Day 131: School, monkeys, and things that actually matter

The past few weeks have been full of exciting happenings! I finished my junior year of college, I was bitten by a monkey, and I’ve been able to start working in my internship.

For the last two weeks of classes, I took a bus every morning and afternoon in a town called Chaclacayo. It took me around an hour and a half for each leg of the trip. Pastor Gary Whipple from Baptist Mid-Missions has a church there. He has taught the Personal Evangelism class to the ARRIBA students for quite a few years and always offers it to his church members as well. In the mornings, he taught (in Spanish) how to effectively spread the Gospel to the Peruvian culture. Then in the afternoons, we would go to different parks or markets for two hours to practice what we were learning. At the beginning, I was so nervous to talk to these people in Spanish. I’m not the kind of person who goes and talks to strangers…even in my own language! God was definitely stretching me and taking me out of my comfort zone. By the end of the two weeks, I was feeling more comfortable not only going up to strangers, but also more comfortable with the gospel presentation in Spanish. After the Personal Evangelism final exam, I technically finished my junior year of college. However, I probably have to do three semesters at Clearwater (depending on how many of these credits they accept) in order to finish my degree.

Also this past week, I was able to play with a little baby monkey from the Jungle! What started out as the most exciting day of my cultural experience soon turned into my biggest headache. Let’s start at the beginning. My friend Daniel and I were going into a few different stores at the market sharing the gospel. We go into a certain “tienda” and start talking to this sweet university aged girl named Viviana. We tell her about the ARRIBA program and why we’re walking around the streets of Peru as silly North Americans. I just started telling her my testimony when we hear this noise behind us. We turn around and see this cute little monkey dressed in a sweater on a leash tied to the leg of the table. We practically squeal with delight, while trying not to look like too much of stupid American teenagers. She tells us his name is Martín, he’s only six months old, and he’s perfectly harmless. After she gives us the go ahead to play with him, we walk over and I crouch down beside him. He immediately jumped onto my arm and starting climbing up and down. He was licking me, giving me little kisses, and talking to me in his little monkey squeaks. Daniel tried to hold him and he just kept trying to come back to me. Viviana told us that Martín really didn’t like men that much. She was right. Every chance he got, Martín would look over at me and try to jump from Daniel’s arm to mine. We played with him for quite some time until we remember the reason that we were out and about in the first place. We left the little monkey alone for a while in order to talk to Viviana more about the Gospel. We were able to talk to her for a god hour or so. She would ask us questions here and there letting us know that she was actually thinking about what we were trying to say. After about an hour, Daniel and I finished up our conversation by inviting her to the local church where we were taking the classes. As we were walking out, I wanted to play with Martín one last time and say goodbye. That’s where all my problems started. Since we had been talking to Viviana for quite a while, the silly monkey had gotten a little hungry. He once again jumped up on my arm and was licking and kissing me again. However, being a little hungry, he decided to start nibbling on the back of my hand. It’s not like he opened his mouth and started chomping down on my arm! It didn’t even hurt. I knew it hadn’t broken the skin yet, but I was trying to put him down because I had to go anyway. But he just loved me so much that he didn’t want to let go! He kept nibbling on my hand as I was trying to put him back on the ground. I didn’t even notice that he had drawn blood until we were back at the church for our post-evangelism talk.  I showed Daniel and asked him if it was anything I needed to worry about. He said I should probably tell Miss Becky about it. I was very reluctant because it was barely a scratch, but finally sent her a little text message. She didn’t respond. I took my long bus ride home and enjoyed a nice dinner with the family. Still no response. I text her again to see if she had even received the first message. She calls me back and says “I thought you were joking!” hahah Yes, I’m the type who makes up a story about a monkey biting me just to get a little extra attention. J She told me she’d call the mission’s Doctor in the morning to see what we should do. In the mean time, they take me 3 hours downtown to the sketchiest part of Lima to start my rabies shots. A series of 5 shots that cost S/4. (Less than $2). I was a little skeptical about the validity of these shots, but I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t convinced that I needed them in the first place. Meanwhile, the doctor in the home office jumped to worst case scenario and wanted them to buy me a plane ticket to the states. Miss Becky and Pastor Jim tell her that we’d go to the American Hospital here in Lima first before we do anything too drastic. The next day, Miss Becky drives me 2 hours downtown to the American Hospital. The doctor at this hospital said I shouldn’t have a problem with rabies, but to keep getting the shots just in case. He was just more worried about the herpes that I might contract from the monkey. Who knew?! I certainly didn’t know that Monkeys carried the herpes virus. Sooo…he gave me the prescription to buy some herpes suppressant meds.  We go to the pharmacy and find out the medication will be almost $300! I guess that makes up for the $2 rabies shots! I was not in favor of paying that much for herpes medication when I didn’t even think I needed to go the doctor in the first place! So we call the doctor and ask if there’s a generic brand of herpes meds. He gives us a different name and we find out it’s less than half the price AND I didn’t have to take it as many days. Tough decision…by the time I finally buy the meds and get home it’s about 11:00pm. Longest two days of my life (and I still had to go get four more shots). But through the whole ordeal, I learned a really important lesson. Never fall for a monkey in a sweater.  P.S. It’s been a week and three days and I’m still alive without any symptoms of neither rabies nor herpes.

In all the excitement of finishing a year of college in the middle of September and being bitten by a monkey, you’d think I couldn’t take any more excitement right? Wrong! Over the past two weeks I’ve also gotten a head start in my internship. In November, we officially start our internships working under a missionary in the local church. However, I was able to do a few things a little early. I’ve been sitting and commenting in the Sunday School class for the youth group aged girls at church. I’ve gotten to know them pretty well and really enjoy being in their class on Sunday mornings. Vicky, the one who normally teaches the class, was planning on going on a trip to visit some family members. She asked me to teach the lesson for her while I was gone. I thought she was joking! She wasn’t. So that week in my Spanish tutoring time, I worked on preparing my first lesson in Spanish.  I spoke on the life of Joshua. We looked at the characteristics he brought as a leader of the children of Israel. We discussed the qualities of a leader and applied them to the qualities we should be looking for in our future husbands as they should be the ones leading the family. It was a very applicable lesson that I don’t think many of the girls have really heard before.

