We have a few busy weeks ahead of us. We have finished Spanish classes so this will Becky's first full week in the office. I will attempt to be a translator for the medical team arriving the end of this week. With both of us working, we will need to have full time childcare. Well we almost have it all figured out. Alexis will be starting at a preschool near by, half-days. There is one more week of winter break and then she will start on August 8th. Hailey is the one we are not sure about just yet. We have a sitter for the afternoons which leaves Hailey in the mornings that we still need to figure out. One thing we have learned is that God provides for all our needs.

The pictures above are from the start and finish of the first Foam Block Church built by Extreme Nazarene Ministries. The Foam Block system provides a quick and easy way to construct the four walls of a church. The Foam Blocks are stacked to form the walls. After the walls are formed with the blocks, they are then filled with concrete creating many columns and a tie beam at 4 feet and a 9 feet. The foam is then covered with concrete stucco. The finished building looks like a traditional concrete building. This system allows us to construct a small church building in a little over 2 weeks at about the same price as a regular concrete building.

See photos here

Just this past week Extreme finished our 2nd Foam Block Church. Here are some photos from the Puerto Maldonado Construction/Momentum Team.

I will try to keep you updated on the Medical team that will be here for the next 2 weeks. In the mean time we would love to hear from you. We would love to be able to answer some of your questions. You can Email us at:

Extreme Web Page -www.extremenazarene.org/jasonkuhn

Jason- jkuhn@extremenazarene.org

Becky- bkuhn@extremenazarene.org

Extreme Peru 2

All of our work here at Extreme starts with the 40/40s. 40/40s are pairs of young missionaries (Each pair consist of 1 Peruvian and 1 non-Peruvian) that go out in their assigned locations with the goal of planting churches. If I have my stats correct, by the end of this year Extreme will have deployed 40 pairs into the mission field.

Many times we have short term groups come down to help reach the community. We call these groups "Momentum Teams". These teams do all kinds of things to assist the 40/40s in reaching the locals in the community. Just a few short weeks ago we had a team (20+) right here in Arequipa for 2 weeks. They did everything from painting to festivals to soccer (futbol) and volleyball tournaments. Here are a few stats from those weeks that show the momentum and the contacts that we received for the the 40/40s to follow up on. 

• 1812 came to our events and heard the gospel message and met our 40/40s in their town.
• 282 people accepted Christ, almost all in and around the 40/40 church plant areas.  Most of these people already know our 40/40s                  
• 365 more people have requested a visit by our missionaries in their home, also in and around the church plant sites.

On top of all the lives that have and will be changed as a result of the hard work from this past momentum team many of the team members left transformed as well. A number of those team members showed interest in some of our long term opportunities both here on the field and in the US. 

Here is a link to some of the photos from the Momentum Team in Arequipa: https://picasaweb.google.com/extremenazarene/ExtremePeru2ArequipaMomentum1#

Once there is a group of people with their own pastor that meets regularly and has a steady income and meets all the requirements set by Extreme, the next step is to build a building. A place for the Church to Meet, to Worship God and to Grow! This brings us to our "Construction Team". Like the momentum teams, these teams come down for 2 weeks, only their focus is to build a structure that is needed for a place to gather. 

This week we will be breaking ground and pouring the foundation for a Foam Block Church right here in Arequipa. This if the first of many foam block churches to be built in and around Peru. I personally am excited to get to help with the construction of this building (and not just because I get to skip class).  

More on the foam block church to come.


Go to www.extremenazarene.org and see how you can be a part of this extreme ministry.

Check back there will be much more to come. Because when it comes to Winning Lives for Christ, "There is no Off-Season".  

Lexi's 4th Birthday Party

Never on schedule but always on time!

It has been a little over 2 months now and we are getting along pretty well. Many times satan tries to make us believe that we are not getting anywhere and there are many times it seems that we are just doing the same things over and over again and not getting anything accomplished. Learning a second language is not an easy task especially with two kids. It is very difficult to find the needed time to study. Becky works in the office every morning. They are making a lot of changes in the office so it has been difficult for Becky to keep up with the limited time she has. While Becky is at the office I stay home with the girls and usually don't get much studying done. Although Satan is always trying to push us into a rut we are able to look back and see what we have accomplished in this short time. We are also able to look forward to a more predictable schedule after our Spanish classes are over.

As of last week Becky and I both are officially certified in "Pre-Basic Spanish".  Becky has had to take 3 weeks off from classes so that she could get her training done in the office and since we are the only two in the class I took off this time as well. We have also had to take off for a return trip to Lima to finish our residency and to start the process for the girls. Even with all our setbacks we now know 2 present tenses, 1 future tense and 3 past tenses. The problem is you have to know the verb in order to conjugate it. Sooner or later we will get there.

