La Gente in the Streets

Yesterday was so cool. It was ¨voting day¨. This has a completely different meaning here, as voting is manadory and a lot of times more violent (or exciting) than in the states. There is only one day the people here can vote, and if they don't vote, they have to pay a fine. Completely foreign concept for someone who grew up in the states. Anyways, as you can probably imagine, the streets and public transportation were jam packed with people. Most shops were closed and everyone was out and about. Lauren and I left for house church as usual, and because the dentist had to go vote as well and couldn't open her consultoria to have church, we just had it outside on the sidewalk. This, in fact turned out to be better because more people who were just passing by came and joined in. It was almost a completely new group of people there because the normal people had left to vote.

Anyways, after we finished church, Lauren had the idea to go hang out with the people in the lines and hand out the salvation bracelets that Amy brought (thanks so much, guys!) an give out the little Howdy from Texas cards. That was really cool. I have no idea how many we ended up giving out, but I think maybe like 1,000 sounds about right. I don't really know. But anyways, it was really funny cause we already get enough stares for being gringos, but on top of that, when we are talking in spanish AND handing out brightly colored bracelets AND talking about Jesus...well, you can just imagine...=) So, anyways, we would ask people if they wanted these bracelets, and then they just wouldn't respond, but then most of the time if I just went ahead and explained the bracelet and then told them they could bathe in it and nothing would happen (like water would not affect it), well most of them wanted not only one, but one for their son, daughter...etc. One of the army guys that we talked to I think wanted one for everyone in his family (momma and papa included) ha. It was great.

I will say the one great thing about being white with eye color other than brown is that you don't really have to try to get people's attention to talk to them...they're already looking at you most likely. I am sorry, I really feel like I should be talking more about the actual evangelistic work that we were doing, but I always seem to gravitate toward the funny or awkward things that happen while we are doing the evangelistic things...for instance....Lauren got called over to a truck FULL of army men because one of the army ladies said they wanted to hear about Jesus...as Lauren walked away, she admitted that the real reason was because they wanted to see her eyes because they were blue HAHAHAH =)  What made it funnier is that Lauren heard her say it (guess she didn't realize that?) and we both thought it was pretty funny. Anyways, gotta run. Hope you have a blessed day and I will write more soon. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. 10 days till I come back to the states!

Sommos La Communidad!

So I don’t know even where to start anymore. I have so much to write about...so much that I will never be able to write about. Mostly because they are things that are so deep inside of me, that I can't even put them into words. Things that I am watching God do all around me, and I just end up either not realizing what a miracle it is, or just internalizing it all and storing it away in my mind and heart. One of my biggest struggles is that I am going so fast that I don't really have time to process things...I just internalize them, or let them pass by. I could try to give you an outsider version of what I do, but I'm honestly not sure I have the entire capability of doing that anymore. So here´s the insider version!

Well, it's Friday evening! It was quite a week, meaning it went by so fast. I gave exams in all my classes...poor kids, the exam had 40 adjectives on it they had to translate...I feel kinda bad for some of them, but then again I gave almost each class a week's notice and most of them still didn't study. Oh well.

Well, update on the awkward teacher who can't figure out he wants to be my dad or my boyfriend...He asked me to video record OUR class (lol) when it was their turn to dance in the dance off that we had all day last Friday and i told him I would. Unfortunately my camera started freaking out just a little while after he asked me (of course) and then when I found the other camera that I have, the battery kept dying. How charming. I did get them on video though. Mission accomplished. P.S. They were AMAZING if I do say so myself. They won for their grade. Its funny cause a lot of the kids that are really misbehaved in class here are amazing dancers or very talented in other ways...pretty much the case here. Anyways, back to AT (Awkward Teacher).

I saw him yesterday and of course I asked him how he was, and he started talking about something that I really couldn't understand. It's gotten to the point sometimes where it's just funny when I don't understand something cause sometimes the other people appear frustrated than I do about the situation...which was the case here. So anyways, I just decided to change the subject . And of course I brought up the infamous USB. I had to ask him how many GB it was so I could buy him another one. I told him I would save the video on the USB for him and then just give him the USB. He told me it was not that big of a deal that I had lost it and he asked me if I had been worried about it and I was thinking (of course I was...you said you were gonna kill me! hahah) Anyways, he just told me that the USB was minimal storage capacity and that it was not a big deal that it had been lost. WHEW!!!

