MISSIONARY PROFILE
Markos
& Stephanie
Lindsey
Missionary Update 03/27/2017
Good evening. We are well, and we're looking forward to Sunday morning! We are finally getting back into a routine after our trip(s) to Lima. Everybody is healthy for the most part. We are praying for the many people affected by the landslides and the ensuing floods. Many towns are still under mud and water, even parts of Lima are suffering. Although we are safe in Huancayo and in no way in danger of the flood waters or the food and water shortages, I am writing to ask you to pray for us. Our trip to Lima was supposed to cost $250 and take two days. It ended up costing us around $2500 and took almost a week. The problem is that we did not have the $2500 to spend on airfare and car parts, and food and gas in Lima. We had enough in savings, and we are not in debt but to ourselves; but that is our van fund. Down to $7,000 from $10,000. I have one last part to replace on our brakes, then I need to do some work on the rack. I REALLY want to sell this truck! Particularly please pray that the Lord will bring a buyer along that understands what "new suspension, repairs with original Ford parts, brand new Bilstein struts, and brand-new A/C" adds to the value of a 15-year-old truck. Ok, Bilstein struts aren't original Ford parts, but you know.... Pray also that we can recover our loss in a short time to be back on the market for a family van. For those who have already given generously since hearing about the problems with our truck and with our house, THANK YOU very much. The Lord is always good, and always on time. Please pray for wisdom to know how to proceed with our plans (flooring in the house, a missions trip in June, a piano for the girls... all which costs money.) Thank you taking time to read this. Thank you for your prayers. God bless. Markos for the Lindseys
Missionary Update 02/21/2017
Good Afternoon. We had a high day of 107 kids during our VBS week, though it waned on Saturday a bit. 70 came for Sunday morning services! Only a few brought their parents, but we had about 130 this morning! Many at the altar (I preached on child-like faith to close out our VBS), but no public decisions to speak of. Two first-time adult visitors. Please pray for Carlos, who came with this son and niece. And Lenin who came from Arequipa (a city in southern Peru) to visit family. We're looking forward to a great meeting tonight. Pray for me. We'll be talking about "The Problem with Christianity Today" from Titus 1:15,16. Also, please pray for Marcos Pozo, our oldest member (in terms of time in the church and his age). He has been in and out of the hospital recently. He confessed to his son that he'd rather just "go on home" to heaven. Pray for his doctors, his family, and for God to be glorified. Maybe I'm selfish, but I'd like to see him around a few more years. Please pray. His wife's name is Mercedes. In Christ, Markos
Missionary Update 02/17/2017
Just wanted to let you know that we are in the middle of VBS. Yesterday, we had 53. That is just a few compared to last year's 120, but we are excited to see what the Lord is doing (as much in the lives of our teachers as in the lives of the kids.) Today, we had 61. Please pray for a good sound system. We have been using a borrowed one for several years now. Bro. Paul Rose loaned me his old one since they had bought a new one for the First Baptist Church of Huancayo. The church was vandalized last month, and I gave him back his old one. Now, we have a little, cheap one that a young man had at his house in storage. The quality is terrible, but at least it makes me loud enough to hold services comfortably. A new one would run near $1500-2000. I believe that a $1000 one would suffice, but I hope to get one to last, and I hope to build a sound-room as well. I'd appreciate your prayers. My home church gave us four nice Shure microphones, now we need the power and the mixer. I'm not in a hurry, but I'd sure like to have this in place at church in the next few months. Most exciting of all - We had seven saved last week! Four were saved at our College and Career retreat, and three more the following Sunday Morning. Keep praying! Pray for these to grow in the Lord and for many more to be reached for the Lord. God bless, Markos
Missionary Update 12/27/2016
Good Afternoon Everybody, I will edit this once more and put it into a pdf today. I just wanted to get this out ASAP. Thanks for reading. Thanks for praying. Many of you must be wondering what happened to us once we got back to Peru!! We have many things to share with you; and I'll start by saying that we are very excited to be here, and we are staying very busy. We moved into the church when we first arrived, but two of our rooms were packed to the ceiling with boxes. We had stored all of our things there until we came back from the US. Once here, we began looking for a house to rent. We found several expensive ones. We were ready to sign on three different houses when, each time, something came up that made us take a step back. Finally, we decided to stay in the church. That way, we can save the $600-700/month in rent and in a couple of years maybe have a down payment for a house. I don't even want to think about how much rent we've paid over the last eleven years. The problem now is that we are moving into our storage room. There is no place to put our stuff while we set up house. We have been working on the pastor's house for about a month and a half, and