SATURDAY
One word to describe today - rejuvinating. I awoke at 6am and had a solid 2 hours of time with the Lord in scripture before morning worship. Jeremy Lou is here for the weekend so singing this morning was greatly enjoyed since our team does NOT like to sing loudly when it´s just the 6 of us. I was appointed as the lead singer so that should give you a picture of how interesting our singing normally is. The scripture we read and dicussed today was the first 9 verses of Philippians chapter 4 - my theme passage at this point in my life when I begin to feel overwhelmed. It was a great time of growing as a group.
After worship the Jeremys, Alison, & I headed out with empty backpacks to scavenge the mountain for fire wood. After over an hour of hiking around in the trees on the mountainside and breaking branches & logs with our hands, legs, and Jeremy´s knife, we returned to the house with 4 backpacks full of kindling & arm loads full of logs. That wood should last us a good while.
Before lunch a trip to the store was needed so Emily, Sara, Alison, & I went to Sophia´s store right next to the house & bought all the groceries we needed at once. It all ended up costing over 42 soles which was alot of food for that little store.
Lunch was peanut butter sandwiches, apples, canned peaches, potato chips, and cream cheese dip. I´m really looking forward to dinner tonight. Alison & Jeremy Stanley are making stuff for build-your-own-burrritos: shredded cihcken, grilled vegetables, guacalome, homemade salsa, cheese, and rice. And then I´m going to make no-bake cookies & apple cider for us to have upstairs around the fire. Last night Heather & I made the best fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and fried cheese slices. It tasted so good! Needless to say, my cooking skills have greatly expanded in being here.
After lunch the Jeremys, Alison, & I decided to go on a hike. It turned out to be the best adventure we´ve had here so far - better than wading in the lake, boulder hopping, and climbing the mountain in Huancane. We walked probably between 2-3 miles out from Conima along the lake. Then we found some rock cliffs and decided to do some rock climbing. I was the last one to climb, and I was kinda unsure about it. While the others were climbing up, rocks were coming loose underneath then and falling to the bottom of the cliff where I was anxiously waiting. Once Alison reached the top and the boys pulled her up, I set aside my anxiety, told myself ¨You can do this¨, and began climbing with no fear. About halfwat up the cliff, one of the rocks I had my foot on fell out from under me. I lost my footing and grasped the rocks I was holding so hard that my hands turned white. Climbing that rock face made my adrenaline rush, but losing my footing like that was just too much adrenaline for me. My heart was pounding, and my stomach jumped into my throat. Tears began to fill my eyes as I frantically searched for a sturdy foothold knowing that one of the rocks my hand was grasping was moving underneath me and waiting to fall. It I fell down the side of the mountain to the rocks below that sat on the lakeshore, I would be alone until the other 3 found a way down to me. There was no 911 number to call, and we were a good 3 mile walk away from Conima by then.
I heard Jeremy Lou´s voice from the top of the cliff. ¨Kelsey, Kelsey. It´s okay. You´re okay. You´re doing great. Just find a rock to rest your foot on. I´m climbing down to help you.¨ I felt around for a rock that wasn´t moving and rested some of my weight on it just before aa rock fell out from under my hand and tumbled down the mountainside. By this time the tears continued coming as Jeremy climbed down next to me. Step-by-step he helped me find stationary rocks to climb, and I made it to the top with no more than a few scrapes.
As i hoisted myself over the last rock with Jeremy Stanley´s help, I heard Alison marveling at the view. I made it up and turned around to see the sparkling blue waters of Lake Titicaca laid out all around me. The sky was a beautiful bright blue, and the mountain peaks lined the horizon. We could hear waves breaking beneath us so we walked to the point of the peninsula. A straight shot down the cliff were rocks breaking the waves on the lake. It was too amazing to pass up so our adventurous group of 4 found a crevice to climb down to the water. The Jeremys decided to do some rock jumping out in the water while Alison & I continued to marvel at the beautiful landscape before us.
It was quite entertaining to watch the boys wish they were frogs as they jumped from rock to rock going further & further out in the water. Neither one of them managed to stay dry. In face, Jeremy Stanley went to jump to a rock, tried to land on it by hugging it with his arms & legs, and ended up slipping & jumping to short. He basically sat in the water right in front of the rock and quickly jumped up out of the cold lake water. The botton of his shirt and all of his shorts were soaking wet. Alison & I quickly asked if he was okay worried that he may have badly hurt himself, but he assured us that he was fine, just a little wet. After we were sure he was okay, we couldn´t help but laugh.
We headed back to the road we had traveled on, this time walking along the rocky shore of the lake. As we walked, Alison & I began collecting some really cool rocks & filling our backpacks. Between the rocks weighing down our bags and some large logs we found to use in the fire, the walk back was significantly more tiring than the walk out.
Finally we reached the house & unloaded all the logs & rocks. Now I´m just relaxing on the balcony enjoying the last rays of sun before it´s time to go cook dinner with Alison & Jeremy. This day of rest was deinfitely needed and thoroughly enjoyed, and it´s not over yet!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
What do I do when the love isn´t there?
I have struggled with this dilemma - that I have been brought here to Conima, Peru to share the love & Good News of Jesus Christ, but my heart feels no love for these people. When I was in Haiti, there grew a love inside me for those people from the first day, but here I have talked with the people, played with the children, and lived among them for over a week yet I feel nothing. I pray daily that God will give me His love for these people that I might see them through His eyes, but my feelings remain the same.
As I was reading through the book ¨Let the Nations be Glad¨, I came across a passage that approached the situation in a different light.
¨Have you every wondered what it feels like to have a love for the lost? This is a term we use as part of our Christian jargon. Many believers search their hearts in condemation, looking for the arrival of some feeling of benevolence that will propel them into bold evangelism. It will never happen. It is impossible to love ¨the lost¨. You can´t feel deeply for an abstraction of a concept. Yuo would find it impossible to love deeply an unfamiliar individual portrayed in a photograph, let alone a nation or a race or something as vague as ¨all lost people¨. Don´t wait for a feeling of love in order to share Christ with a stranger. You already love your Heavenly Father, and you know that this stranger is created by Him, but separated from Him, so take those first steps in evangelism because you love God. It is not primarily out of compassion for humanity that we share our faith or pray for the lost; it is first of all, love for God.¨
It is out of love for the Lord and a desire to see His name glorified that I am here. In obedience to His call out of love for my Savior, I have come to Peru to live out the comission to which He has called me. So my love for God should overwhelm any lack of feeling for the Aymaran people. My love for God shoud overflow so much so that my only desire is to see the Lord glorified and praised by all as He deserves.
As I was reading through the book ¨Let the Nations be Glad¨, I came across a passage that approached the situation in a different light.