Okay so anyways on a completely different note, God showed me the coolest thing yesterday when I was reading. I haven’t read the Bible through ever, and that is something that I want to do while I’m here in Peru. So I’ve been reading Isaiah as of late, and I didn’t realize what a good book it is! I mean my favorite verse is in Isaiah (Isaiah 43:2-4) but there are some other really incredible things in there. This is what I am talking about specifically. When God called me here, He just told me that I was supposed to come back here. It happened in a shopping mall of all places. That was pretty much it. I remember telling God how scared I was and he told me before I left to come to Peru the second time that He would go before me (and boy has He!!) But yesterday a really special thing happened. I was reading Isaiah 42 and this is what it said

¨I the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people adn a light for the Gentiles, to oepn eyes that are lind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.¨

This scripture spoke to me in such a deep way, and I knew it was the scripture that was to be connected with the call to return to Peru 9 months ago. I had wondered about this before...if I needed to have a chapter and verse for what I knew in my heart, but God knew that I would need it 7 months into it...and not before.

Things have still been hard here, partly because I have still been getting sick, and partly because I just feel like I´m still just treading water and not really swimming...but I do think a lot of that is do to the amount of different things we are invovled in. At first, I had a really hard time just teaching in the school here, and now Lauren and i are teaching Bible in three other schools outside the community in addition to our normal teaching schedule here. We also started a house church about a month ago, and this is addition to doing Biblestudies every night at the community. Now, granted, sometimes things are randomly cancelled for whatever reason (the culture down here is sooo much more laied back than in the states, and I love it) so we may not do all of these things every week, but for the most part, when I come home, the last thing I want to do is socialize with other volunteers....I just want to sleep or talk to Lauren or chill by myself. I have felt kinda bad about not really hanging out with the other volunteers that live here, but another thing that has come up is that one of the volunteers constantly asks for our stuff and then takes it out into the community and uses it...which is fine I guess, but its just that there is a mentality that says if we have it, everyone else is entitled to it. And I guess that makes sense to some extent, but I think it might be more a European mindset...whereas the American mindset is ¨it´s mine...don´t even think about touching it¨...so I am positive that is not necessarily the way either, but I am tired of feeling like people only want me for my stuff. The other day one of the other volunteers asked to borrow the internet, and I kinda just had had enough and I said ¨yes, but we are not going to lend out the internet anymore!¨ Well...that didn´t go over very well. And I don´t think things have been the same since. Oh well. Doesn´t help that I sat on the internet and it doesn´t really work that well anymore. But I think we got if fixed yesterday for less than 2 bucks....so that´s good. I hope. But anyways, I am hoping that I can have a right balance in this situation of hanging out or not hanging out with them, but let me just say that I totally understand why Lili and Frances (the two other voluteers that have been here for years) keep to themselves.

Well, I bought my ticket to come home for two weeks in October. Yes, the rumors are true. The main reason I decided to come home on such a short notice was my health...I need to try to get well and recuperate, plus I miss my family and friends and I wanted to spend my birthday with my family. I will be back the last two weeks in October and am excited most of all about spending some MUCH needed time with my family and close friends. What an unexpected blessing. I am having to miss school for 2 weeks, but I feel complete peace about going home right now, and on top of that, I know it´s something I need to do for health reasons. Please pray that God will be with the doctors and that nothing serious is wrong with me.

Dang, I don´t like that these blogs are so long and so far in between. There really is so much to catch up on. Lauren´s parents came last week and it was amazing. They brought along two family friends with them, who were just precious and sooo very encouraging. So that was a blast having all of them here. Got lots of AMAZING presents from some ballin peeps in los estados. Wendy, Brett April, Amy, Carly sent me some of the most amazing things seriously...along with some sweet sweet stuff from Brian and Lisa and the best brownies ever from my little brother John who made them and sent them. Seriously, living here is better than Christmas morning!! =)

Well, its been a great week, and thats about all I got for this blog update! Gonna go to the internet cafe, post it, and maybe try to figure out what I´m teaching in my English classes next week! Whoop 14 days til I come home, as Mom reminded me yesterday! So excited!

P.S. Liz and I are trying to memorize Heb. 4:14-16 this week in English andin Spanish. Here it is if you want to memorize it with us. Love you guys!

Therefore, since we have a great high preist who has gone through the heavens. Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the fiaht we profess. For we do not have a high preist who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may recive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

here it is in Spanish

Por lo tanto, ya que in Jesús, el Hijo de Dios, tenemos un gran sumo sacerdote que ha atravesado los cielos, aferrémonos a la fe que profesamos. Porque no tenemos un sumo sacerdote incapaz de compadecerse de nuestras debilidades, sino uno que ha sido tentado en todo de la misma manera que nosotros, aunque sin pecado. Así que acerquémonos confiadamente al trono de la gracia para recibir misericordia y haller la gracia que nos ayude en el momento que más la necesitemos.

