Saturday, June 2, 2007
PS.
Orphans and homeless are becoming a bigger and bigger passion of mine. We'll see what comes out of that! (Exciting stuff my friends!)
Off to the Mountains!
(Sorry it's so long... it's good stuff, I promise!)
And we're off! My team is leaving today to go to our first village. It is called Huarochirí, and it is a village in the Lima state, but about 7 hours away from where I am staying right now. We will most likely be riding on a cambi, which is like a VW bus that has way too many people on it. I'm hoping I get to sit, since its a 7 hour long (hopefully) journey. Next week we are taking a 23 hour bus ride, so this one is just like a warm up I suppose. :-)
We have been preparing unspoken dramas, puppet plays, kids songs, and adult worship songs all week. I feel SOOO much more prepared than I was before the week began, but still have trouble with some of the words. God is so faithful though, and I can already see his provisions with language barriers coming through. (No, I'm definitely not where I want to be, but getting better and better each day.)
We performed at a very poor school yesterday, as well as a shanti-town orphanage. The school was fun because the littlest ones were right in front of me when we were singing and dancing, and I got to see their faces light up. It was great! Plus, most of the kids knew one of our Christian songs, which made me really happy. Our "line-up" shares the gospel pretty straightforwardly, which I'm really excited about. I wasn't too thrilled when I found out that I would "only" be performing in each village and not getting to spend a whole lot of time relationally with the people. But, if Christ's name is made known, we have done our jobs! The orphanage was amazing. It was SO run down and dirty, and the government doesn't support it at all, so its supported (I think) by this one man and a couple of churches here and there. The kids were so happy we came! There were two girls named Emerelda (about 11) and Estrella (about 5-6) that were so sweet. There were also about 9-10 boys. After we performed, we went and played futbol with them for like 1.5 hours- that was such a thrill for them, because they have to stay inside the orphanage building unless one of the ladies there is with them, so it was sort of like a very short vacation from normality for them. We came back after that and gave them Bibles, coloring books, necklaces, balls (thanks Dillard family!), and candy. (Some of the boys have Bibles from 1.5 years ago when Stephen brought another team in, and they carry them to school every day with them!) They were excited, but even more excited that we had come to visit them. A couple of boys came up to me at the end- I thought they asked me how long I was going to be in Peru, but apparently they asked me when I'm coming to visit them again. I said August, thinking they asked the former question, so we'll see how that turns out. I might just have to stop back by!
Other than that, my team and a Barnabus team (traveling encouragement and mediation) have just been hanging out. Its been really fun getting to know these people so well in such a ridiculously short amount of time.
I'll be back in Lima next weekend, so I'll update you then. PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS! Love you all! Vaya con Dios!
And we're off! My team is leaving today to go to our first village. It is called Huarochirí, and it is a village in the Lima state, but about 7 hours away from where I am staying right now. We will most likely be riding on a cambi, which is like a VW bus that has way too many people on it. I'm hoping I get to sit, since its a 7 hour long (hopefully) journey. Next week we are taking a 23 hour bus ride, so this one is just like a warm up I suppose. :-)
We have been preparing unspoken dramas, puppet plays, kids songs, and adult worship songs all week. I feel SOOO much more prepared than I was before the week began, but still have trouble with some of the words. God is so faithful though, and I can already see his provisions with language barriers coming through. (No, I'm definitely not where I want to be, but getting better and better each day.)
We performed at a very poor school yesterday, as well as a shanti-town orphanage. The school was fun because the littlest ones were right in front of me when we were singing and dancing, and I got to see their faces light up. It was great! Plus, most of the kids knew one of our Christian songs, which made me really happy. Our "line-up" shares the gospel pretty straightforwardly, which I'm really excited about. I wasn't too thrilled when I found out that I would "only" be performing in each village and not getting to spend a whole lot of time relationally with the people. But, if Christ's name is made known, we have done our jobs! The orphanage was amazing. It was SO run down and dirty, and the government doesn't support it at all, so its supported (I think) by this one man and a couple of churches here and there. The kids were so happy we came! There were two girls named Emerelda (about 11) and Estrella (about 5-6) that were so sweet. There were also about 9-10 boys. After we performed, we went and played futbol with them for like 1.5 hours- that was such a thrill for them, because they have to stay inside the orphanage building unless one of the ladies there is with them, so it was sort of like a very short vacation from normality for them. We came back after that and gave them Bibles, coloring books, necklaces, balls (thanks Dillard family!), and candy. (Some of the boys have Bibles from 1.5 years ago when Stephen brought another team in, and they carry them to school every day with them!) They were excited, but even more excited that we had come to visit them. A couple of boys came up to me at the end- I thought they asked me how long I was going to be in Peru, but apparently they asked me when I'm coming to visit them again. I said August, thinking they asked the former question, so we'll see how that turns out. I might just have to stop back by!
