15 de Diciembre (Fiesta de Navidad/Despedida)

*me, manuel and liz with our going-away cake

Tonight was our FINAL meeting at the Lighthouse. Goodness, it’s so unfathomable for me to even think that there are people that I saw tonight for the last time. Gladys came tonight. I’ve never met her before, but she said some of the nicest things. One thing she said to me was, “Thank you for coming here to help out our people, the Peruvians.” She went on to explain what a blessing she could see that we’ve been, and told me to take heart in the fact that I will see many of my friends again someday in heaven; she encouraged me to pray for those that haven’t made the decision to accept Christ yet.

Our Christmas/Going-Away Party was quite fun! We gathered together and read the Christmas story directly from God’s word. While discussing the birth of our Savior, we also talked about family traditions and things that we love about the season. One thing that I find to be so interesting here is the time that they open gifts and eat Christmas “dinner.”

*our cake from manuel

So, the tradition is for the whole family to get up at midnight on Christmas Eve and open presents! After that part of the celebration is over, they eat Christmas dinner! That’s right. Think about this. . . it’s one, two in the morning and you’re downing turkey and hot chocolate! ¿Qué extraño, no? Yeah, I love Peru!! :)

*serving some ice cream!

After all that, we ate ice cream sundaes! It was so fun because some of our friends had never had them before! In addition to the ice cream, our friend from conversation club, Miguel, kindly brought us a going-away cake! Thursday he asked Liz and me what our favorite type of cake is to which we had opposite answers. (I’m sure you can guess what mine is!) He had the bakery make a half-chocolate/half-vanilla cake! We managed to eat the whole cake and TONS of ice cream that night! Haha. It was fantastic. Julio was my helper and served the ice cream toppings while I scooped up the ice cream and cut the cake! He did a great job and really enjoy the whipped cream! :)

*dr. julio serving the toppings for hernan*rene, arturo and junior
*moises and raul *noemi, gladys, miriam, martin, jhon and javier REALLY enjoying their ice cream!

One thing you must know is that we have a ratio of like 10 boys to 1 girl at the Lighthouse. It’s quite humorous really, but we are never short on bodyguards! :) Anyway, somehow our group of wonderfully sweet GUY friends managed to organize themselves enough to get us not only going-away gifts but going-away cards, too! I was so impressed with them! They all went to the store together and picked out the perfect cards for Liz and me and took the time to each write a sweet message in the cards. They also decided to get us perfectly-Peruvian t-shirts that have cuys (guinea pigs) on the front! Guinea pig is a delicacy here in Peru. . . :)

*me, junior and liz with our "cuy" shirts!

For a parting gift, we printed out group pictures from our Lighthouse meetings from this semester. Everyone seemed to love their pictures, and I hope they treasure the memory of our time together as much as I will.

*me, aulo and lizMy goodness. . . just a few more days now. I’m not to the point of tears quite yet, although the urge hits me from time to time. . . God has been so good to me. He’s blessed me more than I ever imagined He would. Coming to Peru, I knew that I would be His instrument to speak to others about Him, and to bless them in His name. I never imagined that so many people who were perfect strangers to me only four months ago could impact and bless me so abundantly. But they have.

*our wonderful group at the "Lighthouse"

Katrina

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

"It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”-Philippians 1:3-11

14 de Diciembre (Fiesta con la familia Marshall)

We’ve had the AMAZING experience here in Peru of being encouraged and mentored by the Marshall family. Bill and Jennifer have been so kind to us week after week inviting us to join them in their home, forgiving us when we show up on Peruvian time (which is SOOOO the fault of our Peruvian friends. . . haha), and always showing the love of Christ to us. When we fist began going to their small group, the session was supposed to last for 6 weeks. I was excited about getting together with them, but I didn’t think it would go beyond those 6 weeks. God had other plans, though, and led the Marshalls to open their home to us every week after those 6 were over.

Through the small group meetings, we’ve been fortunate enough to make friends from various parts of the world and to develop meaningful relationships with them. We’ve shared our struggles and hurts, excitements and blessings. God has blessed our time together by showing to me that fellowship with other believers on a continual basis with prayer and study of the word is not only necessary but spiritually uplifting.

*grace and bill digging in!