Okay pics wont upload right now...and I left the internet cafe to go check on things at the community and someone came in and stopped all my uploads...so Ill upload pics later.

Camilla and her partner.

Costimes in place...let's DANCE!!!

Ready for the dance-off.

The three amigos.

Richard.

House church.

Awkwardness...what a surprise.

I have a million things to write about...it's been an amazing week with Lauren's parents here and I've received so much love and good stuff from people back home. But more on that later.

There are some people in this world that are either awkward or that awkward things just happen to. Unfortunately, I can be both. So, I just wanted to share a story involving both of these things...that is still ongoing...

Many of you know that I very often end up in awkward situations with guys, and normally I wouldn’t post about this kind of stuff for the defense of the innocent, but this one situation was just too awkward to let go. So, at the expense of looking awkward or stupid, I am going to tell you.

I don’t really know when this all started, but one day early in the morning, I was walking around the corner of the school, and I fell. Typical. And of course people saw me. Okay yes I’m super clumsy, but on top of that, I am NOT a morning person. Anyways, of course I was hoping that no one saw, but they totally did. Anyways, I just started laughing or whatever and thinking about how ridiculous I probably looked, and some of the other teachers who were around helped me up. Well, anyway, I went on with my day and it was fine. After school, “this teacher”  approached me after school and asked me  if that was me that fell this morning. I answered yes, and then tried to explain that I just can’t walk in the mornings. He couldn’t understand what was wrong with me and I think he thought he thought I had a physical condition. Anyways, he proceeded to talk to me about anything and everything he could think of to bring up, (like it’s not already hard enough in Spanish…let’s add in 5 million topic changes to the conversation…).and finally after about 5 or 10 minutes, the convo ended. So that was that, but I figured something was up...

Before I left for Machu Picchu, he asked me for my email address so I could send him pictures of Machu Picchu, and so I was like “whatever…it’s an email.” So anyways, I went ahead and gave it to him.

About a month later I guess, he caught me at about 8:15 in the morning (remember what I said about mornings) and started asking me if I’d gotten his email that I sent. No, I hadn’t gotten it, but anyways, I got a little confused and I told him that I had…and so first we had that miscommunication. Then, he proceeds to try to ask me out on a date. Did I mention that this conversation was in Spanish? And that its 8:15 on Thursday morning? Thankfully, I had something to do that week, and I couldn’t, so I just told him that I couldn’t because of that.

Well, a couple of weeks after that, Lauren tells me that this same teacher had been chasing her frantically, asking where I was me earlier in the day. She told me she thought there was an emergency by the way he was acting. But no. Well, he “found” me as I was walking along, and casually prceeded to give me this USB stick. I couldn’t quite understand if he was wanting me to put my Machu Picchu pictures on it or if he wanted me to look at his Machu Picchu pictures. But what I did understand is that he said that when I had some time, we could “share” some Machu Picchu pictures. SHADY. Okay, Just shady. What makes it even worse, is that as he’s giving me the USB, he looks me strait in the eyes, and says, “eres hermosa.” I was kind of already walking away before I realized what had just happened. Oh, did I mention that this guy looks like he’s in his late thirties or maybe even early fourties? Okay sooo anyways, I was just kinda like "oh my gosh this is NOT happening..."

So, I’m not going to lie, I was really a little scared to look at the USB  partly because I wasn’t sure what I would find, partly because I hoped that maybe if I hadn’t looked at anything and he asked me if I had, I could tell him no, and he would get the picture.  I also hoped maybe he’d forget about it.

But unfortunately, I was the one that forgot about the USB. Actually, I lost the USB, which is really unfortunate because many Peruvians don’t have a computer and so USBs are very crucial for saving things…plus, they were Machu Picchu pictures, and I wasn’t sure if that was the only copy he had…at least he said they were Machu Picchu pictures…I’ll prolly never know if they really were (thank God).

Well, this whole time I was just hoping that maybe he would just forget about it, but, lo and behold today was the day that it all caught up with me.  Today he was working on the school and he caught me and told me had a question for me. Not only did he ask me for my USB, but he also asked for my computer.  Well, I told him that there was a problem, and that I needed to look for his USB. Well, that didn’t over too well.  He told me he was going to kill me. And then he told me for my punishment that I had to be the Madrina (Godmother) of a classroom. Of course he was half kidding, half serious in all of this, but I knew he wasn’t joking at all when I saw him on the stairs this afternoon and he asked me again if I would be the Madrina of 3C. Yeah, 3C is his class that he is responsible for, so of course we would be working together…imagine that. So anyways, I told him that was fine.  Did I mention this class is one of the classes I don't really look forward to teaching? I’m still figuring out what it means to be the godmother but I think it means that you have to help your kids do some dances and decorate their classroom for the springtime dances that are happening this week...and I think it means too that you have to pay to take them somewhere, but I’m not sure.