¨Have you every wondered what it feels like to have a love for the lost? This is a term we use as part of our Christian jargon. Many believers search their hearts in condemation, looking for the arrival of some feeling of benevolence that will propel them into bold evangelism. It will never happen. It is impossible to love ¨the lost¨. You can´t feel deeply for an abstraction of a concept. Yuo would find it impossible to love deeply an unfamiliar individual portrayed in a photograph, let alone a nation or a race or something as vague as ¨all lost people¨. Don´t wait for a feeling of love in order to share Christ with a stranger. You already love your Heavenly Father, and you know that this stranger is created by Him, but separated from Him, so take those first steps in evangelism because you love God. It is not primarily out of compassion for humanity that we share our faith or pray for the lost; it is first of all, love for God.¨
It is out of love for the Lord and a desire to see His name glorified that I am here. In obedience to His call out of love for my Savior, I have come to Peru to live out the comission to which He has called me. So my love for God should overwhelm any lack of feeling for the Aymaran people. My love for God shoud overflow so much so that my only desire is to see the Lord glorified and praised by all as He deserves.
Abundance of Opportunities
Interesting happenings of the week:
1. On Wednesday we happened upon 4 drunk men that kept pointing at me as we were having a conversation with a store owner that we will be storying with. They men kept pointing at me, but I wasn´t paying attention. Jeremy said they were motioning for me to come over and whistling to get my attention. Needless to say, we didn´t pay them any attention much less go over to them.
2. I have de-boned 6 chickens this week. Pretty soon I´ll be a professional!
3. Alison has adopted the new spanish phrase ¨Hasta manzana¨ instead of ¨Hasta mañana¨. When she tries to tell the children ¨See you tomorrow¨, they understand her as ¨See you apple¨. That has been pretty comical.
4. Wednesday night we could hear a pretty rowdy party going on while we were all upstairs talking after dinner. I looked out the window to see a party going in full force in the middle of the road with a fire, dancing, yelling, and alcohol. But that´s just something we will have to get used to seeing.
God has continued to place opportunities in our paths to meet people and build relationships. Wednesday we met Susana & Lucian and gave them some photographs Les had sent with me. Susana especially liked the picture of Milagro, her granddaughter. Thursday we all went dow the hill to the high school where the whole tow of Conima had a dance festival competition. We watched lots of different age groups of kids dance to the story of their heritage. Each dance held a cultural meaning to the town. It was a great chance for us t show our presence further as well as experience the culture and be a part of the town. The whole town was shut down, and everyone showed up to watch the dances. Thursday afternoon while I was working on memorizing my story (which I´m almost one with) and preparing to cook dinner with Emily, Jeremy & Sara played soccer & basketball with some teenage boys. They asked Jeremy & Sara to play with them again today so this afternoon I´m going to join them. It just seems like every day we are given more & more opportunities with the people.
Our stories are coming along more quickly now. I will finish memorizing mine today, and we have all agreed to share our stories in front of one another tonight after dinner. We will begin storying with the people next week, and as it quickly approaches anxiety levels have seemed to rise in the team. But I am confident that the Lord will work through us as He desires and will bless our efforts at so studiously memorizing our stories.
1. On Wednesday we happened upon 4 drunk men that kept pointing at me as we were having a conversation with a store owner that we will be storying with. They men kept pointing at me, but I wasn´t paying attention. Jeremy said they were motioning for me to come over and whistling to get my attention. Needless to say, we didn´t pay them any attention much less go over to them.
2. I have de-boned 6 chickens this week. Pretty soon I´ll be a professional!
3. Alison has adopted the new spanish phrase ¨Hasta manzana¨ instead of ¨Hasta mañana¨. When she tries to tell the children ¨See you tomorrow¨, they understand her as ¨See you apple¨. That has been pretty comical.
4. Wednesday night we could hear a pretty rowdy party going on while we were all upstairs talking after dinner. I looked out the window to see a party going in full force in the middle of the road with a fire, dancing, yelling, and alcohol. But that´s just something we will have to get used to seeing.
God has continued to place opportunities in our paths to meet people and build relationships. Wednesday we met Susana & Lucian and gave them some photographs Les had sent with me. Susana especially liked the picture of Milagro, her granddaughter. Thursday we all went dow the hill to the high school where the whole tow of Conima had a dance festival competition. We watched lots of different age groups of kids dance to the story of their heritage. Each dance held a cultural meaning to the town. It was a great chance for us t show our presence further as well as experience the culture and be a part of the town. The whole town was shut down, and everyone showed up to watch the dances. Thursday afternoon while I was working on memorizing my story (which I´m almost one with) and preparing to cook dinner with Emily, Jeremy & Sara played soccer & basketball with some teenage boys. They asked Jeremy & Sara to play with them again today so this afternoon I´m going to join them. It just seems like every day we are given more & more opportunities with the people.
Our stories are coming along more quickly now. I will finish memorizing mine today, and we have all agreed to share our stories in front of one another tonight after dinner. We will begin storying with the people next week, and as it quickly approaches anxiety levels have seemed to rise in the team. But I am confident that the Lord will work through us as He desires and will bless our efforts at so studiously memorizing our stories.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Unexpected Blessings
Sunday was a pretty easy-going day until evening rolled around. Our team decided that Sundays are our market, cleaning, and laundry days. For dinner Jeremy & I made chicken & dumplings with macaroni & cheese. Things got a little crazy when Jeremy L called us and said, ¨Hey, I´m on my way to Conima with 2 friends. We will be there in about 30 minutes.¨ That caught us off guard! And who were these 2 friends? We didn´t know. So Jeremy S & I continued in our dinner preparations now wondering if we would have enough food for 9 people.
About half an hour later we hear a bang on the door, and Jeremy S goes downstairs to answer it. As I continue cooking dinner upstairs I´m able to pick up parts of the conversation at the door. After several minutes Jeremy S comes back up to the kitchen with a somewhat panicked look on his face. ¨Jeremy L brought 2 French hikers that are backpacking across Peru & Bolivia. I don´t know what we´re supposed to do because we´ve been told not to invite people into the house.¨ Jeremy L had taken his 2 new French friends up to the lookout to see the sunset, and they would be back soon. After several minutes of confusion & discussion, I decided to call John. I explained to him what little I knew of the situation, and he said he would call Jeremy L. A few minutes later we receive another call from John telling us that Jeremy L had invited the backpackers to stay the night with us but that John had made it clear they would have to stay at one of the hostels in Conima. That was a relief to hear. I went on cooking dinner as I heard lots happening in the house. The backpackers returned with Jeremy L, introduced themselvse to me as I was de-boning a chicken & rolling dough balls, and then were directed downstairs where they could take hot showers. They seemed extremely nice & thankful for out hospitality. The young woman was named Jane, and the young man was named Thomas. They looked to be about 26 years old, and although they weren´t married they told us they´ve been together for 6 years.
It was really interesting to hear about all their travels & their stories. Every day after they settle in for the night, they write about their experiences that day. Their hope is to make it all into a book and have it edited & published when they finish their journey and return to France. Not only was it great to hear about them, buit we got a chance to pour into them & bless them. After dinner they came up to the living room with us. We sang a few worship songs and talked for a long time. At one point Jeremy L asked if they wanted to see an example of our storying that we had told them about. They agreed and eagerly listened as Jeremy shared with them the story of Peter & the Ethiopian unic that we had heard during orientation. They they proceeded to ask us more questions about out storying & our purpose in being here. It was just a really neat, God-appointed meeting.
