A Too Long Blog...

I've been putting off writing this blog for a couple of days. Partially because I know it's going to be oober long, but also because I want to rid the "Gerica" from it and just really let the Lord speak through me on this one. Coming back to Peru has been great, and I definitely feel like God has me here for a reason, but that's not to say that it's all peas and carrots either.

Let me just start from the beginning, so you can get the whole overview.  I'll do a play by play on our days, and then a summary of lessons learned towards the end. That way, you can just read the fun, interesting stuff if ya want!  

 On June 16th I said goodbye to my parents and my best friend...  yeah we look happy, but we were fighting back tears, all of us. Don't even play!

 

Anywho, that began the journey. From the get go, God wanted to get my attention and show me He was in control. I made it to El Salvador just fine, and had no problem getting on the plane to Lima. Praise the Lord there were a lot of white people who spoke English and were even on a mission trip on my plane. Why? Well, I arrive in Lima, get my bags, and the taxi driver who was supposed to get me wasn't there. Yep. There I was. Stranded. I waited for like 45 minutes, but still no sign of him. So I get an Inka Kola, and go to the white people from the plane. They help me find internet to get a phone number to call, but, because Peruvian phone numbers are weird, we couldn't figure out how to call. So they decide to take me to their hostal with them, and we'd get everything figured out. On the way there, their translator called my supervisor for me, and turns out, these people are going the opposite direction I need to be going. For those of you who don't know, Lima is a little bigger than Greenfield. Like, roughly the size of New York City.  This poses a problem, but the Lord knows what He's doing. The white people I was with, who were part of a Church of God mission team, had to go back to the airport that night. So I just went back with them, met the taxi guy, met some cool people from Grand Canyon University. Ba-da-bing ba-da-boom! Problems solved! I didn't even have to pay for the taxi ride to the hostal! 

The next day, I met up with Mike (he's kind of a big deal, to me at least) and the Creightons. They're a retired couple from Louisiana who are here for the summer! 

 

Aren't they presh?  Anywho, that day we roamed around Miraflores, covered the essentials. Ya know, McDonalds and PINKBERRY!! Ahh! I got real excited when I first saw this. For all you who don't know, Pinkberry is totes the best hun cal fro yo!  

So, we covered the basics of Miraflores, Lima, Peru.  We eventually met up with Ginny Chandler (a really cool young woman that the Lord just shines through) and some others who were part of the Barnabas team for the first half of the summer.  They include Chuck and Mary Firestone, a retired couple who moved down here to serve, Kerrigan Smith, our resident yankee, and Lloyd (I'm unsure of his last name), the most interesting lawyer/psychiatrist/teacher/everything you could imagine, all while faithfully serving the Lord!  We met up at 4-D Gelateria, which is the best ice cream/gelato on the planet. No questions asked. (Yes, I had ice cream and frozen yogurt both this day.) At 4-D Ginny informed us that she, Sue and Walter Creighton, and myself would be leaving at 4:30 AM to head to Coracora to meet up with the Chavina team. Believe it or not, 4 AM exists, and it is entirely possible to walk 10 blocks at that hour. Here I was! I lived to tell the tale!

So the next morning we met at 4:30 and took a taxi to a bus station, then a bus to another bus station in Nasca, where we got off and took a van jam-packed with 13 people to Puquio, and then a combie from Puquio to Coracora. We arrived at about 10 that night in Coracora, and we were POOPED! It was by the grace of God we didn't get sick on some parts of that trip! We then spent the next two days in Coracora with Rachel, Ashley, Kelsey, Jim, and Matt.  They were all here for the summer like I was two years ago, except for Jim, who has been here for a year.  It was good hanging out with them, but we had to go back to Nasca on Tuesday for our mid-summer debriefing.  This is where everyone gets together for some rest time and tell about what God's doing in their villages and in them up until this point. (Btw, the travel day to Nasca was my BIRTHDAY!! Just sayin)

Anyyways, we spent three or four days in Nasca sharing stories and hanging out, then Jenna, Mitchell (we called him Pablo) and I headed out to Vilcashuaman, Peru! This is the village I was in two years ago, and I was sooo excited to go back!!  Before I go on any farther, I'd like you to meet my team!