We are adjusting quite well. There are a lot of things that we have to do differently than what we are used to but nothing really to unusual. The three things that we don't have here that we are used to having are a car, a dish washer and a dryer for our clothes. We are learning more and more of the bus routes which is how we get to most places because it is the cheapest but when we are short on time or have a lot of  groceries with us it is easy to get a cab and not really that much more expensive than the buses. Washing the dishes and hanging our clothes to dry are just things that we have gotten used to. We have two drying racks for our clothes (we are on the 3rd floor and do not have space for clothes lines).  We haven't had to make too many changes to our eating habits. We have had to cut out a few things because the price is too high, but for the most part we have added a lot of bread, rice and potatoes to help meals stretch a little farther. It's not a meal unless there is rice or potatoes or both. We don't have car seats for the girls when we are in a taxi and when we are on a bus we may not even get a seat. And finally bringing up the rear and wrapping up this addition of "what's different in Peru" the plumbing and sewer system here will not support paper products so all the TP goes in the trash. More to come.........

The girls are doing great. Coming home from church a week ago we had just gotten off of one bus and saw our next bus coming around the corner. Alexis started yelling "para, para". which of course means stop. There  was a line of people waiting to get on that bus so we did make it in time.  Alexis is ready for her 4th birthday this Thursday, June 2nd. I think Hailey has accomplished the most out of the four of us. Since we have been here she has gotten 4 new teeth, learned to walk and had her first birthday and I am sure it won't be long till she starts talking (we just aren't sure what language she will speak in).

Update on what's happening with Extreme Nazarene coming soon.

Getting settled in, poco a poco

We have been in Peru now for 2 full weeks and in our new apartment for a week and a half. We are beginning to get settled here in our new Home.
As settled as one could be while hardly being able to communicate.  We are able to get to school and to the store on our own, but have had help getting to church on Sundays. "Poco a poco" or "little by little" has become our theme.

Becky and I have had a week of classes now.  Pride went out the window on the first day. It makes you feel really good when the professor has to correct you when spelling your own name (I didn't even get the first letter right). " Poco a poco". We are starting to make a little progress. I think we have our ABC's and 123's down. Today we learned how to tell time and I know how to say I eat and I run and Becky knows how to answer the question "Tu tienes un novio?". Try Google Translate you will have a laugh. It took her awhile to answer. Sitting in class the other day I was reminded  of the song I used to sing as a child. It says, "He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be".  Two years from now He will still be sharpening my ability to communicate and molding me into the servant that He needs me to be. I hope you too will allow God to form you as you press on in your journey wherever that may be.

The girls are doing great. Alexis loves going to church and comes home talking about her friends at church. It doesn't seem to bother Lexi that she can't communicate with words. The girls love their new baby sitter, Karla. Karla comes from 12:30 to 5:30 to watch the girls while we are in class. She knows a few words in English but for the most part she speaks in Spanish. Alexis has learned the word "cuidado" from Karla. I think for some reason she hears that word alot. I don't know if it has something to do with the altitude or what, but Hailey got her first two teeth the week before we traveled here and now has decided to cut four more teeth  all on the top all at once. Three of them have cut through in the last few days and the next one is about to surface. Despite her new crop of teeth she has been a pretty good kid and even sleeps through the night most nights in her  new bed.  She can now crawl with the best of them. She hasn't shown much interest in walking; though I don't think it will be long before she realizes that it is a much better form of transportation.

All in all we are doing great, but we have a long way to go. We thank you for your prayers and  support. Please continue to pray as we submerse ourselves more and more into a new culture so that we can better understand the people that we are here to serve.

That is all for now.

Adios mis amigos.

Our New Home

11 0'clock local time (12 am eastern standard time) we set foot for the first time in Peru. After a short nights sleep we were up and off to do some paper work (with the help of  Edwin) to start our residency process. After lunch we were able to sit and relax and the girls were able to catch up on some much needed sleep. We are staying at the Nazarene Office in Lima. The main floor has a small apartment for us to stay in. In the morning we will pick up some of our paperwork across town before heading back to the airport for our final flight to Arequipa. Tomorrow we should get to see our new apartment that will be our home for the next 2 years, but it is without furniture so we will be staying in a hotel for a few nights.

The girls are doing well. Alexis is out playing with one of the little girls who's father works here at the office. And Becky is in heaven the neighbors are ordering pizza and have invited us to join them for dinner.

More updates coming soon as we continue our journey to our new home.

Set for departure!

Just last week we received final approval and were able to set a date for departure. We will be flying out of Columbus Monday morning March 14th. That night we will arrive in Lima, Peru, There we will stay for two nights so that we can begin our residency paper work. Wednesday afternoon we will then be on our way to our final destination in Arequipa, Peru. At  this point we are not to 100% of our goal needed to cover expenses for a family of 4 for 2 years. We are ready to go do God's work and we have faith that God will provide. He has already shown His mighty power. In just 2 short months we have received over $50,000.00 in pledges to be given over the next 2 years. Without these pledges our involvement in the Extreme Peru Project would not be possible. Thank you very much to those who have given. Please be in prayer for the remainder of what is needed.

Living Extreme