The next morning (Monday) Thomas & Jane returned at 7am upon our invitiation to eat breakfast with us before they continued on their journey. Thomas was especially excited that Jeremy L made crepes for everyone. He & Jane said they haven´t had crepes since they were in France years ago. Before they left we all got some pictures together, and Heather gave them some hand warmers that they were so grateful to receive.
Monday was filled with divine appointments and God-given opportunities. Jeremy S was hiking up a mountainside praying when a man invited him into his home for lunch. Jeremy amazingly understood all that the man was saying in spanish and was few a very big, interesting lunch of eggs, fried cheese, peaches, oranges, some finger-looking purplish green-brown potatoe things, & a big yellow fruit that remains unknown. The ironic part is that he was hiking up the mountain to pray & fast all day. After eating lunch, he & the man shared scripture with one another for a while, and the man even sang Jeremy a psalm in spanish. He is a seventh day adventist.
For lunch, all the girls went to eat at Luis & Gumericinda´s restaurant. After we ate & paid, we gave Gumericinda the photos that Les had sent with me, and Emily explained in spanish that they were for her from our friends that came in May. She told us they want us to tell them more stories so next week we will hopefully begin storying with her & Luis.
Sara spent the afternoon reading in the plaza, and a young woman began talking with her. They spent some time talking, and when Sara asked if she would want to hear a story, the young woman said yes. So we have a storying date with her next Wednesday afternoon.
We promised the kids we would play with them at 3 this afternoon so we all went out to the plaza at 3pm, and sure enough there was a small crowd of kids waiting. That crowd grew as we chased them around laughing & tickling, rolling them on the longboard, doing handstands & kartwheels. Today we played ¨Duck, duck, goose¨with all the kids and then changed the words to ¨Pollo, pollo, pavo¨(Chicken, chicken, turkey). The kids really enjoyed that game, and it got everyone involved & playing. Playing with the kids in the plaza also drew a crowd of older adults that sat on the benches & watched. Tomorrow some of us are going to make a point to begin conversations with those adults.
It has been pretty exhausting lately with things feeling up sometimes & down other times. It changes as the days go on. Sometimes I´m excited & encouraged but others I´m struggling to keep my focus & remain optimistic. I´m tired of up & down, up & down all the time. So after worship Monday morning I went out on the balcony and sepnt a good while talking with God. I prayed for a passioante desire to seek God alone, to be totally consumed with Christ, to spent my thoughts on nothing else, to know my purpse here and focus solely on how God wants to use me. I prayed that God would reveal Himself in mighty & unique ways to each of our team and that He would do immeasurably more than I could ever ask or imagine. And I have already begun to see God answering that prayer.
About half an hour later we hear a bang on the door, and Jeremy S goes downstairs to answer it. As I continue cooking dinner upstairs I´m able to pick up parts of the conversation at the door. After several minutes Jeremy S comes back up to the kitchen with a somewhat panicked look on his face. ¨Jeremy L brought 2 French hikers that are backpacking across Peru & Bolivia. I don´t know what we´re supposed to do because we´ve been told not to invite people into the house.¨ Jeremy L had taken his 2 new French friends up to the lookout to see the sunset, and they would be back soon. After several minutes of confusion & discussion, I decided to call John. I explained to him what little I knew of the situation, and he said he would call Jeremy L. A few minutes later we receive another call from John telling us that Jeremy L had invited the backpackers to stay the night with us but that John had made it clear they would have to stay at one of the hostels in Conima. That was a relief to hear. I went on cooking dinner as I heard lots happening in the house. The backpackers returned with Jeremy L, introduced themselvse to me as I was de-boning a chicken & rolling dough balls, and then were directed downstairs where they could take hot showers. They seemed extremely nice & thankful for out hospitality. The young woman was named Jane, and the young man was named Thomas. They looked to be about 26 years old, and although they weren´t married they told us they´ve been together for 6 years.
It was really interesting to hear about all their travels & their stories. Every day after they settle in for the night, they write about their experiences that day. Their hope is to make it all into a book and have it edited & published when they finish their journey and return to France. Not only was it great to hear about them, buit we got a chance to pour into them & bless them. After dinner they came up to the living room with us. We sang a few worship songs and talked for a long time. At one point Jeremy L asked if they wanted to see an example of our storying that we had told them about. They agreed and eagerly listened as Jeremy shared with them the story of Peter & the Ethiopian unic that we had heard during orientation. They they proceeded to ask us more questions about out storying & our purpose in being here. It was just a really neat, God-appointed meeting.
The next morning (Monday) Thomas & Jane returned at 7am upon our invitiation to eat breakfast with us before they continued on their journey. Thomas was especially excited that Jeremy L made crepes for everyone. He & Jane said they haven´t had crepes since they were in France years ago. Before they left we all got some pictures together, and Heather gave them some hand warmers that they were so grateful to receive.
Monday was filled with divine appointments and God-given opportunities. Jeremy S was hiking up a mountainside praying when a man invited him into his home for lunch. Jeremy amazingly understood all that the man was saying in spanish and was few a very big, interesting lunch of eggs, fried cheese, peaches, oranges, some finger-looking purplish green-brown potatoe things, & a big yellow fruit that remains unknown. The ironic part is that he was hiking up the mountain to pray & fast all day. After eating lunch, he & the man shared scripture with one another for a while, and the man even sang Jeremy a psalm in spanish. He is a seventh day adventist.
For lunch, all the girls went to eat at Luis & Gumericinda´s restaurant. After we ate & paid, we gave Gumericinda the photos that Les had sent with me, and Emily explained in spanish that they were for her from our friends that came in May. She told us they want us to tell them more stories so next week we will hopefully begin storying with her & Luis.
Sara spent the afternoon reading in the plaza, and a young woman began talking with her. They spent some time talking, and when Sara asked if she would want to hear a story, the young woman said yes. So we have a storying date with her next Wednesday afternoon.
We promised the kids we would play with them at 3 this afternoon so we all went out to the plaza at 3pm, and sure enough there was a small crowd of kids waiting. That crowd grew as we chased them around laughing & tickling, rolling them on the longboard, doing handstands & kartwheels. Today we played ¨Duck, duck, goose¨with all the kids and then changed the words to ¨Pollo, pollo, pavo¨(Chicken, chicken, turkey). The kids really enjoyed that game, and it got everyone involved & playing. Playing with the kids in the plaza also drew a crowd of older adults that sat on the benches & watched. Tomorrow some of us are going to make a point to begin conversations with those adults.
