Our Family Update and Plans to Return to the Mission Field

Our Family Update…

Since our last post, I have continued seeking out contract work in broadcast transmission (trading as Welcomm Australia).  But the reality is that the Australian broadcast landscape has significantly changed in the past three years whilst we have been away.  This is attributed largely to internet streaming media, such as Netflix, Stan, YouTube and tomorrow Disney arrives to compete too.  So finding work has proven to be a challenge for me as it seems all the key broadcast players are in some form of economic rationalisation and cutting back.  I have managed to secure a handful of short projects in this time, and we are getting by with some ongoing support from our faithful family and friends.

During this time I have also been working for Diospi Suyana part time, helping sort out maintenance issues, planning the two new FM transmission sites including site selection using Google Earth 3D, engineering design work, equipment selection etc.  An Australian based telemetry solution provider Maximation, has kindly provided me with free training days at their Central Coast headquarters to develop the software needed to complete the telemetry system of Diospi Suyana.  In addition, my former employer TX Australia have gratefully donated some now redundant broadcast equipment we can make good use of in Peru.

As for our family, we have been well for the most part.  Jake (20) is still living on the Gold Coast studying psychology at Southern Cross Uni.  He has just had to move house as the owners sold his apartment. We look forward to spending time with Jake at Christmas when we get together and go to Perth to spend it with Sandi’s family in the West.

Sam (18) has been progressing with his cycling aspirations with Northern Sydney Cycle Club Junior Development Squad.  He generally gets a place in B Grade amongst his “Dog Squad” teammates. So he plans to move to A Grade soon where he again must rise up the ranks, albeit much tougher this time.  He is also doing a TAFE Certificate 4 in physiotherapy to be an assistant, in the hope to get into Macquarie Uni next year studying physiotherapy.

Isaac (16) has tried his hand at archery and enjoyed that.  He and Sarah (14) have been studying at home with Australian Christian College Year 10 and Year 8 respectively.  Georgia (11) and Solomon (8) have been enjoying Cubs, cycling with juniors at Northern Sydney Cycle Club as we home-school them with Year 5 and Year 3 respectively.  Georgia also has taken on ballet and loves this to bits as she practices with her class for a Christmas concert in December.

Then there is Jessica (6) and Stacey (3), who we also home-school and fit in around the other members of family.  Oh and we have Georgia, Solomon and Jessica in swimming lessons at Hornsby, as when we got back from the Peruvian Andes, they did not know how to swim!

Sandi has been managing our family as she does so amazingly whilst catching up with our family and friends.  She maintains a delightful attitude about life as she glues our family with her love and sound direction which she will attribute to her parents bringing her up and her relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we all as a family continue to undertake a weekly Spanish lesson whilst here in Sydney, to try and at least maintain, and improve on this base.

My mum has had a setback with another bout of breast cancer and a mastectomy in September.  But the one triple dose of chemotherapy has terrible side effects and so they have ceased that option. She is continuing the other HER2 treatment for a year, and we await, hope and pray that she recovers.  And we are grateful that we are “home” to be close to family during this time.

We visited the Australia Reptile Park to re-familiarise our “Aussie kids” with our native wildlife.

Our Return to the Field…

So what about our mission to Peru I hear you ask! J  We have firmed up plans to return later in February 2020.  However this time we plan to return for just over 6 months, as we have an ongoing need to be with our family in Australia.  Especially as our older kids study at University and need us.

I also believe this is all I need to hands-on complete the number of outstanding tasks with our Diospi Suyana broadcast network, such as complete the satellite telemetry system, complete a bunch of loose ends with the original installations, and effect some needed repairs.  And also plan for the next 2 new FM transmission sites that will cover an additional 200,000 people, and in so doing reach our original target of 1,000,000 souls reached, 24 x 7 x 365.  We are excited to represent LifeSource Church with such a mission, through Pioneers Australia.

In the future, I envisage I could return to Peru solo for short term fly-in, fly-out installation trips e.g. 2 weeks duration (doable without the family and economical).  With all the long term ground work by then well established, this is entirely viable.  And as already mentioned, I would always try to continue my support of Diospi Suyana from my office in Australia as much as my time and resources allow.

We presented this proposal to our Ps John Iuliano and Helen Rogers and met with them on 12 November, which was amazingly supportive.  They had incredible news that with two support donations, we had 2/3 of our needed funding!

So we need to raise the balance in our budget to return.  If you know of anyone or organisation who would like to partner with our work, then please be in touch (chrisandiw@gmail.com).  We believe our work is so easy to justify with Diospi Suyana doing the “heavy lifting” with regards to our projects such as;

·         the programme creation from a charismatic evangelistic team of producers in an established studio base in Curahuasi (see below photo)

·         FM licence acquisition (often expensive)

·         site acquisition (not a trivial process)

·         site civil construction (to my plans)

·         FM transmitter equipment funding (to my direction)

·         tower funding including installation

·         satellite equipment

·         funding of electricity connections (poles, wires, transformers)

·         payment of ongoing electricity bills 

And the list goes on….  But they can’t make it happen without a broadcast engineer to design, select equipment, install and commission it.  And I maintain that I am called to return to continue our LifeSource prophecy that I received back in 1998.

 

The Diospi Suyana Centro de Medios production team (as at 24 Jul 2019)

 Thank you again to our amazing supporters helping us to achieve these goals.

With fondest love from us Welches on our way back to Peru! J

Chris