Bursting at the Seams...

I am bursting at the seams to tell what God KEEPS on doing. Yesterday night, we went to the family that had been hosting the house church that has pretty much desolved. This family has hosted this church for about 6 months or so, but the attendance had slowly had started decline, and then Lauren and I went back to the states, February and apparently there was not church when we were not there. We didn´t have it last Sunday, and decided this time around that we needed to put a lot more prayer into it and re-strategize, this time letting the Holy Spirit lead it through Peruvians and putting a ton of prayer into it. It has definetely been an adventure since we are not even sure where this family is spiritually. Anyways, we went to just go pray and talk with them last night, and then ended up going back today to pray with them.

The mindset of the average Peruvian family is so different from our mindsets. The woman`s life is many times centered around buying and preparing the food and taking care of the house, taking care of the kids, etc., and the man´s day is usually filled with some type of work driving a moto or taxi or working in a factory of some type. The man is many times disconnected with the family or non existant. There is much alcoholism involved in many of the men´s lives, and many times don´t seem to be there for the families. The moms too many times seem to be emotionally absent and overworked. The kids sometimes get pregnant at 15 or younger too I guess, and then they are faced with abortion or letting their parents take care of the baby or quitting school. Adoption isn´t really that common.

So, one of our biggest challenges right now is figuring out how to do house church that will work for this type of family. Granted, I am not saying that every Peruvian family is like this. Many are not. But what I am saying is that many of them are so tired when they do have time off that they do not have the motivation or desire to come to church. Sure, people come when we bring food or crafts from the States, but this proves to be more harmful than anything else because it teaches that in order to have a house church or talk about the Bible, you have to bring food and American crafts...and this simply is not the case.

So, all of this to say that today we went and prayed with this precious family who has opened up their home, and we were able to discuss some of the characteristics of the average Peruvian family, and what a truly reproducable peruvian house church would look like.

To be honest, it seems like this is going to be a long process with this particular house church. The family told us that people don´t come when there is not something physical like food or when ¨the gringos¨ aren´t there. Sorry to break it to ya, but it´s not about food OR gringos =)

So we spent a time of prayer today with the mom of the household, Lauren, our taxi driver, and myself. The prayer time was very short and basic, and we asked God to draw the hearts of the people, to raise up Peruvian leaders, and people who would volunteer to open their houses.

Today was also a big day because God seems to be opening up the doors for us to rent a house. It seems to be in the perfect loction, it´s the perfect size, and the family that owns it seems precious. It´s the second story, and we would have our own intrance, and our own bathroom with RUNNING WATER and ELECTRICITY which is oh, so huge. We put down a deposit and first month´s rent, and they are doing electrical work and putting down flooring for the next week, so hopefully should be moving into our new jato (peruvian slang for house) soon!

This house has a pretty big living room, which would allow us to have house church training sessions or seminars or whatever you want to call them in our livingroom. And, did I mention it has running water?? =)

So this evening we went to Camino de Vida (finally!!). This is a church in Surco, Lima that is pretty big and led by a man who is from the States and who has lived in Peru for over 30 years. I can not tell you how freeing and amazing it was to worship the Lord in Spanish together with hundreds of other Peruvians. When I looked around at one point in the service, there was not one person I saw without their hands up in the air. I know worship is not about the experience, but this is one experience I never want to forget.

On the way out of church, we met a lady who we were talking to about Jesus, and we were able to give her a Bible. She seemed kinda closed to the gospel, but then she started to open up more, and Lauren asked her where she lived and she said Pachecutec. That is the city in the boonies like 3 hours away. Incidentally the city is 5 or 10 minutes from where we live in Ventanilla. We talked to her about coming and studying the Bible with her at her house. Maybe it will be the start of another house church.

