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.

~
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!

~
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!

~
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.

~
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!

~
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.

Puno....

So much has happened and I haven't had time to write! Our Puno group started Bible classes two weeks ago. Don't ask me why, but it hit me in our first class that not only is God the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow, but He is also the same in every language! Yes, I knew this before, but it hit me in class how amazing it is that He is the same, He hears in all languages, He loves people of every type, He has mercy on people in every country, He wants us ALL in His kingdom.

Last weekend we had the opportunity to visit Puno where we will be evangelizing and starting cell groups and churches. I am so grateful God put me in the Puno group for many reasons. While we were in Puno I got so excited and scared for the work ahead. I realized yet again how unequipped I am for this work I have been called to. I go back to the verses I found while preparing to leave the states: Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth...It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God - that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:26 & 30 Actually, every day I notice how unprepared and inadequate I am for what God has called me to. But I am grateful we serve a God who fills in our shortcomings with His overflowing capabilities. I'm glad I can't do this on my own otherwise I would try to do it without God and fail.

So let me tell you a little about Puno. It is so beautiful! Not as magnificent as the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, of course, but Puno has a different beauty of its own. The altitude is over 12,000 feet so I will be over two miles high! And to get anywhere from the city center you have to walk up some steep hills. But once you get up the hills, you get a beautiful view of the city and Lake Titicaca. I actually got to row a typical boat made from the Uro people on Lake Titicaca! Here are a couple photos from our trip to the Uros......

The need in Puno is huge. Puno is a huge party and drinking town. In February there is a major fiesta in Puno and the statistic is that there is more beer in the Puno area in the month of February than in all the rest of Peru for a whole year. We did see a drunk man falling down and knocking on doors while walking in the city central at about 4 pm one day while there. And another sad fact about Puno is that their beliefs include more Incan rituals than many other cities in Peru. They still hold onto beliefs from their ancestors and there is one that particularly saddens me. Many of the people in Puno believe that if they need money or want to be rich, they will kill their youngest child and rip out the heart and present it to the spirits in return for money and material possessions. My partner Francisca and I have been praying for God to prepare Puno for our team and our team for Puno. To begin opening the minds, ears and hearts of those in the city for the work we are about to embark on in 4 months. Please join with us in prayer that the people would be ready to turn their lives around and spend their lives in communion with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We want to saturate the city in prayer!

But overall, our trip was great. We had a fun time getting out of Arequipa and being able to see where we will be living and working for almost 2 years. The Uro Islands were beautiful and interesting and as you could see above, I had fun dressing up in typical attire. Also, just walking around the city, getting to know the pastor in Puno and experiencing the city made for a great weekend trip!

And as promised last time, here is the English version of my Spanish story from last time, Tres Deseos….

Three Wishes

I was walking by a lake in Colorado. This lake is very close to my parents house. I always walk to this lake because there is a beautiful view of the mountains. But, one day my walk was different. When I was walking this day, I fell in the street. When I was lying in the street, I noticed there was a lamp beneath a tree. I got up from the street and walked to the tree. I took the lamp and this lamp was very pretty.

I had a headeache and was thinking the lamp was a dream. But the headache went away and the lamp was still in my hands. I carried the lamp to my house and put it on the table. En the evening I always wash the plates after dinner. When I was washing, I heard a noise. The table was shaking and the lamp was missing. The noise came from the living room, so I went to the living room. The living room had a lot of smoke. When the smoke left, there was a Genie in my living room! The Genie told me, “You have three wishes, what do you want?”

When I was a little girls I wanted a white horse so a white horse was my first wish. In one moment the Genie said, “white horse!”. And there was a white horse in my living room! Later, I told the Genie, “I want an airplane”. Again, the Genie said what I wanted and there was an airplane in my garden! I only had un more wish. I thought a lot and finally decided. I told the Genie, “I want all the colors and patterns of high heels in all the world.” One more time, the Genie said what I wanted. I ran to my room and there were all the high heels of the world in my closet! I was the happiest girl in all the world! The Genie told me, “You don’t have any more wishes”. He went back into the magical lamp. I took the lamp with me to the lake and put it beneath the tree again for the next person.

New chapter.....

