not the end!

Hey everyone...or anyone still following. I wanted to give you all an update/summary of everything that went on in Llauta, Peru. My team and I (Tatiana, Phil, and I) went to Llauta May 31 this summer. The main things we did while we were there was anything and everything. We lived with the people (there were about 300 in our village), got to know them, built relationships with them, and just learned to live like them. We stayed in the same village for two months. We set up Bible studies and English classes within the village. The main reason for being there for so long was to build relationships with the people so that we could not only share the Gospel in our Bible studies by word of mouth, but also to interact with them and to show them by example what it means to live a life following Christ. The first month, we really got to know a lot of the people. We would help them cook, clean, harvest barley and beans, milk cows, hike the mountains, or whatever else they were doing on a day-to-day basis. We started up Bible studies, three times a week at the same time, but no one ever remembered. We would go out and remind them and they would say they were coming, but no one came. Although that was a little discouraging, we did not lose our faith. God is all-powerful and His Holy Spirit moves even though we don't know how. At Nazca for mid summer, we made some adjustments and had a little break. When we got back to our village, we took on a new perspective. We decided since the people weren't coming to the Bible studies, we would take the Bible studies to them. We began visiting people in their homes. A few of them would say they were busy and to come back later, but most of them invited us in. To our surprise, they were so open! They would tell us what was on their hearts, they would ask us deep questions and they would tell us personal stories. But our favorite was that they were open to the Gospel and to the Bible. They were so interested! Many of these people would invite us back! But not only that, but other people in the village were seeing that we were visiting people in their homes and invited us to come to their house as well! How awesome is our God! One day while we were there, it rained. It wasn't supposed to rain while we were there, it's not their rainy season. Well, it rained. We thought it was really strange. That night we had a Bible study, but because it was so cold, no one was out. So we decided to go find everyone. We went to the little store and found about 6 or 7 people and we decided to have the study there. One of the girls who had been regularly attending the studies was there. Phil told the story about the wedding feast and also quoted from Isaiah where it says that "our best works are like filthy rags." The point was that in order to get to heaven, you have to have pure white clothes, but if our best works are like filthy rags, how are we going to get there? The answer is that Jesus Christ has pure white clothes because He never sinned. And He died so that we could wear His clothes. Afterwards, Tatiana and I were talking with a few of the girls who were so close to understanding, but they just didn't get it. We were a little discouraged until we turned around and saw Phil and Marite praying. Marite was asking Jesus into her heart. We were so excited! Marite was the only person in the village that accepted Christ into her heart while we were there. However, we met a nurse, a professor and an elderly man who were all Christians! (so four Christians total). None of them knew each other was in the same village. So, the last week we were there, we were able to arrange a meeting for all of them and introduced them to each other. Within the last three days, they expressed a desire to meet together and study and interpret the Word together. How awesome! We did not get to see much fruit, but we saw a growing desire from the Christians to study together and from the non-Christians, we saw a growing interest to learn about the gospel and to know what it means for them. So, we didn't see much fruit, but the seed is planted! And although we aren't there anymore, He still is! And we can still pray for them! I want to thank all of you for any support you gave me. Anything and everything you gave was not to me, but to the Lord! Thank you for your prayers, I felt their power everyday. But mostly, thank you for joining together to advance His kingdom and to glorify His Holy Name! Praise God!

First Half!