Anyways, back to the awkward story of this teacher. So anyways, I am trying to explain to him that I don’t know where his USB is, and after he tells me that he’s going to kill me, he calls me “hija,” which means daughter. How weird. But it just gets more awkward and funny.  So the schedule here is that we teachers have to rotate to the classrooms, and so each classroom of kids stays put.  So anyways, I just end up teaching his “class” that he is the tutor of (which means that he just watches after them if they need anything…he’s not in there when I’m teaching or anything).  So anyways, I told this class that they could have time that we would have spent doing English to work on their dance. So I let them out early, and guess who walks in? Him. So he’s helping them get ready for Juego Floreales or whatever it’s called…springtime celebration... So anyways, he’s come in with all these posters that he’s drawn and the kids are supposed to finish them. So I’m helping them finish them…well he’s out welding on the school and then comes in and looks at what we’ve done…and what happened next was quite unfortunate, because he asked who had done the shading, and one of the kids told him that I had. He immediately gave me that “oh-this-is-great-cause-you-did-it…but-really–not-so-great”…which was kind of a blow to my pride because I was an art major for a little while in college, but apparently my art was not up to his style.  After this, some kids started bringing up the fact that they saw a lady over at his house and they were trying to figure out who it was haha. Oh the awkwardness continues. So now, So at this point in time, I have a USB to look for, and a role as madrina to fulfill.  Oh man...

Confession.

Tonight, I only have a confession. A confession that I am not who I want to be, who I wish I was. I fall short on my word on more than one occasion...per day. I dont give my best in all that I do. I dont always put God first in my mind, heart and actions. I dont meditate on scripture near enough...many times not at all. I often try to fill my needs with things other then You, Lord, when only You can fill them.

I fall drastically short of a Proverbs 31 woman, I fail in what a Chrisian should look like and be and do.

I love with a finite love...








But Somehow....


You still love me.

In your eyes, I am treasured
And blessed beyone measure.
I am your little girl,
and you not only gave me the whole world,
but your Only Son too.
You look at me through eyes of love
And have given your very life so that my life could forever be with You
You wrap me in an everlasting embrace
And nothing can touch me without your permission.
You long to be with me, and I with You.

5 1/2 mos.

I am so blessed beyond measure. I am so blessed to live in a place that has such a need for God, but yet God gives me strength to live through it. I am sitting here in Las Grandes (the biggest girls house) with Lenny cuddled up next to me watching VeggieTales. Lenny and his 8 siblings were found in the dumpster, and Lenny has to sleep in the big girls house with his sister because he sometimes ends up trying to randomly escape. He is 8 years old, and one of the cutest kids you will ever see.

I don't even know what to write about anymore because I feel like I can no longer compare this life with reality, because it is reality. But nevertheless, here is what has been going on. Lauren and I moved into a new room in the volunteer house, and this has been wonderful. I've gotta admit that I really didn't want to move into this room, because it's literally the size of a closet, but this week I really have been grateful for this room because of all the new volunteers that have been in and out. They have all been really nice, but it's just not fun having 6 to 8 people in your room (which we had before in the bigger room). Some of our stuff was getting taken too, because I think they thought it was "the communities," and now that we have our own room, that has been cut out.

Spanish is getting better and better. There is one problem though. Most of the other volunteers that I live with are from Spain, and there is a pretty big difference between Peruvian Spanish and Spain Spanish. I get asked the simplest questions by them, and I can not understand. I am embarrased to say that I've lived here for 5 1/2 months and still can't understand them when they're asking to borrow my computer or some other really simple question...but then I can go have a 15 minute conversation with a kid in Peruvian Spanish....who knows what it actually sounds like, but who cares. Hahaha.

So discipline in the classroom has been better for sure. Jenn and my other friends from Biblestudy are such angles for making the discipline charts for me, and they have done amazing things. I still have the occasional kid that wants to cause a racquet,  but knowing that Peru is statistically ranked as having some serious problems in the education system makes me feel more normal for having problems with disciple. On top of the normal "first year teacher" problems. There is one thing that I really don't like though...its really hard to tell the princpal what happened in class when you really don't even know all the words to explain what the kid was doing...and so when you go to the office with the kid, you have to try to explain what happen and try to learn new Spanish at the same time! hahaha. Its definitely an experience...and a humbling one too.
Well, a couple weeks ago, Lauren and I took two girls from the community to a Christian concert where Kari Jobe was performing, and we actually got to hang out with her and talk to her for a few minutes before the show. thanks to our Peruvian pata Mark.  How cool is that!