So I graduated from the Extreme Spanish Institute on Friday! Yaya! And I moved all my stuff two blocks from my Peruvian family's home to the church where I will be living for a month then we are all moving to some apartments two blocks away until January when my team moves to Puno! So two very short distance moves and then one big move! On Monday we start Bible classes in Spanish. Yesterday I helped my partner prepare the Sunday School lesson and today I helped her teach the kiddos about the sabbath and why its important. It was awesome to be involved at church here and to work together as a team with my partner! Everyone has their partners now except Micah. He should be here by Tuesday and our team will be complete!

~

In honor of my graduation, here is a little story I wrote in Spanish for homework a couple weeks ago to practice two types of past tense verbs. Try and figure it out then I'll post the English version soon to see how you do! I have the vocabulary knowledge of a first grader so it should be an easy read if you know a few spanish words, haha!

~

Tres Deseos

Una vez estuve caminando cerca de un lago en Colorado. Aquel lago estaba muy cerca la casa de mis padres. Yo siempre caminaba a aquel lago por qué había una vista muy bonita de las montanas. Pero, un día mi paseo fue diferente. Cuando estuve caminando este día, caí en la calle. Cuando estuve en la calle, noté que había una lámpara abajo de un árbol. Subí a la calle y caminé al árbol. Tomé la lámpara y esta lámpara era muy bonita.

Tenía un dolor de la cabeza y pensaba la lámpara estuvo en mis sueños. Pero, el dolor de la cabeza se fue y la lámpara estuvo en mis manos todavía. Llevé la lámpara a mi casa y la puse sobre la mesa. En la noche yo siempre lavaba los platos después de cenar. Cuando estuve lavando, oí un ruido. La mesa estuvo temblorosa y la lámpara se perdió. El ruido fue de la sala, entonces fui a la sala. La sala tenía mucho humo. Cuando el humo se perdió, ¡había un genio en mi sala! El genio me dijo, “Tienes tres deseos, ¿Cuál quieres?"

Cuando era niña, quería un caballo blanco, entonces, el caballo blanco fue mi primer deseo. En un momento el genio dijo, “caballo blanco”, ¡y había un caballo blanco en mi sala! Luego, le dije el genio, “quiero un avión”. Otra vez, el genio dijo cual quería ¡y había un avión en mi jardín! Yo solo tenía un deseo más. Pensaba mucho y finalmente decidí. Le dije el genio, “quiero zapatos altos de todos los colores y los estampados del mundo.” Una vez más el genio dijo cual quería. Corrí a mi cuarto y ¡habia todos los zapatos altos del mundo en mi closet! Era la chica más contenta del todas las chicas en el mundo. El genio me dijo: “No tienes más deseos”. El regresó a la lámpara. Llevé la lámpara conmigo al lago y la puse abajo del árbol para la siguiente persona.

~

Mi hermanita with her mohawk one morning!

The first of many pictures with my partner, Francesca!

And the first picture of Garren and his partner Jeremias!

My Peruvian mom with the special lunch she made me on Friday for my last meal at their home and to celebrate my graduation. It is now my second favorite Peruvian dish and its so fancy looking!

And my Peruvian Padre ready to devour the yummy food!

United.....

Yay, I have some exciting news! So a little while ago I blogged about my frustrations with how things were going and that I needed to stop having expectations when I pray to God. I have been leaning on the verse, "If we ask anything according to His Will, He hears us, and if we know that He hears us, we know that we have what we've asked of Him." And I was praying to God, asking and expecting Him to answer my prayers in the ways I had planned out. Ha! You would think I would know this by now, but I'm a slow learner! I found this quote online last week, "Prayer should not be seen as our means of getting God to do our will on earth, but rather as a means of getting God's will done on earth." duh!

~

So, now on to the exciting news. Although I love everyone on my Tacna team, I was frustrated with dynamics of my team headed to Tacna. I was frustrated we've had so many people leave already, and we were left with a small group, and our age differences were so large. So I prayed. But like I said, I prayed for God to answer this dilemma in my way, I was praying for a Peruvian partner close to my age, someone I click with right away and I had an image formed in my head. Well, luckily God didn't listen to me because His plan is way better, of course! God provided me with a sweet gal to be my Peruvian partner and she is at least 10 years older than me and is not what I had pictured at all. But like I said, that's a good thing! My plan is always wrong anyway so I know that I have been blessed with an awesome partner and I look forward to our, as we call it down here, "arranged marriage".