Also while Vicky was gone, she asked me to meet with a girl named Erika for a discipleship time. Erika is one of the girls that I’ve been praying about discipling. Vicky has started meeting with her on Sunday nights with the vision that I will take over once I start my internship. I met with Erika for half an hour before church. We were supposed to be talking about what she read in the book of Romans that week. However, we really just talked about her life, her family, her friends. She asked me some about my life too. We just spent the half hour talking and getting to know each other a little better. Although we didn’t get into the book of Romans at all, I went into the church service that night smiling at the new friendship God was building between me and Erika. The next week Vicky was back in town, but she asked me to come to the discipleship time anyway just to be able to continue to get to know Erika a little more each week. We actually did get into the first chapter of Romans. It was a really good three way conversation between the three of us girls. At the end of the time, Vicky asked Erika if she thinks she’ll be able to continue meeting for half an hour before every Sunday night service. Erika says she even wanted to come for an hour before the service. Praise the Lord! Vicky and I were ecstatic that Erika not only was willing to keep coming every Sunday, but that she wanted to spend MORE time in discipleship with us. Both Vicky and I are really excited for the opportunity to watch Erika grow in her walk with the Lord. 

Day 92-100: Trujillo Trip

In the past three and a half months that I’ve been in Peru, I’ve only been out of Lima one time; and that was only to research the Biology that the Peruvian jungle has to offer. This week the ARRIBA team had to opportunity to travel eight hours north of Lima to Trujillo in order to see other kinds of ministries that are taking place within this South American country. We were able to observe the joining of five local churches to offer free medical care to the community. We had the chance to get to know the jovenes from several of those churches. However, most of our time was spent making new friends at El Seminario Boutista del Peru.

     Pastor Jim sent the eight of us off on our own for the first times since arriving in Peru 92 days before. For our first full day in Trujillo, we got together with five local churches to provide a free medical clinic for the town surrounding a new church plant. We spent the day telling the patients about the Gospel while they were waiting their turn to see the doctor or dentist. The goal for the day was primarily to evangelize to the community. However, the churches combined their talents in order to provide for the community’s physical health while informing them of their spiritual need as well. Because we weren’t really confident in our Spanish to explain the gospel to the patients, the ARRIBA students did other odd jobs. I was deemed secretary of the witnessing outreach process. Sounds important right?! All I did was keep track of the tracts that we were handing out and hang onto the cards filled out by each of the patients. We also blew up a “bastante” amount of balloons to hand out to the kids throughout the day. A few of the ARRIBA students were able to help out with some children’s bible stories throughout the afternoon. All in all it was a great day to see how a  “Compaña Medica” is organized Peru. The next day at church two ladies who had heard about the church from the clinic visited the morning service. It was awesome to see the work of the Spirit through the medium of medicine.

     Over the next few days we were able to visit a number of other churches throughout the area. Each church we visited was overseen by either an American missionary or by a national pastor who had graduated from the Baptist Seminary of Peru. We went to a “jovenes” or youth group meeting on Saturday night. The church had a youth/college group of about 30 students. All of the ARRIBA kids were in shock at this. The churches we work in have anywhere from 2-20 kids. However, none of us had been to a Peruvian church with that many jovenes. The next day we went to a different church to see a different ministry. This church was also bigger than any of the churches we are working in. It even had an orchestra of trumpets, flutes, violins, clarinets, etc. The members of the churches in the area are invited to participate in the music classes at the Seminary. We also were able to visit the new church plant of a local church. We loaded up 60-70 plastic chairs in some pickup trucks, packed up the portable keyboard, and headed up the mountain to the new church plant. One of our last days in Trujillo we were also able to participate in a huge reunion of all the churches in the Trujillo area. Over 500 church members attended the reunion. The ARRIBA students, along with the Senior seminary students, were in charge of cooking many different Peruvian dishes for the many people in attendance. We cried over hundreds of onions, got hand cramps from squeezing 700 lemons, and burned out hands from the spicy seeds of the “Aji” pepper. It was fun to be able to get know the seminary students while serving the local churches.

     Along with helping with the medical clinic and cooking for the reunion of churches, we were also able to spend most of our time with the seminary students. We were welcomed to the seminary campus with open arms and were immediately thrown into the campus life of a Peruvian Bible College. We were able to participate in the fun little traditions of the Seminary. Although they were very culturally different, we had fun learning and observing the traditions of typical Christian College students in Peru. We spent the week imitating the seminaristas(seminary students). We woke up with them, ate meals, went to classes, had dorm devotions, etc. All in all, we had a great time meeting college students, and becoming aware of the other missionary ministries throughout Peru.

     Some of the ARRIBA students will be able to return to Trujillo in January to work at the summer camp there. They’ll be able to be counselors along side some of the seminary students that we were able to get to know this week. All in all a successful trip!

Late Day 81 Biology class? Try again

Biology class? Try again

Saturday
An eight hour road trip in Peru: it’ll take you from the foggy, misty Pacific Coast, through the chilly snow tipped mountains of the Andes, and into the warm, humid High Jungle of La Merced. We hired a personal bus driver from a nearby church to drive us from Lima to the Jungle. On our way, we were pulled over at least seven times. We went over a speed bump so fast that the luggage in the back literally flew into the air and toppled on top of a sleeping Alyssa. And half of the group got headaches from the altitude. But finally after eight hours, we make it to the Jungle town of La Merced. Pastor Jim announced that we had reached the campgrounds and our bus pulled over to the side of the road. All I could see was the greenest mountain I’ve ever encountered on one side of the road and a river on the other side. I probably gave Pastor Jim some raised eyebrow look I sometimes get when I don’t believe someone. I kept searching my surroundings looking for some sort of campsite when I saw three cables running across the width of the river. Next thing I know, two men from the camp are pulling their way across the river on a cable car. I got that excited feeling that starts deep inside and shivers its way out the tips of my fingers. We’re supposed to be in the Jungle for three days of hands-on Biology studies. However, as I’m suspended dozens of feet over the river I know it won’t be like any class I’ve taken so far.  