Then, another wonderful thing happened today. I found cheese sticks like at Sonic. That has been the one thing since being back that I have craved and have not found. I know. it´s a small thing. But sometimes when you´re in a different country, it´s the small things God uses to say ¨Hey, I love you.¨ So God loves me with greeeeesy fried cheese sticks and maranara sauce! =)

Well, after church and dinner, we were walking down the street and Lauren saw this homeless lady that had a blanket over her head and she was sleeping in the street. I would have walked right by her, but Lauren noticed her. So she went over to her and we gave her our leftover food and we started talking to her about Jesus. Her life was so sad. She had been robbed 5 months before, and was now on the street. She said she had given her life to Christ, and talked about how in this life, we have no pain or bad things in our life with Christ...and this is coming from a lady that is on the street! Lauren taught her a few songs about the Lord and the three of us sang them together, right there in the street. Here I am struggling with being embarrased about singing songs with a Christian begger on the side of the street cause I am afraid of what people who are walking by (who I will never see again) are thinking. Oh, I have such a long way to go.

Anyways, I am so blessed to live this life. And we found internet tonight too, so that makes the day even better.

Anyways, facing this next week for the first time not having a plan. Asking the Holy Spirit what next steps we are supposed to take to see this vision completed. Well, I guess we have somewhat of a plan...and that is to research more on house churches, pray like crazy and read Acts. That´s all for now, folks!

Dios te bendiga.

Resignation.

So, late last night (or should I say this morning) I finished reading this church planting book I´ve been reading. I´ve seeking God and asking Him to show me. I wrote out in my journal all the questions and concerns about church planting that I have. As I was writing today about how I felt that there was a chasm in between my family and friends and that maybe they wouldn´t understand way I was doing this. Before, when someone said ¨church planting,¨ honestly, they were just two pretty empty words. My fear was that they would hold the same significance for many of the people that hear what I am seeking God about and what I feel He is leading me to do. Because it takes more effort to communicate with friends and family long distance, I felt that such a sudden change in heart might not be understood. But so far, this has not been the case. And then, I read this morning´s devotional. I want you to read it. I will translate it into English.

Resignación

Mas buscad primeramente el reino de Dios y su justicia, y todas estas cosas os serán añadidas. -Mateo 6:33

Inclina tu corazón hacia mí, y sintoniza tu oído con mi voz. Porque deseo hablarte, tengo un mensaje urgente para ti. No busques establecer tu propios designios. Ya he puesto en movimiento mi divina voluntad y proposito, y no quiero que interfieras, Soy celoso de mis hijos: Son míos, y tu no has de interferir ni impedir de manera alguna lo que yo he planeado. Si, puedes hacer muchas cosas, pero solo lo que yo te indique hacer tendrá mi bendición.
Entrega, deja todo en mis manos...a tus seres queridos y a ti mismo. Se obediente a la pequeña y suave vocecita. Tu propia imaginación quizá hable en voz mas alta, pero siempre sera por mi. Veras la sabiduria de esto con el tiempo. No te inquietes por las cosas de la carne, sino ocúpate primero y siempre de los valores espirituales. Por cierto, mi promesa sigue siendo: ¨Busca primer el reino de Dios, y todo lo demás vendrá por añadidura.¨

Resignation 

But you seek primarily the kingdom of God and its justice, and all these things will be added you.  Matt. 6:33

Incline your heart toward me, and tune your ear with my voice.  Because I desire to speak you, I have an urgent message for you.  Do not seek to establish your own plans.  Already I have placed in movement my divine will and purpose, and I do not want you to interfere, I am jealous of my children:  They are mine, and you have not interfered or prevented anything that I have planned.  Yes, you can do many things, but only what I indicate to you to do will have My blessing.
Bring and leave everything in my hands...your beloved things/ ones and yourself.  Be obedient to the small voice.  Your own imagination perhaps speaks in a louder voice, but always wait for Me. You will see the wisdom of this with time.  Do not  worry about the things of the flesh but instead occupy yourself in spiritual values
Certainly, my promise continues:  ¨First seek the kingdom of God, and everything else will be added to you.¨


God has changed my heart in less than 48 hours, so He can change anyone´s heart.