This week we met to have a Christmas party mixed in with a few goodbyes. Once we arrived at the Marshall’s house (*ahem* a mere 35 minutes late), we were excited to see that Jennifer and many of the other ladies had prepared wonderful foods for us to eat and enjoy! We chowed down on the delicious dishes and then settled in for a bit of Christmas Carol singing. Our typical “villancicos” were not well-known in our group of mostly non-Americans, but we did our best to teach them! :) Good times. . .

*junior "eating." haha. enough said. . .

Next, Bill asked that Liz and I share our testimonies with the group. Liz went first and explained her road to salvation and the way God has carried her ever since. When my turn came up, I really wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to say. I prayed that God would let the Holy Spirit lead my heart and my voice so that my words would be honoring to Him. As I spoke, I recalled the way God brought us to Peru. Let me share a bit of that with you. . .

I felt God placing it on my heart to go out and serve Him sometime in the late fall of last year. I had prayed during the spring semester for God to show me where He wanted me to go and to show me how to get there. And, HE DID! I came across the opportunity to go to Peru through the International Mission Board website and considered applying. During this time I was actually exploring an opportunity to go to Mexico, but after much prayer I realized that Peru was where I should go! So in late May, I sent in my Peru application and waited. Meanwhile, Liz heard of the opportunity to go to Peru and began praying about it, too. By the time she decided she should go, she looked on the website and saw that it was taken. Feeling down, she decided that she would email the Hughes just to make sure that there wasn’t some mistake about the position being gone. They told her that I had already gotten it, but that they could add her in, too! This all means that during my application time, I hadn’t really considered the fact that the position was written for only ONE person. I honestly believe that God kept that from my attention because He knew that if I knew I would be here alone, I wouldn’t have applied. But, by the time I realized that I would’ve been alone, I was being told that I would have a partner! God is so good and so amazing and truly a bit sneaky when He wants to be. . . Haha. Praise Him for that! He promises us that He’ll give us no more than we can handle, and He proved that He truly knows my limits! :)

*sharing our testimonies with the group

Anyway, the main thing I want to leave behind here in Peru is a bit of the love of Christ. I hope that God’s proud of the work He’s prompted me to do here. It’s all for His glory.

After testimony time, we started our “White Elephant” gift exchange! We each brought a gift and then played a game that most of you have played, I’m sure. The way it works is that everyone draws a number, picks a gift in that order, and has the option of stealing gifts. Church people can be ruthless! Haha. Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that Junior was in charge of the gifts, and he was encouraging EVERYONE to steal. Hah. That boy has a very childlike spirit when he wants to. . . :) It was so much fun, and by the time we go to the final gift, people were STILL not done stealing gifts! I think we were on the last gift for about 15 minutes! Haha. It was truly wonderful. I should also mention that with each gift that was chosen, we shouted, "QUE LO ABRA!!!" That’s the Peruvian equivalent of, “RIP IT!” :) It was so great.

I just want anyone who is in our small group to know how much you’ve meant to me. The faith you possess and your commitment to prayer has taught me so much in my stages as a growing follower of Christ. As I seek wisdom and spiritual maturity, each of you should know that you have been a part of God’s teaching in my life. I will miss you terribly and will never forget you or the way your love for Christ has been so evident in your lives. Thank you for being part of my time here on earth, and if I don’t see you in this life, I look forward to hanging out with you in the next.

*maria totally ended up with some pisco. . . hilarious!

Katrina

“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”-Acts 2:42-47

*click the video below!

8 de Diciembre (Baptismo y Fiesta!)

So, God is good. We’ve heard that one said a thousand times before, but this time I really KNOW that he is good.

Today we went down to Playa Santa Maria with our church to have a baptism. My good friend, Deivis, and our other friend, Ashleigh, were both getting baptized, and we were so excited to be able to witness such an event! We arrived at the Cineplanet where we attend church at 10:55 am; 5 minutes early! :) Jennifer was very proud of us. Haha.