Sunday
We didn’t know exactly what time church would start. Pastor Jim and Miss Becky had been to the church before, but they didn’t really know the pastor and they couldn’t remember the service time. We decided to leave around 9:00. We set out on our mini hike that would take us across the river in the cable car. We got to the church around 9:30. The doors were open and we could see the Pastor at his pulpit teaching the Sunday School class. However, by the time we all got off the bus, the Pastor was outside waiting at the door to greet us. The whole Sunday School class had taken a break and everyone wanted to give us kisses of greeting before the Pastor continued his lesson. After he finished, everyone greeted us all over again before the morning service started. We all felt very welcome, and the Pastor even asked Pastor Jim to preach for the evening service. After church we came back to the campground, all the ARRIBA students wanted to go play in the river that we’d been crossing in the cable car, so we set out to find a way to get there. We ended up climbing through some jungle beds and over some jungle rocks and eventually made it to a giant boulder that we liked. Some of us stayed on the rock enjoying the jungle sun, while others played in the river enjoying the jungle water. When we first arrived in Lima, we encountered the fascination stage of culture shock. Now we’re right back where we started. Everything we see is exciting and adventurous. The jungle definitely is a different culture.

Monday
Botanical gardens, waterfalls, soccer with the kids; Jungle life. We started our day by going to the Botanical Garden. A man with bushy eyebrows and a thin gray mustache came out to greet us. He was only the groundskeeper, but he offered to take us around the gardens. Dr. Deckert (a retired Biology Professor from Clearwater) knew just about every plant within the garden, and the ones he didn’t know, he looked up in his Peru Flower travel book. We spend quite a few hours exploring the Garden enjoying the beautiful Peruvian plant life. Once we got back from the Garden and had a few sessions of Biology learning, a few of us set out to find the waterfalls. We followed a well worn path into the forest and followed the water system that the camp had made to get their water supply. We went up a few steep hills, crossed the river two or three times, and finally made it to the waterfall. We stood in awe for a few minutes basking in the creation of our God. The powerful water surged over the edge and cascaded some dozens of feet to where we stood underneath it.  We played in the water for a while before heading back to the campgrounds. Once there, we immediately turned the other direction and headed to an orphanage not too far away. As soon as we poked our heads over the hill, the kids started running for us. They had no idea who we were or what we were there for, but they started talking to us and inviting us to explore their home with them. We were invited inside the dining hall by the director of the orphanage. We were able to meet all the kids and give share testimonies with them. Then we were able to play soccer with the boys. We played ARRIBA students vs the kids. They killed us, and enjoyed doing it. We played and laughed until the sun dipped below the tip of the mountain.

Tuesday
What do you get when water drips down a limestone ceiling? Stalagmites…or stalactites. I don’t remember which one starts at the bottom and which one starts at the top. However, I do remember that caves are now my favorite sort of adventure. Even after watching a horror movie about college girls getting lost in a cave and getting eaten by nonexistent creatures…anyway…Four months ago, my roommate at CCC, Joanna Feliz, and I were trying to repel down the side of our dorm. Unfortunately we weren’t able to accomplish it due to a slippery wall. However, I can now say that I have successfully repelled down a cave and am anxiously awaiting my chance to do it with Joanna! On our way home from the Jungle, we stopped in the mountains to explore a cave. It wasn’t like the caves I’ve been in the states that have the touristy walkways and hand rails next to the river so people don’t fall in. No, this cave had walls that you had to climb, cliffs that you had to repel down, walkways a foot wide you had to get across, etc with only the light from our flashlights. Mrs. Deckert was not a fan of the whole rock climbing/repelling thing…but we got her through it and now she has a cool story to tell her grandchildren! My favorite part was when we had reached the end of the trail and were about to turn around. We all turned off our flashlights and sang a few songs about the greatest of our God. In the cave of a mountain or in the depths of the Jungle, our God is greater, stronger, and higher than any other!

Day 71- EBDV “Escuela Biblica de Vacaciones”

One hundred and twenty seven little heads bobbed into the church building. Two hundred and fifty four sparkly little eyes looked up to the front as Delsi welcomed them to church; most were there for the very first time, while only a few had ever cast a shadow upon the entrance. Eager and excited for the new adventure, they listened intently for the activities of the day.

                Monday afternoon: 3:00pm
The teenagers from the church in Monchay were joined this week by a group from England to run a Vacation Bible School for the neighborhood kids. I walked into the church building that sunny, beautiful afternoon welcomed by a blanket of balloons all over the floor. I quickly learned how to make a flower out of a few balloons. Our fingers flew twisting and turning the balloons making little presents for the neighborhood kids. Minutes later, we were headed for the door again with our flowers and animals. A few clown noses were thrown out among the group and we set out parading around the neighborhood. We chanted and cheered trying to get the kids to come out of their houses and join us. After we had a significant group, some of us stopped in the middle of the road to play games, while a few went around a few more blocks herding in more little niños. Once the kids saw we were playing games and handing out balloons they literally started running in from every direction. We gave them little flyers for the VBS and showed where the church building was, then we headed out in a different direction to do it all over again. 

                Tuesday afternoon: 2:15pm
I squeezed into the bus with my guitar and backpack full of supplies planning to arrive at the church thirty minutes before the kids were supposed to arrive. I crawled my way off the bus and walked a short distance to the doors of the church only to find that many of the kids were already there. After being bored for the past week from their winter vacation from school, they were eager to start a new week of games, songs, snacks and drama. We had planned to start at 3:00 with approximately 60 kids in the audience. We started signing them in and dividing them into teams. The line of kids kept getting longer and longer. The kids who had gotten there early were getting restless waiting to begin. Finally, we welcomed them to EBDV. I finally had a complete view of the auditorium. The cheers and chants, balloons and clown noses had surely done their job the previous afternoon. One hundred and twenty seven kids attended the first day of Vacation Bible School. For the Bible Lesson time, we had to bring benches up to the second floor in order to seat the overflow of children. We even had a class of older students on the roof. The walls of my classroom were lined with 4, 5, and 6 year olds standing without a seat. Once the lesson had been taught and the memory verses learned, we all met once more downstairs for one last song. The church was filled with happy little voices enthusiastic from the afternoon spent in church. 

