I'm legal again!

This week I got the chance to go on an awesome trip. My VISA to be in Peru expired yesterday, the 16th, so I had to leave the country and come back again in order to get a new one. This meant driving up to Ecuador. Ken and I took off Tuesday morning early and headed out with a cooler full of food and things to keep us hydrated. The first stretch was just like around here, but then the trip became very biodiverse. If that's a word. For a long time we were in the sand dunes. A lot of the area looked like the deserts that you see in movies in the Middle East. Just dry, and hot. And nothing. We stopped one time to look around and there wasn't a single sound. No bugs, or anything. Just dead silence. Then we got into the dry forests, then the subtropics. Banana and coconut trees everywhere. Then we drove through the plateaus and saw huge canyons. Then suddenly everything turned green and again and we drove 2 hours along the most beautiful coastline I have ever seen. The water was blue and completely clear. There was surfing village after surfing village. White sand for miles. We ate some amazing seafood at a restaurant in a city called Piura, then headed to Tumbes where we got to our hotel and got our bus tickets to Ecuador figured out. That night, we went swimming in the pool. Of course since we were less than a day's drive from the equator, the pool was welcome. We were served lemonade by the poolside and everything. Tiki huts around, moon overhead, palm trees everywhere...not a care in the world.
On Wednesday morning, we headed across the border to Ecuador. After immigrations, we went to a little roadside stand and had a gatorade and a bag of chips while we watched some World Cup action with Peruvians crammed into this roadside stand. After an hour we crossed back over, but not until after we stopped to try the coconuts. They had stands where you could get coconuts with a straw in them. They call them pipas. They were chilled, and the cold coconut milk was refreshing, then you can eat the coconut or toss it. After we crossed back and I got my new VISA, we started the 7 hour drive back.
The most memorable part of the trip was when Ken decided to stop at this small hotel and restaurant to get a business card to one day take his family for vacation. They invited us in to try lunch. It was beautiful. From the road, you couldn't tell it was anything special, but once inside the gates that changed. Everything was absolutely tranquil. Private beach. People chilling around a pool. The best seafood I've ever eaten. And it was cheap. I so want to go back and stay one day. It was awesome. Completely relaxing. Then we headed back. All in all great trip. Of course there are many more stories to tell about it, but I've written enough for now. You'll have to ask me for the others.

It's been a while

Hey everyone. Sorry that I've been slacking on the updates. These last couple of weeks have been nuts. We were getting ready for a workcamp and then there was the workcamp and then there was the recovering after the workcamp left. Haha. It's all good. So what's new in my life in Peru? The workcamp that came down was lead by the boards new president, Keith. They worked really hard. They painted the sidewalk extension that was constructed before the school year started. They also got a majority of the house that I live in painted. It looks great. So much better than cold gray concrete everywhere. They also built 20 new benches and 6 new tables for the church in Milagro and put in a bathroom in Milagro. A finished, fully functioning bathroom. As opposed to the walled in area that the kids used and then we threw lime over. God blessed us greatly in our time. The group also helped in putting on a 2 day women's conference and there were over 300 in attendance. Two of the ladies from the group spoke and it went extremely well. We also had a chance to go out to Cusupe. If any of you have heard me tell my testimony, then you have heard about Grandma. Who, by the way, I have found out that her name is Eloisa, but she will always be Grandma to the workcampers. Anyway, when we met Grandma 3 years ago she had broken her hip and was bedridden. Bedridden to a bed made of moldy bundles of reeds. She also had arthritis so bad in her hands that she had trouble weaving the straw hats that she sold for money. The next year we went back and it was the same situation. In October it was the same situation. When we went out there last week....she was walking! With a cane, mind you, but walking! And when I asked how her hands were she simply lifted them up and wiggled her fingers around. I'm crying even as I type this. I couldn't handle it when I was there. God is so good. So good. Many more amazing things have happened that you can find out about if you are ever on my Facebook.
As far as the job is going, I am enjoying it much more. When I talked to anyone a month ago all I could talk about was the stress that came with all of the unexpected responsibilities. But now that I have gotten into the groove of things and figured out the Peruvian processes it is going much better. I still don't know what God has in store for me after December, but I know that He will show me in His time. If it's one thing I've learned in the last 2 years it is to fully rely on Him. He will provide.