*liz, bill, deivis, me
When we got to the beach, we got everything set up, said a prayer and headed out to the water! Bill and Jennifer escorted those who would be baptized to Steve and Josue who were waiting in the FREEZING ocean water. The girls went first, and we were so happy for Ashleigh when it was her turn! Deivis admitted that he was a bit nervous but told us that although his parents were unable to come, WE were his family and he was glad we were there. Aww, and so we watched our Peruvian brother in Christ participate in the symbolic act of his inward transformation. It was so wonderful, and Deivis looked so happy! Praise God for all that He has done and continues to do. Deivis has only been a Christian since April of this year and has seen but a glimpse into God’s goodness. I pray that God will keep Him faithful and focused throughout his life.

*deivis getting baptized!!*deivis, me, ashleigh, liz after it was all over! deivis shared a bit of the baptism with me by getting me wet!
*the group with pastor steve on the far left!

I had a good talk with Moises, one of our friends from the Lighthouse, while down at the beach. He told me that he’s met a lot of missionaries before from a lot of different places; according to him, the missionaries always seem to keep their distance and never really get that close to the Peruvians. One of the kindest things anyone’s ever said to me was that Liz and I were different. He said we are true friends and that he’s going to miss us. Right back at ya, Moises.

*moises and me

Bill and Jennifer were SOOOOO kind in taking us home after the beach baptism. Liz and I were stressed about going because we needed to be back at the Lighthouse for our Bible study by 3:30, and the bus wasn’t going to return to Lima until 4:45 or 5:00! But God sent the Marshall family to us, and we made it home just in time for our special Bible study!

We concluded our study on 1 Timothy. When Liz and I first began writing the study, it seemed like something so far off, and now it’s over! It was so crazy, too, because as we were reading I noticed that the title of the lesson was “Farewell.” Yeah, so Noemi was right in the middle of reading when I noticed that and I shouted, “Oh my gosh! It says ‘Farewell.’” It made me want to cry. Haha. (I later apologized for my outburst.)

Anyway, Saturday concluded our Bible memory verse contest!! We were SOOOO proud of our friends for memorizing their verses! All in all, we were able to invite TWELVE special guests to our special “Bible Memory Verse Contest Party!” :) That means that 12 of our Bible study friends memorized THREE verses in just THREE weeks!! The verses were:

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” Psalms 119:11

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

We promised to cook a meal for anyone who could memorize those verses in the three weeks. Liz and I even memorized our verses in Spanish as our part of the contest. I’m glad we were able to remember them because it would’ve been a shame not to be able to participate in the party festivities! :) Mexican food was on the menu, and it was a real treat for our Peruvian friends! Liz cooked enchiladas and I cooked fajitas. We served these dishes along with guacamole and Mexican salsa. They’d never had any of it before besides the guacamole! Haha. They kept asking, “Which are the fajitas? Which are the enchiladas?” It was funny. Julio requested that I take a picture of him before he ate his food so he could be sure and have one last photo before he died. Har. Har. :)

*ok, so i was cutting onions and the juice was making my eyes water. so i thought, hey. i'll put on my sunglasses! liz laughed at me. . . :)
*la comida!*julio's last picture. . .
*noemi, deivis, martin
*julio and rene. notice julio is still alive and seems to be enjoying himself. :)

In the end, they loved the food and we had a great time! After we ate, we sang Christmas songs! Liz and I taught them the echo part to “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer,” and we even sang some songs in Spanish that Deivis brought! In addition to singing those songs, we sang FELIZ NAVIDAD which just so HAPPENS to be my current favorite Christmas song. :) The version we had was all in Spanish, and even the Spanish speakers didn’t know the (“I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas”) part in Spanish. So, we just sang it in English over the Spanish!! Haha. It was so funny. Oh! And there was this version of “Jingle Bells” that was barked by dogs. . . random, I know, but it was Deivis’ cd! :) We barked that one about three times through. It was hilarious!

*(first row) me, deivis, arturo, noemi, carme, hernan, aulo (second row) martin, julio, rene, moises, jhon, junior

Ah. All in all it was one of the best days we’ve had here. There’s nothing better than good friends, good food, talk of our Father and the singing of “Feliz Navidad!” :)

Katrina

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.”

-1 Timothy 12-16

click on the videos below to hear us singing!!!



more pictures!

30 de Noviembre al 2 de Diciembre (La fin de semana!)

