3am Prayer.....

1: Wake up at 3am cold and shivering

2: Make yourself get out of bed

3: Go to the bathroom, you're up already

4: While in the cold bathroom, thinking about how you feel like your camping every night...PRAY

5: Pray for strength and warmth and perserverance

6: Go back to your room and put your slippers on

7: Walk through the puddle of water from the rain and go down stairs

8: Heat up some water

9: Pour the hot water into plastic water bottles and seal them up

10: Walk back through the puddle to your bedroom

11: Climb into bed

12: Snuggle with the hot plastic water bottles and go back to sleep

In case you didn't catch on, this is what happened to me the other night. Its been extra difficult to be here lately as it has not only been raining early in the morning and in the evening. But last week it had been rainy until noon or later and then start back up about 4 or 5 in the afternoon. And in the few hours of dryness, the sun might make an appearance but it would be windy and chilly. I was thinking that night when I was praying, yes, in the bathroom, about how hard it has been to just be here and live here lately. There have been times when I've thought about how I just want to be home, in Colorado. The work is physically and emotionally draining. Then we come home to a house without heating (but warmed with love, awww!). I love my partner, our room, our house, our family and Puno. But as I was praying that night, yes, in the bathroom, I prayed that satan wouldn't be able to get me down. That his attacks would do nothing to me. Because in these moments of weakness, I don't love my partner, our room, our house, the work, or Puno.

God has been answering my prayer....

Prayer for warmth - I was blessed as my brother Micah let me borrow an extra blanket and Amanda's parents brought us real hot water bottles, not plastic drinking bottles, to share and use at night.

Prayer for strength - Its kind of embarrasing, but on days when I'm not feeling well or just plain tired, I sing in my head the song, Give me oil for my lamp. It reminds me while I'm singing it that my strength comes not from within me, but from HIM.

Prayer for perserverance - God is ligthing a fire in me for these people and our work, a fire that makes me want to be here even when its tough.

Festival de la Candelaria

The biggest part of the Festival de la Candelaria is over. Today and yesterday were the biggest and most important days. Yesterday was the procession of the Virgin de La Candelaria and there were dances in the stadium with an entrance fee of about $10. Today, there was a free parade with all the dancers throughout the Plaza de Armas and more. As it was our day off, some of us went down to see the costumes and dances. The festival is cultural and interesting and fun. The problem is the amount of beer that is consumed during this time along with cheating spouses, children left alone, hundreds of dollars blown and more.

Here are a few facts about the festival....

* Last year this festival generated $7 million in revenue

* There are over 30,000 people participating in the dances

* The costumes are rented and the daily prices start at $100 (to put this price in perspective, an average daily wage might be about $15)

* Each costume typically is used for at least 2 days

* There are fees to enter into the parade

* The government distributed 100,000 condoms to homosexuals and prostitutes to prevent the spread of AIDS

* The casual sex occurences during this festival are a well known fact around the counrty

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Having a beer in your hand or pocket while performing is normal. There are also people walking with the dancers and their job is to give them a beer while stopped.

Cusquena is a brand of beer and has advertising everywhere.

These gals were my favorite. They wear up to 30 skirts and swish them around until the top skirt gets stuck on their head. They were colorful and fun.

We have been told the girls skirts get shorter and shorter every year.

This is beer on the street. The tradition is that you drink your beer but leave a little at the bottom of the cup or bottle and spill that bit left on the ground to give beer to La Pachamama, mother earth.

The dancers drink during the parade.

These belts are creepy and I'm not sure what they symbolize. Everyone in the blue outfits like this are from Huascar, one of Franci and my locations.

I've heard band music all over the city and in my house for over a week at all hours, literally, and it is sure to continue for another week or so.

This cute little girl is wearing typical Andian clothing and stopped to pose for me!

This guy is frequently at this corner playing his mini guitar with a tiny plastic spoon as a pick.