                Wednesday afternoon: 2: 30pm
I got to the church again hands full of supplies to help lead the songs. I fully expected to be greeted by hundreds of hands wanting to help me with my things. The benches were surprisingly bare of children. Thirty minutes past and we had about fifty students playing and singing with us. A few more trickled in late, but our numbers were cut in half. However, those who were there participated wholeheartedly and enthusiastically.

                Thursday afternoon: 2:30 pm
“Admirable es nuestro Dios.                              Our God is an awesome God.
El reine con todo poder,                                     He reigns over heaven and earth
con sabiduria y amor.                                          With wisdom, power, and love.
Admirable es nuestro Dios.”                              Our God is an awesome God.

We had started each day with a few songs. Thursday was no different. The kids sang at the top of their lungs for the third day in a row. Though our numbers were still lower than that first day, we were still going strong with enthusiasm and energy. The theme for the week was “El Rey Pide” or “The King Requests.” Each day we learned about a different King from the Old Testament. Thursday we learned about King Solomon and the wisdom that he was given. My class of little four, five, and six year olds memorized Proverbios 2:6, “Porque Jehova da la sabiduria…” Proverbs 2:6, “Because the Lord gives wisdom…” Complete with hand motions, they tried to repeat each small little word after the teachers said them.

                Friday afternoon: 3:00pm
The last day of VBS was our second largest day with eighty kids. After four afternoons of beginning in church, they were a little more wiggly and antsy than earlier in the week. The winner of game time (a game of musical chairs) was disputed amongst the teams. No one wanted to admit that he was a little slower than the rest.  The little kids struggled to pay attention to the lesson. Instead, they just wanted to color their picture and eat their snack. The drama time captured the kids attention and had them rolling in laughter, while the prayer time afterward had them walking around or talking to their neighbor. All in all, the week was successful. The message of Salvation was clearly presented each day with a “Flip Flop” similar to a wordless book. We hope that the kids will come back on Sunday for the finale to find out which team won. They were told to bring their parents so their parents could see what they had been up to all week and so that they could hear a salvation message also. We’re praying that this week will bring the kids back to church each weekend to learn more about the Father’s love and his saving works through His Son. A successful week that will hopefully result in saved lives.  

Day 66- Juan Zuniga

“Where are all the guys?”
                After being unable to attend Jovenes (‘youth group’ for highschoolers and young adults) for the past many months, Juan Zuniga wondered what had happened to all the guys who used to attend Jovenes. Juan was a faithful attendee of Jovenes for many years until he was physically unable to attend anymore. Juan has had some major health complications in the past year. He was working as a carpenter when he pulled something or moved a certain way. Not sure exactly what happened, but knowing something was wrong, Juan went to the doctor to see what was happening. He found that his abdomen was filling up with cerebral spinal fluid. In order to fix things, the doctor had to operate and drain the fluid from inside him. This was the start of operation after operation, countless doctors appointments, and months of being bedridden. Juan woke up from one surgery to find his intestine on the table next to him. Another operation was performed without antithetic. During this spur of the moment operation, the doctor used his bare hands to move around his insides to try to fix things. On top of all this, Juan is a hemophiliac which complicates every operation. I’ve personally been able to visit Juan at his house three times in the past few months. I’ve heard countless times people discussing his situation. However, since most of those discussions are in Spanish, I don’t quite know what else is going on with his health situation. I do know, however, that he is not doing very well emotionally. With another operation in the future, Juan is struggling leaning on Christ through this trial. In the past few months, Juan has been making progress keeping food down, but he is still very much under weight. He is also stuck in a wheelchair with no encouragement from the doctors that he will be able to walk again.

                Yesterday (July 28, 2012) was the 191^st celebration of indendence for the country of Peru. Every holiday and birthday is of importance here. With that being the case, the Jovenes of the church wanted to have a party after our weekly meeting. Juan, who has not been able to come to church in the two months that I’ve been in Peru, really wanted to be able to join us for our Independence Day party. With the help of his cousin, Juan was able to attend Jovenes for the first time in many months. However, he found it slightly different than when he had last been able to go. Our church is now overrun with females! I’m not sure how Juan felt about this change ;) But hopefully we made him feel comfortable and welcomed him back with open arms. Pray for Juan. He needs emotional, spiritual, and physical uplifting. Pray that he’ll have the strength to come to church more often. Pray that our church family can be an encouragement to him throughout his upcoming surgery and the recovery process.  

Day 52- Las Aventuras del Sábado

                A typical Saturday...There is no such thing. Every Saturday is different and every Saturday has its own adventures. Since I have much to tell each week and can’t give a play by play of every day of my life, I’ll give a detailed picture of one of the fifty or so Saturdays that I will spend in Peru.

                My alarm rang obnoxiously at 8:00am. Normally in the states, I am incapable of sleeping later than that anyway…but I’m constantly tired here and felt like I needed a good three more hours of slumber. I got up and ready for a miniature work day at the church building with Pastor Jim and Miss Becky. Our main purpose for going to the church on a Saturday was to cover the open air window with a piece of plastic. We hope that this plastic will keep the dirt and cold out of the Sunday School classrooms on the second floor. We arrived around 9:30. Miss Becky put me and Dani in charge of cleaning the floor to ceiling sliding glass doors on the first floor. We got started and Dani found out she was a little too short to reach the top of the glass, so she left me with that job to help “PJ” and “Momma B” upstairs. An hour or so later, after I was finally content with the spotlessness of the glass doors, I went upstairs to see if the others needed more help. They pretty much had everything under control. All I did to help was hammer a few nails here and there. We finished up around 11:30. Miss Becky offered to take us to the laundry mat before dropping us off at home. As soon as we merged into the “Parking Lot” of the Lavendaria, we had a little t-bone accident with another car. Thankfully neither car was going very fast and a few hammers from the mechanic took the dents out of the cars. Since Miss Becky was busy dealing with the man from the car accident, Dani and I took the bus home.