Friday we met again at Bill and Jennifer’s house for our small group Bible study. Every Friday I am reminded of God’s goodness and the way He encourages us through other believers. Jennifer announced that next week we will finish up our lesson and then have a Christmas/going-away party (Navidad/Despedida) the next. Everyone was so sweet begging us to stay a little while longer, but we told them that our mommas wouldn’t be very happy being without us on Christmas. As I sat there and contemplated leaving, though, I felt a well of tears surging up. I fought it, but boy I’m starting to miss Peru already! Over the next few weeks, I anticipate that almost all of my blog entries will say that, so just be prepared for a bit of bellyaching on my part. I apologize in advance. :)

Saturday we went through 1 Timothy 5 with our Bible study members. We’ve had a great response to our memory verse contest so far and are looking forward to the party! My verse for the week: “Que si confiesas con tu boca que Jesús es el señor y crees en tu corazón que dios lo levanto de entre los muertos, serás salvo.”-Romanos 10:9 And I typed all of that from memory! :) After the Bible study, we headed to Miraflores to go bowling! It was hilarious bowling with so many FIRST time bowlers! That’s right! Out of all of us that went bowling, only 3 of us had ever gone before! I was shocked, but then Deivis reminded me that, “I’m not an American.” Hahaha. I guess that’s true. We ended up at the worst excuse for a bowling alley that I’d ever seen! Oh my goodness. . . we didn’t even have to rent shoes! That’s right. The floors were THAT bad. In addition to the floors being old and uneven, the balls were also cracked and worn out. It was quite interesting. . . What was also interesting was Liz and I teaching a group of boys how to bowl! I never thought I’d have that chance . . . haha. They picked up very quickly and did a great job. I would say that we knew who won, but this bowling alley was so antiquated and run down that we had to keep our own score! Weird. After bowling we went over to Eswin and Ashleigh’s apartment again and ordered Norky’s! It was yummy!!

*giomar, jay, me, eber, liz, deivis, juli0, hernan, moises and jhon

Sunday we were invited to go to church with Truman and Nancy Chatman, some fellow missionaries. In addition to attending their church service, they also asked Liz and me to give our testimonies . . . in SPANISH! What a treat! Haha. I was a bit nervous, I’ll admit, but hopefully the people understood our words. For those of you that can read Spanish, here it is:

“Cuando era niña, tenía una familia típica. Tengo un padre, una madre y tres hermanas maravillosas. Por toda mi vida, he ido a la iglesia y cuando tuve ocho anos, decide que yo quise Jesús Cristo ser mi amigo mejor. Oré una oración simple: Le dije a Cristo que sube que estuve una pecadora pero quise que me salvó. Y él hizo!

Entonces, empezaba mi viaje con Jesús. Había veces en mi vida cuando he ignorado mi amistad con Jesús; he ignorado el hecho que le daba mi corazón. Cuando empezaba en la universidad, tenía un enamorado que no sea correcto para mí. Me permitía que hacia pecados y corría en el opuesto dirección de Dios. Un día, Dios llego a controlar en mi corazón y sabe que necesítelo más que yo he necesitado alguna cosa en mi vida. Estaba vacía y sin alegre y no podía más allá de mis problemas. Dios me ofrecía a traer mis preocupaciones, mis pecados y todo mi mundo y hacerlo una vez más a la alguna cosa hermosa.

Corrí a Jesús en la mejor manera que yo podía. Fue muy difícil a reconciliar con mis pecados y mi culpabilidad, pero Dios me ofrecí gracia y me invito regresar en suyos brazos del amor.

Ahora, estoy aquí en Perú para la Gloria de mi Dios, mi Jesús, mi Salvador. Quiero decir todos sobre el maravilloso de Dios y como él quiere darte salvación. Dios mando suyo hijo solo al mundo por la razón que él quiere nosotros a tener una vida nueva. Dios no nos promete que el camino que nosotros vamos a caminar será fácil; hubiere luchas. Pero, él solo quiere caminar en el camino con nosotros. No puedo imaginar un amigo mejor, un padre con más amor ni un Dios más bueno. Alabo Dios para mi salvación y mi oración es que puedes encontrar el regalo de salvación en Dios también. Él quiere conocerte y tiene más amor para ti que puedes imaginar.”

