Colegios, Combis, and Conversations

Tuesday was slightly uneventful, at least during the day, but later on we went to see the principal of the secondary school. We had asked a week or so ago if we could teach English classes to his students, so we went back Tuesday to find out his answer. Unfortunately, he said that since we are not certified teachers and the ministry of education is coming to review his school soon, we cannot teach in his school. However, we told him that he can tell his students about our adult English class since they are old enough to be able to pay attention and behave themselves in a large group. It was a blessing for us still because we don’t want to over-commit ourselves by having several different English classes to coordinate. So, we are thankful that God shut that door. Tuesday evening we talked some more with Wilder, the banker, who came up to us and just started asking us questions about the differences between what we believe and what Catholics believe. It was awesome because we have felt for a while that Wilder is a wide open door from God, but it’s difficult at the same time because the priest of the Catholic church is his cousin that he grew up with. Anyways, we hope to do some one-on-one discipleship with Wilder and just keep talking with him. After that, we went to this meeting that the mayor had invited us to. It was a meeting for a women’s organization called Crecer Juntos (Grow Together), which provides support and funding for the poorest people in the region. Our purpose in going was to ask the women what the best time for the community would be for English classes and Bible studies. We weren’t allowed to mention the Bible studies because the president of the organization was Catholic and didn’t want us to say anything about them, but we still introduced ourselves as missionaries and that our primary purpose here is to share the Bible and God’s love with the community. While we were waiting to go introduce ourselves, there was this absolutely adorable little boy (I think he might have been 1 year old or less) who I played peek-a-boo with (thanks, Mom). His mom was walking around with him, and whenever he saw me, he would point at me and tug his mom to bring him to me. It was wonderful! Anyways, we decided that Saturday is the best time for English classes, so our first one is tomorrow, and I’m really excited about it. I have a feeling that the room is going to be completely full, which will be awesome because we’re still going to pray before we start and announce the Bible studies for Wednesdays.

Wow, that was a lot for Tuesday when not much happened….so now for Wednesday, when not much happened again. We were supposed to have another meeting with the primary school principal and teachers about having an English class there, so we got up to the school at 2:20 because are meeting was at 2:30. When we got there, though, the school was completely locked up, so we thought we would wait just in case they were eating lunch. We waited until about 3:50 and realized that no one was going to show up because even though Peru time is later than US time, the principal and teachers are usually very punctual. We decided instead to just explore another side of Cabana that we hadn’t seen much of, and it was actually really awesome. We followed a little stream along the road, and came upon a family washing their laundry in it. We stopped to talk to them, and I actually spoke most of the time instead of Kelly, our translator, so that was pretty cool to practice my Spanish and talk to some new people. We told them about our English classes and our Bible studies, and they seemed interested, but it’s hard to tell what’s interest and what’s just politeness. That’s pretty much all we did Wednesday, but it was fun and adventurous :).

Oh yeah, I haven’t mentioned anything about the food we’ve been eating, I don’t think. Let me just say, it has been marvelous, and we really love Deciderio the owner of the restaurant we’ve been going to. I have a new love that isn’t quite as strong as my love for dark chocolate, but I’m pretty addicted to it nonetheless. It’s called Sublime, and it’s milk chocolate with peanuts in it. I was eating it nearly every day, but today marks my 3rd day clean (hahaha—Spanish jajaja). Also, they have this soft drink (gaseosa) called Inca Cola that is might tasty, but I’m also getting used to the taste of regular Coca Cola since they don’t have Dr. Pepper, Root Beer, or Pepsi here (sorry, David). Catie and Molly, do they have Sublime and Inca Cola in Chile? The more adventurous and interesting things I’ve tried include fried liver and onions (not as bad as expected) and tuna, which you Texans might recognize as prickly pear. Yep, I ate the fruit (tuna) from a prickly pear (tuna), and it was pretty good but with way too many seeds. (Mom, tell G and G that I ate some prickly pear!) David actually ate a whole one, which took him an hour because he was spitting out seeds for so long. We found out later you’re supposed to eat the seeds because tuna is good for your stomach if it’s upset. But, we now know we can survive in the wilderness here if we get lost (not that we will, Mom) because there is tuna everywhere! At times, minus the huge mountains, the landscape reminds me of the Texas Hill Country/Central Texas.

