Sorry that I haven´t been writting much in my blog lately everyone, its not because a lot hasn´t been going on...its because so much has been going on! No, but really! I am back in Conima...I came back wed. morning. It feels so good to be back, I missed this place! God has really been working here, keep praying everyone! I can´t believe we leave Monday morning for Huancane for two days, and then Puno, and then home! I have so many mixed emotions, its ridiculous. I´m excited to go home to see everyone but I have honestly fallen in love with this place. Its going to be especially hard to leave the kids, for us and for them. Yesterday was a series of let downs...we had three storying dates with people and they all got canceled BUT Jeremy L. and I got to go story with the police officers this morning. I told them the story of Noah and the Ark and Jeremy L. told them the story of the Ten Commandments and then Kelsey and Jeremy L. are going back at 5:00 p:m to story with them again! We are also storying with Sophia tonight and Armando at the English lesson. And then at 7:00 p:m we have group storying and Pablo (on of the construction workers here) is telling Peter´s Sermon tonight! It will be his second time, God is really working in him. Everyone pray for Pablo! Today has been crazy busy, we have to finish the race strong! So yesterday we totally went swimming in Lake Titicaca with some kids. Actually it was the Jeremys, a bunch of kids, and me. Heather and Kelsey waded in the water but they didn´t want to get soaked. It was freeeezzzzinggg but so freeing! I´m off to prepare and pray for this busy evening, you should do the same! Pray for us that is! Keep Emily in your prayers as well...she has a doctors appointment in Lima today.
-Love in Christ!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Quick Update - by Heather
Our to-do list yesterday:
Play with the kids
Story with the police officers
Story with Sophia
Story with the community
Done yesterday:
Play with the kids
Yesterday all our plans seemed to be foiled as we tried to story. The police officers were unable to story again yesterday, but rescheduled for this morning at 9am. When we went out to do community storying and story with Sophia, there were lots of people in the plaza and music coming from the government building. Turns out they were having a dance in the government building where we were supposed to do community storying. Also, Sophia had a bunch of men drinking in her store, so she asked us if we could do it today. Jeremy L. and Alison went and talked to Pablo and decided to continue community storying today. So, we had a wonderful time at the lake with the kids, but struck out on all counts of storying.
Today Jeremy L. and Alison were able to tell 2 stories to the police officers this morning and are supposed to go back to tell more at 5pm tonight. We also have storying with Sophia sometime today or tonight, an English lesson with Armondo and community storying! So, busy night. Pray that we will get to tell all the stories we are planning on, and more. We are sharing the gospel with the community tonight, so pray for that.
I´ll let you know what happens as soon as I can!
Play with the kids
Story with the police officers
Story with Sophia
Story with the community
Done yesterday:
Play with the kids
Yesterday all our plans seemed to be foiled as we tried to story. The police officers were unable to story again yesterday, but rescheduled for this morning at 9am. When we went out to do community storying and story with Sophia, there were lots of people in the plaza and music coming from the government building. Turns out they were having a dance in the government building where we were supposed to do community storying. Also, Sophia had a bunch of men drinking in her store, so she asked us if we could do it today. Jeremy L. and Alison went and talked to Pablo and decided to continue community storying today. So, we had a wonderful time at the lake with the kids, but struck out on all counts of storying.
Today Jeremy L. and Alison were able to tell 2 stories to the police officers this morning and are supposed to go back to tell more at 5pm tonight. We also have storying with Sophia sometime today or tonight, an English lesson with Armondo and community storying! So, busy night. Pray that we will get to tell all the stories we are planning on, and more. We are sharing the gospel with the community tonight, so pray for that.
I´ll let you know what happens as soon as I can!
Health Updates - by Heather
Well, there´s good news and sad news. The good news is that Alison is back here in Conima, shorying it up today. The sad news is that Emily is on her way to Lima for better healthcare and will be unable to return to Conima.
The doctors in Huancane told Emily she had the start of kidney stones and an inflamed stomach lining, but they were kind of crazy and didn´t seem to know what they were talking about. And the treatment they were giving her was not working. She has still been throwing up some blood. So, this morning they made the decision for her to go to Lima. There are much better doctors there and she can hopefully get the care she needs. Her aunt and uncle are missionaries in Lima and they just returned from a visit to Brazil today, so they will be there to pick her up in Lima. So, that is definitely a blessing among the struggle. We are hoping she is able to recover in the coming days and possibly meet us for our vacation in Puno. We will see. If not she will meet us in Lima to fly home. We really miss having her in the house and helping with ministry, but we are trusting that God is taking care of her.To help with the lack of Spanish skills, Jeremy L. is here to stay. He has been leading the community storying, which has been great. We only had kids show up Tuesday when we were supposed to talk about Jesus, so Jeremy told the story of Joseph instead. Last night Pablo was there, along with Ishmael and a few other kids, so Jeremy told the story of Jesus. Pablo asked a lot of questions to clarify about Jesus being God and about knowing that Jesus really rose from the dead. Tonight we are talking about Peter´s Sermon and then tomorrow we will be sharing a more clearly presented gospel message. We are really hoping and praying that Pablo will come to know Christ and be the start of God´s work in the Aymaran people in Conima.
Yesterday we were supposed to story with the police officers at 4pm, but when we went over there they had a bunch of people around and asked if we could come back at 6pm. At this point Jeremy L. was walking from Moho (4 hour walk) and we also had an English lesson at 6pm, but we told them we would be there. So, we weren´t really sure what we were going to do. Fortunately as we were walking back to the house, Jeremy L. rode up on the back of a motorcycle. So, we ate an early dinner and got ready for the crazy night. Kelsey and I went to the English lesson and Jeremy L. and Alison went to the police station.
At the English lesson we were on the second time through the story of Elijah and Baal when Armondo kept asking random questions about unimportant things and then asked if we could start the English lesson. Because we know he hasn´t been interested in the stories except for the learn English, we went ahead and went to the lesson. The lesson turned into mostly him asking questions about what things we produce in the US, how much it rains, if everyone owns cars and how much houses cost. And we taught him a few new verbs - to work, to play, to sing, to listen and to see. Then he actually did a good job of coming up with sentences in English using those verbs. I have enjoyed teaching the lessons, but I don´t think he is ready for really listening to the stories. We talked in training about investing in people who God has already been working in and who are receptive and being willing to let go of people God isn´t drawing yet. I think Armondo is one of those people. We have done a good thing by teaching him English, but I am okay not seeing fruit from the storying, because I think God just isn´t working on him in strong ways yet. We have one more lesson on Friday. It´s supposed to be the story of Jesus, so we will see what happens with that.
After the lesson Kelsey and I went over to the government building where Jeremy and Alison were doing the community storying. They were just about to start. Pablo, Ishmael and 2 other young kids were there. Jeremy told the story of Jesus birth, life and death. Ishmael, who is probably around 10 years old, does an incredible job of retelling the story. All four of them did a really good job of listen and repeating the story. Kelsey and I even picked up some of it and were able to contribute to the retelling. At the end they talked about what they liked and didn´t like about the story and then Pablo asked his questions about Jesus being God and really raising from the dead. It was a really good discussion and you can tell he´s really interested and is thinking about everything. Pablo is going to try to memorize the story for tonight, but if he can´t, Alison has it memorized in English and will translate.After the storying Alison told us that the police officers were not able to story earlier. There was a bad wreck in Tilali and they had a ton of paperwork and people they had to handle. So, we are supposed to go back there today at 4pm. We also have storying with Sophia at 7pm. We have lots of things scheduled with the kids in the afternoon too.
Overall I feel good about the end of the trip. I think we have done what we were called here to do. We have positive things going on and have high hopes for the next few days. I think we have all grown a lot. I think one of the reasons God has had me here this summer is to prepare me for everything coming up in my life. I have had lots of time to think and pray about job opportunities and other things, so I am excited to come home and begin to pursue all of those things.
Tomorrow we are planning on playing with the kids all afternoon. We are also hoping to story more with Sophia and the police and we will have community storying at night. We will do whatever else comes up this weekend, probably do some hiking, have Christmas Saturday night, clean up the house, pack and head to Huancane for debriefing. Then vacation in Puno, then home!
Please pray for us as we wrap up our personal ministry in Conima, and pray for the future teams from FBC Willow Park as they will be coming to continue the work God has been doing.
The doctors in Huancane told Emily she had the start of kidney stones and an inflamed stomach lining, but they were kind of crazy and didn´t seem to know what they were talking about. And the treatment they were giving her was not working. She has still been throwing up some blood. So, this morning they made the decision for her to go to Lima. There are much better doctors there and she can hopefully get the care she needs. Her aunt and uncle are missionaries in Lima and they just returned from a visit to Brazil today, so they will be there to pick her up in Lima. So, that is definitely a blessing among the struggle. We are hoping she is able to recover in the coming days and possibly meet us for our vacation in Puno. We will see. If not she will meet us in Lima to fly home. We really miss having her in the house and helping with ministry, but we are trusting that God is taking care of her.To help with the lack of Spanish skills, Jeremy L. is here to stay. He has been leading the community storying, which has been great. We only had kids show up Tuesday when we were supposed to talk about Jesus, so Jeremy told the story of Joseph instead. Last night Pablo was there, along with Ishmael and a few other kids, so Jeremy told the story of Jesus. Pablo asked a lot of questions to clarify about Jesus being God and about knowing that Jesus really rose from the dead. Tonight we are talking about Peter´s Sermon and then tomorrow we will be sharing a more clearly presented gospel message. We are really hoping and praying that Pablo will come to know Christ and be the start of God´s work in the Aymaran people in Conima.
Yesterday we were supposed to story with the police officers at 4pm, but when we went over there they had a bunch of people around and asked if we could come back at 6pm. At this point Jeremy L. was walking from Moho (4 hour walk) and we also had an English lesson at 6pm, but we told them we would be there. So, we weren´t really sure what we were going to do. Fortunately as we were walking back to the house, Jeremy L. rode up on the back of a motorcycle. So, we ate an early dinner and got ready for the crazy night. Kelsey and I went to the English lesson and Jeremy L. and Alison went to the police station.
At the English lesson we were on the second time through the story of Elijah and Baal when Armondo kept asking random questions about unimportant things and then asked if we could start the English lesson. Because we know he hasn´t been interested in the stories except for the learn English, we went ahead and went to the lesson. The lesson turned into mostly him asking questions about what things we produce in the US, how much it rains, if everyone owns cars and how much houses cost. And we taught him a few new verbs - to work, to play, to sing, to listen and to see. Then he actually did a good job of coming up with sentences in English using those verbs. I have enjoyed teaching the lessons, but I don´t think he is ready for really listening to the stories. We talked in training about investing in people who God has already been working in and who are receptive and being willing to let go of people God isn´t drawing yet. I think Armondo is one of those people. We have done a good thing by teaching him English, but I am okay not seeing fruit from the storying, because I think God just isn´t working on him in strong ways yet. We have one more lesson on Friday. It´s supposed to be the story of Jesus, so we will see what happens with that.
After the lesson Kelsey and I went over to the government building where Jeremy and Alison were doing the community storying. They were just about to start. Pablo, Ishmael and 2 other young kids were there. Jeremy told the story of Jesus birth, life and death. Ishmael, who is probably around 10 years old, does an incredible job of retelling the story. All four of them did a really good job of listen and repeating the story. Kelsey and I even picked up some of it and were able to contribute to the retelling. At the end they talked about what they liked and didn´t like about the story and then Pablo asked his questions about Jesus being God and really raising from the dead. It was a really good discussion and you can tell he´s really interested and is thinking about everything. Pablo is going to try to memorize the story for tonight, but if he can´t, Alison has it memorized in English and will translate.After the storying Alison told us that the police officers were not able to story earlier. There was a bad wreck in Tilali and they had a ton of paperwork and people they had to handle. So, we are supposed to go back there today at 4pm. We also have storying with Sophia at 7pm. We have lots of things scheduled with the kids in the afternoon too.
Overall I feel good about the end of the trip. I think we have done what we were called here to do. We have positive things going on and have high hopes for the next few days. I think we have all grown a lot. I think one of the reasons God has had me here this summer is to prepare me for everything coming up in my life. I have had lots of time to think and pray about job opportunities and other things, so I am excited to come home and begin to pursue all of those things.
Tomorrow we are planning on playing with the kids all afternoon. We are also hoping to story more with Sophia and the police and we will have community storying at night. We will do whatever else comes up this weekend, probably do some hiking, have Christmas Saturday night, clean up the house, pack and head to Huancane for debriefing. Then vacation in Puno, then home!
Please pray for us as we wrap up our personal ministry in Conima, and pray for the future teams from FBC Willow Park as they will be coming to continue the work God has been doing.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Peru as of lately - by Alison
The FBC Willow Park team left Sunday, we were all really sad to see them go. They really lifted our spirits. I don't even know where to start, things have been kind of crazy lately. Well Kelsey and I painted a bunch of the girls nails on Monday, that was cool. I ended up puking a lot on Sunday night and Emily has been sick for awhile now. So we had to go to the clinic in Conima on Monday. John Grady ended up coming to get us and he brought us to Huancane yesterday. We spent the night here last night and then got lab work done today. It looks like I'll be headed back to Conima tomorrow. Yeah! Emily still isn't feeling well so be praying for her. I'm suppose to story tomorrow but it's been kind of hard to memorize my story with everything thats been going on so pray for that too. Sorry this blog is so short, I have no motivation to go into detail. I'll update this week with more detail!
-Love in Christ
-Love in Christ
And Then There Were Three (at least temporarily) - by Heather
Hey everyone,
Sorry for the delay in posting. Everything with the youth team went wonderfully! They were such a help and encouragement. And, thanks to your prayers, all of us were healthy the whole time we were doing ministry with them!
The VBS went great overall. The kids were well behaved, listened to the stories and had a great time.
The community storying had ups and downs, but has brought the biggest blessing of a young man who wants to share stories himself. His name is Paul or Pablo, or a combination of the two, we aren´t sure yet. But, he came to all the storying sessions and even told one of the stories himself. He said that God has told us to share his word with everyone and he wants to keep sharing God´s word. He is not a full believer and Christ follower, but we are sharing the story of Jesus tonight and we are hoping and praying that he will be the start of a body of believers here in Conima. Please pray that he would fully accept the Christian message and not hold on to other false religious beliefs he has been taught. Pray for him to become a believer through these last few stories we have to tell this week. Pray for other people who are coming to the stories - Blanca and Solomon. Also pray for new people to come to the storying sessions every night this week. Today and tonight pray for Jeremy L. as he is rushing to memorize the next story.
Jeremy is memorizing this story in one day because we have had more team health drama, as indicated by the title of this blog. The night before the youth team leaving Emily threw up multiple times throughout the night. She also felt nauseous some for the next few days. Then yesterday she threw up blood. Alison had also thrown up once and there was some blood in it. Because this has the potential to be serious, they went to the clinic here and then John came and picked them up and took them to Huancane where there are better healthcare facilities. Today they are undergoing testing in Huancane. Most likely their gastrointestinal systems are just damaged from being sick so much this summer, but it could possible be stomach ulcers or bacterial infections. We are waiting to hear the results of their tests. Please pray for the two girls. This is our last week here and everyone expected it to be crazy, but not this kind of crazy! We are hoping and praying the tests will come back clean and they will be able to return today or tomorrow. Please pray for God to give them peace as they wait for results. Also, pray for Kelsey, the Jeremys and me as we continue with our ministry here in Conima. Jeremy is memorizing Alison´s story to tell tonight at community storying, as I mentioned above, so pray for amazing memorization abilities.
I will keep you all updated on the girls´ health and our last week of ministry. Pray we finish strong and don´t have any regrets!
Sorry for the delay in posting. Everything with the youth team went wonderfully! They were such a help and encouragement. And, thanks to your prayers, all of us were healthy the whole time we were doing ministry with them!
The VBS went great overall. The kids were well behaved, listened to the stories and had a great time.
The community storying had ups and downs, but has brought the biggest blessing of a young man who wants to share stories himself. His name is Paul or Pablo, or a combination of the two, we aren´t sure yet. But, he came to all the storying sessions and even told one of the stories himself. He said that God has told us to share his word with everyone and he wants to keep sharing God´s word. He is not a full believer and Christ follower, but we are sharing the story of Jesus tonight and we are hoping and praying that he will be the start of a body of believers here in Conima. Please pray that he would fully accept the Christian message and not hold on to other false religious beliefs he has been taught. Pray for him to become a believer through these last few stories we have to tell this week. Pray for other people who are coming to the stories - Blanca and Solomon. Also pray for new people to come to the storying sessions every night this week. Today and tonight pray for Jeremy L. as he is rushing to memorize the next story.
Jeremy is memorizing this story in one day because we have had more team health drama, as indicated by the title of this blog. The night before the youth team leaving Emily threw up multiple times throughout the night. She also felt nauseous some for the next few days. Then yesterday she threw up blood. Alison had also thrown up once and there was some blood in it. Because this has the potential to be serious, they went to the clinic here and then John came and picked them up and took them to Huancane where there are better healthcare facilities. Today they are undergoing testing in Huancane. Most likely their gastrointestinal systems are just damaged from being sick so much this summer, but it could possible be stomach ulcers or bacterial infections. We are waiting to hear the results of their tests. Please pray for the two girls. This is our last week here and everyone expected it to be crazy, but not this kind of crazy! We are hoping and praying the tests will come back clean and they will be able to return today or tomorrow. Please pray for God to give them peace as they wait for results. Also, pray for Kelsey, the Jeremys and me as we continue with our ministry here in Conima. Jeremy is memorizing Alison´s story to tell tonight at community storying, as I mentioned above, so pray for amazing memorization abilities.
