Dear Friends and Family:
Greetings from Blacksburg! We’re writing to let you know about some really exciting things happening in our lives! Since we’ve gotten married this past July, things have been very busy. Our plate is full with Stephanie in Medical School and me at Virginia Tech and working, plus taking care of our two little wiener dogs Josie and Millie. We are so happy to be married and are enjoying every minute.
I want to let you know about an upcoming opportunity that we are very excited about! It all began this past fall when we kept getting emails from Pastor/Missio
nary Willy Mont, leader of Camino de Vida (Way of Life) Church and missionary outreach in Cusco, Peru, South America. He is desperately in need of medical teams in the area of Lamay, Peru (a couple hours outside Cusco). This is the same area we ministered to in 2006 with Spirit-Led Expeditions, and Stephanie with Emmanuel College in 2003 and 2004. This call for help laid heavy on our hearts
. We knew neither we nor Spirit-Led Expeditions (a new missions ministry we are a part of) had the resources or experience to plan and execute a big medical expedition to the area. Despite that, we couldn’t ignore the huge need. Peru itself is full of wonderful people, most of which have no medical care and live in extreme poverty. The actual statistics are 1.2 medical doctors for every one thousand people. Even so, those few doctors are focused in the large cities. The area Pastor Willy and Camino De Vida Cusco are going into with the gospel is very rural. The city specifically that they are focusing on now is Lamay and its 13 surrounding villages.
nary Willy Mont, leader of Camino de Vida (Way of Life) Church and missionary outreach in Cusco, Peru, South America. He is desperately in need of medical teams in the area of Lamay, Peru (a couple hours outside Cusco). This is the same area we ministered to in 2006 with Spirit-Led Expeditions, and Stephanie with Emmanuel College in 2003 and 2004. This call for help laid heavy on our hearts
. We knew neither we nor Spirit-Led Expeditions (a new missions ministry we are a part of) had the resources or experience to plan and execute a big medical expedition to the area. Despite that, we couldn’t ignore the huge need. Peru itself is full of wonderful people, most of which have no medical care and live in extreme poverty. The actual statistics are 1.2 medical doctors for every one thousand people. Even so, those few doctors are focused in the large cities. The area Pastor Willy and Camino De Vida Cusco are going into with the gospel is very rural. The city specifically that they are focusing on now is Lamay and its 13 surrounding villages. Most of the time when you think about unreached people, you think of tribal people living in the remote jungles, but there are also Quechua speaking tribes and people living deep within the 
Andean mountains of Southern Peru that have never seen a white face, let alone heard the Gospel. These surrounding Lamay villages that Pastor Willy is trying to reach are extremely excluded and part of that unreached people group, and we couldn’t ignore his cry for help in prayer and meeting their basic needs, like medical care. So, Stephanie and I asked Dr. Joseph Cacioppo, the leader and founder of International Christian Resource (ICR) and Director of the Medical Missions department at Stephanie’s medical school to help us. Stephanie went to Honduras with Dr. Joe last February on a medical expedition. We told him about the
need and the sparse medical care in Peru. He took a scouting trip to Peru this past December with Spirit- Led Expedition team member Eric Lovin, and saw the huge need there. After much prayer and preparation, he has decided to team up with Spirit-Led and Pastor Willy and take a medical expedition to Peru!!