Other than that, my team and a Barnabus team (traveling encouragement and mediation) have just been hanging out. Its been really fun getting to know these people so well in such a ridiculously short amount of time.
I'll be back in Lima next weekend, so I'll update you then. PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS! Love you all! Vaya con Dios!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Orientation is Over
I drank frog juice after watching the frog being skinned, guts pulled out, boiled, and blended with some other sketch substances. Yes, people, I drank it. It tasted like throw-up. :-)
I don't even know what to tell you, because I feel like there has been so much going on. We had preaching pretty much all day the last two days. It was good for the most part, but hard to sit in a seat for so long when all you want to do is get to the field. Chris and Stephanie, I can't even imagine what you're going through!
I have oriented myself pretty well in Lima and, while my Spanish is still not nearly good enough, I feel a bit more comfortable using it even if I'm wrong. We will be staying in a local hostel the next week as my team prepares to go to 8 different villages in 8.5 weeks. That should be interesting. (We are traveling all over Peru pretty much, which I am way excited about!) Also, I have taken two showers so far- one was freezing and stopped halfway through while my hair had shampoo in it. My other shower was scalding hot and stopped halfway through while I had shampoo in my hair. SO... I have decided that showers are definitely optional. :-)
Yesterday, after orientation was over, we went over to Mike and Kathy weaver's house (the head missionaries here) for Thanksgiving dinner because it is fall here, which means Thanksgiving time! It was so good! Best sweet potatoes I've ever had! Then, we went to the 11pm showing of Pirates of the Caribbean 3- it was good but very long. :-) (All the Creative Ministry boys slept through it!)
Our team is getting along really well so far! We have claimed the "weird drama kids," although I don't know how I feel about that. One more thing, we have one more member on our team, which we found out about when we got here. His name is Brian Tropiano and he is a photographer. I'm going to try to get his website so you can see pics. Also, look at Lindsay and John's sites (linked to my page) for pictures.
Adrian Maddox- there is a girl on one of the teams here who's name is Audra who acts and looks so much like you. It makes me happy!
Mommy, Daddy, and Kelli- I'm sorry I haven't called yet- we still haven't found calling cards. I WILL call eventually! (I still love you though!)
Maddox family- I miss you tons too!
Davey, you know I miss you like infinity times a bajillion.
Everyone else, I'm so thankful to be able to say that I have such great prayer partners! Please send me your requests as well! The CMT will continue to pray for requests from our partners back home.
You are blessings! Vaya con Dios.
~Kathy
I don't even know what to tell you, because I feel like there has been so much going on. We had preaching pretty much all day the last two days. It was good for the most part, but hard to sit in a seat for so long when all you want to do is get to the field. Chris and Stephanie, I can't even imagine what you're going through!
I have oriented myself pretty well in Lima and, while my Spanish is still not nearly good enough, I feel a bit more comfortable using it even if I'm wrong. We will be staying in a local hostel the next week as my team prepares to go to 8 different villages in 8.5 weeks. That should be interesting. (We are traveling all over Peru pretty much, which I am way excited about!) Also, I have taken two showers so far- one was freezing and stopped halfway through while my hair had shampoo in it. My other shower was scalding hot and stopped halfway through while I had shampoo in my hair. SO... I have decided that showers are definitely optional. :-)
Yesterday, after orientation was over, we went over to Mike and Kathy weaver's house (the head missionaries here) for Thanksgiving dinner because it is fall here, which means Thanksgiving time! It was so good! Best sweet potatoes I've ever had! Then, we went to the 11pm showing of Pirates of the Caribbean 3- it was good but very long. :-) (All the Creative Ministry boys slept through it!)
Our team is getting along really well so far! We have claimed the "weird drama kids," although I don't know how I feel about that. One more thing, we have one more member on our team, which we found out about when we got here. His name is Brian Tropiano and he is a photographer. I'm going to try to get his website so you can see pics. Also, look at Lindsay and John's sites (linked to my page) for pictures.
Adrian Maddox- there is a girl on one of the teams here who's name is Audra who acts and looks so much like you. It makes me happy!
Mommy, Daddy, and Kelli- I'm sorry I haven't called yet- we still haven't found calling cards. I WILL call eventually! (I still love you though!)
Maddox family- I miss you tons too!
Davey, you know I miss you like infinity times a bajillion.
Everyone else, I'm so thankful to be able to say that I have such great prayer partners! Please send me your requests as well! The CMT will continue to pray for requests from our partners back home.
You are blessings! Vaya con Dios.
~Kathy
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Hola de Peru!
I am here safely!
We had a VERY long immersion day today... We did an Amazing Race type of thing around the city and it was exhausting! I love being here! It´s possibly even better than I have been imagining the last few years, so that´s awesome!