I will keep you all updated on the girls´ health and our last week of ministry. Pray we finish strong and don´t have any regrets!
Wow, It has been a long time! by Emily
Sorry for the delay in blogposts! The youth team has been here with us, and we have been pretty busy, and I have also been sick off and on.
Anyway, I´ll give a quick summary of the week. Heather and I continued to do English lessons this week, and they all went really well. Also this week, we started community storying at the goverment building on the Plaza. Monday night went really well... 18 people showed up, and Jeremy L told the creation story! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday there were not nearly as many people, and it was a little discouraging. We think that it has a lot to do with kids running around, distracting and taking away from the experience. Friday, however, there were lots of people again! And the coolest part is that one of the Peruvians (who had consistently attended every night) named either Paúl or Pablo (we don´t seem to know for sure) had asked a couple of nights earlier to learn the story for Friday. Well, he did it, and he did a great job! We will do three more of these sessions next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I am telling the story of the life of Jesus on Tuesday, but I´m having a lot of trouble memorizing this time, so keep me in your prayers!!
Friday we saw our first fiesta in Conima. It was interesting, but also very sad because everyone was all dressed up, dancing, but getting drunk out of their minds. I was told that the fiesta was to celebrate the growth of the potato crop.
Other than that, we also did two stories with Sofia, and they both went really well. Also, another big part of the week was preparing for and having three VBS sessions at the school that I had mentioned before. It went SO WELL! We had about 30 or 35 consistent kids, and they loved coming. I worked the craft station where we did a lot of coloring and gluing. The kids told me that their school does not even own crayons or glue. Everything, including the story, went SO WELL! We got to get close to many of the kids and start building special relationships with them. I think that we really made our reason for being here known by doing that because we have started to hear more talk about us around the community. For example, when we were eating lunch at the restaurant on Friday, a drunk man sat across the room from us shouting at us in Spanish. I didn´t understand at first, but after listening, and with the help of John´s translation, we found out that he was telling us that we didn´t know what we were teaching the people, and we don´t know how to teach the Bible, so we needed to stop. It was very strange because it went on and on for about fifteen minutes while we were trying to ignore him and finish our lunch.
For more detailed updates on the week and VBS, look at: http://fbcwpperumissions.blogspot.com. This is where all of the summer missionaries´posts are located.
Yesterday was a really fun day. We had planned to go hiking with the group, but those plans were canceled by the first rainstorm since we had arrived in the middle of June! I really enjoyed the rain.... It had been a long time since I had heard it or seen it. We just spent the whole afternoon indoors, playing Phase 10 and other card games, making lunch, taking showers, etc. That evening, Kelsey, Heather, and I made pollo a la milenesa for the group, and my sister made some amazing mac and cheese! After dinner (which everyone seemed to like), we went upstairs by the fire for a movie night and watched the Blind Side!! It was my fifth time to see it, but I still loved it!
This morning we all gathered together for one last time of prayer. The youth team prayed over us, packed their bags, and left. They should be getting to the Juliaca airport right now, so pray for safety for them as they travel home!
Today we all cleaned the house and had vegetable soup for lunch. I´m still getting over this stupid bug that won´t seem to leave our group, but at the moment, I feel fine! Tonight I´m cooking BBQ chicken with Heather. We are trying to use up all of our ingredients that we had bought since we will leave Conima in one week.
God is really moving here. Our main focus this week will be our community storying sessions and Pablo/Paúl since he has shown the most interest. We will also be doing more storying with Armando, the police officers, and Sofia this week as well. It´s our last week, so we want to make the biggest impact that we possibly can, and we want to get to the story of salvation with as many people as possible.
Thanks for reading. Hopefully my blogs will be a little more consistent from now on. Love to all!
Anyway, I´ll give a quick summary of the week. Heather and I continued to do English lessons this week, and they all went really well. Also this week, we started community storying at the goverment building on the Plaza. Monday night went really well... 18 people showed up, and Jeremy L told the creation story! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday there were not nearly as many people, and it was a little discouraging. We think that it has a lot to do with kids running around, distracting and taking away from the experience. Friday, however, there were lots of people again! And the coolest part is that one of the Peruvians (who had consistently attended every night) named either Paúl or Pablo (we don´t seem to know for sure) had asked a couple of nights earlier to learn the story for Friday. Well, he did it, and he did a great job! We will do three more of these sessions next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I am telling the story of the life of Jesus on Tuesday, but I´m having a lot of trouble memorizing this time, so keep me in your prayers!!
Friday we saw our first fiesta in Conima. It was interesting, but also very sad because everyone was all dressed up, dancing, but getting drunk out of their minds. I was told that the fiesta was to celebrate the growth of the potato crop.
Other than that, we also did two stories with Sofia, and they both went really well. Also, another big part of the week was preparing for and having three VBS sessions at the school that I had mentioned before. It went SO WELL! We had about 30 or 35 consistent kids, and they loved coming. I worked the craft station where we did a lot of coloring and gluing. The kids told me that their school does not even own crayons or glue. Everything, including the story, went SO WELL! We got to get close to many of the kids and start building special relationships with them. I think that we really made our reason for being here known by doing that because we have started to hear more talk about us around the community. For example, when we were eating lunch at the restaurant on Friday, a drunk man sat across the room from us shouting at us in Spanish. I didn´t understand at first, but after listening, and with the help of John´s translation, we found out that he was telling us that we didn´t know what we were teaching the people, and we don´t know how to teach the Bible, so we needed to stop. It was very strange because it went on and on for about fifteen minutes while we were trying to ignore him and finish our lunch.
For more detailed updates on the week and VBS, look at: http://fbcwpperumissions.blogspot.com. This is where all of the summer missionaries´posts are located.
Yesterday was a really fun day. We had planned to go hiking with the group, but those plans were canceled by the first rainstorm since we had arrived in the middle of June! I really enjoyed the rain.... It had been a long time since I had heard it or seen it. We just spent the whole afternoon indoors, playing Phase 10 and other card games, making lunch, taking showers, etc. That evening, Kelsey, Heather, and I made pollo a la milenesa for the group, and my sister made some amazing mac and cheese! After dinner (which everyone seemed to like), we went upstairs by the fire for a movie night and watched the Blind Side!! It was my fifth time to see it, but I still loved it!
This morning we all gathered together for one last time of prayer. The youth team prayed over us, packed their bags, and left. They should be getting to the Juliaca airport right now, so pray for safety for them as they travel home!
Today we all cleaned the house and had vegetable soup for lunch. I´m still getting over this stupid bug that won´t seem to leave our group, but at the moment, I feel fine! Tonight I´m cooking BBQ chicken with Heather. We are trying to use up all of our ingredients that we had bought since we will leave Conima in one week.
God is really moving here. Our main focus this week will be our community storying sessions and Pablo/Paúl since he has shown the most interest. We will also be doing more storying with Armando, the police officers, and Sofia this week as well. It´s our last week, so we want to make the biggest impact that we possibly can, and we want to get to the story of salvation with as many people as possible.
Thanks for reading. Hopefully my blogs will be a little more consistent from now on. Love to all!
God is Working ... by Kelsey
What a week it has been! The short-ter, team arrived on Tuesday, and we began Bible school on Wednesday. Bible school went wonderfully! On Wednesday we arrived at 1:30pm to set up, and the school was locked up. After sitting outside the school for half an hour, a teacher walked up with key in hand. Flexibility was key in setting up & dividing the kids into classes. The first day of Bible school there were 30 kids so we divided them into 3 groups - 5-7 yr olds, 8-10 yr olds, & 11-12 yr olds. We learned about the story of Joseph, made a coloring page of Joseph´s coat with colorful yarn glued on, ate fruit snacks, and did games & songs. Music was at the end with all the kids together. Heather & I taught them I´m in the Lord´s Army, I´ve Got Joy Down in my Heart, and Father Abraham obviously all in spanish. The second day there were 37 kids. That day we learned about Zaccheus, did another coloring sheet with sticks & green tissue paper glued on the tree, ate animal crackers, and played more games. During music at the end we sang all the songs from Wednesday and taught them Whose the King of the Jungle. The third day was the last day. We learned about the Feeding of the 5000, ate goldfish, decorated foam bookmarks with stickers, and played more games like Gringo Grande Gringo, Rojo Verde, & Hombre/Mono/Platano. For music time we sang the 4 songs they already knew and taught them Singing in the Rain. Overall I would say Bible school was very successful. At the very end we gave each kid a goody bag, and their faces lit up with excitement as they looked through all the candy, stickers, & little toys.
As for the storying this week, it seemed that the community storying was beginning to go downhill with less adults & more kids that just wanted to run around and be a distraction. So we prayed even more strongly against the enemy asking that God would do a mighty work in this town. And Friday night it seems we saw God answering our prayers. That night a young man named Paul told the story. After the story on Tuesday he had expressed interest in telling a story. Then on Wednesday we brought him a copy of the story of Elijah & the Prophets of Baal to be told Friday. The group still hadn´t returned from the storying session by 9:15pm, and usually they were back around 9pm. Dave said that must be a sign that things went really well so we continued to pray for them as we all waited gathered in the living room to hear how the story went. Finally at 9:30 Jeremy Stanley returned, but the rest of the group didn´t follow behind him. Then about ten minutes later we hear Alison, Jeremy Lou, Jonathan, Molly, & Cory stomping up the stairs. I asked how it went and sat eagerly as I listened to each of them share parts of the evening. There were 19 people, over 10 were adults. None of the kids were distracting or misbehaved. Paul did a great job telling the story, and since he speaks softly everyone had to play extra close attention to what was being said. After the story Paul had even com eup with some questions to ask the group. Everyone seemed to participate in the discussion very well. Then Paul turned to Jeremy and asked, ¨Why don´t we sacrifice anymore like in the story?¨ When I heard them tell me that part of the evening my first thought was ¨Because of Jesus!!! Because Jesus died to for!!!¨ Needless to say I´m excited for the next story when they will hear of the life of Jesus Christ and His love of each of them. Anyway, Jeremy answered the question with eagerness. Oh, how great it will be to tell the people of the Good News of Jesus Christ next time! Jonathan then asked the people a few questions. ¨In Aymaran history, did the people worship false gods like in the story?¨ A man answered, ¨Alot of people here STILL worship false gods today.¨ Jonathan questioned the man specifically, ¨Do you worship false gods?¨ The man responded, ¨I believe the Bible is true, but in this community & culture it is hard.¨ Then Jonathan assured the man that it is hard in the United States too, that many people claim Christianity but go on living in the ways of the world. That seemed to give the man some reassurance and comfort. After that Jeremy asked the people if they had any questions, and discussion continued on for almost another hour talking about God & Satan, the Trinity, omnipresence, and other topics. The people seem to be growing in their interest of the Bible. Praise be to God! What a blessing it is to be a vessel of the Lord and witness God work in the lives of these people.
On the other hand, my time with the Lord was interrupted on Thursday morning by the sound of drums & wind pipes. I looked over the balocony ledge to see the plaza filled with traditionally-dressed Aymaran men & women. A man began speaking over the PA system. ¨Representatives from every town in the area have come here to Conima for the Fiesta of the Potato Harvest.¨ Then I saw the big red plastic cases come out. Unfortunately, I have come to see those all too often here. Some of the men began passing out the beer to all who were gathered. More people and even more beer continued to fill the plaza as everyone began the tradition of drinking themselves into a drunken stupor. What a stronghold Satan has built in those wretched fiestas. As we stood on the balcony watching things unfold below, we began to cry out to God for the salvation of these people, even just a few people who may continue the work of His gospel when we leave in a week.
Saturday morning I woke up at 6am like always to spend precious time with the Lord. As I sat at the kitchen table eating a banana and warming my hands with my cup of tea, the wond howled outside beating the rain against the window pane. Yes, I said rain. That was the first glimpse of rain we´ve seen in Peru all summer. So our group hiking trip was postponed and eventually called off due to inclimate weather. Morning worship was a wonderful encouragement to our team. This coming week is our last 7 days in Conima. It is going to be even busier and ahrder than before. Everyone is gone now except the 5 of us. We are going to have to push our hardest and give our all. Satan has been at work battling while we´ve been here, and with us trying to get through the rest of the 8 stories & the potential of seeing some come to Christ I only see it getting harder. but as Paul says in Ephesians 6:10-13, ¨A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God´s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers & authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against the evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God´s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.¨ So we will press forward clad in the armor of God. None of Satan´s fiery arrows will hold us back or strike us down because the Lord is our strength & our shield in whom we take refuge.
Side note: My digestive problems have gotten worse as of late, and it is becoming more of a hinderance than before. There are some nights that I have to miss out so that I can stay close to a bathroom. I´m just so tired of this, and it´s starting to hurt more & more. I wish I knew what was causing it. But God continues to keep me in good spirits. Instead of praying that God would take this away from me, I have begun to pray that my physical hardships would not discourage me and hold me back from the work we have to do here. God is working, and I will not let anything keep me from being a part of it!
As for the storying this week, it seemed that the community storying was beginning to go downhill with less adults & more kids that just wanted to run around and be a distraction. So we prayed even more strongly against the enemy asking that God would do a mighty work in this town. And Friday night it seems we saw God answering our prayers. That night a young man named Paul told the story. After the story on Tuesday he had expressed interest in telling a story. Then on Wednesday we brought him a copy of the story of Elijah & the Prophets of Baal to be told Friday. The group still hadn´t returned from the storying session by 9:15pm, and usually they were back around 9pm. Dave said that must be a sign that things went really well so we continued to pray for them as we all waited gathered in the living room to hear how the story went. Finally at 9:30 Jeremy Stanley returned, but the rest of the group didn´t follow behind him. Then about ten minutes later we hear Alison, Jeremy Lou, Jonathan, Molly, & Cory stomping up the stairs. I asked how it went and sat eagerly as I listened to each of them share parts of the evening. There were 19 people, over 10 were adults. None of the kids were distracting or misbehaved. Paul did a great job telling the story, and since he speaks softly everyone had to play extra close attention to what was being said. After the story Paul had even com eup with some questions to ask the group. Everyone seemed to participate in the discussion very well. Then Paul turned to Jeremy and asked, ¨Why don´t we sacrifice anymore like in the story?¨ When I heard them tell me that part of the evening my first thought was ¨Because of Jesus!!! Because Jesus died to for!!!¨ Needless to say I´m excited for the next story when they will hear of the life of Jesus Christ and His love of each of them. Anyway, Jeremy answered the question with eagerness. Oh, how great it will be to tell the people of the Good News of Jesus Christ next time! Jonathan then asked the people a few questions. ¨In Aymaran history, did the people worship false gods like in the story?¨ A man answered, ¨Alot of people here STILL worship false gods today.¨ Jonathan questioned the man specifically, ¨Do you worship false gods?¨ The man responded, ¨I believe the Bible is true, but in this community & culture it is hard.¨ Then Jonathan assured the man that it is hard in the United States too, that many people claim Christianity but go on living in the ways of the world. That seemed to give the man some reassurance and comfort. After that Jeremy asked the people if they had any questions, and discussion continued on for almost another hour talking about God & Satan, the Trinity, omnipresence, and other topics. The people seem to be growing in their interest of the Bible. Praise be to God! What a blessing it is to be a vessel of the Lord and witness God work in the lives of these people.
On the other hand, my time with the Lord was interrupted on Thursday morning by the sound of drums & wind pipes. I looked over the balocony ledge to see the plaza filled with traditionally-dressed Aymaran men & women. A man began speaking over the PA system. ¨Representatives from every town in the area have come here to Conima for the Fiesta of the Potato Harvest.¨ Then I saw the big red plastic cases come out. Unfortunately, I have come to see those all too often here. Some of the men began passing out the beer to all who were gathered. More people and even more beer continued to fill the plaza as everyone began the tradition of drinking themselves into a drunken stupor. What a stronghold Satan has built in those wretched fiestas. As we stood on the balcony watching things unfold below, we began to cry out to God for the salvation of these people, even just a few people who may continue the work of His gospel when we leave in a week.
Saturday morning I woke up at 6am like always to spend precious time with the Lord. As I sat at the kitchen table eating a banana and warming my hands with my cup of tea, the wond howled outside beating the rain against the window pane. Yes, I said rain. That was the first glimpse of rain we´ve seen in Peru all summer. So our group hiking trip was postponed and eventually called off due to inclimate weather. Morning worship was a wonderful encouragement to our team. This coming week is our last 7 days in Conima. It is going to be even busier and ahrder than before. Everyone is gone now except the 5 of us. We are going to have to push our hardest and give our all. Satan has been at work battling while we´ve been here, and with us trying to get through the rest of the 8 stories & the potential of seeing some come to Christ I only see it getting harder. but as Paul says in Ephesians 6:10-13, ¨A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God´s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers & authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against the evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God´s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.¨ So we will press forward clad in the armor of God. None of Satan´s fiery arrows will hold us back or strike us down because the Lord is our strength & our shield in whom we take refuge.
Side note: My digestive problems have gotten worse as of late, and it is becoming more of a hinderance than before. There are some nights that I have to miss out so that I can stay close to a bathroom. I´m just so tired of this, and it´s starting to hurt more & more. I wish I knew what was causing it. But God continues to keep me in good spirits. Instead of praying that God would take this away from me, I have begun to pray that my physical hardships would not discourage me and hold me back from the work we have to do here. God is working, and I will not let anything keep me from being a part of it!