Whew. It was acutally a bit fun, I’ll admit! The service reminded me very much of my Mission Arlington days as it was held in an apartment. We sang hymns in Spanish and Truman gave his sermon in the same manner. It was so nice to be able to listen to a gringo preach in Spanish! I understood every bit! Haha. After church, they were so kind to take us out to lunch along with three other girls that attend their church.

Later, because it was sunny outside, Liz and I decided to head down to the beach! When we finally got there, it was a little overcast and the olas (waves) were huge! Kids played in the water and adults sat on the shore watching as the waves crashed into the rocky shore. Liz and I sat back a little bit from the water on a rocky cliff so as not to get wet when . . . all of a sudden a GIGANTIC wave came up over the cliff and nearly wiped us out! When I saw that the wave was going to get us, I immediately picked up my purse and started scooting back. Liz’s reaction, unfortunately for her, was to scream. Hahah. Needless to say, she literally had to pour the sea out of her backpack. . . Oh man, it was funny! People around us got a good laugh out of it, too. One man in particular came up to us and began talking to us about how he had tips for drying out her books. This conversation then turned to life and religion. He told us that he believes very strongly in his religion, but likes the way the evangelicals talk about having a personal relationship with God as opposed to God seeming so far away. We thought this was very interesting and invited him to come to our Bible study. . . which he did! (I’ll tell that story a bit later.) I think it’s so interesting how people can preach on the word of God and not emphasize having a relationship with Him. Personally, I wouldn’t be able to make it through the day without talking to Him, telling Him of my struggles and of my joys. God is so amazing and desires to have a close, constant relationship with us in which He invites us to fill Him in on everything! I just think that is so amazing! MY GOD wants to listen to MY boring chatter. You can’t find a better friend than that. I’ll guarantee you, folks, if you don’t know Jesus as your personal savior and are not walking down the road of life in constant communication with Him, you are missing out on the most wonderful blessing we are able to receive in this life here on earth. I encourage you, don’t miss out on it!

So after the “wave” fiasco, we decided to head back home because we’d told our friend, Jay, that we would meet him at Starbucks and then go to the feria with him. They have many “fairs” this time of the year where they sell all kinds of items ranging from clothes to candy. We decided to be brave and even at supper out there! I just got a slice of pizza because it seemed to be the safest option. It all turned out alright, though!

Ok. That’s all for now, everyone. Sorry I haven’t been writing like I should’ve been lately. Things are wrapping up here, and we’re trying to take it all in, and it’s just so overwhelming! God is so amazing. I really mean that. My friend, Gayle recently sent me this bit of encouragement from Chuck Swindoll:

“. . . always surrender the results to God. Once they have heard the message, your part ends. Your task is to communicate truth. It's God's job to draw people to Himself. You prepare the patient; He does the surgery. They don't need manipulation. There's enough of that going on. You don't need to follow them out to their car or push them into a corner. God will reach them, just as He did in Athens. Leave the results to God.”

That’s the struggle I face. Leaving the results to God. . . God puts in the place that He needs us to be to carry out His plans. Maybe I’m just a seed planter. Maybe my purpose here will not be revealed to me while I’m on this earth. But, maybe just MAYBE God is using me to bring glory to His kingdom in a way that I never could’ve anticipated or planned for myself. MAYBE God knows what He’s doing even if I don’t understand it. I put my faith in Him with full assurance that He is in control; He is the redeemer. I am not here to save people but only to point them to the One who can save them. These are not my words I am sharing here; they are God’s words. I am not my own; I lay down my life daily praying and having faith that God will use me as his vessel, his instrument that I may be a light in the darkness.

Katrina

“Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. ‘Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?’”-Matthew 16:24-26

28 de Noviembre (Almuerzo con mi amiga!)

My good German friend from school, Eva, kindly invited Elizabeth and me to join her for lunch at her house! It’s so wonderful to have home cooked meals sometimes as Liz and I basically survive off of peanut butter and jelly. :)

We left to go to her house, and grabbed a taxi that said he knew where he was going and that it would cost us 8 soles. This was really too much, but we took it anyway just because we didn’t feel like arguing. As we were on our way, the taxi driver asked for the address again and then proceeded to tell us that it was “muy lejos” (far) and that it was going to cost us 10 soles! Yeah, right! “Pero nos dijo ocho,” I said to him. (You told us eight!) He continued to argue which is when I said just stop the car. He changed his mind and said eight was fine. It’s so frustrating to be taken advantage of just because you are foreign. Anyway, once we got over to Miraflores, he realized that he didn’t know where the street was and had to stop and ask a police officer for directions. Needless to say, we finally made it.

