

If you would like to join the Englund Family and their ministry in Cusco Peru, you can make tax deductible donations through Commission to Every Nation by following the link at http://tinyurl.com/cuscoscott

He asked me to bring him bibles…

2011-11-27T06:28:00.003-07:00

NOTE: There are no pictures included as I want to make sure that the people in the story are not made to feel uncomfortable. They are new believers and I do not want to ask them for their pictures in order for me to "show" them to people back home. I apologize if it takes from the story, but I felt it was quite important.

It was late evening as I cautiously walked down the wet and extremely slick cobblestone street where I ran into Alex and Edgar. It was there that the story really unfolded. You see, Alex and Edgar were walking together with their leather bound portfolios full of paintings. They are vendors that sell their works to the tourism market. Alex nearly brought me to tears with one simple request…He asked me to bring him bibles.

I had met Alex and Edgar when we first arrived to Cusco. In fact, I had met their whole group of vendor friends. One of them had invited me to play soccer with them during their weekly routine soccer time. I, being a good missionary who loves to play soccer, decided to join them. It was there that I realized that I was surrounded by a group of ruffian young Peruvian vendors whose lives were not what one would generally call wholesome.

They spend a lot of time in Plaza San Blas where we have our restaurant, The Meeting Place Café. Over the course of my time in Cusco, I have gotten to know these guys quite well. They have also gotten to know me and my purpose for being here in their country.

It was a few days before my recent trip to the US that I was informed that Miguel, one of my vendor friends, had made a decision to follow Christ. I was so amazed and surprised. I quickly inquired about what had happened, and found out the story.

It went something like this;

Edgar, one of the ring leaders of this group of vendors, has a brother who is a Christian. For a long time, Edgar had been the recipient of a faithful brother who loves him and wants to see Edgar’s life reformed by the love of Christ. It took a few years of work, but Edgar finally conceded that a life with Christ was really the place he ought to be. It was then that Edgar gave his life to Christ.

Shortly thereafter, the group of vendor friends started to see Edgar in a different light. He really changed. He stopped doing the things he used to do. No more cussing, drinking, fighting. His life cleaned up. He formed a joy in his life. He really changed. The other guys could see it.

It was not long after that Edgar started to connect with his buddies over the subject of Jesus. They started to dig into the possibilities of giving their lives to Christ as well. Within a short period of time, a number of these guys had given their lives to Christ. One by one, this group of ruffians was changing, and it was not just a little change. These guys were being transformed in a huge way.

When I left for my trip to the US, the count was somewhere around 5; Edgar, Alex, Jose, Forrest, and Michael. In fact, Michael came clean with a bunch of past issues and we found out his name is actually Mario. He is a free man now that he finally came out and let go of his tainted but forgivable past. God is good to clean the slate. What a comfort he must feel! He now uses his real name. The significance of changing his name back to his given name is huge. He is done with his fake life and now is moving forward in his new life with Christ. He celebrated his decision by being baptized last month. What a celebration it was for Mario.

As for my vendor friend, Alex, the one that I ran into the night before I returned to the US, he knew I was going to be heading to the US soon. He had begun working on me to bring him some original Nike shoes from the US. Each time I would see Alex during the month before my departure, he would remind me about the order that he had placed with me; Original Nike size 42 any color, any style. I never made any promises, but he was as persistent as a typical Peruvian vendor trying to sell a painting to a tourist. Each time I saw him before my departure, he would remind me about the shoes. The night before I left, I ran into Alex and Edgar.

There they were, Edgar and Alex, looking for tourists to which they could peddle their paintings. As we struck up a conversation, once again, Alex brought up the subject of the shoes. This time it was a bit different. He was not so worried about the shoes. He had changed his tune. There were other things more important. You see, he had given his life to Christ and quickly determined that those around him needed the same relationship with Jesus that had recently transformed his life. He needed the tools to reach these people. Alex told me not to worry about the shoes, but rather, he asked me to bring him bibles.

As excited as I could be, I told him that I would figure out a way to get him some bibles. When I returned from my trip, I was able to bring Alex about 20 bibles. They needed them for the cell group that meets in the home of Edgar’s brother, Walter. With these bibles, they can use them for the new people that come and may not have a bible. They can also use them during the group time and if someone needs one to take home, they are able to give it to them to study and use in their own homes.

They invited me to a bible study in the home of Walter as they wanted me to present the bibles. It was little awkward as they really made a big deal about the bibles. But it was wonderful to see people who are desperate for God’s word. I brought with me a guest as well. We had a wonderful time connecting with some local Peruvians that love Jesus. They sing like tomorrow will be the last day of their life on Earth. What a refreshing thing to see; People pouring their lives out to their savior in song. Praise God, he asked me to bring him bibles!

Scott made it home in one piece!

2011-11-12T13:59:00.025-07:00

Well, I have to recap a little bit about my recent trip to the US. What a whirlwind of activity!!!

First of all, I need to say thank you to the Alumni Board at NNU for nominating me for the Young Alumnus of the Year award…This was the main reason that I was able to come back for a visit. What an opportunity it was for me to share our ministry and God’s call on our lives to so many. My time in Nampa included a number of activities at the university such as morning devotionals, business classes, ethics panel discussion with business department, chapel and award ceremony, a reunion lunch with class of 96, meetings with project heads working on cross cultural studies and MBA program possibilities, a business alumni function, as well as interviews from various students and faculty. What a great time for me to share what is really at the forefront of my life-service for Christ through missions.

While on campus, I was able to connect one on one with a number of people that may be interested in volunteering/joining our ministry for various lengths of time. How encouraging it is to know that we have a lot of people that are interested in joining our work in Peru. That lets off a little pressure for sure.

In addition to my time at NNU, I was able to visit with my Nampa home church and update them on our current ministry. Thanks Karcher Church of the Nazarene for standing behind our family! Thanks for your hospitality---I never once had to spend a night in my car or a hotel... In addition, the food was outstanding. It was good to see many of the faces and spend some quality time with those that are supporting us through prayer and finances.

After Nampa, I went back to California, as I was given the opportunity to share in my other home church-The church I grew up in. While there, I was able to reconnect with many folks as well. It is always great to go back to Oroville Church of the Nazarene and see how things are going there. What an exciting church! One funny thing that has happened each time I have spoken at Oroville, is that the worship team is so able to bring the atmosphere of worship to such an exciting level, that I find myself singing my voice away. Then I realize I have to speak for two services…Absolutely brutal, but don't stop doing it! Even though my voice was thrashed, God still knows the heart. It was a pleasure to worship with you all.

For the lighter side of things, many of you know that I was able to spend some quality time doing some things I love, with some of the best friends a guy can have. My plane ticket was covered and the award ceremony was pretty close to hunting season. Do the math! After an entourage of begging, my family gave me the green light. From then on, it was pretty much like old times around the Englund house; Getting my stuff all ready and setting by the door weeks in advance, me never shutting up about the upcoming adventure, all the worry about if it will work out, will I be healthy enough? how much will it cost? All the preparation phone calls to my buddies in which we recap the past 10 years of hunting trips each time we talk. I think I get to be pretty annoying when I get excited about things like that. Maybe that is why I get the green light…They cannot wait to get me gone so I will stop driving everyone nuts….Regardless, it all worked out great. A 6 point bull elk, 4x5 muley buck, and a bunch of birds…I did find out that I lost my touch with the marksmanship…Took me a bit to get my edge back…It finally came…I guess it’s kind of like riding a bike. Speaking of riding a bike: Thanks Brent and Von for taking me out riding one afternoon. Also, thanks Al for sharing your precious motorcycle with me. You guys are great Amigos!

For the business side of things, I was afforded numerous opportunities to connect with people. I had a threefold purpose to the trip. One was to join NNU in the Award celebration and support the university as much as I was able. Second, the fun hunting and guy time reconnecting with friends, and third, the business part of missionary work; The support raising part that requires a lot of one on one with people.

Some of these purposes coincide with each other. For instance, I was able to have some guy time with some of our support team. So to justify the fun, I can say I was working…yes, I am a businessman at heart…

One major focus of the business side of my trip was to raise the necessary funds to start our new missional business, MotoMission. Keep an eye out for our printed newsletter. It should be coming out before the end of the year and will spell out the details of this amazing project. For those of you that heard it first hand while I was in the states, please continue to pray that God will lead this project to places only He can know. We are quite excited about the future of this awesome project that will serve the needs of kids through education, Christ based interaction, and basics needs such as food.

We have made some good headway on finding financial partners for this project. We still have a little bit more to go. Please keep the project in your prayers. I am still looking for more partners so don’t be surprised if I you get a phone call from me. Once you see how this project is set up, you will want to participate somehow. It is a compelling type of project…pure grass roots ministry…people who love Jesus…pouring their lives into the lives of others…If anyone is interested in learning about it first hand, you can call me or email me. You won’t be disappointed!

That is all for now. I do have a lot more to write about, so keep your eyes open for more stories. Thanks for following our adventures…Many Blessings!

Feed the Poor and House the Rodents!

2011-10-03T13:23:00.013-06:00

I often find that I write a lot about fluffy things. Sometimes that works, but this time I wanted to give you a run down on some of the specific things that are happening with us and our ministry here in Cusco.

A few weeks ago, we started planning the design of a guinea pig cage. This is not just any guinea pig cage, but a cage designed as a responsibility project which is being offered to the youth at Project CORASON. The program is offered to those that have successfully completed an in depth discipleship program. As the youth finish up with their discipleship training, they are given an opportunity to learn about responsibility and business.

