Goodbye Zamacola....

Tomorrow morning the Arequipa and Puno teams are moving from this place, Zamacola, over to apartments a block away. The girls will have an apartment and the boys will have an apartment. So in order to say Goodbye (and good riddance), to the place I have called "home" the past 10 weeks, I thought I would show you all where I have been living. I'm all packed up and ready to haul my material life a block away to a place that will feel more like "home" where I can sleep better and have more personal space!
The front of the church, Zamacola Iglesia del Nazareno.
Our "house" part of the church (the third floor). The windows on the top floor are from the girls room.
What you see when you walk in the front door. The stairs to the left are to the pastor's hose, past the stairs to the left is the dining room and kitchen, the spiral stairs lead up to our rooms and to the right is the classroom.
Our classroom, I sit right here in the back. That's my blue notebook, dictionary and Bible.
The inside of our fridge. Yep, that's a sack of raw beef and a bowl of raw chicken. I'm sad there wasn't a whole chicken, head, feet and all like ususal!
This room is where we eat and hang out to watch movies. Through the cutout in the back is the kitchen.
The girls bathroom. Don't be decieved, it is disgustingly dirty most of the time.
Dressers outside of the bathroom doors because there's not enough room in the bedrooms.
The hallway to our bedrooms. The first door is to the boys room and the door at the end of the hall is the girls room.
My dresser in the girls room. Its like a little hallway of dressers and mine is the one closest to the wall on the right. Henrietta has the one opposite of me and I call it "the hole". We cannot get into our dressers at the same time.
The view when you walk into the girls room. (Please not this is the room clean!) There are 6 sets of bunk beds 3 high and we have 14 girls living in this room)
This is my bed, the second bunk, of course, the bed that is not made! Its the only place I can call "mine".

New Look & Water Stories.....

So, have you noticed my new blog look and my new title? I asked my friend and Puno brother, Trevor, to help me out with a better title. And since I have convinced everyone down here that I'm a Princess, he came up with ideas all revolving around a Princess theme. Literally, many people down here call me Princessa. ha! I love it! So when Trevor gave me some name ideas, I saw 'The Princess and the P" where the green pea stands for Peru! How creative! (Please note the Peruvian flag in the Pea was my idea so I did contribute something!) Also, what a coincidence since Mom and Dad used to call Brooke "Braveheart" and I was the "Princess and the Pea". But hey, who's in Peru right now and has skydived?! So like normal, I want it all and would like to claim both nicknames. haha! But give all the credit of my new name and blog look to my good friend Trevor Allen!

Ok, now I would like to tell you two fun little stories from this week involving water. It was not a good week for me in regard to water. Either too little or too much!

The first story, I was watching Chad and Amanda's kiddos, Thomas and Ella while Chad and Amanda were at their weekly cluster support meeting. This is a normal routine but this week they were finally in their new apartment and had their washing machine hooked up. (Please note I do not babysit for money but for use of a washing machine!). So Chad told me to bring my clothes over and do my first load of laundry in their new machine while I was watching the kids. Actually, it was quite and easy day. I read two books to the kids and put them down for their nap. So I had nothing to do, I opened Amanda's computer and started watching a kids movie to pass the time. (Rough huh?!) Then I thought, wow, the washing machine is quite noisy. I walked into the kitchen to check it out and I found a pond of water in the middle of the kitchen floor! (This would be the story with TOO MUCH water!) The way we hook up washing machines here is a hose from the washing sink to the machine and a hose from the machine to the sink to drain the water. Well the hose that drains the water into the sink slipped off the sink and instead of draining into the sink, drained all the water onto the kitchen floor. I freaked out for a second, pulled everything off the floor and noticed the floor drain, thank goodness! I spent the entire time they were gone sweeping water into the floor drain. I felt awful, but luckily when they got home Chad and Amanda said that this has happened to them before as well.

Now for the other water story. I got up Wednesday morning and hopped in the shower. Since we are trying to keep our water bill down and to savor any warm or tepid water, I usually turn the water off while I'm soaping up. So I was all soapy and had shampoo in my hair, facewash on my face and I go to turn the water back on....nothing (This would be the story with TOO LITTLE water). For some reason when we have water problems here the showers are the first to go and the last to come back. So I stood there for a few minutes hoping it would come back. I tried the water again, nope. So I had to use my dry towel to get off all the soap and my partner Franci brought me a bucket of water from downstairs to get the shampoo out of my hair.