Oh my goodness! Can you believe I´ve been here in Peru for over a month!? This is crazy! I feel like yesterday I was on my way here. Ok, so first I want to apologize for not updating more often. We´ve been really busy and the internet here is so slow. Also, there is so much to tell, I don´t know where to begin. Ok, so since I lasttalked to you guys I´ve milked a cow, climbed a mountain and eaten a cactus...well the fruit of a cactus. It tastes like a kiwi (Dad, you would like it!). So the week before debriefing in Nazca, the CMT (creative ministry team) came to out village. They were a huge blessing to us and I know that God appointed a specific time for them to be there. They brought music and dramas and games ( and I got to stunt with them!). We had our highest attendance in our Bible studies and Arturo (the team leader) was able to relate with the Peruvians so much better than we´d been able to thus far. The second night they were there, they did a kids study in the plaza where they sang lots of songs and did a few really good skits. The kids were so involve and excited to see all of this, but probably my favorite part was that the parents came out to watch as well. Arturo talked with them afterwards. I have no idea if they learned anything, but I know God was working that night. A girl named Kelli is on that team and God used here to answer my prayers. I had had a couple prroblems with one of my teammates and I needed some guidance on what to do about it. On a hike up the mountains, Kelli and I talked and we were able to easily open up to each othere, and she was able to comfort me and give me guidance. Praise God for her! The last day they were in the village, they did their ¨shabang¨for the primary and secondary schools. After this, one of the professors invited us in to do a follow up on one of the skits. God gave us a great opportunity to plant seeds ther. The next day, we all headed off for Nazca. On the way there, we climbed a tower and saw two on the Nazca lines! They were pretty cool. Also, on the way back we got to go sandboarding! So much fun! Ok, so we went to Nazca for 3 days for mid-summer debriefing. This was rough, but such a blessing! We realized our teamhad a lack of communication and a few personality conflicts and our leaders, Ginny and Brytne, were able to help us realize these issues and sort them out so that we can better serve our Lord. Please pray that no new issues rise. So after this, my team and I were super excited to go back to our village and better communicate the gospel to tehm. Let me just tell you that God had worked a lot in Llauta while we were in Nazca. We´ve been back for three days and SO much has happened. So the first thing that happened started during the first half. I asked many of you to pray for relationshops with the youth. Well when we climbed the mountain I mentioned, we thought we were going to a sports competition of the children So we got up @ 5 and went and climbed a mountain for 2 and a half hours.(One of the hardest things I´ve done in my life...actually may be the hardest.) When we got to the top, we didn´t see any kids. So we asked the professor and he sid the kids competition was on a mountain on the other side of Llauta, the competition we were at was for the youth! While we were a little frustrated at the fact that we climbed 2 hours to go to a competition that was about 4 hours of climbing away, God was working on our relationships with the youth. We watched the competition and interacted with the youth and you could see the excitement in their faces that we would go all that way just to watch their competition. we were also invited to a quinceñera (a 15 year old bday party)(the big bday party for hispanic girls). We also were able to make friends there. But when the CMT came and performed for their school, they found out more of why we were there and some of them were very interested. The day we got back from Nazca, we had a get together with some of the youth. We played a few games and just got to know them. Buttowards the end we told them why we were there and they asked questions. At that poit we were able to share the gospel with them. One girl named Xiomara was specifically interested and you could see the light in her eyes. Pray foor her continued interest and that God would give us th words to speak to her heart. The next day Tatiana and I went to learn to make a hat. On our way back to lunch, we ran into the sports coacha dn all of a sudden he was interested in us and the Bible and he asked questions! He said he would like to talk again some time. Yesterday Phil was out with a guy named Jon and a girl named Synthia. They went on a hike and after Phil got to talk to Jon. Jon is the first person we´ve found that wont have anything to do with worshipping idols. He likes to read his Bible and hear preachings of the Bible, but he´s not yet a follower of Christ. But he´s so interested. Pray that one of us would get another opportunity to share Gods love to him in some way. Also, while all this was going on with Phil, Tatiana and I were eating lunch and a guy named Hilario, whom we have made friends with, began asking us about our faith and telling us about his life and what he knew about the Bible. He referred to himself as a hearer but he wasn´t yet a beleiver. He asked Tatiana to sit down with him and explain the Bible better to him. She talked to him today and he had so much to say taht she didnt get to say much, but she listened. He told her that he felt God was keeping him alive (he works in a dangerous job) for a reason and that he felt like his time to beleive would be soon. He aslo said that he felt like God put us in his life for a reason and that he felt like we are different than the Americans he´s met before. He said he looked at us and said we are good. And he sees that we don´t see ourselves as better than them. so pray for him. Also one more thing we need you to be in prayer for is a man of peace. This is a man whose been descipled and believes strongly and follows Christ. We need this man because we need someone to continue the work that God has started through us in this village. So far we haven´t met any believers and that has been hard for us, but we know that God is working and taht He will provide for us. He´s opening doors everywhere for us! I praise Him for that! Thank you for all your support and prayers and encouragement! It´s been much needed! I´m praying for you guys too, I hope you are all having a great summer! (also, i´m sorry for all the typos. i´m trying to be patient with this computer haha)