It has been pretty exhausting lately with things feeling up sometimes & down other times. It changes as the days go on. Sometimes I´m excited & encouraged but others I´m struggling to keep my focus & remain optimistic. I´m tired of up & down, up & down all the time. So after worship Monday morning I went out on the balcony and sepnt a good while talking with God. I prayed for a passioante desire to seek God alone, to be totally consumed with Christ, to spent my thoughts on nothing else, to know my purpse here and focus solely on how God wants to use me. I prayed that God would reveal Himself in mighty & unique ways to each of our team and that He would do immeasurably more than I could ever ask or imagine. And I have already begun to see God answering that prayer.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
There will be mountains to climb
Thursday morning I awoke at 3:30am to bundle up and prepare to take on the challenge of climbing to the top of Mt Poco Paca to see the sunrise & pray over the city of Huancane. As it turned out, I was the only girl that decided to take the trail up the whole way instead of walking the road. I set out up the mountain following John, Jeremy L, Jeremy S, and Rueben when I turned around and saw that there were no other girls behind me. After the first leg of the hike I was thinking, ¨Why in the world did I choose the trail?!¨ The trail is a straight shot up the mountain which is about 500 ft up. Beginning at 12,800 ft above sea level made the hike even harder breathing in such thin, cold air the whole way. I´ve never had such a hard time breathing! That is what made the hike extraordinarily difficult as well as the fact that I could hardly see what was ahead of me hiking in the dark hours of the morning. Once we hit the halfway point I wasn´t sure if I would made it to the top in time to see the sunrise, but I was sure hoping so. Every time I had to stop for a moment I would say a short prayer for endurance and energy before I continued hiking. I kept telling myself ¨You can do this. With the Lord´s help, you can do this.¨
The very last stertch of the hike Jeremy S & I chose to climb the face of the mountain instead of staying on the trail. It was hard climbing all the huge rocks after such an exhausting hike, but the view from the top of the mountain was worth it all. As the sun slowly rose higher, I could see everything below. Lake Titicaca was a beautiful blue expanse surrounded by mountains. All of Huancane sat below us just beginning to stir with activity. All around us were mountains as far as the eye could see. the sun finally rose up from behind the mountain peaks and painted the sky with spectacular colors. I´ve never seen anything like it.
It only took me an hour to make it all the way up the mountain. It was a hard, painful hour of sucking in cold, cold air. My legs hurt. My energy ran low. My eyes began to water from the dry air & cold wind. My nose was running & stopped up from the cold, but the rest of my body was radiating heat under the several layers I wore. But the hike was well worth the effort. I just kept my focus on that mountain peak and did my best to ignore the pain. When you have a mission of purpose, you must keep your eyes set on that and let all the hardships fall behind you.
The hike taught me alot about what the rest of the summer will be like. Hardships will come. In fact, for many of our team members they have already begun. Like John has told us, Satan doesn´t want us here to share the love of Jesus Christ with the Aymaran people, but this is what God has called us to. He has provided and has brought each of us here. To get through these coming 6 weeks, I must seek the Lord whole-heartedly, find my strength in Him alone, and keep my focus on the purpose for which the Lord has called me here.
Rise and shine to a beautiful day in Conima!
Here we are in Conima. Our whole team is finally together after some changes in plans, no buses in sight, and 2 days of traveling. the hour & a half drive from Huancane to Conima was filled with many beautiful sights and alot of dusty mountain roads. At one point John stopped on the side of the road and let us get out to take pictures of the sparkling bright blue waters of Lake Titicaca nestled in the middle of majestic mountains that towered above the calm waters and reached their peaks to the heavens. The mountains of Peru are gorgeous!
Conima is a small, peaceful town, very quaint & slow-paced. The home we are styaing in is wonderful! It sits right on the corner of the plaza looking out at the lake. It is 4 stories so lots of going up & down stairs. The first floor is the garage, Jeremy´s bedroom & bathroom, and a small garden area out back where we can also do our laundry. The second floor is the kitchen complete with plenty of cabinet space, a refrigorator, and a gas stove-top which we brought with us. The third floor is where the 2 girls´bedrooms are as well as a bathroom for each room. Emily, Heather, & Sarah are staying in the larger room, and Alison & I share the other room. The fourth floor is our meeting room with the gas heater John sent with us. The top floor also has 2 doors that lead out to 2 balconies overlooking the plaza, the town, and the lake.
Yesterday was our first day together just the 6 of us in Conima. Jeremy S has gotten out his longboard, and the kids love it! We have played with them for hours, and when we aren´t plaing with them they are following us or banging on our door to come out & play. Yesterday after we played with the kids for a while and a locksmith-type man was finally able to open Jeremy´s bedroom door that had gotten jammed shut, we packed up lunch and hiked down to the lake as a team to have a picnic. After lunch we worked on memorizing our stories and played with a couple of little boys that had tried to sneakily follow us down to the lakeshore. Jeremy, Alison, and I took off our shoes, rolled up our pants, and waded out in the lake skipping rocks for a while. After a while we came back up to the plaza, split up into 2 groups, and prayer-walked around the town for a good while.
Today has been a busy day of grocery shopping at the market, disinfecting all our food, cooking, and hand-washing laundry. We promised some little boys that we would play with them later today, and we all plan to work more on memorizing our stories. I´ve got half of mine down well in spanish with motions & all, but that still leaves the second half to learn as quickly as possible.
The very last stertch of the hike Jeremy S & I chose to climb the face of the mountain instead of staying on the trail. It was hard climbing all the huge rocks after such an exhausting hike, but the view from the top of the mountain was worth it all. As the sun slowly rose higher, I could see everything below. Lake Titicaca was a beautiful blue expanse surrounded by mountains. All of Huancane sat below us just beginning to stir with activity. All around us were mountains as far as the eye could see. the sun finally rose up from behind the mountain peaks and painted the sky with spectacular colors. I´ve never seen anything like it.
It only took me an hour to make it all the way up the mountain. It was a hard, painful hour of sucking in cold, cold air. My legs hurt. My energy ran low. My eyes began to water from the dry air & cold wind. My nose was running & stopped up from the cold, but the rest of my body was radiating heat under the several layers I wore. But the hike was well worth the effort. I just kept my focus on that mountain peak and did my best to ignore the pain. When you have a mission of purpose, you must keep your eyes set on that and let all the hardships fall behind you.
The hike taught me alot about what the rest of the summer will be like. Hardships will come. In fact, for many of our team members they have already begun. Like John has told us, Satan doesn´t want us here to share the love of Jesus Christ with the Aymaran people, but this is what God has called us to. He has provided and has brought each of us here. To get through these coming 6 weeks, I must seek the Lord whole-heartedly, find my strength in Him alone, and keep my focus on the purpose for which the Lord has called me here.
Rise and shine to a beautiful day in Conima!
Here we are in Conima. Our whole team is finally together after some changes in plans, no buses in sight, and 2 days of traveling. the hour & a half drive from Huancane to Conima was filled with many beautiful sights and alot of dusty mountain roads. At one point John stopped on the side of the road and let us get out to take pictures of the sparkling bright blue waters of Lake Titicaca nestled in the middle of majestic mountains that towered above the calm waters and reached their peaks to the heavens. The mountains of Peru are gorgeous!
Conima is a small, peaceful town, very quaint & slow-paced. The home we are styaing in is wonderful! It sits right on the corner of the plaza looking out at the lake. It is 4 stories so lots of going up & down stairs. The first floor is the garage, Jeremy´s bedroom & bathroom, and a small garden area out back where we can also do our laundry. The second floor is the kitchen complete with plenty of cabinet space, a refrigorator, and a gas stove-top which we brought with us. The third floor is where the 2 girls´bedrooms are as well as a bathroom for each room. Emily, Heather, & Sarah are staying in the larger room, and Alison & I share the other room. The fourth floor is our meeting room with the gas heater John sent with us. The top floor also has 2 doors that lead out to 2 balconies overlooking the plaza, the town, and the lake.
