Arrived at the airport Monday evening and Nicchola (our taxi driver and second dad) picked me up. Keep in mind, when I had left, we had just moved and were still in the process of getting moved in, buying furniture, appliances, etc. Amanda (one of our amazing gringa ¨Peruvian¨ friends =) and Lauren had been hanging out while I was gone, and poor Amanda had already helped move us when I left in December, so moving again was probably not the first thing on her list. Anyways, Lauren had told me that they really hadn´t gotten much done on the house while I had been gone, so I was ready to get to work when I got back. I was soooo tired from the 12 or 13 hour flights, so when I got back, I was expecting the house to be a mess, but just wanted some clean sheets and a chance to pass out. Well, I got way more than that when I walked in. Turns out, Lauren and Amanda had worked their butts off to not only finish unpacking, but get custom doors made and installed for the bathroom, our room, guest room and kitchen, pick up and hang custom made curtains, paint, find new sofa cushions, get pillows made, install the kitchen, create an play by play list of EVERYTHING that is in the supply room (down to the last pencil lol ), organize a library in the living room, get the water tank working, and a whole ton of other stuff....even down to buying Tupperware. I could not have asked for a better gift. These girls are amazing. Lauren wrote the sweetest letter…so humbling. That girl is an example of generosity, organization, love, compassion, and a whole lot of other things. I am so blessed to have her as a ministry partner. And Amanda? Incredible. What married woman gives up a week of time from her ministry and husband to come help two crazy girls move and organize their stuff? For the second time? And then be there to rejoice with you when you open the door. Oh, yeah, did I mention that when I opened the door to the house, everything was ready, clean and organized, they had baked cookies and cakes, blown up balloons, and Lauren´s mom even got to be there on skype. So cool.
So that night we went to eat at Chili´s to celebrate. Nicchola of course came with us (he had been in on the whole thing =) and it was his first time to go to Chilis. So yummm.
So then, Tuesday was spend getting organized, going grocery shopping, catching up on Skype, and all of that good stuff.
Yesterday we started ministry stuff again, which was so great. I was kinda not sure about everything, cause we really hadn´t started doing ministry stuff when I left, and since our life and vision is now training people to be church leaders, but God is always faithful.
So Alvaro met up with us and we went to go look for a map of the city so that we can plan out where we need to try to establish house churches. Well, it seems that nothing is ever easy here. We went to the municipalidad (municipality) and asked for a map and apparently they can´t give out maps because the people receiving it might be terrorists. Not like you can just go buy a map. So here we are sitting in this government office taking pictures of this map up on the wall to try to make copies of it…a map that doesn´t even have our house on it. It´s a big white spot. Oh well. Can you say ghetto. This is our life. =)
Anyways, the cool part of the day happened while we were waiting for the director to show up to the municipalidad, Lauren wanted to get a little snack from the market, so I went with her. While we were there, we started talking to some teenage girls and then as we walked out, there were a group of kids that were playing in the street. Lauren (baller she is) walks right up to them and is like ¨Hey ya wanna learn a new game?¨ And right there she starts playing the hand game (for those of you who don´t know, it´s a game that explains the gospel while playing a clapping game). So, as we kept going, before we knew it, kids were coming from all over and so were the adults. We must have had about 15 or 20 kids there playing this game, singing songs about Jesus and hearing the gospel. Then some policeman walk by, and we´re thinking oh great…this looks like a riot maybe…we could get in trouble for this. But. No. They just looked at us, hung around to hear what we were saying, and then continued on. Sweet. I had to leave to go help out with the map situation, but Lauren stayed a few minutes longer and we got invited to come hang out there in the street with the kids. I think a lady that owns a store said that we could come and do a Bible study or whatever at her store…on top of that, Lauren met a Christian pastor (which is almost unheard of here) and he invited us to his church. Sweet stuff.
So we headed back to the municipalidad and finally they were able to give us a copy of the maps (guess we passed the non terrorist test) haaha.
Sitting on the front steps...waiting for the director to come back to the municipality so we could get the map...
Playing with some kids in the street...teaching them the hand game.
new friends
Then after that, we went to the grocery store to go shopping for Nicchola´s birthday. We are in the process of making Lomo Saltado (one of my favorite Peruvian dishes...and I have included the recepie at the bottom for all of you adventurous ones =). We had such a great day yesterday. While it´s great to have a wonderful dad that is states side, God has also given me two father like figures in Alvaro and Nicchola. They encourage us and watch out for us and really go out of their way to make sure we are okay.
Here are some pics.
Lomo Saltado
1 (16 ounce) package frozen French fries
vegetable oil as needed
1 pound beef tri tip, sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick
salt and pepper to taste
1 large onion, sliced into strips
3 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and sliced into strips
1 yellow chili pepper (preferably Peruvian aji amarillo)
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1 dash soy sauce to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Aside, prepare 4-6 servings of rice (add a bit of garlic and salt for true Peruvian flavor) =)
Directions
1.Prepare the bag of French fries according to package directions.
2.While the French fries are cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Season the sliced meat with salt and pepper to taste. Fry the meat until just cooked, and the juices begin to release. Remove the meat from the frying pan, then cook the onions, with additional oil if needed, until they are transparent. Stir in the tomato and aji amarillo; cook until the tomato softens. Pour in the vinegar and soy sauce, add the French fries, cover, and cook until the beef is done, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve over steaming white rice.
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