Huancane, The Beginnings - James S.

Yes, I know all of my Blog titles are cheesy =D

Well, I was late to worship after all, but it all worked out. I was just going on Peruvian time is all. Here, relationships mean much more than time, so it's common for people to be late to meetings or or events even when a designated time has been set. The REAPSouth staff prayed over all of the teams, and then we were off!

Before and while we were at the airport, we met Patty's mom who is such a sweet and nice lady, but she doesn't understand much English, so it was very difficult for Ellen and me to talk to her by ourselves when Patty wasn't there. Ellen tried Ceviche at the airport for lunch, which is a dish of raw fish that is "cooked" by an acidic sauce and has some spice of some kind. But, it was a little too spicy for Ellen and a little too fishy tasting for my taste. I'd eat it again though. I had...McDonald's of course! I wanted to get my last "American" meal out of the way befor we got to the villages.

By the way, the Peruvian planes, at least the TACA flight we were on, are SO much nicer than US planes. Tons of leg room and overhead room, comfortable chairs, etc etc...just saying. We arrived safely in Juliaca and got to Pastor Ruben's house in Huancane in one piece. We are slowly acclamating to the environment. Ellen has felt a little sick, but only the first night. I, thank the Lord and praise be to Him, have not felt sick at all. But poor Patty has been sick the whole time since we got here. She just has a congested nose and sore throat, but that makes translating all the more difficult. She says she's slowly getting better, but PRAYER WARRIORS! WE NEED YOU! Pray for her health so that she can be the vital team player that she is. Without her, we are literally mute! Or are walking around with one leg.

So far we've: gone shopping for groceries and supplies, helped clean dishes, helped make food, visited friends and family of Pastor Ruben, ate some local food, washed our own clothes, played with the kids, learned some guitar, successfully showered, and tried many a-new things; all of which occurred in 3 days and in VERY NON American ways.

But we're doing great. The Toledo family are perhaps THE micest, most gracious, most helpful, and certainly most patient people on the planet - and we could ALL learn something from them, and I'm not talking about Spanish. OH! Speaking of...here's a fun fact: the people here don't say they speak Spanish. They call it Castayano (sp?) though I know I jus butchered that. It's just the regional Peruvian version of Spanish but still the same. I don't know, I just thought that was cool (or chevere down here). Today we taught local children "Head, shoulders, knees, and...feet" we use feet because toes and fingers are the same word. On Thursday we will teach them some animals and colors in English. We also visited Luisa's friend Veronica, who accepted Christ 2 months ago, but was very insecure in her faith. She didn't know what would happen to her if she died. She also was confused about Darwinian evolution. I told her the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac and how God provided a substitute in Isaac's place and that Jesus was our substitute sacrifice for God. We also told her how evolution was false and that people are just looking for ways to explain things they don't understand. But we told her man is created in God's image and that we have souls whereas animals do not. We tried to talk to her about getting Baptized but she was scared and didn't know why she needed to. We somewhat ran out of time, but we told her to pray for what God had in his Will for her life and that she needed to make the decision for herself and that we couldn't for her. I said that getting Baptized was like when Jesus was ressurected. Your old life dies, but your new life is risen a-new. Somewhat of a stretch, but it clicked with her somewhat.

Anyway, we're currently trying to make preparations for the Barnabus team (a team from REAPSouth that comes to give us encouragement) who come on Saturday. We're also trying to see if we can get to Conima earlier than expected because Patty said she thought the house was completely ready when she was there in April. But we'll keep you updated.

Until next time, God Bless and Adios!

Psalm 18:1-3

Ellen - Catching up quickly

Hey, readers!
I am in Huancane, in a noisy internet cafe, and I have only twelve minutes to catch you up on my exciting weekend before it will cost more than one sole (about 36 cents) to use the computer. Anyway, on Friday, our last night in Lima, I went with Patty, James, another Peruvian named Martine, and two other American missionaries to ¨Pizza Street.¨ We went to a karoke restaurant and sang songs while enjoying a juice made of purple corn. It was all very fun. Lima is an exciting city. Saturday morning, I went jogging with Kerrigan, a friend on one of the REAPSouth teams. We went through some of the very nice exercise parks in Miraflores, basically the Beverly Hills of Lima. Then we flew to Juliaca on what seemed a unnaturally short flight. The mountains seen from above were so, so lovely.