You Are God! by Alison
Yesterday turned out to be pretty amazing. God is God. He is not a God of circumstances, every circumstance is in his hands. I was reminded of this yesterday. Vbs went really well, I was sad to see it end! At lunch this drunk dude kept yelled at us...in Spanish so its not like any of us understood him expect Jeremy L. and John. I went with Emily and Heather to the English lesson and told Armando the story of Noah and the Ark. Then Emily and I came back to the house because she wasn´t feeling too well. Molly, Jeremy L, Jeremy S, Jonathan, Cory, and I went to community storying last night. We were praying that Paúl (the guy I wrote about in an earlier blog that was showing an interest in storying) would show up because he was suppose to do the story. We were suppose to start at 7:00 p:m and it was about 7:30 p:m when Jeremy S. and I decided to go get Yasmani at his house to come to the story. We got back to the government building and Paúl was there, thank you Lord! So Paúl told the story of Elijah and Baal. It actually went really well! The discussion time at the end was amazing, it got really in depth. The two teenagers named Blanca and Salomon asked a ton of questions. Usually during the story times we ask questions and they answer them but we allowed them to ask us questions. They asked about the trinity, why we don´t offer sacrifices any more, etc. About 16 people ended up coming and we talked until 9:30 p:m. God is really working in Conima. Pray for Paúl, that he will have the strength to become a leader here and that he will come to a saving knowledge of Christ.
Saturday, July 17th
I woke up to it raining in Conima! What a nice change of weather. We were suppose to go on a hike today but its been raining throughout the day and its been very windy. Instead of hiking we have been sitting by the fire all day playing card games. Its been very refreshing, I forgot what it was like to relax! The room started getting extermely smoky from the fire so we opened a few windows, the windows are swinging windows. The wind picked up all of a sudden and the window was swinging like crazy! So I went to grab it and almost got smacked in the face but Cory Lee came to my rescue! John (the missionary) was laughing the whole time! So much for missionaries being loving! haha. Just kiddingggg. The FBC Willow Park team leaves tomorrow morning, they really lifted our spirits being here; its going to be sad to see them go! Well I´m off to go enjoy doing nothing. Please keep us in your prayers as we are spending our last week doing mission work in Conima. We gotta keep fighting the good fight!
-Love in Christ
Saturday, July 17th
I woke up to it raining in Conima! What a nice change of weather. We were suppose to go on a hike today but its been raining throughout the day and its been very windy. Instead of hiking we have been sitting by the fire all day playing card games. Its been very refreshing, I forgot what it was like to relax! The room started getting extermely smoky from the fire so we opened a few windows, the windows are swinging windows. The wind picked up all of a sudden and the window was swinging like crazy! So I went to grab it and almost got smacked in the face but Cory Lee came to my rescue! John (the missionary) was laughing the whole time! So much for missionaries being loving! haha. Just kiddingggg. The FBC Willow Park team leaves tomorrow morning, they really lifted our spirits being here; its going to be sad to see them go! Well I´m off to go enjoy doing nothing. Please keep us in your prayers as we are spending our last week doing mission work in Conima. We gotta keep fighting the good fight!
-Love in Christ
Friday, July 16, 2010
The days are so busy - by Kelsey
Note: To read Kelsey´s blog, follow the link HERE. The formatting and the length of the blogs proves difficult to copy and paste in Peru.
Love crosses all cultures - by Alison
I am really starting to love these people, I am not using the word love casually like so many people do...I feel such a deep love for these people. My heart breaks for them and longs for them to know the same wonderful and forgiving God that I know.
Wed, July 14th
Vbs went really well! The kids loved the craft (Joseph and his coat of many colors)! There were about 30 kids there. My Dad and I worked on the story of Noah and the Flood after Vbs (I am telling it in English and he is translating). Everyone went and ate at the restuarant at 5:00 p:m but my stomache wasn´t feeling well so I stayed behind and rested. My Dad, Jeremy L, Jonathan, Heather, and I ended up going to the group storying. It went pretty well, it was a little hectic but not too bad! About twelve people ended up coming and most of them were pretty engaged. We got back to the house around 8:30 p:m and had worship and then caught some ZZzZZZ´s.
Thursday, July 15th
The morning started out kind of rough, just dealing with stress and other things. My spirits were lifted, thanks to my awesome God! Vbs went really well...we had 31 kids there. The day was going pretty well until I got on the computer and had a message from Andrew. He just found out that his mother has a disease called Atypical endometerial hyperplasia(complex) which is a disease that can develope into cancer of the uterus. There are four stages to the disease before cancer. She is in the fourth stage. She has a doctors appointment on September 2nd to decide what they will do. They think that they caught it early enough. She will have a hysterectomy to try to get the disease out of her body. In September they will find out how urgent the surgery will be. Just please pray everyone. I trust God and know that he has the situation under control but its hard not to feel discouraged, especially since Andrew is all the way in Washington and I am all the way in Peru. Thank God I am going there on August 4th until August 18th. His mother´s name is Mavis so everyone please keep her in your prayers. I also need some prayer. I am joyful today because of Christ but its hard not to feel a deep sadness. So please pray for me as well and Andrew´s whole family. I can see God moving in Conima and there is no doubt in my mind that God has everything under contol but in the U.S.
-Love in Christ
Wed, July 14th
Vbs went really well! The kids loved the craft (Joseph and his coat of many colors)! There were about 30 kids there. My Dad and I worked on the story of Noah and the Flood after Vbs (I am telling it in English and he is translating). Everyone went and ate at the restuarant at 5:00 p:m but my stomache wasn´t feeling well so I stayed behind and rested. My Dad, Jeremy L, Jonathan, Heather, and I ended up going to the group storying. It went pretty well, it was a little hectic but not too bad! About twelve people ended up coming and most of them were pretty engaged. We got back to the house around 8:30 p:m and had worship and then caught some ZZzZZZ´s.
Thursday, July 15th
The morning started out kind of rough, just dealing with stress and other things. My spirits were lifted, thanks to my awesome God! Vbs went really well...we had 31 kids there. The day was going pretty well until I got on the computer and had a message from Andrew. He just found out that his mother has a disease called Atypical endometerial hyperplasia(complex) which is a disease that can develope into cancer of the uterus. There are four stages to the disease before cancer. She is in the fourth stage. She has a doctors appointment on September 2nd to decide what they will do. They think that they caught it early enough. She will have a hysterectomy to try to get the disease out of her body. In September they will find out how urgent the surgery will be. Just please pray everyone. I trust God and know that he has the situation under control but its hard not to feel discouraged, especially since Andrew is all the way in Washington and I am all the way in Peru. Thank God I am going there on August 4th until August 18th. His mother´s name is Mavis so everyone please keep her in your prayers. I also need some prayer. I am joyful today because of Christ but its hard not to feel a deep sadness. So please pray for me as well and Andrew´s whole family. I can see God moving in Conima and there is no doubt in my mind that God has everything under contol but in the U.S.
-Love in Christ
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Welcome FBC Willow Park Team! ... by Alison
Monday, July 12th
Today we are cleaning sooo much, this place is going to be spotless! Kelsey, Heather and I went to the hostile to invite the lady who owns the hostile to group storying but she wasn´t there so her father told us to come back later. We invited Franny to the group storying as well. Then we made lunch! We had guacamole and salsa on sandwiches (the meat eaters had turkey as well). Emily and I went back to the hostile around 2:00 p:m and talked to the lady. She said that she works at the school during the day and takes care of her father and runs the hostile during the night. What a busy lady! So we decided that I would garden with her next weekend (she´s going out of town this weekend). We storied with Sophia and her friend. I told the story of Noah and the Flood and Emily translated, Heather followed along with me to make sure that I didn´t mess up. Storying is a group effort! It went really well! Sophia and her friend kept asking me to read in Spanish and every time they would laugh so much. My Spanish isn´t the best, which I´m sure that you have all gathered by now. Sophia pulled out a box full of avocados and I said "me gusta" so she boke one open and we split it between the five of us. We are storying again with them Friday! Kelsey and Jeremy L. did the community storying tonight and said that 18 people showed up!! God is so awesome, he is answering prayers left and right! Also, Emily and Heather said that the English class went really well too! Things are going really well in Conima as of lately, goodbye sickness!
Tuesday, July 13th
The team got here today!!!!!! They arrived at around 11:00 a:m. After they got everything settled we showed them around Conima which didn´t take long considering it is so small. Then we went and ate at the restuarant, everyone seemed to really like it! We came back to the house and the FBC Willow Park team slept since they were so tired from flying. Kelsey, Heather, and I went and gathered sticks and bought some yarn for the crafts. We came back to the house and I showered and we worked on preparing everything for the crafts. Then the Jeremy´s and I went to Yasmani´s house (one of the kids we´ve grown close to) to meet his mom but he wasn´t there so we decided to go on a short hike. While we were hiking Yasmani and his little brother and sister showed up so they hiked with us. Then we headed back to the house because Jeremy S. and I needed to get dinner ready! We made beef tacos with all the fixin´s. The kitchen was so packed with 12 of us but we managed! Then My Dad, Kelsey, Jeremy L. and I headed to the Government building to do the community storying. Kelsey told the story of The Fall of Man while Jeremy L. asked questions and kept everyone engaged. It was some what hectic because the kids were running around but 16 people came (actually a few more but some people left during the middle). One of the construction workers that came answered a lot of questions and he told Jeremy L. that he would like to learn a story one day and tell it the way that we did. Yes!!!! So Jeremy L. is going to give him one of the stories and he is going to try to memorize it. The community storying started at 7:00 p:m and we got back to the house at about 9:00 p:m. When we got back to the house we had group worship, it was real gooood. We all went to bed around 10:00 p:m, we were all pretty tired.
Today, July 14th
This morning we had worship at 8:30 a:m and then we went into preparation mode for VBS. We all prepared everything for our individual thing that we are doing. VBS started today at 2:00 p:m so be praying everyone! I´m doing crafts with Emily and Molly. Woot Woot! John and Emily went and talked to the principal of the school and he said that the kids are really excited and that they liked the posters that Heather and I made. Lunch is in about thirty minutes, we are eating at the restuarant again. God is really working here, we couldn´t do it without all of you praying back home! Oh yeah...yesterday when they got here my Dad brought me peanut butter, cheeze-itz, and some nail polish so we can do a girls day our last week here with the young girls in the town. I think the girls will really like it. My Dad also brought a letter from my Meme and my Mom. My Mom included some lipgloss from Bath and Body works in the envelope. What a sweet heart! My Mom also said in the letter that she found her journal from when she was in Bolivia (around the same age as I am now) and she put her journal entry in the letter from June 11th (the day that I left for Peru). On June 11th she had met a missionary from England named Alison. Crazy cool huh? I thought so too. Well I´m off to see what everyone else is up too. Keep praying, I know that I say that a lot but its so important!
-Love in Christ!
Today we are cleaning sooo much, this place is going to be spotless! Kelsey, Heather and I went to the hostile to invite the lady who owns the hostile to group storying but she wasn´t there so her father told us to come back later. We invited Franny to the group storying as well. Then we made lunch! We had guacamole and salsa on sandwiches (the meat eaters had turkey as well). Emily and I went back to the hostile around 2:00 p:m and talked to the lady. She said that she works at the school during the day and takes care of her father and runs the hostile during the night. What a busy lady! So we decided that I would garden with her next weekend (she´s going out of town this weekend). We storied with Sophia and her friend. I told the story of Noah and the Flood and Emily translated, Heather followed along with me to make sure that I didn´t mess up. Storying is a group effort! It went really well! Sophia and her friend kept asking me to read in Spanish and every time they would laugh so much. My Spanish isn´t the best, which I´m sure that you have all gathered by now. Sophia pulled out a box full of avocados and I said "me gusta" so she boke one open and we split it between the five of us. We are storying again with them Friday! Kelsey and Jeremy L. did the community storying tonight and said that 18 people showed up!! God is so awesome, he is answering prayers left and right! Also, Emily and Heather said that the English class went really well too! Things are going really well in Conima as of lately, goodbye sickness!
Tuesday, July 13th
The team got here today!!!!!! They arrived at around 11:00 a:m. After they got everything settled we showed them around Conima which didn´t take long considering it is so small. Then we went and ate at the restuarant, everyone seemed to really like it! We came back to the house and the FBC Willow Park team slept since they were so tired from flying. Kelsey, Heather, and I went and gathered sticks and bought some yarn for the crafts. We came back to the house and I showered and we worked on preparing everything for the crafts. Then the Jeremy´s and I went to Yasmani´s house (one of the kids we´ve grown close to) to meet his mom but he wasn´t there so we decided to go on a short hike. While we were hiking Yasmani and his little brother and sister showed up so they hiked with us. Then we headed back to the house because Jeremy S. and I needed to get dinner ready! We made beef tacos with all the fixin´s. The kitchen was so packed with 12 of us but we managed! Then My Dad, Kelsey, Jeremy L. and I headed to the Government building to do the community storying. Kelsey told the story of The Fall of Man while Jeremy L. asked questions and kept everyone engaged. It was some what hectic because the kids were running around but 16 people came (actually a few more but some people left during the middle). One of the construction workers that came answered a lot of questions and he told Jeremy L. that he would like to learn a story one day and tell it the way that we did. Yes!!!! So Jeremy L. is going to give him one of the stories and he is going to try to memorize it. The community storying started at 7:00 p:m and we got back to the house at about 9:00 p:m. When we got back to the house we had group worship, it was real gooood. We all went to bed around 10:00 p:m, we were all pretty tired.
Today, July 14th
This morning we had worship at 8:30 a:m and then we went into preparation mode for VBS. We all prepared everything for our individual thing that we are doing. VBS started today at 2:00 p:m so be praying everyone! I´m doing crafts with Emily and Molly. Woot Woot! John and Emily went and talked to the principal of the school and he said that the kids are really excited and that they liked the posters that Heather and I made. Lunch is in about thirty minutes, we are eating at the restuarant again. God is really working here, we couldn´t do it without all of you praying back home! Oh yeah...yesterday when they got here my Dad brought me peanut butter, cheeze-itz, and some nail polish so we can do a girls day our last week here with the young girls in the town. I think the girls will really like it. My Dad also brought a letter from my Meme and my Mom. My Mom included some lipgloss from Bath and Body works in the envelope. What a sweet heart! My Mom also said in the letter that she found her journal from when she was in Bolivia (around the same age as I am now) and she put her journal entry in the letter from June 11th (the day that I left for Peru). On June 11th she had met a missionary from England named Alison. Crazy cool huh? I thought so too. Well I´m off to see what everyone else is up too. Keep praying, I know that I say that a lot but its so important!
-Love in Christ!
Big Week Update! - by Heather
So, things are for the most part going like we had planned for the week. We have started VBS, had community storying, taught English lessons and storied with Sophia.
VBS went really well. We started yesterday. We had probably 30-40 kids. We had games, crafts, a Bible story, snacks and music. The kids were great. They really paid attention to the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers and easily answered lots of questions about it. They made cute pictures of Joseph´s coat (La túnica de José) complete with colorful yarn glued on. They had fun playing ¨Gringo, Grande, Gringo¨ and they did very well following Kelsey and I in ´Padre Abraham,´ Yo Tengo Gozo,´ and ´Soy Soldado de Jesus.´ It was a lot of fun and they seemed to really enjoy it. Hopefully we are impacting them.
We had another English lesson last night. Given our crazy schedule, we were not able to prepare as much as usual, but he enjoyed learning all the names of the things in our ¨classroom.¨ We invited him to our community storying time instead of having Alison tell hers back to back in the lesson and then for the town. He said he would come, but never showed up. So we will have to continue with the next story on Friday.
After the lesson I went over to the storying session. Alison told the story in English, her dad (Dave) translated, Jeremy helped everyone repeat it and Jonathan and I sat there and made efforts to get the young girls to be quiet. There were around 8-15 people there at different times. It was mostly kids and they would get very talkative and distracting. Jeremy S. took some of them out from the beginning to play in the plaza so they wouldn´t disturb the storying like last night, but others stayed. A lot of the boys were very attentive and did most of the repeating of the story. The girls, on the other hand, liked to giggle and talk and play jacks and come in and out. It was harder to communicate with the adults who were there and we are worried some might not come back because of the kids. There is one guy, a construction working in his 20s who was very interested and attentive. Toward the end he was asking lots of questions and talking with Jeremy L. about man and sin and lots of stuff. We are praying he really grasps onto the next stories. He wants to memorize and tell the story on Friday night. Pray he does it and speaks confidently. There was also an older man there who listened and could tell about the story. The couple who owns this internet cabina showed up after the last telling of the story, but they heard the discussion. Pray they come back and are able to come for the storying part.Today we are doing VBS and the community storying. Pray for Molly as she tells the story of Zacchaeus at VBS today and for Jeremy L. as he tells the story of the 10 Commandments at community storying.
Also, the more general thing we are praying for is for God to show us who to invest most in these last 2 weeks. When we are gone we want someone to continue telling stories and continue the work here. We have this young man at the community storying and the police officers and other people we are storying with. Please pray for God to show us who can step up and keep seeking him once we leave.
In other immediate news: There is a fiesta going on today. After our worship time this morning we heard music going on outside. It is the most ¨legit¨ fiesta we have seen so far. There are leaders from all the surrounding communities and everyone is in the plaza. The elders are all wearing red poncho things and there is a circle of women in navy ponchos. Then lots of women around the fountain with their brightly colored packs. There were two bands playing and lots of beer being passed around. Pray this doesn´t interfere with our ministry in the next few days, or that God somehow accomplishes his will through it.
Lunchtime! Thanks for your interest and prayers! We have definitely felt the prayers of everyone lately after our slew of sickness.
