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SCHMIDTS ON MISSION

Greetings from the always warm and usually rainy Peru!

We pray that you had a blessed Christmas season. We hope that 2019 will bring you many opportunities to renew your relationship with the Lord. May you grow in love for God, may you hear the Holy Spirit speaking and may you not be afraid to share Jesus with everyone you meet.

We have been very busy over these last six months. In July we explained how we were ministering to Porvenir, Santo Tomas, Firmesa and Fortaleza as well as the town in which we live, Buenos Aires. We have continued our ministeries in all of these towns.

In Fortaleza we are journeying with only a few families. They desire to continue to have a relationship with God and we are happy to help them in their journey.Santo Tomas was blessed to celebrate their sacrament

During the Christmas Season we taught the birth of Jesus to all of our communities. For many of them it was the first time they had ever heard the story. We used the video “The Nativity Story”. It tells the story so beautifully and when the communities see it they can easily relate to the life of Jesus. We celebrate Christ’s birth by eating fruit cake, a super special treat here in Peru and we drink hot chocolate.

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mass last August. Many children were baptized. There were some teenagers and adults who received their confirmation and a couple were married. It was so beautiful. We continue to visit them bi-weekly to help teach them more about the faith and how to have a relationship with Jesus.

The town of Firmesa is very special for us. When we first arrived to town the only person who desired us there was a drunk. Every time we went he was the only one to welcome us. Each time we shared the Gospel with him and we called on him out of love to stop drinking. Gradually over these months he has given up drinking. He is so joyful and full of life. His wife joins him now with the same joy. They have since invited other friends who are also drunks to come and hear the Gospel. Slowly the Lord is changing their hearts as well. Each time they arrive more and more sober. We have hope the Lord

will heal all of them from this disease. In December, we celebrated another milestone for their community. The church bell was reinstalled. When the bell rang out across the pueblo it was the first time that sound was heard in ten years. You can only imagine the glowing faces when it rang. We meet on the site where the old church stood. The frame and roof are the only things left, much like how the community was before we started ministering to them. Physically the church looks hopeless, but inside those hearts hope IS alive.

Here we are in Firmesa. The roof and the frame is still

there but the walls washed away 10 years ago. 2017

marked the first time a priest or missionary stepped into

their town. 2018 brought hope that they are not

abandoned, unloved and cursed to suffer. 2019 we hope will see a growth in

love of Jesus and a desire to walk with Him.

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Porvenir is a little farm community much like Askeaton, Wisconsin for everyone back home. The classes we have are attended by children who have a desire for God. It is also attended by some of the adults of the community. The little church that they had was made of mud and it was falling down. Large cracks ran down the middle of the church and the walls were starting to move. We decided we wanted to build them a new church. Thanks to our wonderful friends at Holy Family Parish in Brillion, Wisconsin and all of their friends, we will be breaking ground here in January. The project will be far enough along for the arrival of our friends in February. They should be able to lay the blocks for the walls as long as the rain holds off for the pouring of the foundation.

We also mentioned in that letter how we were led to discover the town of Nuevo Piura. We have committed to making the long hike out to their community once a month. The first hike out was an absolute nightmare. When we arrived to town it started to rain and it continued to rain during our two hour visit. We then had to hike up a very muddy mountain trail. Normally the hike takes two and a half hours. Our hike home that day ended up being four hours. Four hours of bribing the kids with suckers. At one point we stripped off our heavy mud laden boots just to walk with less weight. It was after this hike that we decided we needed to purchase a horse to help with the little ones. Since that decision we have purchased four animals- two horses and two mules. We now have

This is Porvenir. The old church is down and we are preparing the site to start work on January 28, 2019.

Here we all are riding our horses and mules to Nuevo Piura on January 19, 2019. The mules are Mike and Molly and the horses are Julio and Gringa. They are a vital necessity for our mission of going out to the wild countrysides.

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enough animals to haul the entire family and our supplies when it is muddy. In all reality we always end up taking the animals to Nuevo Piura because as soon as we step foot into town it starts to rain- ALWAYS!

