Well, well, well... so sorry I haven't written in a while! I'll try to make it brief, but we all know how good I am at that!
After Nazca, we got rerouted because of the road strikes here... our detour was Bolivia! It was pretty cool to get to say we went to another country for the day! However, the night before, I was rushed to the emergency room... Not only did I have parasite number 2, but I also had traveler's disease, and an allergic reaction. I got lots of drugs for the first 2, and a booty shot for the allergic reaction. That was an interesting night, to say the least.
We went to Lampa after that. Brad, a journeyman, is the "village team" there, so it was my team, the Barnabus team (encouragement), and him. We jumped on with his ministries in his town, including going to a families house 45 minutes away to do Bible study, and playing daily tennis with new believers in Lampa. :-) We also did a performance in the plaza, to which over 100 people came. It was pretty awesome! I brought two girls from the hostal (Aydé- 9, and Anni- 18) and really befriended them over those couple of days. The hostal owners were definitely our favorites from the summer, and I hope to keep in touch with them through email. Also, we went on a tour of the Catholic church there, which has a moselium with lots of dead bodies (bones) in it, and went to Juliaca (the neighboring city) for Brad and Amy's birthdays. It was a laid-back and fun village.
Our last village for the summer was Nuñoa. It was COLD. And they only had electricity maybe 3 hours a day. :-/ We played with kids a lot, and did a performance this morning in the only school that was open. (Along with the transportation strikes plaguing the country, the teachers have been on strike since the beginning of July, which has meant no school as well! I just think that's awful!) The most exciting thing for me in Nuñoa was quite a coincidence, to say the least. Marguerita, the woman I had Bible study with in Cusicancha and later found out accepted Christ, was at the market on Sunday! It was awesome! I ran over to her and we hugged for a while. It was so nice to see her and find out how she has been doing! Our main ministry in Nuñoa was the church there. They were having a "church retreat," so we performed for that, as well as in church and children's church on Sunday morning.
We're in Puno tonight, and after touring Lake Titicaca tomorrow, we will be on a 20 hour bus ride back to Lima for debriefing. I´m missing home and family and friends terribly right now, so please keep praying for me! And don't forget to leave comments! ¡Chao amigos!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
BEST PLACE EVER!
Well, as you know, my team has been stuck in Nazca the last 3 days. God had great- amazing- plans for us though. Because of the things that have happened here, we have claimed Nazca as our village since we don't have one of our own. :-)
Yesterday, John and Salomon met up with one of the bus drivers we met on our way into Nazca 2 weeks ago from Bella Union. They had given him a Bible then and he had been reading it. He had lots of questions for the boys when they found him, and after talking with him in his car for a few hours, he accepted Christ into his life! How awesome is that?!? We weren't even supposed to be here (according to us), but look what God had planned!
We decided that, because that happened, everything that we had gone through (and are still going through) with the strikes was completely worth it. And today, it became even more worth it.
Last night, we visited our favorite coffee/cake/ice-cream shop, called Coffee Break and talked with our friends who work there. It is a family, and the kids all work there. Julio is 24, Demaris is 22, Josie is 14, and Yanpol is barely 14. We asked them if we could come in today and help them bake (because after looking at these cakes for two weeks I have been wanting to bake so badly). They said yes, so we came at 8 am this morning and hung out with them ALL day. It's 4:45pm now, and we have been in their shop since 8 am, minus our lunch break. :-) Not only did we make like 7 cakes (completely from scratch) with them- and let me say, they looked and tasted amazing-, but we also got to share the gospel with the whole family. Julio, who is a Christian, had to go to his other job at 2:00 pm, so we didn't get to spend as much time with him, but we poured into Demaris (she was so inquisitive and interested), and she decided to accept Christ into her heart and life as well! OMG could God get any better?!? I was just unexplainably happy for her!
Pray for these 2 new Christians- for your brother, Carlos, and for your sister, Damaris, and for their continuation in their relationship with Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. God put us in the midst of a nationwide crisis so that we would share with the people of "our village"- for such a time as this!
GOD IS SO GOOD!
