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.