~

But there's more good news....because the Tacna group was so small and the Puno group was small as well, Extreme decided to combine the groups....we are all going to Puno! This is super exciting because I have made great friends with everyone on the Puno group, Trevor, Garren and Micah (my fellow 40/40's) and the cluster support family, the Duerre's (Chad, Amanda, Ella and Thomas). I am sad to be leaving behind my previous cluster support family, Tricia and Lindy, as we have grown close. But they will still be in Peru and will take a team to Tacna in about a year.

~

So this week is quite important to our group. The announcement was made just yesterday that Roy and I would be joining the Puno group, so that is a big change. Also we have some drastic changes coming up in the next few days. Tomorrow is our last day of Spanish class and we have a graduation on Friday! Wow! I am definitely not fluent and won't be for about two years, haha! But I can get by and I'm excited to learn more and improve every day. But that's not it; we have two other large changes happening this weekend. We will all meet our Peruvian partners. I have technically met mine but this is not typical and the guys have not met their partners yet. So we will be adding five more people (five Peruvian partners for our five North Americans) to our group. And we are all moving to Zamacola Iglesia del Nazareno. Zamacola is a church building with rooms for the 40/40's, one for girls and one for guys. Right now I have a whole bedroom and wall of closet space to myself and I live with a Peruvian family who has become family to me. So leaving all this to live with 13 other girls in one large room, cold showers, a curfew, and washing clothes by hand will be a big change. Also, we start college level Bible classes in Spanish on Monday!

~

Soooooo, we have many changes coming up! Please pray for our group that we would truly unite and stand strong against any attempts to break our unity in Christ during all these changes and the emotions that are sure to come with change. Our group is quite close and united but with all that is to come very soon, this opens up a great opportunity for God to use us and stretch us in preparation for the work ahead. And therefore we are anticipating spiritual warfare. But through our Father and your prayers, we are confident we can overcome any obstacles and stand strong because of our unity with our Savior at the center.

~

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and one mouth, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:5-6

~

Pictures of Cohort 4.......

We are all going to Puno except our beloved Tricia and Lindy as explained above.....

Tricia and Lindy at the beach

Movie night with the boys (me, Garren, Trevor & Micah)

Roy and Micah in Florida during orientation

Amanda Duerre and Thomas at dinner in Mollendo

Chad so proud of his coloring!

Ella Bella and Tickelish Thomas with all our carry-on luggage in Houston

Empty Bottles.....

So, I was telling my friend Katie Bechtold the other day on Facebook, at this point I feel very much acclimated to my surroundings and so many things in North America are going to be weird to me now. But one thing that struck me the other day was many uses of empty pop bottles here.

So here are the Top Five Uses For Empty Bottles:

# 5 - Use as a refillable bottle, not too strange, we do this in the states. But they do refill the bottles with juice and tea sold on the street corners.

# 4 - So those ladies selling the juice and tea on the street corners are vending their homemade drinks with reused pop bottles. The "2 liter" pop bottles here are actually the size two 2 liter bottles combined in the states. So imagine a large dirty 4 liter pop bottle filled with some ladies homemade tea on the street corner.

# 3 - Refill the large "4 liter" bottles with household items such as cleaning solutions, liquid garden fertilizer, or oil. Take your pick!

# 2 - Many times I have seen children kicking around an empty pop bottle like a soccer ball. No need to buy the kid a soccer ball for his birthday, just get a pop, drink it, and give him the empty remains as a toy. The kids will have fun for hours. (Much like cardboard boxes in the states! Forget about the toy; just give the kid the box!)

And my favorite use for empty pop bottles in Peru.....

# 1 - Take a large, empty (of course), 4 liter bottle and bang it against the wall at your work while you are on strike. It's actually quite a good noise maker and annoying for all those around!

Obviously, this is a whole different country with a different culture and ways of doing things. I just thought you would like my list of interesting ways to use empty pop bottles so you all can get the trend started in the states. But really, there are so many things we can learn from each other! For example, reusing these pop bottles seems silly at times but how resourceful! In the states I know I jump at the chance to buy something new I "need". One of my favorite quotes from "What About Bob" is: "Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie, I NEED, I NEED, I'm doing the work, I'm not a slacker!" Just ask my Dad, I quote this to him all the time! Well, I'm learning to live in a more simplistic and resourceful way and I'm excited to see what else this culture has to teach me!

Here is a video of a little piece of a mercado here in town. This market is huge! My friends (Garren & Trevor) and I had fun walking around the market especially in this Pet Store. Oh wait, its not a pet store, its a grocery store! Haha! Another cultural difference!