I am reading the Bible through book by book and I am reading Matthew 19:29, and it too promises that if we have left these things of value for Christ, it will not go unrewarded.

Winds of Change

I wish there was a way to personally tell all of you what God has done in the past two or three days. Incredible things are happening in my life and God is moving deeply in my heart. I have been reading a book on church planting and I am amazed at what God is doing all over the world by way redeeming people by family groups, people groups, countries and nations. I am praying about dropping English and going to church planting. I am struggling though, because I know that God has opened up so many doors with the kids in the area of teaching English, but in reality, we talk about English...not really about God. I see a world of people so open to hear about Christ and I´m talking about past tense, present tense and future tense of verbs. Is this what God has for me? I realize that God has given us all different giftings. I´m just trying to figure out where I can operate in my giftings and be most effective. I enjoy teaching English, but I LOVE watching people come to Christ.

The last three days have been incredible. I have really been seeking the Lord with all of my heart, and I am finding Him like never before. He is doing things that are incredible. I don´t know why I have waited to so long to start the discipline of prayer. Not just little second prayers, but real, genuine, pooring my heart out to God and listening to Him speak type prayer.

I am starting to really examine the reason why I´m here. My desire is to see all people follow after Christ with everything they have, growing in their faith and telling others about the change He has made in them. I am supposed to be here- God has made it obvious. Now its just about figuring out why and how I can best make His name glorified. I want this to be something I know God is calling me to, and that He has given me a passion for. Anyways, please pray for God´s direction, for Lauren and I as we seek what God wants us to do individually and as a team. Lauren has had a heart and passion for church planting for a while, and so I am asking Him if He wants me to join her in this, or to continue to teach in the schools. I believe God sends people out two by two, but that He gives both of them a heart an passion for something individually and as a team.

More to come soon! Oh, good news, we may have found more permanent housing! We will know on Sunday.

Thank you for your prayers.

Watching God work

Well, this last week and weekend had been quite refreshing, and to be honest, I was pretty apprehensive about going back to life in Ventanilla. Sunday morning, I woke up and Lauren and I went to church with some of our American missionary friends that live in Surco. It was so wonderful to go to church and not be teaching. We had been to church several times before when we first moved here, but neither of us could understand the language enough to really know what was going on. So that always makes things hard =). This time around was really cool because we could understand better what was going on, and we could worship the Lord with other Peruvian Christians. Sunday was fun because I got to hang out with some Peruvian friends, and then I headed back to Ventanilla that evening. I was pretty apprehensive because I didn´t know where I was going to stay that night. Anyways, I ended up staying at a hostal. I called one of my Peruvian friends to spend the night with me, and she did. Her and her family ended up offering us a part of their house to live in, and I moved in yesterday. God definitely provides. I was so thrilled. It is a little two bedroom house that has its own intrance, and it even has a fridge! We had to go to the store yesterday and buy a stove (looks like a camping stove) and pots and plates and stuff like that, but I just kept thinking what a miracle yesteray was, and how when God calls, he always provides. I am so thankful for this Peruvian family who has let us live with them. We worked so hard to clean the little house out...I have never seen so much dust (makes it harder when you live in the desert lol).

We do have electricity too, which is so cool, but no running water. I am still getting used to that, but it´s okay. We dont have our own bathroom, so we just use their bathroom, and let me tell you, it´s really embarrassing to have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and go into their house, and the dogs start barking and wake everyone up....fantastic to be sure. And pretty embarrassing. Ha.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also was able to go to a school yesterday to see if I could teach English, and they said yes! So this week, I am in the middle of organizing my schedule...should be up and running by next week.

God is really teaching me the importance of humility. Lauren and I were able to have a really good conversation last night, and I really saw areas in which I have not put the Lord first and honored Him. It´s so easy to let pride get in the way. Especially when you work in a team. Please pray that God would continue to help us to be an encouragement to eachother, and that we would both find our encouragement, humility, joy and peace in the Lord.