Sitting around drinking like this is normal for all times of the year but is much more common to see during the festival.

These red crates are filled with 12 beers each.

A colorful diablo mask.

A young man in his diablito costume. The masks are very tall and heavy, they are carried more often than they are worn.

More drinking with a man passed out in his chair.

You can get 4 beers for 10 soles (about $3.60)

320,000 crates of beer were sold in 2010, at 12 beers per crates, that's 3.84 million beers consumed in a matter of about 2 weeks.

Here is a drunk man being lead out of the crowded street by the police.

And here he is, away from the crowd, alone and drunk.

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The city of Puno will have many lives shattered over the next few days. Women will find their husbands with other women, people will get infected with AIDS, children will be left without clothes for school or even food because their parents just spent all their money on the festival. Our hope is not to see lives shattered, but to see people hit rock bottom and realize this is no way to live life. Our hope is to be there with compassion and mercy to show them that there is a better way to live, it involves taking a different path but is worth the change in direction.

Celina, Manuel & Jesus....

Last weekend we celebrated the 3 year anniversary of the mother church here in Puno. Three years ago pastor Herman, his wife Diana, and their four children, David, Jonathan, Daniel and Jherdi, moved from the comfort of their home and town in northern Peru to be missionaries here in Puno. And this is really cool, the house they lived in and started the church in, its the same house we are living in right now!!!!

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Anyway, that was a little sidetrack there and some background. Well, Saturday night and Sunday we had special services to celebrate the anniversary. As missionaries, even thoughwe are technically here to plant our own churches, we are here for the church in general, for God's work in general. So Franci and I took the day off from going out to our sites on Sunday to help out our mother church. We left in the morning to go invite a gal to the service/party. We tried calling her to make sure she was home but the phone number was incorrect. So we figured since we had her address, we could just run by her house to leave the invitation with her or a family member. The address was something like 118 Sillustani. I had seen a hotel Sillustani the night before and with a low number, thinking in terms of Colorado streets, I thought it must be down from our house and by that hotel. Franci and I walked through the center for a while then started asking people if they knew where this street Sillustani was. Nobody knew. Franci asked some policemen while I asked a Bajaj taxi thingy. They are these weird little mototaxi/taxi combinations. Anyway, he told me it was up the hill. So, with little time to spare before the next thing on our agenda, we hopped in the Bajaj and let him take us to this street and house we had been looking for. Come to find out, the house we were looking for is literally a block from our house! You can see this house from our street corner! wow! I blame it on the fact that we don't know the city too well yet. But, I guess I can't say I'm as good at directions as I thought! And after all that, the girl wasn't even there and her mom told us that they are with a different religion and not interested.

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We moved onto our next item on the agenda for the day which was to help Milagros, a gal from the church pick up the cakes, decorate them with flowers (her mom owns a flower shop), an make sandwiches for the party. We met up with Milagros at her house and with her mom we left for the center, again. Franci, Milagros and I went to get the cakes while her mom opened up the flower shop two blocks away. They bring the cakes out to us, totally peruvian complete with little streamers around the cake. Milagros was not happy with the cakes for many reasons. First, the Nazarene logo was not how she wanted it, second, they put grapes on the sides which she specifically asked them not to, and third, there was a dead fly stuck in the icing on one of them. Yummy! So after a bit of debate, they brought down the price and we carried the cakes to the flower shop. They were sheet cakes and somewhat heavy but the two blocks to the flower shop wasn't a huge task.

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Franci and I sat down and watched as Milagros created floral arrangements to decorate each cake. This took quite a while but they looked beautiful in the end. Then, what came next, we had to take the cakes to the hotel where we had rented a room to hold the service as the church location we have right now barley fits us on a normal Sunday. I thought, surely we would get a taxi even thought its close because we had all this stuff to carry. Wrong. Milagros and I each carried a cake while Franci carried the flowers about 7 blocks. Milagros and I had to stop 3 times to rest our arms from carrying the cakes and manuvering them through the narrow sidewalks and crowds of people. But we made it! I remember thinking about how different the cultures are while carrying that cake. Thinking about how lazy we are in the states and how we take our conveniences for granted. What would you do without a shopping cart? There's no such thing down here. And do you get grouchy that you have to make more than one trip to unload the groceries from your trunk? Try carrying several pounds of groceries on your back across town!