This was our last night together, with Mama Kathy's desserts! Yumm!! Anyways, the three of us, along with the Creative Ministries Team, headed for Vilcas together on a big overnight bus.  However, Jenna had a spider bite and some other medical issues to attend to, so we sent the CMT on to Vilcas while Jenna, Arturo (awesome Peruvian translator), and myself stayed behind in a bigger city called Huamanga.  After hours of waiting in doctors' offices, Jenna got all the info and drugs she needed!  So we got our last round of "good food" (pizza) and left the next morning for Vilcashuaman.  This 3-4 hour combie ride was wayyy smoother than I had remembered from before, but my stummy was in knots with excitement to see my old friends.  We arrived, and of course we couldn't find the CMT anywhere, because a group of 6 white kids don't stand out enough here. So we took our bags to the hostal, and we went walking down the street looking for them.  While walking, we saw one of my favorite people in the whole world, Gloria Gamboa!! Ahh!  This was the lady that I helped in her restaurant before.  We had a good little screaming fit in the middle of the street, complete with her picking me up and spinning me around!  The rest of the time the CMT was there (after we found them), we went around visiting people we knew in the village, and the CMT performed skits and songs and stunts to draw attention and Bible stories to anyone who would watch/participate.  This was a lot of fun, and a good way for us to meet new people.

Ok, had enough yet? Well we're no where near finished!  I'm going to now just go through a typical day and tell about each person we tried to meet with each day.  Each morning, Jenna and I would wake up at about 8:15 (Pablo would wake up at 6 and work out while we got our extra beauty sleep!).  Let me just add that Jenna would prefer that I freeze to death than to cuddle with me at night.  Ok so... we'd get up and get dressed and go to breakfast at Gloria's at like 8:30ish. Then we'd go back to the hostal, have team time, then our own quiet time, then walk "arriba" to try to meet with Emma, Delphine, Monica, the Maries, the Ladies, the Crazy Lady, or the doctor.  If someone wasn't there, which they weren't almost every time, we'd just pick another person and try to meet with them.  We walked a lot. We'd take a break for lunch somewhere in there, then start back on the list.  At 3 every day we would go to the market and talk to Josephina and Domatilla.  We wouldn't try to meet with everyone everyday, but some days we couldn't find anyone, so we tried everyone.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.  Anyways, we'd stop looking for people around 5 or so, take time to change into warm clothes and prepare for Bible study, then we'd have Bible study with Bernardo and his family, Eusebio, a dentist, and Edwin.  We had all three men there once the whole month, but when we were able to meet with any of them, it was always a good time.  These men, especially Edwin and Eusebio, have a hunger for the Word and are so eager to learn!! Then, we'd eat cookies, then go to bed! Good day!


Ok so, no I'm going to talk a little about the people we met with the most. First, I'll start with Emma. Emma and her family are non-believers. They believe there is a God, but they have no desire to follow Him, mostly because they don't want to follow any crazy "rules".  Emma has a rough life. Her oldest son is physically and mentally handicap, and he doesn't leave their house.  So she is taking care of him, a fiesty and mean two year old son, and a four month old daughter.  Even without any health problems, this would be a lot for any woman!  But she keeps good spirits. We tried to help her wash clothes or shell peas or something when we'd go to visit, and she was always willing to let us help!  There's a huge Jehovah's Whitness population in Vilcas, and, unfortunately, they had been to see her many times, so she struggles in who to believe as well. And I mean, when a group tells you there's no Hell and that you're fine if you're a good person, it's hard not to like those worlds. However, it's not truthful. We were able to have several good conversations with her, and we would leave knowing we got her thinking, so keep praying for that. 

After Emma we would aim to visit Monica. We met Monica randomly on the street one day and were able to develop a relationship with her and her husband.  She's 23 and he's 24. It was nice hanging out with people near our age and not our parents ages.  We worked hard on developing a friendship with them and earning their trust and respect. We would just sit outside and chat with Monica and then ask her if we could share a story with her, and she always said yes. She was another we could tell that we had gotten her to think, and now we can just pray that that seed will grow some deep roots and we can go back later to water and care for it. 

There were also two different sets of sisters that we also tried to meet with. Both lived wayy uphill in different directions, and neither of them were able to hang out much, but it was still fun when we could. 

Who's next..? I'll talk about Delphine.  Mitchell had met him the first day, and he lived MUY ARRIBA (wayyy up!).  It took a good 30 minutes up hill to get to his house!  We only met with him two or three times, but he and his wive, Delia, were always welcoming.  They have 12 kids! It was heartbreaking to hear that their oldest son beats them and some of the youngest kids.  So please, pray for that.  Spiritually, we felt like Delphine understood the gospel and accepted it, but his explanations to us weren't always so clear.  So we're unsure, but maybe?  Keep praying for him definitely, that he reads the Bible and gets a better understanding of who Jesus is and His sacrifice for us.  