So there's some little tidbits about my week. Next time you do a load of laundry without flooding the house or take a shower without running out of water, say a prayer for me! hehe!

Open Heart Miracle.....

So we had a short week of school last week, we only had class on Monday and Tuesday. What a great break and relief it was! An because we had time off, some of us went with our cluster Dad, Chad, to Puno to hang out in our future city and search for a house for all 14 of us. We left early Wednesday morning, (before the butt-crack of dawn!). Francisca and I overslept our alarms for 3:30am and Franci (as I now call her) woke me up at 4:07am. All the boys were practically ready and waiting for us since we were planning on leaving at 4 . So I threw on my clothes, went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and ran downstairs with my backpack ready to leave. When I got downstairs I noticed my jacket was inside out. I told Chad, "I'm not wearing my contacts so I can't see and my jacket is inside out but I've got clean teeth and my clothes on so I'm ready to go!" haha! But we made it to the bus station on time, especially since the bus left an hour late at 6am!

We got to Puno, had lunch at a "Menu", which is the cheapest way to eat out, usually S/. 3.50 (about $1.25). A Menu is a restaurant that serves what's on the menu for the day, usually two different main dish options and a large bowl of soup. Like on Wednesday, the options were cow tongue or chicken. Obviously, I ordered the chicken, but I tried a bite of Chad's cow tounge! I did not like it but now I can say I've tried cow tongue!

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About half of us explored the city while the other half went looking for houses. We walked about 5 miles that first day and 8 miles the next day. There is a lot of walking to do in Puno but I love it. Except for the hills at 12,500 feet, I run out of breath quickly! So basically we just hung out around town, found some new slides, walked, and shared time and conversation together.

I do have an exciting God Story from Thursday. Franci, Trevor and I were walking around town and were heading to meet up with Roy and Garren. Roy and Garren had been walking around and had just passed up two touristy tiendas and instead went into one specific tienda to check out the merchandise. They entered and while Garren was chatting with the owner he mentioned he was here as missionary and that we would be moving to Puno in a few months. Just about this time Trevor, Franci and I walked in to meet up with the other boys. As we were looking around Franci heard the owner, Hector, ask where are our church locations to Garren. Franci turned around and began to talk to Hector about our beliefs and that we are all born sinners and need to repent to live in Christ and have a relationship with our Creator. Next thing I knew we were praying with Hector a prayer of repentance and acceptance of Christ in his heart and life! He was very touched and crying during the prayer and after we prayed he told us he felt peace! He also told us this must have been the Will of God because he normally doesn't open the store before noon and it was about 11:30am. Also the fact that Garren and Roy had just specifically passed up a few tiendas before entering this particular one. And that we arrived and Franci heard The Spirit urging her to speak to him. This was not coincidence, this was the work of God!

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We haven't even moved to Puno yet and God is working in this city! This experience was very engouraging to all of us that God is working through us and that He is preparing the city for the 20 months of evangelism on which we are about to embark in January. Our God is awesome, merciful, mighty, amazing! He is preparing the people in Puno by opening hearts and clearing roadblocks; we were able to see this first hand on our Puno trip.

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Isaiah 57:14 NIV

And it will be said: "Build up, build up, prepare the road!
Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."

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The LORD Helps the Helpless

Isaiah 57:14-19 CEV

14 The LORD says, "Clear the road! Get it ready for my people."

¹⁵Our holy God lives forever in the highest heavens, and this is what he says: Though I live high above in the holy place, I am here to help those who are humble and depend only on me. ¹⁶My people, I won't stay angry and keep on accusing you. After all, I am your Creator. I don't want you to give up in complete despair. ¹⁷Your greed made me furious. That's why I punished you and refused to be found, while you kept returning to your old sinful ways. ¹⁸ I know what you are like! But I will heal you, lead you, and give you comfort, until those who are mourning ¹⁹ start singing my praises. No matter where you are, I, the LORD, will heal you and give you peace.
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Also......Here is a link to Engage Magazine where Trevor's take on the story has been published! And Dad, please note the title!!! I am going to use this as a justification for shopping for the rest of my life! ; )

http://engagemagazine.com/Magazine-Content/Stories/October-2010/Shopping-Leads-to-Salvation.aspx

Baptism & Orphanage....