Yesterday was our first day together just the 6 of us in Conima. Jeremy S has gotten out his longboard, and the kids love it! We have played with them for hours, and when we aren´t plaing with them they are following us or banging on our door to come out & play. Yesterday after we played with the kids for a while and a locksmith-type man was finally able to open Jeremy´s bedroom door that had gotten jammed shut, we packed up lunch and hiked down to the lake as a team to have a picnic. After lunch we worked on memorizing our stories and played with a couple of little boys that had tried to sneakily follow us down to the lakeshore. Jeremy, Alison, and I took off our shoes, rolled up our pants, and waded out in the lake skipping rocks for a while. After a while we came back up to the plaza, split up into 2 groups, and prayer-walked around the town for a good while.
Today has been a busy day of grocery shopping at the market, disinfecting all our food, cooking, and hand-washing laundry. We promised some little boys that we would play with them later today, and we all plan to work more on memorizing our stories. I´ve got half of mine down well in spanish with motions & all, but that still leaves the second half to learn as quickly as possible.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Nightmares, cooking, clothes, and alot of information
Catching up...
MONDAY
Sitting on the roof in the morning to spend time with the Lord will probably be one of my favorite things this summer. I sit here sipping my hot coca tea as the sun shines down and warms my body. The cold doesn´t seem nearly as bad now. Last night I was sweating in my sleeping bag so I may goto just wearing one pair of pajama pants & a sweater to bed.
Last night I had nightmares all night long so my sleep wasn´t as restful. Those nightmares felt so real and woke me in a state of fear and trembling. Each time I woke, I said a prayer to calm my anxiety and remind me that God is greater. But despite my prayers the nightmares continued all night, and I sit here this morning with a fear that shakes my insides. It dwells inside me and makes me want to run away. Run from what? - I`m not sure. God´s plans for me, the work He is doing in me, the unknown, what lies ahead of me. I just don´t know. But what I do know is that God is greater than my fears. So I will continue to go to the Lord with my fears and turn to scripture as my comfort. Joshua 1:9 says, ¨This is my command - be strong & courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For theLord your God is with you wherever you go.¨ There are so many other places in scripture where God tells His children not to fear. Therefore, because of the vast power & supreme nature of God as well as His command to His children not to fear, I will stand strong in the face of fear because my God is greater.
The highlight of orientation today was learning to cook at an altitude of 12,800 ft. Sonia helped show the team how to make vegetable soup. Now when I say vegetable soup, it isn´t nearly as easy as it sounds. You have to clean, disinfect, peel, and chop all the vegetables - carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, celery, peas, and 3 cloves of garlic. Then you fill the pot with purified water and some buoin cubes and let it cook for at least an hour. It was very tasty with a piece of bread.
We spent time talking aboutworldview, contextualization, time management, living together, and simple church. I especially enjoyed hearing about the Aymaran worldview, contextualization of the gospel to them, and what it means to practice simple church. John is so passionate aboutit all and has a very Biblical view & practice of it all. I get more & more excited every day to begin our work in Conima!
During morning worship we sang a song called ¨Be Thou My Vision¨, and it really touched me. That is my prayer - that God would be my vision. Jeremy also shared the story this morning about Phillips & the Ethiopian unic. It spoke to me in a powerful way about trusting the Lord & faithfully following His lead. If I obediently & eagerly follow Christ, He will alwaysbe faithful to provide opportunities and guidance to share of His great love. I feel like I´m catching on to the story-telling prettywell so I am going to begin my first attempt at memorizing a Bible story in spanish. Updates to come on how that works out.
This evening I checked my facebook really quick and read a message that really upset me. To be honest, I logged off & hurried up to my room to cry. I was confused & hurt. I didn´t know what to think. But as I sat on my bed, the Lord spoke to my heart in a soft whisper, ¨Kelsey, I am your one true love. I am all you need, and I have great plans for you! Seek me with all your heart, mind, and strength, and I will be faithful as I have always been.¨ Then I heard Jeremy L & Jeremy S downstairs in our meeting oom singing. I went down and joined them. Throughspending that time singing praises to God, He captivated all my attention and reminded me of my purpose. This momentary upset is so trivial in comparison to how the Lord wants to use me while I´m in Peru & even well after I´m gone. It amazes me how powerfully God works in my heart if I only allow Him and how He continues to draw me closer to His & instill in me a deeper, more intimate love for my Savior every day.
TUESDAY
The day began when I woke up at 7:30am after unintentionally shutting off my alarm an hour earlier. I quickly got dressed, threw my dirty hair up in a ponytail, brushed my teeth, and walked across the hall to the kitchen where the rest of the team had already begun breakfast & Bible time. I ate a banana with some peanut butter, and then headed up to theroof with my steaming hot coca tea in one hand & my books in the other. I am really enjoying reading through Ephesians in the mornings. Paul´s words encourage me daily in my passion to intimiately seek the Lord and strive to have the heart of Jesus Christ. I grow neaer to God with each passing moment yet I also realize how much more there is to God. He amazes me every day as He continues to reveal Himself to me in real & astonishing ways.
The storyduring morning worship today was about Cornelius & Peter. One thing that continues to speak to me in each of the stories we´ve heard is the confident & obedient faith of the early believers as well as their eagerness to follow wherever God leads them. My heart´´s desire in tohave a crazy love for the Lord & obediently follow wherever He leads me with an eager, confident faith.
Before lunchwe had a lesson with Pastor Rueben y suesposa, Louisa, on how to hand wash our clothes. ¨Strong!¨Rueben told us as we tried our hands at scrubbing some of our dirty clothes. I think I´ve found an effective workout if I want to go back with some muscle! After doing the washing, it kinda makes me wonder how many wear you can get out of jackets & jeans before you have to wash them.
For lunch we got to learn how to piece apart a chicken and cut chicken breast from the bone. Even our team vegetarian, Alison, did it! Then we made polloa la milanesa which is a thinly sliced chicken breast that is breaded, seasoned, and fried. We coupled that with rice & a vegetable salad. What a delicious lunch! Pollo a la milanesa es muy rico!
This afternoon was spent discussing ministry ideas and learning how to do story-telling. It felt pretty long but very productive & helpful. Last night & my lunch break were spent working on storymemorization so I now know the first 6 verses of the Fall of Man in spanish. It´s a slow process, but it´s gettin´there. For dinner we made pancakes, and I got to have myself some banana pancakes. Yummmm!
I have to say that my favorite part of the day came tonight. Pastor Rueben, an Aymaran believer & pastor, came to the hostel and shared his testimony with us. He is such a humble man of God. His devout faithis an inspiration & encouragement to me. We got to ask him questions as well. It´s just amazing to head of what an impact Christ has had on him & his family and what a wonderful transformation has taken place in their hearts. I love hearing people´s stories.
Well that is all for now. I don´t have time to write about today (Wednesday). We are leaving the hostel in the morning at 4am to climb Mt Pico Paca in the morning & see the sunrise. So off to bed I go! Buenoes noches, amigos.