VBS went really well. We started yesterday. We had probably 30-40 kids. We had games, crafts, a Bible story, snacks and music. The kids were great. They really paid attention to the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers and easily answered lots of questions about it. They made cute pictures of Joseph´s coat (La túnica de José) complete with colorful yarn glued on. They had fun playing ¨Gringo, Grande, Gringo¨ and they did very well following Kelsey and I in ´Padre Abraham,´ Yo Tengo Gozo,´ and ´Soy Soldado de Jesus.´ It was a lot of fun and they seemed to really enjoy it. Hopefully we are impacting them.
We had another English lesson last night. Given our crazy schedule, we were not able to prepare as much as usual, but he enjoyed learning all the names of the things in our ¨classroom.¨ We invited him to our community storying time instead of having Alison tell hers back to back in the lesson and then for the town. He said he would come, but never showed up. So we will have to continue with the next story on Friday.
After the lesson I went over to the storying session. Alison told the story in English, her dad (Dave) translated, Jeremy helped everyone repeat it and Jonathan and I sat there and made efforts to get the young girls to be quiet. There were around 8-15 people there at different times. It was mostly kids and they would get very talkative and distracting. Jeremy S. took some of them out from the beginning to play in the plaza so they wouldn´t disturb the storying like last night, but others stayed. A lot of the boys were very attentive and did most of the repeating of the story. The girls, on the other hand, liked to giggle and talk and play jacks and come in and out. It was harder to communicate with the adults who were there and we are worried some might not come back because of the kids. There is one guy, a construction working in his 20s who was very interested and attentive. Toward the end he was asking lots of questions and talking with Jeremy L. about man and sin and lots of stuff. We are praying he really grasps onto the next stories. He wants to memorize and tell the story on Friday night. Pray he does it and speaks confidently. There was also an older man there who listened and could tell about the story. The couple who owns this internet cabina showed up after the last telling of the story, but they heard the discussion. Pray they come back and are able to come for the storying part.Today we are doing VBS and the community storying. Pray for Molly as she tells the story of Zacchaeus at VBS today and for Jeremy L. as he tells the story of the 10 Commandments at community storying.
Also, the more general thing we are praying for is for God to show us who to invest most in these last 2 weeks. When we are gone we want someone to continue telling stories and continue the work here. We have this young man at the community storying and the police officers and other people we are storying with. Please pray for God to show us who can step up and keep seeking him once we leave.
In other immediate news: There is a fiesta going on today. After our worship time this morning we heard music going on outside. It is the most ¨legit¨ fiesta we have seen so far. There are leaders from all the surrounding communities and everyone is in the plaza. The elders are all wearing red poncho things and there is a circle of women in navy ponchos. Then lots of women around the fountain with their brightly colored packs. There were two bands playing and lots of beer being passed around. Pray this doesn´t interfere with our ministry in the next few days, or that God somehow accomplishes his will through it.
Lunchtime! Thanks for your interest and prayers! We have definitely felt the prayers of everyone lately after our slew of sickness.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
What happens when you share the gospel in power and in the Holy Spirit? ... by Jonathan
This morning, worship with the team was sweet. The team is going through Romans - we hit Chapter 7 this morning. Paul shared his struggles with knowing what good he is to do for God, yet sin being close at hand. This is the struggle all believers face - we are saved, yet are being saved as well ... part of that is learning to walk in the tension of a divine, spiritual nature while the flesh still remains this side of eternity.
This led us to remember what new believers here will face and how necessary it is for us, back in the States, as their brothers and sisters in Christ, to pray for their struggle. My hope is to see new believers birthed out of this ministry this summer, and beyond. However, leaving alcoholism and idol worship is quite difficult, but God changes lives.
I shared this with our group from 1 Thessalonians 1:
When the gospel is spoken and the Spirit moves in power, people are saved. Not only that, but their faith is known to those around them, they leave idols becasue they know Jesus is better and has broken the bondage that held them captive for so long. This, my friends, is why we are here as ambassadors for Christ. This, my friends, is why we must pray for the Spirit to RUSH through Conima in power and change the lives of those here. We must pray for this. Apart from a move of the Spirit, our gospel - which is the power to save - won´t come in power nor the Holy Spirit. Join us.
Until He Comes,
Jonathan
This led us to remember what new believers here will face and how necessary it is for us, back in the States, as their brothers and sisters in Christ, to pray for their struggle. My hope is to see new believers birthed out of this ministry this summer, and beyond. However, leaving alcoholism and idol worship is quite difficult, but God changes lives.
I shared this with our group from 1 Thessalonians 1:
¨For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because ourgospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us, and of the Lord, for you received he word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit ... For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.¨(1 Thess. 1:3-10)
When the gospel is spoken and the Spirit moves in power, people are saved. Not only that, but their faith is known to those around them, they leave idols becasue they know Jesus is better and has broken the bondage that held them captive for so long. This, my friends, is why we are here as ambassadors for Christ. This, my friends, is why we must pray for the Spirit to RUSH through Conima in power and change the lives of those here. We must pray for this. Apart from a move of the Spirit, our gospel - which is the power to save - won´t come in power nor the Holy Spirit. Join us.
Until He Comes,
Jonathan
Breakthrough - by Heather
Well, the youth team pulled up about 15 minutes ago, so I really need to head back to the house to meet all of them, but I wanted to give you a quick update about last night.
We had an English lesson with Armondo at 6pm. Kelsey, Emily, Jeremy S. and I went. Kelsey told the story of the fall of man at the beginning. She told it in Spanish and then Emily and Armondo read through it in English. It went a lot better than the other time we storied with him. We did it at the end of the lesson and he just wanted to see the English. So, we are glad to have figured that out. And it gives me time to copy his lessons in his book. Kelsey left early so she could go with Jeremy L. to our first community storying session.
When the English lesson was over around 7:05 Jeremy S., Emily and I headed back to the plaza. Jeremy went over to the government building to join the community storying session and Emily and I went back to the house to meet Alison to go story with Sophia. While we were at the house waiting for 7:30 to come, there was a knock on the door. It was Jeremy S. saying that no one had showed up for the community storying. We were all disappointed and felt bad after we had gone around town and invited so many people and so many people seemed interested. We knew they might have just acted interested, but we didn´t expect no one to show up. But it was 7:20 by this point and not a soul was there. Jeremy L. and Kelsey were going to stay though and just be sure no one showed up. So, the rest of us lamented the failure and then us three girls went to story with Sophia.
Sophia´s husband, once again, was not there, but one of her friends was. So, we just talked with them for a while and then Alison told the story to the two ladies and Emily translated. The ladies liked to talk some during the story, especially to express shock over how old Noah was when the flood came (600 years old) and they tried to figure out how many month they were in the ark (150 days). The first comments got us discussing the average life span in the US and Peru. I told them my great grandmother lived to be 104. They said that was really old. Anyway, so we got through the story and talked a little about it. When Emily gave them the hook about the story for next time and asked when they wanted to hear the next one, Sophia´s friend said ¨mañana¨ (tomorrow). But we eventually decided on Friday, because they weren´t free sooner than that. The next story is my story, so I´m kind of nervous, but they are good to story with and others are learning that story as well.
Whew, so much still to tell and I should be back at the house already! Real quick:
So, we girls came back to the house and Jeremy and Kelsey still weren´t back, so we figured one or two people much have showed up. We ate snacks in the kitchen for a while and then headed up to the top floor to turn on the heater and get warm. Kelsey came running up a few minutes later and told us they had 18 people show up! They almost ran out of chairs in the room! The man at the internet cabina showed up, so did the two nurses from the clinic, a few kids and other people we didn´t really know. They told the story 4 times and had them repeat it 4 times because new people just kept coming in. At one point a little boy stood up and repeated the whole story for the group. We were all so excited. We never expected that kind of turnout, especially when no one was there 20 minutes after it was supposed to start. So, we were all really encouraged and just spent time praying and thanking God for what he did. I think last night was the push we needed to stay motivated and see that God really is working here. So, pray everyone comes back tonight and more people come and we fill up the room to overflowing every night! And pray that the message actually sinks into their heart and the town of Conima is changed.
Alright, off to meet the youth team! Thank you so much for your prayers!
We had an English lesson with Armondo at 6pm. Kelsey, Emily, Jeremy S. and I went. Kelsey told the story of the fall of man at the beginning. She told it in Spanish and then Emily and Armondo read through it in English. It went a lot better than the other time we storied with him. We did it at the end of the lesson and he just wanted to see the English. So, we are glad to have figured that out. And it gives me time to copy his lessons in his book. Kelsey left early so she could go with Jeremy L. to our first community storying session.
When the English lesson was over around 7:05 Jeremy S., Emily and I headed back to the plaza. Jeremy went over to the government building to join the community storying session and Emily and I went back to the house to meet Alison to go story with Sophia. While we were at the house waiting for 7:30 to come, there was a knock on the door. It was Jeremy S. saying that no one had showed up for the community storying. We were all disappointed and felt bad after we had gone around town and invited so many people and so many people seemed interested. We knew they might have just acted interested, but we didn´t expect no one to show up. But it was 7:20 by this point and not a soul was there. Jeremy L. and Kelsey were going to stay though and just be sure no one showed up. So, the rest of us lamented the failure and then us three girls went to story with Sophia.
Sophia´s husband, once again, was not there, but one of her friends was. So, we just talked with them for a while and then Alison told the story to the two ladies and Emily translated. The ladies liked to talk some during the story, especially to express shock over how old Noah was when the flood came (600 years old) and they tried to figure out how many month they were in the ark (150 days). The first comments got us discussing the average life span in the US and Peru. I told them my great grandmother lived to be 104. They said that was really old. Anyway, so we got through the story and talked a little about it. When Emily gave them the hook about the story for next time and asked when they wanted to hear the next one, Sophia´s friend said ¨mañana¨ (tomorrow). But we eventually decided on Friday, because they weren´t free sooner than that. The next story is my story, so I´m kind of nervous, but they are good to story with and others are learning that story as well.
Whew, so much still to tell and I should be back at the house already! Real quick:
So, we girls came back to the house and Jeremy and Kelsey still weren´t back, so we figured one or two people much have showed up. We ate snacks in the kitchen for a while and then headed up to the top floor to turn on the heater and get warm. Kelsey came running up a few minutes later and told us they had 18 people show up! They almost ran out of chairs in the room! The man at the internet cabina showed up, so did the two nurses from the clinic, a few kids and other people we didn´t really know. They told the story 4 times and had them repeat it 4 times because new people just kept coming in. At one point a little boy stood up and repeated the whole story for the group. We were all so excited. We never expected that kind of turnout, especially when no one was there 20 minutes after it was supposed to start. So, we were all really encouraged and just spent time praying and thanking God for what he did. I think last night was the push we needed to stay motivated and see that God really is working here. So, pray everyone comes back tonight and more people come and we fill up the room to overflowing every night! And pray that the message actually sinks into their heart and the town of Conima is changed.
Alright, off to meet the youth team! Thank you so much for your prayers!
Hardly time to take a breath - by Kelsey
THURSDAY - Not enough hours in the day
Yet another busy & productive day in Conima. Today we ran some errands to ask the school director how many kids are in the school (answer: 70, ages 6-12), left a note on Armando´s door explaining why we weren´t at the English lesson on Monday, and bought some poster paper & scissors from the internet cabina. Side note: We found out at the internet cabina that power is out in the whole town. I am praying that it comes back on in time to contact the team back home about supplies to bring for next week.
The rest of the morning & well into the afternoon we were all gathered in the 4th floor living room sorting out candy, designing the posters for Bible school, and fillig the small goody bags we´d been given to use. There was so much candy, stickers, and little toys that we had to make an assembly line sitting on the area rug to get all the bags filled in any kind of timey manner. We ended up with 81 boy goody bags and 72 girl goody bags. Some of those will be passed out to all the kids on the last day of our Bible school, and the rest of the bags will be kept until one of our last days in Conima when we will play with all the kids in the town that we usually play with in the plaza. That is when the rest of the goody bags will be given out. As for the posters, Alison & Heather completed them this afternoon, and we will go hang them up at the school in the morning.
This evening brought about a new experience for me. I told my first story in front of the people here. At 4pm I storyed with 3 of the police officers in Conima. Emily, Alison, & I sat our in front of the station with them and did the story. Then afterwards we hung around and talked some more. They are such sweet men and so understanding when it comes to my minimal spanish skills. I decided that tomorrow I am going to make a plate of chocolate no-bake cookiesto take to them at the station. As far as the storying goes, it went really well. They were attentive as I recited the story in spanish with a couple of mistakes, and they were all willing to participate in the discussion afterwards. I pray each day that the Holy Spirit will work in each of their hearts through the stories we share & the love we show. My desire is that the Lord will make these stories come to life, that they would hold a meaning beyond mere words. Not only did I get to share the story of the Fall of Man with the policemen but also a few hours later with Sophia. Emily, acting as our translator for the summer (and a very good one I might add), had planned to accompany Heather & I to Sophia´s storefront to share the story, but when 8pm rolled around and Emily was curled up in bed in too much pain to stand up, Heather & I were sent out just the 2 of us. We were to use the spanish knowledge we had between the 2 of us to story with Sophia. Her husband was also suppoed to be there, but he had other business to attend to this evening. Surprisingly, we held a 20-minute conversation with Sophia and then storyed with her & discussed it afterwards. The spanish was a little sketchy at points especially on my part, but we were able to hold our own in the conversation. That storying session also went really well, and Sophia asked if her & her husband could hear the next story on Monday evening at 7pm. Praise the Lord for all the open doors, response, and ethusiasm!
FRIDAY - What a great reward
Today was full of small tasks such as hanging the posters for Bible school, visiting the clinic to ask about helping on Sunday, and making a plate of no-bake cookies for the policemen. It was a fun day. And the later hours of our afternoon were spent at the small homemade soccer field that the kids play on. Jeremy Stanley, Alison, and I played with the kids while Emily watched cheering us on. I got really into the soccer game. If I´m going to play then I play to win. My competitive nature is going to cost me two bruised shins, but Alison & Emily seemed entertained by me.
Side note: I bought a phone card for the first time today and got to talk to Momma for half an hour. It was nice, and we both really enjoyed it. That being said, obviously the power is back up & running in the town. Luckily, it came on last night soon after the sunset.
More good news came this afternoon when Emily told me that she had talked to Armando. He found the note we left on his door yesterday and was eager to continue with the English lessons so we set a lesson for this evening at 6pm. Unfortunately, as it came sloer to time for the lesson Heather wasn´t feeling well. We concluded that the best alternative was for me to go in her place so she reviewed her lesson plans with me. I was to teach him the months of the year, numbers 11-20 picking up where we left off last time, and begin explaining verbs starting with ¨to be¨, ¨to have¨, and ¨to want¨. The verbs were the most challenging to teach, but everything went smoothly. Armando´s joyful enthusiasm made the lesson all the more enjoyable. After teaching & reviewing all the material for this evening, Emily shared with him the Creation story. It was a great time, and our one hour flew by, came & went, and we were still there. The joy I got from being able to share my knowledge with Armando and be a part of sharing the gospel with him was such a blessing - moreso than I would´ve ever thought. I am seeing more & more each day what great reward comes with losing my life to Christ and serving Him & His glory.
SATURDAY - Group hike gone bad
Diarrhea was sent from the devil to torture missionaries. I am now sure of that. The excitement on Wednesday that my diarrhea was gone was short-lived when I jumped up in the middle of my quiet time this morning and pushed Heather out of my way rushing to thebathroom. The medicine doesn´t work so I´m at a loss of what to do. I think I´ve just resigned myself to the reality that I will indeed have diarrhea all summer long. Sounds pleasant huh?...yeah no. That must be some kind of record.
The overall excitement among the team in anticipation of our group hike today was also short-lived when 2 of us woke up with diarrhea and one with stomach cramps. Ironically, this group hike was planned to be in celebration of all being in good health once again after our team-wide, all-inclusive bout with the dreaded stomach virus. So much for being in good health. It wasn´t any really serious health compromises, but Heather & Alison weren´t able to join us on the hike for need of staying close to a bathroom.
Now to some people this kind of open discussion of such a topic may be ucomfortable of even awkward, but I have come to learn that when living in another country there are many unusual & awkward things bound to happen. These things will happen not only to you but to other on your team. The best way to cope with these situations is to learn to laugh about it together. Many times if you can´t laugh at things - continuous diarrhea, difficulty with the language acquisition, catching boxes on fire with the gas stove top, slips while boulder jumping in the lake, and waking up at midnight to the sound of your teammate dry-heaving across the hall - then you will fond yourlsef crying about them. Like Mary Poppins said, laughter is the best medicine. Was that Mary Poppins?...well whoever it was, they were right.
As for the hike, it turned out to be Jeremy Stanley, Emily, and I hiking with Yasmani, his ittle brother, and Pollo. Those are 3 of the boys we played soccer with yesterday that we invited to go hiking up the mountain with us. In case you were confused, yyes one of the boys is named Pollo. He refuses to tell us his real name. Today it was Paul & then Babylon, and evey day it´s different. So Emily told him that until he tells us his real name we will call him Pollo.
The hike was lots of fun. The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular looking down on the town of Conima surrounded by mountains with the sun reflecting off the lake waters on the horizon. At the top of the mountain we stopped to have lunch and enjoy the view before beginnng back down. Emily told the boys that we were going to et lunch on top of the mountain. When she said we brought sandwiches for them, all 3 faces lit up with big grins. I pulled the 3 extra peanut butter & jelly sandwiches out of my backpack and gave them to the eager hands waiting to receive them. After the sandwiches were eaten, we pulled out potato chips, peaches, and as a special treat I packed a chocolate no-bake cookie for each of the boys. It was a wonderful picnic with some of my favorite boys here. After lunch they ran around on top of the mountain playing with rocks & sticks pretending that there were cannibal, savage Indians out to get them. Boys will be boys.