Yesterday, John and Salomon met up with one of the bus drivers we met on our way into Nazca 2 weeks ago from Bella Union. They had given him a Bible then and he had been reading it. He had lots of questions for the boys when they found him, and after talking with him in his car for a few hours, he accepted Christ into his life! How awesome is that?!? We weren't even supposed to be here (according to us), but look what God had planned!
We decided that, because that happened, everything that we had gone through (and are still going through) with the strikes was completely worth it. And today, it became even more worth it.
Last night, we visited our favorite coffee/cake/ice-cream shop, called Coffee Break and talked with our friends who work there. It is a family, and the kids all work there. Julio is 24, Demaris is 22, Josie is 14, and Yanpol is barely 14. We asked them if we could come in today and help them bake (because after looking at these cakes for two weeks I have been wanting to bake so badly). They said yes, so we came at 8 am this morning and hung out with them ALL day. It's 4:45pm now, and we have been in their shop since 8 am, minus our lunch break. :-) Not only did we make like 7 cakes (completely from scratch) with them- and let me say, they looked and tasted amazing-, but we also got to share the gospel with the whole family. Julio, who is a Christian, had to go to his other job at 2:00 pm, so we didn't get to spend as much time with him, but we poured into Demaris (she was so inquisitive and interested), and she decided to accept Christ into her heart and life as well! OMG could God get any better?!? I was just unexplainably happy for her!
Pray for these 2 new Christians- for your brother, Carlos, and for your sister, Damaris, and for their continuation in their relationship with Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. God put us in the midst of a nationwide crisis so that we would share with the people of "our village"- for such a time as this!
GOD IS SO GOOD!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Prayer Request
So, I didn´t think I would be posting again so soon, but we have a bit of a prayer request. And by bit, I mean much...
Pretty much the entire nation of Peru is on strike right now- teachers, transportation, farmers, etc. The teachers are becoming the most violent (ironic), and it is becoming somewhat dangerous to travel. That would be our problem IF we were able to travel... but, we aren´t... We we stuck in Pausa for 2 days, Puquio for 1 day, and now Nazca for an undetermined amount of time. We might be able to get a bus to Arequipa tonight, but we´ll be stuck once we get there if we go. We have alrady had to completely cut out one of the villages we were supposed to travel to because of the delays, so its getting a bit frustrating that we can´t get to where we need to be. (Upside- we´re still not in the FREEZING part of Peru!) Please pray that the strikes (paros and vueltas) diminish enough to allow us to get to where we need to be. Also, pray for the safety of the people of Peru... there is a lot of governmental corruption that is surfacing right now, and I am not exaggerating when I say that it is pulling Peru to a grinding halt.
Story to show you God´s protection over us. (I think its cool- Mommy and Daddy might not, but don´t worry!) We were stuck in Pausa three days ago, setting us 1-2 days behind. We finally got out of there and to Inquio, where we planned to get on a bus last night, only to find out that there were no busses leaving there either. (We took a taxi from there to Nazca today.) Last night on the news, we saw that there was a bus that overturned earlier that evening. The strikers put rocks in the road, and, not only was the bus completely totaled, but 14 people were killed. (Pray for their families, please.) The cool part of that story, tragic as it is, is that might have been the bus we should have been on... we don´t know for sure, but according to our schedule, it could have been. God is watching out for his children with such great care!
Please pray for continued protection and that the strike would dissapate. I love you all so much and appreciate you greatly!
Pretty much the entire nation of Peru is on strike right now- teachers, transportation, farmers, etc. The teachers are becoming the most violent (ironic), and it is becoming somewhat dangerous to travel. That would be our problem IF we were able to travel... but, we aren´t... We we stuck in Pausa for 2 days, Puquio for 1 day, and now Nazca for an undetermined amount of time. We might be able to get a bus to Arequipa tonight, but we´ll be stuck once we get there if we go. We have alrady had to completely cut out one of the villages we were supposed to travel to because of the delays, so its getting a bit frustrating that we can´t get to where we need to be. (Upside- we´re still not in the FREEZING part of Peru!) Please pray that the strikes (paros and vueltas) diminish enough to allow us to get to where we need to be. Also, pray for the safety of the people of Peru... there is a lot of governmental corruption that is surfacing right now, and I am not exaggerating when I say that it is pulling Peru to a grinding halt.