Huancane, where we are now, is like that. The town is bordered by mountains, and the weather is nicely cool. We are staying with the Toledo family: Pastor Ruben, his wife Louisa, and their children, Edith (8) and Elias (1.5). They are so wonderful, and it is great to be with them, chilling (ha - get it? it´s slightly cool) and learning my stories better. I have also gotten to read for fun, and it is neat trying to teach the family some English while I struggle (not a strong enough verb) through my Spanish.

Thanks for reading! My prayer requests are just that I can learn to communicate better and that I can measure our success on God´s plan, not on my own. All right - ¡chao!

Onward We Go -James S.

Well, today is the last day of training, and we'll be having a commisioning send off service today. We've learned so much about the culture and the possible barriers, and I just can't wait to use what we've learned!

While I appreciate what Ellen said in her last post (and while I really try to stay positive and confidient), my spanish is not quite as good as she made it sound (and hers, I'm sure, is much better than she's making it sound). However, the spanish I learned in high school is really starting to flow back to me, and that's exciting. I bought a Dios Habla Hoy (God Speaks Today) bilingual Bible in the Good News translation. It's the Bible John Grady advised us to get. I'm really looking forward to being able to read straight from it in Spanish since I can thankfully read the language well.

But as Ellen said, Patty is SO nice and helpful. She feels bad all the time because she doesn't think her English is that great, but it really is. We found out this week that we'll have 2 teams from REAPSouth visiting us in the villages (Barnabus Team and the Creative Ministry Team), but they're mostly coming to give us encouragement and to let us see new faces.

There's a lot more I'd like to type about here, but I'm running late to getting to worship! So, I'll save it for the next blog post. I hope eveyone back home is doing well, and know that prayers can be felt no matter how far the distance, and you guys have no idea what it means to know there are people praying for us.

We fly out today to begin our journey into the villages. We'll be in Huancane until June 15th when we'll go to Conima. I'm simply in awe of what the Lord will have in store for us and the people.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

This has been somewhat of a mini-theme verse here, and I hope in every single way, I can live it out. Until next time, God Bless!

Ellen - Cat Eyes

Hello! I am typing this when I should be going to get breakfast, but hopefully I can write quickly and do both this morning.

The training sessions fill most of the day - we eat, sing, listen, repeat, basically. I appreciate it though; I have grown in confidence about my purpose. Unlike James, my Spanish is still not good enough for carrying a conversation. I really wish I could speak to the people in their heart language, and not through a translator. But Patty, our fellow teammate who will also act as our translator, is great: she speaks English so well. She lives in Lima, Peru, when she is not going on missions with REAPSouth. She is very involved in her church in Bellavista, an area on the other side of Peru. I am very excited to work with her.

I have gotten to go near the beach. It is a very lovely area with parks and statues and big waves. Last night, I walked with a group that went to Parque Kennedy; a neat place with lots of cats. Jackie, one of the Peruvians working with REAPSouth, told us a myth about cats. When their irises are slits, it means to is going to sunny. When they are circles, it is going to rain. (Or possibly the other way around.)

I am reading through Acts. I find the apostles´ missions as examples of encouragement and hope - they trusted God in all that they did. Peter told the council in Jerusalem, "Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead...And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:10,12)

Where to Begin? - James S

It seems like it was only yesterday when I first started thinking about going on this mission trip, but I'm so grateful it's finally here. Ellen's previous post has most of the flight/travel related things I was going to put down, so I'll talk about the training we are receiving here with REAP South.

As Ellen said we are focusing on storying and how to be effective, which is what our teams from FBCWP have been doing, so I was very happy that we weren't getting any mixed or conflicting training. The main message I've recieved about storying is that you have to relate it to people's lives or things they deeply know about or their experiences. I was actually amazed when we were told that most, if not all, of the people in the villages will believe every single word we say and know it's true (to some extent) but that because they don't see how it's applicable to their personal lives or because it's not presented in a memorable way, it falls on deaf ears.

But then they explained that this is how it's always been done. In Jesus' life when he's talking to farmers or field workers, he talks to them in analogies of the field. Jesus constantly used examples of people's daily lives to teach His message. We have to do the same, or the people don't think it matters to them specifically.

The training has been extremely beneficial, and I'm very excited to see how I'll get to use it in Huacane and Conima. Furthermore, my Spanish is definitely improving; it's really coming back to me from high school, and I can tell the Holy Spirit is really working in me in that area.