Thank you so much.
Nancy

Well, it´s so great to be back. Carly left yesterday, which was not so great, but it was really cool for us each to get a taste of the other one´s world. I was so very thankful for that opportunity. Last night, got to hang out with two amazing people, Wes and Erica. They were a part of Carly´s team that ended up staying in Lima for a couple extra days because they had a later flight.  It was such an unexpected blessing and encouragement to get to spend some time with them. We went to the water park and talked like we were old friends. So cool how God never stops with the ¨refreshing your life¨ business.

My sweet new friends, Erica and Wes

Then, hopped on a combi and headed to Ventanilla, which is about 2.5 or 3 hours away. I ended up meeting Julie, a girl who is about my age and makes shirts. Her brother was with her on the the combi, and we ended up talking about everything from work to family to God to buying water. They were so sweet and helped me change combies when I needed to do that. It is incredible how many people go out of their way to help me. Julie gave me her number within the first 2 minutes of meeting her, and then at the end of our conversation, envited me to spend the rest of my day with them. Of course I couldn´t, because I was going to Ventanilla, but it was so nice of them to ask.

So then I went to the community to see about teaching this year. I got to talk to Miguel, who told me that I could teach again but that I just had to bring them a schedule of the hours I wanted to work. Because I want to also work in a school in the city of Ventanilla, I need to go check on that first, and see if that will be possible, and then once I have their schedule, I can start teaching at the community. I would really like to give intensive English classes there too, so we´ll see what happens.

When I was at the community, I got to talk to several of the older girls. They are so precious and each of their stories is so touching. What they have to say is different, what they are thinking about, what problems they have. I love them so much, and it was so good to catch up with them. I wish I could go into their lives and fix all of their problems. Many of the problems are not just their problems, they are shared problems. By that, I mean they are affecting other people. And this hurts to see.

Something I have dealt with today is inexplainable fear. It is something that controls me way more than I want to admit. Sometimes I am just sitting somewhere and I start wigging out about something stupid. I have got to get some more control of that! Okay, I need the Holy Spirit to help me get some control of that...PLEASE!!!

Alrighty I get to go to church tomorrow, so I am going to go to bed.

Much love.
Nancy

Back in Peru!

3.5.10

Well, I´m sitting in the St. Luis airport waiting for my flight to Miami, and then to Lima. Definitely didn´t think I would be here at this time yesterday. We serve a God not only of miracles, but a God that takes joy in fulfilling our hearts desires. One of my dad´s friends ended up giving me a free flight back to Lima, which is a miracle because everything was pretty much full because of spring break. So, I should be able to spend Tuesday night through Friday night with my best friend and her team from A&M, which I am so excited about. I was bummed about not getting to spend the first couple of days with them, but I know there was a reason I am coming in today and did not come in earlier or later. I know that God has a plan and I am so excited to see it. We are supposed to go to Pachecutec tomorrow and Thursday and witness and work with a house church, so I could not be more excited about that. Pachecutec is the city that is right next to Ventanilla (the city where the orphanage is located), and it is a very poor but huge district. I have not spent a lot of time in Pachecutec, so I am excited to be able to do that. It will also be neat to see what other house church is like, since that is something we too have been working on.  So, we´ll see what God does. I´m so excited.

3.16.10

So today was an incredible day. It was scary, interesting, great, sad, fun, confusing, frusterating and a dream all in one. We got up and went to devotional after staying up entirely too late talking (wouldn´t have it any other way =) and then left for the clinic which was in Villa Maria, a district of Lima. Carly, me and another girl ended up being on a team together, and I ended up translating for our team. That was interesting because I have never translated like that before. Plus, I still am not completely ready to be translating medical spanish...but anyways, we made it. It was a little frusterating because the patients that came in would sit down and some of them would just start talking about anything and everything under the sun that was wrong with their bodies, and some of them wouldn´t tell us an important symptom until we had been with them for 20 minutes to an hour. Many of their stories kept changing too, which made translation hard. At one point there were about three or four different translations going around...poor Carly! That would be impossible for any doctor to diagnose. So, it really was a learning experience for us all. It´s always frusterating to be  presented with a problem and not feel like you can help the person. And helping a person in one day who has had a problem for 20 years is not easy....as we found out with one of our patients...

