Behind me is one of my favorite places here in Peru. The canon del Colca where I have one of my nutritional supplemental feeding programs for children and where I have served on many missions with Medical Ministry International. On the other side of the canyon I can see the spot where I was bucked off of my mule on one of these missions.

I am soon going home to Florida for some rest and relaxation after my latest 5 month ministry stint here in Peru.

It has been a great 5 months though I am ready for a rest and to visit all my friends and family back home. I am flying out of Lima this Thursday the 28th and will be in Miami around 2:45PM. One full month to catch up on things back home and also to attend a conference with Reliv International and our Reliv Kalogris Foundation. This 3 day conference is in Phoenix and when it is finished I am flying into Colorado to spend three days with my son, Taylor Scott. Flying into Telluride and the regional airport should be a great time. I am looking forward to all of this very much.

It has been a slow start for me in this blogging experience so I am going to start again. Short and sweet, si!! Consider this a practice event and a discipline effort for me.

A mention of a young girl, Abby Sunderland here. She is the 16 year young girl who has begun her solo, around the world, non stop sailing adventure. I think that is a grand adventure for any one to accomplish and I will be following her journey every day for the next 6 months or so. Check out this Link. to her site. Go Abby!!!

PS: Just sat through some minor but quite long earth tremors here in Lima.

Hi eveyone,

I have just returned to Lima, Peru after a great visit back home. One whole month starting in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, then on to a conference in Phoenix, Arizona to attend our winter National conference with Reliv International and our Reliv Kalogris Foundation. Then on to Telluride, Colorado to spend some good quality time with my son, Taylor Scott and his better half, Faith. Then back to Florida to be with all my church family and friends there. I used this time also to share my story of faith and how my God given dream to serve the children of Peru is progressing.

So now I am back and getting ready to travel to visit all my existing nutritional feeding programs in three states of Peru and to establish about 6 to 8 new ones. Very busy times for me even as I am looking for partners who might be led to share this ministry with me by helping with funding. I am blessed to have grown this ministry beyond my own resources and to grow these programs it is time to pray for others to join me in this awesome purpose to care for our Lord’s little ones here in the remote villages in the high Andes mountains and into the Amazon jungle.

Please pray for me and for His purposes in this effort. And for His continued and growing provision for The Potters Hand Foundation.

I love to hear from my friends around the world too so fell free to holler at me.

Love- without counting the costs!

En EL Nombre de Jesus,

Taylor

Love- without counting the costs!

Hello everyone!

Well it is a new year and a new Decade. I have been looking back a bit at how this journey began for me here in Peru some years back. My first visit to Peru was in 2003 with a mission team from my church, Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach Gardens, Sunny Florida. That trip changed my life. So I came back a year later with my church and also again at Christmas time on my first personal journey here. I have just spent my 6th Christmas with the children of the Posada de Amor and again it was a wonderful experience. I don’t claim it totally for myself as I was also representing others back home who have been here with these kids and who helped make this Christmas possible.

I also can look back at how my small dream to “feed a few kids” here in Peru has grown, thanks to God and a wonderful group of folks with Reliv International, the Reliv Kalogris Foundation, all my friends who believed in me and supported me with prayer and funds. Also my wonderful friends with Medical Ministry International here in Peru. So now, with my own Potters Hand Foundation and with me blessed to serve as International Area Coordinator for Peru for the Reliv Kalogris Foundation and with the help of local Peruvians who are a part of all this, we have 10 feeding programs serving 291 children in different areas of this beautiful but poor country. With the hope to grow and serve more children in need and at risk, especially in the high Andes mountains and in the Amazon jungle.

I wish now to acknowledge my greatest gift and the reason I was able to “get out of the boat” and take this journey. That gift is my faith though Christ. That I could walk away from everything back home to begin this journey without knowing the outcome, or even where I would live, and how this God given dream could come to be. Every time I have taken each first step of faith God has been faithful to guide me and provide. It has not been easy but it has been grand. Even now I am working to form a Peruvian ONG- The Potters Hand- Peru, where I can continue this ministry and expand on it as I look for other opportunities to add to our feeding programs with other means to serve the children of Peru. Again I can not see the whole picture but I will continue to walk in faith, trusting in His love.