                Early in the week, we had made plans to go shopping for boots with our host father, Renato,  and sister, Paola. We had approximately three hours between cleaning the church and our next obligation, Kid’s Club. Plenty of time to go shoe shopping, right?...Wrong. Dani and I wanted to take a shower after cleaning and hammering all morning. That’s acceptable. We didn’t want to make Renato and Paola smell our nasty scent all day. So we quickly showered, ate lunch, and left to meet up with Renato who was working. We had to take a bus and a Comvi (Large minivan that stuffs 10-15 people inside) in order to meet Renato. While trying to run from the bus stop to the boarding place of the comvis, a small car almost backed into me. Normally I’m pretty easy to see! How many other fluorescent white skinned, blonde haired girls are there in Lima? I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that I was in his blind spot. -__- Anyway…we met Renato around 2:00pm. Lunch, showers, and travel time took a little longer than we had anticipated, but we still had about an hour and a half to shop for boots. Plenty of time, right?...Wrong.

                Renato has two jobs. On the even days of the month, he changes money from dollars and euros into soles. On the odd days of the month, he is a police officer. The family doesn’t have a car, so he rides a motorcycle to and from work each day. Between his police officer duties and his knowledge of riding a motorcycle, you’d think he’d be an excellent driver. ;) We borrowed his brother’s car to go shopping. Renato drove. I felt like I was learning how to drive all over again. Granted, there was a bit of traffic, but going down the hill, we jerked every few feet. The transition between accelerating and breaking could use a little work…but…esta bien. “It’s ok. It’s all good.” Dani and I were laughing quietly to ourselves in the back seat. We probably drove for an hour or so. We got lost a few time and had to ask for directions. Streets in Peru are never directly north, south, east, and west. They run diagonal, they swerve, they twist and turn. We’d get directions and start heading in that direction when the road would suddenly turn to the left and we’d be heading the wrong way again. We finally got to the shopping area in Villa Salvador. It reminded me of an outlet mall. They had dozens of shoe stores, huge stores with all different kinds of clothes, and streets lined with stores selling really nice furniture! I felt like a true tourist gaping out the window at all the stores. 3:30pm…half an hour till we were supposed to be at church helping with Kid’s club. We’re not even thinking there’s plenty of time anymore. We’d given up on that notion for the afternoon. Once we finally found a place to park, Paola and I started our quest for boots. Normally I’m not much of a boots fan. However, the buildings here don’t have heaters. Plus, its winter (In July). Also, we wear skirts a lot. The combination of the three makes me cold even now as I’m in sweat pants, a sweatshirt, and a blanket.  So I decided I needed some high boots to keep my legs warm.  We looked through the dozens of shoe shops walking down a number of streets. Of course we find boots in the very last store we go into. It would have been easier if Paola and I weren’t such giants! Paola is about as tall as I am. In translation, we’re both pretty tall in relation to other Peruvians. We finally found some boots and started heading back to our little “subdivision” called Musa. We got home in time to sit down for a minute before we had to go back up to the church for youth group.

                For Kid’s Club and youth group on Saturday’s Dani and I take the bus up to the church. We can either take the green and yellow “C” bus which drops us off at the park down the street, or we can take a blue and orange “E0-69” bus which drops us off right in front of the church. The “C” buses are much more frequent than the others, so Dani and I have only taken these buses. However, yesterday, we saw the “E0-69” bus and decided to give it a try. Here’s the thing. There are a lot of other blue and orange buses that don’t take us to the church. Since there are so many others, we weren’t 100% sure that the “E0-69” was the one we wanted. We climbed aboard anyway because we were tired of waiting for a “C” bus. Sure enough, we picked the right bus. The bus turned the corner toward our church. We told the cobrador that we wanted to get off. Normally, he’d yell up to the driver to stop. Just our luck…he did nothing of the sort. He just looked at us and asked, “Where do you want to get off?” “Here! At the church!” “you’ll have to wait till we get to the corner.” The funny part was that we picked people up right in front of the church, Dani and I just couldn’t squeeze through the sea of people fast enough to get off before the bus started moving again. Sooo…we picked the right bus, the one that should have dropped us off feet from the entrance of our destination. However, we had to walk a few blocks anyway because the cobrador didn’t let us off where we wanted to get off. It turned out alright though, because we saw our friend Emily at one of the stores while we were walking from the bus to the church. We ended the day playing some fun games and learning about Romans 12 with the youth group.

                Let’s review: We got in a minor car accident. A car almost backed up into me. We got lost going to Villa Salvador. We missed Kid’s Club altogether. We couldn’t get off our bus where we wanted to. A typical Saturday in that we never know what to expect from the day. An untypical Saturday because there is no typical routine for any certain day for an ARRIBA student. 

Day 37- Cookies are the bridge to any friendship.

Frienship cookies

“Miss! Miss! Queremos unas galletas! Puedes comprarlos para nosotros?! Por favor, Miss!!!”

“ Miss! Miss! We want some cookies! Can you buy them for us? Please, Miss!!!”

