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From the right hand of Corey, an update. I'll post in on www.teote.com as well.

Much love,
Lena P

Water: (essentials for the skimmers)

The light training period ended today.
After a trip to Cuzco, the "Xtreme" training will begin
I was robbed... twice... in the same week.
Prayer request below.
Black-cherry Kool-Aid Mix: (extras for the non-skimmers)

Bobby has acquired a banjo once again and so he & Jeff Hill, who plays the fiddle, & i, who sing on good days, performed for the local pentecostal church on Saturday, 1/27. The thoroughly enjoyed it, so we were told, though we have not been invited back. I'm living with members of that church, all men, one of which i room with, is the son of a wonderful family who feeds me. Sadly, their son, Samuel, lied to me saying he needed to go see his girlfriend who was in a far away city, very sick in the hospital. Therefore, he needed a lot of money (about $200) to go by plane & he could pay me back at the end of the month when he collected his paycheck. Eager to help a brother in need, i consented (it embarrasses me to tell you that). Turns out, his girl wasn't sick at all & he has no job & thus apparently never intended to return the money. During that time, while he was "away", my medical kit disappeared. There is a chance he was not involved but the clues certainly point to him. Samuel's family was very embarrassed to hear all this. Do pray for all of us involved.

Well, tomorrow i'm going to Cuzco via bus (a 21 hour voyage, i hear) with all the members of the Xtreme Team for about a week. There, we will meet & share about the last fiscal year. After that comfy stay in a hotel, we will return to Puerto Maldonado for possibly the toughest 3 months of my life.

In other news, i'm turning the unripe young age of 23 on the 10th of February. This morning, Bobby commented that my hair is thinning on top. He's right. I feel like a 40+ year-old man with all these aches and pains. If you sent a card/present & you're not Grams, i have not received your birthday wishes yet. If you were unaware of my birthday approaching, no worries. I will forgive all who send letters tardy. If you forget my b-day or mailing info/directions in the future, they're still on teote.com on my profile.

Prayer Requests:

that i would be wise in all dealings, namely in money, so that i would handle the resources our Lord entrusts to me Biblically.
that a new "bowel complaint" would "sober-up".
I love y'all so flippin' much,

†il the whole world hears,

corey reid pendergrass

Puerto Maldonado at Last!

Corey's handwritten letter to everyone dated 1/27/2007 Welcome to the Land of Motorcycles. By that, i mean the town of Puerto Maldonado, Peru, home to about 150 K people, at least half of which evidently own a motorcycle. You can ride any of them as a taxi, to anywhere in town for one sol, about US $0.30. They do have a law here that no more than two people can ride a motorcycle at a time, which didn't apply back in Ecuador. Once i saw 6 or 7 people on one motorcycle in Quito, mostly children! Dead serious! No pun intended. Peru has that beat with the minivan service acting as buses here in Puerto Maldonado. Two days ago i was one of 24 people in the minivan!
I left Ecuador, miraculously forgetting nothing, sadly saying goodbye to several people i now miss. The old folks at the church in Pesillo gave me parting gifts such as rotten onions, dried beans, and various grains of which, i was told were for baking bread. Though i had no use for any of the gifts, they were as the widow's two mites, all the people had to give, and were thus, gold to me.
Once in Peru, i did get to spend an afternoon with Lorne James, longtime friend from Snowbird and fellow missionary here in Peru. We met up in the capitol, Lima, and he was a blessing to me.
Now, as you know i'm in Puerto Maldonado in training. Currently we are improving our Spanish. By "we" i mean missionaries including Jeff Hill, a texan; Edgar; Arewinda; Alex; Lucio; and Marilin, all of whom are indigenous believers and speak some Spanish, but not too well; and myself. We are studying the book of Genesis and having various hands-on classes such as music lessons, taught by Bobby Lane; and wood working, taught by Jodi, another Xtremer.
Prayer Requests:
*Patience in classes, getting to know new faces, waiting to be sent out to unreached communities, aggravating rules, and blood sucking insects (which the Lord saw fit to put 100 times as many mosquitoes as there are people in this town in His infinite, unhuman wisdom.)
*Health in the spiritual and physical sense. I predict my doctrines about church, the Body of Christ, and other areas may greatly change for the better as i'm shown Scripture i'd never taken notice of before in the past.
*Wise decision making.
PS: If you want to reply to me (corey), do so at my snail mail address and i will reply to each one, via snail mail. That address is corey reid pendergrass
Apartado 111
Puerto Maldonado, Peru