The really cool thing is that we got to pray with all of our patients and share the gospel with them, which was really neat. I am so thankful for the opportunity to do that. The people at the church that hosted us at the church were so sweet too. They fixed us a traditional aji de gallina lunch (yum) with some chicha morada (mmmm!)

Then we came back to the hotel and Carly wasn´t feeling well, so we went and got pizza and brought it back and ate it. Then we watched some Smallville, House, Ace of Cakes and some other great American shows in English =) Today Carly has not felt well (good ol stomach stuff...) so we´ve been able to stay in and relax. Please pray for her healing.

2010 Overview

Well, I thought I would be heading back to Peru last Thursday, but God had other plans, and while I would love to be able to be in Peru with my best friend who is there right now on a medical mission trip, it has been nice to have a few unplanned days here to get things done. So, here's a little update on life =)

As is apparent from my last blog, I really struggled with calling and where I was supposed to be for about the first month (well, maybe a couple of weeks within that month) that I was in the states. I came back in the middle of February as a planned to see fam and friends before school started again.

A huge part of my uncertainty was realizing how spiritually and emotionally dry I was, and that really it was my fault.  Let me tell you, it is so hard to balance ministry time with "getting spiritually fed" time and all of that. Sometimes I would feel guilty for doing the things to make sure I was getting filled up. But I realize that you can not give when you have nothing to give. (novel concept, huh!?) To be honest, I had forgotten who my Savior and Lover of my soul was. I had been telling people about the Jesus, but He wasn't even real to me anymore. And that is a scary place to be.

I realized that I had let more than several friendships (who were spiritually encouraging) fall through the cracks,  and that was something that was hard and painful to see, not because those people chose not to be my friends anymore, but because I saw I had missed out. But thank God for second chances, wisdom in how to "budget" time, and SKYPE!!


Basically, to put it into quick terms, I doubted whether or not I was supposed to go back to Peru for another year. It wasn't that my heart wasn't there anymore, it was just that I had been away from the States long enough to see it in a "fresher" perspective, and it was easier to picture myself living here and what my life what be like. But then on the other hand, it was extremely hard, because I knew that God was doing an incredible work in Peru, and that it was obvious that He had been doing something through me this last year.

To be honest, I really didn't struggle with the whole doubt thing until about a week or two of being here. So, about the third week in, I fasted and prayed for a few days and just asked God to show me what He wanted me to do. I was at the point where it didn't really matter if He told me to stay here or go back there; I just wanted to be in His will. So on the third day of fasting, I knew that God's will for me to return to Peru. After church this last Sunday (3.6.11) the Lord gave me a sudden energy and motivation to get ready to go back to Peru. (I was thinking wow, where has this been the whole time?? Oh well..our timing is not His :)

His call to go to Peru was so strong and made so obvious, so I knew that if He wanted me to stay, it would be obvious. And, that never came. And deep down in my gut, I knew I was supposed to go back. God is doing so many things in Peru, and I am so thankful to be a part of it.

Sometimes I wish I was a person who was always like iron-strong and never doubted or second guessed. But I guess if there wasn't any "not knowing" in my life, I wouldn't need trust and faith. This is a verse that really hit me hard...I heard it about two weeks ago and it made sense.

2 Peter 2:5-11

[5] For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; [6] and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; [7] and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. [8] For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Sometimes I get so focused on just "making it" that I don't even focus on the growing part, but here we are given the recipe for success...we have no excuse to be ineffective.