This week the ARRIBA students did not have a academic course to go through. We had Spanish tutoring followed by cultural learning and Spanish listening. This week was called SPANISH EMPHASIS WEEK. It’s called such because all we were supposed to do is practice our Spanish. Every day after two hours of Spanish tutoring, we went out into our neighborhoods or to a more touristic part of Lima to practice our Spanish, listened to Spanish, or learn more of the culture. On Monday, Dani and I were walking to the market in our neighborhood when four little girls ran up to us from their house. We had never seen them before, but they kept calling us “Miss, Miss,” grabbing out hands and hugging our legs. They could tell we were white. They could tell we had money. They wanted some cookies. They conveniently live right across the street from a little “tienda” that sells cookies, fruit, juice, etc. After debating to myself whether or not we should start a habit of buying things for everyone we meet, I decided…sure why not. The cookies don’t cost more than 50cents. So we bought them some cookies and started talking to them on the sidewalk. Dani had some gospel tracts in her purse so we handed them out and started asking questions about church. I was talking to a 12 year old girl who told me that she went to the Catholic Church down the street. I was going through the tracts with her in my limited Spanish. I was asking her what she had to in order to live forever with Jesus. She knew she was a sinner but she thought going to church and helping other people was sufficient for eternal life. I couldn’t get very deep into the Gospel message because I simply don’t know the Spanish words yet. However, I tried to explain that no matter how hard we try, we can’t do enough good things because we’ll always be doing bad things too. The only perfect one is Jesus and we need him in order to spend eternity in heaven with Him. I don’t quite know if she understood my jumbled up phrases and my thick American accent, but it was a good time of getting to know some of the girls in our neighborhood. We sat on the sidewalk from close to 45 minutes before the girls started getting tired of trying to figure out what we were trying to say. After that, Dani and I played volleyball with them for another hour or so. We talked to one girl’s mother who was selling pastries from her doorstep with her little baby girl in hand. We told her we lived in the area and asked if we could come around again to visit. She seemed pleased with our efforts and confirmed that we could come by again. A few days later, Dani and I were walking up the hill from the bus stop. These same little girls ran up to us once again hugging our legs and holding our hands. They didn’t ask us for cookies this time. They were just happy to see some friendly faces from the white girls who took the time to talk to them. Hopefully over the next 10 months we’ll be able to bring them to church with us and build a greater friendship. Simple cookies can build a friendship not only with some “gringas” but hopefully a newfound friendship with the Creator as well.

Day 31- Wading through the waters

               After 31 days of drowning in unknown words, strange foods, and severe staring, I think some of us are getting to the point where we are no longer gasping for air. We’re finally able to understand enough of the conversation that it doesn’t sound like we are listening underwater. We’re still splashing in the waves and sometimes our ears still get water logged, but we no longer feel like we’ve been thrown overboard and are kicking fiercely to stay afloat.

                Last week JR was talking about his Mid-week prayer meeting at church. He said that there is a group of guys who pray with him every week during the prayer meeting. They always want to pray with him and he always agrees, but he doesn’t know exactly what they are saying. This week, however, was different. He was able to finally understand the words they were praying on his behalf. Jr said he almost started crying. He didn’t share with us what these men said, just the fact that they really do care about him. They want to see him succeed and have a profitable time here in Peru. They are cheering for him and praying for him without fail. Take a deep breath, JR, and enjoy the sweet fellowship with these men.

Today is Sunday the 24^th of June. I’ve been in Peru for 31 days. After 40 hours of personal Spanish tutoring and countless times of saying “No entiendo” (I don’t understand), I was finally able to grasp most of the lesson in Sunday School. Each week I hop around to different classes to see which one I want to help once I become more fluent. Today I sat in with the teenage girls. Heidi (who is also from the U.S.) gave a lesson about David. We talked about his youth and his valor. His weakness and strength. But mainly we focused on his firm confidence in God. No one in their own strength would willingly volunteer to fight a giant. But David knew his God was stronger. We think of David as being so brave, but his God is the same as ours. The same God that killed the giant and defeated countless armies is the one we serve today. Do we see him that way? Or do we back away from challenges thinking we’re too weak to face them? I’ve heard this lesson since I was a little girl. However, I’ve never thought about it as hard as I had to think of it today. Since I’ve been here, I’ve had to think twice as hard to comprehend a simple Bible story lesson. Through the past few weeks, I’ve learned that having to think this hard is not a bad thing.  The simplest Bible stories can be seen in a whole new light when concentrate hard enough to translate each word in your mind. David had a “confianza firme en Dios.” He had a firm confidence in God. Do I?

Psalm 27:13-14
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Day 22- Why am I in Peru?

Four weeks ago, I was in Colorado. People were asking me why I was going to Peru and what I’d be doing for the eleven months that I was there. I would say, “Oh, I’m going to be a short term missionary: discipling girls, leading a bible study, counseling at camps, etc.” I initially thought my goal for this year in Peru was to be a blessing to those in the church that I’m working with. All of my answers had to do with me and what I was going to be doing in the lives of the Peruvians. Well now I’ve been in Lima for three weeks. I no longer think I’m here to change lives. I think I’m here for God to change mine. My reason for being on earth is to bring glory to God. My life should constantly be pointing to Him. However, in order to be able to disciple others in their walk with God, I must first evaluate my own relationship with Him. I can’t lead anyone further than I myself am.  This week in our classes we’ve been looking at the “missions statement” of Paul. In many of his epistles he tells the believers that he wants them to imitate him. As we looked deeper into the epistles, we saw that Paul wasn’t saying that he wanted the believers to imitate his human qualities. Rather, Paul was imitating Christ. Therefore, he wanted the believers to imitate his Christ-like qualities. If the believers were imitating Paul they would result in imitating Christ. That got me thinking…Why am I in Peru? I’m not in Peru to make my friends back home think I’m spiritual. I’m not in Peru to be seen as the amazing gringo from the states. I’m not in Peru to draw attention to myself. I am in Peru to bring glory to Christ and to let Him use me in spreading the news of his saving work on the cross. But I can’t do that if I’m constantly thinking of how this year of my life will look when I tell people in the future. I can’t bring glory to Christ if I’m seeking all the attention as a young white girl from North America. The only way I can glorify God this year is if I give up my prideful attitude and let him guide me this year.  Now I know that this year, God is going to shape me, smash me down, mold me again, over and over until I am his true vessel. I can't form my own shape. He is the potter. The only way I can be a blessing to the people here is if I am in my rightful, humble place with God. Only then will He use me to disciple the girls or encourage the members of the church. I think that's the purpose of my year here: to let him shape me. Hopefully I'll be able to be an encouragement to the church, but I don't think that's my main purpose. Not until I get my own heart right. 

