3 Weeks Down

Some of the other 40/40 missionary girls...

New Mission

Today my church started a new mission to feed kids. We went around the neighborhood (a very poor area) near the church and knocked on doors, telling kids we had hot chocolate and bread, as well as a story and songs for them. We ended up having about 20-25 kids. It was pretty awesome! We stood in a circle in the street and shared the story of Adam and Eve and Jesus, then sang some songs. Then we gave the kids the hot chocolate and bread... they loved the hot chocolate!
Afterwards we talked to some of the moms that were there and asked them what they needed help with, what some of their physical needs were. They said things like no one ever helps them. They struggle with things like alcoholism. Both parents have to work in the fields to make enough money for their families. When the moms have babies they keep them on their backs while they work until the babies are 2. Once they reach 2 years old they are left at home alone. If they have an older sibling to help take care of them they are lucky. Many of the kids work in the fields as well. It was just crazy to see and hear some of the things these families struggle with.
So what's next?
Now it's the churches job (including my job) to start to figure out how to hopefully help aleviate or even solve some of these problems. I'm excited to get to work with this community. We will go back to do the same thing every Saturday, and hopefully we'll start to reach out and do more things to really help! It is the churches job to go out into the world and help those in need. To show the love of Jesus to those around us.
Be praying for the neighborhood of Alto Libertad!

Getting into the Groove

I feel like I'm starting to get into the groove of things a little bit here in Arequipa. Lots of lots of Spanish school and studying. I know I'm learning a lot buy my mind feels like it's reaching capacity on how much I can take in! I'm getting used to things like irregular bowel movements, cold showers, warm juices, and getting whistled or honked at constantly for being a "gringa". I'm starting to learn which taxis are safe to take, and which "Combi's" or buses to take to get to where I need to go. And my bartering skills in Spanish are improving!
I LOVE the people here. For the most part everyone I've encountered has been nice. People seem to be really nice about slowing down when speaking if I don't understand something right away.
I don't feel like I'm going to die every time I get into a car or bus (the driving here is crazy but exciting at the same time, never a dull moment!).
I'm sure I'll get to the stage of culture shock soon where all of these things drive me nuts, and then it will get better. For now I love it here!

Pictures

Finally uploading some pictures... Enjoy!


Arriving at the airport in Arequipa!


Volcano next to the city!


Street near our church


Houses near our church


Gorgeous mountains right near by!


An alpaca wandered on the field during a futbol game!


Me and Maciel.... the 9 year old daughter of the house I'm living at


Sweet view of the city


Packing 8 people into a car meant for 5 max. Kamila... 2 year old of the house I'm staying at.


Cuy... or guinea pig. A delicacy in Peru.. fried whole!


Tabby... room mate and fellow 40/40

Have we really been here a week already?

Fun Day!
Today I went to church in the morning. I could understand some of the service which was nice. But definitely not all of it. Then we accidentally signed up for Bible Quizzing for the youth. The age of "youth" in Latin America is anyone from 12-40 if you're single. Kinda funny, but we won't be able to do it anyway because it is on a night where we have a group Bible study with all the 40/40's.
We came home for lunch and then went to watch Jesus, the father of the house I'm staying at, play and win a championship Futbol game. During the game an alpaca wandered on the field. Pretty awesome!
Afterwards we stuffed 6 adults and 2 kids into a small car and drove to Jesus's parents house for dinner. We got to see a "Cuy" farm. Cuy are quinea pigs and are a delicacy to eat in Peru. They simply take the whole guinea pig and fry it up and serve it... head, claws, and all! I have yet to try one. For dinner I'm pretty sure the chicken we were eating came from their house also!
We came home and had a dance party to some Peruvian music. Loved it! Now studying espanol and about to study God's word as well.
Working on uploading pics... hopefully I can get those up soon!

Muchas Palabras

I think in one week I have about 250 new words to memorize! Ayayay! It's definitely necessary I know... pero mi cabeza es muy cansada! Necesito estudiar ahora. Ciao!

The Other 40/40 Missionaries

I wanted to take a second to say how much I LOVE the other missionaries that I'm working with. There are 12 of us here in Arequipa right now. After 9 months of training together 6 of us will go to Pucallpa and 6 will go to Iquitos to plant a total of 36 churches. Everyone gets along really well and it's awesome to be surrounded by so many other people my age who are on fire for God and just excited to serve Him! I have an awesome room mate Tabby who I can be completely real with. We can share our struggles and we are praying for each other constantly and for what we are here to do. God is good! Pray for all of us as we go through the varying stages of culture shock and get to know each other even better. God Bless!

Language School and "Hablando"

Today we started language school! I really enjoyed it a lot. I feel like I'm learning so much already just being "immersed" and now going to school for 4 hours every day. There are 3 of us in my class and we are at the highest level which is "Intermediate". I was kind of scared of that at first but it's going really well. I'm at the point right now where I really WANT to learn as much as possible so I can communicate with my family better.
The family I'm staying with is Catholic and we were talking about why we are here in Peru. They seemed really interested and asked us our testimony. I tried to explain but I just don't know enough words at this point. We asked if it was ok if we told them in a week after we could figure out how to say it in Spanish. But it was cool to be able to share what we are doing and for it to be ok. Peru is mostly a Catholic country and not always receptive to Evangelical Churches. They were asking what the differences were between our church and the Catholic church and we were able to explain some. And Miluska was saying the most important thing is that you believe in God and Jesus and have Him in your heart and as a part of your life (she probably said more but this is what I understood). That was cool though. So I'm excited to learn more and be able to communicate better. Miluska is extremely patient though, which helps a lot! Today her mother and father in law were over for lunch and we could barely understand what the father was saying because he spoke so fast! We had to keep saying "Habla mas despacio por favor!" and everyone would laugh.
Ok now I'm rambling, time for some homework! Yes homework on the first day. No bueno.