Also, we've been able to finally connect with some other missionaries in Lima, and this has been wonderful. So so encouraging, and it's so nice to have a some Christian community. And of course I am so very thankful to Lauren. We have become like sisters throughout this time.

Okay...now for some events around the community. Encuentro.  Basically a huge talent show where houses and got up and performed dances, skits, whatever. So, somehow we ended up having two of those in a period of about 3 weeks or something. It was fun to see the kids doing something that wasn't school related. The volunteers got to dress up as clowns and bring in pizza that we helped make for the kids. That was fun. I've got one thing to say...you ain't seen nobody dance until you're seen a 5 year old Peruvian little boy dance. They got the MOVES!! April, this next pic is for you. I look creepy, but Martha looks beautiful. :)

Quinceneras. Yep, it's sweet 15. And here, we celebrate it with both the guys and the girls. Unfortunately, I had already planned to go to Cusco during the same time as the Quinceneras, and somehow I became the Godmother of 3 kids literally overnight. Well, turned out to be only 2 kids, but they didn't tell me until the day before....also happened to be the day before I was leaving for Cusco. But it all actually turned out to be good. Lauren served as their step-God mother, so she was able to hang out with them in addition to the other 4 godchildren she had...hahahah Lauren you're so gonna have six biological kids....:) But yeah I was super sad to miss that, but the kids said they had a good time and I brought them back something from Cusco, which they liked, so it all worked out.
It was a little hard coming back and getting into the swing of things....like it always is when you come back from vacation. Now, I just have the feeling that there aren't enough hours in the day. There are so many people coming up to me asking me to do things, or things that I have said that I will do and I forget, or realize that by the time I have free time, it's too late.
Not to change the subject, but I think there is a ritual going on outside my window....they've got a rythm going, there's light from a central location (but I don't think it's exactly a bonfire) and there are squaking noises and I think dancing...who knows...but normally this happens Friday night, not Monday night. Our room now backs up to the outside of the community, so we can see what goes on in two places at once!! Sweet! Okay. Some pics of Cusco.

Machu Picchu

Justin Bieber and life these days

Oh, if Justin Bieber only knew what kind of influence he had on kids all over the world...I dont think hed be singing about being 15 meeting the one...hahaha Im sitting next to some little 10 year old kid in the internet cafe who is listening to J.B. and playing shoot em up games with the sound turned up to MAX...

Anyways, enough about that. Update on life here. This is the first week back from vaca...for the kids and me. So needless to say, its a mixture of a fresh breath of air and not really wanting to be back in the classroom. Ha.

Cusco was amazing. I was able to go to Machu Picchu (which is NOT a pokemon, by the way) and it was absolutely amazing. So beautiful. Plus I got to hang out with some amazing friends, and that was really great. We went horseback riding, four wheeling, rafting, rock climbing, repelling, and of course hiking. I will upload pics to facebook soon.

God has been so good to me. He gave me the little breath of fresh air just when I needed it. It was so nice to get out and see other parts of Peru.

We are having a test in intensive English and then a PARTY!!! Oh man I have a million things more to write about but I havent the time. Will write more later. Thanks for your prayers.

Peruvian 4th of July!

Today I got to celebrate 4th of July! It was a day late, but who cares. We had a 4th of July party in my English class tonight. It consisted of listening to Josh Turner, eating hotdogs and cookies, decorating the room in red, white and blue, and talking about fireworks. It was great. Definitely the coldest 4th I've ever had, and I really did miss the fireworks and green grass. But I'd say over all, it was pretty fun throwing my own Independance Day party and getting to explain it to the kids. Here is a picture of my class. I love these kids.