Day 16- Twenty Seconds of Comfort

I usually would never admit this, but I know I’ll have worse experiences while I’m in Peru. Here’s the thing…I went three days without a shower this week.  It’s winter here in Peru. I’m not saying that it’s freezing cold. Usually the days are fairly warm. However, the sun only stays out for approximately twelve hours. So the water in the water tank doesn’t have enough time to warm up in the sunshine. Normally in Florida when I’m at the pool or the beach with my friends, I pride myself in being able to handle the cold water. In Florida, as soon as you get out of the water, you start to warm up again. However…this is different. You don’t warm up after these showers. It’s not just a little chilly. It’s like taking an iced shower. I know athletes take iced baths all the time for their weary muscles, but my muscles are fine! I don’t need to ice them! So as I’m taking a shower, I’m practically doing a backbend trying to get my hair wet enough to make the shampoo sudsy, yet keep the rest of my body free from the falling ice droplets. I finally take a deep breath and step under the running water just long enough to rinse off before I grab my towel and try to get warm again. My family has been trying to get the electrician over to the house for the past few days to fix the water heater. Hence the three days without a shower. The family told me the heater would be fixed tomorrow. I think, “Ok, I didn’t sweat at all today. I can go a day without a shower and just wait for the warm water.” I thought this twice before I realized that in Peru, “tomorrow” does not always mean tomorrow. So finally I man up enough to take another frosty shower. Finally the electrician fixes the water heater. Yes! Finally a warm shower! Here in Lima there are three settings of water temperature. The middle setting is the normal cold water. If you flip the switch to the right, the water gets a little warmer: just enough to make the mirror a little foggy.  If you flip the switch to the left, the water is supposed to get a little bit hotter: just enough to thaw out my skin from previous week of cold showers.  I get in the shower and flip the switch to the left. I relish the warm water for about twenty seconds. Then all the lights in the house go out and I’m left taking another freezing shower…in the dark. I decided that next time I take a shower, I won’t be greedy. I don’t need to thaw out during every shower. I just need to make the mirror a little foggy. 

Day 11- Please leave your shoes at the door

A phrase you don’t often hear in Peru. “Feel free to take your shoes off.” Dani once went barefoot in our house and got a few remarks from our host family. They didn’t think it was disrespectful (at least not from what I gathered). However, they did think it was strange. Taking off my shoes is one of the simple pleasures of Friday nights. On Friday nights, all the ARRIBA students gather at the Carlton’s house for a meal, games, and a whole night of the English language. Being able to speak English freely is a privilege I’ve never thought about before. However, after struggling to communicate through my first week in Peru, I’ve come to cherish the hours spent with my ARRIBA team speaking freely without having to think about each word before it comes out of my mouth. At the Carlton’s we talk about the differences between our host families and what we are struggling with at the time. It’s strange to think I feel blessed to have both a shower curtain and a toilet seat. Others on the trip have neither. However, those others have hot water to shower with. I can’t decide if I’d rather have hot water but no curtain, or a curtain but no hot water: a decision many have never even thought about. It’s the simple things that make this experience exciting. I can’t wait for the week when the bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen will all be in the jungle J

Day 8- Lost in translation

I’ve never been good at explaining my thoughts. I keep my emotions inside and don’t care to share with those around me. For the past 20 years that has been by choice. Now, it’s because I can’t adequately express myself in words that will be understood by those around me.  It’s not that I don’t know what I’m feeling. I do! I know exactly what’s going on inside my head and in my heart. I just can’t get it through my brain and out my mouth. Here’s the thing. I know approximately 50 words of this language. Even those don’t help me express myself. Those only serve to help me ask how one is doing, where the bathroom is, and how much something costs. Ok…that might be an exaggeration. Sometimes I can remember how to ask what time it is too.  When I was in the states and people would ask me how I was, I’d always say “fine,” just because it was normally a quick question as we were passing each other on the sidewalk. Now when people ask me how I’m doing, I say “I’m well,” because that’s the only thing I know how to say. On Sunday at church, someone asked me how I was. I said, “estoy triste,” hoping to convey the fact that I was tired. Someone later informed me that I had told the person I was sad.  I quickly tried to explain that I wasn’t sad, I was just tired and had mixed up the two words. He kept asking me why I was sad. I wasn’t sad! I simply confused the words! I’m at the point now that I would LOVE to say something other than “I’m fine.” I just can’t seem to pick the right words to express my feelings. 

Delayed Day 1- Be a missionary

Fourteen years ago, a blue-eyed, curly haired little girl sang timidly, “Be a missionary everyday. Tell the world that Jesus is the way.” Sitting in a church in America, the song didn’t mean much to me at the time. Tonight (Friday the 25^th), the song has a whole new meaning. After applying for our visas and eating our first Peruvian meal (Cow’s heart…surprisingly delicious) we went to the local MK’s school. The kids were having a music program to honor and thank their parents. Each child gave his specific reasons for giving thanks to his parents. Although every letter of gratitude was different, one common theme reoccurred. The kids were thankful that their families lived in Peru. At the end of the program, they sang the song “Be a missionary.” The song was set in a whole new light for me. These kids weren’t merely singing about going to Africa or Asia or some other far off land. They were already there. It wasn’t simply a song that ought to be taught to the children’s program at the local church. It was a way of life that was taught through the lives of their parents. “Be a missionary everyday” has never sounded so sweet.