The program looks like this: We help the kids build their own cage. The kids are taught how to care for their animals. It is nothing more than a responsibility lesson and also teaches them how to make something larger out of a smaller investment. This is one thing that most kids in Cusco will never learn. As many of you know, business is my passion. To share this passion and get these kids excited about taking on a business venture is great fun for me as well.

The Meeting Place has donated all of the materials for the cages from the profits of the business. In addition, each week, we work together with the kids, showing them how to mark the cuts, cut the lumber, and then put it all together.

Once the cages are completed, Project CORASON will give a male and female guinea pig to the students to begin their operations. The students then take the operation to their homes, feed and care for the animals , play some nice romantic music, and voila…A lot of guinea pigs. These little critters are easy to sell as there is a large market for them. Individuals as well as large farming operations can bring their guinea pigs to the same market. It is a simple business that will allow the kids to develop some responsibility for their own well being. They are involved from step one to the finish line. They invest time and energy which can result in a good return. It is simple business, but a concept that is often hard to find in such a socialistic type of culture.

As we continue to work out the bugs in the program, please commit to praying for these young people and this project.

This is what happens when you give…

One thing that is often overlooked by missionaries is that they fail to let people know what is happening to the resources that are entrusted to them. For many of you, it was explained in the beginning. However, I want to give you all a brief refresher on the flow of funds through our mission organization(Commission to Every Nation-CTEN) to our family on the field, to the ministries with which we support.

To begin, we are what are called faith based missionaries. We are 100% supported by individuals that believe in us or our mission or both. Funds are sent to CTEN, a 501 non profit, then they are sent to us to use for living and ministry expenses. It is a pretty simple process, but what is more important is how your support helps us in our work here.

We are not allowed to earn a wage in Peru. We are volunteers on a missionary visa…However, we can and do, run businesses that make money, that we can then use for the purpose of supporting local church projects, social projects and anything else that needs some help. There are quite a few negative connotations out there about doing business in the mission field. I can understand and appreciate some of the issues, but there are some that are actually working the way they are intended to work. For example, our café is sustainable. We do not need any more cash poured into it. It is going to continue. Many other types of missions have been started in other parts of the world that are entirely supported by donations. In my opinion, that has nothing to do with business. That is an outreach that is a liability. If it cannot sustain itself, one cannot call it a business.

We are in business! When resources are given to our family, it allows us to live here legally and not have to take a wage and also operate the businesses. We use as much volunteer labor as we can as it allows us to be more profitable which allows us to give that much more away.

To begin businesses, we have a couple of options; borrow or raise money through donations. A loan is not the best option as it creates an unacceptable amount of debt and risk. The other option is to raise capital through partners. We find willing partners that would like to participate in our mission and vision. A businessman can understand that, if he donates one time, it will allow the business to be profitable from day one. No loans to pay back, just going forward from that point. I have an opportunity to help bring people into ministry with their blessings that God has given them. I think it is sound stewardship to participate in this manner. It is all Gods! However, I want to make sure that what God has entrusted to me gets the biggest bang for the buck.

As we continue in our plans to begin operations on different businesses, know that it is a long term investment into the kingdom. It will be a café that will provide funds for an Easter program at Huilkarpay, where dozens are introduced to the gospel. It will be a language school that helps provide food and shelter for an orphanage in San Jeronimo. It will be the guest house that provides some funds to support the grand opening of a new orphanage in Santiago.

One of the key benefits of the cafe is its location. Situated in the heart of Cusco, it provides a place for the church to gather and fellowship together. It also provides a meeting place for outreach programs that teach the bible to the local children and for a weekly cultural/biblical discussion group.

When taking over the Meeting Place, we discussed changing the name to something that reminded people of the kind of food we serve, but after much discussion, we realized that it already has a great name. The Meeting Place is more than a place that sells coffee and waffles. It is place that is involved in ministry. Some ministry is deeply rooted and others are still being developed but the "soul" purpose of the Meeting Place is just that, to bring people to Christ through the support of local projects.

In the future it will be any number of other types of businesses that will be operated to support local projects…That is our mission and call.

Just because it comes in the package that is labeled business, don’t discard the positive long term effects that it will have on the kingdom of God.

To this point, I have not even mentioned the people aspect of our ministries. This is the one area that most people are interested in anyways. What is happening to reach people in these ministries? Know that the mission purpose is business, but the end result is touched people. When people come to our cafe, they are reached. We do not put a hard evangelism message in front of them, but there are no punches pulled. When we get an opportunity, we tell our customers about the reason for the Hope that we have in Christ. There is no doubt that our business is Kingdom business. Some walk away without a change, but many others are refreshed by the fact that the Christians are not just preaching and talking about it, but living it. Our volunteers invite clients to our church outreach on Sunday nights!

You can call it business, ministry, business as mission, BAM, or anything else. What we are involved in is people. We are called to reach people through missional business. Know that when you support our family and ministry, it is an investment that will continue to pay off for years to come. As for our business model, we are using donations for start-up capital. As the businesses begin and/or continue to operate, they will reap rewards into the future by reaching people and providing indefinite resources to key projects with which we are partnered. And that my friends are what we are all about.

Just a bunch of youngsters...

2011-09-15T11:47:00.009-06:00

Coming home!

Young Alumnus of the Year-What is that all about? As I keep myself rather active in the mission field, I often find myself feeling the effects of my age. However, as I often say and also wonder if it really works, “it’s all in my head.” In November, I am going to be at Northwest Nazarene University receiving an award called the Young Alumnus of the Year. It is often that I do not feel so young. I still play soccer with the young guys that sell paintings in our plaza, and I am not the last one picked each week, but I am almost twice their age. I must say, but would never admit it to them, but when soccer is over, I hurt! How is it that I can be a “young” alumnus? Not sure, but I will take what I can get!

The university is providing my plane ticket to return and receive the award. I am really honored and excited about it. For one, it gives me an opportunity to share about the work we are doing here in Cusco. My hope is to be able to round up some volunteers that may want to join us for a period. The other is that it gives me a chance to be back in the states for a short visit.

The downside is that the family is not returning with me on this trip. We are hoping to return for a longer time in the summer of 2012. Please be in prayer for them as we are apart for a while. Teri will be taking the responsibility of the café, language school, and Guest House. I am a bit scared to leave it in the hands of someone more capable, as I may not have a job when I get back… I am sure the café will prosper in the time I am gone…

So, there you have it! They think I am young and worthy of an award…What a blessing!

Thanks for your prayers!!!

From the time I wrote that last newsletter, there have been a number of you praying for our family and ministry here in Peru. I must say that many of those prayers are being answered as I write. I am in contact with about 5-6 volunteers that are praying and seeking God’s guidance in whether or not they should join us. What an answer to prayer! We also have had a number of local people join us in our ministry. These are English speaking missionaries and or volunteers that are here for months to years. We have been able to keep the café staffed without me having to work 6 full days a week. Thank you all so much for your prayers. They are working!

Motorcycles…What?

As I return to the US, another purpose that I have is to raise the initial start-up capital for our next mission business. This next venture is a high end tourism company that will offer motorcycle tours of southern Peru. As many of you know, I am very passionate about motorcycles…I have spent much time and preparation tying my passions and gifts that God has blessed me with, to a specific business model that uses those talents, gifts, and passions. We are seeking to raise a minimum of $66,000 to begin operation. Most of the initial amount is in capital assets such as motorcycles and support vehicles. I need specific donors that can understand the vision and scope of this project. If any of you are interested in hearing more about the project, I would love to share the vision with you. I also have a fully detailed formal business plan with all the numbers and details of the business. Pray about how you can be involved. This business model is designed to generate high amounts of profit so that they can be provided to a local ministry here in Cusco. This is the same model as we are using in our current businesses. I understand that this is not a typical missionary venture, but then again, I am not an ordinary missionary. Please be in prayer that God will line things up and that HE will be glorified through all of this.

Coffee anyone!

As I return, I will be bringing a load of coffee. This is the same coffee that we use in our café. It is great stuff! Many of you have had it in the past. We get great reviews on our coffee. It is organically grown just outside of Cusco in the high jungle. Coffee is an easy and great way for me to bring some Peru with me on my return. It also works as a fund raiser which provides you all with wonderful coffee and us with valuable resources. If anyone wants to put their order in, I need to know in the next few weeks. We are suggesting a donation of $20 per bag. It is a ½ kilo bag which equates to a little over a pound. I have whole bean or ground. I will have a limited amount I can bring back, so get your order in…First come first served.

Too Busy Being a Missionary to Pray!

2011-08-22T16:45:00.010-06:00

One thing for sure, this missionary stuff is not as easy as it sounded in the beginning. I have never been so busy in my life! Missionary work is draining. In fact, sometimes I think I am too busy to stop and take time to pray. I know it sounds crazy, but I bet I am not the only one that is reading this that has felt the same way. It is not a good place to be. Needless to say, we are tired! I want to be honest with you all, so that you know how to pray for us. I am including a specific prayer request list in order that you can specifically ask God to place His hands on our ministry and everything that surrounds it. Our family is doing fine. We have just been feeling the burden of long hours and high pressure from all the angles that Satan wants to highlight for us. I am asking for your petitions. The last thing God needs is another burned out missionary. Please join us in lifting up our family and mission.

PRAYER NEEDS
Our spiritual health-there are a lot of pressures that we have never experienced before (Why should I pray and read my bible, I am a missionary! Satan tries to make us believe that our lives are enough devotion and why bother with God-A terrible lie!)