Udate on life

The last month or so has been hard. I have been dealing with being homesick and really just adjusting to life here. Apparently I am like 2 months behind Lauren in life lol because many of the things she was experiencing near the beginning of her time in Peru, I am facing now.  I guess the best analogy I have is that the first three months were like a "honeymoon" phase for me in the fact that I was feeling that everything was peachy (other than having Typhoid lol) and that I knew that I was were I was supposed to be, and that everything was wonderful. While I still know is where God has me, it has been more of a challenge to live here I think because of a number of reasons. One thing is that I am becoming more accustomed to living here and learning the language, which is wonderful, but I am now responsible for more than I have ever been responsible for. You can not tell people about Jesus or have spiritual conversations with people if you don't know the language. Lauren has been pulling a lot of the weight as far as being able to speak the language and taking the lead in getting things started in the community and abroad.  Now it's time for us to share the load more equally, and while this is what I want to do, it is more difficult. There are so many people that want to hear about Christ, and there are only two of us. God has given us such grace though and multiplied our time.
I've heard that missionaries hit a point at about three months where they go through a rough patch and get a little homesick and things are just funky...and it was definitely true for me. It's one of those things that I can't really even put my finger on, but I know that i don't have the joy that I used to, and I don't feel as close to God. I know that He is right here and I continue to see Him moving in my life and the lives of those around me. I honestly think part of it comes from feeling very isolated. It is hard when most people around you speak a different language, have a different culture and view on God than you do. Sometimes it's hard for me to identify with people who have many of these things in common with me, so you can imagine the level of difficulty of identifying with someone who has fewer similarities.
I think the think I am most desiring right now is to have a deeper relationship with Christ. I know that I have  unbroken authentic communion with Him, but I want to spend more time taking advantage of this opportunity with him.  One in which I am constantly talking to Him, constantly asking Him what He thinks, and letting go what everyone else thinks.  I want to be in the place where Christ just pours out of me, because of an overflow of His Holy Spirit in my life. I want to be an encourager. I want to have joy. I want others to see Christ when they see me. 
Yesterday, we did not have school, which gave me the perfect opportunities to spend some extra time with the kids. I got out the proclaimers that Wendy sent us and they were a hit. For those of you that do not know, a proclaimers is a little black box that looks and functions like a radio, but that has the Bible or parts of the Bible recorded on it. It can be charged by a crank or by the sun, and once it is charged, it can be listened to by large groups of people or by one or two. It is absolutely amazing. And what is more amazing is that we have these proclaimers in three different languages: English, Spanish and Quechua. I got the Quechua one out first, just to try it out. We were trying to collect Bibles yesterday (we have a library of Bibles that we lend out, but some of the kids are terrible about bringing them back...) and so we ended up in ABC House first. The Quechua proclaimer was an immediate hit. Many of the kids here can speak Quechua, and some of them come from families that can only speak Quechua. The boys were translating the Quechua into spanish for me, and it was so neat to see. In a period of a few seconds, the Bible was being read and comprehended in three different languages: Quechua and Spanish, and then to English in our (Lauren and my) heads. How cool. It brought tears to my eyes. We ended up lending out four proclaimers yesterday.

ABC boys listening to the Bible.

Showing the girls how to "crank" it to recharge the battery.

Two of the boys reading one of the Bibles that Amy's Sunday school class gave us.

Speaking of Bibles, they have been a HIT!!! The kids are always asking us to borrow them. Several kids I believe have read the whole thing. So neat. This was probably one of the best investments ever. Thank you so much Amy and Southmont for sending these!

 Also, we are starting to see opportunities open up outside the community. We have both met people outside, and God is especially moving in the relationships that Lauren has established. Many of them want us to come study the Bible with them, and there is even a school down the road that has said we could come in and do some activities with the Kids. . So please pray that God would give us wisdom and strength for the things that are starting outside the community. That God would help us to use our time wisely and that we will take the initiative to get these things up, running and maintained.

In addition to the prayer needs mentioned above, some additional prayer needs are as follows.

That Christ will continue to work in my life and that my life will constantly be a reflection of Him.

That He will give me boldness to speak His name, but that more importantly, every aspect of my life would line up with what I say I believe.

That Christ would be glorified in everything Lauren and I do.



Thank you so much for your love, prayers and support. Emails are always appreciated....it always helps to have a physical reminder that you have people praying for you.

Boomboompow.

Wow. I shouldn't wait a month in between blogs. So much has happened. So much to talk about. So much that I will never be able to record, because of the vastness of it, but so much that I hope I will always remember.

Southmont college group came and it was a blast. They were very encouraging to both Lauren and I, and I am so thankful for people who love the Lord so much and who are willing to do anything. It was so neat to see their energy and flexibility and just "chill-ness"...if that's a word.

They helped Lauren and I with Biblestudies, and with teaching our classes, in addition to helping out all over the place. We had so much fun going to Dominoes, the chicken stand, and finding "cocheenans," as Michael termed it. SOOOO funny.

 The girls minus Lauren and Mish....chillin in the chapel.

 The little boys playing sheet volleyball.

 Mish and I with Rox and Rodo.

 

The Medianas girls...we took a break from game-playing to take a pic or two...

 Rox y Yo.

 Night out on the town...just after Domino's Pizza.

 On the bus ride home. What a great week.

 Aaron and Estiban

 Fiorela in the kisko.

 Kiosko.

 Watching TV with Ghandi.

 Yearson.

 Medianas girls.

 Sweet memories in Santa Rosa.

 Sweet girls.

Alceba's last night in the community. Alfonso and Jose. 

Well, honestly, I don't really know where to start. I am sitting here in our room...we're cleaning it...again. No school today because the teachers needed to have meetings and the kids needed to clean the community. 

