Ups and Downs

¡Buenos días!

Last Friday, I updated my blog of course, but afterward we walked around and told people about Saturday’s English class and Wednesday’s Bible study. We got a lot of positive responses, but many people weren’t in town on Friday for some reason. Anyways, nothing too exciting happened until Friday evening. We were waiting for Wilder to get off work so that we could see if he wanted to meet up sometime soon to talk some more, and he invited us to his house right then and there. Once we got there, he had to go pick up his little son from the woman who was keeping him, so he gave us a ‘task’ to do while he was gone. He wanted us to feed his pet, Rino, and I bet you can’t guess what kind of animal he was……….the cutest little baby deer!!!! He didn’t look like the deer you find in Texas; he was mostly gray all over and sooo soft!! I actually got to bottle feed him (I know you’re jealous, Mom). Anyways, after Wilder came back, he just immediately started asking us questions about what we believe, and then he went and got his Bible (which was enormous and old) and we read some passages out of it. He had some awesome questions, and he really opened up and shared his own personal past and stories with us. We talked with him for about 2 hours, and then we prayed and asked him to read a couple of passages on his own so that we could talk to him later about them. It was such an awesome thing to see how God is working in his heart!! While we were doing team time later that night, we had the biggest giggle fit ever. We just could not stop laughing, and it was a fun bonding time and a great way to end the day.

Saturday we slept in, which was nice even though I didn’t sleep past 9:15. We spent most of the day preparing for English class, Bible study, and we made a big calendar to write everything down on. Later that afternoon, we decided to go check out the auditorium, where we were going to have the class, and found it was locked, along with the municipal building where the people who have the keys are. We were kind of concerned because we had class in only a couple of hours, so we started asking around and walking around to see if we could find anyone. We were told that the mayor was out of town but would return in an hour or so, and some men told us to look for a man named Richard who had the keys to the auditorium. So we set off in the direction they told us, and we didn’t find Richard, but we did run into Carmen and her husband. She asked us if sometime soon we could come to her house and pray for her son and her family, so we set up a time for Sunday morning at 7. Anyways, thankfully someone opened the auditorium for us, and we got there at 6:30 to start setting up because class was supposed to start at 7. The first person showed up at 7:15, and by 7:45 we had 2 adults and a few kids. We decided to go ahead and start, but people kept showing up until about 8:30, so this was our first real taste of Peruvian time. It actually wasn’t frustrating, but we did expect more people than just 15. The original plan was for me to speak in English and for Kelly to translate, at least for the first class until I was comfortable, but Kelly was busy helping some of the kids write down the stuff I wrote on the board, so I just did it all in Spanish. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad. I made mistakes, of course, but I didn’t really feel nervous while I was teaching. Before we started, though, I was really nervous, but I feel that God just gave me peace while I was teaching. I had a great time teaching, explaining, and staying afterward to help those who came in late. I kind of feel that teaching might be where God is leading me, and I’m pretty excited about it. We did, however, decide to start telling people 6:30 instead of 7 : ).

We got up early Sunday morning to wait for Carmen to come by to take us to her house. She said 7 am on the dot, but she didn’t actually come until 7:45, after Shane had decided to go back to bed. But we didn’t mind one bit, so we followed her to her house and met her family and prayed with them. To thank us, they gave us some cheese, and we told them that we would keep praying for them and that we would pray with them any time they wanted. And yes, Mom, I ate the cheese, which was pretty good. It was really salty, though, so I had to eat some bread with it. And no, I didn’t get sick at all. I still really miss cheddar and feta cheese. Anyways, we went back to the hostel and some went back to sleep, but I just read and journaled and stuff. In the afternoon, we headed to the plaza because we planned on playing volleyball with some people. However, we found several organizations creating these designs on the square, and when we asked them about it they said that it was to celebrate the Catholic holiday of Corpus Christi. No one really seemed to be able to tell us what it actually meant, but we understood that they believed that they saint Corpus Christi would come that day to each design and bless the organization that created it. We were still really confused, so we went inside the Catholic Church and talked to a man in there who wasn’t the priest but who was some official in the church. He told us that it was a celebration of the Body of Christ (hence Corpus Christi), and that later that day the priest would take the consecrated bread to each corner of the plaza and pray. Needless to say, it was quite a different explanation from what we got from the people. To describe what I felt, I will use a combination of emotions. Confused because we didn’t really understand this; sad because these people were trapped in these traditions that they didn’t understand and that wouldn’t save them; frustrated because we couldn’t do anything about it; and discouraged because we realized how strongly these people are bonded. However, then I had to step back and examine our traditions and holidays in the US, and I realized that many people there do not understand why they do the things. Even I don’t understand what a tree and Santa Claus have to do with Jesus’ birth, or what a bunny and candy have to do with Jesus’ death. Therefore, I cannot judge, and I cannot be discouraged because that will only make things worse. I have to trust that God will be the one who opens their hearts to what will truly free them. Anyways, that evening we went to the Assemblies of God church because the pastor had invited us last week, and it was pretty good. We couldn’t stay for the whole thing because we had other plans, but I’m glad we went. It was difficult because it was in Spanish/Quechua, and it was very different from what I’m used to, not because of culture but because of denomination. The pastor was very nice, though, and we’re meeting with him later today to discuss what we believe.

To answer Catie and Molly’s questions, everyone here is indigenous and we hear Quechua every day. I’ve actually learned a couple of phrases, and I hope to learn a lot more because pretty much everyone here speaks it, but most speak Spanish, too. As for indigenous activism, there’s not a whole lot except for a promotion of literacy and aid for the poor. I’m actually nowhere near the Amazon or the rainforest (that’s more northern Peru and I’m in the South), so all the action and controversy going on there is pretty much nonexistent here. July 12, I will be here in Cabana, and there will actually be 7 or so other people here from the Creative Ministry team to do some cool stuff. Y’all should totally come. I will arrive in Texas on August 7^th. What about y’all?

Prayer requests:

- Pray that God will continue to work in Wilder’s heart, along with all the people of this village, and that He will open more “doors, windows, cabinets, or dressers”

- Pray that God will prepare Shane to lead Wednesday’s Bible study and that people will show up and truly want to learn

- Pray that we would not get discouraged by the difficulties we encounter here

- Always pray for team unity; see Romans 15:5-6

- Pray that I will be able to focus on why I am here and that this is about God and not about me (I’ve been really missing everyone, and it’s kind of distracting)

I know I say this all the time, but thank y’all so much for your prayers and your comments!!!! I’m praying for y’all, too. I love y’all!