Our business mission-I love what I do! The problem is that it takes too much of me. There is an ideal balance that needs to be met between ministry and family and personal. Pray that I can find that balance (I am too busy being a missionary to pray!).

Financial-because of the nature of our ministry, there is an additional pressure of making sure that the business is profitable. Like a CEO keeping tabs on his company’s stock price, I am constantly working to make sure we make a profit at The Meeting Place. If we don’t, the monies that we live on need to cover the expenses. Because we are faith based missionaries, we are reliant upon the faithfulness of our support team to provide for our family expenses. As we have been on the field for a while now, and have not returned to specifically raise more support, we have seen a drop in our overall support. These items all put together, create a large amount of pressure for us. We know God will provide. Please pray and ask God if He would have you join our support team. You may already be supporting our family. Give thanks to Him that you have the financial blessing to be able to do so.
This is an area that Satan can use to discourage us and wear us down.

Our Residency process-We are currently trying to process our residency paperwork for our family. There are a number of items at work, but they all seem to be going nowhere. We are currently exploring another option in hopes to get our residency status up to date. This process is costly, and takes a lot of time and will require travel back and forth to Lima. This is a 24 hour bus journey, which leaves an already understaffed café ministry. The other option is flight. The cost is about $220 per person and for our family of four, to go back and forth a few times gets expensive. Pray that God will work out all the details.

Volunteer help-We are currently talking to a number of folks that are considering coming down to join our ministry. They all seem to be waiting on the Lord to make it happen. Pray that people would step forward and help these families and individuals financially so they would be able to join us. This would relieve much stress and pressure on our current team and family.

Future business missions-As other families join us and begin to take over the operation of the Café, this will allow me to start additional businesses. We currently have the next business ready to start. It is an adventure tourism company that will operate in Southern Peru. This business is designed to provide a higher profit margin, while using much less time. In other words it will be much more efficient than the restaurant business. Ideally, more profit for less work, which allows me that balance of family/work/ministry that I believe God wants me to get in line. The business model is in place. The funds need to be raised. Please pray for volunteers as well as the initial capital to start this new ministry. With more profits coming in we will be able to expand our support to local projects in the area.

Transportation-We have been using taxis and busses for the past year since we moved to Cusco. While it is functional, it often creates issues with not being able to do certain things. Each Tuesday, a group of 5-8 people go to a small village outside of Cusco to minister and work with the children and youth in the town. The cost of the taxi is high. Often, we can only fit 4-5 in a taxi and need to pay for two taxis. The cost is high because we are going to the outskirts of nowhere. The Taxi cannot get a fare to return, so we essential are paying for his return as well. When we are done, we walk back to town. The walk is not the problem (although after playing soccer for a couple of hours with the young boys, the walk back to town is often grueling), it is the time. It is about a 3 mile walk. With kids, it takes a long time to get back. This is just one instance, but having reliable transportation would be a huge blessing to the ministry, and would make us more efficient with our precious time. Pray that we would be able to afford and find a good vehicle that will meet our needs.

Culture-Being here in Cusco has opened our eyes to a number of things. One, the culture and environment of business is one of the most frustrating things. To me, it seems really inefficient, corrupt, and full of discrimination of class, gender, and race. These items coupled with the fact that this is our second culture, we are still trying to understand why things are the way they are. I am not here to change it all, but there are some things that even the locals cannot stand. This creates a difficult and frustrating place to operate a business/mission as well as just live. Please pray that we can have patience and meekness to be able to deal with the differences in culture.

These are the main items. We constantly have little things that need prayer. I know that many of you have been praying and seeking God’s will for our lives and ministry. We truly appreciate your faithfulness. Many of you are also supporting us financially. We cannot thank you enough for giving our family the opportunity to serve in this capacity. Our lives have been changed and our eyes have been opened to a whole new side of the world. Thank you dearly!

Know that we pray for you supporters as part of our team. We would not be here if it were not for the dozens of people that are partnered with our family. Thank you again!

We are looking forward in great anticipation to the answered prayers and petitions. Blessings on all of you!

The Englund Family

It's Good to be Blessed!

2011-08-08T20:20:00.009-06:00

Sometimes when things happen that we perceive to be bad, we often are so blinded by the negative aspects of the occurrence that we fail to enjoy the benefits of the event. For instance, the other day, we had an event take place at The Meeting Place Café, our ministry here in Cusco. We are forever fighting with the municipality about signage and what is allowed and what is not allowed. All the shop owners in our plaza have to contend with the municipality on a daily basis. Also, our plaza is riddled with street vendors who are not licensed to sell their wares. That rarely stops them. What happens is that the vendors have their paintings in portable leather cases that they can carry. For the rest of us, we gamble. We lean our white board signs on the outside by the entrance. It gives the potential customer a little bit of info about our business. It mentions that we have amazing waffles, organic coffee, free wifi, and that our profits go to support local projects. It is a vital part of our business.

And so, the municipalidad, armed with a number of foot soldiers, came running through the plaza tearing down all the unattached signs that were not in compliance with the flexible code in which the most intellectual man would struggle to understand.

They grab and run. Like thieves in the night…

As I entered this lovely game of cat and mouse, I chose to have 3 of these signs made. I knew the municipalidad would have their way with me, so I have additional signs to replace the ones that they take.

The crazy thing is, just this morning, a couple of local ladies poked into the café to tell me that my sign had been taken by the municipalidad. With a little bit of frustration, and no surprise, I smiled and told them I have more where that came from. They laughed, but I was serious. You see, the signs cost about 20 soles each, the equivalent of about 8 US dollars. It cost me 35 soles to get my sign back from the municipalidad.(that is mostly bribe money, so I am told). If I start paying to get my signs back, the problem will only get worse as I become a cash cow for the person who grabs the signs. So, my signs are considered disposable.

As I was licking my wounds and brewing on the fact that the municipalidad was faster than I , into the café walked a group of four people. They sat down and we proceeded to serve them a whopping breakfast consisting of piles of bananas and chocolate which were smothering their enormous Belgian waffles. While they were enjoying their calorie filled platters, they heard some commotion outside.

It was another attack from the municipalidad. Thank goodness this time they did not get my sign. The clients asked what was going on and I proceeded to tell them about the municipalidad taking our sign that morning. They laughed and began telling me their side of the story.

They were walking up the hill looking for a place to eat and they happened to see our sign in the back of the municipalidad truck. The little bit about the waffles caught their eyes and thus, they searched for The Meeting Place and quickly found us.

Shortly thereafter, we had another group of two join us as well. A similar story! They saw the police running with the sign towards the truck. They were able to read the name on the sign and decided that they were going to eat at a place without a sign. We were the one they chose.

When things happen, they happen! They are just events…We are the ones that choose to make them good or bad. So, a total of 6 customers, $50 of sales, loss of a $8 sign, and a great story to tell! What a wonderful thing to have our sign taken. It’s good to be blessed!

God supplies!

2011-07-06T14:10:00.015-06:00

This past month has been a busy time in our ministry as we are in the heavy tourism season. There have been a lot of customers, students in our language school, and we have had a number of guests visit our guest house. In addition, we have had a lot of volunteer help which is a wonderful blessing. As I write, we have the pastoral care couple from our mission organization, CTEN, joining us and have managed to pamper us a bit(Thanks Dick and Berdie)To top it all off, Teri and I celebrated our 17^th wedding anniversary. Nothing better than honeymooning in Peru…17 years of adventure with my best friend…

The Englund family is doing good! The kids are doing well at homeschooling, the teacher(Teri) is wonderful and patient. We have been able to spend some quality family time together thanks to having a great group of volunteers. The volunteer group from Nampa only has a few more weeks left. What a blessing they have been. We have also had a group of Youth With a Mission(YWAM) missionaries helping out in the café as well as some other ministries that we are involved with. The Meeting Place Church has been packed full four Sunday’s in a row. Love it when it’s hard to find a seat! God is working here for sure. Keep on praying for us… We have a lot of work to do and many more projects to start.

There is a couple of housekeeping items that I would like to address here in this e-newsletter. First, I want to make sure that those of you that are supporting us in our mission here in Cusco know that you are truly our lifeblood as we march forward in our work. We are all part of this team and without all the players, we could not be a successful team. God has put each of us together for a reason. God doesn’t need us, nor does he need our money. What he desires is our obedience and willingness to faithfully jump in. Whether it is in the areas of local church ministry, foreign mission field, prayer, or financing ministry; there is a part for each of us.

We want to say thank you to all those that are continually praying for us and for those that are financially making it feasible to work and live in Peru. We are so grateful for the opportunity and privilege to do God’s work in this manner. We are truly blessed!

For those that receive our newsletters and may not be involved other than just reading it now and then, I want to challenge you to join our ministry team. There are no requirements, we just ask that you pray about your involvement, and then be obedient. God may have you be a prayer warrior for us. He may ask you to come down and join us as a volunteer. He may ask you to give financially.

We are always in need of prayer. That costs nothing, but time. However, it is so vital to our work here. In addition we have a couple specific financial needs. The most important is consistent monthly support. We have been on the field for 2 ½ years. When we were new on the field, we were supported sufficiently. Due to the economy or other reasons, some of our support has stopped or slowed down. While we have been blessed to be able to function, we are quite thin on our budget. An emergency or large equipment failure could put us into a bind. We want to be able to focus on our ministry instead of having to deal with money issues. Also, we want to stay true to our message and give 100% of our business proceeds away. With that being said, we are pushing for additional monthly support for our family. Any consistent amount is welcomed. You can set it up to do any amount as you are led to give.

