It was my birthday...and my mom came to surprise me!

Birthday Week:
Saturday:
Wow, I just got finished with one of the best weeks ever in Peru. If you have read the blog post a humble reminder, you know the story about getting almost all of my haircut off. I was very down and depressed about that even though it was such a petty thing. Nancy willingly went to the peruvian market with me to find wigs. You should have seen some of the looks that we got from people when we were taking wigs off manicuns and trying them on to see if they would work. Anyway, I left the market not with a wig, but with a few shiny scarves to try and cover the horrible damage. I came back to the house still depressed, but i started to work on my blog. The house was pretty much a mess, but Nancy had decided that we were going to have a good dinner. The day before we bought stuff to make our first steak here in Peru and baked potatoes. Nichhola was going to come over, so I decided to clean the house a little bit which Nancy had already been doing, and actually get a little dressed up. Little did I know that my mom would be showing up in about 30 minutes. My mom and Nancy had coordinated this huge birthday surprise that I did not know about! Nichhola finally got her at like 11:00 pm, and we had just finished all the food. I had thought it was weird that Nancy had wanted us to buy extra steak and to cook all of the bake potates because she normally does not like to buy things unless for sure we need them, but she convinced me that we would make 2 meals out of this one etc. Nichhola told me to close my eyes and that he was going to bring a surprise up for me. I had thought that it was a chocolate cake or something. Then someone had their hands over me, which I thought were Nancy's and said, "Guess who?" At the sound of her voice, I knew that it was my mom. I was in complete and total shock, I started freaking out! I said, “OH MY WORD” probably a hundred times. It was the best surprise ever! After a very discouraging weekend, my absolute best friend and mom was at my door in PERU! After the shock, we sat down and ate a delicious meal together. The baked potates and steak were wonderful! Great job Nancy! Then my mom gave me a beautiful scrapbook that she had made for me of the time that I was in the states for furlough. She and my dad also gave me this netbook which I am using right now. It came at just the perfect timing because my computer had completely stopped working the week before. My mom was able to take my computer back to the states to have some repair done to it. Of course, that night we stayed up till’ 4 talking! Best birthday present ever!





Sunday: The next morning was actually my mom’s birthday, and we had a full day of ministry! We went and did our morning house church in Ancon and had a really good time with Jackeline and her daughter. After that we went to 3 Regiones, we only had 3 people show up, but Ingrid one of the 9 year old kids came and she is just incredible. My mom encouraged me that she could be the next huge missionary in Peru. My mom also taught us several new fun games to play with our kids in house church. The kids loved it! It was an adventure changing the rules etc from English into Spanish, but it worked! Then we came back to get ready for a birthday party we had been invited to in Surco. We went and had a good time. Little did I know that was all part of Nancy’s plan to get us to go to Surco. After Taby’s birthday party, I took my mom to Manola’s to finally celebrate her birthday. I felt bad that I had so many plans ahead of time on her birthday but in my favor I had no idea she was going to be here in Peru for her birthday! We went to Manolas and I ate some delicious churros and my mom ate a delicious piece of tres leches cake. We made a huge ruckus by singing happy birthday in English as loud as we could. Nancy right before had taken all of our bags “somewhere” and met up with us at Manolas with Amanda Wissman! Then the two of them made us close our eyes and cross all of these streets and go on a small scavenger hunt until we arrived at our next destination. Nancy had planned for us to stay at this great hotel and Amanda had decorated all of it. It was so awesome! My mom had brought some of my birthday presents which were the amazing games of Pictionary, guesstures, and cranium. Of course, we stayed up till’ 4:00 in the morning playing games; it was a blast!
