Anyways, yesterday (Thursday) we went back to Andamarca because when we were there briefly last week, Andrew and his school invited us back this week to celebrate the school’s anniversary with them. We had our first experience with the Combi, which is basically a 12 passenger van type thing that they cram 30 people into. I lucked out and got the front middle seat (with a seatbelt, Mom) so I had plenty of room. Also, on the 30 minute or so drive, I had a great conversation with Edwin, who was sitting next to me in the passenger seat. We talked about God and I encouraged him to keep seeking Him; we talked about politics; we talked about economics; and we talked some more about God. It was pretty cool. When we arrived in Andamarca, we weren’t quite sure what to do because we got there at 11:30 and the festivities at the school wouldn’t start until 2. We decided to prayer walk through the streets and talk to whomever we met, and we ended up meeting a man named Atilio. He invited us into where he works, which is like a hostel, and we talked to him and shared the Gospel with him. He told us we should come to Bible studies in Andamarca, too, which would be awesome, but we have to figure out if that will work. Then we just prayed with him and gave him the New Testament in Spanish. It was pretty cool. We ate lunch after that, and then went to the school to hang out until people got there. It was awesome to see the look on Andrew’s face when he saw us because you could see that he was so happy/excited that we had come back. We had some awesome conversations with him about God and how he wants to learn how to share God’s Word with others (one of the church team members gave him a bilingual Bible last week). We just kept encouraging him to share the Gospel, and we shared our own testimonies with him and told him that sharing your testimony is a great way to witness to people. We watched some volleyball games between Andamarca’s school and two other schools from a few hours away, and they were pretty good. It was weird, though, to see some of the teachers and the principals in the corner drinking beer and getting super drunk while their students played sports. They came around again to us and offered us chicha (beer), which we again refused, but then we saw some of the students actually drinking some. It was just a major difference we saw between our two cultures, and we just have to deal with it and try to understand. We left a little early, and Andrew walked us back to the Combi station and waited with us until it came. I got to play volleyball with 3 little girls who were bumping a ball back and forth in the street, and it was so fun! And it kept me warm because it gets cold really soon after the sun goes down here. Anyways, the drive back in the dark was so cool because there were so many stars it was ridiculous! When we got back, we just ate snacks and had team time, and then Kelly and I went to bed at like 9:30 because we were exhausted. By the way, an elephant lives above us, so I’ve definitely been making use of my ear plugs.

Speaking of weather, it is getting colder and colder here, and I must confess I wish I were in Texas swimming and playing outside. I love it here, but I do miss home and family and friends, and I wish I could have summer with y’all, too. And I really wish I could go to the Rangers/Astros game with all my family! Not fair. I miss y’all very much, and I love all y’all very much. I love all your comments, and I want y’all to try to compete with my mom for the most comments!!!!

Prayer requests:

- Pray for Edwin, that God would give him a longing to seek God and accept His Love
- Pray for continued team unity and patience with each other
- Pray that I won’t be too homesick and that I will be able to focus on God
- Pray that we would all be flexible with what God has planned for us
- Pray that our English class tomorrow would go smoothly and be a great way to meet people and tell them about Bible studies
- Pray that we would continue to talk to Wilder, and that God would move in his heart
- Keep praying for all the people we’ve already mentioned and all the missionaries
- Pray that we would trust God as we prepare for our Bible studies and everything


P.S.
To Kevin, Gig’em Aggies! Whoop! Also, be prepared for a ton of emails from my mom.
To Mom, thanks for the update, and please tell everyone I love them and tell Michael and Jill congrats for me. I love you so much and I miss you and Dad a lot!
To David, thank you for being one of the biggest encouragements in my life! Thank you so much for those verses. I love you and miss you more than you know.
To Molly and Catie, thank y’all for being awesome and such incredible friends. I’m praying for y’all, too, and it would be so awesome if we could meet up while we’re all in SA.