it is beginning to resemble a home. I am building a few closets and things that we need in order to hide our clothes, and the kitchen will finally be set up next week. We have been without a kitchen sink and without an oven for four months. Just last week, I received the part I needed to fix the oven, so we are finally baking again. And we have water, and gas to heat it and a toilet to dump the used water, so we're getting by. I even have the sink, just nothing to put it in yet - like, a counter. Next week! The girls are well, busy in their schoolwork. Sienna is growing more and more and staying healthy. Our older three are very active in the music ministry in the church, and we are hoping to get some sort of tutoring for them in piano or violin. It is encouraging to see them faithful in their devotions and growing in the Lord. They have also come a long way in Peruvian Sign Language. Now, we can communicate in three languages. Stephanie and the girls all need to reapply for their resident visas. All the paperwork has been submitted, all the fees paid; now, we are waiting for the call for us to go to Lima and get pictures taken for the carnét. The visa is usually a sure thing, it's just the waiting and the time and money to travel to Lima that cause all the trouble. It is ever so sobering to think that soon our girls will be heading off to college, getting married, etc.... I mean, who will help me unpack all the boxes when we move again? The church is doing very well. The members are showing a desire to be more active in ministry. Please pray with us this next year that many more teachers and preachers would be trained. Construction is on hold for a while. A third floor would cost about $25,000, so we are focusing on the pastor's house and the flooring in the auditorium. We also are looking at new seats, curtains, new platform, sound-room,... So we are still raising money, - about $15,000 - but we can do a little at a time. The roof on the third floor kind of needs to be done all at once. When we left for the States in March, we understood that our truck was all but sold. After many months of our patience being tested, the verbal agreement that we made back in February has not been honored; so, it's back on the market. Please pray that we can sell it soon. We are happy with the truck, but we need a vehicle that can hold a car-seat plus five. We had put money down on a new Hyundai 11-passenger van, but came up short. We still have $10,000 on hand, and we hope to get $8,000 (or more) from the truck. We would lack another $8,000 for the new van, so we are looking at used for now. Thank you for your patience. I finally have my new computer that I left in the airport terminal in Indiana. We have WiFi in the church now, so our States-side line is up and running, and my printer is being fixed. Now, to find room for an office... God bless you all. Praying for you. Markos for the Lindseys
Missionary Update 09/19/2016
OK. 1. We are in PERU. 2. We do NOT have a house yet. 3. We do NOT have a vehicle (well, we still have our truck that we haven't sold yet.) 4. We are ALL healthy (except for some runny noses.) Now, I wanted to get you an update as soon as we reached the field on August 25th. But, no. I had to leave my computer charging at the airport in Indianapolis while I headed to Dallas on a plane. They won't send my computer without me on the plane (which makes sense these days), so I have no laptop. Stephanie has a new one, but my contacts are on my old one. ...sitting at my in-laws' house until someone traveling to Peru will bring it to me. So I sent no update. Last week, I remembered: I have my old hard-drive in my suitcase... with all my contacts on it, and Publisher, and my Documents... Now for internet setup at church. I won't tell you how much time and money I had to spend to clear my name from an old debt at the internet company (they charged us the entire time we were in the US... somehow the line was not cancelled correctly.) Anyway, we now have internet, I have all of your guys' email addresses, and we have our States-side phone number up and running. We are set up at the church until we find a house. Pray hard, a lady is coming from Lima tomorrow to discuss the possibility of renting her house - Good-size house, Great-size yard/patio. It would be ideal for church gatherings or raising guinea pigs (you know, for lunch!) I'll let you know how that goes soon, and now that I have my hard-drive installed in the church computer, I can get that update on its way. Please pray that we find a house. And please pray for our vehicle. We can afford a used one because of your generosity. We could afford a new one if a few more would be as generous. (to the tune of $12,000 more.) We are waiting on the Lord. He knows what we need, and he has the money for it. If you can help, please send your gift to either BIMI or Lighthouse Baptist Church. Just be sure you mark it Vehicle, so I don't spend it on the church floor! Someone asked for a list of needs recently, so I'll add them here as well. House with several bedrooms/bathrooms and a garage (many houses do not have a place for a vehicle). Vehicle for at least 7 passengers. $15,000 for the flooring in the auditorium (including the cost to build a sound room). $3,000 for a new sound system. $3,000 for a new platform (hardwood flooring installed by a pastor friend in Lima, and a finished baptistry). Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your prayers.