Story to show you God´s protection over us. (I think its cool- Mommy and Daddy might not, but don´t worry!) We were stuck in Pausa three days ago, setting us 1-2 days behind. We finally got out of there and to Inquio, where we planned to get on a bus last night, only to find out that there were no busses leaving there either. (We took a taxi from there to Nazca today.) Last night on the news, we saw that there was a bus that overturned earlier that evening. The strikers put rocks in the road, and, not only was the bus completely totaled, but 14 people were killed. (Pray for their families, please.) The cool part of that story, tragic as it is, is that might have been the bus we should have been on... we don´t know for sure, but according to our schedule, it could have been. God is watching out for his children with such great care!
Please pray for continued protection and that the strike would dissapate. I love you all so much and appreciate you greatly!
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Marcabamba
Well, I'm not feeling super well right now, so this will be short (you lucky kids!)
Marcabamba was laid back, yet very exciting! The first day we were there the highlight was taking a walk... without looking at my journal, that's all I can remember. :-/
The second day we performed at two of the three schools in the village, but couldn't perform at the third (and had some opposition to the second one) because the ENTIRE nation of Peru is on an education strike- that's right- for an undetermined amount of time EVERY school and EVERY teacher in Peru is on strike. Isn't that crazy?!? But the Lord took care of our needs and got us into the schools we needed to get to. He's pretty cool like that- que mostro! That afternoon Lindsay and I had a Bible study with 9 elementary school girls (of about 8-12 years of age.) They had asked us if we could read the Bible with them, so Lindsay let me lead completely. AHH! My dream! She was there to help me with words I couldn't remember, but I totally led a Bible study in Spanish and people understood it! It was so awesome! Correction- God is so awesome!
The third day we woke up at 6:30 to climb these steps- 1,037 to be exact- up to the top of a mountain. It was so flipping cool! Then, once we got up there, we walked flat ground (PTL) to a beautiful waterfall. The boys climbed up into the waterfall, and then up the mountain some more, but I stayed down and had like a 45 minute convo with God, which was so peaceful (at the foot of a waterfall and the top of an Andean mountain range) and exactly what I needed at the time. :-) Even more exciting, though, was that afternoon at Bible study. We talked about Abraham and God's promises for our life (because we had taught them the song Father Abraham), and it got into Jesus and salvation. The girls (6 this day) knew every answer to every question we asked them, but when we asked them if they had a relationship with Christ, they said no. We thoroughly explained to them the decision and the importance of it being personal, and then asked them if they wanted to do it, and they all raised their hands. One of them did it out of peer pressure, but the other 5 I really believe were genuine. I WAS SO EXCITED! Glory to God! Then, that night, we did a presentation for the whole village in the comedor (community building). It was just children at first, but so many people came in- there ended up being like 70-something people there, which is HUGE for a village in Peru! We clearly presented the gospel, and feel like God was working there.
The next day, the team we were with (Jacob and Derek) had planned to go to a hot springs "paradise" with a man, named James, who is SO inquisitive, but mildly refusing Christ's salvation. Pray for him! It was a fun time to just relax and hang out. We went in the hot pools (Lindsay and I with our man-hairy legs that we're not shaving this summer) and it was so fun! Also, LISTEN UP!!! I ate cuy... what's that, you ask?? Um, guinea pig, a delicacy in Peru. Yummy... it wasn't anything special, but now I definitely have bragging rights. :-D That night we had a Bible study with the girls again, and Roy, Alexandra's brother. One of the girls who became a Christian didn't have a Bible, so we had given her one the night before. She came to Bible study and said that she looked for Juan like I told her, but that her Bible didn't have that book. I told her it did, showed her where it was, and she was SO excited! It was so cute! So, we decided to teach them how to read the Bible. It was so great. It was hard to say goodbye to those girls, but I know they are in God's hand, and hopefully they'll get plugged into the small evangelical church there. :-)
We're stuck in between cities right now, trying to travel to VERY FREEZING Pomacanchi. (Pray for me in the cold, which I despise!) But, we're "stuck" at Cindy's house. She's a missionary here, and she makes really good pancakes! :-)
I am so excited for Marcabamba and what is going on there! Pray for those new sister's in Christ, as well as for James and his questions of salvation. The guys are going back to visit him (he lives in another village) again next week, so hopefully he is more confident in Christ after that!