While they were all playing with Jeremy, Yasmani picked up a BIG rock to throw down the mountain. When he went to throw it, the rock fell short and landed on his foot usting open his middle toe. After cleaning it as best I could with napkins & water, I wrapped his whole foot in a plastic bag tying it at the ankle. That kept the dirt out of it until we were able to hike down the mountain & make it back to the house where I retrieved the first aid kit. Sitting out on a bench in the plaza I inspected, cleaned, and wrapped up his toe. The rock that fell on it was so big that I had a fear it might be broken. After having him flex all his toes & fan them out, I was satisfied that it wasn´t broken. So after wrappingh it I gave him 2 ibuprofen for the pain & told him to come back in the morning for me to look at it again.
A large part of my afternoon was spent practicing the guitar. Heather taught me how to strum. As of right now I know 2 songs although they are both still very sketchy. It is just going to take alot of practice.
The other team just arrived so I´ll finish blogging later!
Yet another busy & productive day in Conima. Today we ran some errands to ask the school director how many kids are in the school (answer: 70, ages 6-12), left a note on Armando´s door explaining why we weren´t at the English lesson on Monday, and bought some poster paper & scissors from the internet cabina. Side note: We found out at the internet cabina that power is out in the whole town. I am praying that it comes back on in time to contact the team back home about supplies to bring for next week.
The rest of the morning & well into the afternoon we were all gathered in the 4th floor living room sorting out candy, designing the posters for Bible school, and fillig the small goody bags we´d been given to use. There was so much candy, stickers, and little toys that we had to make an assembly line sitting on the area rug to get all the bags filled in any kind of timey manner. We ended up with 81 boy goody bags and 72 girl goody bags. Some of those will be passed out to all the kids on the last day of our Bible school, and the rest of the bags will be kept until one of our last days in Conima when we will play with all the kids in the town that we usually play with in the plaza. That is when the rest of the goody bags will be given out. As for the posters, Alison & Heather completed them this afternoon, and we will go hang them up at the school in the morning.
This evening brought about a new experience for me. I told my first story in front of the people here. At 4pm I storyed with 3 of the police officers in Conima. Emily, Alison, & I sat our in front of the station with them and did the story. Then afterwards we hung around and talked some more. They are such sweet men and so understanding when it comes to my minimal spanish skills. I decided that tomorrow I am going to make a plate of chocolate no-bake cookiesto take to them at the station. As far as the storying goes, it went really well. They were attentive as I recited the story in spanish with a couple of mistakes, and they were all willing to participate in the discussion afterwards. I pray each day that the Holy Spirit will work in each of their hearts through the stories we share & the love we show. My desire is that the Lord will make these stories come to life, that they would hold a meaning beyond mere words. Not only did I get to share the story of the Fall of Man with the policemen but also a few hours later with Sophia. Emily, acting as our translator for the summer (and a very good one I might add), had planned to accompany Heather & I to Sophia´s storefront to share the story, but when 8pm rolled around and Emily was curled up in bed in too much pain to stand up, Heather & I were sent out just the 2 of us. We were to use the spanish knowledge we had between the 2 of us to story with Sophia. Her husband was also suppoed to be there, but he had other business to attend to this evening. Surprisingly, we held a 20-minute conversation with Sophia and then storyed with her & discussed it afterwards. The spanish was a little sketchy at points especially on my part, but we were able to hold our own in the conversation. That storying session also went really well, and Sophia asked if her & her husband could hear the next story on Monday evening at 7pm. Praise the Lord for all the open doors, response, and ethusiasm!
FRIDAY - What a great reward
Today was full of small tasks such as hanging the posters for Bible school, visiting the clinic to ask about helping on Sunday, and making a plate of no-bake cookies for the policemen. It was a fun day. And the later hours of our afternoon were spent at the small homemade soccer field that the kids play on. Jeremy Stanley, Alison, and I played with the kids while Emily watched cheering us on. I got really into the soccer game. If I´m going to play then I play to win. My competitive nature is going to cost me two bruised shins, but Alison & Emily seemed entertained by me.
Side note: I bought a phone card for the first time today and got to talk to Momma for half an hour. It was nice, and we both really enjoyed it. That being said, obviously the power is back up & running in the town. Luckily, it came on last night soon after the sunset.
More good news came this afternoon when Emily told me that she had talked to Armando. He found the note we left on his door yesterday and was eager to continue with the English lessons so we set a lesson for this evening at 6pm. Unfortunately, as it came sloer to time for the lesson Heather wasn´t feeling well. We concluded that the best alternative was for me to go in her place so she reviewed her lesson plans with me. I was to teach him the months of the year, numbers 11-20 picking up where we left off last time, and begin explaining verbs starting with ¨to be¨, ¨to have¨, and ¨to want¨. The verbs were the most challenging to teach, but everything went smoothly. Armando´s joyful enthusiasm made the lesson all the more enjoyable. After teaching & reviewing all the material for this evening, Emily shared with him the Creation story. It was a great time, and our one hour flew by, came & went, and we were still there. The joy I got from being able to share my knowledge with Armando and be a part of sharing the gospel with him was such a blessing - moreso than I would´ve ever thought. I am seeing more & more each day what great reward comes with losing my life to Christ and serving Him & His glory.
SATURDAY - Group hike gone bad
Diarrhea was sent from the devil to torture missionaries. I am now sure of that. The excitement on Wednesday that my diarrhea was gone was short-lived when I jumped up in the middle of my quiet time this morning and pushed Heather out of my way rushing to thebathroom. The medicine doesn´t work so I´m at a loss of what to do. I think I´ve just resigned myself to the reality that I will indeed have diarrhea all summer long. Sounds pleasant huh?...yeah no. That must be some kind of record.
The overall excitement among the team in anticipation of our group hike today was also short-lived when 2 of us woke up with diarrhea and one with stomach cramps. Ironically, this group hike was planned to be in celebration of all being in good health once again after our team-wide, all-inclusive bout with the dreaded stomach virus. So much for being in good health. It wasn´t any really serious health compromises, but Heather & Alison weren´t able to join us on the hike for need of staying close to a bathroom.
Now to some people this kind of open discussion of such a topic may be ucomfortable of even awkward, but I have come to learn that when living in another country there are many unusual & awkward things bound to happen. These things will happen not only to you but to other on your team. The best way to cope with these situations is to learn to laugh about it together. Many times if you can´t laugh at things - continuous diarrhea, difficulty with the language acquisition, catching boxes on fire with the gas stove top, slips while boulder jumping in the lake, and waking up at midnight to the sound of your teammate dry-heaving across the hall - then you will fond yourlsef crying about them. Like Mary Poppins said, laughter is the best medicine. Was that Mary Poppins?...well whoever it was, they were right.
As for the hike, it turned out to be Jeremy Stanley, Emily, and I hiking with Yasmani, his ittle brother, and Pollo. Those are 3 of the boys we played soccer with yesterday that we invited to go hiking up the mountain with us. In case you were confused, yyes one of the boys is named Pollo. He refuses to tell us his real name. Today it was Paul & then Babylon, and evey day it´s different. So Emily told him that until he tells us his real name we will call him Pollo.
The hike was lots of fun. The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular looking down on the town of Conima surrounded by mountains with the sun reflecting off the lake waters on the horizon. At the top of the mountain we stopped to have lunch and enjoy the view before beginnng back down. Emily told the boys that we were going to et lunch on top of the mountain. When she said we brought sandwiches for them, all 3 faces lit up with big grins. I pulled the 3 extra peanut butter & jelly sandwiches out of my backpack and gave them to the eager hands waiting to receive them. After the sandwiches were eaten, we pulled out potato chips, peaches, and as a special treat I packed a chocolate no-bake cookie for each of the boys. It was a wonderful picnic with some of my favorite boys here. After lunch they ran around on top of the mountain playing with rocks & sticks pretending that there were cannibal, savage Indians out to get them. Boys will be boys.
While they were all playing with Jeremy, Yasmani picked up a BIG rock to throw down the mountain. When he went to throw it, the rock fell short and landed on his foot usting open his middle toe. After cleaning it as best I could with napkins & water, I wrapped his whole foot in a plastic bag tying it at the ankle. That kept the dirt out of it until we were able to hike down the mountain & make it back to the house where I retrieved the first aid kit. Sitting out on a bench in the plaza I inspected, cleaned, and wrapped up his toe. The rock that fell on it was so big that I had a fear it might be broken. After having him flex all his toes & fan them out, I was satisfied that it wasn´t broken. So after wrappingh it I gave him 2 ibuprofen for the pain & told him to come back in the morning for me to look at it again.
A large part of my afternoon was spent practicing the guitar. Heather taught me how to strum. As of right now I know 2 songs although they are both still very sketchy. It is just going to take alot of practice.
The other team just arrived so I´ll finish blogging later!
Big Week! ... by Heather
Hey everyone!
Sorry the blogging has been so sparse lately. Things have been busy and sickness has prevented as many trips to the internet cabina.
Health updates:
I am feeling much better. Still some occasional ill feelings, but overall much better. Overall the team has been doing much better, with just occasional digestive problems. Last night, however, Emily threw up and then again this morning. So, please pray that Emily gets better and everyone else feels well this week. The youth team comes in tomorrow and we really do not want to get them sick. They are only here for one week and we don´t want their week to be spoiled by sickness.
This Week:
This is a big week for our team. We have a youth team of 5 people from FBS Willow Park coming in tomorrow morning. So you can be praying for them, their names are Jonathan, Dave, Cory, Elizabeth and Molly. Fortunately, Dave is Alison´s dad and Elizabeth is Emily´s sister, so they will both get to see family this week! We are really excited they are coming so we can introduce them to Conima, and so we can be encouraged by their presence and help.
Our plans for the week are to have VBS in the afternoons and community storying at night, along with our normal weekly activities.
We have arranged with one of the schools here for us to do VBS in the school building from 2-4pm Wednesday through Friday. The kids are ages 6-12. Alison and I made four big posters that the team put up in the school to advertise. The director really liked our posters and said we could expect about 6 teachers to help us. So, that will be great. We will be having Bible stories, games, music, crafts and snacks. Please pray that the kids come and that we are able to impact them and show them love.
At night, starting tonight, we are doing community storying. Today we are going around inviting the adults in the town to come each night this week to hear stories. At 7pm each night we will meet in the government building and start going through the stories. Tonight will be the Creation Story. By doing this we will get through 5 of the 8 stories. Please pray people come, are interested in the stories, and that they let it change their lives. If it goes well, we might even continue next week to finish the stories. Alison´s dad has been memorizing one of the stories to share in Spanish. Pray for all of us as we continue to memorize stories so we can be prepared to continue through all the stories.
In addition to these new events, we will continue our English lessons with Armondo (Mon, Wed, Fri) and continue storying with Sophia and her husband (tonight and hopefully again). Tonight we have an English lesson, storying with Sophia, and the beginning of community storying, so please pray for all of those things!
We need to go invite people to our community storying, so I have to go, but I will update you on the past week sometime soon!
Sorry the blogging has been so sparse lately. Things have been busy and sickness has prevented as many trips to the internet cabina.
Health updates:
I am feeling much better. Still some occasional ill feelings, but overall much better. Overall the team has been doing much better, with just occasional digestive problems. Last night, however, Emily threw up and then again this morning. So, please pray that Emily gets better and everyone else feels well this week. The youth team comes in tomorrow and we really do not want to get them sick. They are only here for one week and we don´t want their week to be spoiled by sickness.
This Week:
This is a big week for our team. We have a youth team of 5 people from FBS Willow Park coming in tomorrow morning. So you can be praying for them, their names are Jonathan, Dave, Cory, Elizabeth and Molly. Fortunately, Dave is Alison´s dad and Elizabeth is Emily´s sister, so they will both get to see family this week! We are really excited they are coming so we can introduce them to Conima, and so we can be encouraged by their presence and help.
Our plans for the week are to have VBS in the afternoons and community storying at night, along with our normal weekly activities.
We have arranged with one of the schools here for us to do VBS in the school building from 2-4pm Wednesday through Friday. The kids are ages 6-12. Alison and I made four big posters that the team put up in the school to advertise. The director really liked our posters and said we could expect about 6 teachers to help us. So, that will be great. We will be having Bible stories, games, music, crafts and snacks. Please pray that the kids come and that we are able to impact them and show them love.
At night, starting tonight, we are doing community storying. Today we are going around inviting the adults in the town to come each night this week to hear stories. At 7pm each night we will meet in the government building and start going through the stories. Tonight will be the Creation Story. By doing this we will get through 5 of the 8 stories. Please pray people come, are interested in the stories, and that they let it change their lives. If it goes well, we might even continue next week to finish the stories. Alison´s dad has been memorizing one of the stories to share in Spanish. Pray for all of us as we continue to memorize stories so we can be prepared to continue through all the stories.
In addition to these new events, we will continue our English lessons with Armondo (Mon, Wed, Fri) and continue storying with Sophia and her husband (tonight and hopefully again). Tonight we have an English lesson, storying with Sophia, and the beginning of community storying, so please pray for all of those things!
We need to go invite people to our community storying, so I have to go, but I will update you on the past week sometime soon!
Floatin´on lake Titicaca ... or actually sinkin´ - by Alison
Yesterday was a very eventful day, to say the least. I actually got to sleep in...till 8:00 a:m which is late for me. I munched on some Peruvian cereal and headed up stairs to the hang out room. I sat around and talked to the Jeremys and Kelsey for a bit. Jeremy Lou and Kelsey went to the clinic at 9:00 a:m. I cleaned the bathroom and then Jeremy S. and I went on a hunt for "pollo" or chicken for you non-Spanish speakers out there. We literally walked into a least six stores and said "¿Donde es pollo?" or "Where is chicken". Thats about as far as my Spanish goes. Everyone was out of chicken, they were waiting for the shipment to come in so we had veggie soup and cucumber sandwiches. It was yummie and vegaterian. ( ; I´m converting all my team-mates! After lunch I stopped by the Internet cabena and then the Jeremys came and got me to set out for our adventure! We decided that we were going to hike out to our favorite spot and build a raft...and float across Lake Titicaca on it. So we collected at least twenty soda bottles (from our kitchen and from the trash that people throw out on the streets) to help the raft float. So we started building our raft and Jeremy Lou cut his finger open pretty bad so I had to go into nurse mode. I made the sail! (We used a sheet but we didn´t actually end up using it because the wind shifted). Two and a half hours later our raft was complete! It had three parts to it for each one of us to sit on. Lets just say that we didn´t get very far from the shore and we all ended up wet, the boys more so than me! Jeremy Lou came out with leeches all over his feet and I had to pick them off! It was disgusting! We decided that it was about time for us to start heading home considering it was going to get dark soon. So we jogged back (we were so cold we were moving fast) wet and dissapointed. When we arrived at the house Kelsey and Heather were making dinner: pancakes, bacon, and eggs. It was so good! After dinner we headed up to the hang out room and had a group meeting. It went well. Today we are cleaning all day! The FBC Willow Park team arrives here tomorrow! I am so stinkin´excited to see my Dad and everyone else! Keep praying for them! I have great news...my friends Shelby and Brooke made it to Haiti yesterday. What an answer to prayer! Tonight I am telling the story of Noah and the Flood to Sophia and her husband (the people who own the store next to our house) and I am a littler nervous, so please pray for me to have a peace about it. God is doing so much in Conima, its awesome! We are building some awesome relationships, its going to be hard for me to leave. Keep praying hard everyone!-Love in Christ!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Conima July Team Has Arrived - by Jonathan
Well, after traveling all night, sleeping on the bus ride from Juliaca to Conima (about 3 hour ride) and take a 3 hour nap, we´re ready to go!!! We have a storying session tonight in the Community building with the SMs and begin our 3-day Bible school tomorrow. Keep praying for us, our health, the SMs health, a restful night, and most importantly that the Spirit would move as we share the Gospel, which is the power of salvation (Rom 1:16).
Thanks for all your prayers thus far! We´ll keep you posted later on.
Until He Comes,
Jonathan
Thanks for all your prayers thus far! We´ll keep you posted later on.
Until He Comes,
Jonathan
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Tres Mas Gringas!!! ... by Emily
Okay--first, let me address the title of this blog. Wednesday morning, when everyone finally felt decent enough to go back to Conima, Jeremy S went outside to wait for a bus. He planned to call us when a bus came, but we didn´t expect one to actually show up for hours. Around 7:45, Jeremy called us yelling ¨The bus is here, hurry!!¨ So we frantically gathered up our things and ran out to catch the bus. We got on, but the second the last one of us stepped on the bus, it starting moving. Apparently, Jeremy, who speaks very little Spanish, was holding the whole bus for us and yelling ¨Tres más gringas!¨(three more white girls!) over and over again. The people must have thought he was crazy! Anyway, we had a good laugh over that.
When we got to Conima, we settled back in and explained to the kids and most of the people we had missed storying with why we were not there on Monday and Tuesday. We went to Armando´s house for the ESL lesson, but he wasn´t there. That got me worried since we had missed Monday´s lesson. I didn´t know what to do, but it ended up working out.
Thursday we went to the police station to tell them the second story (Kelsey did a great job!), and that evening, we were scheduled to story with Sofia and her husband again, but I started not feeling well. With me being the designated ¨translator¨, things were not looking good for doing the story, but Heather and Kelsey decided to go ahead and try it without me. When they came back, they said that everything went really well! I´m really glad that they tried it--I knew that both of them could speak Spanish better they they thought they could.