I wish to add one of my favorite scriptures and a story.

Call to me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3

Swings give a feeling of weightlessness- for a few moments you bypass the laws of gravity. For a few moments you FLY!
Dreams do much the same thing. Dreams crash the confines of what is and what has been.
As our minds dare to see the unseen, our imagination fuels our faith and we begin to trust God for something more.
Some folks are afraid to dream. But connected to God, it is safe to dream. There is freedom to let FAITH take WINGS.
Alicia Britt Chole- Pure Joy

Now I am looking forward to coming home to the states for the month of February. For a rest, to see my friends and church family in Florida, to go to Phoenix for a conference with Reliv International and our Reliv Kalogris Foundation. And a very special treat for me will be to visit with my son in Telluride, Colorado after conference. It has been too long since we last had a chance to catch up on things.

Son, does this mean I will see a lot of snow? Can’t wait to share an adventure with you!

En El Nombre de Cristo with love,
Taylor
www.pottershandfoundation.org
www.relivkalogrisfoundation.org

“Little children, let us stop saying we love people;
let us really love them, and show it by our actions.”
1 John 3:18 (LB)

Hello everyone and a very Merry Christmas to all!

I am soon on my way to have Christmas with 52 children in the remote village of Vito in the high Andean mountains of Peru. A foto of some of the kids is at the top of this letter. This will be my second trip to see these kids and they are now one of the nutritional feeding programs that is provided by the Reliv Kalogris Foundation. I am blessed to be here to serve the children of Peru and also to be a part of this wonderful foundation that is providing nutritional products to thousands of children daily in many countries around the world. And it is my great blessing to be the hands and feet for this program here in Peru. This is probably the most unique Christmas I will have ever experienced as I will again live with these people for a few days and share their lives far away from the outside world.

Also after I return to Lima I will be blessed to share my sixth Christmas here with the children of the Posada de Amor in Cieneguilla, outside of Lima. Friends from back home have contributed funds for this celebration and we will have gifts for all the kids and a great fiesta. So I wish to thank those friends very much for making this Christmas possible for the kids.

I also want to remember Roseann Sacco who passed away recently and who loved these children very much. We will have many memories of Roseann to share with the kids who loved her at the Posada.

So to everyone I wish to extend my wishes to all of you and your families a very Merry celebration of the birth of Jesus. He is the reason for the season.

Until next time I am off on another grand God given adventure.

To Taylor Scott Benson- I love you son!! Merry Christmas

En El Nombre de Cristo with love,
Taylor

“Little children, let us stop saying we love people;
let us really love them, and show it by our actions.”
1 John 3:18 (LB)

A quiet morning and then I went to support my princess Aleli at her “Royal Exam” in ballet. This was her annual exam for advancement to the next level. She did super and now has two more years to study to finish her classes. So to celebrate we went to my favorite restuarant here in Lima for some lunch and ice cream. Tomorrow she will be coming into Lima and we will go to a local TV station for a competition in Spanish Flamenco, my favorite dance here. If she does well in each round she will advance to the next one. Reminds me of my days in competition dancing and also teaching country western dance back in the states.

Aleli, age 13,  never knew her father and I am blessed to be a father figure for her, to hopefully always be there for her. So I guess this means that in a few years I am going to be helping her with her higher edcuation in university. Not to mention my other young lady, Yasmin age 20 whom I am already helping with university.

Also not to forget young Cesar, age 13, that I have been sponsoring with Compassion International here in Peru for about 7 years. And as of this month I am sponsoring Cesar’s little sister Gabriela, age 5. And there is my Godson Matthew, age 2.5 and his mom, Magdalena and father Joseph.

Plus the 250 chilren that I have in my nutritional feeding programs for poor and malnourished children here in Peru. About 50 of these children are special needs kids. And I pray many more children in the years to come. I must give thanks to the Reliv Kalogris Foundation for which I am area coordinator for Peru and their supporting me with their wonderful nutritional products for children.

