September 2, 2005

Dear Friends,

After all the travel and visitors from April through July, August was a rather quiet month for us here in Huanuco. I used the time to get caught up on my correspondence and other work that had been put aside. I also officially resigned as pastor of the Central Baptist Church; my commitment to them had been fulfilled. A few years ago they asked me to be their pastor and I agreed on the condition that it would only be until they could get a national, Peruvian as their pastor. Brother Eli Poma came as my Co-pastor four years ago but he had no ministerial experience. He is a great man of God and the Lord has molded him into a first rate pastor over the past four years. My time at the church was finished and it was a joy to turn it over completely to Eli.

We are praying about the possibility of starting a new work soon in the small town of Acomayo about twenty minutes from Huanuco. We also feel the Lord leading us to get another church started here in Huanuco sometime next year. Anita and I hope to be able to travel to the States for two months in October and November to be able to see our grand daughter, Caroline, in Tucson. This will not be a furlough trip but we will be visiting some churches in the areas where we have family. This trip depends on whether the adoption for the twins, Kathy and Carol, will be allowed by the judge for Jason and Rebecca Reinhardt. The girls turned one year old on the 14th of August.

The Reinhardts are a young, Baptist missionary couple working in Arequipa. They have only been in the country for five months and have spent the last three weeks with Anita, me and the twins. I put them in touch with some friends in Lima that are helping them get their visas and resident cards so they can officially live in Peru. We have been waiting for the paper work to run its course. Hopefully it will be within a week or so. Once they have their resident cards we will go to see the judge and pray that she will allow the Reinhardts to have legal custody, like Anita and I have now, to be finalized into an adoption in a year or two. We really need everyone praying for this situation. As much as Anita and I love these children (and have gotten so attached to them) it will be much better for them to have younger parents. If it works as we hope then we will be able to see the girls often and we will convert from being parents to "special" grandparents for the girls. We have really grown to love and appreciate Jason and Rebecca in the short time they have been with us. They are sound in the faith and come from a good church, Twin Brook Hills Baptist in Hamilton, Ohio. I have arranged for Jason to have somewhere to preach every week. He has been a blessing to us all. Anita has been giving Rebecca tips for living and cooking in Peru. I will write and let each one know about the adoption decision just as soon as we know. We know so many of you are praying for us. May God bless you all.

Serving Jesus in Peru,

Sheridan and Anita Stanton