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Finally, the cakes were ready to go but it was now 2pm and we still had to make the sandwiches, eat lunch, oh yeah, and get ready as I was still in my pijamas running around town! From the hotel we walked back down to the center (3rd time) to go to the market. Milagros introduced Franci and I to her caseritas, the gals she buys from in the market. We got some veggies to make soup and then across from the veggies bought some chicken. I just can't even describe to you how unsaintary things can be down here. There was a lady selling raw chicken, the chicken lined up on the counter in front of her, and I watched her eat her lunch with her hands sitting right by all this raw chicken. How much do you want to bet she had'nt washed her hands with soap after touching raw chicken and before eating her lunch?! And while she was eating, the vendor next to her was taking a butchers knife and hacking these dead chickens in half with chicken juice spraying all over the place. But, we got the chicken, had the vegtables, and didn't have much time and were very tired so we took a taxi back to Milagros house. Miliagros and Franci cooked lunch while Amanda and I got the sandwiches ready. It was simple, we sliced the bread and spread a smidge of Mayo, one piece of cheese and one piece of ham on each one. We made about 100 sandwiches and packed them up.

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Finally, lunch was ready at 3 or 3:30pm. Gathered together, we ate our delicious soup and conversed. And I was still in my pijamas! Then after the soup we said goodbye to Milagros and her family for a few hours and went home to rest for an hour and get ready for the party. I dosed off for a little nap leaving myself ready 20 minutes t get ready before leaving the house.

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Sandwiches in hand, we arrived to the hotel and got set up for the service. As the hour of 7pm came and went, I was so nervous and frustrated because barely anyone was there! We had a huge room with many open seats and I know how frustrating and hard that can be on the pastor and the core of the church. I prayed for more people to arrive. The day before I had 3 different people tell me they would come and none of them ever came. But the good news is, the seats filled up. By the end of the service we probably only had about 15 chairs open and we had a few people accept Christ!

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I helped serve cake and sandwiches and once everyone was served, I sat down by a little family to talk. I talked with Celina, Manuel and their son Jesus. Jesus is a member of the church but his work takes him out of town often. His mom, Celina, has come a few times but isn't very committed. And his father, Manuel, an adorable, tall, old man dressed nicely in a suit, had never been. But that night, he was touched and started a relationship with our Savior! I had a great time talking with them, laughing and getting to know them all. That time with them made the whole day of preparation worth it.

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When I found out about Extreme, when God lead me down this path, what excited me was the thought of buildng relationships and friendships with the people here. I'm really not one to go preach the gospel, that's not my spiritual gift or what gets me going. What gets me is the relationship.

Distress & Sin.....