Eva kindly gave us a tour around her beautiful home. It was so open and white and airy. . . The sun was shining outside and a cool breeze blew through the windows. It was a beautiful day. When we saw that she had a BATHTUB, we got so exicted! I haven’t been able to take a bubble bath, or a regular bath, in over three months now! (Disclaimer *We have a shower but no tub) She said that if we ever got the urge to come on over! Haha. She also informed us that her children would be coming in the SAME night that we’re leaving! I’m so bummed! They all look like so much fun, and I’d love to be able to meet some more people who would be able to correctly pronounce my last name!

Speaking of which, Eva’s been teaching me how to say it, and I think I’ve just about got it down now! I’ll teach the rest of my family when I get home. . . Haha.

When that was all done, we sat down to eat lunch. It was around 2:00 which is normal here in Peru! People are appalled to hear that Liz and I usually eat around 11:00 or 11:30. I told some of my Peruvian friends that in high school, lunch period started at 10:30. They couldn’t believe it. Hah.

Her empleada was so kind and cooked us a delicious meal of aji de gallina, camote, papas, aceituna and homemade chichi morada! For dessert, we had a made from purple corn, pineapple and apples. I wish I could remember what it was called. . . something about amor and morada. Anyway, it was good! She also made us these cute cappuccinos with a machine that she showed me how to use. Being that Eva lived in Italy for 4 years, she enjoys her coffee! :)

Anyway, it was such a nice visit and I’m going to miss Eva when I’m home. She DID say that I could go visit her sometime when she moves back to Germany, and perhaps I will! God has blessed my time here so much with good friends, experiences and lessons. It’s amazing that I have met people in Peru that I now consider to be my friends. We’ve met the kindest Peruvians that exist along with people from Europe, Asia and America. It’s just been the craziest experience, and I couldn’t have planned it any better myself. These friends of ours have taken us into their homes, shared their food and stories with us and, most of all, shown us kindness and love, and I’m eternally grateful to them for that.

Katrina

“Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible. They've made a full report back to the church here, a message about your love. It's good work you're doing, helping these travelers on their way, hospitality worthy of God himself! They set out under the banner of the Name, and get no help from unbelievers. So they deserve any support we can give them. In providing meals and a bed, we become their companions in spreading the Truth.” 3 John 1:5-8

25 de Noviembre (Quieres surf?)

Let me preface this entry by explaining how the sewage system works here in Lima. You go to the bathroom, don’t flush your paper and then the waste is discarded directly into the Pacific. That’s right. It gets put into the ocean. . .

*liz, dawna and me about to put on our wetsuits!
So, Dawna convinced Liz and me that we should all go surfing. At first, I was VERY against this for the sole reason that I don’t really like swimming in “dirty” water. Ahem. Although I endured the torture of getting FIVE vaccinations before I came here, I couldn’t quite remember if I had gotten one called “human waste.” In the end, I decided to go for it. It turns out that the sewage wasn’t a problem for me so much as the freezing cold water and the rocky shore were. . . The beach in Miraflores doesn’t have sand like the beaches do back home; it is instead lined with smooth yet painful rocks. They are killer when you’re trying to get out of the water.


*me, dawna and liz and a surf board!We found our friend, Carlos, who we had met earlier in the week and told him that we wanted to surf! The first difficulty in surfing is to get on your wetsuit. That’s right, folks, putting on a USED plastic garment that is made to hug your entire body isn’t as easy or as fun as it looks. Anyway, after we got those monsters on, Carlos took us through some yoga-like stretches to get our muscles loosened up. After that, he told us to line up on the curb. When he first pushed me off the curb I was insulted and a bit miffed. He explained, though, that he was testing us to see which leg we would surf with. My left-handed tendencies came out, and I found out I surfed the opposite of “normal.” He had a word for this, but I can’t remember it now.