Friday we went to the school that we will be doing VBS in next week to hang up the posters we had made to advertise it. I was a bit nervous that the director would not like how colorful and ¨flashy¨they were, but he loved them! He helped us hang them up and told us that he thought that around six teachers would be helping us out during the VBS next week. Later, Kelsey, Alison, and I took cookies that Kelsey had made to the policemen. In the afternoon, I found out some AMAZING news! I was talking to my parents on the phone, and my mom told me that I had gotten a letter from the Baylor Graduate school. I had already found out via email that I had been accepted, but the letter also told me the financial aid I would receive. I qualified for a really big scholarship! It was definitely an answer to prayer! Needless to say, I was really happy for the rest of the day. :) Later on, we hung out with some of the kids some more.
Like I said earlier, we eventually found Armando, and we were able to schedule an English lesson for last night. The lesson went really, really well, and I was able to tell my story to him. Be praying for us as we try to figure out how best to incorporate a Bible story into the English lesson.... It´s trickier than I thought.
Anyway, today is Saturday (the day of rest around here), so it has been really relaxing. Jeremy, Kelsey, me, and three of the kids we have been spending time with went hiking part of the way up a mountain this morning. We packed a picnic lunch for us and the kids. The kids were really excited about the food. It didn´t end so well though when Yasmani, one of the kids, accidentally threw a big rock on his own foot and cut open his toe. Kelsey was a very good nurse and made sure it was all wrapped up before walking back down the moutain. He made it to the bottom, and Kelsey ran to the house to get the first aid kit and doctored him up. He is fine now, but it was sad to see him hurt.
Now, the two Jeremys are out building a raft that they claim they will be able to float on Lake Titicaca in to the nearest island.... We will see how that goes. Who knows--maybe I will be surprised!
Well, I´m cooking tonight. It has been fun learning more about how to cook and trying new recipes! I´m looking forward to trying some of them out at home!
When we got to Conima, we settled back in and explained to the kids and most of the people we had missed storying with why we were not there on Monday and Tuesday. We went to Armando´s house for the ESL lesson, but he wasn´t there. That got me worried since we had missed Monday´s lesson. I didn´t know what to do, but it ended up working out.
Thursday we went to the police station to tell them the second story (Kelsey did a great job!), and that evening, we were scheduled to story with Sofia and her husband again, but I started not feeling well. With me being the designated ¨translator¨, things were not looking good for doing the story, but Heather and Kelsey decided to go ahead and try it without me. When they came back, they said that everything went really well! I´m really glad that they tried it--I knew that both of them could speak Spanish better they they thought they could.
Friday we went to the school that we will be doing VBS in next week to hang up the posters we had made to advertise it. I was a bit nervous that the director would not like how colorful and ¨flashy¨they were, but he loved them! He helped us hang them up and told us that he thought that around six teachers would be helping us out during the VBS next week. Later, Kelsey, Alison, and I took cookies that Kelsey had made to the policemen. In the afternoon, I found out some AMAZING news! I was talking to my parents on the phone, and my mom told me that I had gotten a letter from the Baylor Graduate school. I had already found out via email that I had been accepted, but the letter also told me the financial aid I would receive. I qualified for a really big scholarship! It was definitely an answer to prayer! Needless to say, I was really happy for the rest of the day. :) Later on, we hung out with some of the kids some more.
Like I said earlier, we eventually found Armando, and we were able to schedule an English lesson for last night. The lesson went really, really well, and I was able to tell my story to him. Be praying for us as we try to figure out how best to incorporate a Bible story into the English lesson.... It´s trickier than I thought.
Anyway, today is Saturday (the day of rest around here), so it has been really relaxing. Jeremy, Kelsey, me, and three of the kids we have been spending time with went hiking part of the way up a mountain this morning. We packed a picnic lunch for us and the kids. The kids were really excited about the food. It didn´t end so well though when Yasmani, one of the kids, accidentally threw a big rock on his own foot and cut open his toe. Kelsey was a very good nurse and made sure it was all wrapped up before walking back down the moutain. He made it to the bottom, and Kelsey ran to the house to get the first aid kit and doctored him up. He is fine now, but it was sad to see him hurt.
Now, the two Jeremys are out building a raft that they claim they will be able to float on Lake Titicaca in to the nearest island.... We will see how that goes. Who knows--maybe I will be surprised!
Well, I´m cooking tonight. It has been fun learning more about how to cook and trying new recipes! I´m looking forward to trying some of them out at home!
Tummy, why won't you get better? ... by Alison
Last night Jeremy S. and I played hide n go seek in the plaza with the kids, it was so fun! We found out today that the kids used to be scared of us because we are gringos but now they think we are nice, geez...what a relief. The parents here tell their children that white people will catch them and suck all their fat out...no joke. No wonder they are so scared of us! We had a nice dinner last night, pork chops (which I didn´t eat), mashed potatoes, and mac n cheese.
Today we had worship and then Emily, Kelsey, Jeremy S., and some of the kids went on a hike but Heather and I stayed behind because we weren´t feeling too well. I am starting to think that I will never get better! I literally played sudoku for hours, I think that I am kind of addicted now! Today has been pretty uneventful, yet relaxing. Tomorrow we are cleaning the whole house...we have got to kill these germs! Two of my dear friends are leaving for Haiti tomorrow, Shelby Johnson and Brooke Collins so please keep them in your prayers! I will write more tomorrow when I am feeling better.
-Love in Christ!
Today we had worship and then Emily, Kelsey, Jeremy S., and some of the kids went on a hike but Heather and I stayed behind because we weren´t feeling too well. I am starting to think that I will never get better! I literally played sudoku for hours, I think that I am kind of addicted now! Today has been pretty uneventful, yet relaxing. Tomorrow we are cleaning the whole house...we have got to kill these germs! Two of my dear friends are leaving for Haiti tomorrow, Shelby Johnson and Brooke Collins so please keep them in your prayers! I will write more tomorrow when I am feeling better.
-Love in Christ!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Death Strikes the Conima Team! (just kidding) - by Heather
Ok, maybe not death, but it felt pretty close. Maybe the plague...
So much has happened since I last blogged. It has been a week of highs and lows. Very highs and very lows. We went to Huancane for our 4th of July break. The travel to Huancane was not without its share of bus drama and very squished seating for the almost 2 hour ride. Once there we had a very fun 4th of July celebration including the great Texas vs. Georgia Showdown. After a frozen tshirt contest, sack race, tangerine roll, apple bobbing and fast dressing competitions, the teams were tied. We then went to the sudden death egg drop contest - drop an egg from the third to second story balcony of the hostel without it breaking using only the materials found outside the hostel. Unfortunately this did not perform its sudden death function as none of the eggs broke. It then went to the sudden, sudden death egg toss. After multiple throws the Georgia team was victorious after the Texas egg was dropped.
While all these lovely activities were going on, Alison was sleeping in the hostel. Little did we know her not feeling well would result in so much pain and sickness in the group. (Disclaimer: Alison is not to be blamed for all of the ensuing sickness. We prefer to place the blame on the heathens from Georgia who were trying to cripple our team. We´ll get you next time.) The 4th was on Sunday and our team planned to return to Conima on Monday. We planned to take the bus around 11am. We got up, cleaned the hostel and met Pastor Ruben around 10am to help us get on the bus. After sitting on the sidewalk for over 2 hours, we were told there would not be a bus to Conima that day. So, we went to lunch at a restaurant with Ruben and the Huancane girls. After lunch I went back to Pastor Ruben´s house with the Huancane girls and we all made small purses and wallets on his loom. Pastor Ruben makes hats, purses, scarves, Bible covers, all kinds of stuff. He had been showing the other girls how to do it, so after they finished I made one. It was a lot of fun. It was great to hang out with Pastor Ruben and his wife and the other girls. We were able to talk and joke and have a lot of fun. I believe it was the same day, Alison still wasn´t feeling great. She ended up throwing up 7 times in a row. We made supper at the Huancane girls´ house and then hung out at the hostel that night. We planned to get up early in the morning and try to catch the 6am bus to Conima. So we all went to bed pretty early.
At 12:10am Emily and I awoke to the sound of Kelsey throwing up. It was the worst sound I have ever heard. It sounded like she was about to die it was so bad. She just kept throwing up and moaning and going back and forth between the kitchen and her room. I felt so bad for her. I asked if she needed anything but she said no and went back to her room. I woke up again at 12:55 when she started throwing up again. It was so violent. I´m pretty sure I stayed awake for over an hour just praying to God that hers was over and that I didn´t get it.
That morning we woke up around 5:15. We were all slowly getting ready to go but Emily and I started not feeling well. Kelsey and Alison were better, but they both get car-sick so the bus wasn´t sounding great to them either. Long story short, we end up staying in Huancane another day because Emily and I are sick. We stay in bed all day, which was a very long day considering we were awake at 5:15, eating crackers and drinking Sprite and powerade. And we were just stuck in our cold room in the hostel in our sleeping bags with the bathroom on a separate floor. We both felt bad with nausea, and stomach pain and all the other unpleasant stuff you don´t want to hear about. Emily threw up some in the afternoon and felt better, but I still didn´t feel good. The Huancane girls gave us soup for lunch and that night Sonia made us soup and John brought us a heater. We all sat in the common room and read or played games or listened to music. And generally complained about our situation. We all wanted so bad to get back to Conima but to not ride the bus.
The next morning there was supposed to be a bus coming at 8am. During the night I got up and ended up throwing up finally. Which helped for a while, but after getting up the next morning I still didn´t feel great. Jeremy went out at 7am to look for the bus (you never know when it is going to come). I had about decided I couldn´t get packed up and make it to the bus when we got the call at 7:40 that the bus was there. So I had no choice but to hop up, throw my stuff in my bag and run with everyone else to the bus, saying all the way "I´m going to throw up, I´m going to throw up." On the way to Huancane on the bus we had to stand for the first half of the trip because the bus was so crowded. We were all hoping we wouldn´t have to stand, because we would get sick. Luckily when we got to the bus the whole back row was open and we were all able to sit down, which was a huge blessing, for us and those around us. I didn´t feel well the whole trip, but the bumpiness of the road didn´t bother me too bad and the trip was shorter than expected. We finally got to Conima Wednesday morning around 9:30am. We were so glad to be "home," even though it was 3 days later than expected and I still wasn´t feeling well, at least we were in our house and could make a fire to keep warm. I stayed feeling sick for most of the day, but by that night I was feeling a lot better and yesterday I felt fine. Alison threw up again yesterday morning, but has felt fine besides that.
Yesterday we had a really good day. We made posters for the VBS we are going to be doing at the school, put together goody bags for the kids, hung out with youth in the plaza, storied with the police and Kelsey and I managed to story with Sophia without Emily as our Spanish speaker.
Today we have gotten some things done, but now I am feeling bad again. Bad stomach cramps and back pain. We´ll see what kind of sickness this turns into...
Please pray we all get well and stay well. It´s so hard to be and feel effective when you are battling sickness all the time. We have such good days and things happen, but feel so miserable other times. Pray our bodies and attitudes get and stay well. Overall for the team things are looking up, but right now for me things aren´t so bueno.
I´m going to go back to bed. Thanks for the prayers.
So much has happened since I last blogged. It has been a week of highs and lows. Very highs and very lows. We went to Huancane for our 4th of July break. The travel to Huancane was not without its share of bus drama and very squished seating for the almost 2 hour ride. Once there we had a very fun 4th of July celebration including the great Texas vs. Georgia Showdown. After a frozen tshirt contest, sack race, tangerine roll, apple bobbing and fast dressing competitions, the teams were tied. We then went to the sudden death egg drop contest - drop an egg from the third to second story balcony of the hostel without it breaking using only the materials found outside the hostel. Unfortunately this did not perform its sudden death function as none of the eggs broke. It then went to the sudden, sudden death egg toss. After multiple throws the Georgia team was victorious after the Texas egg was dropped.
While all these lovely activities were going on, Alison was sleeping in the hostel. Little did we know her not feeling well would result in so much pain and sickness in the group. (Disclaimer: Alison is not to be blamed for all of the ensuing sickness. We prefer to place the blame on the heathens from Georgia who were trying to cripple our team. We´ll get you next time.) The 4th was on Sunday and our team planned to return to Conima on Monday. We planned to take the bus around 11am. We got up, cleaned the hostel and met Pastor Ruben around 10am to help us get on the bus. After sitting on the sidewalk for over 2 hours, we were told there would not be a bus to Conima that day. So, we went to lunch at a restaurant with Ruben and the Huancane girls. After lunch I went back to Pastor Ruben´s house with the Huancane girls and we all made small purses and wallets on his loom. Pastor Ruben makes hats, purses, scarves, Bible covers, all kinds of stuff. He had been showing the other girls how to do it, so after they finished I made one. It was a lot of fun. It was great to hang out with Pastor Ruben and his wife and the other girls. We were able to talk and joke and have a lot of fun. I believe it was the same day, Alison still wasn´t feeling great. She ended up throwing up 7 times in a row. We made supper at the Huancane girls´ house and then hung out at the hostel that night. We planned to get up early in the morning and try to catch the 6am bus to Conima. So we all went to bed pretty early.
At 12:10am Emily and I awoke to the sound of Kelsey throwing up. It was the worst sound I have ever heard. It sounded like she was about to die it was so bad. She just kept throwing up and moaning and going back and forth between the kitchen and her room. I felt so bad for her. I asked if she needed anything but she said no and went back to her room. I woke up again at 12:55 when she started throwing up again. It was so violent. I´m pretty sure I stayed awake for over an hour just praying to God that hers was over and that I didn´t get it.
That morning we woke up around 5:15. We were all slowly getting ready to go but Emily and I started not feeling well. Kelsey and Alison were better, but they both get car-sick so the bus wasn´t sounding great to them either. Long story short, we end up staying in Huancane another day because Emily and I are sick. We stay in bed all day, which was a very long day considering we were awake at 5:15, eating crackers and drinking Sprite and powerade. And we were just stuck in our cold room in the hostel in our sleeping bags with the bathroom on a separate floor. We both felt bad with nausea, and stomach pain and all the other unpleasant stuff you don´t want to hear about. Emily threw up some in the afternoon and felt better, but I still didn´t feel good. The Huancane girls gave us soup for lunch and that night Sonia made us soup and John brought us a heater. We all sat in the common room and read or played games or listened to music. And generally complained about our situation. We all wanted so bad to get back to Conima but to not ride the bus.
The next morning there was supposed to be a bus coming at 8am. During the night I got up and ended up throwing up finally. Which helped for a while, but after getting up the next morning I still didn´t feel great. Jeremy went out at 7am to look for the bus (you never know when it is going to come). I had about decided I couldn´t get packed up and make it to the bus when we got the call at 7:40 that the bus was there. So I had no choice but to hop up, throw my stuff in my bag and run with everyone else to the bus, saying all the way "I´m going to throw up, I´m going to throw up." On the way to Huancane on the bus we had to stand for the first half of the trip because the bus was so crowded. We were all hoping we wouldn´t have to stand, because we would get sick. Luckily when we got to the bus the whole back row was open and we were all able to sit down, which was a huge blessing, for us and those around us. I didn´t feel well the whole trip, but the bumpiness of the road didn´t bother me too bad and the trip was shorter than expected. We finally got to Conima Wednesday morning around 9:30am. We were so glad to be "home," even though it was 3 days later than expected and I still wasn´t feeling well, at least we were in our house and could make a fire to keep warm. I stayed feeling sick for most of the day, but by that night I was feeling a lot better and yesterday I felt fine. Alison threw up again yesterday morning, but has felt fine besides that.
Yesterday we had a really good day. We made posters for the VBS we are going to be doing at the school, put together goody bags for the kids, hung out with youth in the plaza, storied with the police and Kelsey and I managed to story with Sophia without Emily as our Spanish speaker.
Today we have gotten some things done, but now I am feeling bad again. Bad stomach cramps and back pain. We´ll see what kind of sickness this turns into...
Please pray we all get well and stay well. It´s so hard to be and feel effective when you are battling sickness all the time. We have such good days and things happen, but feel so miserable other times. Pray our bodies and attitudes get and stay well. Overall for the team things are looking up, but right now for me things aren´t so bueno.
I´m going to go back to bed. Thanks for the prayers.
Getting ready! ... by Alison
We have been praying so much for the FBC Willow Park group that is arriving on Tuesday. We are all so excited to see them, I´m especially excited to see my dad! Today we went to the school and hung up the posters that Heather and I made, the director loved them and they even gathered a small group of kids! We will be starting VBS on Wed. at a school that ranges from age six to twelve. There are seventy kids. Be praying that we will be able to communite the Gospel to these kids affectively. I am working in crafts! It´s almost lunch time and my stomache is getting restless! Today we spotted Barnabis (our pet dog in Conima) and he walked with us for a while. He is a bassit hound and I love him, I wish I could take him back with me! I´m off to go see what´s for lunch!
-Love in Christ!
-Love in Christ!
Back in Conima, feelin' good - by Alison
Wed. July 7th
I forgot to write something on Tuesday´s post...Jeremy S. and I went to the pharmacy to get motion sickness medicine for Kelsey and I. On the way there, a guy on one of the bycicle taxi´s went to greet Jeremy. He literally held Jeremy´s hand for at least three minutes and Jeremy had this "help me!" look on his face but all I could do was laugh! Then we went to the pharmacy and we didn´t know how to say motion sickness in Spanish so Jeremy tried to act it out. Needless to say, the woman thought we were crazy and she kept saying "no intiendo" while laughing hysterically. So we called Emily and she talked to the lady via the phone. My stomache hurt so much from laughing at these awkward events!