Alto Libertad

Yesterday we went to church for the first time. There are 4 different Nazarene Churches in Arequipa and the 12 of us 40/40 missionaries have been split up among the churches. The church we are at is where we will be attending 3 or 4 days a week and helping out wherever we can while doing language school. The one I am at is called Alto Libertad and it was an AMAZING experience!
The church is about 30 minutes away from where we are living and is near an agricultural part of the city. There was a dirt floor and the walls were just tarps that ended about a foot before reaching the ceiling, which was also a big tarp. There were maybe about 20 peruana adults (Peruvians) and about 7 or 8 ninos. Even though I couldn't understand most of the sermon I could tell the pastor had a gift for preaching. El Pastor has been a pastor since he was 20 and he's now 28. The church is much more modern than most very conservative Nazarene churches in Peru. They use the King James Version of the Bible but the music used was more modern than the hymns that most others still use.
Anway I'm really excited to get to know the people at this church and have the chance to work with them. It was SO AMAZING to see God's people worshiping in this church with a dirt floor and tarp walls and a random assortment of chairs to sit on, and know that all of that doesn't matter because God was in that place. At the end of service the Pastor was explaining to the congregation about how they want to start a mission to feed 50 kids. They collected an offering and had people sign up to bring things to feed children starting next week. The area that the church is a poorer part of Arequipa. Just to see people who don't have much giving the little they have to be God's people and feed those even less fortunate than themselves was so cool to see.
Oh I almost forgot one of my favorite parts. In the middle of the service a chicken walked through the aisles. Someone ran and grabbed it and threw it outside. Pretty great. I was picturing that happening at Mission Church and I cracked myself up :)

Yo Necessito Practicar Espanol! Sun. Aug. 30, 2009 2:00pm

We have arrived! Yesterday we arrived in Arequipa, Peru at about 6 in the morning. We were then taken straight to the school where we will be learning Spanish for 4 hours a day 5 days a week starting tomorrow. There we met the families that we will be living with. I LOVE the family that I’m living with! They are super nice and are helping us out so much. I’m living with 2 other 40/40 missionaries, one of whom knows about as much Spanish as I do (which is enough I think to be dangerous), and the other who doesn’t speak any. Yesterday we sat for hours on end while the mom (Miluska) spoke to us in Spanish. I could understand a decent amount but speaking was more difficult. At night they drove us around the city. 5 adults and 2 kids piled into one little car. Quite an experience! They city has many beautiful places. I’ll post pictures later, for now I don’t have internet and will be posting this later.
I’ve had many interesting foods so far… not sure what they are called. This morning was a drink that looked like gravy cooked on the stove. Then strawberries were added to it and it was all mixed in a blender. It almost tasted like a smoothie but warm. Yesterday was warm papaya juice. Lots of rice (arroz) and lots of bread (pan).
Ok gotta go for now. Es tiempo por almuerzo! (That’s probably totally wrong, haha)

Lima, Peru

I'm sitting in the airport in Lima, Peru waiting for my 4:30am flight to Arequipa! Flight went well and made it through customs ok. We get to Arequipa around 6am and then head off to meet our host families where we will be staying for 3 months as we do intensive language training.

This seems a little scattered so I'm going to stop now and attempt to sleep for about an hour. Probably the only sleep I'll get tonight!

The Time Has Come

I fly out of LAX to Peru tomorrow at 1:50 on a 16 hour flight. I can't even begin to describe all of the million emotions I seem to be going through. I'm incredibly excited and yet my stomach is a ball of nerves. After spending 4 days training with my partners and learning more about exactly what we are doing I am FIRED UP! I truly understand why they call this program "Extreme" Nazarene Ministries. We are going to be BUSY spreading the love and the hope of Jesus Christ, spreading His light into dark places. I can't wait to get started!

There's so much more to say but it is late and I need to get to bed to possibly sleep so I can wake up early to spend a last little bit of time with my family. Next post will officially be from Arequipa, Peru!

"Go and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" - Matthew 28:19-20

Starting to Write

I want to start this blog to keep friends and family updated on my life for the next 27 months! In case you HAVEN'T heard yet I have been called to be a volunteer missionary in Peru for a little over 2 years and I leave in just 2 days!
I'm so incredibly excited to be able to serve God and share the love and hope of Jesus with those I get to meet! I will update more later about what exactly I will be doing. For now I just wanted to get the ball rolling in starting this blog. I hope to update as much as possible with information and pictures of my life in Peru.

I have already been blessed SO MUCH by everyone who is praying for me and who has donated to make it possible for me to take on this new adventure serving our Lord. My team and I could use prayer for safety and to calm our nerves as we get ready to leave from Los Angeles on Friday. I can't believe the time has come already!

If you'd like to look up more information you can check out the extreme website: www.extremenazarene.org