*(back to front) carlos, me, dawna Then, we went over to a sandy area and he drew a surf board on the ground. I was completely OK with his demonstration of how to properly surf while lying facedown in the dirt until he told us to draw our boards and get on them. Yuck. I figured, though, that if I were going to swim in those waters, a little bit of sand wouldn’t kill me. Down we went and practiced paddling and holding our boards when we hit waves. About 10 minutes later, he declared that we were all ready and off we went to the water!

*me on the left and dawna on the right

That first step in the water was killer! I felt like my feet were frozen and couldn’t believe that I was about to subject the rest of my body to such brutal torture. But, I did. As I paddled out to sea, a huge wave (ola) hit me in the face and took my breath away. Whew it was cold and salty to boot! I guess that first bit of salt water in the eyes and mouth is always a bit unpleasant regardless of the temperature of the water. A realization struck me almost as hard as that wave when I finally made it out far enough. It takes a LOT of upper body strength to surf! Once I finally got out there, I was too exhausted (and cold) to paddle hard enough to catch any waves. When the waves would roll in, I would hear, “Paddle! Paddle!” Easier said than done. This is where my “surf lesson” money came in handy; I was able to get a bit of a push from my instructor! Off I went in the wave. . . and Boom! I wiped out. I didn’t realize when getting into that water from a rocky shore that the bottom of the ocean would be rocky, too. (*Side note: I found a bruise on my ankle today and am now realizing that that’s where it came from. Good to know.) I smashed down all the way to the bottom and banged my foot. Yeah, that hurt!

*carlos and me in the foreground. he's coaching me a bit!

But, I didn’t let it deter me. I swam back out, got another push from my amigo and this time stood all the way up!! I was so excited! All in all I wiped out twice and stood up four times. It was an adventure that I’ll not soon forget. If it hadn’t been so cold and we hadn’t lacked so much arm strength, we would’ve stayed out there longer. After about an hour and a half, we were done. We headed back up to shore and then endured the torture of trying to walk on those rocks again. A nice guy walked down and not only helped me with my surf board but gave me his flip-flops, too. I was sooooo thankful.

*carlos getting ready to give me a push!

So, I mentioned how difficult it was to get that suit on. Well my friends, let me tell you that getting a WET wetsuit off while about 6 guys stand there and watch is even more of a challenge! Ugh, I thought I would be stuck in that thing forever. God had other plans, though, and all three of us managed to escape! We couldn’t help but laughing imagining the type of show we were putting on for our audience. Fun times.

*it's all over and i'm still alive and smiling! looking kind of rough, i might add, but don't judge me. . . haha.

All in all, I was SOOOO glad that I had the chance to surf! I would CERTAINLY do it again in the future if I ever had the chance. It was amazing to stand on a board while riding on top of a wave. . . Incredible, I tell you.

*carlos, dawna, liz and me. surf's up, dude!

Skydiving: check!

Mototaxi: check!

Surfing: check!

Next on my list. . . hot air ballooning. . . Anyone want to go?

*disclaimer: I did NOT go skydiving while here in Peru. Nonetheless, I felt it was necessary to include it on my list of “extreme” adventures! :)

*liz, me and dawna posing with our surfboards for one last picture.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”-James 1:5-6

24 de Noviembre (Faro y Fiesta)

Saturday was Dawna’s last day here with us in Lima! How sad! We spent the earlier part of the evening doing our Bible study over 1 Timothy. I was so excited when our Bible study members showed up and about 7 of them had memorized their verses for the week! Liz and I took turns saying our in Spanish, and I think our friends were quite impressed!

*me, dawna and liz with an angelic statue

After class was over, we headed over to Parque Kennedy in Miraflores. We were unaware before we went over there that they were having a special event! There were about 5 people standing around the park dressed up as live statues! This was quite a treat, and we took turns putting money in their boxes so we could see them move. Perhaps the funniest statue was that of a chef. When I went up there to greet him, he suck out his hand for me to shake then bent over so I could kiss him on the cheek as is the custom here. As I leaned in towards his cheek, he quickly turned his face so that his lips were nearly touching mine! This got a big laugh from the crowd and a big red flood of embarrassment on my face! He later requested that we email him the pictures that we had taken with him that night. . . I’ll bet!

*it was pretty hilarious. . .