Llauta

Hey everyone! I know it´s been a while since my last post, and I´m so sorry! There´s so much to tell you guys! Well, on the way to Laramate, we stopped to stay the night at a pastor´s house because the trip was so long. There we found out that there was a smaller village near Laramate that desired to hear the Word. So that night, we prayed to see where God wanted us to go, and we felt like He was saying to go to the smaller village. The name is Llauta (ya-u-ta). So we got to this village last Monday. The people are so nice and they are so excited that we are here! We´ve spent the last week really getting to know the people here. We have this strong connection with the children here. They really seem to enjoy our joy and they are interested in why we are here. The adults are interested too, but they were a little slower to talk to us. Phil, my teammate, helped with this. He´s very talkative, so he just jumped right in and began making connections with the adults. Where we are having problems is connecting with the young people, people our age. We play sports with them (volleyball and soccer) but they are hard to start conversations with. Please pray for some connections with them! Sunday was election day for the Peruvians. It was crazy! They had so much food and so much going on, it was great! We were able to talk to a van driver named Roberto. He was so interested in why we were there and we were able to talk to him about his faith! We have no idea what kind of effect God had on his life that day because he left the same day, but we know God used us to work in his life. We started english classes yesterday with the children. They are so eager to learn! It was so fun too! Also, we started a Bible study yesterday. We were so nervous, but after it was done we just rejoiced soo much! We had about 6 children come and two adults and one young person. They were asking questions and they were just so curious! Praise God! Afterward, they asked if we were meeting again tomorrow. They want more! It´s only by your prayers and God´s work that this was possible. Thank you so much! Another thing that´s been on my heart since last night was a girl named Greyci. I told her I was going to pray before the study and she asked me what that meant. I told her I was going to have a conversation with God.She said, ¨but you´re not really talking to Him because He doesn´t talk back.¨ I told her yes He does! She asked me what He says and how and I told her some of the things He´s said to me and how and she was so excited. But she was a little skeptical. Just pray that He would talk to her in a way that she would hear. Also, that kinda brought to my attention that maybe she´s not the only one who thinks this. Our God is a living God who wants a relationship with us! We want them all to know this and experience this awesome thing! Please pray also for ways to serve these people. We want to be there servants, but they are prideful people and very capable of getting their work done without our help. But we want to be able to serve! We are also very thankful for our closest family, Libia, Cristell, Johan, and Daygoro. They have been our sources of how the village works, they have fed us while we are here and they are our friends! Praise God for them! I hope you all are doing great and I am so thankful for each one of you! Please continue to pray for my team, the villagers and the other missionaries in Peru! Dios les bendiga!
(oh! and we got to watch cows being milked and got the chance to try! so cool!)