The second need that we have is transportation. We currently utilize the local taxi and bus system. While public transportation has its benefits, there are times when it is much more difficult to use. Time is valuable. Being able to pick people up at the airport or take a group of people to a ministry project is an area where taxis are not always feasible and sometimes much more costly. We are looking to buy a vehicle that would help us with those transportation needs. The cost of the vehicle would be about $12,000( see picture below-1999 Hyundai-$12000). Any donation to this vehicle project would be a huge blessing to our family and ministry.

It is easy to sign up. All you need to do is to connect with CTEN (our mission agency) and let them know that you want to be a monthly supporter or donate for a car for the Englund Family. CTEN can be reached at the following link… http://tinyurl.com/cuscoscott. You can also reach them by phone at 800-872-5404.

Partnering with you is an honor for us. We are continually blessed when people stand beside us and our mission. Please prayerfully consider joining our ministry.

On another note, we also would like to obtain your physical addresses for communication purposes in the future. We like to send out hard copy newsletters at times. In order for us to do this, we need to have updated information. If you are not currently receiving an actual newsletter in the mail, please send us your current information and we will make sure our records are up to date. Feel free to send your updated info to scott@themeetingplacecusco.com.

May God bless you and prosper you and fill you with an unspeakable joy that never ceases,

The Englund Family

Scott, Teri, Kayle, and Emma

2011-07-06T11:37:00.003-06:00

On an unusually cold Saturday afternoon in Cusco, in a park next to the main thoroughfare, gathered about 1500 people to show honor to their savior and let the city know that “Cristo Vive!”

The local evangelical pastors association put together the “March For Jesus.” It was a huge turnout. I was unaware that there were that many believers in the area. There is strength in numbers. We stopped traffic as the parade of banner waving Jesus freaks traveled up to the main Plaza de Armas to give Cusco a solid understanding that the Christians in the town were a legitimate group.

Once to the plaza, there was a full band with singers, sound system that pushed the decibels across the valley, and hundreds of people worshiping in a charismatic sort of way. It was exciting to be a part of.

If there is a place on the Earth that needs to hear the truth, Cusco is it! This place has so many issues that stem with the spiritual depravity that comes from worshiping all things created.

It was refreshing to march on that cold afternoon. It must have been a sweet sound in God's ears while His people banded together to be heard and to make a statement.

The Sign on the Door

2011-06-21T06:16:00.008-06:00

The sign on the door said it all…A shocking attack on the integrity of our ministry. “Yankees of the Meeting Place-Child traffickers taking Peruvian kids to other countries”

One of our volunteers discovered that during the night, someone had placed this vile message on the door of the Meeting Place Cafe. I was shocked that someone would do such a thing. What was the reason? Did they put it on the right door? What were they referring to?

In a country where the word “trafficking” has some major implications, this is the last thing we need for our mission/business. Needless to say, the sign was taken down, it has been prayed over, and the people that have put it on the door are going to be blessed if my prayers are answered.

I found myself thinking about ways to catch them if they were to do it again. The city has a surveillance camera in our plaza…Maybe I could ask to see the footage for that night and see if I could recognize the culprit. What would I do? That has run through my mind many times. Punching them in the nose obviously would not work, although I must admit that the thought has crossed my mind. Better yet, I want to bless them somehow. They have no idea how hard we work to reach out to local children of which the country of Peru is failing to support. I am not saying that the culprit is a local, but by the looks of it, they most likely are.

Why is this happening? This is an attack of the evil one. Praise God for this situation! There is a lot of comfort in knowing that we are striking a nerve in the secular/pagan community by what we are accomplishing in our ministry. We are doing good…The devil does not like it…He tries to squelch our efforts…God gives us an great opportunity to give Him glory…That is the kind of God I serve!

So, here is the deal-I am going to ask all of you to pray for this person. I want to reach out and let this individual discover the joy that can only come through a relationship with God himself. I am not sure I will ever meet this person, but I trust that if they hang around too much, they will catch a glimpse of what we are really doing. God is in the middle of our ministry. Please pray that they get infected with the peace, joy, and love of our Heavenly Father.

I, deep down, want to meet this person. If it never happens, that is OK. But I want to be blessed by watching God work his miracles in the life of this individual. Please pray with me.

He is Risen Indeed!

2011-05-09T12:01:00.013-06:00

Just the other day, in fact on Easter Sunday, our family had a pow-wow and decided that we would take a spontaneous trip to the Jungle and visit with some friends from our previous mission, Extreme Nazarene Ministries. What a Sunday!

It went something like this: We started on Saturday night by spending the night at the café/guest house. On Easter morning, we were going to have a sunrise service in the plaza outside along with the congregation from The Meeting Place Church.

You must understand that we live in a very Catholic city. On the eve of Christ resurrection, Catholics like to celebrate. Not a bad thing, in fact it is a very good thing. We all should be partying like it’s our last opportunity on earth. Christ is alive! However, when it comes to the timing of such party and celebration, it can become a clanging cymbal. At 3AM, the processional outside our window was riddled with numerous people chanting, singing, dancing, flailing, moaning, crying, celebrating, and any other verb that you can think of. It was not designed to keep people in their slumbers. In fact, it broke into my deep sleep that was needed to make it through the next day. How dare they!

Morning, or what some might call morning, finally came. It was dark and cold. However, our family arose to the sound of other church members outside in the plaza hanging out in the dark anxiously waiting for the sun to rise. What a beautiful morning it was. The sun started coming up, the guitarists started jamming the music and then it became our time to celebrate the resurrection of our savior. What an experience! I had not done such a thing in a foreign country before. Not that it would be any different. Christ died for Peru as well. In fact, there wasn’t even a Peru at the time of His death. That is a cool thing; He died for those that were in existence at the time as well as those to come. We are blessed!

The sunrise service was beautiful. It was a great time of praise and worship of our Lord. We sang some old time hymns as well as a few contemporary ones as well. What a celebration!

After the service, we treated the congregation to a waffle breakfast. About 40 crispy waffles were devoured. Then it was time to get the Lunches prepared...We had planned a community outreach to minister to the local people that live in the San Blas area around the Café and Church. We had prepared about 200 plates of scrumptious chicken and potatoes and salad. The people from the church jumped in and prepared for a large crown to join us for a lunch at about 2 in the afternoon.

They came alright. While the festivities began, we started meeting and greeting. The food began to be served. A local Peruvian evangelical church began doing praise and worship in Spanish with their worship team. We brought in a partner church in order that we could send people to a good church that spoke in their native tongue. We have a great connection with a local church that is really close in the area. We are involved with this church as they are the ones that operate one of the projects that we support at the café.

Things were hopping. It was an enormous success. We served those that we live with. They get the idea that evangelical Christians are excited about their beliefs. It was wonderful to be part of such an event. I cannot wait to do another one next year.

So, the night before, as we were hanging out at the café in anticipation for the sunrise, we decided that we were going to see if it was possible to get bus tickets to Puerto Maldonado. Puerto is a jungle city about 12 hours by bus from Cusco. Puerto is a place in which we poured out our lives for a project for Extreme Nazarene Ministries.

In Puerto, we have some amazing friends who were at the end of their church planting mission. They were ready to pass on the church plants to the Peruvian church. They were in need of some help in the moving process in order to return to the US. We also selfishly wanted to see them before they headed back. It was wonderful to visit, while we were also able to help them out in the process.

Things have been going really good here in Cusco as well. The café is booming, the language school just started 5 new students this week, and the guest house has been full, off and on, for the past few months. In fact we had a group of people stay with us and utilize our meeting room for team seminars. It was a perfect place for them to have their meetings. Then, when it was break time, they would converge on the café and devour the most amazing pastries and tantalizing coffee that one can imagine.

Keep us in your prayers as we are really stepping up the search for a manager for the café. In order for our ministry to continue in the process of starting additional missional businesses, we need to have people in place to operate the existing businesses. We are looking for a person that is interested in international business, a service/restaurant business environment, as well as working in a volunteer organization. We have a great program already established and it will be pretty easy to train. This person, couple, or family, would have the opportunity to live in Cusco, learn the language, explore South America, and operate the café all in the mission environment of service. If you know of anyone that may be interested, I would love to talk with them. Please get us in contact via email at cuscoscott@gmail.com.

Also, we are seeking additional financial partners that would commit to monthly support of our family. We have supporters that have been supporting us for a specific period of time. We need to replace those partners whose periods are over in order to maintain the needed support to live and serve here in our ministry. If you are interested, please let us know or you can donate directly at http://tinyurl.com/cuscoscott We would love to communicate with you about the needs we have.

Thanks you all that have been praying and supporting us financially. We are so blessed that God is using you all to keep us working here in Cusco. Blessings on all of you and your families!

The Englund Family

Prayers for the Englund Family in Peru

2011-04-17T07:18:00.004-06:00

Things have been going really well with our ministry here in Peru. The café is going strong. The Language School has 7 students, and the guest house is sufficiently occupied until July. In business, generally speaking, when one is busy, that is a good thing. I would say things are going very well at the moment. I am thankful for the way things have developed in our lives over the past few years. It blows me away to see how things have evolved in our ministry.

One thing that has been heavy on my mind is the subject of prayer. My personality is such that I tend to hide my own challenges, and focus on the successes. Now, that doesn’t sound so bad, but I find that it creates a DIY (do it yourself) prayer mentality. It only gets prayed for if I do it! I know better, but that is generally my mode of doing things.