I am also blessed to serve in my “spare time” on multiple missions here in Peru with Medical Ministry International as we serve the poor with their spiritual and physical needs in the high Andes mountains and in the jungle. A very blessed opportunity for me to serve here in my adpoted country. I also believe that in future years I may be expanding my ministry into other countries in South and Central America and the Carribean. One day at a time though. Quite a “retirement” for me. I have always said though that one needs to retire TO something and not just from something.

Enough for now. Time to crash and be ready for the day that God has in store for me tomorrow.

Blessings to all and  LOVE- Without counting the costs!

Hello everyone,
It has been awhile since I last sent out a newsletter and I hope you will allow me to catch up a bit as I serve the poor here in Peru.
I have just returned to Lima after serving again with Medical Ministry International in Ayaviri, Puno, Peru and also from visiting some of my own nutritional feeding programs. I must recognize the Reliv Kalogris Foundation here as I am acting as area coordinator for Peru for this wonderful organization and I am very grateful to them for providing the vital nutritional products and programs which are impacting many children here now and I pray for years to come.

It has been an amazing journey for me here in Peru and I am trusting in God my Father that this ministry I am called to will continue to bless the poor in my humble service to them.

I am back in Lima for two weeks and then I will go out on another MMI mission to Cusco. My second mission to this area and my final one of the year. This will be my ninth mission for this year. Much more than a number though as it represents many great folks who came down here to serve and of course we are blessed by the people we serve. For those who might like to learn more about MMI I provide a link to there website here. www.mmint.org The mission statement for MMI is to serve the spiritual and physical needs of the poor. Can’t get any better than that.

So I will close for now as I am adjusting to being back here in Lima. I seem to go through a down time after coming back from these missions. I am happiest when I am serving and this is just my little sad time. But I will be very busy these next few weeks as I continue to walk in faith with our Lord and move forward with this service I am called to. More news to come soon as I can sense His purposes for me are growing.

So blessings to everyone and I thank you all for letting me share with you.

Love- without counting the costs!

En El Nombre de Cristo with love,
Taylor
www.pottershandfoundation.org
www.relivkalogrisfoundation.org

“Little children, let us stop saying we love people;
let us really love them, and show it by our actions.”
1 John 3:18 (LB)

It is Saturday August 22, and I am beginning this exercise, my blogging attempt, while sitting at the Lima, Peru airport waiting for my flight to Cusco. I am traveling to Cusco to join some folks from the USA and Canada as we participate in a medical mission with Medical Ministry International where we will serve the spiritual and physical needs of the poor in this area.

This is my seventh mission with MMI this year with two more to go after this one. I have just returned to Peru on Friday the 20th from my R & R trip back home to Florida. I was home for 20 days and during that time I traveled to St Louis to attend an international conference with Reliv International and our Reliv Kalogris Foundation  www.relivkalogrisfoundation.org .

This was a great experience again for me. I was named area coordinator for Peru for the Reliv Kalogris Foundation last August as I have been working to develop nutritional feeding programs here in Peru for children in need and at risk with malnutrition. I am hoping to expand this ministry for the poor here with my foundation which I established in 2006. See link- www.pottershandfoundation.org

I have, with the help of dedicated helpers here in Peru, 250 children in 8 feeding programs to date, with the desire and hope to establish many more over the years ahead.

I also am working to form another foundation or ONG here in Peru to further this ministry and to find other ways to help the poor. My thoughts are to help the children in poverty with nutrition, education and vocational opportunities.

I hope to have this ONG established in a couple of months, again with the help and support of dedicated local Peruvian friends who have captured this vision with me.

But for the moment I am content to be going out again to serve the poor on this two week mission to Cusco. I will be joining some very good friends and other dedicated people who come here with servants’ hearts to serve the needs of the poor. And I know that we are equally blessed by the very people we encounter.

More to come.

En El Nombre de Cristo,

Taylor J Benson

Founder/Director/ Servant

The Potters Hand Foundation

4521 PGA Boulevard #129

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33418

So now I have joined in this new medium of journaling (for me anyway) and sharing my adventures in Peru as I serve the children here.