Monday: The next morning, I had the privilege of talking to my best friend in the states, Sara Campos via skype! Then we left for the rest of the day of surprises that Nancy and Amanda had planned. We walked around a little bit in Mira Flores, ate at McDonald’s, and then we went to our next surprise destination: The Larco Mar mall. Nancy and Amanda had my mom sit down and wait. They brought our next surprise to us, my good friends Shaun and Mark to meet us for the next part of our adventure. Then we had the awesome opportunity to watch Pirates of the Carribean 4 in English in 3D! It was AMAZING! Then they took me to Tony Roma’s where I was able to eat a baked potatoe! They are one of the only restaurants in Peru that serves baked potatoes. Mark left after that, and Amanda and Shaun acted like they had to go. But there were still more surprises left! They actually had planned ahead of time to have a game night at Shaun and Amanda’s house! We went to their house and played games for like 6 hours! It was incredible! I lost at nertz that was the only sad part, but what is new? I always lose to my mom! Nicchola picked us up, and he gave me a Peru tshirt for my birthday and brought us back to Ventanilla. Then I opened up the presents from my family and friends in the states. Thanks so much for all of you that sent me birthday presents! That was too sweet of you. I got some awesome things like tons of games, chocolate, Christian CDs, and one of the seasons of 24! Ya’ll are so thoughtful. Everything is being used and enjoyed already!


















Tuesday: We slept in really late because we had pulled too many 4:00 am nights in a row. We went to the next town over Puente Piedra because I had needed to run an errand. You should have seen my mom she was like a kid in a candy store taking everything in. She loved looking at this city, sometimes I forget how different things are where we live. Then I took my mom to the mall area that is closest to us. We road one of the local buses. It took about 45 minutes to get there. I was so proud of my mom because I do not know many Americans that would take the local bus on a one week trip to Peru. I was also excited because she was getting the experience of my daily life. That is why I was taking her to this mall because I need to buy some food times from a store there and I wanted her to see a place where we go sometimes to watch a movie or to eat a chilis etc. We do not go there too often, but it is the closest American commercial area to us! My mom loved it. We had so much fun. I introduced my mom to a Peruvian dish called causa and she ate an empanada. Later for dessert we went to a restaurant that solely makes crepes! We had delicious dessert crepes and then headed home! I think that night we played phase 10 together! It was so fun getting to play one of my favorite games here in Peru with my mom!





Wednesday: Nichhola came that morning to pick us up for a day of adventure. We were going to go to La Victoria or what I call “the streets of Lima.” I had told my parents a lot about this place because that is where I went Christmas shopping for full outfits for 200 kids in the community and that is also where I got a lot of stuff done for our house. There is no way to describe it except that it is just street upon streets of whole sale commercial. Like one building we went into is 7 floors of whole sale clothes. Another building full of jewelry etc. It is incredible sight for sure. I got to take my mom to almost all of the places I went to shop for the clothes for the kids in the community. It was so neat once again for my mom to see another place in my life here in Peru where I go so often for various projects. We spent all morning and afternoon there. Nichhola took us to a restaurant were my mom got to try one of my favorite Peruvian dishes Papa Huancaina. It was delicious. After more looking around in the streets of Lima and buying some very cute and cheap jewelry. We headed for the arts district of Barranco. I had personally never been there before. On the way there, we stopped in Churillos a beautiful city that I had never been to before either. We got to walk down the beach and take a lot of ridiculously funny pictures. After that we went to a beautiful Barranco. It was incredible. It was so lush and just gorgeous. We ate at this fabulous restaurant in Barranco thanks to my oh so generous mom! We had such a great day together!




















Thursday: Mexican Fiesta (but this time big time) We had invited all of our closest Peruvian friends and all the people that were involved in house churches over to our house. Almost everyone came. 52 Peruvians came over to eat some major tacos, quesadillas, and Guacamole. It was amazing! We worked on cooking all afternoon and finally at 8. The party began. At first it was a little awkward, but our good Peruvian friend, John brought his sound system and his kids to do a presentation for my birthday. They did 2 dances and sang two songs! It was so sweet! Then we ate and ate and ate! Then we danced and danced and danced. Everyone I think had a great time. Nancy shared the good news of Jesus, and we gave away salvation bracelets to all of the guests. I hope that this party will be the start of many church plants and the strengthening of ones that are already in place. It was so neat to see how everyone worked together to make this party work. One lady made all the tacos for all of the children, another brought the music and entertainment to the party, another person served the chips and dip, and another drinks. We definitely had some amazing servants and leaders in our house that day, and I am excited to see how they will be a part of the church planting movement. Out of all 52 people that came, only 2 are Christians, but I know soon more of those people will know Christ!