I think that's all for now, but please keep praying for us!

Oh, I want to make a special thank you to Pastor Kyle for preaching on Ephesians 6 right before this trip. The passage about the armor of God will DEFINITELY be one I look over daily here, and I seriously think God had a part in allowing that to be preached right before we left.

Until next post, God Bless!

Ellen's Beginnings

I wrote this Monday, starting at 6:51pm on the plane from Panama City to
Lima. Sorry to be so out of date in my posting.

Traveling has gone quite smoothly, as traveling goes. James
and I are on the Copa Airlines plane in Panama, waiting to head off to Lima.
Both relatively inexperienced travelers, we have succeeded so far. Between our
connecting flights in Orlando, we did have to go through security again because
we were confused as to where our gate was and went too far. But it is neat to
experience the efficiency of airports, even unecessarily. One thing that is not
neat to experience is airport prices. It was a good $9.58 chicken sub,
though.

I scared James at the Panama airport - there was a long line for
the restroom and we didn't have much time to board. But we made it; I just need
to get used to the iffiness of cell phone-less communication.

Mr. Weaver
- the coordinator for IMB REAPSouth teams in Peru - sent us readings, which I
finished up on the last flight. Their common theme was the purpose of missions
and the best way to communicate the good news we are sharing. One talked about
why using stories are more effective than linear-logic sermons. Every culture
uses stories - in daily conversations, traditions, religions - making them an
universal medium of communication. It is also easy to get excited about stories
(at least easier than getting excited about "do's" and "don'ts" or theological
jargon); they are easy to remember. If you teach like they do in many churches
in America, you are in some ways limiting the Gospel to those who can understand
your complicated terms and abstract ideas. They are no dumber than the average
American; some simply have not learned to think about belief and religion the
way we have.

And if you think about it, how did we learn to think like
that? What was our first step? Stories. Simple stories of God's work in the
world. The truth they proclaim is not limited by culture or education. Jesus
came. He died. He rose. We are free to live in his grace and love and peace
forever. What a beautiful, uncomplicated story.

Later, same
flight - 9:56pm
We are about to land in Lima. It was a delightful flight
full of a second free dinner (this time with four Oreos - the other Copa flight
just gave two), Tangled, reading more of Let the Nations Be
Glad!, and trying to say "gracias" instead of "thank you" whenever
possible. I really must appear obviously American because everyone speaks to me
in English right away, not even bothering with Spanish. I was so ready to say
"pollo por favor" when asked which meal I would like. The man asked the
just-as-white-as-me family in front of me in Spanish first, then English. So I
was ready to respond with my "impressive" bit of Spanish. The flight attendant
gets to me...

"Which would you like, miss?"

Quietly and ashamedly in English: "Chicken, please."

"And to drink?"

I became brave: "Agua, por favor."

And that, my friends, is self-enforced language
immersion at work.

"As the rain and the snow
come down from
heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and
making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread
for the eater,
is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return
to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose
for which I sent it."

Isaiah 55:10-11

New Summer, New Team

So, this coming weekend, May 22, our first few Summer Missionaries (SMs) will be traveling for their 1 week training with the IMB before hitting the town of Conima with the Gospel! We'll have upwards of a dozen at one point and time in the house for a week this summer, with SMs coming and going throughout the whole time.

This is a quick prayer request for those of you who are following. Pray for open doors for the word, boldness in the proclamation, and a love for the people of Conima in the hearts of all going on these trips this summer. God can grow an amazing love for a people group if you just ask Him - ask Him with us to increase our love for the Aymara for the sake of His name and the Gospel.

Here's our SMs list you can begin praying for - staring May 22 they travel:

• Ellen P.



• James S.



• Patty A. (Peruvian native who'll be our translator throughout the summer)



• Katie D.



• Molly D.



• Dave F.



• Elaine F.

The BST (Bible School Team) that I will be leading will go out there June 26-July 3rd. We would appreciate your prayers even now for God to set up a great chance for many children at the schools to hear the gospel:

• Jonathan M.



• Mike D.



• Annie May D.



• Josh W.



• Allison B.



• Jake V.

Thanks for praying - Keep it up!

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the
same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to
declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may
make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders,
making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned
with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians
4:2-6 ESV)