As we charge through life, I am finding the need for intercessory prayer much more important. We cannot survive here in our ministry if it were not for faithful people interceding for us and our family. We are so thankful for that. So today, I wanted to give you a prayer list from Peru. This is a list of things that are weighing heavy on us, praises for things that God has done recently, or specific needs that we have. I wanted to get out of my selfish prayer tunnel and share our needs with you; our ministry and prayer partners. We are to pray without ceasing according to 1 Thess. 5:17. This list may keep you occupied for a while. We absolutely covet your prayers.

These are some specific Prayer items for our family and our ministry:

The Meeting Place Café-pray that the business would continue to operate profitably, as well as be a hub of Christian influence in the city.

The Meeting Place Church-Pray for Pastor Dujay and his family that they can have Gods will in mind for the church and the community.

Pray for The country of Peru-We are going to have a presidential run-off in June. Neither candidate is very well liked; however, it could change the nature of our work here in Peru.

Pray for our ministry partners-Casa Josefina, Project Corazon, and Casa Del Aguila that they would be guided and blessed by the Holy Spirit.

We need more long term and short term volunteers-Pray that God would provide the right people to join us in our ministry-Long term need is to have a business manager to operate the café while other businesses are started.

Please pray that God would bring some teams down to serve in Cusco with our ministry. We want to support our ministry partners with volunteers as well as financial resources.

Pray for our current volunteers, Phil, Ian, Joey, Nate, Alex, Carrie, Esther, Chelsi, and Ken

Pray for our teachers at our language school-Patty, Miluska, Gloria, Romulo, Johan

Pray for Kayle-She is going to be 12 this year and is growing into a little lady. Pray for her health, her relationships, her education, and most importantly, her spiritual well being.

Pray for Emma-She is almost 9 years old. Pray for her physical protection, her friendships, her schooling, and her spiritual development.

Pray for Teri-Won’t tell you her age…but pray for her emotional stability, her health, pray that she would know and appreciate her value to our ministry, and her spiritual health.

Pray for me-Body 39, but mind is 25-Spiritual wellbeing, physical health, time management with all the things fighting for my time, and to lead our family in a manner that aligns with the will of God.

Our marriage-Going on 17 years-This has been some of the best times, but has also been some of the most difficult times. Pray that we can love and enjoy each other now more than ever.

We need a reliable car

We continue to need monthly financial support

We are considering developing a missionary compound-Purchase lot, build missionary housing, construct dorms for volunteer teams, additional business location, and have a larger space to use for ministry when the café is no longer sufficient in size. We need to prayer for feasibility, direction, and planning.

Praise for 9 months of business at the Meeting Place.

Praise that The Meeting Place Church is going strong

Praise for bringing Pastor Ken and his family to us

Praise for a full guest house until July

Praise for our Spanish teachers who are amazing!

Praise for good health so that we can minister on the soccer field

Praise for an amazing, flexible, loving, caring, and supportive family

Praise that God has provided our financial needs each month.

Praise that we are connected with some amazing Christian people here in Cusco

Praise that the Meeting Place kids club is going well each Saturday

This should do it for now. We appreciate your prayers and thank you for supporting and partnering with our ministry. May God bless and keep you wrapped up in His gigantic arms.

The Englund family

Scott, Teri, Kayle, and Emma

Drama in Cusco

2011-03-26T21:24:00.007-06:00

We have had a little bit of drama in Cusco as of late. Some of you may have heard that Emma’s little bunny Oreo had given up the ghost and went home to the little carrot field in the sky. What I am about to write is a touching story of the heart, where the precious little hearts of a couple of young missionary girls have been broken. The story is much more than that, but I will get started.

A few days ago, while my wife was in the US, the drama started. It was early in the morning when Kayle, our oldest daughter, ran upstairs to check on the bunnies. She frantically screamed, ran downstairs from the roof and began to exclaim the words, “Oreo is dead. He’s all stiff.”

Those words were not softened; just raw words like a spear into Emma’s heart (my youngest daughter). She quickly ran upstairs to check on her bunny to find, just as Kayle described, a stiff bunny, dead as can be. Emma immediately fell to her knees, both hands covering her sobbing face. It was total and utter devastation. She was crushed.

I quickly joined in and comforted my precious princess, but at that point, I am not sure there was anything that could relieve the deep hurt and pain that Emma was feeling. It also hurt me as a parent to see my little angel hurting so deeply. What was I to do?

Well, we needed to do something with the little stiff corpse of a rabbit. I cautiously asked the girls about what we should do. They suggested that we bury her. As I looked around the concrete jungle in which we are living, I saw no place that would work as a burial plot. So the wheels continued to spin. One place came to mind. It was a place that we like to go as a family to do picnics and hike around and climb around on the rocks and ruins. It is a place called The Temple of the Moon.

With a stiff bunny in a plastic grocery bag, where everyone can see that we were carrying a dead bunny, we hailed a taxi and up to the Temple of the Moon we went. This area is a pretty location with lots of green grass and a wonderful view of the valley. What a great place to lie to rest a precious little bunny.

Many of you know my little Emma. She hardly ever chooses the simple way. Typically it is the opposite of what you want. With that being said, she decided that she wanted to bury her little Oreo in the middle of some farmer’s field on the route to the Temple of the Moon. I did my best to influence her to choose a different spot as I was sure that tilling up poor Oreo each time the farmer came by with his implements, would be a tough place to lay and rest for eternity. She conceded and we continued down the path which led us to the Temple of the Moon. We ascended the huge granite rock structure via trail. It was right there in the middle of the trial that Emma wanted to lay her bunny to rest: Right in the middle of the trail where thousands of feet have trampled and packed down the dirt to create a sort of concrete walkway. Yep, this is where Emma wanted to bury her sweet Oreo. Impossible, but her desire none the less.

Once again, I danced around the issue of burying the bunny on the impermeable hard pack path. I suggested everything easy. Emma was not about to do easy. It was an eternity, or so it seemed, until we were able to agree on another spot. It was here that the final resting place for Oreo was to be.

It was a small crag in the rock, just wide enough to insert a stiff bunny. So I did the honors. I placed the little critter in the crack, with a bit of force to make sure she was down far enough. Then I asked the girls to gather rocks with which we piled over the top of the grave. Job complete!

Just as we finished the grave, my oldest, Kayle, asked, “Dad, can I say a few words?”

It was right out of an old cowboy movie. Of course I would let her say a few words. As I stood behind my little ladies, I found myself holding back tears and utter gut busting belly laugh. It was the cutest thing one could imagine; my two daughters standing side by side; Big sister holding hands and comforting her little sister. Dad standing behind, tears in his eyes, feeling the pain of his hurting daughters. It was emotional for sure.

Kayle proceeded to say a few words. As she spoke to her sister’s bunny as if Oreo was a person standing in front of us, she began pointing out some accomplishments of Oreo’s life. “Oreo, you were a great bunny. You brought so much joy to our family. We loved you so much…” on an on it went. With each statement, I melted down bit by bit. It was a moment to capture.

The service continued, with the final statements from Kayle. It was beautiful to watch her saying such wonderful words about Oreo while reaching over to put her arm around her grieving sister’s waist. Then it was on to the closing prayer. The three of us gathered in a group hug type of formation. I called on God to heal the broken hearts of my daughters, to help us focus on the good that Oreo had brought to our lives, and for mommy to get back soon.

After the “amens” were said, it was over. The closure had taken place. The girls were ready to get on with the day. It was a relief, but it was not an easy day.

Something incredible happened shortly thereafter. It was something that had been brewing inside my oldest princess Kayle. She told me she had an idea. I was not sure what that might entail, probably something about McDonalds and ice cream. I asked her to elaborate. It was at that moment that one of my proudest Daddy moments came to pass.

She timidly spoke up and asked, “ Dad, can I give Cookie(Kayle’s bunny) to Emma? She can have her completely. She really needs a bunny right now.”

In a matter of seconds my daughter brought me to a point where I could hardly stand the emotions that had started stirring inside my proud father’s heart. What is this kind of daughter which blesses me so? It was pure unselfishness, unlike so many things that surround our lives. Pure love! Pure sacrifice. It was a moment that I will not soon forget. Gotta love em!

It was that event that made me reflect on the love and sacrifice that God has for each of us. He was willing to give His son in place of our sins and our death. Kayle was willing to let her beloved bunny go to repair the damage of the lost and beloved Oreo. How simple a story: how powerful a message. It is just like God to use a silly story of a dead bunny to stir us up in a way that helps us ponder His greatness and His great sacrifice. Don’t take those little stories for granted. When you get a chance, say a prayer for my little Emma.

She Was a He!

2011-03-25T08:03:00.003-06:00

So it was a rainy night in Cusco as I anxiously awaited the morning. Each Tuesday, a few of my comrades and I trek up to a small community that sits in the mountains just outside of Cusco to join some of the local kids in a friendly game of soccer. This time, something really strange happened.

Normally, the day starts out with us joining our Peruvian lead from Project CORASON and a couple of other volunteers at the common bus stop at the bottom of the hill. From there, we negotiate a taxi to take us up the muddy rock filled road to the pueblo of Huilkarpay. It is a small community of wonderful people. They are mostly involved with agriculture, whether to sell, or to use for their own family or some combination of both.

We arrive, exit the car, compile our things, and then head up the main and only road through town to gather up the kids that are available for a time of connection. The girls do crafts, color, paint, and play a number of things with the female volunteers. They guys, well, we always play soccer-only soccer. That is what young boys in Peru are all about, soccer.

As we were heading up the road to gather the kids, we arrived to the last home in the town. There lives my little buddy Jason. This is a rambunctious young kid with some sort of blood disorder. Not sure what it is, but they almost lost him a few months back. He seems fine, but his history is always in the back of my mind. Jason has a couple of siblings. This is where the story begins.