Oh, also while we were there, a random man wearing only some SUPER short shorts came running through the park being really loud. This older lady sitting on a bench chastised him in some way and he began to yell at her! There’s only one word I understood in English and it’s not one I want to repeat on here. It was quite amusing as the cops chased him through the park. . .

*liz, me, dawna and erick (not the crazy man who ran through the park) :)

When we were done there, Eswin and Ashleigh offered up their apartment as the next hot spot! So, all SIXTEEN of us walked over to their apartment and then ordered some food from Norky’s! Only in Peru can you get a whole chicken, french fries, salad and inca cola for s/.35! Good stuff.

*eating my chicken! don't tell my dad. . . ;)

We proceeded to have one of the most enjoyable nights I’ve ever had in Peru! We listened to music, learned about the culture and just spent time with our wonderful friends here. I, once again, emphasize how blessed I’ve been to have this experience so far, to have met so many wonderful people and to share God’s love with them. I pray for salvation in their hearts and conviction of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I pray that my time here in Peru will be all that God has called for it to be.

*some of the group!
Katrina

“Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.

Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

Praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,

Praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.”-Psalm 150

23 de Noviembre (Fun around Lima)

Friday was our last day of class for this month! Yay! Liz and I both passed our classes with flying colors and will advance to our next levels starting on Wednesday.

Gina and Quentin Roberts asked Liz and I if we would be available to help them with a bit of testing for their English class. After our Spanish classes were over, we went to downtown Lima to test these students. It was so fun to be able to help out in other areas of ministry here, and I had a great time meeting some new faces. The students did exceptionally well, and I left there very impressed!

*dawna, me, liz, gina, quentin

Following the testing, the Roberts invited Liz, Dawna and me out for lunch. They were so sweet and said that they’d meant to invite us out when we first got here but had gotten busy. We wanted to go to China Town (Barrio Chino), so they took us to a delicious restaurant down there. The food was tasty and the time we got to spend together was nice. It’s always encouraging to be around the Roberts and see just how kind and sincere they are about serving the Lord. God has blessed me with the opportunity to get to know such wonderful examples of how to live your life to serve Him. We spoke of my future plans, or lack thereof, and I found great encouragement in the things they had to say.

*the weird fortune cookies from the restaurant!

After we got done eating, we walked around China Town and checked out a few of the shops. There’s also a big market downtown where they sell raw meat! It smelled terrible, but Liz and I managed to hold our breath long enough to snap a quick picture! Dawna couldn’t handle it. Haha.

*yucky.

Lima has one free museum, and we also went there! The museum displays the torture that the Spanish inflicted upon those who were unwilling to convert to Catholicism several hundred years ago. Unfortunately, there was no English tour guide available, so Gina just took us around and told us what she remembered of the museum. We also stopped and translated some signs for some other people that were in our group. It was really sad to see the things that they would do to these people including normal things like hanging. A more extreme method of torture involved tying horses to a person’s legs and arms and getting the horses to run. Yikes. It’s unbelievable to think that people could’ve actually committed such indecencies against their fellow man.

*liz, me and dawna with the judges for the inquisition
Since it was getting late in the afternoon, we headed back over to Surco to meet up with our friends for small group. This week we ended up bringing Deivis, Aulo, Junior, Eswin and Ashleigh. Once there, Dawna volunteered her services as worship leader and played the guitar for us. We had such a wonderful time worshipping through song together. I think we must’ve sang for at least an hour! “One more song,” we kept saying. :) I know Bill really enjoyed having Dawna there.

We studied sin and the way God views it. It’s amazing to me that in spite of all that I’ve done wrong in my life, Jesus still died for me; God still loves me. I am forgiven. There are times where Satan takes control of my emotions and tricks me into thinking that there’s no way God could forgive someone like me. The awesome thing about God’s love is that it doesn’t seem my sin anymore. When God looks at my heart, all He sees is the blood of Christ covering up my mistakes, my sins. It’s often something that I find myself in awe of. God loves me. He died for me. And He died for you.

Katrina

“. . . that if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”-Romans 10:9

“. . .que si confiesas con tu boca que Jesús es el Señor, y crees en tu corazón que Dios lo levantó de entre los muertos, serás salvo.”-Romanos 10:9