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Baptism in Yura, Peru
Alto Libertad Iglesia del Nazareno
18/9/2010

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Torre Fuerte Girls Orphanage

Worst Missionary Ever.....

Some days I feel like the worst missionary ever. Actually, I really don't like that word "missionary" anyway. As I see it, I'm just a girl....yes, I'm 25 but still think of myself as a girl! I'm just a girl in Peru following the path to which God has called me and many days, following reluctantly.

Many times I don't feel like going to church here. I don't glean much from church here as it can be hard to focus in spanish after a week of spanish classes and the messages are generally quite simple as we are dealing with baby Christians in most cases. But these are not excuses, there are no excuses, I should want to go to church to be with these people and think about them and not myself.

So God hit me smack in the face with my selfishness this Sunday. My partner, Francisca, was preaching Sunday night and where she goes, I go also....literally. So, even though I didn't want to go to church Sundy night after spending most of the day Saturday at a baptism and went to church Sunday morning, I didn't really have a choice. So at first, when we got home from church on Sunday afternoon, Francisca told me we needed to leave at 5pm to go to church again. I was bummed I didn't have more time to rest especilly since I literally had no more underwear so I HAD to do laundry by hand!

Before I fell asleep for a nap, Francisca told me we would leave at 6 instead of 5. I thought she just misjudged how early we needed to leave so she pushed it back and I assumed church started at 6:30. (Let me also explain, that on Sunday nights at 7pm we have a Puno group Bible study and time to be together. This time is very needed each week for my mental health and to strenghten our group bond. So I was especially frustrated that I had to miss the Bible study because Francisca cannot travel to the church alone.) Back to the story....I took a nap and woke up a few minutes before 6 to brush my hair and make sure I look decent. I was running a few minutes late and saw my cluster dad, Chad, on the way out of the house and expressed how Francisca was really bothering me that day.

We headed out to the street and caugt a taxi. When we were in the taxi, Francisca told me she decided we should leave at 6 to give me more time to rest and that the service actually started at 6 so they were probably waiting for us since she was the one giving the message! Francisca put me first! She gave me more time to rest up even if that meant she had to run into the church late to give the message she spent all week preparing! And more....she knew how important it was to me and to our parents to be at the Bible study so we got to the church at 6:30 and everyone was still singing praises to our Lord. Then Francisca preached for about 20-30 minutes and when she was done we immediatley walked out of the church, caught another cab, and went to our parents house (Chad and Amanda's) for our weekly Bible study and time together. And we were only 15 minutes late!

Oh how God loves to slap me in the face sometimes, to wake me up out of my selfish little world! I was grouchy and annoyed when I should have been supportive and joyful. Francisca and I have many, many differences. And sometimes its hard to work together and sometimes our differences frustrate me. But she cares so much for me and I see this clearly in her actions this past Sunday. God has reminded me I need to be more loving and caring toward her. I need to stop being so selfish because, "If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms" Luke 17:33 MSG

And then, on Tuesday I read a devotional online from Oswald Chambers (revised into contemporary english). And this quote hit me, "A missionary is created for the purpose of being God's servant, one in whom God is glorified." We are ALL missionary's. Even though I don't like that word, I am a missionary. Even if I was in the states right now, I am a missionary. Even if I'm not ready with the knowledge, I am a missionary. Even if sometimes I don't want to go to church, I am a missionary. This life is not for me, I need to give up my life and my selfishness in order to gain life on God's terms and to glorify Him.

So this has been my slap in the face this week. Francisca was a servant to me, a missionary to me, when I didn't deserve it. She showed me God through her selfless actions, she was a servant washing my feet. I hope you can be reminded as well that YOU are a Servant and Missionary too!

"And since I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you." John 13:14-15 NLT

Spa Day and Cow Heads....

This morning we woke up to no running water in our entire district of Zamacola. Uck! Can I tell you how disgusting it is to not have running water with 28 people living in one place! The toilets turn into outhouses and everyone smells and has dirty hands. I was especially frustrated this morning as it was my day to take a shower. Yes, I said "my day to take a shower", I don't take showers everyday! With cold water, 14 girls, and 2 showers I have become accustom to taking showers every other day. Since moving into the church from my Peruvian family's house a month ago I have not had a hot shower. I have had one warm shower, many tepid showers and some darn cold showers.