Laramate

First, I wanna tell all of you that you are very special to me. It means so much to have friends that talk to God about me and encourage me and are so very giving to the work of God. I feel so priveledged to be used by God and I just want you to know that He is using you too, at home and through your prayers. I also want to start off with something they have taught me this week through the training. As they wanted to teach on the topic of missions, they brought up the Great Commision in Matthew. It says "Go and make diciples..." But what Rick Jenkins pointed out to us was that the original word for "go" (Greek or Hebrew I can't remember, sorry) really means "as you are going." So I want to encourage all of you that in order to tell people of the good news, you don't necesarily have to go anywhere. Just as you are going throughout your everyday lives, you share the gospel and diciple people and teach them. I'm so blessed to have you guys supporting me prayerfully, and I want you to know that I am supporting you also prayerfully to make diciples as you are going. Jesus says, "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." We are the workers. And there ought to be more of us. So I am also praying for all of you. I also want to tell all of you that today is our last day in Lima. Tomorrow, we go out to our villages. My team will meet Pastor Wilfredo in Ica and he will take us the rest of the way to Laramate. I am so excited to finally get to meet these people and build relationships with them. Please pray that they be accepting to us. We are different, in looks and beliefs, and sometimes they have difficulty accepting us. Also please pray for our safety. Pray that while we are there, their hearts will be open to what God is saying to them through us. Ask Him to equip us everyday with the words to say and understanding of their feelings. We can't do this without Him. I am so blessed to be on a team that gets along so well and that all of us speak spanish enough. This is a huge advantage for us, but it is not by this advantage that they will believe. It's by His works through our weaknesses and strength. Please ask God to humble us. None of this is for our glory or for us to boast in ourselves, but it's about Him and His love and mercy for us all. At this point I don't know when I will have access to internet again, but I will send updates as I can. Que Dios les bendiga!

Training

Sam, this is for you. Today was tiring. Since we are training, we are in sessions pretty much all day. We had breakfast at 8:30 and after that was session after session with breaks to eat. I met so many people! Mary Beth, she's my bunkmate and who I rode on the plane with is soo nice. It's been great getting to know her. I've also gotten to know my team! They are so great! I am so blessed to be on such a team. They are encouraging and enthusiastic and so willing to work as a team. We've had some great times of worship. One thing I've learned today is that I've been really selfish in the past in requiring God's love. He has loved me from the beginning, and He loves me even when I didn't love Him back. Praying for Uncle Graham and all of you!

Lima

HI EVERYONE!!! I'm here. Finally. This is the first time this has really felt real to me. It smells like fish. It smells awesome. Thank you for all your prayers! On my way down, when I got to Houston, I met about four people on my flight who are also going with the IMB to Peru. Everything went smoothly. I was confident, I had friends, I didn't have to get searched, and I didn't get lost. We rode from the airport to a hostel, which is where I am now. They drive crazy! It was an adventure for sure. You guys are so great! Thank you for all your support. I've really felt it so far! More news to come when I can!

Getting Ready

Bienvenidos! Es mi primera vez hacer un blog. Espero que todos puedan encontrarlo bien. This is the site where I will try to keep everyone updated. I can't promise everyday, even every week, seeing as I don't really know my schedule yet or my availability to internet access. 

Today is Saturday and I leave on Monday. This day has come so fast! I really appreciate everyone's support through all this. You all have encouraged me and lifted me up as I prepare and I thank God everyday for all of you. 

There is still a lot I have to do to prepare. I have everything I need, I just need to put it together in one place (meaning: I still haven't packed yet!). Hopefully I will be packed by tonight, but I am just more worried about getting my paperwork together and not getting lost in the airports on Monday. Here's how you can pray for me on Monday. Pray that God will calm my nerves. I tend to make silly mistakes when I'm nervous. When I land in Lima, there's a lot of things I have to pay attention to. Many of you may have done this in the past, but this is my first time. It's going to be crowded and there will be a lot of people trying to sell things to me (kind of like a kiosk in the mall). Please pray that God gives me the confidence when I'm in the airport. Ask Him to guide me where I need to go. I pray that nothing sets me off track in the airport, that I don't have to get searched or anything like that, but I know that any circumstance that comes in front of me is not mine to fix, but God's. Please pray that I remember that. 

Also, I would like to know if anything is going on in your lives while I am in Peru. Feel free to send me comments (they don't have to be about anything I said in the blog if you don't want). Also if you need me to pray for you in anyway, I would love to do that! Please let me know how I can pray for you. 

I love you all! I look forward to hearing from you all! And I am excited to let you all know what God is doing in Peru through my team and I. You will all be very missed!