MONDAY
Sitting on the roof in the morning to spend time with the Lord will probably be one of my favorite things this summer. I sit here sipping my hot coca tea as the sun shines down and warms my body. The cold doesn´t seem nearly as bad now. Last night I was sweating in my sleeping bag so I may goto just wearing one pair of pajama pants & a sweater to bed.
Last night I had nightmares all night long so my sleep wasn´t as restful. Those nightmares felt so real and woke me in a state of fear and trembling. Each time I woke, I said a prayer to calm my anxiety and remind me that God is greater. But despite my prayers the nightmares continued all night, and I sit here this morning with a fear that shakes my insides. It dwells inside me and makes me want to run away. Run from what? - I`m not sure. God´s plans for me, the work He is doing in me, the unknown, what lies ahead of me. I just don´t know. But what I do know is that God is greater than my fears. So I will continue to go to the Lord with my fears and turn to scripture as my comfort. Joshua 1:9 says, ¨This is my command - be strong & courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For theLord your God is with you wherever you go.¨ There are so many other places in scripture where God tells His children not to fear. Therefore, because of the vast power & supreme nature of God as well as His command to His children not to fear, I will stand strong in the face of fear because my God is greater.
The highlight of orientation today was learning to cook at an altitude of 12,800 ft. Sonia helped show the team how to make vegetable soup. Now when I say vegetable soup, it isn´t nearly as easy as it sounds. You have to clean, disinfect, peel, and chop all the vegetables - carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, celery, peas, and 3 cloves of garlic. Then you fill the pot with purified water and some buoin cubes and let it cook for at least an hour. It was very tasty with a piece of bread.
We spent time talking aboutworldview, contextualization, time management, living together, and simple church. I especially enjoyed hearing about the Aymaran worldview, contextualization of the gospel to them, and what it means to practice simple church. John is so passionate aboutit all and has a very Biblical view & practice of it all. I get more & more excited every day to begin our work in Conima!
During morning worship we sang a song called ¨Be Thou My Vision¨, and it really touched me. That is my prayer - that God would be my vision. Jeremy also shared the story this morning about Phillips & the Ethiopian unic. It spoke to me in a powerful way about trusting the Lord & faithfully following His lead. If I obediently & eagerly follow Christ, He will alwaysbe faithful to provide opportunities and guidance to share of His great love. I feel like I´m catching on to the story-telling prettywell so I am going to begin my first attempt at memorizing a Bible story in spanish. Updates to come on how that works out.
This evening I checked my facebook really quick and read a message that really upset me. To be honest, I logged off & hurried up to my room to cry. I was confused & hurt. I didn´t know what to think. But as I sat on my bed, the Lord spoke to my heart in a soft whisper, ¨Kelsey, I am your one true love. I am all you need, and I have great plans for you! Seek me with all your heart, mind, and strength, and I will be faithful as I have always been.¨ Then I heard Jeremy L & Jeremy S downstairs in our meeting oom singing. I went down and joined them. Throughspending that time singing praises to God, He captivated all my attention and reminded me of my purpose. This momentary upset is so trivial in comparison to how the Lord wants to use me while I´m in Peru & even well after I´m gone. It amazes me how powerfully God works in my heart if I only allow Him and how He continues to draw me closer to His & instill in me a deeper, more intimate love for my Savior every day.
TUESDAY
The day began when I woke up at 7:30am after unintentionally shutting off my alarm an hour earlier. I quickly got dressed, threw my dirty hair up in a ponytail, brushed my teeth, and walked across the hall to the kitchen where the rest of the team had already begun breakfast & Bible time. I ate a banana with some peanut butter, and then headed up to theroof with my steaming hot coca tea in one hand & my books in the other. I am really enjoying reading through Ephesians in the mornings. Paul´s words encourage me daily in my passion to intimiately seek the Lord and strive to have the heart of Jesus Christ. I grow neaer to God with each passing moment yet I also realize how much more there is to God. He amazes me every day as He continues to reveal Himself to me in real & astonishing ways.
The storyduring morning worship today was about Cornelius & Peter. One thing that continues to speak to me in each of the stories we´ve heard is the confident & obedient faith of the early believers as well as their eagerness to follow wherever God leads them. My heart´´s desire in tohave a crazy love for the Lord & obediently follow wherever He leads me with an eager, confident faith.
Before lunchwe had a lesson with Pastor Rueben y suesposa, Louisa, on how to hand wash our clothes. ¨Strong!¨Rueben told us as we tried our hands at scrubbing some of our dirty clothes. I think I´ve found an effective workout if I want to go back with some muscle! After doing the washing, it kinda makes me wonder how many wear you can get out of jackets & jeans before you have to wash them.
For lunch we got to learn how to piece apart a chicken and cut chicken breast from the bone. Even our team vegetarian, Alison, did it! Then we made polloa la milanesa which is a thinly sliced chicken breast that is breaded, seasoned, and fried. We coupled that with rice & a vegetable salad. What a delicious lunch! Pollo a la milanesa es muy rico!
This afternoon was spent discussing ministry ideas and learning how to do story-telling. It felt pretty long but very productive & helpful. Last night & my lunch break were spent working on storymemorization so I now know the first 6 verses of the Fall of Man in spanish. It´s a slow process, but it´s gettin´there. For dinner we made pancakes, and I got to have myself some banana pancakes. Yummmm!
I have to say that my favorite part of the day came tonight. Pastor Rueben, an Aymaran believer & pastor, came to the hostel and shared his testimony with us. He is such a humble man of God. His devout faithis an inspiration & encouragement to me. We got to ask him questions as well. It´s just amazing to head of what an impact Christ has had on him & his family and what a wonderful transformation has taken place in their hearts. I love hearing people´s stories.
Well that is all for now. I don´t have time to write about today (Wednesday). We are leaving the hostel in the morning at 4am to climb Mt Pico Paca in the morning & see the sunrise. So off to bed I go! Buenoes noches, amigos.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Orientation begins...
A good night's sleep was greatly appreciated last night - went to sleep at 8:30pm and got to sleep until 6:30am. I am the only girl sleeping in my own room, and I wasn't even afraid of the dark! I was so tired last night that I chose to wait til this morning to shower. BAD IDEA! The widow-maker is supposed to instantly heat the water, but apparently I did something wrong and had to take a cold shower in 50 degree weather. I absolutely hated it! In fact, I hated it enough that I think I might go to just one shower a week. It was miserable. And then I was shivering all morning because staying in a concrete building with tile floors & no heating is horribly cold. So this morning wasn't much fun at all.
We had morning worship together at 8:30. Jeremy L played a few worship songs on his guitar, and John told us a Bible story. I didn't realize he was demonstrating story-telling until almost halfway through. He told us about the beginning of the disciples' ministry & the early Church in Acts 2 after Jesus' ascention into heaven. We talked about the story after he had repeated it several times and I had told it back to him. Between morning worship & all our info sessions, I am really excited to learn more and then be able to use the skills we've learned to share the love of Christ in Conima. Our introduction time included getting to hear the testimonies of John & Sonia as well as learning more about the Aymara people. I love hearing people's stories. god works in such amazing ways!