Thank you guys and girls for your continued ministry in Peru by praying for and encouraging me and my team!
Marcabamba was laid back, yet very exciting! The first day we were there the highlight was taking a walk... without looking at my journal, that's all I can remember. :-/
The second day we performed at two of the three schools in the village, but couldn't perform at the third (and had some opposition to the second one) because the ENTIRE nation of Peru is on an education strike- that's right- for an undetermined amount of time EVERY school and EVERY teacher in Peru is on strike. Isn't that crazy?!? But the Lord took care of our needs and got us into the schools we needed to get to. He's pretty cool like that- que mostro! That afternoon Lindsay and I had a Bible study with 9 elementary school girls (of about 8-12 years of age.) They had asked us if we could read the Bible with them, so Lindsay let me lead completely. AHH! My dream! She was there to help me with words I couldn't remember, but I totally led a Bible study in Spanish and people understood it! It was so awesome! Correction- God is so awesome!
The third day we woke up at 6:30 to climb these steps- 1,037 to be exact- up to the top of a mountain. It was so flipping cool! Then, once we got up there, we walked flat ground (PTL) to a beautiful waterfall. The boys climbed up into the waterfall, and then up the mountain some more, but I stayed down and had like a 45 minute convo with God, which was so peaceful (at the foot of a waterfall and the top of an Andean mountain range) and exactly what I needed at the time. :-) Even more exciting, though, was that afternoon at Bible study. We talked about Abraham and God's promises for our life (because we had taught them the song Father Abraham), and it got into Jesus and salvation. The girls (6 this day) knew every answer to every question we asked them, but when we asked them if they had a relationship with Christ, they said no. We thoroughly explained to them the decision and the importance of it being personal, and then asked them if they wanted to do it, and they all raised their hands. One of them did it out of peer pressure, but the other 5 I really believe were genuine. I WAS SO EXCITED! Glory to God! Then, that night, we did a presentation for the whole village in the comedor (community building). It was just children at first, but so many people came in- there ended up being like 70-something people there, which is HUGE for a village in Peru! We clearly presented the gospel, and feel like God was working there.
The next day, the team we were with (Jacob and Derek) had planned to go to a hot springs "paradise" with a man, named James, who is SO inquisitive, but mildly refusing Christ's salvation. Pray for him! It was a fun time to just relax and hang out. We went in the hot pools (Lindsay and I with our man-hairy legs that we're not shaving this summer) and it was so fun! Also, LISTEN UP!!! I ate cuy... what's that, you ask?? Um, guinea pig, a delicacy in Peru. Yummy... it wasn't anything special, but now I definitely have bragging rights. :-D That night we had a Bible study with the girls again, and Roy, Alexandra's brother. One of the girls who became a Christian didn't have a Bible, so we had given her one the night before. She came to Bible study and said that she looked for Juan like I told her, but that her Bible didn't have that book. I told her it did, showed her where it was, and she was SO excited! It was so cute! So, we decided to teach them how to read the Bible. It was so great. It was hard to say goodbye to those girls, but I know they are in God's hand, and hopefully they'll get plugged into the small evangelical church there. :-)
We're stuck in between cities right now, trying to travel to VERY FREEZING Pomacanchi. (Pray for me in the cold, which I despise!) But, we're "stuck" at Cindy's house. She's a missionary here, and she makes really good pancakes! :-)
I am so excited for Marcabamba and what is going on there! Pray for those new sister's in Christ, as well as for James and his questions of salvation. The guys are going back to visit him (he lives in another village) again next week, so hopefully he is more confident in Christ after that!
Thank you guys and girls for your continued ministry in Peru by praying for and encouraging me and my team!
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Randoms!
Okay, so I have realized that there are some random things that I have forgotten to tell you about, but that are still exciting and important!