Andean mountains of Southern Peru that have never seen a white face, let alone heard the Gospel. These surrounding Lamay villages that Pastor Willy is trying to reach are extremely excluded and part of that unreached people group, and we couldn’t ignore his cry for help in prayer and meeting their basic needs, like medical care. So, Stephanie and I asked Dr. Joseph Cacioppo, the leader and founder of International Christian Resource (ICR) and Director of the Medical Missions department at Stephanie’s medical school to help us. Stephanie went to Honduras with Dr. Joe last February on a medical expedition. We told him about the
need and the sparse medical care in Peru. He took a scouting trip to Peru this past December with Spirit- Led Expedition team member Eric Lovin, and saw the huge need there. After much prayer and preparation, he has decided to team up with Spirit-Led and Pastor Willy and take a medical expedition to Peru!! We are excited to have the opportunity to be a part of this outreach!!! The expedition will include several students from VCOM, including Stephanie, as well as various doctors, seeing patients in the clinic. We will be fully equipped with medicine and will set up a pharmacy at the clinic sites (see picture below of hanging pharmacy bags that roll into duffel bags for a portable pharmacy!). There will be ministerial dramas and healing prayer stations during the clinics as well. We hope to also have a dentist on board and a hairdressing ministry so the people can receive haircuts. T
he main type of income in these villages consists of farming and livestock. I hope to take de-worming agent and we hope to even raise extra money to purchase supplies to help the farmers in any way possible. Camino De Vida in Lima has already developed a program for the jungles called “Family Farm Ministry” and we hope to start using some of those resources in this expedition in the mountains. Not only do we want to reach people for Christ, but a main goal of Camino De Vida and Spirit-Led Expeditions is long term eradication of poverty through empowering the people of thes
e villages to provide for themselves. This is only a stepping stone, but it is a start.
he main type of income in these villages consists of farming and livestock. I hope to take de-worming agent and we hope to even raise extra money to purchase supplies to help the farmers in any way possible. Camino De Vida in Lima has already developed a program for the jungles called “Family Farm Ministry” and we hope to start using some of those resources in this expedition in the mountains. Not only do we want to reach people for Christ, but a main goal of Camino De Vida and Spirit-Led Expeditions is long term eradication of poverty through empowering the people of thes
e villages to provide for themselves. This is only a stepping stone, but it is a start. The urgency of the Gospel is so heavy on our hearts. There are so many lost in the world, and without God’s people making the choice to go and tell them, they will stay lost and will die without knowing the joy and love of our Lord Jesus. God called us specifically to go into the world and make disciples, and these people deserve to know of God’s saving grace and love. Will you help us? More than anything we need your prayer!!! Nothing will happen without it. There are cycles of abuse and neglect even beyond 
the extreme poverty that these people are in, and without you interceding with us in prayer these boundaries will never be broken. Included in this letter is a prayer reminder card. Please put that on your refrigerator or somewhere where you can see it everyday to remind you to pray for this ministry so God can penetrate the hearts of these wonderful people. Specific prayer needs are on the back of the card. Pray now for us and for the preparation of the hearts of the people of Peru, and also pray through the trip dates of July 16-30 of this year. Also, Stephanie and I must raise a total of 6,000 dollars to participate in this trip. If you feel a pull on your heart to give monetarily to this mission, the money will be directly used for transportation, food, lodging, and medical supplies. Please make a check payable to International Christian Resource and mail it to: (please email us for the address). Also, we would love for you to send us your email address so we can send you extensive updates before, during, and after the trip. Please send your email address to: sasbury@vcom.vt.edu.
the extreme poverty that these people are in, and without you interceding with us in prayer these boundaries will never be broken. Included in this letter is a prayer reminder card. Please put that on your refrigerator or somewhere where you can see it everyday to remind you to pray for this ministry so God can penetrate the hearts of these wonderful people. Specific prayer needs are on the back of the card. Pray now for us and for the preparation of the hearts of the people of Peru, and also pray through the trip dates of July 16-30 of this year. Also, Stephanie and I must raise a total of 6,000 dollars to participate in this trip. If you feel a pull on your heart to give monetarily to this mission, the money will be directly used for transportation, food, lodging, and medical supplies. Please make a check payable to International Christian Resource and mail it to: (please email us for the address). Also, we would love for you to send us your email address so we can send you extensive updates before, during, and after the trip. Please send your email address to: sasbury@vcom.vt.edu.We thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for caring about these people.It’s interesting to note how easy it is to take for granted the fact that any time we are sick, we can just go to the doctor down the street and get some medicine. How much hope will these people have to get the opportunity to bring their illness to a physician? Even if there is nothing we can do medically, they can always take their sickness to the Great Physician, Jesus Christ. We go to show them His love. Thank you and we love you so very much!
-Jonathan and Stephanie Phillips