Sunday is the big market day in Huancane so after morning worship John & Sonia took us through the market. John explained that it is important to build relationships with the people you buy from and then continue returning to buy from them. Sonia showed me how to buy fruits & vegetables and used 10 soles of ours to buy the ingredients for vegetable soup we will cook tomorrow for lunch. When you buy food you say "dos soles de papas", and you will get 2 soles of potatoes. So you ask for food based on how much you want to pay instead of saying how many items of food you want. The market in Peru is very different from Haiti - noone coming up to you bugging to come buy from them. After getting all our groceries we walked around for a bit just taking in the culture and scoping out souvenirs. The women all wear skirts and little hats. They sling a folded up blanket that looks like a pouch on their backs filled with things they bought in the market or even babies.
For lunch today we went to another restaurant and had a dish called lomo sal tado. It was delicious strips of beef cooked with onions & tomatoes served over rice & french fries. Peruvian food is fantastic!
I'm already learned so much and am looking forward to everything else that is to come. There is so much to know! Everything is different - grocery shopping, cooking, showering, making a fire, washing clothes, sharing the gospel, the language, Aymaran culture & beliefs, customs. But it is so fasinating! Well, I'm about ready for bed, and I'm sure we have another long day ahead of us. We are learning to cook tomorrow =) Adios, amigos! <
We had morning worship together at 8:30. Jeremy L played a few worship songs on his guitar, and John told us a Bible story. I didn't realize he was demonstrating story-telling until almost halfway through. He told us about the beginning of the disciples' ministry & the early Church in Acts 2 after Jesus' ascention into heaven. We talked about the story after he had repeated it several times and I had told it back to him. Between morning worship & all our info sessions, I am really excited to learn more and then be able to use the skills we've learned to share the love of Christ in Conima. Our introduction time included getting to hear the testimonies of John & Sonia as well as learning more about the Aymara people. I love hearing people's stories. god works in such amazing ways!
Sunday is the big market day in Huancane so after morning worship John & Sonia took us through the market. John explained that it is important to build relationships with the people you buy from and then continue returning to buy from them. Sonia showed me how to buy fruits & vegetables and used 10 soles of ours to buy the ingredients for vegetable soup we will cook tomorrow for lunch. When you buy food you say "dos soles de papas", and you will get 2 soles of potatoes. So you ask for food based on how much you want to pay instead of saying how many items of food you want. The market in Peru is very different from Haiti - noone coming up to you bugging to come buy from them. After getting all our groceries we walked around for a bit just taking in the culture and scoping out souvenirs. The women all wear skirts and little hats. They sling a folded up blanket that looks like a pouch on their backs filled with things they bought in the market or even babies.
For lunch today we went to another restaurant and had a dish called lomo sal tado. It was delicious strips of beef cooked with onions & tomatoes served over rice & french fries. Peruvian food is fantastic!
I'm already learned so much and am looking forward to everything else that is to come. There is so much to know! Everything is different - grocery shopping, cooking, showering, making a fire, washing clothes, sharing the gospel, the language, Aymaran culture & beliefs, customs. But it is so fasinating! Well, I'm about ready for bed, and I'm sure we have another long day ahead of us. We are learning to cook tomorrow =) Adios, amigos! <
Saturday, June 12, 2010
A choice to make a difference
So here I am. Finally in Peru. It has been a long night of travel, and we still have the day ahead before we arrive this evening at John´s home for training. We landed here in Lima at 6am after a long, restless 6 hour flight from Mexico City. Now with some breakfast in my belly, I´m still sleepy but ready to face the day. I got 3 hours of rest on the plane so hopefully there will be a couple more hours of sleep for me sometime today.
My mind is so restless thinking of all that lies ahead, and I find myself in constant prayer as I wonder what God has in store for us. I finished reading Crazy Love on the flight from DFW to Mexico City. The whole ninth chapter is filled with stories of people who lived their lives sold out to the Lord and in turn changed lives & impacted the world for Christ. It reminded me of what God has been teaching me through my readings of Genesis, Luke, & Acts. All the people in the Bible from the beginning of creation to the birth of Christ to the crucifixion & resurrection to the beginnning of the early Church and all the way to now - all the people from then until now have had a choice...a choice to love Christ or reject Him, a choice to live for Christ or fulfill self-indulgent pleasures, a choice to make an eternal difference or be consumed with this life. Some people chose to follow where God led them & glorified the Lord with the time they were given while others were consumed with their own selfish ambition & faded into the empty pages of history where they will never be known again. Our time on this earth is short. Think back to Genesis and where your life falls in the grand scheme of things. Your life is but a fleeting breath, a vapor in the wind that is here & then gone. I want to use my fleeting breath to praise the Lord and be soley devoted to all He has to me!
I awoke in the early hours of the morning to a dark, quiet plane very dimmly lit by the flickering lights of television screens. The cabin lay still and silent as many of the passengers drifted in & out of sleep. As I sat in the darkness I began to feel reality set in - I will spend the rest of my summer sharing the love of Christ with people who don´t know Jesus. How awesome!! This is what God has called me to - nothing more, nothing less, nothing different. And there is nowhere else I would rather be than in God´s will doing God´s work.
My mind is so restless thinking of all that lies ahead, and I find myself in constant prayer as I wonder what God has in store for us. I finished reading Crazy Love on the flight from DFW to Mexico City. The whole ninth chapter is filled with stories of people who lived their lives sold out to the Lord and in turn changed lives & impacted the world for Christ. It reminded me of what God has been teaching me through my readings of Genesis, Luke, & Acts. All the people in the Bible from the beginning of creation to the birth of Christ to the crucifixion & resurrection to the beginnning of the early Church and all the way to now - all the people from then until now have had a choice...a choice to love Christ or reject Him, a choice to live for Christ or fulfill self-indulgent pleasures, a choice to make an eternal difference or be consumed with this life. Some people chose to follow where God led them & glorified the Lord with the time they were given while others were consumed with their own selfish ambition & faded into the empty pages of history where they will never be known again. Our time on this earth is short. Think back to Genesis and where your life falls in the grand scheme of things. Your life is but a fleeting breath, a vapor in the wind that is here & then gone. I want to use my fleeting breath to praise the Lord and be soley devoted to all He has to me!
I awoke in the early hours of the morning to a dark, quiet plane very dimmly lit by the flickering lights of television screens. The cabin lay still and silent as many of the passengers drifted in & out of sleep. As I sat in the darkness I began to feel reality set in - I will spend the rest of my summer sharing the love of Christ with people who don´t know Jesus. How awesome!! This is what God has called me to - nothing more, nothing less, nothing different. And there is nowhere else I would rather be than in God´s will doing God´s work.
Friday, June 4, 2010
A feeling I can't describe
One thought has been running through my head all day...I leave in a week. A week from today. I've known this for many months now, but for some reason as that thought turned over & over in my mind today an overwhelming feeling began to rise up inside me. I'm not sure how to describe that feeling. I'm not even sure if it's a good or bad feeling. But it has dwelt inside me making my mind race, my stomach turn, my adrenaline rush, my heart pound, and my body run around frantically. Excitement? Anxiety? Nervousness? Exhaustion? I'm not sure exactly. I am almost completely done packing. Yes, I still have more days, but those 6 days are completely filled with out responsibilities leaving absolutely no other time to pack. I have a single duffel bag and backpack to hold all I will need for the next 7 weeks. Makes me wonder why I need much more when I am living in Texas.