Friday: We started our fifth house church in the city of Ventanilla. We just showed up to the market we had gone to the month before and found the family that asked us to start coming on a regular basis. Before we knew it we had about 12 kids and 1 or 2 adults that stopped by for a while. People as they passed seemed interested as well. We had a great time just playing games in the street and talking about Creation and Adam and Eve. Nancy taught the story and did a fantastic job. The kids at this place seem serious about coming and attending. We set a new time to come weekly, please pray that more kids and teenagers will come as well as adults that are shopping in the market and vendors in these markets. After that my mom, and I looked around the city of Ventanillla and then came back home to eat. We got to eat at the Chifa restaurant down the street where they cook right in front of you over hot flames. My mom was fascinated with how they cook at this restaurant. Then of course we had to watch some good ole’ 24 together. Thank you Sara for sending me the season of 24. So addicting!



Saturday: I loved Saturday. We just spent all day hanging out at the house playing games. Nicchola came over and we played Clue, Nertz, and dominoes. We had so much fun. We went to the chicken shack and ate some yummy Lomo Saltado. Then we came back and watched some more 24! It was such a fun and relaxing day. My mom is the best kind of tourist because she does not care about doing all of the touristy things but just hanging out. I can’t tell you how much fun it was for me to get to play my favorite games with my mom in my home in Peru.









Sunday: Sad day….my mom had to leave. I went with her to the airport to send her off after a fantastic week. Then I got to have a really great conversation with Nichhola about all kinds of things in life and most importantly about the good news of Jesus. Then I met Nancy and John at our house church in the afternoon. We had a good time with the teenagers and learned the importance of just worshipping God and not idols. Then we came back to the house, and John and I had a very intense conversation about many things that are going on in his life. God gave me some divine appointments for the Holy Spirit to speak to these two different men yesterday. It made me think about discipleship. How do I do it? It reminded me how important it is, yet how hard it is. Please pray that I would know how to disciple these people that are in my life and take every opportunity captive.

Mission Maps = Singing praises in the streets

Nancy, John (different name for privacy reasons), and I went out on the venture to find a map of Ventanilla. First we went to one place and then they directed us to another building, then we were instructed to wait until some man got there. We waited and waited, I was very hungry, so Nancy and I walked down the street to the little market down the road to get some cookies! When we were in the market, we were able to meet some teenage girls and tell them about Jesus! Then as we left the market, there were some boys playing in the street. I saw that John was waiting on the porch for the maps, so we started to play the hand game which is a chant that shares the story about Jesus. We played that over and over again, each time more kids from the street joining. We had about 10 kids that stayed with us the whole time and more that would come by and watch! Adults were also peeking out of the market and standing in the street watching, police passed by intentionally to see what was going on. The kids were singing praises so LOUD. We got to explain the gospel as well to the children. One of the dad´s came up and said why don´t yall come out on a regular basis. He said this is what these kids need and more and omre will start to come each week. His wife works in the market right in front of where we are. We are hoping to start another House Church on this exact street this coming Friday. Then a Christian pastor came up and talked with me and inivited me to church up the street. Every part of the afternoon was such a blessing.It was such a beautiful and pure time of ministry. Something only the Lord could have coordinated. In the end, we finally got our map that we wanted of Ventanilla, but the wait was so worth it.