During the previous week, as we were rounding up the kids, Liz, our Peruvian leader, was visiting with this particular family, and they asked her to check out one of their children as this child had an infection on the childs cheeks and chin. It was very painful and this child was miserable.

While Liz was checking it out, I suggested we take a picture and try to find out if we could get one of the missionary doctors to figure out the diagnosis. So Liz took a picture.

Fast forward to this morning. We arrived the same way: A taxi full of people. We walked up the road to round up kids. We ended up at the final house, and there we ran across this same little child. However, this time, the child was looking great. The infection had cleared up and there was a smile to go along with the cute little face.

The little face was a child by the name of Antaurio. I never caught on that he was a she. In fact, the father had asked if I would be the padrino of the boy. This is an honorable proposition: not to be taken lightly. Part of my responsibility as a padrino is to cut the boys hair. Now to put it into perspective, I am a father of two beautiful daughters, both with long hair. This father asked me to cut his little ones hair. I was scared. What was he thinking? He has a beautiful little girl with long black hair. She is just darling. I couldn’t cut the hair of this beautiful princess.

As I continued with my interaction, I was invited to join them next week in a special meal complete with a token guinea pig. I do not know what I am getting into, but I am sure it will be worthy of another blogpost.

So as we headed back to the soccer field, I continued in my fallible ways as I kept interacting with this little kid as if he was a girl. Princess this, princess that. Finally, Jason, Antaurio’s older brother lifts his little stubby finger, and while waiving it from side to side, said in a stern voice, “no es princessa, es varon!”-Translation-He is not a princess, he is a boy!

So there I was feeling totally inadequate. I am supposed to be a padrino. I do not even know the gender of my godchild. What an experience! I guess the moral of this story is, the only assumption that is for sure is the assumption that as long as one continues to assume, there is a high probability that those assumptions will eventually be wrong. Be careful not to assume too much!

Are there gun laws in Peru?

2011-03-13T09:04:00.007-06:00

Today, I was able to bring back a tacit of my childhood. It was a thing that has etched its way into the adventuresome side of my life. A simple toy: A long piece of wood, craftily shaped into a pistol with a clothes pin to hold a rubber band stretched to capacity. A rubber band gun!

A simple thing, but one that holds a lot of fond memories of my dad sneaking through the house in a stealth like stalk walk trying to find the enemy(me and my brother) who just happened to be lurking behind the couch that was flipped over to make a barrier in the living room. For years, rubber band gun wars in the Englund household had held a deep and special place in the hearts of many of my friends and certainly myself. Some of you that are reading this will know what I mean.

It was just the other day that I was able to pick up an old friend of mine that has recently joined us here in our ministry for a few weeks. He arrived at the airport and it has been nonstop since. One of our projects was to take the boys from Project CORASON, an afterschool program for underprivileged kids, and help them with a wood project. It was a beautiful memory of those silly rubber band wars that came into my mind as we were trying to figure out what to do with these boys.

So off to the hardware store we went. We got the supplies all lined up, made a beautiful example for the boys to see and get them excited, and then it was all over. The first day, Wednesday, our task was to get the guns cut out, sanded and get the clothes pins glued on the handle. We returned on Friday to finish off the deed.

Friday was the day for decorating and customizing our guns. The Peruvian kids are quite creative. They filed designs in their handles, painted with various colors, and used markers to name their pistolas. It was a great experience to help these youngsters build something with their hands as well as provide them a fun and enjoyable toy that will last a long time.

My buddy Chris and I were blessed to be able to do this two day project with these kids. We were able to interact with them, help them do something with their hands, and then, when it was all done, have a huge battle. What more could we ask for?

The experiences on the mission field are filled with a variety of adventures, activities, disappointments and challenges. It is exactly what God wants to use to stretch us and mold us into what He wants for our lives.

Our family wants to ask that you continue to keep us in prayer for a couple of key items. Please pray for our family. Teri is in the US for a few more days as we have recently lost a dear friend to cancer. Pray that Teri will have safe travel and be able to return without any problems. Also, pray for me and the girls as we are missing the cornerstone of our family.

Please pray for our 5 volunteers from Idaho, as they are still working through language school, various projects of volunteerism, and just maintaining their spiritual wellbeing.

Our ministry is going great right now. The cafe is growing really fast. This is great, but also causes a number of staffing constraints. We are in need of more volunteers. If any of you are interested in joining us for a couple of weeks up to a couple of years, please pray that God would guide you. Please also pray for the viability of the café and its effect on the local missions that we support.

We are also looking for a café manager; someone that could commit to a long term (2 or more years) mission here in Cusco. Preferably a business minded person with a desire for missions. A family or a single person. This would be a wonderful opportunity for an individual right out of college, or someone wanting to gain experience in international business/tourism/food service. Please pray that we would find someone soon in order to free up my time to start additional missional enterprises

That pretty much sums it up for the moment. We are blessed each and every day as God provides everything we need through his people. If you would like to join us in our ministry by blessing us with a financial gift, it would be so much appreciated. One time donations and or monthly are both needed. You can connect via the following link or by contacting Commission to Every Nation at (800) 872-5404, or by sending a check(include”the Englund family” on the memo line) to CTEN-PO Box 291307 Kerrville, TX 78029-1307 :

http://tinyurl.com/cuscoscott

On another note, if anyone of you are interested in having some great Peruvian coffee, we are sending a an order back to the US. The suggested donation per bag(1.1 pounds) is $20. This is 100% Arabica grown in the high altitude region of Quillabamba. It is the same coffee we use in The Meeting Place Café. Shoot me an email if you are interested and we can work out the details.

Blessings on all of you!

Scott Englund

The Lighter Side of Mission Work-Volume 2

2011-02-27T11:35:00.003-07:00

There are a lot of things that strike one as being funny, but I must say that what I just heard about one of our volunteers just about made me lose control of a vital bodily function.

Speaking of bodily functions, I must admit that I find bodily function quite interesting. In the mission field, we missionaries have a lot of interaction with food and drink that make one’s bodily functions function a little more often. It is no surprise that I recently heard of one of our young volunteers who was experiencing difficulties in this area.

Let me stage the story for you. I shouldn’t give you the name of the individual involved as it is confidential because it could cause some embarrassment. However, as many of you may know the volunteers that we have working right now, you can use this as a game. You know, the type where you try to guess the person.

It was the day after the event. Phil, Nate, and I were talking. The subject of this story came up in our conversation and Phil and Nate began telling me about the incident described in the following script. What a funny story!

As one spends time in a foreign third world country, it is bound to happen. The food or drink will get you! There is no way around it. If you stay long enough, it will take its toll. And the story continues…

So the young man was out on a field trip with the Spanish school. It was coming to an end, when the bodily function began. It came on quick and rather strong. No worries! The young man was just outside the café where there was a nice bathroom waiting for him. Opening the door rather quickly, he entered the café, walked through the foyer to reach the bathroom, and entered with plenty of time to spare. He made it.

I do not need to go through the details of the first part of the bathroom experience, but what was really funny, was the story from this point.

There was a group of short term volunteers staying in the guest house. So there were quite a few people around. Joey, was with this young man, but he had proceeded to go to his room which was upstairs and away from the bathroom being used by, well, you try to figure it out.

Once business was complete, the shock hit this young man as he realized there was no toilet paper. This was a situation where either toilet paper or a shower was necessary. Neither of which were an option at this point. What is a guy to do? He could yell, thus causing embarrassment and shame by having to be rescued by a person from the Alaska group of which he did not know. He could gamble and hope that Joey would hear his cry…or, he could just pray that God would somehow provide toilet paper for the situation…Well, maybe that is what he did.

In South America, or at least Peru, we use little wastebaskets next to the toilet into which you place your used toilet paper. If he prayed the prayer for TP, God answered it-However, it was probably not what this young man had in mind. He, being the crafty person he is, realized that there was an option.

You got it! Lifting the lid, searching for some not so used used toilet paper he dug. And like a work truck, he brought the saving paper to the jobsite. Not very conventional, but it was what a boy needed to get the job done. Right out of the little basket he dug…Holding his breath…Trying to be practical about it…He found what he was looking for. God heard his plea. Blessings abound, Alex. Way to use the head!

The Lighter Side of Mission Work...

2011-02-05T21:00:00.004-07:00

The Lighter Side of Mission Work…

It was the first Thursday for the group. They had just gotten off the plane, had not adjusted to the altitude or the new city. Green would have been the word! We recently received a group of 5 young men who have all recently finished college at Northwest Nazarene University. They had decided that Cusco Peru was the place that God wanted them to dig in and serve for a period of 6 months. And so they arrived a few days ago.

They are all going to be spending a lot of time working in The Meeting Place Café. One requirement of such labor is that each must hold a Carne de Sanidad. In other words a health certification saying that one is fit to handle food in Peru. Seems like a simple thing, right? Well for some, it took a different path.

The time had been set up to go to the clinic. Without really knowing what we were up against, we began walking down the tight cobblestone streets to find the city clinic. Once found, we entered the clinic, stood in the middle of the room like a bunch of lost sheep, and began causing a lot of stir amongst the locals who were observing the herd characteristics of this group of Gringos. I was the leader, so I figured I better do something. So I did what is most usually the case, I got the run around. That is protocol here in Peru. You go to the person you may think is the right place, he sends you to the wrong person who informs you that they cannot help while pointing to another that has no clue. Once you get to the end of the run around, you find that the original person that you talked with was the right guy. He turns out to be a nice and helpful sort. That was our case.