Pre-trip/Cleveland- After three days, fish stink

What do you get when you dump eight young strangers in a hotel for three days of meetings? Better yet, what do you get when you dump eight young strangers in Lima, Peru for eleven months of ministry? I honestly don’t know the answer to either of those questions: the latter because we haven’t yet been dumped into Peru and the former because everything is happening so fast. I feel like it was yesterday that I was packing up my dorm room to road trip across the country with one of my best friends. Minutes ago I was packing my bags again to come to Cleveland. Now I’m packed yet again for the flight to Peru. I feel like I’ve known these people for years. But then I close my eyes and I’m at the airport looking for an “Alyssa.” I blink and my mind flashes to the first time I met Kyle, JR and Lydia and the BMM home office. We stand awkwardly in the lobby waiting for Chris, Daniel, and Dani to finally make an appearance. My team: Alyssa, Kyle, JR, Lydia, Chris, Daniel, Dani, and me.

Alyssa- I see her as the group mom. Although only a year older than the rest of us, she’s already graduated from FBBC with her El Ed degree. She’s not the quietest of the bunch, but is definitely on the more soft-spoken side.  I’ve been rooming with her for the past two days in Cleveland. Her sweet spirit and likeable attitude make it hard to find anything wrong with her.

Kyle- They tease him about being homeschooled although he went to a public school his entire life. They tease him about being an only child although he has a younger sister. They tease him about a lot, but it’s rarely true. He doesn’t seem to mind being teased and he never retaliates…except to Dani. He’s probably the quietest guy on the team. Maybe that will change as we spend more time with each other and become more comfortable in our new lives.

JR- He reminds me of my friend Stephen from highschool. From his posture, to the way he talks to the way he walks. It screams “steagle” at me. Haven’t gotten to know him all that well, but from what I gather, he his little brother and photography. I made the mistake of telling him, “Oh, I like photography too!” He started talking cameras and resolution with me. I didn’t know anything he was talking about. I pretend to like photography. I just like the simple point and click version. Maybe he can teach me a few things over the next eleven months. Maybe he’ll let me use his camera!

Lydia- Possibly the smartest person on the trip. She is the cousin of my kindergarten best friend. Must run in the family…I can definitely feel a good friendship blooming!  She probably has the most sensitive heart I’ve ever met. Won’t even walk outside the crosswalk lines because it’s against the rules. I’ve never yet been to Peru. However, I think I’m gunna have to teach her how to cross the street there. But I’m sure she’ll be teaching me a whole lot more than that!

Chris- He laughs more than any other person I know. His laugh is so contagious! I hear it and I can’t help but join in. Although he hasn’t taken any lessons, he is a guitarist at heart. If his heart were  big enough, he’d be a pianist too. Quirky would probably be the best way to describe him. He is so entertaining, but he’s not the type that tries to be the center of attention.

Daniel- He’s probably the one who’d take the greatest plunge and experience the most adventure. His no fear attitude would help him conquer anything. He seems to think everything is awesome: even when we talk about malaria and getting sick from food. We've already decided that we're gunna drink water straight from the Amazon and even maybe try to swim across it. He speaks his mind and isn't afraid to share his feelings. 

Dani- She’ll be my roommate for the next eleven months. We both like to prank. We both like adventure. We both like music. I’m probably a little quieter than her. She’s a little more outgoing than I am. But that’s probably good. We’ll balance each other out and hopefully keep each other on task.

Back LtR: Dani, Lydia, me, Alyssa, JR
Front LtR: Kyle, Chris, Daniel

Alyssa, Kyle, JR, Lydia, Chris, Daniel, Dani, and me. Eight college students who seem to get along without a hitch! At this point we can’t imagine not getting along! There’s only one problem…after 3 days, fish smell. The honeymoon ends. But we’ll get through it and become the best of friends.  

Pre-trip/Cleveland- My anchor

“THEY WILL BECOME FAMILY. What? That’s not what I signed up for. I have a family. I like my family. I have friends and I like them too. I didn’t come on this trip to replace them.”  These are the thoughts setting up residence in my mind. My heart jolts at the words, “They will become family.” What if I don’t want them to take that role? I don’t want anything to change in my life back in America. I want this to be a pleasant year that I’ll look back on when I’m older and think “Wow, that was a great experience.” That’s all…nothing else.  I don’t want to change who I am. I don’t want to change my way of thinking. That, however, is not an option.  This year WILL change me. It’s inevitable. It will change my priorities. It’ll change my view of God. It’ll change my dreams for the future. Change is about the only think I’m sure of.

Culture shock-  Our topic of choice. It floated around the halls of the Baptist Mid-Missions office and even followed us back to the hotel. How does it present itself in different people? What should our response be? So many questions with no real answers. I see it as the avenue in which this change in my life will occur. Before culture shock sets in, I am Melly:  a young college student, lover of adventure, certain of nothing. After culture shock sets in, I will be Melly: still a young college student, still a lover of adventure, and most likely still certain of next to nothing. However, I am certain that God will use this year to mold me. He’ll show Himself to me in unimaginable ways. He’ll demonstrate His faithfulness to me more times than I can count: more times than I'll even be aware of. I’ll come away from this year still Melly, yet hopefully grown in my relationship with God, grown in the true reality of His awe-inspiring nature, and grown in my understanding of what it means to be a true sojourner in this world.

Hebrews 6: 13-19 (ESV)

Pre-trip/Cleveland-eleven months:complex excursion

Today…today is the start of my new adventure. It’s the first day of approximately 334 days of my latest traveling experience, though it’s a little more complex than my past excursions. Eleven months spent living on the coast of Lima, studying in the Andes Mountains, and ministering in the Amazon jungle. Let’s not get dramatic though. It’s not like I’ll be gone for a whole year. Merely eleven months spent in Peru. I’m anxious. I’m nervous. I’m excited and eager. I’ve been on trips out of the country before, but never for more than two weeks at the most, and certainly not by myself. I’m currently on a flight from Denver to Cleveland. I’ll spend three days in Ohio getting to know my new teammates and sitting through orientation for the ARRIBA program. On Thursday the 24^th of May, I’ll head off with seven strangers to Lima, Peru. The blonde little girl with the crown of curls, the one too shy to ask for ketchup at McDonalds, is traveling 3,564 miles away from home, diving into a new culture, and living with a Peruvian family, one with whom she cannot yet communicate. What is she thinking?...