Salvation Poem

This past Saturday I got the opportunity to spend some time with some of the youth from the church. There is a movie that has come out here about the Christian rock artist Pablo Oliveras from Argentina. He grew up in a Christian home, but in high school became a Satanist. The movie is all about his time messing with the occult and his mother continuously praying for him. It's a moving movie about the power of prayer. Anyway, the church had planned to go and the plan was to meet at 3 at the church. Well as things do here, the plan changed. The new plan was to meet at 6:30 in town at the taxi stop. I went into town with 2 of the kids from the habitat village and Ken's son Tim. When we got into town, we found out that the trip had been postponed until the next Saturday. Well since we had already paid to get into town, we decided to go. Tim went home. So we get to the mall and go to the theatre (which is really nice. 8 screens). What moved me even more than the movie was that when we were getting ready to go in, both of the kids' faces lit up. Florangel kept saying, "We're going in, we're going in. We're in!" I always know that there are things that we take for granted in the States, but this really opened my eyes. And to think about what they sacrificed to pay to get into the city and into the movie. The church paid half, but still. I was so moved to see how walking into a movie theatre completely brightened the day of 2 young people. If that simple act can better a life, then think about how much of a difference can be made by doing small things for the less fortunate in the world.

Mucho mejor

Thank you to everyone out there who has kept us in your prayers. This week is starting out much better and I have a joyous feeling that it will stay this way. There are of course always things to deal with, but as far as the major issues of last week, they are mostly behind us now. Over the weekend I prayed for patience, wisdom and guidance and strongly believe that God has granted me these.
It went very well this past week at Milagro. On Thursday we went out for the evening service. Jorge is a ten year old who has no school, no shoes, and has to take care of his little sister, but is still always happy to be there and even shows up when we are working and helps however he can. By the faint glow of the generator operated fluorescent lights, I saw a kid running up the hill from the village. He had a cap on and when he got to the door he gave me the biggest hug. I'm sure you have figured out by now that it was of course Jorge. That hug meant a lot to me. It was a little thing that made a big difference in a difficult time. I also noticed that he had a pair of shoes on his feet. They were bright pink flip flops about 5 sizes too big, but they were still protection for his feet. God always amazes me at how he can use the little things to touch our hearts and change our lives.

Prayer Requests

Hey everyone. Well this week was a little rough for the school. Things are going really well in Milagro. I'm constantly amazed at how quickly my fluency is improving. I ask that you keep the school in your prayers. We had 3 major situations come to our attention this week and although I can't share all details with you, I can ask you to pray. We, Ken, Maria, the director, and I, need wisdom and guidance in how to handle each situation. It seems to me that the enemy does not want this first class to graduate.

April 2nd and all is well

It has been a fast 3 weeks. Everything is going really well. I teach 5 hours of English a week. One hour with each of the 5 Secondary School grades. It has been interesting. I am strengthening my Spanish a lot by teaching them. I have been amazed at how much the kids know. They are just scared to use it. Which I completely understand. Speaking a strange language is scary. Next week we are going to start doing short dramas (sketches) to better their pronunciation. Things are also going well at Milagro. The services on Thursday evening and Sunday morning are both well attended. I have been sharing the preaching duties with the pastor from the main church. The people are very gracious and help me when I'm stumbling with a word. It's interesting, because most analogies that I would normally use don't make sense to the people in this village. It is something I've never thought of before. I started sharing a story about a lamp that isn't plugged in being useless and then realized that 90% of them had no idea that there were lamps that could be plugged in. Milagro is one of the more remote villages and they use kerosene lanterns. I love the work out there. i have also been spending quite a bit of time in the office seeing as how Ken is in the States for this month to be with his dad. I have had some responsibilities that I didn't expect, but nothing that has gone awry.
Yesterday was my birthday. I wasn't expecting to do anything but sleep in and stay home and rest (we didn't have classes yesterday or today), but I was pleasantly surprised by the Ruth and the teachers with a big lunch. Then I was surprised again when one of the elders in the church came knocking on my door and told me that they needed me at the church. We walked over and they had the people of the church there with gifts, cake, coffee. Way more than I ever expected. We just had a nice little time of worship and fellowship. Since their kids are in my English classes they were asking a lot of questions about English and the States and my daily life when I'm in the States. It was a lot of fun.

Safe Arrival

Well. I got here fine. I arrived in Lima at about 4:50. After running to the ticket counter then to the checkin then back to the ticket counter then through taxes and security, I was able to just walk onto the 6:30 flight. I got to Chiclayo at about 7:40...with all my luggage!....then had to just grab a taxi from the airport to the school. There were many anxious taxi drivers, so I just picked the one who looked the least shady. Haha. Got to the school, set my bags down and went into a meeting with ken to start talking about what is going on. A quick catch up. After spending the rest of the morning with Roma Lee and taking a long awaited shower, I got to eat lunch with the kids. They fixed my favorite meal, rice with lentils. They took up one of my spare bedrooms for storage, so Roma Lee and Donna are at the house and I'm in the clinic this week. PS my djembe arrived safely along with everything else. I also had a meeting already today with the director (principal) to start setting up the English class, which they are very excited about. Overall everything is going well.

The Next Step

I am very excited about what is coming. Lord willing, I will be leaving mid-March to spend the rest of the year in Peru. There is a lot of work to be done and I can't wait to get there and get started. Please pray that the funds will be there to make the trip down and that everything will fall into place so that I will be able to leave. Thank you for all of your support and prayer.