Franci and I have recently started reading Psalms together. We read one Psalm before we go to bed just about every night and after reading we pray then go to sleep. Well, reading the Bible in spanish in the King James version does nothing for me. I just can't understand it! So, I've been reading Psalms on my own in English to better understand what we are reading at night. Psalm 4 has been stuck with me for a few days now. I read this Psalm and immediatley verse 1 reminds me of one of my favorite verses, 1 John 5:14-15 that says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His Will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of Him." I love this verse because it gives me confidence in God's faithfulness and I know that if what I'm asking for is in line with His will, I'll have it, its only a matter or timing.
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But, what's really stuck with me in Psalm 4 is the fact that David is in distress, he's in trouble, he's in a bad situation and he's pleading to God. I'm not in the same situation as David. I'm not being accused, I don't have a kingdom turning their back on me, I'm not being slandered. What I'm going through is nothing compared to David but I can relate to being in a frustrating situation. Normally I'm a very easy going and happy girl, but these last few days our situation has been wearing on me. Especially yesterday. Yesterday was our day off and I was so excited since we didn't get a day off the week before. I wanted to be lazy and just enjoy the day. Well, I went to go take a shower at about noon and there was no more water! Our water tank gets filled up every night and that's all the water we have for the day. Beause of this, we are trying to be cautious of our water usage and have a shower schedule where everyone gets 4 showers a week. Yesterday was my day and without a shower yesterday I would have to wait until Wednesday to get a shower.....yuck! But, I wasn't too distressed about not getting a shower because Pastor Herman and his wife Diana have been so gracious and open with us. They have told us we can use their shower, washing machine and anything we need at their house. We are so incredibly blessed to be working with them. They don't have much but they are willing to share what they have with us!
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I was going to go over to their house to shower but had to find something to wear. I started digging through my bags of clothes and got frustrated and tired of digging through bags for 3 weeks. Its hard to find anything and its just plain anoying after such a long time. When we packed up in Arequipa I had no idea I would be living out of these bags for almost a month. Otherwise, I would have organized everything differently. I got so frustrated I couldn't find anything to wear and stopped myself. I went into my room, onto my computer and called my Momma. I just needed my Momma at that moment. But as I was calling her on skype, the internet went out! Thank goodness, I have my skype calls fowarded to my cell phone and Momma called me back. Since the internet wasn't working the call forwarded to my cell phone and I was able to vent and cry to my Momma. I felt so much better after talking to Mommy and getting some tears out.
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After my conversation with my Mommy I found some clothes and walked in my pj's with a towel, clothes, and shampoo in hand the 1/4 mile to pastor's house. I got a quick but hot shower and felt much better. How funny I must have looked, a gringa with no make up, messy hair, in sweats walking the streets of Puno carrying shower stuff. haha!
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This is a time of distress for me. I have been easily frustrated the past few days as this situaton of not being settled, not having a place to put my stuff, and not having water has been wearing on me. The first two weeks of discomfort really didn't bother me. But now, I struggle daily to keep a good attitude. Well, this is where Psalm 4 comes in. I have been thinking over and over on verse 4 part a, "In your anger do not sin;". Ouch! It's when things are going wrong that its so much easier to fall into sin. And during these days I have been thinking, at this point in my walk with God, what are the sins I struggle with? On Sunday night Pastor Herman preached on Colossians chapter 3 and I was slapped in the face a list of sins I struggle with. I struggle with thinking of earthly things too often (what to wear, money, etc.), I can be greedy, I struggle with valuing my computer more than my Bible, I can be impatient and self-centered, I can be anxious, ungrateful and more. These things, these sins I struggle with, are heightened in times of distress like right now.
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So that takes us to verses 5 and 8 in Psalm 4. David decided that in his time of distress he must not worry and fall into sin, but instead trust in God. He decides to stay away from sin and the problems he is facing, but instead put his trust and problems in God's hands. After he does this, he can "lie down an sleep in peace" in the safe, strong arms of our Savior.
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My prayer is that we can all recognize when we are in times of distress and instead of running to our vices, that we run to God, that we stay away from sin no matter where we are on the road with Christ. We all need to put our problems and trust in Him and instead of sinning and worrying, we have the opportunity to rest in His arms, what an awesome exchange!
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Psalm 4

Answer me when I call to you

O my righteous God

Give me relief from my distress;

be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?

Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;

the Lord will hear when I call to him.

In your anger do not sin;

when you are on your beds,

search your hearts and be silent.

Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.

Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"

Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.

You have filled my heart with greater joy

than when their grain and new wine abound.

I will lie down and sleep in peace,

for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

A Day in Ilave.....