It's really good having Lauren back. While she was gone, things went on as normal, but it's definitely easier not having to do everything by yourself. I know God had to give her extra grace to get through the time I had typhoid.

We got a new roommate this week. She's nice and she's from Canada. Well, I have a million more things to write about, but for some reason I have writer's block. Gonna go lesson plan.

Well, this weekend, the community is selling chicken for a fund raiser. Lauren and I got to go to the market in Puente Piedra (which is like 15 minutes from Ventanilla) and let me tell you, was something I hope I never forget. Lauren got to go yesterday too, and so she had told me a little about, but I was so happy that I finally had the opportunity to experience it for myself. We hopped into the van and headed to the market. After several stops to sell some chicken that we had already made, we finally got to the market. It's a huge market, so when we first walked in, we saw lots of clothes and things not meat related for sale....and then I saw a chickens hanging upside down from the top of the stores...and then more chickens...and then live chickens...and then pigs and a cow...all hanging from the top of the stores. Then we were taking pictures in the market and I dropped Lauren's camera and all these people started laughing at us and making fun of us. But it was funny cause Lauren could understand everything they said. So she went up and started to one of the people in Spanish. Hahaha ...ooops. So yeah, today we are vending chicken...over 5,000 plates. And I don't think I will be eating chicken for a little while, thanks :)

The weekend

The boys playing on the playground at the community, and then playing "Porque tanto..." with the boys after Biblestudy.

 Us and our roomies at Dominos, and then us with the Vent'Nilla sign livin' the good life.

All I have to say is that God is incredibly good. I have been wanting to blog for some time now, but just have not had the time. I don't really have much time now either, but I wanted to post a short update.

Last week, the college group from Southmont came and we had a blast. They have such willing hearts, and it was so fun to hang out with them. They were flexible and willing to pretty much do anything. During the week, we reorganized books, helped construct a library (and that included knocking out a sink with a sledge hammer) helping out in the baby house, doing Bible school for four days, making salvation story necklaces, building shelves, and a myriad of other things too. The group got to come to the chicken stand with us, (which Lauren and I were pretty excited about) and then this weekend we got to go to Lima and hang out. That was a blast. We went to the park of water (there are a ton of pics on facebook, so check them out :), and then Saturday we went to Plaza Mayor and watched the changing of the guard and went shopping at the markets there. Then we came back near our hotel and went shopping some more!! Boy it was a day! Then the group left that night, and Lauren and I went to dinner together and then ate some icecream! Yay for that. Sunday, we got up, and got ready to go out and spend the day celebrating Laurens bday. Somehow the lense of my glasses fell out and I think I accidentally flushed it down the toilet, so that was disappointing, but its okay. It was kinda funny. Okay so after we finally got our act together and left the hotel, we found this place to go play kid archade games in Larcomar (the mall thats built into the side of a cliff) and Lauren beat me at pretty much every single game. I let her though...what can i say..it was her birthday!!! Hahahah i am SOOO not good at some of those games. We played DDR and that was a blast....I got a score of E and Lauren got a score of D....didn't know you could get an E, but I did. Good to know I'm an expert dancer. Ha.

So then we went to Tony Romanos or whatever that place is called, because Lauren wanted a baked potato, and apparently they dont really have those here, so we were so happy that we found a place to serve them.  Then after we ate, we went to go get massages and pedicures and that was a blast. I know, some of you who have known me for a long time are probably having a heart attack right now that I (number 1) actually got a massage and pedicure, and (number 2), that I am actually admitting it. What can I say....I've changed :)

So yeah, after that we went to Starbucks and got up with our families and friends, and then caught our taxi home.

I want to write more about the things God did during the week, but I plan on updating the Southmont blog too...sorry to all of the readers that were expecting an update on that blog....we simply did not have time to update it, but I plan on doing it soon!!!

Much love,
Nancy

Well, we have been in Peru for two and a half months, and its been incredible. Every minute of it. Yeah, some days I have wondered if I was going to make it though, but God is so faithful. Having typhoid was not fun, but now that that is gone, life is SOO much better. For a while, it was really weird for me, because I had been sick for so long and felt like I was having to start over as far as getting re-accustomed to things. For example, social interactions with other Spanish speakers were really hard for me, because all I was used to doing was laying in bed. So after about a week or so, I felt back to normal...well I'm not really sure what normal is, but I think its pretty close ;). Anyways, this week has been great. I got some AMAZING care packages this last weekend, and that totally made my week...and my month for sure.