We paid the fee, gave our information for the clerk to type (Yeah, not even an electric typewriter) onto the little health cards, and then we all were sent to a wonderful lady, who happened to be the second station on the run around. She filled out more paperwork, and then led us to slaughter by handing us over to a Kathy Bates type villain nurse who was waiting with a blood pressure cuff and hypodermic needle. She took our precious blood and vitals and sent us out to for the second round of runaround. It was there that the dreaded words of Fecal Test came streaming though my translating head. “Oh yeah. The guys are gonna like this!”I thought.

In Peru, the patient is required to provide the cup. Due to my vast experience, I knew that. However, I was not sure where to go to get the cup. A little coaching from the unilingual nurse, and I found out that there was a pharmacy just around the corner. So, off I went only to return with 6 little Dixie cups with lids.

“Well boys, it looks like we gotta give a sample-from the back door, if you know what I mean!” After the place erupted in laughter and discomfort, the reality finally hit. It was required. So one by one, the cups were passed around. I think for most of us, this was a first time experience. No better place to start than in a foreign country where you have no clue what they really want. I was the translator. Keep in mind that these words or not the words they generally teach you in languages school. So, as I translated the reasonable questions to the young female nurse in the middle of a huddle with 6 naïve young men, I did my best to keep it light. It caused a scene. Laughter was no short commodity. She explained the size that she needed, and what to do with the cup after the business was done. It seemed pretty straight forward…for some. Then, in a flash, the young nurse left and quickly returned with a 5 tongue depressors. Without any further explanation, we all got it! Except that there were only 5 tongue depressors and 6 guys. I broke mine in half and gave it to one of the guys assuming that I would have the dexterity to make half of the stick function well enough to count it as success.

Two by two, the boys went into to the bathroom. The first one comes out laughing hysterically. “What happened, Joey?” We asked.

“Well, Nate is in there puking his head off. He is grossed out by the… you know…”

After the roar of laughter from the rest of us that have not had our turn, Nate finally emerged from the bathroom. Tears in his eyes, not from crying, but rather from trying not to be so grossed out by the process in which he was a first hand participant, he boldly came out to face the firing squad of buddies to give him all sorts of hard time about the situation.

One by one, the successful chaps emerged from the institutional lime green tiled bathrooms with flare; each proudly carrying their sample and a smile. The day came down to Ian and I, as the last two victims. We honorably went side by side to the double stalled bathroom with good intentions. Not just with good intentions but rather with a lot of confidence in our power to control our own bodies. What happened was merely an attempt that did not go so well. After much time, anguish, and stress, we both left the bathroom with our heads hung low in disgust that we could not provide the sample. It was not our time, so we trekked off to the store for chocolate and water and a short jog around the block to generate some activity in the digestive tract. Maybe we could return and complete the mission…

We did return. Funny thing was that Ian was able to get the sample. I never did. However, the rest of the boys were able to pick up their cards when Ian went back to drop off his sample. As he sat there holding the bag, they noticed that he had not yet already turned in his sample. Therefore, he was not issued a card. To make matters worse, he was apparently too late to turn his sample in for that day, so he was required to come back the next day. Wonderful enough! I still had my cup for Ian to use. The other funny thing is that they processed my paperwork even without my sample and so I had a health certificate. That is what you call Scott Free!

I think they all had those same feelings that one may get while snipe hunting….Scott is the guy in charge…He is the only one that did not have to provide a stool sample…hmmmmm.

It was a day of laughing for sure. There are going to be a lot more of those types of experiences in the future. It is what makes this adventure so exciting. You never know what is coming…Hope you enjoyed hearing about our silly little experience.

PS--the picture at the top is our group a few hours after this crazy ordeal took place. A sweet soccer match against a bunch of locals to finish off the day!

Back in the Saddle

2011-01-21T14:51:00.005-07:00

So we are back in the saddle again here in Cusco after a whirlwind trip back to the US. Our family wants to thank those of you that were so helpful in welcoming us back home. It was an amazing experience to reconnect with so many of you. Our time was filled with a lot of activities and functions, but it was so worth it. We got to have our first snowball fight in years, good Mexican food, celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years with family. What a special treat for all of us. Thanks again for welcoming us home.

As for our mission here in Cusco, we came back to the off season. Things are thin right now, but should pick up in March. So far, the businesses are getting by. During this time, we are able to see what we are really made of. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to build business for His work to be done in and around Cusco.

Another exciting thing that will be taking shortly, is that there is a group of five young men coming down to join us for 6 months. They are going to volunteer with our ministry. They also will have the privilege to go to The Meeting Place Language Institute, and stay in the Meeting Place Guest House. We are so excited to have the human resources to expand our ministry and make it more functional and successful. Please keep these gentlemen in your prayers as they will surely be attacked by Satan in many ways.

So many of you have heard bits and pieces of our cabin saga. Some of you may not have a clue what I am talking about. Well, I just wanted to let you know, just how amazing the God so many of us serve really is. Because it is such an in depth story, I am going to give you a link to the story. I would encourage all of you to read it as it will blow you away as it did our family. I have attached it to our blog at the following link. It is titled The Casa de Dios…

http://theenglundfamily.blogspot.com/

We are getting settled back into the crazy pace here. As there are a lot of preparation for various things that are coming up in our ministry, we are finding ourselves working many hours trying to stay above water. It is amazing at how God provides the energy that we need.

Some may say I am a positive guy….well, whatever the case, I wanted to share with you about some of the amazing things that have been taking place here in our ministry. We got back to Cusco in January. Since our return, we have had some great days of business in the café. There have been many reservations made in the guest house, our language school has had students, and The Meeting Place Church is doing great. While we were back in the US, Pastor Ken and Letty Dujay and their three kids arrived to pastor the church. They are an awesome family who love Jesus. It is exciting to see their passion and willingness to share their faith with people. Please keep them in your prayers as they have a tough job of operating a Christian church in such a dark and depressed place.

The girls are excited to instantly have new friends( the Dujay family). It seems that each night the request line is full of sleepover requests. I wonder if that will wear off. It has been almost three weeks…God bless our princesses!

The rainy season is among us. It usually rains every day in the afternoon. We have found that when it rains here it really rains. God is so good at throwing down His powerful lightning, letting us know of His presence with the roar of thunder, and then so tactfully spritzing up the landscape with a good downpour from the heavens. Each time it is a miracle…The God I serve is really amazing!

There are a lot more details to share with you, but it would take hundreds of pages. Just know that we are honored to be here doing what God has called us to do. The little inconveniences are overcome by the enormous blessings that are poured out onto our lives. Please continue to pray for our ministry and our lives here in Peru. Also, pray that God will provide people to join us in His work. We are always looking for people to volunteer with us in various capacities. Get the word out!

Blessings on all of you and may God fill your lives with an unspeakable joy!

The Englund Family

The Englunds are in Idaho!!!

2010-12-09T23:22:00.001-07:00

A quick update on the Englund family…

We arrived in San Francisco on the 20^th of November. We met a slew of our family at the airport to take us back to Oroville CA, a place that has seen the good and the bad of one Englund boy. This particular trip to the US had a purpose of reconnecting with family and friends, tell people about our ministry in Peru, and stir up some additional financial and prayer support.

Since on the ground, we have been going nonstop doing just that. With Thanksgiving spent at the Casa de Mama Englund, we were quickly reminded of a sin called gluttony. I had almost forgotten how much pumpkin pie I could force down my gullet. Needless to say, I have repented and chalked it up to lost opportunities for having spent the last two years starving in Peru without the likes of chips and salsa, real cheddar cheese, and circus animal cookies. Starving may not be the most accurate word to use, but there are some food items that, while in the strangest of moments in Peru, one would sacrifice pretty much anything to get just one mouthful.

Catching up on Grande Burger (for those in Oroville, you know what I am talking about) was a real treat. Catching up with family was priceless. It has been a great two years, but seeing the ones you love face to face in a place that I have called home for most of my life; that was wonderful.

What have we been doing since we arrived? Thanksgiving was spent with family in Oroville. We were able to go to worship at my childhood church where, even though I have not regularly attended in decades, am still welcomed as a regular. After our Thanksgiving, we drove to Idaho to spend some time reconnecting with our friends in the potato state. We were hosted by some dear friends, who allowed us to stay at their home, gave us a generous curfew, and made us feel right at home. Thanks John and April!

While in Nampa, Idaho, we have been spending much time visiting with dear friends that we have been so anxious to see since we left for the mission field in Peru.

In addition, we were able to speak briefly during service at Karcher Church of the Nazarene. We gave a quick rundown of our ministry, and then invited the congregation to a dessert and coffee social time the following night. Complete with the best Peruvian coffee around, we had a great time as about 115 of our beloved friends showed up to support us, or at least get a chance at a Wallin cheesecake (those at Karcher understand). It was a special time to reacquaint with the folks in Nampa. Connecting through random meetings over coffee or meals, we have spent much time seeing those that have become such a part of our lives.

Now, we are in toasty room in a snowed in cabin in Donnelly Idaho, enjoying the fireplace and Christmas lights. It is quite surreal. The story about the cabin is one that I will have to share with you on another note, but know that God works out things better than we can ever imagine.

We have had a great vacation of doing nothing but hanging with the family. No coffees to make, orders to take, people to pick up at the airport, just the four of us. It was a nice break that was needed for sanity.

Tomorrow, we head back to Nampa to continue visiting more of those friends from Idaho that we love and cherish so much. I am afraid that we will not be able to see everyone. It is difficult, but we understand that schedules do not always match up. We will do our best to see everyone, but we may have to get you on the next round. It probably won’t be a two year stint. Hopefully less, if God allows.