Things that have popped in my mind: will I have any milk to drink while I'm there? That's important! I can single-handedly go through a gallon of milk in 3 to 4 days. I wish I could swim in Lake Titicaca. Maybe that is ridiculous to think, but I would totally do it if the temperature didn't drop before freezing daily. Do I need to bring laxatives if the staples of my diet are going to be potatoes, rice, and pasta for almost 2 months? I don't think my digestive system is used to that. It will be so cool if I discover a new village that noone knew about! - apparently that happened while the last team was there. I wonder what guinea pig tastes like. I still can't picture what it will feel like to be living at 13,000-ft every day. But I'm still determined to try jogging up there in the mountains - I don't think I can go 7 weeks without any running!
Just a glimpse into the craziness of my mind as of late.
Until next time, adios!....the sad part - I almost wrote orevoua, but I caught myself. And then it took me a couple of minutes to remember how to say "goodbye" in spanish. I better bust out those vocabulary & verb sheets from high school!
Things that have popped in my mind: will I have any milk to drink while I'm there? That's important! I can single-handedly go through a gallon of milk in 3 to 4 days. I wish I could swim in Lake Titicaca. Maybe that is ridiculous to think, but I would totally do it if the temperature didn't drop before freezing daily. Do I need to bring laxatives if the staples of my diet are going to be potatoes, rice, and pasta for almost 2 months? I don't think my digestive system is used to that. It will be so cool if I discover a new village that noone knew about! - apparently that happened while the last team was there. I wonder what guinea pig tastes like. I still can't picture what it will feel like to be living at 13,000-ft every day. But I'm still determined to try jogging up there in the mountains - I don't think I can go 7 weeks without any running!
Just a glimpse into the craziness of my mind as of late.
Until next time, adios!....the sad part - I almost wrote orevoua, but I caught myself. And then it took me a couple of minutes to remember how to say "goodbye" in spanish. I better bust out those vocabulary & verb sheets from high school!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The ways God works
Today as I was driving down the highway, I heard a song that stuck with me. When I got home I looked it up online, and as I read the lyrics I began crying. I can’t really explain in words why I was crying other than to say these words reached to the core of how I have felt in recent weeks.
It's time for healing, time to move on.
It's time to fix what’s been broken too long.
Time to make right what has been wrong.
It's time to find my way to where I belong.
There's a wave that's crashing over me,
And all I can do is surrender.
Whatever you're doing inside of me,
It feels like chaos but somehow there’s peace.
And it's hard to surrender to what I can't see,
But I'm giving into something heavenly.
Time for a milestone, time to begin again, re-evaluate who I really am.
Am I doing everything to follow your will?
I'm just climbing aimlessly over these hills.
So show me what it is you want from me.
I'd give everything, I surrender to...
Whatever you're doing inside of me.
It feels like chaos but somehow there’s peace.
And though it's hard to surrender to what I can't see,
I'm giving into something heavenly.
Something heavenly...
Time to face up, clean this old house.
Time to breathe in, and let everything out,
that I've wanted to say, for so many years.
Time to release all my held back tears.
Whatever you're doing inside of me,
it feels like chaos but now I can see...
This is something bigger than me,
larger than life, something heavenly.
Something heavenly…
As I think about how I have seen God work and how I feel Him working in my own heart, I can’t help but stand in awe. Some things can be so painful but break us to the point of complete dependence on the One greater than ourselves. Sometimes all that we think we can depend on is pulled out from beneath us leaving only Christ to hold us up. Sometimes we fall victim to our own faults – whatever they may be – and find ourselves consumed with frustration, regret, guilt and broken by sin. But the beauty of all those things is that Christ remains. He is faithful to be your Rock, your Redeemer, your Provider, your Savior. And sometimes in the times when you might least expect it, God steps in in the midst of the chaos that is your life and brings a peace that surpasses all earthly difficulties. Take heart! For He has overcome the world and will be there with you as you face the challenges of this world. He is using what may seem now to be horrible disasters and heart-wrenching situations to bring glory to His name. It may be hard now and there may be pain, but He is taking the broken pieces of your life and creating the masterpiece you were made to be – a beautiful creation that reflects His faithfulness and proclaims His unfailing love.
God is greater than anything you or I will face. That is a truth I hope to NEVER forget. As I continue on this journey of being changed, I find peace in that truth. As I prepare to leave for Peru in less than 9 days, I find myself continually reminging myself that God is greater. And God in His faithfulness has continued to reveal Himself to me in seemingly subtle ways that comfort my wrestless mind and ease my anxious spirit. God is greater.
It's time for healing, time to move on.
It's time to fix what’s been broken too long.
Time to make right what has been wrong.
It's time to find my way to where I belong.
There's a wave that's crashing over me,
And all I can do is surrender.
Whatever you're doing inside of me,
It feels like chaos but somehow there’s peace.
And it's hard to surrender to what I can't see,
But I'm giving into something heavenly.
Time for a milestone, time to begin again, re-evaluate who I really am.
Am I doing everything to follow your will?
I'm just climbing aimlessly over these hills.
So show me what it is you want from me.
I'd give everything, I surrender to...
Whatever you're doing inside of me.
It feels like chaos but somehow there’s peace.
And though it's hard to surrender to what I can't see,
I'm giving into something heavenly.
Something heavenly...
Time to face up, clean this old house.
Time to breathe in, and let everything out,
that I've wanted to say, for so many years.
Time to release all my held back tears.
Whatever you're doing inside of me,
it feels like chaos but now I can see...
This is something bigger than me,
larger than life, something heavenly.
Something heavenly…
As I think about how I have seen God work and how I feel Him working in my own heart, I can’t help but stand in awe. Some things can be so painful but break us to the point of complete dependence on the One greater than ourselves. Sometimes all that we think we can depend on is pulled out from beneath us leaving only Christ to hold us up. Sometimes we fall victim to our own faults – whatever they may be – and find ourselves consumed with frustration, regret, guilt and broken by sin. But the beauty of all those things is that Christ remains. He is faithful to be your Rock, your Redeemer, your Provider, your Savior. And sometimes in the times when you might least expect it, God steps in in the midst of the chaos that is your life and brings a peace that surpasses all earthly difficulties. Take heart! For He has overcome the world and will be there with you as you face the challenges of this world. He is using what may seem now to be horrible disasters and heart-wrenching situations to bring glory to His name. It may be hard now and there may be pain, but He is taking the broken pieces of your life and creating the masterpiece you were made to be – a beautiful creation that reflects His faithfulness and proclaims His unfailing love.
God is greater than anything you or I will face. That is a truth I hope to NEVER forget. As I continue on this journey of being changed, I find peace in that truth. As I prepare to leave for Peru in less than 9 days, I find myself continually reminging myself that God is greater. And God in His faithfulness has continued to reveal Himself to me in seemingly subtle ways that comfort my wrestless mind and ease my anxious spirit. God is greater.
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