Teaching is just a day by day thing...as is everything else in life. Actually its a minute by minute thing. Earlier in the week I got really frustrated because the kids just weren't wanting to learn and I was really having trouble explaining the concept we were learning that day. There was were a couple points in the day when I just wanted to walk right out of the classroom. I went to my intensive English class that I teach at night and I was just pretty frustrated. The hardest thing is that the kids can pick up on what is going on, and they knew that I was not happy about something. Well, the class turned out to be really good and it was so encouraging because I finally saw the kids understand what I was teaching. I think that is one of the most frustrating parts, is trying to explain something, and then them not getting it, but you knowing that it is your fault for not knowing HOW to explain it or what words to use.

Its so different here from anything education wise in America. For example yesterday, school let out an hour early, and the only reason Lauren and I knew (neither of us had classes yesterday afternoon) was because one of my students came up and asked me if we were having English class. I asked her what was going on and why school let out early and she told me that all the professors were having a meeting. And poor Lauren was JUST about to take a much deserved shower and I was supposed to be writing an exam and making copies for my English class....so we get to the meeting, and the meeting is about the environment. Which was really funny because Lauren was like "if this meeting is about being green or something, I'm getting up and leaving!" Hahahah yeah it was about school environment, earth environment, etc. but it was just really funny number one that neither of us knew about it until last minute, and number two because they canceled school to have this meeting. Well, environment is important I am sure....but yeah...

So this blog is taking a couple days to write :) so this next little bit is actually referring to things that happened the same day that the above stuff was written.

Okay, so I went to go teach my class yesterday and when I got there, the director came up to me and told me that I had "bastante cuardernos que necessetan notas." That's prolly all spelled wrong and terrible grammar, but basically that means I had a TON of English notebooks to grade. So thats what I did for the next oh, three or so hours. Fun times. It was really difficult because I could really understand what was going on and what I was supposed to be doing. This sometimes makes things really funny, and sometimes it just makes things really really frustrating. This was one of those frustrating times. But I'm learning that when I don't understand what is going on, it's not just because of the language barrier...I went and asked on of the other teachers what was going on, and she didn't know either.  But a funny part did happen in the midst of this frustrating situation....While I was in the office trying to find notebooks to grade, the PE teacher was also in there. He started talking to me and through a conversation of broken English on his part, and broken Spanish on my part, and through the course of this conversation, I think he tried to get me to go out to eat with him, asked me if I liked to walk on the beach at night (really!??! hahaha) and told me that we should go to Miraflores one weekend....so was like UM yeah sureeee....I gotta go teach English now. So, I definitely left to go make copies of my exam and then I had class. But whats funny is that on my way back from the copy place, I saw him leaving school...and I definitely had a sweet tea in my hand, so it looked like I just dueced out of our conversation to go get a drink...ooops.  Okay...really do gotta go teach English class now ;) Blog more later.

So more just keeps happening.  As I went to my class after lunch, the welding teacher came in and asked me to explain an English word and then we started talking about school stuff and he strait up asked me if I was a Christian.  Out of nowhere. It was so cool. And he asked me what group or whatever, and I just told him that I believed whatever the Bible says is true, and then I got to share the gospel with him. I told him that I believed and that I believed that Jesus came and died on the cross for us and rose again from the dead. I told him that the only reason that Lauren and I were here was to tell the kids about how to have a relationship with Jesus.

So many opportunities are just flooding us here. Lauren just got finished telling me a little bit ago about a boy that she met on the Cusco trip that came here to the community just to visit her and two other people and she was also able to share Christ with him and give him a Bible (thank you Gayla!!!). So wayy cool things are happening here. Two of my students invited me to have dinner at their house (they live outside the community) and their mom is apparently from California (small world! hahaha) and so I am excited about that. So many things happening.  Again, as Matthew says, the harvest is so huge and the workers are so few....please pray that the Lord will send more workers.

Lauren and the boys after Bible study





Lauren, Milagros, Me

The boys and me



After Bible study...and apparently showers too hahaha.



This was sooo funny...I taught them the names of the clothes in class and then had them dress up. Lots of laughs.

The boys...

One of the activities during Bible study. 

This little  girl tried to jump off the roof into the street. She had to sleep in the volunteer house so that we could keep an eye on her. She started out in Laurens bed and then decided to move to mine. We got about 5 hours of sleep, but she didn't try to escape, so thats good.

 The weekends we get to spend in Lima are always such an encouragement and provide a fresh breath of air. Yummy food, good friends, and beautiful sights.

 Tamales for breakfast?! Are we in heaven??? Ha.

 Manny let me adopt her family for mothers day...we had soooo much fun. I LOVE her family.

And this last picture...well, Lauren didn't want to break the news, but she will be following the footsteps of her dad and opening a dry cleaners here in Peru. The open date is set for tomorrow. Ha.