Firsts

I am safely in the village now and currently in a nearby village getting some groceries and using the internet. I have experienced a few firsts this time around and wanted to share:

- Desert/coast weather (so much different than mountains)
- Olives as the primary crop
- Wearing sandals without freezing or putting socks on with sandals
- Sweating day and night
- A huge back porch at the place where we are staying (such a blessing to read, journal, and have prayer time with my team)
- Internet nearby
- Warm shower

So much different from some of the places I have been before. I am counting it all as a blessings. What is huge and different in some ways about this place is how open and friendly the people have been with us. I am so looking forward to time with folks we have met including a number of believers. Pray for us as we continue to meet people and allow the Lord to use us. Pray that we can really dive into the work as we only have a few weeks.

Mad Love

OH YEAH... and GO CATS!!! I am cheering them on from here even though I hardly know what`s going on.

Bella Union

Well I wanted to let you guys know that I am heading to the town of Bella Union tomorrow. I have made part of my journey and will finish traveling tomorrow. I am excited to work again with Michelle and we are with a guy named Martin from Peru. We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us there. A team from the states will be coming down to be with us in a couple of weeks. I have not worked with a states team in their village so I am looking forward to that time as well and talking with them about the work. Pray for us this month that we will be bold and sense the Lord's leading as we get to know the people and share.

MAD LOVE

Reflections on Chupa

Well I am back in Lima now for a short break after spending a month in the village of Chupa in the department of Puno. I have been able to spend some time reflecting on my time there and wanted to share with you guys some of the things that went on while I was there. The Lord has been teaching me lots lately so I wanted to share some of that too.

As you might know I spent my time in Chupa with another girl from the states named Michelle and a peruvian guy names Lidman. Things got off to a pretty slow start. It was hard for me because I think the people were least responsive or interested in talking with us and meeting us than any other place I had ever been. I am use to at least curiosity on the part of the people even if they may not want to talk to us about their beliefs. But curiosity about us didn't really seem to be there either. We continually prayed for God's direction and guidance in showing us where he could use us. We knew of a couple groups of believers that were meeting as the church in a couple of surrounding villages so we went in the first week to see if we could find some these folks and maybe spend some time sharing a encouraging them. We found a group of about 10 in a village called Chocos and in the village of Kututuni we found a pastor and he told us there was 20 meeting in their group. This was such a blessing to us and gave us a sense of purpose. We spent weekends visiting these groups. We told them bible stories and discussed the things we were learning from the stories. We challenged the believers to be obedient to those stories and to try and put them to memory so that they could share with family, friends, and neighbors. The response to the stories and our time with them was most positive. We thank the Lord for their hearts and desires to learn the Word. We will continue to be in prayer for these church groups. In the village of Chupa we were able to spend some time with individual believers and sharing with kids. We were also thankful for that time but we are praying that the Lord will really begin to move there and that the few believers will understand the need to meet with other believers and share the good news with those around them. My friend Lidman will continue to work their and prepare for a medical team that is coming to the states at the end of this month. We are praying for him. That he will find strength in the Lord and always follow after the Lord's guidance for the work.

The Lord was teaching me a lot this month about wisdom. I have been reading in Proverbs and also in 1 Samuel. I am seeing a lot of repetition about seeking wisdom and understanding. And not just the kind that gives you earthly knowledge or knowledge of things. But the knowledge that comes from God. The kind that allows us to truly seek after His own heart. The kind that allows us to show love and sincerity to those around us. I am still working through a lot of it and the repetition of it is really good for me in the scripture cause it is a constant reminder. I was also reading in 1 Samuel about how were are to seek first to the obedient to our God and his Word. To do what he is leading us to do to heed the things that He is teaching us. Obedience comes before all else including sacrifice and Saul had to learn that the hard way. I think that is such a huge lesson. Truly seeking obedience. The same day that I read about this my team and I were reading in Romans and there was a similar message in the passage. It is so cool how God affirms and reiterates in the New Testament ideas that he was using during the Old Testament. And in Romans this whole idea of being obedient to the Lord is taking us through this process that is sanctification. I am so thankful that the Lord is revealing, teaching, and walking with me in the this sanctification process.

Right now as I am here in Lima I am preparing to head out again soon. More than likely I will be on my way to the mountains again sometime this weekend. Pray for my teammate Michelle and I as we discern where the Lord is leading us to go and more than likely a new team member. I will update you all again once I know the location where we are headed and the name of my other team member.

MAD LOVE

Rapìdo

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to give you a quick update. We are headed to Chupa this afternoon for our last week or so there. I ask that you would pray for us because tomorrow (Sunday) we will be meeting with some believers in a village outside of the one where we live to encourage and train them. Pray also that we would be able to encourage and share with those in Chupa. It has been a sort of slow with ministry but we are praising God for this opportunity and planting seeds. I will be in touch again soon.