We ended up catching a bus to Conima at around 7:30 a:m. Praise the Lord! Jeremy sat out by the curb and called us when the bus was there, so we had to run to catch it! I beat the rest of the girls there and the bus wanted to leave when I got there but Jeremy kept saying "tres gringas" or three more white people coming. It got the message across because they waited. Right whenever the girls got on the bus, that bus shot off like a rocket ship! We got to Conima and of course they charged us more than everyone else since we are white, but Emily told them in Spanish that we knew they charged us to much. They didn´t know what to say, it was pretty funny. We got into the house and went into cleaning mode! Goodbye germs! Then Jeremy, Kelsey, and I went hiking to our favorite spot on Lake Titicaca. We did some pretty intense rock climbing and I got stuck at one point. My hands are scratched up pretty bad but it was soooo fun! We hiked about six miles and brought back some fire wood with us in potatoe sacks. We almost got ran over by a llama that was on the loose! Kelsey and I went running and screaming. On the way back from the hike, that same llama followed Jeremy for a little while. When we got back Kelsey, Emily, and I went to re-schedule to story with the police officers tomorrow. Kelsey and I made dinner...I spilled hot oil all over my foot and then slipped in it. Emily and Jeremy came into the kitchen and Emily started screaming. The cardboard behind the gas stove was on fire! Emily and I started screaming "fire!" while Kelsey began blowing on it. Jeremy stood by shaking his head. Kelsey must have some pretty good lungs because she put that fire out! Heather came running down the stairs in a state of confusion. After dinner we went up to the meeting room and sat by the fire and talked. It was rather relaxing.
Thursday, July 8th
This morning did not start out well for me. I woke up with a stomache ache, and threw up a few times. I swear, I have never been so sick in my life. So I skipped out on worship and slept till around 10:30 a:m. I felt better instantly when I awoke from my nap. I went up stairs to the meeting room and everyone was busy making goodie bags for VBS next week. I joined in the assembly line and boy were we moving fast! We decided to take a break for lunch around 12:15 p:m to go eat at the restuarant. We came back after lunch and Kelsey and Jeremy continued working on the goodie bags. Emily´s back was hurting her so she laid down for a bit. Heather and I each made two posters in Spanish to hang up at the school for VBS. They look pretty impressive if I may say so. I took a nice, hot shower and then Kelsey, Emily, and I were off to go story at the police station. The police officers welcomed us and Kelsey told them the story of Adam and Eve in Spanish. She did so well! I was so proud of my roomie. We stuck around and talked to the officers for a bit. Today (Friday) we are making them no-bake cookies. After we talked to the officers for a bit, we headed to the bodaga (store) down the street but the owners were at a funeral recession that we had actually seen marching down the street earlier (and that I took a video of!). We bought some animal cookies from the store and headed back to the plaza. We hung around the plaza for a bit and played with the kids. Jeremy play-boxed with them, they loved it! The electricity was out all day but we managed without it. We had spagetti for dinner. YUM! Then Kelsey and Heather went to tell Sophia (the lady who owns the store beside our house) the story of Adam and Eve. Kelsey told two stories today and did great! I read for a bit beside the fire and retired around 10:00 p:m which is actually late for me!
-Love in Christ!
I forgot to write something on Tuesday´s post...Jeremy S. and I went to the pharmacy to get motion sickness medicine for Kelsey and I. On the way there, a guy on one of the bycicle taxi´s went to greet Jeremy. He literally held Jeremy´s hand for at least three minutes and Jeremy had this "help me!" look on his face but all I could do was laugh! Then we went to the pharmacy and we didn´t know how to say motion sickness in Spanish so Jeremy tried to act it out. Needless to say, the woman thought we were crazy and she kept saying "no intiendo" while laughing hysterically. So we called Emily and she talked to the lady via the phone. My stomache hurt so much from laughing at these awkward events!
We ended up catching a bus to Conima at around 7:30 a:m. Praise the Lord! Jeremy sat out by the curb and called us when the bus was there, so we had to run to catch it! I beat the rest of the girls there and the bus wanted to leave when I got there but Jeremy kept saying "tres gringas" or three more white people coming. It got the message across because they waited. Right whenever the girls got on the bus, that bus shot off like a rocket ship! We got to Conima and of course they charged us more than everyone else since we are white, but Emily told them in Spanish that we knew they charged us to much. They didn´t know what to say, it was pretty funny. We got into the house and went into cleaning mode! Goodbye germs! Then Jeremy, Kelsey, and I went hiking to our favorite spot on Lake Titicaca. We did some pretty intense rock climbing and I got stuck at one point. My hands are scratched up pretty bad but it was soooo fun! We hiked about six miles and brought back some fire wood with us in potatoe sacks. We almost got ran over by a llama that was on the loose! Kelsey and I went running and screaming. On the way back from the hike, that same llama followed Jeremy for a little while. When we got back Kelsey, Emily, and I went to re-schedule to story with the police officers tomorrow. Kelsey and I made dinner...I spilled hot oil all over my foot and then slipped in it. Emily and Jeremy came into the kitchen and Emily started screaming. The cardboard behind the gas stove was on fire! Emily and I started screaming "fire!" while Kelsey began blowing on it. Jeremy stood by shaking his head. Kelsey must have some pretty good lungs because she put that fire out! Heather came running down the stairs in a state of confusion. After dinner we went up to the meeting room and sat by the fire and talked. It was rather relaxing.
Thursday, July 8th
This morning did not start out well for me. I woke up with a stomache ache, and threw up a few times. I swear, I have never been so sick in my life. So I skipped out on worship and slept till around 10:30 a:m. I felt better instantly when I awoke from my nap. I went up stairs to the meeting room and everyone was busy making goodie bags for VBS next week. I joined in the assembly line and boy were we moving fast! We decided to take a break for lunch around 12:15 p:m to go eat at the restuarant. We came back after lunch and Kelsey and Jeremy continued working on the goodie bags. Emily´s back was hurting her so she laid down for a bit. Heather and I each made two posters in Spanish to hang up at the school for VBS. They look pretty impressive if I may say so. I took a nice, hot shower and then Kelsey, Emily, and I were off to go story at the police station. The police officers welcomed us and Kelsey told them the story of Adam and Eve in Spanish. She did so well! I was so proud of my roomie. We stuck around and talked to the officers for a bit. Today (Friday) we are making them no-bake cookies. After we talked to the officers for a bit, we headed to the bodaga (store) down the street but the owners were at a funeral recession that we had actually seen marching down the street earlier (and that I took a video of!). We bought some animal cookies from the store and headed back to the plaza. We hung around the plaza for a bit and played with the kids. Jeremy play-boxed with them, they loved it! The electricity was out all day but we managed without it. We had spagetti for dinner. YUM! Then Kelsey and Heather went to tell Sophia (the lady who owns the store beside our house) the story of Adam and Eve. Kelsey told two stories today and did great! I read for a bit beside the fire and retired around 10:00 p:m which is actually late for me!
-Love in Christ!
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We Should Make a Movie - by Kelsey
WEDNESDAY
After this long extended retreat to Huancane that turned into a puking party, we were determined to return to Conima today and praying that God would provide the means. The early morning was spent packing our things and cleaning once again. That routine was getting really old. Them Jeremy Stanley went down to the bus stop with his stuff & one of our cell phones. The plan was to call us as soon as a bus to Conima arrived. So while Jeremy waited out in the cold, we finished up all the last minute cleaning. At 7:45am our cell phone rang. We knew whaqt that meant. A bus! All the girls jumped up & frantically ran around grabbing our bags & yelling to Heather that it was time to leave. I collected all the ipods & the pot that had contained Sonia´s chicken soup from the night before. Emily & Alison grabbed the trash bags running down the stairs, and Heather followed quickly behind hauling bags of children´s supplies. I knocked on the Grady´s door and returned the ipods, soup pot, and hostel key while quickly explaining that there was a bus waiting for us. Alison threw the trash inside their gate where John had told us and took off for the us ahead of us. Alsion got on the bus, and Jeremy tried to explain that there were still other girls coming. ¨Tres mas gringas!!¨he yelled pointing down the road where Alison had come from as he was shewd on the bus by the driver. The Aymaran man saw us come up over the hill and waited as we hurried to the bus juggling all our bags and praying that there would be open seats. We made it to the bus, and it pulled away as soon as I stepped on. I walked to the back of the bus where the rest of the team was already sitting in the back row of 5 seats. Perfect! We all had seats & plenty of room. Praise the Lord we were on our way back to Conima!
The bus arrived at the plaza in Conima by 10am, and we all 5 piled off the bus with no car sickness or plastic bags filled with stomach content. Once again praise the Lord! I have never been so happy to see that beautiful little yellow house sitting at the corner of the paza as I was this morning. Everyone is thankful & excited to be back. If for no other reason than this, God kept us in Huancane in that cold, frigid hostel so as to be all the more elated upon our return to Conima. I now realize how comfortable this house feels to me and how much I missed our work here. This is home for the next two & a half weeks. That brings a smile to my face as I write.
Havig missed 2 days of work and with the added preparations for the team joining us on Tuesday, life will be busy in the days to come. After arriving back at the house, everyone immediately went to work unpacking, gathering laundry, doing dishes, sweeping, cleaning. There is so much to be done. After the cleaning, Alison, Jeremy, & I made some sandwiches and packed up our backpacks for a hike. Despite the wary words from Momma, Daddy, & Pawpaw, we had our sights set on doing some rock climbing. This time with an increased confidence we set out past the first peninsula which we had already climbed and went even another mile to a second peninsula which towered higher above the lake waters. The thrill of relying on your own strength & skill to climb those rocks with no harness or safety net is one that can only be experienced, not described. Many aprayer are sent up to the Lord while scaling those rocks only to come back down & do it once again in a more difficult spot. For those skeptics back home, I am sure to remain responsible & reasonable in these adventures. After a picnic lunch of canned peaches, peanut butter Oreos, a granola bar, & a turkey sandwich and several hours of rock climbing & exploring, we turned back and headed home only stopping for each of us to fill a potato sack with small firewood. I´m sure we are a sight to see always trekking back with wood, this time with a large potato sack slung over my shoulder and Jeremy & Alison with theirs tied up for an easier haul. Even the llamas & sheep stare at us as we pass by.
The afternoon was filled with errands to run & people to see. Emily went to give the school director a formal notice asking permission to use the school next week for our 3-day Bible school. We were kindly granted permission & even asked to hang up posters in the school advertising what we weill be doing. After the school we went to talk with the policemen who we were supposed to story with on Monday when we were gone. They were happy to see us and invited us back tomorrow at 4pm to tell the next story. The woman at the hostel that Alison would like to garden with was not there once again although this time the hostel door was open and were were able to walk into the courtyard where the garden is. Susana & Lucian were not in their bogeda when we went to visit. Their daughter said they were at the island & will be back tomorrow. So we said ¨Hasta luega¨and returned home to prepare for our storying appointments. Sophia told us that she was very tired and wanted to hear the next story tomorrow night instead. So that left only a 6pm English lesson & story. Emily, Heather, & Jeremy left to meet Armando for his English lesson and returned banging on the door 15 minutes later. Armando wasn´t home & never showed up for the lesson. We will try to contact him tomorrow. We spent the rest f the evening upstairs around the fire discussing plans for next week - the Bible school, the team joining us, the evening storying. It felt nice to get most of the details set.
What an encouraging day it has been - truly an answer to many prayers. Thank you to all those who have been praying for our team & the Lord´s work here.
P.S. Funny story of the day: This evening while Alison & I prepared dinner we managed to catch the cardboard box behind the gas stove top on fire. No worries though. All was okay, and noone was hurt. I slammed the flaming box against the pantry door (probably not the smartest move) and blew frantically while we were all yelling ¨fire!¨ Heather came running down the stairs right as all the commotion ended and I blew the flames out. Oh, the memories we will have! Truly, with all the crazy things that happen here, we should make a movie.
*Updates from Thursday & today to come soon, but that is all for now.*
After this long extended retreat to Huancane that turned into a puking party, we were determined to return to Conima today and praying that God would provide the means. The early morning was spent packing our things and cleaning once again. That routine was getting really old. Them Jeremy Stanley went down to the bus stop with his stuff & one of our cell phones. The plan was to call us as soon as a bus to Conima arrived. So while Jeremy waited out in the cold, we finished up all the last minute cleaning. At 7:45am our cell phone rang. We knew whaqt that meant. A bus! All the girls jumped up & frantically ran around grabbing our bags & yelling to Heather that it was time to leave. I collected all the ipods & the pot that had contained Sonia´s chicken soup from the night before. Emily & Alison grabbed the trash bags running down the stairs, and Heather followed quickly behind hauling bags of children´s supplies. I knocked on the Grady´s door and returned the ipods, soup pot, and hostel key while quickly explaining that there was a bus waiting for us. Alison threw the trash inside their gate where John had told us and took off for the us ahead of us. Alsion got on the bus, and Jeremy tried to explain that there were still other girls coming. ¨Tres mas gringas!!¨he yelled pointing down the road where Alison had come from as he was shewd on the bus by the driver. The Aymaran man saw us come up over the hill and waited as we hurried to the bus juggling all our bags and praying that there would be open seats. We made it to the bus, and it pulled away as soon as I stepped on. I walked to the back of the bus where the rest of the team was already sitting in the back row of 5 seats. Perfect! We all had seats & plenty of room. Praise the Lord we were on our way back to Conima!
The bus arrived at the plaza in Conima by 10am, and we all 5 piled off the bus with no car sickness or plastic bags filled with stomach content. Once again praise the Lord! I have never been so happy to see that beautiful little yellow house sitting at the corner of the paza as I was this morning. Everyone is thankful & excited to be back. If for no other reason than this, God kept us in Huancane in that cold, frigid hostel so as to be all the more elated upon our return to Conima. I now realize how comfortable this house feels to me and how much I missed our work here. This is home for the next two & a half weeks. That brings a smile to my face as I write.
Havig missed 2 days of work and with the added preparations for the team joining us on Tuesday, life will be busy in the days to come. After arriving back at the house, everyone immediately went to work unpacking, gathering laundry, doing dishes, sweeping, cleaning. There is so much to be done. After the cleaning, Alison, Jeremy, & I made some sandwiches and packed up our backpacks for a hike. Despite the wary words from Momma, Daddy, & Pawpaw, we had our sights set on doing some rock climbing. This time with an increased confidence we set out past the first peninsula which we had already climbed and went even another mile to a second peninsula which towered higher above the lake waters. The thrill of relying on your own strength & skill to climb those rocks with no harness or safety net is one that can only be experienced, not described. Many aprayer are sent up to the Lord while scaling those rocks only to come back down & do it once again in a more difficult spot. For those skeptics back home, I am sure to remain responsible & reasonable in these adventures. After a picnic lunch of canned peaches, peanut butter Oreos, a granola bar, & a turkey sandwich and several hours of rock climbing & exploring, we turned back and headed home only stopping for each of us to fill a potato sack with small firewood. I´m sure we are a sight to see always trekking back with wood, this time with a large potato sack slung over my shoulder and Jeremy & Alison with theirs tied up for an easier haul. Even the llamas & sheep stare at us as we pass by.
The afternoon was filled with errands to run & people to see. Emily went to give the school director a formal notice asking permission to use the school next week for our 3-day Bible school. We were kindly granted permission & even asked to hang up posters in the school advertising what we weill be doing. After the school we went to talk with the policemen who we were supposed to story with on Monday when we were gone. They were happy to see us and invited us back tomorrow at 4pm to tell the next story. The woman at the hostel that Alison would like to garden with was not there once again although this time the hostel door was open and were were able to walk into the courtyard where the garden is. Susana & Lucian were not in their bogeda when we went to visit. Their daughter said they were at the island & will be back tomorrow. So we said ¨Hasta luega¨and returned home to prepare for our storying appointments. Sophia told us that she was very tired and wanted to hear the next story tomorrow night instead. So that left only a 6pm English lesson & story. Emily, Heather, & Jeremy left to meet Armando for his English lesson and returned banging on the door 15 minutes later. Armando wasn´t home & never showed up for the lesson. We will try to contact him tomorrow. We spent the rest f the evening upstairs around the fire discussing plans for next week - the Bible school, the team joining us, the evening storying. It felt nice to get most of the details set.
What an encouraging day it has been - truly an answer to many prayers. Thank you to all those who have been praying for our team & the Lord´s work here.
P.S. Funny story of the day: This evening while Alison & I prepared dinner we managed to catch the cardboard box behind the gas stove top on fire. No worries though. All was okay, and noone was hurt. I slammed the flaming box against the pantry door (probably not the smartest move) and blew frantically while we were all yelling ¨fire!¨ Heather came running down the stairs right as all the commotion ended and I blew the flames out. Oh, the memories we will have! Truly, with all the crazy things that happen here, we should make a movie.
*Updates from Thursday & today to come soon, but that is all for now.*
The Conima team is infected - by Alison
Let´s see...where to begin? So last night I went back to the hostile, took a shower and as I was laying in bed I was praying to God that I would be able to sleep through the night without throwing up. My lower back was hurting really bad; I think just from being so sick. I´m laying there and talking to God and thats the last thing I remember. I awoke at around midnight to Kelsey throwing up, I mean puking so bad. I felt terrible for her.