After learning about Nuevo Piura we quickly heard of the town

Nuevo Chachapoyas. They too had never been visited by any member of the church. The town has been in existence for 30 years but no one knew of it. The people of Nuevo Chachapoyas are incredibly friendly and they deeply desire a relationship with Jesus. We have committed to visiting them once a week since it is only an hour hike to their town which isn’t across a mountain

range. When we arrive for ministry, all work stops and everyone enters the community building to learn more about the faith and of Jesus. We are currently preparing the people for their first ever mass and sacraments. On March 9, 2019, God will be receiving many

new children. The people are extremely happy to finally have the opportunity to receive baptism.

Nuevo Bagua is another one of our far communities. It is another two hour hike in the opposite direction. We

Here we are teaching the people of Nuevo Chachapoyas the 10

Commandments.

Here we are on our first hike to Nuevo Piura. This was a

mid hike break that resulted with suckers. The clouds

were dark and the moment we arrived to town it poured which caused us to take four

hours to return.

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ended up getting stuck in Nuevo Bagua with Taylor’s parents in September because of a heavy downpour as soon as we arrived. Monica was kind enough to share her view of the events on our blog- www.schmidtfamilymission.com

Our furthest pueblo is a four hour hike. When we visit San Cristobal we spend the weekend with them. They supply a room for us to sleep and they feed us. We hold multiple classes over the few days to help enliven their faith. Our children are amazing. They hike those four hours with smiles on their faces. Singing, praying, telling stories and encouraging each other to keep going. It makes us so proud!

Then that brings us to Mirador. It is essentially the town hub for these outlying communities. To reach Mirador you take a one hour ride on a bumpy gravel road. The moment you arrive in Mirador however the gravel stops. Traveling to the rest of the communities is on mud trails spreading out in all directions. Over the course of August and September we came to get to know the people of Mirador. They are very kind and helpful. They desire to grow in their faith and are excited to have us working with the other communities as well. Making the one hour drive up, followed by a hike of at least one hour, then a two hour class followed by the return hike and then the drive down to get home afterwards was very difficult for us. It was after a few of these trips that we asked the community of Mirador to help find a home for us to rent up there also. We left it in the Lord’s hands and asked Him to show that this was His desire for us by providing us a home. Before our next scheduled trip we received a phone call from our friend

Here Taylor is handing out underwear to the children of Nuevo Bagua. The underwear in Peru is of very poor quality. Every year when our friends come they bring some down and we hand them out. Each child graciously and joyously receives one.

When we arrived for our weekend in San Cristobal the bean harvest was in full swing. So the kids jumped right in to help thrash the beans. The townspeople were happy to show them how to shell the beans. We postponed our class for the evening so everyone could finish the bean harvest.

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saying he found a home for us. When we arrived the next time we were excited to see it and in October we started renting the house for $15 a month. We are

now not only able to minister to Mirador and the other communities, we now are able to build real relationships with them. During the week we live in the house in Buenos Aires and minister to the communities surrounding it and on weekends we head up to Mirador and spend those days hiking and evangelizing the communities around it.

We have felt this call to search out God’s little ones through the wild countrysides. When we took on that mission we did not exactly know what it was going to look like. I can assure you that we definitely did not foresee horses involved at all. The only thing that

we knew was we were to go out in search of these beloved lost and forgotten children as a family. It is not always glamorous but it is always beautiful. We have such a unique and beautiful opportunity to bring the saving message of Jesus Christ together modeling the communion of love that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit share and desire all of us to be a part of.

Two photos of our house in Mirador

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We want to thank you for your continued prayers. We ask that you keep praying for us and for the communities we serve. Please pray that God will strengthen and protect us from harm. Please pray for the communities of Nuevo Piura and Nuevo Chachapoyas as they prepare to receive their first sacraments. Please pray for Firmesa that God will continue to heal them and they will grow in love of Him. Please pray that the church project in Porvenir will start on time and will be ready for blocks to be laid when our friends from Holy Family Parish arrive in February. Please pray for the safe travels of our friends. Please also pray the faith will grow in the communities of Fortaleza, Nuevo Bagua, San Cristobal, Santo Tomas, Mirador and Buenos Aires.

If you are interested in more frequent updates head over to our website www.thegoodhelp.com, where you can find our blog and also our facebook and instagram feeds.

In the Love of Jesus,Taylor and Katie Schmidt Malachi, Ruth, Leo, Anthony, Faustina, Adele and María

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12126 Morgan Road Reedsville, WI 54230

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PAIDPermit No. 34

Brillion, WI