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The Fosters
HomeTown: Nampa, ID
District: Intermountain
Title: Ryan - 40/40 Cluster Support, Sarah - 40/40 Cluster Support
Service Location: Pucallpa
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Bio
Ryan and Sarah Foster have been married since 2000 and are the parents of Isaiah and Landon. Sarah completed both her bachelors and masters degrees in social work at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. She worked as a child protection social worker until Isaiah was born. Ryan completed 5 years of electrical apprenticeship and schooling before becoming a foreman for a large electrical contractor in Boise, Idaho. In 2006, both felt God`s call to the mission field and prayerfully made the decision to move to Argentina to begin work with Extreme. The Fosters are currently living and serving in Arequipa, Peru. Ryan is the IT Officer and Sarah is the Long-Term Volunteer Coordinator. The Fosters will be living in Pucallpa and supporting the 40/40 missionaries there.
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Blog Content
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Ready to head home....
After 2 months in the States, traveling from Kansas to Oregon and Washington to Idaho and finally to Alabama, we are definitely ready to head back "home" and settle down! Prior to our departure from Arequipa in November, we packed up our house and had all the items shipped to Pucallpa. At that time, there was no home for us - just the plans for a small, 2-bedroom structure next to the church on the District grounds there. We have received the following pictures and are pleased to see that our home is close to being finished and should be ready for us when we arrive there on February 7.   Three days after we arrive, we will be joined by the Project staff from Arequipa and 30 short-term volunteers as they work to jump-start the evangelism in Pucallpa and prepare the housing for our 40/40 missionaries. The missionaries will be living in a dorm-like building on the same property as our house so we'll all be nice and close :)  We are so excited to begin this new chapter of ministry! Please join with us in prayer as we transition to a new city, make new friends, and have new experiences (BIG bugs and LOTS of rain!) We believe God is preparing to do amazing things in this city and we are blessed to be a part of it. Thank you to each of you for your support!
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Our new missionary family!
We wanted to "introduce" you to our new missionary family:) We will be living with and supporting this group of 12 in Pucallpa after they complete 5 months of site training in Iquitos. We have had a wonderful time getting to know the 6 North Americans here in Arequipa and look forward to meeting the 6 Peruvians in Lima on November 19. Please pray for our group as we continue to learn more about each other and especially during the important weekend in Lima when we will all come together for the first time. God has chosen this special group of people to bring His Word to the jungles of Peru and we are so blessed to be part of this outreach and each of their lives! Click on each picture to learn a little more about these missionaries. Although the Peruvians are not yet on the website, keep checking back as they should be added soon!  Gary Crites  Daniel Rojas Villena  Tim Mong  Jose Abran Jara Torres  Katie Anderson  Emperatriz Castillo Rodriguez  Kristina Andrews  Nancy Aracely Tocto Llacsahuanga  Laura Benson  Esmith Julissa Davila Tanta  Tabetha Pinks  Julianna de los Milagros Garuffi Dioses
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Here we go again!
In this last week, God has radically changed the direction of our calling yet again. A week ago we were planning to continue living in Arequipa for several more years - working in administrative positions in the office and helping our local church. However, God has been preparing us to take another huge leap of faith. On Thursday morning, we accepted the position of Cluster Support family for the Pucallpa 40/40s. We will still return to the States November 23 through February 7, but instead of coming "home" to Arequipa, we will then move directly to Pucallpa. Pucallpa is a jungle city in eastern Peru located on the banks of the Ucayali River, a major tributary of the Amazon River.  We will be living on-site with the 6 North American and Peruvian 40/40 pairs and supporting them as they work to plant a total of 18 churches. When we return from the States in February, Ryan will head to Iquitos to spend the last 10 weeks in Bible training with the 40/40s while Sarah takes the boys directly to Pucallpa to start their school year there.  We are so excited about this new assignment and, although aware of the challenges we will face, ready to start this new chapter of our missionary life. Please join us in prayer as we prepare to leave our home in the next 8 weeks (selling our car, packing up and shipping our belongings to Pucallpa, and saying good-bye to the many friends we've made in Arequipa). Also pray with us as we return to the States to raise funds for the next 2 years and visit friends and family we haven't seen for over a year and a half. "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
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An ending and a beginning
Well, the first two events of Extreme Peru are now officially over. The project team did an amazing job of coordinating housing, transportation, and LOTS of construction and outreach events for the short-term volunteers who joined us here in Arequipa. Between Arequipa 0 and Arequipa 1, we had over 400 people make decisions for Christ!! What a blessing to be involved in such a powerful ministry! Although we have an Extreme event planned nearly every month for the next year, there won't be one in Arequipa again until June 2010 so it was a neat time for our family to be involved in these two events. As you all know, I have been working with the second group of 40/40s as they prepared to leave the States. For this second co-hort, we had 12 spots to fill and we were still one person short as we began Arequipa 1 on August 7. The Lord works in mysterious and marvelous ways, however, and about a week into Arequipa 1, one of the short-term volunteers felt the call to fill this position. Nearly all of his funds were raised at the closing banquet and Kevin Snodgrass joined the rest of the 40/40 team in LA on August 23. .jpg) On August 29 at 5:00 am, Ryan, Isaiah, and Landon, along with Mike and Sydney Drinkwater, assisted me in greeting the newest missionaries to our Extreme Team. It was so exciting to meet each of them face to face after months of working with them via e-mail and over the phone!! 15 adults and 3 children were shuttled to the language school where they were met by their Peruvian host families. They will remain in these homes for 3 months while they complete Spanish training.  This is an amazing group of young people who have been called to work closely with a Peruvian partner in planting 3 churches each in Pucallpa or Iquitos - both located deep in Peru's jungle. Pray for them as they begin this exciting and faith-stretching journey!