Something else I had dealt a lot with last year was fear. Irrational fear of many things.  This is something that God is freeing me from, and it's a process. I have been memorizing Psalm 139 and this has been a blessing to quote in situations where thoughts of fear enter my mind.

I know this is a long blog, but I really haven't blogged in a long time, and I feel like my readers have been "jilted" on knowing what God has done this last year. I just wanted to list a few things out (even thought it's a little late.) The Peruvian school year starts in the beginning of March, and so for us, we are still in the beginning stages ;)

So here it goes. Miracles of 2010

• Incredible ability to learn the language and be able to communicate the gospel and have many conversations about the Lord.
• Surviving typhoid 
• Two of the most influential kids in the community became followers of Christ; they have since moved on, and it is so neat to see their journeys
• We got to witness to about 80 volunteers from different countries, none of who were followers of Christ.
• We have met some amazing "gringo" missionaries that live and work in Lima, and have been so encouraged by them.
• We got to share the gospel with all of the teachers in the school where we worked and give almost all of them Bibles
• I got to share my testimony in almost all of my English classes
• Co-led 8-9 Bible studies per week and a house church on the weekends
• We got to pass out salvation bracelets and witness to hundreds of people standing in line to vote during elections this year
• About 120 kids came to Christ this last year and many of them want to be baptized
• Got to witness to and hang out with countless groups that came in to do programs with the kids on the weekends
• Got involved in 3 different schools outside the community and did VBS type programs with them weekly or monthly.
• Getting to develop relationships and share the gospel with the pharmacist, dentist and doctors and patients in the clinic.
• Getting to go to Cusco and getting to share the gospel with one of my student's mothers who was really sick. We also took her to the doctor and got her some medicine to help out with her stomach problems.
• Getting to go on the graduation trip with about 50 high school seniors. We hiked through the Andes mountains and got to witness to hundreds of people along the way (thanks to the amazing Southmonters who made the lightweight gospel bracelets). 
• So many groups / individuals from the states came down to see us and help us in our ministry... what an encouragement and blessing
• Got to be a part of several clothes drives and see the kids get new clothes.
• Every kid now has a Bible (except the new ones who have come in) and every kid's house a proclaimer (radio-like device with the Bible recorded onto it)

So, I am so thankful to God for what He has done this past year. This is only the "tip of the iceberg" so to speak. I can not describe all of the things God has done in our hearts and lives alone. He's given me a passion for the gospel like never before. He has given us the grace to live in a place that is impoverished with hunger, poverty, sexual sin, corruption and spiritual darkness. He has opened up doors we never imagined could be opened. He's given us incredible favor with Peruvian people. My prayer for this year is that the Holy Spirit would lead, and that we would follow. That others would see Christ so strongly in us and that we would be able to use our time and energy doing things bring glory to God and that we would let the other stuff just fall away.

Thank you so much for reading! Get excited about some crazy awesome stories for 2011!!! Yeah baby!

Ramblings...

I wrote this about a month ago, but completely forgot, so figured I should publish it =)

Well, I have been back in Texas for about two weeks, and it has been really good. I have gotten to hang out with my family (didn't really leave the house hardly at all for the first week) and I've gotten to see some friends and reconnect with some people that I haven't seen in ages. The last couple of days have been especially hard because I start imagining my life here and how it would be if I lived here again, and I think about the friendships I would have and the spiritual encouragement. That is hardest thing about being in Peru is not having the spiritual encouragement that I took forgranted in the States. I mean, I went from working full-time at DBU to living in Peru. Having Lauren there has been incredible- I could not have done this last year by myself, and the Lord knew that, and blessed me with an incredible sister in her.
But, it is so nice to just come back here and go to church. I really hadn't been to church in about a year (except for when I came home in October). And this time when I went to church with my family it was really cool, because I could listen to the sermon in Spanish. I guess it's always easy to see the things that are missing when you come back, but then, I hardly ever fight the battle of staying or leaving except when I am in the States. I know very confusing. And doesn't help that I seem to struggle with being indecisive.