Mad Love

Back to the Mountains at Last

It's been quite a while since I updated everyone. I have spent the last few months in Lima and also took a short trip to the states to spend some time with my family in Florida. It has been a wonderful time or reflection over the past year and enjoying time with my teammates. It was so life giving to vacation in Florida for the holidays. I got to see a couple of college friends who came down as well. The Lord knew that I needed that time to get filled up on my love tank and get lots of hugs from people that mean so much to me.

During January we spent a couple of weeks training a new group of semester volunteers that will be serving with us through May. I am not actually serving with any of them but it was great to pour into them about the work in the mountains and where we have seen the Lord working. I am excited to hear about their experiences in the coming months. As for me, I am heading out early in the morning to serve for a few weeks in the department of Puno in a town called Chupa.

I have a few prayer requests for you guys as I head out. One of the things that I have become apprehensive about some during my time here is team dynamic. I know how important it is to have team members with the same heart and common goals so that the Lord can use us in the most effective way. I have been on teams where that hasn't always come naturally or some issues have surfaced. I ask you to pray that the Lord would knit us together in such a way that we compliment each other a uphold one another. We want the people not to just hear about Christ with our words but to see it in the ways that we love one another.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

-John 13:34-35

I will be back in Lima for a brief time in early March and will look forward to updating you guys about this trip and what will be coming up for me. Mad love you all!

It has been another blessed month. Some opportunities that the Lord has placed in my life in the last month have been working at an orphanage outside of Lima, helping teach english for a group of young people, and having down time here in Lima with my team members (seen above). I has been praying for the Lord to open up some way to get connected here in the city while here for the holidays. And he was faithful. Another blessing is coming up for me as I will be traveling to see my family in Florida in only a couple of days.

So this is me wishing each of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I know that I won't be seeing many of you during the holiday season but I am thinking of you and praying for you. This has been such an awesome year for me. Full of many new experiences and learning how to do life in Peru. The Lord has taught me so much and for that I am thankful. I am also thankful for each of you and your prayer and support. I am praying during this season that I can share the love to those around me that was shown to me when Christ was sent to earth. I have been reading in 1 John and would like to share just a short bit with you.

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." 1 John 4:9 (NSV)

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11 (ESV)

Still here

Well it's been almost a month. I wanted you all to know that I am still here. Following my trip to Spain I spent a couple of weeks out of town. Now that I am back in Lima I am eager to catch you guys up a little on what has been going on with me and more importantly what the Lord has been doing. More than likely I will be here in Lima for a month or two as there are some things our team will be doing to prepare semester missionaries in January and we are going to enjoy the holidays all together in Lima. I am so very thankful for this upcoming time to be with team and to have some down time.

I never really got to fill you in much on my vacation to Spain. I'll take this time to tell you that it was one of the coolest vacations I have ever done. My friend Brittne and I visited the capital city of Madrid and then headed to the coast to see Barcelona. We kept ourselves super busy because we wanted to see as much as we could in the week that we had. I was wonderful to experience a country that I studied at length in college. I saw Spanish history come to life as I looked at paintings of famous artists in museums, walked through palaces of past kings, looked at building of famous architects, and stood on ground where it all went down. A couple of other highlights were going into La Sagrada Familia (a church designed by the architect Gaudi) and riding mopeds throughout Barcelona. I was so thankful to get away and to see some of the world and the wonderful creation of God. I hope I can go back someday and maybe even visit some other parts of Europe.

Following this trip I came to Lima for only a day or so and headed to a pastors training in an area about 9 hours from Lima called Ayacucho City. It was great for me to see meet and share time with some other believers who are excited to learn more and spread the gospel into their respective communities. We talked about storying the Bible and ways to plant simple churches. What an encouragement and blessing to see nationals living out their faith.

Following this trip I went to another part of Peru with my friend Brittne and three members of a church from the states. This church from Alabama is interested in adopting an area and they came down to check out a specific village and begin to for a vision for how they can bring the gospel their and how to prepare the people of their church for a culture and setting completely different from their own. It was neat to see a fresh perspective and passion for the people of Peru. I was reminded and affirmed by them in my love for these people and in the call that the Lord has placed on my life for this time.

Now I am back here in Lima. We have finally settled into a new apartment after all the chaos with the fire that happened in our apartment. I have a wonderful family down here in my team, they have helped us in all the moving around and all the drama that has surrounded this incident. It's also been so great to have the ability to regularly communicate with my family in KY, they have also loved and supported me through this busy and chaotic few weeks.

In all of this the Lord has urged me to claim this verse:

"Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:4-7