So, back to this morning. I threw my hair up in my baseball cap, kept my sweatpants on and just threw on a new tshirt. Went to class and then after class I ran by the Extreme office to pick up a package that had arrived for me. This was a package from my Mommy and Daddy! I needed a new hairdryer because mine broke. So I got my hairdryer along with some disinfecting hand wipes and a ped egg/pumice stone. (For you boys reading this, its basically like sand paper for your skin). Arequipa is a desert and I can't stand dry feet so my mommy answered my request for a pumice stone.

I was super excited about my package of goodies and went back home to the church to find running water! I was the first girl in the shower and I had hot water...burning hot! I enjoyed my delightful shower, first touch of hot water to my skin in over a month. And then I used my pumice stone/ped egg and some new lotion from my friend Tricia (Momma Tricia as I call her) on my feet. And of course, I used my new blowdryer. I hadn't blow dried my hair in over a month as well! After I was ready with clean clothes and make up on, I felt as though I had just been to the spa! It's quite sad that hot water, a pumice stone, lotion and a blowdryer is what I now consider a spa day! But it was refreshing and I still feel cleaner and more satisfied than I have in a while. Thanks mom and dad for the presents!

After my "spa treatment" I did my homework with my partner, Francisca. Since we are in a class this week about relationship building, our homework was to spend time together this afternoon. So we walked over to the market close by. We had a good time talking and just being together. I hope you enjoy the pictures, especially the one of three cow heads hanging on hooks as if they were hand towels or jackets! What a way to end my spa day!

Higado......Liver.......S/. 9.00

Panza........Stomach........S/. 6.00
Blando......Soft Meat.........S/. 5.00

Tripa......Intestine.......S/. 5.00

Cabeza......Head........S/. 7.00

Criadilla........Testicle.........Priceless

And of course.....the three cow heads! Disfruten! (You guys Enjoy!)

Las Estrellas

Cool air breeze, dark night sky, stars sparkling, and the Holy Spirit as I walk down a road in a part of town called Alto Libertad. I couldn't have asked for a better night.

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Now that the "honeymoon period" is over, I am no longer just in spanish school and a tourist. Now I am in Bible classes with homework....yes, back to homework! Usually we have to read about 80 pages a week in spanish and create a power point and presentation on our book/chapter/topic. So I have been a little grouchy and especially missing home the past two weeks or so. But tonight was just what I needed!

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Fransisca, my Peruvian counterpart, and I left our "house" to go to our cell group (aka, small group). We got to the neighborhood and went to a house where we invited some ladies last week who came to the Bible study. But they were not there this week. So we went to the house where we hold our cell group and we got our friend Julia who is the most adorable little viejita (old lady)! She is short, skinny, wrinkled, wears an apron, her pantyhose are always baggy and she has the cutest voice ever. Hermana Julia walked with us to the house of her grandchildren to invite them to the cell group. Cati, her oldest granddaughter couldn't come because she has a test tomorrow but Sergio, her 14 year old grandson said he would come. This just astonishes me! (Or just for you mom....it fathoms me!) In North America I couldn't imagine a 14 year old boy coming to a Bible study with his grandma and some strange missionary girls at his aunts house. But thanks to God, he did come! And next Wednesday is his 15th birthday so we are planning a birthday party so he has to come again next week!

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We had our Bible study and Fransisca talked about why we call these groups cell groups, or in spanish: celulas. And she talked about how a cell in our body is so tiny but is powerful as it works with all the other cells to contribute to the function of the entire body just like in the church.

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So after singing, praying and reading The Word of God together in our humble meeting place. Our hostess brought out a banana cake/bread she made in her solar oven and shared with everyone. And the ladies in our group remembered that I don't take sugar in my tea or drink juice. So Julia prepared a special glass of tea without sugar for me! As we were eating our cake I was thinking about some of the scripture we read during our study, about breaking bread together. How wonderful to break bread together in the name of Christ with a young man who we can anticipate will become a disciple, a lady who has many years behind her, a four year old girl and her mother. Three generations of this family are learning about how to have a relationship with our Creator for the first time!

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God reminded me tonight why I am here and that He's going to use me to reach these Peruvians. He is giving me a heart for these people and allowing me to see them through His eyes.