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Arequipa 0
Extreme Peru's first project, Arequipa 0, was a great success! 30 short-term volunteers came to Arequipa for 13 days and were involved in many construction and evangelism events. Although busy with the new group of 40/40s scheduled to arrive at the end of August, the boys and I were able to participate in two outreach (evangelism) events. One of these events was held several blocks from our Peruvian church, Alto Libertad.  We arrived on-site at 9:30 in the morning and began walking around the neighborhood with a bullhorn and Rico Cuy. We let all the children and parents know that we were having a puppet show, face painting, and games in about a half hour. When we finally made it back to the main area, many people were already there. Several of the volunteers were painting faces while others were setting up the puppet show. Once the show was set up, we started. The puppet show involved Sunday School songs and a story about a little girl who received salvation. At the end of the show, we divided up and jumped rope. Then we returned to the puppets who showed how to make "salvation bracelets". These bracelets have different colored bead representing our sin, Christ's death, our purification, growth in Christ, and our eternal reward. Each child and adult present was given a kit to make their own bracelet. There were 100 people there and several decisions made for Christ this day!!!  After the bracelets, we passed out hot chocolate and bread. It was a wonderful day and a great experience! Throughout the 13 days, 175 people accepted Christ as their Savior!!!!!!
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Daddy's day at home - in pictures
Due to the craziness of our schedules - and the boys' prolonged vacation - Ryan and I have had to start sharing childcare duties during the week. He does a great job keeping the boys, well, alive and happy, but not so great with the house :) We have one more "scheduled" week of vacation and have been hearing rumors of another week due to the swine flu, so pray for Mommy's sanity and Daddy's safety!
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Father's Day 2009
Another BIG holiday in Peru! This time Ryan got to celebrate his special day with performances at both schools and at church. Landon's class did a little dance number (I think only one kid actually "danced"!) and then handed out gifts to the daddies. Landon made a frame for Ryan's desk and couldn't wait to give it to him :-)  At Isaiah's school, the K-4 class wore traditional Peruvian costumes and danced performed a traditional Peruvian dance. It was GREAT! Isaiah is really learning to love the spotlight and goes to the front of a crowd whenever he has a chance :-) The entire school participated in this special day so there were several hundred people there.  The next day, Sunday, the church honored all the father's with scripture, prayer, and a small gift (scarf and gloves - it is, after all, winter here!)
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School vacation
Last week Isaiah and Landon had a week off from school. Sometimes it's still a challenge to find activities here in Arequipa that we would regularly do in the States, but I think we did pretty well this week. We ended up doing lots of fun things together and with friends. One day we went to a local pool with our friend Jana (and her mom Jill and baby Andy). They lived in Argentina with us and are VERY special friends. The kids loved splashing and "swimming"!  Later in the week, Ryan took a day off from work and we went to the zoo. They had so many fun animals there (monkeys, bears, pumas, snakes, piranas, condors). There was also a HUGE slide - made from cement - that the boys just had to try, with mommy of course!   We finished out the week by going to the Dinosaur Park for Tyler's 1st birthday (the son of a fellow missionary couple). As always, the boys enjoyed the time with their N. American friends.  We are so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and "family" here in Peru!
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Mother's Day 2009
Mother's Day is one of the biggest holidays in Peru and is celebrated with school and church programs. Both boys participated in programs this year. Landon, at Colegio San Esteban, did a little dance with his class. His teacher then gave him the microphone and he said, "Gracias, mamás"!  Sarah's friend, Vivian, was visiting from Puerto Maldonado with her mom, Anela, and son, Fabio. They were able to spend Mother's Day in Arequipa and it was a fun time of being together.  At church on Sunday, the children put on another program. Several little boys did a song and dance and Isaiah and Landon participated in a group dance. There was also a drama performed by the older kids. At the end of the program, all the mothers in the church were invited to the front where Pastor Elvin prayed for us and we were given a small gift.
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