120 smiles that have captured my heart

About a month ago, we had the opportunity to teach 4 Bible studies in the Community with the four youngest houses. Nancy taught the little girls and, and I taught the little boys. I had taught the majority of these boys the year before in school, and it was such a blessing to get to see each and everyone of them again. We came for the specific purpose of teaching the Easter story. We had not been able to do anything with them on Easter weekend, so we went the week after. When I walked onto the porch of Pukllay ninos, I was overwhelmed with love from these preciuos sweet 3 to 6 year old boys. The best part of the day for me was hearing them all sing Christian songs that they had learned last year with me in religion class. It touched my heart so much, that even preschoolers had learned about Jesus last year. We had a beautiful time of singing, then went in and watched a cartoon movie of the passion week, and then I explained the gospel, and gave out refreshements. It was such a preciuos time. I then got to do the same exact thing with Cesar Vallejo house, the 6 to 9 year old boys. We were waiting for someone to bring us a dvd player so we just sang and sang over and over again the songs we had learned from the year before. It was such a blessing once again to my ears. Then it even blessed me more when the kids could explain to me that we only receive salvation by faith in Jesus Christ not by anything we can do, but only by faith and repentance in Him as our Savior and Lord. About 10 boys from that house decided to give their lives to Jesus last year, and it was so neat watching the fruit of that several months later. God has done an amazing work in the live´s of the children in the Community, and I can´t wait to see what he will continue to do! Our God is mighty to save!

A Beautiful Legacy

I had the honor and privalege of meeting up with Mrs. Campos in Peru, the mother of my best friend, Sara Campos, Sara´s grandmother, and her 2 cousins. Sara´s mom is a missionary in Guatemala but is from Peru. She was down visiting her mother for mother´s day. It was such a great experience for me because I have so much respect for Sara´s mom and dad and all the great work they do for the Lord in Guatemala.


Sara´s grandmother has recently been very sick and in the hospital, but the day I went to her house I couldn´t believe how active and what they call ¨viva¨ in Peru she was. At one point and time, she just plopped down on a beenbag like she was 15. She is so cute! She has an amazing personality and is a very committed follower of the Lord as well. I got to listen to one of the most beautiful stories I have ever heard about Sara´s grandfather. He was one of the few Christian´s in Lima during his lifetime many years ago. His story reminded me so much of Paul´s story in the Bible. Every Saturday, he would go out and preach the good news of Jesus Christ, and the police would stone him and put him in jail. He knew he would go to jail every weekend for sharing the gospel. He would rejoice in the fact that they would put him in jail, so that he could share the gospel with the inmates. They would sing songs of praise in the jail, preach the gospel, and many would give their lives to Christ on those Saturday nights. A lot of people were just in the jail for minor crimes and after giving their lifes to Christ would leave the jail with Sara´s grandfather on Sunday morning and go to church. He would repeat the same thing every weekend, and rejoiced in the fact that he was stoned and put in jail so that he could share the gospel. This hit my heart. This is how we should all live our life if we are followers of Christ. Sara´s mom, shared with me how she had a lot of persecution being a Christian in school in Peru years ago, but how she always stood up for Christ and that made an impact in her friends. Sara´s mom also shared with me about her recent time in Cuba. She made such an impact on so many there when she went. I was just blown away by this legacy this family has. Both Sara´s mom and Dad are incredible servants of Jesus and goes back even a generation father to Mrs. Campos´ parents.

Then it continues with Sara Campos, a girl that that impacts everyone she meets with her beautiful smile, her giving heart, her listening ear, and someone who really cares for the least of the least. What a joy to see a family that is so serious about serving the Lord.

Friends love at all times

American Christian friends in Peru! Wow, as I type that it almost seems like an oxy moron, but it is not! God has provided us a few really good friends that I am SO GRATEFUL for. For at least more than half of the year last year we did not know any American Christians. Now we have found out that there really is life and people outside of Ventanilla. I have made 3 really close friends that have really blessed my life more than they will ever know. I just wanted to share some of the fun times that we have had lately together. There names are Shaun and Amanda Wissman and Mark Clancy. They are all missionaries here in Peru as well and live about and hour and a half away. We all came to Peru about the same time. We are all on this new journey of being missionaries in a foreign country together. They are such a huge encouragement to me. Some of the highlights of things we have gotten to do together since we have been back in Peru from our time in the states have been

1. WE WENT TO CHILIS! My gracious mom, paid for all of us to go to Chilis one afternoon. It was so much fun to just get to talk in English, talk about Peruvian politics and who we thought was going to win, joke, and eat some amazing food!