We are having orientation the next few days, so hopefully I´ll get a lot of great information about where I´m going and when soon. I´ll try to let you know!
My Spanish is not super great, pero yo salgo some. haha. Keep praying for that please!
Prayer Requests-
Spanish abilities
Energy
Getting along with team and stepping out of my shell and making friends!
Love you all so much! Chao!
We had a VERY long immersion day today... We did an Amazing Race type of thing around the city and it was exhausting! I love being here! It´s possibly even better than I have been imagining the last few years, so that´s awesome!
We are having orientation the next few days, so hopefully I´ll get a lot of great information about where I´m going and when soon. I´ll try to let you know!
My Spanish is not super great, pero yo salgo some. haha. Keep praying for that please!
Prayer Requests-
Spanish abilities
Energy
Getting along with team and stepping out of my shell and making friends!
Love you all so much! Chao!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Off to Peru
Well, this is my last entry before I leave! I leave DFW at 11 am tomorrow morning, where I will fly to Atlanta. From Atlanta, I have a 5:15 pm flight out to Lima, and should arrive there at about 11 pm. Please pray for safe travel, as well as clarity and ease through customs, baggage claim, and finding my group.
As for the summer... I am very excited to be there, but within the last week my anxiety about going has increased. Do I have everything I need? Am I going to be able to carry this HUGE backpack everywhere I go? And the biggest one- am I going to be able to talk to anyone with my Spanish as poor as it is? But not once have I questioned that God wanted me to go. So, if I don't bring what I need, or if I fall over from my backpack being too heavy, or if I share Christ more through my actions than through my words, I will still be serving Him. Praise God that he doesn't NEED me to do his work, but that he ALLOWS me to be part of his magnificent plan.
I am going to miss everyone here very much, but I know that you will be praying for me, a fellowship that cannot be matched. I also have the peace of knowing that I will be doing exactly what God has called me to do. :-)
Thank you for your prayers, emails, and comments! Keep 'em coming!
I leave you with this:
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ~Colossians 4:2-4
As for the summer... I am very excited to be there, but within the last week my anxiety about going has increased. Do I have everything I need? Am I going to be able to carry this HUGE backpack everywhere I go? And the biggest one- am I going to be able to talk to anyone with my Spanish as poor as it is? But not once have I questioned that God wanted me to go. So, if I don't bring what I need, or if I fall over from my backpack being too heavy, or if I share Christ more through my actions than through my words, I will still be serving Him. Praise God that he doesn't NEED me to do his work, but that he ALLOWS me to be part of his magnificent plan.
I am going to miss everyone here very much, but I know that you will be praying for me, a fellowship that cannot be matched. I also have the peace of knowing that I will be doing exactly what God has called me to do. :-)
Thank you for your prayers, emails, and comments! Keep 'em coming!
I leave you with this:
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ~Colossians 4:2-4
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
6 Days and Counting...
Hola amigos y familia!
I am SO excited to get to Peru and will be there a week from yesterday! Ahh! I'm getting a bit nervous, but mostly excited! I have a lot of packing left to do, but other than that, I'm just hanging out with some friends and family before I go.
I have found a website that tells a bit about Peru... you can check it out to find out more about where I'll be this summer! http://southamerica.imb.org/Country_Profile/peru.htm
Also, I have fixed my blog site so that anyone can leave comments, whether you have an account or not. Yay! Please leave me comments so that when I get to check my blog and email I'll have something fun to check! :-)
One more piece of news is that my team for the summer is set. We have myself, Lindsay Swain, John Green, and Solomon Grados (our newest teammate who is a bilingual Peruvian native!)
Alright- you'll hear from me once more before I leave! Chao!
~Kathy
I am SO excited to get to Peru and will be there a week from yesterday! Ahh! I'm getting a bit nervous, but mostly excited! I have a lot of packing left to do, but other than that, I'm just hanging out with some friends and family before I go.
I have found a website that tells a bit about Peru... you can check it out to find out more about where I'll be this summer! http://southamerica.imb.org/Country_Profile/peru.htm
Also, I have fixed my blog site so that anyone can leave comments, whether you have an account or not. Yay! Please leave me comments so that when I get to check my blog and email I'll have something fun to check! :-)
One more piece of news is that my team for the summer is set. We have myself, Lindsay Swain, John Green, and Solomon Grados (our newest teammate who is a bilingual Peruvian native!)
Alright- you'll hear from me once more before I leave! Chao!
~Kathy
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Some of you have asked about whether or not you can send me letters and packages while I am in Peru. Technically you can, but I am going to tell you that you probably shouldn't. We received an email saying that it can take up to 5 months for the mail to arrive at its location, and that some of it never arrives. Don't worry, emails are definitely okay with me, and anything that I'm homesick for (like PB&J!) I can just have when I get back. Thanks for thinking of me though! Chao!
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