1) I was in Cusicancha, my 3rd village, and all of us gringos were in our room hanging out one night. There was one Peruvian girl (6-7 yrs.) in there with us. We were all sitting down and she was standing up, so I decided to ask her if she wanted to sit on my lap. I looked at her and said, "¿quieres sentir?" to which she replied, "¿que?" I repeated myself and she repeated herself as well. I said, "aqui" and rubbed my leg, as if to tell her that she could sit on my leg if she wanted. She looked very weirded out, and I had NO IDEA why. Later, I found out that I didnt say "do you want to sit down," but "do you want to feel." (Quieres sentar, not sentir.) Its amazing the difference between one letter will make!
2) Marguerita, the girl that I talked about in my previous entry IS A CHRISTIAN now! How exciting! Leslie told me in Nazca, and I told her that we dont get to see people accept Christ because we arent there long enough, but that knowing that Marguerita made that decision made everything Im doing this summer completely worth it!
3) I went to a 74 year old's birthday party... and there were lots of really old people dancing with us... it was super fun!
4) In my current village, Incuyo, there is nothing but what we call a squatty. Those of you that have travelled to less affluent countries understand what this is. For those that dont, its a hole in the ground that you go to the bathroom in. And, from my experience, they are scariest at 1:30 in the morning in the PITCH black (when you cant see anything, including the hole). Yes friends, this is the summer I became hardcore. :-)
5) I almost died on the side of a mountain. In the last village I was at, Bella Union, one day the 4 girls decided to hike a mountain. The boys had done it before, so we thought we would be fine. Lindsay sat down pretty soon after we started climbing, but DeAnna, Jennifer, and I hiked pretty high up. We were trying to follow a path (or mudslide, we arent quite sure) but we ended up LITERALLY on the side of a mountain with about 7 inches of path before it doropped off. We looked down to see rocks falling from under our feet and breaking at the bottom, and we were thoroughly freaked out. We didnt know how to get back down because our feet were sliding, so Jennifer started praying, and we very slowly made it back down. We were so thankful for our lives. That was what some of you Southcliff kids like to call a "come to Jesus moment." Needless to say, it was a thrill!
Thanks for you comments and prayers! Keep em coming!
1) I was in Cusicancha, my 3rd village, and all of us gringos were in our room hanging out one night. There was one Peruvian girl (6-7 yrs.) in there with us. We were all sitting down and she was standing up, so I decided to ask her if she wanted to sit on my lap. I looked at her and said, "¿quieres sentir?" to which she replied, "¿que?" I repeated myself and she repeated herself as well. I said, "aqui" and rubbed my leg, as if to tell her that she could sit on my leg if she wanted. She looked very weirded out, and I had NO IDEA why. Later, I found out that I didnt say "do you want to sit down," but "do you want to feel." (Quieres sentar, not sentir.) Its amazing the difference between one letter will make!
2) Marguerita, the girl that I talked about in my previous entry IS A CHRISTIAN now! How exciting! Leslie told me in Nazca, and I told her that we dont get to see people accept Christ because we arent there long enough, but that knowing that Marguerita made that decision made everything Im doing this summer completely worth it!
3) I went to a 74 year old's birthday party... and there were lots of really old people dancing with us... it was super fun!
4) In my current village, Incuyo, there is nothing but what we call a squatty. Those of you that have travelled to less affluent countries understand what this is. For those that dont, its a hole in the ground that you go to the bathroom in. And, from my experience, they are scariest at 1:30 in the morning in the PITCH black (when you cant see anything, including the hole). Yes friends, this is the summer I became hardcore. :-)
5) I almost died on the side of a mountain. In the last village I was at, Bella Union, one day the 4 girls decided to hike a mountain. The boys had done it before, so we thought we would be fine. Lindsay sat down pretty soon after we started climbing, but DeAnna, Jennifer, and I hiked pretty high up. We were trying to follow a path (or mudslide, we arent quite sure) but we ended up LITERALLY on the side of a mountain with about 7 inches of path before it doropped off. We looked down to see rocks falling from under our feet and breaking at the bottom, and we were thoroughly freaked out. We didnt know how to get back down because our feet were sliding, so Jennifer started praying, and we very slowly made it back down. We were so thankful for our lives. That was what some of you Southcliff kids like to call a "come to Jesus moment." Needless to say, it was a thrill!
Thanks for you comments and prayers! Keep em coming!
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