This morning the team and I woke up at 5:15 a:m because we were suppose to try to catch a bus at 6:00 to Conima. Heather and Emily woke up feeling terrible, turns at that the whole Conima team is infected. I actually woke up feeling fine. So Jeremy, Kelsey, and I went to the bus stop. I have never been so cold in my entire life. Let me just give you a mental image: Its below freezing and all the clothes I have with me are a pair of jeans that I have worn for a week straight, some dirty socks, a t-shirt, a hoody, and a thin jacket, oh and some cheaply made mittens (I bought them for 5 soles in Juliaca which isn´t even three dollars). So the three of us are sitting there and I swear that my finger tips are about to just fall off. Everyone is feeling discouraged and not that great physically so of course I´m trying to be the comic relief but its not working. We said a little pray for the girls and that a bus would come but I honestly think all of us were just so beyong feeling discouraged.
So the girls call us and tell us that they aren´t feeling any better. We had back to the hostile around 6:45 a:m, we haven´t even been outside for two hours but it felt like all day. We went and talked to Sonia (the missionary) and told her everything. "Looks like we are spending another night in Huancane" I think to myself and a single tear comes to my eye. Then I metaphorically slapped myself and said, "Get it together girl!" and I did. I read some of the book of John and put my iPod in and listened to some Hillsong and actually got to spend some really awesome, intimate time with God. The girls are still feeling terrible at this point so I decide to grab a blanket and catch some Zzz´s. I fell asleep around 9:00 a:m and was in and out of sleep till around noon. The group gathered together to see how everyone is feeling and we made a group decision to try to catch a bus or a van to Conima tonight if the girls are feeling up to it after they eat lunch. I think we are all ready to be back in Conima, not to mention we have two appointments with people tomorrow. We´ll see. Everyone at home keep on praying, we really need it here. I think that today was one of the most discouraging days for all of us. Not to mention that I went to buy the girls some sprite at the store about half a mile down the street and ended up being short one sole so I had to walk all the way back, which doesn´t seem like a big deal but it is when you are at your breaking point.
I think all of us are at, or close to our breaking point today but you know what...it´s okay because I´m just a silly human being and I find SO much comfort in knowing and believing that my God has a reason for it all and he´s got it under control. There was a point there today when I really started questioning God but once again, he put that joy inside me in the midst of a storm that can only come from him. Hopefully we will get to Conima tonight but if not then its okay because God´s got it under control. Thanks for all your prayers, you all are such prayer warriors!
-Love in Christ!
"You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32
This morning the team and I woke up at 5:15 a:m because we were suppose to try to catch a bus at 6:00 to Conima. Heather and Emily woke up feeling terrible, turns at that the whole Conima team is infected. I actually woke up feeling fine. So Jeremy, Kelsey, and I went to the bus stop. I have never been so cold in my entire life. Let me just give you a mental image: Its below freezing and all the clothes I have with me are a pair of jeans that I have worn for a week straight, some dirty socks, a t-shirt, a hoody, and a thin jacket, oh and some cheaply made mittens (I bought them for 5 soles in Juliaca which isn´t even three dollars). So the three of us are sitting there and I swear that my finger tips are about to just fall off. Everyone is feeling discouraged and not that great physically so of course I´m trying to be the comic relief but its not working. We said a little pray for the girls and that a bus would come but I honestly think all of us were just so beyong feeling discouraged.
So the girls call us and tell us that they aren´t feeling any better. We had back to the hostile around 6:45 a:m, we haven´t even been outside for two hours but it felt like all day. We went and talked to Sonia (the missionary) and told her everything. "Looks like we are spending another night in Huancane" I think to myself and a single tear comes to my eye. Then I metaphorically slapped myself and said, "Get it together girl!" and I did. I read some of the book of John and put my iPod in and listened to some Hillsong and actually got to spend some really awesome, intimate time with God. The girls are still feeling terrible at this point so I decide to grab a blanket and catch some Zzz´s. I fell asleep around 9:00 a:m and was in and out of sleep till around noon. The group gathered together to see how everyone is feeling and we made a group decision to try to catch a bus or a van to Conima tonight if the girls are feeling up to it after they eat lunch. I think we are all ready to be back in Conima, not to mention we have two appointments with people tomorrow. We´ll see. Everyone at home keep on praying, we really need it here. I think that today was one of the most discouraging days for all of us. Not to mention that I went to buy the girls some sprite at the store about half a mile down the street and ended up being short one sole so I had to walk all the way back, which doesn´t seem like a big deal but it is when you are at your breaking point.
I think all of us are at, or close to our breaking point today but you know what...it´s okay because I´m just a silly human being and I find SO much comfort in knowing and believing that my God has a reason for it all and he´s got it under control. There was a point there today when I really started questioning God but once again, he put that joy inside me in the midst of a storm that can only come from him. Hopefully we will get to Conima tonight but if not then its okay because God´s got it under control. Thanks for all your prayers, you all are such prayer warriors!
-Love in Christ!
"You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32
There are good days and then there are bad days - by Kelsey
For all you out there following my adventures in Peru, I´ll give a quick review of this crazy weekend. On Friday I was chosen along with Alsion to accompany Sara to Huancane with John in his truck. Before we left, John & Emily talked with the director of one of the schools about using the school building to do a VBS-type thing the week out other church team joins us. Then we ate lunch, and John drove all of us except Alsion to place 10 minutes away & up a mountain where there sits a whole village of pre-Incan Aymaran ruis - homes, burial sites with bones, remnants of gardens & livestock pins. That mountain ride rattled up my stomach and made me miserably carsick all the way to Huancane & the whole rest of the evening. After a long night´s sleep of over 12 hours, I woke up on Saturday feeling better.
On Saturday the rest of our team arrived in Huancane on a crowded Peruvian bus. That afternoon Alison, Heather, Emily & I took a combi into Juliaca to do some intense grocery shopping. We grabbed some souvenirs along the way and ate at The Royal Inn´s restaurant where we all got pizzas. Jeremy Stanley joined us for the pizza after e & John dropped Sara off at the airport, refilled our gas tank for the heater, and met us in front of the grocery store to load up all the groceries in John´s truck.
Sunday was July 4th which meant cookout! The Moho team came in to Huancane on an early bus to be part of the festivities. John grilled burgers. Sonia made salsa, chocolate cookies with peaut butter in them, and apple pie. The Huancane girls brought over banana pudding. It was all delicious and left us stuffed to the brim with food. Later that afternoon Jeremy Lou had planned ¨The Ultimate Showdown¨, Texas team vs Georgia team competing in all kinds of races & competitions. There was a frozen t-shirt race, timed cracker-eating competition, potato sack race, mandarine roll, apple bobbing, and massive put-on. After the 6 events Texas & Georgia were tied so the tie breaker was an egg drop. We had 15 minutes to use whatever we could find outside in the Grady´s yard and make a contraption to protect our egg when dropped one story. Neither group needed all 15 minutes so once we were ready everyone went over to the hostel. We dropped the contraptions made byboth teams, and neither egg broke. So we used the eggs to have an egg toss. The Georgia team won the egg too making them the victors of our 4th of July Ultimate Showdown. After the games the Moho team took a bus back to their house in Moho, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing.
Monday morning I woke up feeling odd, a little queazy. We packed up our stuff, cleaned the hostel, and prepared to go catch a bus with Pastor Rueben. I got to talk to my parents on the phone one last time before we left for the bus stop which was greatly appreciated. I miss them so much! We sat outside by the bus stop for several hours, but no bus to Conima. Finally there was a bus going somewhere else, and the bus driver said there weren´t anymore buses coming for the day. So that meant we wold just have to wait another day and try again tomorrow. Emily, Alison, & I have sat in the Huancane team´s house all afternoon. My stomach hurt, and I was going in & out of the bathroom with diahrea all afternoon. I prayed that things began looking up soon because I was starting to feel really discouraged in our work here. Because we weren´t able to catch a bus out to Conima, we missed 2 storying dates we had for Monday, one at 4pm & another at 6m. There was supposed to be a bus going out through Conima at 6am this morning so our plan was to get up early to take that bus out there.
But wait, there´s no bad news. I was sick throwing up all night. I kept tossing & turning trying to relieve my stomach pain long enough to fall asleep, and then I felt it. It was coming, and there was nothing I could do to stop it so I jumped up out of bed, flipped the light on, and grabbed a plastic bag just in time. I cried myself beyond the point of complete exhaustion as my night went on like that - toss & turn, sit up in bed, grab a bag, throw up until my body was satisfied to stop, and then get up to wash my face & blow all the stomach content outof my nose. Yeah, gross. I know. When I throw up it always comes out both my mouth & nose. Being here it was even worse because I´ve already had problems with my nose bleeding from the dry air & high altitude. So every time I threw up and then blew my nose, it started a nose bleed that was hard to stop.
After that horrible, long night I got upat 5am to get ready to catch the bus. Come to find out, Emily & Heather had caught whatever bug Alison & I have had, and they feel horrible. So we called a team meeting wondering what to do about taking a bus this morning. With the possibility of having to stand the whole 2 hours surrounded by smelly, unconsiderate Aymarans on a bus that wasn´t about to stop for a white American to get sick on the side of the road, we thought it best that Heather & Emily not go. Jeremy Stanley, Alison, & I were going to try to make it back to Conima so we set out for the bus stop in the freezing cold morning air. After sitting in the cold for an hour with no bus in sight, Emily called to tell Jeremy that she & Heather didn´t want us to leave them here. So we came back to the hostel. We do´n´t want to be at the Huancane team´s house or the Grady´s and run the possibility of getting them sick so we are stuck in the hostel feeling miserable & useless. Emily & Heather were both throwing up earlier, but as of now they are feeling somewhat better. After a light lunch of soup & crackers they are going to see how their stomaches are feeling. If they are up to it then we are going to pay to take a combi out to Conima this afternoon so we can be back in a place that feels a little more like home.
Even though these past 2 days have been discouraging & I have been doubting our effectiveness in being here in Peru, my confidence in the Lord remains steadfast because His will & His ways are so much greater than I know.
On Saturday the rest of our team arrived in Huancane on a crowded Peruvian bus. That afternoon Alison, Heather, Emily & I took a combi into Juliaca to do some intense grocery shopping. We grabbed some souvenirs along the way and ate at The Royal Inn´s restaurant where we all got pizzas. Jeremy Stanley joined us for the pizza after e & John dropped Sara off at the airport, refilled our gas tank for the heater, and met us in front of the grocery store to load up all the groceries in John´s truck.
Sunday was July 4th which meant cookout! The Moho team came in to Huancane on an early bus to be part of the festivities. John grilled burgers. Sonia made salsa, chocolate cookies with peaut butter in them, and apple pie. The Huancane girls brought over banana pudding. It was all delicious and left us stuffed to the brim with food. Later that afternoon Jeremy Lou had planned ¨The Ultimate Showdown¨, Texas team vs Georgia team competing in all kinds of races & competitions. There was a frozen t-shirt race, timed cracker-eating competition, potato sack race, mandarine roll, apple bobbing, and massive put-on. After the 6 events Texas & Georgia were tied so the tie breaker was an egg drop. We had 15 minutes to use whatever we could find outside in the Grady´s yard and make a contraption to protect our egg when dropped one story. Neither group needed all 15 minutes so once we were ready everyone went over to the hostel. We dropped the contraptions made byboth teams, and neither egg broke. So we used the eggs to have an egg toss. The Georgia team won the egg too making them the victors of our 4th of July Ultimate Showdown. After the games the Moho team took a bus back to their house in Moho, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing.
Monday morning I woke up feeling odd, a little queazy. We packed up our stuff, cleaned the hostel, and prepared to go catch a bus with Pastor Rueben. I got to talk to my parents on the phone one last time before we left for the bus stop which was greatly appreciated. I miss them so much! We sat outside by the bus stop for several hours, but no bus to Conima. Finally there was a bus going somewhere else, and the bus driver said there weren´t anymore buses coming for the day. So that meant we wold just have to wait another day and try again tomorrow. Emily, Alison, & I have sat in the Huancane team´s house all afternoon. My stomach hurt, and I was going in & out of the bathroom with diahrea all afternoon. I prayed that things began looking up soon because I was starting to feel really discouraged in our work here. Because we weren´t able to catch a bus out to Conima, we missed 2 storying dates we had for Monday, one at 4pm & another at 6m. There was supposed to be a bus going out through Conima at 6am this morning so our plan was to get up early to take that bus out there.
But wait, there´s no bad news. I was sick throwing up all night. I kept tossing & turning trying to relieve my stomach pain long enough to fall asleep, and then I felt it. It was coming, and there was nothing I could do to stop it so I jumped up out of bed, flipped the light on, and grabbed a plastic bag just in time. I cried myself beyond the point of complete exhaustion as my night went on like that - toss & turn, sit up in bed, grab a bag, throw up until my body was satisfied to stop, and then get up to wash my face & blow all the stomach content outof my nose. Yeah, gross. I know. When I throw up it always comes out both my mouth & nose. Being here it was even worse because I´ve already had problems with my nose bleeding from the dry air & high altitude. So every time I threw up and then blew my nose, it started a nose bleed that was hard to stop.
After that horrible, long night I got upat 5am to get ready to catch the bus. Come to find out, Emily & Heather had caught whatever bug Alison & I have had, and they feel horrible. So we called a team meeting wondering what to do about taking a bus this morning. With the possibility of having to stand the whole 2 hours surrounded by smelly, unconsiderate Aymarans on a bus that wasn´t about to stop for a white American to get sick on the side of the road, we thought it best that Heather & Emily not go. Jeremy Stanley, Alison, & I were going to try to make it back to Conima so we set out for the bus stop in the freezing cold morning air. After sitting in the cold for an hour with no bus in sight, Emily called to tell Jeremy that she & Heather didn´t want us to leave them here. So we came back to the hostel. We do´n´t want to be at the Huancane team´s house or the Grady´s and run the possibility of getting them sick so we are stuck in the hostel feeling miserable & useless. Emily & Heather were both throwing up earlier, but as of now they are feeling somewhat better. After a light lunch of soup & crackers they are going to see how their stomaches are feeling. If they are up to it then we are going to pay to take a combi out to Conima this afternoon so we can be back in a place that feels a little more like home.
Even though these past 2 days have been discouraging & I have been doubting our effectiveness in being here in Peru, my confidence in the Lord remains steadfast because His will & His ways are so much greater than I know.
Waking up to strangers singing in Spanish - by Alison
So yesterday we had a 4th of July cookout at the Grady´s and both the Georgia teams came too! I ended up going outside after we ate and I layed in the grass and read my bible and journaled for a bit. I started feeling extermely tired as I was soaking in the sun so I decided to take a quick nap before entering in the Texas vs. Georgia competition...I mean I needed my sleep to kick their butts. Well my quick nap turned into sleeping from 1:30 p:m to 8:30 p:m. I guess I was just super tired. I´m alone in the hostile because everyone went to eat and I wake up to people singing Spanish in the room next to me. My first thoughts upon waking up are 1: Where the heck am I? and 2: Why are there people singing in Spanish in the room next to me? So naturally I get up and sneak out, tippy toeing out of the hostile. I walk down to the Huancane girl´s house but no one is there so I headed back to the hostile and John came to the door. He called the Huancane girls and told them I was trying to get in! So I went back over to their house and we watched 27 Dresses, again. We got back home around 10:30 p:m and suprisingly enough I actually fell asleep around 11:30 p:m.
Today I woke up at 6:15 a:m to people singing Spanish...again. I´m starting to think this is a new routine. Turns out the owner of the hostile rented it out to some other people...who really like singing apparently. We cleaned the hostile and packed all the groceries up because we thought we would be leaving today. We headed down to the bus stop with Pastor Rueben at around 11:00 p:m and we end up waiting till around 12:30 p:m so we decided to go grab some lunch with the Huancane girls. We ate and went back to the bus stop and found out we would be spending another night in Huancane which really stinks because we had two appointments to story with people tonight. Kelsey, Emily, and I went to the Huancane girl´s house and watched The Devil Wears Prada. About this time I start feeling pretty sick to my stomache. I threw up twice before dinner and figured I was okay to eat two grilled cheese sandwiches but I ended up throwing up about seven more times after dinner. I´m talking puking out my brains. It was pretty awful. That was actually only about twenty minutes ago. I honestly wouldn´t be suprised if I all of a sudden puke all over this keyboard. Let´s just say that I´m not feeling the best. So please pray that we will be able to find a bus tomorrow morning and that I´ll stop feeling so sick. Thanks for your prayers everyone!
-Love in Christ
Today I woke up at 6:15 a:m to people singing Spanish...again. I´m starting to think this is a new routine. Turns out the owner of the hostile rented it out to some other people...who really like singing apparently. We cleaned the hostile and packed all the groceries up because we thought we would be leaving today. We headed down to the bus stop with Pastor Rueben at around 11:00 p:m and we end up waiting till around 12:30 p:m so we decided to go grab some lunch with the Huancane girls. We ate and went back to the bus stop and found out we would be spending another night in Huancane which really stinks because we had two appointments to story with people tonight. Kelsey, Emily, and I went to the Huancane girl´s house and watched The Devil Wears Prada. About this time I start feeling pretty sick to my stomache. I threw up twice before dinner and figured I was okay to eat two grilled cheese sandwiches but I ended up throwing up about seven more times after dinner. I´m talking puking out my brains. It was pretty awful. That was actually only about twenty minutes ago. I honestly wouldn´t be suprised if I all of a sudden puke all over this keyboard. Let´s just say that I´m not feeling the best. So please pray that we will be able to find a bus tomorrow morning and that I´ll stop feeling so sick. Thanks for your prayers everyone!
-Love in Christ
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