We will be heading to CA on Wednesday and will be in Northern Cal for the remainder of our time. We would love to connect with any of you that will be around. Feel free to let us know when we can connect with you and we will do what we can to make it happen. It will be hectic, just like Idaho, but we do want to connect with as many of you as possible. That is our purpose. Just let us know.

We will be speaking at the Oroville Church of the Nazarene on the 2^nd of January. Let’s get together before or after if you would like. Just shoot us an email. We will build a schedule.

We are still working on developing our fundraising and financial partners. I would challenge any of you that are not supporting our ministry, to pray about it. It is a blessing for us when people stand with us in our ministry. We cannot do it alone. If you want to join us, let me know, and I can sit down with you and go over everything with you personally. We desire your partnership. Here is the direct link to our donation page – www.tinyurl.com/cuscoscott. Make sure you grab a new updated prayer and support card for your refrigerator while we are around. We will leave some at Karcher Naz as well as Oroville Nazarene in case we cannot connect.

I find myself getting wordy. I better get going and enjoy the rest of the time at the cabin. We love you all and hope to see many more of you in the coming few weeks. Blessings on all of you!

The Englunds

Scott, Teri, Kayle, and Emma

The Englunds are coming back to the US for a visit

2010-11-14T10:44:00.006-07:00

HOMECOMING!!!

We are coming home! It has been almost two years since we stepped on US soil and we are excited about it. We will be arriving in San Francisco on the 20^th of November and will be returning to Peru on the 6^th of January. Our schedule will be rather busy, but we look forward to seeing as many of you as is possible.

There are a couple of dates that are important in our travels. We will be speaking at Karcher Church of the Nazarene in Nampa, ID on November 28th in the morning service. Also, we will be having a dessert function on the night of the 29^th, also at Karcher. The time will be 6:30 and will be held in the Family Life Center. The church is located on the corner of Middleton Road and Karcher(Highway 55). You are all invited and we would be honored to see you there.

As for those in the Northern California area, we will be speaking in the AM services at Oroville Church of the Nazarene on the 2^nd of January. You all are invited to join us there as well. Come out and hear about our ministry and how God has been working in Peru.

There are a couple of things that we have not figured out as of yet. We are looking for places to stay while we are in Idaho. If you would be interested in housing our family while we are in Idaho, please let us know via email at cuscoscott@gmail.com.

One of our goals for coming back to the US is to raise more ministry funds. It has been two years since we started this mission, and we need to develop more support to take us into the future. If any of you have been blessed and would like to partner with our ministry, we would love to talk with you while we are in the States. If you would like to meet with us personally, please let us know. You can contact us by email at cuscoscott@gmail.com. We need to augment our monthly resources as some of our original support has diminished over the time we have been on the field.

We look forward to seeing you all! The kids are crazy hyper knowing that they are going to get to see friends and family. Teri and I are also in need of a break from the pressure and workload that has been running us ragged for 2 years now. We cannot wait, and will continue to pray for those that are supporting our ministry.

See you soon!

The Englund Family

October News from Cusco and The Englund Family

2010-10-04T06:43:00.003-06:00

So, it has been a little over two months since arriving in Cusco. Wow, how time goes fast. Our lives are busy and that really makes the time fly by.

It has been a while since I sent out an update, so I thought I would give you a rundown of some of the exciting things taking place here with our family and our ministry. Let’s start with the family.

We are really getting settled in. Our lives are hectic, but we are figuring out how to function here in this new environment. Our kids are loving home school! They are great students and seem really eager to learn. They also like the schedule. It gives them more flexibility than they have had since we moved to Peru. Teri, their amazing teacher, is doing great as well. She has put together a great mix of activities and lessons that keep the kids excited about learning. So far, it has been a huge blessing to discover the benefits of home schooling. We will continue as God allows. For now, it is really working out well.

An exciting thing for us-We are getting ready to come home in about a month and a half. We are still trying to figure out our schedule, but we would like to be back in the US for Christmas. There are many variables, but we are getting close on finalizing the plans. Our goal for coming back is to see family, friends, and churches that have been supporting our ministry as well as raise additional funds for us to continue in our work in Peru. We have been so blessed that so many of you have joined us in our work here in Peru through prayer and finances. We thank God for you! If any of you would like us to join your churches during our stay, please let me know as we will do our best to visit. We would love to share what God has been doing in our ministry. Just shoot me an email and we can communicate.

As for The Meeting Place Café, we were profitable this month. Not by much, but we did it! It was exciting to have cash in the drawer after all the expenses were paid. God is good! This will allow us to support other viable Christian ministries. One thing that I found a bit ironic was the fact that the locals had two days of protest here in Southern Peru. In fact, all the public transportation was shut down, Machu Pichu was closed, all the tour operators had to cease operations, the markets were locked down, it was kind of like a ghost town-Except that people still needed to eat and drink. That is where the blessings came in. We had a couple of our busiest days of the month during the strikes. The tourists could not leave the downtown area and thus were trapped. Praise God for strikes! It was a great month.

Our language school and guest house will be operational on November 1. That is exciting, but also a bit scary. We are going into our slow season toward the end of the year. I am trying to find ways to cover the rent and keep above water each month through the slow period. Please pray that we can find enough students and guests that at least the expenses can be paid. I am sure God will bless. He always does.

One thing I want to advertise to all of you is that we are looking for people who would be willing to come to Cusco as volunteers to join us in our ministry. We have a lot of flexibility, but it would look something like this-We would have you stay in our guest house, you would be taught Spanish in an enjoyable immersion setting, be able to serve in The Meeting Place Cafe, serve with small children at Casa Josefina, volunteer at the afterschool program at Project CORASONS(see photo), or participate in any number of other ministry opportunities that we have available. The cost would be around $900 US dollars/month which includes housing, language school, and project administration. The rest is up to you depending on what you wanted to see and do while you were here. You would be located right in the center of Cusco, where you would have a lot of opportunity to check out the amazing archeological ruins of the Inka, trek through the Andes, and just be involved in a great and viable Christian ministry. This is a great opportunity. If you have any interest or know someone who may be, get in contact with me.

Well, that does it for this time. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and financial support as well as word of mouth about our ministry.

One thing to keep in mind is that the end of the year is coming up. If you are looking for projects to support and still be able to get that tax write off by the end of the year, please keep us in mind. Any donations to our ministry or family are tax deductable. You can make donations on line by clicking our direct link at http://tinyurl.com/cuscoscott

May God Bless you all!

The Englund Family

What are the Englund's doing exactly???

2010-09-16T14:44:00.008-06:00

So, we are settling into our lives here in Cusco. I will try to keep this as short as possible, as I tend to write long emails. Short and to the point this time…I promise…
Our girls have started homeschooling this week. Teri is excited to be their teacher. It is not easy for her, but she will do a great job. It also provides for some flexibility in our lives as we are always missing school with different projects and things going on. This will be a great blessing.
Some of you may or may not understand our specific mission while serving here in Cusco. I thought I could tell you specifically what we are doing so you can understand our purpose and call here in this crazy mission field of Cusco. We are operating a café and a church here in the heart of the city. Our café is a nice, clean, and enjoyable place to come and eat a breakfast, get a great cup of coffee, and experience an atmosphere that is uplifting and full of volunteers that want to be at work. Our church is focused on reaching an international crowd. We have people from various countries including Peru, US, UK, Australia, Columbia, Germany, and Holland. It is truly an international group. We reach out to the tourist crowd as well as minister to the local volunteer community as well. We also have a few Peruvians that join us and call our church their home. It is a straight forward bible based lesson each week coupled with amazing worship done by a couple of young musicians that attend. The church is strong and people are encouraged each week.

As for the business side of things, we are giving 100% or our profits away to three local ministries. This means that the support for our family is coming from donations and faithful people outside of our business of the café. The first of our ministries that we support is Casa Josefina. It is an orphanage that raises developmentally challenged, abandoned, abused, and neglected children. All of the kids come from difficult situations, but are being cared for by amazing people. Many of our volunteers also serve at Casa Josefina.

The second mission with which we are aligned is Project CORASON. This is an after school project that offers kids programs in the afternoons. These programs are run by volunteers. It is a Christian organization that reaches kids through programs that teach values, biblical understanding, as well as keeps them active with games, crafts, music, and many other activities. Due to the poverty in the area, parents are forced to both work 12-15 hour days which leaves the older children to raise the younger ones. This program provides a great place to minister and support these kids by giving them a viable values based outlet.

The third project that The Meeting Place is supporting is Casa Del Aguila. This project is a multifaceted project that is located just outside of Cusco. It is a functioning farm that has undergone some financial and vision problems. Currently, we are partnered with another CTEN mission family that is working to build sustainability in the farm. They are currently running a hog operation as well as a few other resource items that are designed to support the many ministries that exist on the farm. There is currently an orphanage, a school, and a medical/dental clinic on the farm. These ministries have been funded in the past primarily by one person. The farm is seeking sustainability because the funding will eventually dry up and displace hundreds of children and families. We are working with the farm by developing an adventure tourism element where the facilities of the farm will be utilized to create additional income to support the ministries on the farm. You will hear more about this in the future.
That is our mission. We are excited about what the future holds. Please keep us, as well as our ministries, in your prayers. We have a lot of work to do, money to raise, and people to mobilize. Feel free to spread the word about what we are doing. If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an email. I would love to talk.
Until next time…

The Englund Family
Scott, Teri, Kayle, and Emma