This will be short as I just wish to say hello to all.

I pray everyone will bear with me as I am stretched in this beginning effort to write about this ministry I have been called to serve.

Love- Without counting the costs!

En El Nombre de Cristo,

Taylor

Hello everyone,
It has been awhile since I last wrote a newsletter about my adventures and the growing ministry I have been blessed with here in Peru.
I will try to catch up and do it briefly for you.

Myself and a good friend had a great Christmas celebration here in Peru with the children of The Posada de Amor in Cieneguilla, Lima, Peru.
My fifth Christmas with these wonderful kids and this is where I first came to Peru and fell in love with the children and the people here.

I had a quiet January for the first half and then I traveled south to Arequipa, my favorite city here in Peru. I was invited to attend the PRIMERA CONFERENCIA ANUAL
“CONECTANDO AREQUIPA”. The first annual conference of a group of social services, spiritual services and medical ministries. It was a very good conference and I am now a member of this organization and I hope that my participation there will grow as I develop many more of my nutritional feeding programs there for poor children.

In late January I served on my first mission of the year with Medical Ministry International down in Ica. This is a desert area in the south near the coast and which was hard hit by the large earthquake in August of 2007. I only could serve there for a few days as I had to get back to Lima to leave for the states.

I went back to Florida for the month of February. This was a great time of rest and recuperation for me. I had a wonderful time with my friends and church family there.
I also traveled to Fort Worth, Texas in mid February to attend the National Conference of Reliv International and the Reliv Kalogris Foundation. This is the company and foundation that is providing the nutritional products that through my Potters Hand Foundation we are feeding 250 children here in Peru through out this year of 2009 and into early 2010. A wonderful company and a wonderful group of distributors who are making a difference in the world. I have included a web link to the new Reliv Kalogris Foundation website here for you to check out – www.relivkalogrisfoundation.org.

Actually the shipment of products for this year is on it’s way and is due here in Lima about the 2nd of April. All is prepared for me to receive it and I have been blessed with free secure warehouse space for the products.

Next I have just completed my second two week mission with MMI and it was here in Lima, in the shantytowns in the hills above this large metropolis. We had a great group of folks from the USA and Canada who came down here to serve the poor. I also want to acknowledge the young Peruvian professionals who served their own on this mission. It is wonderful that they volunteer their services here to the poor. I have met many young people here who are getting involved and want to make a difference as they serve the needs of the poor.

I will be very busy these next few days as I visit all my existing feeding programs, share in a birthday celebration with my Godson Matthew, who will be two years young on the 2nd, have a special dinner with my princess, Aleli, age twelve, visit with Yasmin, a wonderful young lady whom I am helping with her education as I can, get through customs procedures, facilitate one new program in Chaclacayo about two hours east of Lima and get ready to go out for a month to the south to facilitate three more new programs and then finally participate in another two week mission with MMI in the Colca Canyon down in Arequipa.

Actually I have more to do but this all makes a long sentence and I am sure not grammatically correct. Besides I promised to keep this short and I know I am stretching that promise. So I will close now and I thank everyone for your understanding and patience with me in this storytelling about my service to the children of Peru.

I do want to thank all my friends back home who took care of me, fed me extremely well (I gained back the ten pounds or so that I had lost as I served down here), kept me company and ministered to me. I love you all.

And of course I wish to say hello to my son Taylor Scott. Love you son.

En El Nombre de Cristo with love,
Taylor

“Little children, let us stop saying we love people;
let us really love them, and show it by our actions.”
1 John 3:18 (LB)

Hello everyone,
To all my friends and family in the United States, Peru, Canada, the UK, and around the world I wish to extend my hopes to all of you for a very
Merry Christmas and a prosperous, purposed and joyful New Year.

Remembering the reason for the season, the birth of Jesus Christ; Savior, Lord, Teacher and Friend.

En El Nombre de Cristo with love,
Taylor
www.pottershandfoundation.org

“Little children, let us stop saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.”
1 John 3:18 (LB)