To-Do Lists and Social Engagements

Well I feel like I need to apologize once again for not having updated anything in the past two weeks. August (like so many other months) has been busy with a lot of abnormal activity. After our week hosting interns, we packed up to head back to Lima for a while. I had a college friend coming to visit, and the timing matched up with an intensive course at the ADIEL Institute as well as our inevitable move from our hazardous apartment in San Felipe. Our lease ended this month, and instead of offering us another lease to sign, our troublesome landlords decided they wanted to move back into the apartment. So we have been spending the past month trying to figure out where we could move to, and when we could actually make the move. Ely, our 5th roommate that is only in Lima 10 days out of the month (she works in Cuzco) decided to buy an apartment. But the problem was that it is in a newly constructed building that won’t be finished until late October. So having to move out in August and not being able to move in until October was presenting an obvious problem for us, especially since we can’t keep going back and forth between Tarma and Lima for moving purposes. Finally a solution presented itself a during our week with the interns: a missionary family that has a house close to our apartment in Lima went back to the States to raise support, so we were able to move all of our stuff into their garage as a sort of storage unit until Ely’s apartment is finished and we are able to move in. Moving in Peru is a complicated process as there are no U-Hauls, or moving services. It is also difficult because you have to keep an eye on the driver of whatever privately owned truck you’ve been able to rent to make sure he doesn’t take off with some of your stuff! Needless to say we were all very thankful to get everything safely moved from the apartment into the garage and be done with it . . . at least for now.
During the process of finding places to live and making plans, I realized that I really no longer needed an apartment in Lima since I won’t have a reason to go back until I’m passing through on my way home. So I was then able to pack up the two plastic boxes of items I had in the Lima apartment and store them at one of our ReachGlobal missionary’s house for the next few months in place of paying rent for an apartment I will not use. So in a sense, packing up the Lima apartment was nicely timed.
Anyway, all that to say that we were crazy busy in the days we were in Lima. Meredith and I got back to Tarma this past Monday, and since being back I’ve been full up with to-do lists and spontaneous social engagements. It always takes me a few days to re-wrap my head around all I have to do after a trip, so I was thrown back into my responsibilities here in Tarma with little time to readjust. Teaching classes, having team meetings and trying to organize a new Bible study that we hope to start next week has been all I’ve been able to handle. Fortunately things are getting done in between all of the random birthday parties that we’ve been invited to at the last min. Peru is a very “in-the-now” country, and most social outings/parties/invites tend to be organized the-minute-of, which is hard for a personality like mine who likes a schedule and advanced notice when I’m going to have to go to a birthday party that starts at 10:30pm and ends at 2:00 :)
But I am back and should be in my rhythm again come Monday – hopefully with more regular blog posts again. I’ll just end this one saying that I am very thankful to be back in Tarma with no plans to travel to Lima for a while. I’m looking forward to being able to put my all into the work here and see how God continues to move this ministry along.

End of Internship

Well yesterday marked the end of our second official university internship and we sent the kids back to Lima with feelings of satisfaction and success. We did a lot in this week and I think that the students were given a basic and clear idea of what the missionary life looks like. Like I mentioned before, we had some workshops prepared to present to them, a few devotionals and discussions. Beyond that the kids helped us prepare a youth event, an all-day field trip to the country, and this weeks’ “Hora Feliz”. They also helped prepare a Sunday worship service that we had in our living room yesterday morning. It was neat to hear the kids (I say kids when really they are ages 18-29) share about what they liked about the week and what they learned. And all of them said that they wished that they could stay another week. We’re hoping to have a two-week to one-month internship put together for the future to be able to focus more on the daily life and the ups and downs of culture and team work. But for now, we are satisfied with the 6 students who came and lived and learned in Tarma. Here are a few pictures from the week.

Happy Anniversary Tarma Team!!!

Well today officially marks the one-year anniversary of our ministry team in Tarma! One year ago today we began the journey of planting a church in this quaint little town, and sharing the gospel with all who came across our path. It is strange to think that one year of full-on ministry has passed and to look at where we are now and all we have yet to accomplish. At the end of a year I just have to sit back and thank God for his faithfulness. He has been our strength and our vision, he has given out amazing grace and mercy, and I know that we have only gotten to this point because He is a good God. We are blessed to celebrate this one year of ministry with the university interns who might one day be part of this ministry as well – what a cool though!

University Missionary Internship

First of all I want to thank all of you that have been praying for me and my health over these past few weeks. I am happy to report that with the exception of just a tint of yellow at the corners of my eyes, I am back to normal and healthy once again. I’m still not eating out, and have stuck to a pretty limited diet, which I will probably continue for another week or so just to be safe. But really it means so much to me to know that I have this kind of prayer support behind me. I was nervous about this disease lingering on and on like it often does, and keeping me out of the game for an extended period of time. Fortunately God saw fit to heal me just in time for the team to host its second University Missionary Internship! Last January, we hosted two university students (Diego and Sayuri) for a week of training, workshops and practical experience for the missionary life. We covered topics like cross-cultural servanthood, the importance of being grounded in spiritual and biblical truths; we practiced sharing testimonies and the gospel, and brought them along to Bible studies and events giving them their own set of responsibilities during the week. This time around we were blessed with six students from Lima and we are having a blast. These are students who have leadership roles in their churches and have an interest in serving the Lord on a more formal level once they graduate. We have taught many of the same workshops and devotions, but have a few new events that the students will participate in. We will be hosting a youth night tomorrow night, and all day Saturday we have a field-trip/family day planned for all the people that have participated in our Bible studies. It’s a full week, but I am thankful for the activity and the energy to take part once again in the ministry.