Just a few days after arriving in Puno we had the chance to go to a town called Ilave which is in the district of Puno but about an hour and a half away from our house. We got up in the morning, walked to the pastor’s house, took taxis down to the little local “bus station”, hopped on a van (about 15 adults and 4 children) and rode out to Ilave. The scenery on the way out there is absolutely beautiful! There were gorgeous green chacras (farms), trees, hills, mountains, sheep, donkeys, and more. We then got off the bus and hopped into other taxis to take us from city center of Ilave to a house out in the country. We arrived after our taxi and van journey, all of us with about 8 bags of used clothes. We walked to one lady’s house and practiced the word (camisiraki) which is ¿Como estas? In Spanish or How are you? In English. In Ilave they speak Aymara, an ancient language. But luckily for us, many residents also speak Spanish.

We learned a few more Aymara words like waliki which means bueno or good and petted a calf. He was actually licking my pants for a little while which made me laugh. Then we went over to another house with the clothes and introduced ourselves to many more people. Once there was about 25-30 people there, we stood in a circle and sang praise songs, mostly kid-type praise songs, as we clapped in unison. Next we pulled all the clothes out of the bags and separated them into piles of men, women and children. We started with a few children at a time and dug through the piles to find clothes that would fit each child, then moved onto another set of children. This went on until everyone there had at least 4-5 new clothing items to fit them. Then we let everyone fend for themselves to pick out more clothes and shoes from the leftovers.

It was a great opportunity to show God’s love to these people just by conversing with them, playing with the children, and providing for a need. Because of our time out in Ilave, and God’s words through Pastor Herman and his wife Diana, there were 5 people that day that made a decision to turn their lives around! What a great start! How amazing and faithful is our God!

After the neighbor’s left, going back to their own farms to tend to their daily duties, our hosts’ took us inside the house and served us lunch. We sat down on benches around a little concrete room as our hostess brought in a blanket wrapped up and set it on the floor. It smelled like potatoes. And sure enough. She opened up the blanket and there was a pile of steamy potatoes. Then she brought in a bowl of cheese and two bowls of aji sauce (a delicious spicy sauce made from aji, cracker/bread crumbs, cheese and peanuts). There was all the food on the concrete floor, we weren’t exactly sure what to do. But here is the process……

1) Grab a potato

2) Peel the potato

3) Put potato skin on the blanket

4) Dip peeled potato into aji sauce

5) Take a few bites

6) Dip potato back into community aji sauce bowl (yes, double dip!)

7) Take a few more bites

8) Repeat until potato is completely in your stomach

9) Choose another potato and repeat steps 1 – 8

What an experience! It was awesome and yummy! But then, of course after the salty cheese and eating those potatoes, we were thirsty. So, the host brought in a bucket of well water and one mug. They dipped the mug into the bucket and the first person drank from the mug. Then when that person was done they dipped the mug back into the bucket and it was the next person’s turn to drink the water. I was about the 10^th person to drink from the mug. But the water was cool and delicious!

I’m sure you have read the book, “If you give a mouse a cookie”. We’ll, if you give us potatoes and cheese, we will need some water. And if you give us some water, we will need to use the bathroom. But I use the word bathroom very liberally here. A few of us took turns walking out into the field behind the house to a little round shack made of stone. And when I say shack you might think of a wood building with a roof, leaning and creaky. No, this was a stone circle only waist high with a little cutout as an “entrance”. So you walk into the stone circle, pull down your pants, and squat over the hole in the ground carefully placing your feet on the wooden boards so as not to fall in. Then you stand back up and pull up your pants while you stare out at the field and anyone else around. I must say, it gets the award for best bathroom view. But the problem is others can view you too. Haha!

So after we got to know one another, petted the calf, sung songs to our Savior, heard a short message, passed out clothes, spent more time together, took lots of pictures, ate our potato lunch, drank well water, and went to the bathroom, we said our goodbyes to the family that hosted us for the day. Then with some walking, waiting, taxis and combis, we were finally back home in Puno overlooking Lake Titicaca once again. It was an awesome day in Ilave and a great start to our journey here in Puno!