What Schedule????

You might wonder what do I do with my time and what each day looks like. Well, here is an overview of the last week and the next few days.....

Monday through Wednesday we had classes with my "Peruvian Father", Cristobal, as our professor. The class was cultural anthropology and was one of the most useful classes we have had. Each night last week we also had some homework but did have plenty of free time in the afternoons. In our free time I usually take naps, read, watch tv online or movies, make my lunch, hang out with friends, spend time with Francisca and whatever else comes up to do.

On Wednseday night Francisca and I went to our cell group and we were so excited that Armando, his fiancee Matilde and their little boy Johnathan came this week! They haven't come to our group in over a month and there had been rumors that Armando was drinking again. Needless to say, I was incredibly grateful to God and we are praying that he continues to come back.

On Wednesday afternoon our group found out there was a house in Puno that might be big enough for all of us (10 40/40's and our cluster family, a family of 4) to live. But the owner needed the down payment on Thursday. So Amanda was going to Puno to check it out and since we didn't have class I decided to go along with her and our VP of Extreme, Dennis. So we left the hose at 4:20 am (I woke up at 4:08 when Amanda called me wondering where I was!). We got to the bus station on time only to find out that the bus doesn't leave at 5 but at 5:30am so we waited around for a while. We traveled the 6 hours up to Puno, met up with the Pastor in Puno, Pastor Herman, and checked out this house. It was not the right place fo us! It needed a lot of work, didn't have a kitchen and the bathroom situation was not going to work. Needless to say, we were bummed. We went back and ate lunch at the pastors house with his family. After lunch we went back out into the city, walking around and knocking on doors with "for rent" signs (in spanish of course) and doors of apartments that look empty. We didn't find anything but Herman and his wife are continuing the search for us as we left on the 5pm bus that evening and got back to Arequipa at 11pm that night.

Friday I caught up on some sleep from the day before and later watched Thomas and Ella while Chad and Amanda went out on a date. ThenSaturday I spent a few hours cleaning our apartment which get quite dirty fast living in a dusty desert and having 20+ people in and out of here daily. Also on Saturday I skyped with my Mommy and Daddy! :)

Sunday I went to church in the morning and helped Francisca teach the children Phillippians 4:13, that we can handle anything with God's help. We came home from church, ate lunch and napped. Then I had to review my notes and practice as I gave the message at our church Sunday night in Spanish! After Sunday night church I came back home and joined in a little late on our Sunday night English Bible study with the parents.

This week we ended up not having class so yesterday we went horseback riding (I will post some pictures later) with Roy for his 49th birthday! Then I had to run by the Extreme office with Francisca and we ended up staying at the office and helping with some clerical duties in the afternoon until our 7pm church leadership meeting at the office.

Today, we had our normal 8am prayer time with the Puno group and our parents gave us "homework". We were to go into the city in our pairs to pray over people and look for someone or some people we can help physically or spiritually. francisca and I went to Alto Libertad where we walked and prayed. Then we saw a bunch of people working in a park and there was a tienda across the street. We went to the tienda to buy some household items for one of the workers, to bless with. As we were buying things, the store owner was hobbling around. As we were leaving, I asked her if we could pray for her health. She said yes so Francisca prayed for her and afterwards we talked about her spiritual life. She says she cannot leave the house much as she needs to tend to the tienda so we told her we would come by next week to spend more time with her and talk more. Not only would this never happen in the states, someone allowing you to pray for them while they are running their business and talk about their spiritual life 5 minutes after knowing their name, but as we were walking out, she gave us each a banana. Wow, what an example of generosity and humility. So keep Nora in your prayers. I know she was a gift from God as we were only going to buy items in her store and she ended up being the best part of our day. After our time with Nora we went over to the park and I gave a gal the bag of food and household items we had purchased for Norma. Her boss was nearby so we didn't have much time but we found out her name was Maria and she has two children. I pray those items we purchased for her make a difference and that she knows they are a blessing from not people but God.

Tomorrow, the North Americans leave in the afternoon to Lima as we are starting our residency process. We will be in Lima Wednesday afternoon and night then most of the day Thursday. We are looking forward to getting Starbucks, Chili's and whatever else from home we can find!

So basically, everyday is different and plans can change at the very last minute. I try not to count on anything happening until we are about halfway through what was planned. hehe.