Now, there's the Crazy Lady.  We called her this not because she was crazy, just flamboyant.  And we all forgot her name. We had seen her on the streets several times, and she even asked us to buy her some gum one day, so we did!  But Mitchell befriended her, and we went to visit. The first day was hilarious! Her mom was there, and she went on about how we were all Italian and we were family and had so much in common. Oh yeah! Her mom had no teeth either!  She just kept on about how we were family and Italian for a long time, and even when we tried to tell them a Bible story, she would interrupt with "Soy Italiana. Somos Italianos!!". Although it was very distracting and frustrating that they weren't listening, we couldn't help but laugh, a lot.  Anyways, we were able to meet with Crazy Lady and her husband and kids several more times while we were there. We gave her a New Testament and share with her several stories.  So pray that she reads the Bible we gave her and that she begins to understand.  

 Now I'll talk about Gloria. She was my absolute favorite two years ago, and if you've ever heard me talk about Peru, you've heard about Gloria. Shes just a little ball of energy, and she'd do anything to help you, but she doesn't care to know the Lord.  She knows the Scripture, but has never experienced the freedom and joy found in Christ.  And this breaks my heart guys.  This lady was like my mom for 8 weeks in 2009, and she has no eternal hope.  Pray for her, that the Lord works on her heart and she realizes that she NEEDS Him.  

Now, my favorite story. Doctor Fidencio Chavez. This little guy is sooo cute. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of him, but just know he's precious. Anyways, we met Fidencio last time when I did not have the swine flu.  We were able to meet with him regularly, and he began sharing his life with us.  Turns out he's got some serious family issues going on.  Anyways, we found him this time, and he immediately wanted to meet with us.  We were only able to find him a couple of times, but he wanted to get right in the Word.  He ended up telling Mitchell that last time we were there he was so lonely and we were like family to him.  After we left and he had no one, he realized that God was still there and that He wasn't going to leave him. So he gave his life to the Lord then and there. PTL!! Fidencio still needs a lot of prayer, because his family situation is even worse now than before, and it tears him to pieces.

Now we'll talk about the market ministry.  Vilcas had a pretty big market, with things ranging from raw meat to crochet needles.  It was different, but always interesting.  We would try to go there daily and talk to Josephina and Domatilla.  A group that went to Vilcas earlier in the year began to meet with them and share the gospel.  It appears to us that Domatilla understood it and trusted the Lord with her life as a result of these guys.  Josephina had good intents, but we were never quite as sure about her submission to God.  Anyways, it was such a blessing to sit down and talk with these ladies, both are in their 40s.  They always attentively listened and had good questions, and their friends would listen too!  They're still weak in their faith, so definitely be in prayer for them. Here they are, in a very awkward picture!

 Aside from all of this, we tried to have a regular Bible study with a couple of people we knew were believers.  Three men showed up, different ones on different nights. Only once did we have all three, but when we did, it was GREAT!  They all have a hunger to learn more, to be discipled. They had real questions, and they wanted real answers.  We went through some scripture on prayer and being strong in their faith and how to use their spiritual gifts to share with others.  Pray for someone to step out as a leader and return to disciple these men, to be there to teach them and help them grow and advance the Kingdom in Vilcas. 

I know I said in the beginning I was going to try to remove the "Gerica" from this, and I apologize, because I know I didn't do it completely. Honestly, this blog has taken me over a week to write, and I'm trying my hardest to remember everything.  It's been two weeks since I sat in that hostal bedroom on the corner of the plaza in Vilcas, but it feels like it's been ages already.  In the month that I was there, God revealed to me the importance of prayer, and how I take it for granted.  He is still teaching me the importance and value and greatness of being able to communicate to Him. I pray that anyone who reads this will take this to heart, but for reals, learn to pray. Learn to cast your worries and troubles on the Lord.  He is there to listen, and He will not leave you or forsake you.  God taught me that absolutely nothing can be in my hands, because I am nothing.  Even my greatest efforts are dirty rags. I must be completely dependent on Him, and have my mind set on glorifying Him in every thought and every action. 

Life out of the village is a culture shock in itself.  My roommate Melissa and I are going to be living in Lima for a while, and Lima is a lot like New York City. It's HUGE!!  We're learning and patiently waiting on what God has in store for us in the upcoming months, and we desperately covet your prayers for us as well. Pray for guidance on what to do, wisdom to understand and handle certain situations correctly, and faith that God is working all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. 

I'll try to keep the next one of these real short. Thanks for sticking around this long!