First Week Continued

¡Buenas tardes!

So Wednesday we all traveled to some of the surrounding villages just to get a picture of what they look like and how big they are. Let me just say that the drive there was absolutely beautiful. We didn’t really do much in those villages, but when we came back to Cabana, we just decided to walk around and meet people, which was awesome because we actually had conversations instead of just greeting them and saying Buenos whatever.

Thursday was rather frustrating because most of the plans we had did not turn out to work. It seemed that most of the day was spent wandering around and trying to find people that just didn’t seem findable. But, God definitely taught us patience through this, and he unified us at least in our frustration. I forgot to say, Thursday morning I led the devotional for the group and just read Psalm 37:3-7, which is the verse at the top of my blog and has been a source of constant comfort to me throughout this whole process. We actually decided to make Psalm 37:3-9 our team theme verse because it’s so fitting for what we’re doing.

Friday we got up at 6 am to go announce ourselves on the radio because a woman had invited us to do so a couple of days before. Unfortunately, we were under the impression that we were going to be using the town PA system, but it actually turned out to be a Christian radio station. Still, we introduced ourselves and stated why we are here. However, the radio commentator and another woman went outside to talk with us right after our announcement. It turns out that the radio commentator is the pastor of a Pentecostal church in Cabana, and we weren’t quite sure who the woman was. Anyways, they basically drilled us on why we were here and they seemed very suspicious and unreceptive. They kept on asking us to just join up with them, but we got the sense that they only offered that in order to control us. It was a very long, uncomfortable situation, but finally it ended and we went back to the hostel to talk to Kevin (the church team Missions Pastor). He helped us calm down and realize that this won’t negatively affect our ministry here. Unfortunately, he and the others from the church team left on Friday, and we were alone for the first time. The realization of our responsibility was quite overwhelming at first, but then we got together as a team, prayed, and planned out our next few steps. Right away, though, God sent me a challenge. I was sitting out in the courtyard just journaling and reading, and a man who is also staying in the hostel just started talking to me. As soon as I told him that we were missionaries, he began asking me questions. I knew he was trying to make me stumble, and I sensed some sort of resentment he had towards God. I tried to answer his questions as best as I could, but I’ve never felt so limited in my Spanish ability. However, I think somehow I defended Christianity enough that he decided to change the subject to learning English and stuff like that. I really feel that God has opened that door and that we will have more opportunities to witness to him even if it’s just through the way we live. His name is Walter, and he will be staying at the hostel for the next month. Anyways, later that afternoon we went to find a woman Shane had met earlier, but we didn’t find her. We did, however, chase a herd of llamas through the streets in order to take pictures of them. Needless to say, I’ve never felt more like a gringa tourist in my life, but I have to admit it was kind of fun.

Saturday I had my first experience in hand-washing my clothes, which wasn’t bad except for the fact that the water was so cold. Later, we talked to the banker, Wilder, and a woman we had met, Maria, about what days and times would work for them for Bible studies. They still seemed open and interested in the Bible studies, so that was encouraging. Then we were just walking around on the outskirts of town and we came upon Nelida, another woman we had met before, standing in a fenced off field with some men and cows. She motioned for us to come over, so we did, and we discovered that they were celebrating the Day of the Animals that day. During this celebration, farmers put new tags in their cow’s ears and brand them, because supposedly this day is the birthday of all cows. It was neat to see some of their culture, but it was sad at the same time for the cows because it looked really painful (sorry, Mom). I mean, they weren’t using an ear-piercing gun; no, they were using a big nail looking thing with ribbons attached to it. But the saddest part was seeing the animism entrenched in these people’s beliefs. {Animism is the belief in spirits that inhabit the land and affect the lives of humans.} For example, for this particular celebration the people believed that the more coca leaves they ate, the more food the cows would have that year and the more wine they drank, the more water the cows would have. After we had had enough of watching them herd the cows and tag them, we went to look for some string to hang in our room for our laundry. We went into this one tienda and started talking with the owner, who turned out to be the pastor of the Assemblies of God church we had been looking for on Thursday. His response to us was totally different than the response of the Pentecostal radio people we had talked to on Friday. He was excited we were here and happy to meet more brothers and sisters in Christ, and he actually invited us to preach in his church sometime. It was so encouraging talking to him, and we could definitely see God’s hand in that because we could have gone to any other tienda.

Sunday was a day of celebration. It was the Peruvian Flag Day, and so we went up to the plaza and watched the parades and dances put on by the schools. It was really interesting, but was way too long because it lasted 4 hours. Also, we were offered alcohol several times, which we were warned in training that this would happen, and a couple of times we thought we might have offended some people by refusing. That’s been a huge cultural difference that hopefully people will be able to understand and accept. All in all, though, the festival was a great way to interact with the people, especially the kids, and we actually felt like a part of the community. Afterwards, we were invited to play soccer with Wilder and some other guys. It was really fun, but it was definitely the most we had exerted ourselves since we’ve been here, and it was difficult to breathe in the high altitude. Then, we went and played volleyball, which is really popular here, and that was also very fun. While we were just hanging out in the plaza, some kids taught me how to throw a trompo (a spinning top). They wind it up with a string, throw it, and pull back really quick to make it spin on the ground. Then, while it’s still on the ground spinning, they reach down and make it spin in their hand. It’s really neat to watch, and I kind of got the hang of it.

Okay, I’m finally up to today. Please tell me if I’m too detailed about all this stuff and if it’s boring because I can try to be more brief about things. Today we met with the actually mayor, who has been out of town for a week or so, and he was very receptive to us and offered us all the help he could give. We now have permission to use the auditorium for our English classes and Bible studies, which is awesome! Now we can actually start planning for them. After we met with him, he said he would take us to the schools to talk to the principal if we would wait a few minutes while he met with some people. While we were waiting out in the plaza, these two women, Carmen and Rosa, came up to us and introduced themselves. When we told them we were evangelical missionaries, Carmen started asking us questions about what we believe because she is Catholic. We had an absolutely awesome conversation with the two of them, and actually got to share the Gospel with them. We explained to them how we cannot work for salvation and that accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins is the only Way to be saved, which is very different from what the Catholic Church teaches. We read them specific verses from the Bible to show that we weren’t just making this up, and they seemed eager to know more and interested in our Bible studies. It was so amazing to see how God worked even while we were waiting for something else. After that, the mayor led us to the primary school to talk to the principal and a few classes about offering English classes, and then we went to the secondary school to see if the principal had made a decision about letting us teach. Let me just say this about the mayor, he is a go-getter, that’s for sure. He was so enthusiastic about what we are here to do, and he led us all over doing stuff. We were so exhausted that we have spent the rest of the day catching up on laundry, sleep, and, of course, internet. Well, y’all are finally caught up!

Here are some prayer requests:

- Pray that God would soften Walter’s heart and open his mind to see God’s love
- Pray that we would have complete unity within our team and that we would maintain our focus on God
- Pray for safety for us
- Pray that God will continue opening doors in this community and in people’s hearts
- Pray for God to continue pursuing Carmen and Rosa so that they might realize and accept his love and truth
- Pray for guidance for us as we decide our next steps
- Pray for all the summer missionaries, both here in Peru and elsewhere


Thank y’all so incredibly much for commenting on my blog! I can’t tell y’all how much joy it gives me to read your comments!!! Also, I want to encourage y’all to be missionaries wherever y’all are because every Christian is a missionary. Be bold, be humble, be loving. I love y’all so much, and I’m so thankful for all your prayers!!!