2. Coffee talk with Amanda and Shaun! We went and sat down one day and just talked about the ministry God has laid on our hearts. Shaun really helped us work through some things that we were going through. It was a very refreshing time.

3. Hangout time after Bible study. After a time of disciplship with a peruvian teammate, Nancy, Mark, and I just hung out and laughed a ton about all kinds of stuff. We also studied together some passages in the Bible that really encouraged Nancy and I. We also ate a lot of American junk food! It was so fun and really good enouragement for the soul.

We have also gotten to do various other things such as go to Shaun and Amanda´s church one Sunday which I already wrote about, go to several of Mark´s Bible studies, and are just able to talk together by picking up the Peruvian cell phone and not having to use skype to call another country.

As I am writing this, I realize this blog post does not make too much sense,but I really wrote it for me to remember the great times I have gotten to have with friends here in Peru that are on the same journey and have the same heart as I do. To find friends like this is not an everyday thing, and I never want to take for granted the blessing God has given me by giving me these 3 people in my life in Peru.

Camino de Vida Worship Night

Camino de Vida, an amazing church in Surco, had a worship night the Saturday before Easter. One of our good missionary friends, invited us to go to this special night of worship the day before Easter Sunday. The cool part was that they were recording a CD of the worship songs. It was a live recording! Each song, the praise and worship team at Camino de Vida had written. They were incredible worship songs. Since the songs were in Spanish and were new songs to me, it was a beautiful time of worship because I really had to think about the words. The coolest part of the whole night was that Nicchola our taxi driver, our Peruvian dad came with us. We asked him what he thought about it. He said it was not fun, or exciting, but something different than he had ever felt at least for 2 hours. I think he was very intrigued by went on. I know of course that was the Holy Spirit working on his life. I was so thankful that he was able to come to a Christian worship service and see what it is like to worship a RISEN SAVIOR! Please be praying for him. I can see God really working in his life and drawing him to his heart.

A humble reminder

So, today I am feeling a little down and discouraged for a number of pity, materialistic, and physical reasons. I really have no reason to be discouraged because our Lord is worthy to be praised, and He is always faithful. Anyway, yesterday I decided I would get my haircut in Peru. I had many recomendations that this guy was a great hair sylist including from an American. He was very pricey and his shop looked very professional, so I went against my gut instinct about not getting my haircut in Peru and decided to do it. Worst haircut decision of my life. So, I was trying to get my haircut in a bob cut with a few layers in the back, the man did not know how to do layers. When we asked him to cut it into layers in the back, he cut holes in my hair literally and had these uneven chunks in the back. I should have just left it like that, but I had the bright idea that i would go to a better place to get it fixed. Granted at this point in time it was already shorter than my chin because he had cut so much off the back trying to do layers he then had to cut more off the front. The guy at the next professional place which was inside a very rich supermarket and had Loreal products everywhere assured me he could help me. LIE! He began to cut off more and make it look even worse. Then the sweetest lady came over who was like the receptionist and gave the guy giving me a haircut a lecture. She basically was like what are you doing, but of course he said I came in looking like this. He had done his own amount of damage but of course would not admit to that. By the grace of God, she had him switch to cut another person´s hair. By this time, I was balling, the lady had already brought over a role of toilet paper and a glass of water. Later, I found out she was a Christian! Anyway, the fourth time to cut my hair, the guy named Jose actually knew what he was doing, but because their were so much uneveness and holes in my hair, he had to like do a shave thing in the back that looks like a guy. I honestly look just like a man, napeoleon dynamite if that gives you any mental images. If you know me well, you know I do not care at all about looks, most of my life, I have looked like a tomboy just because I do not care, but I am telling you it is horrible. I really look like a man. I found myself so discouraged yesterday and today and crying so much. I opened the Word and read some Psalms and Proverbs 31 which reminded me of what is of true importance.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty if fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs 31, 30

Once again God brought to my mind, how fortunate I am. People all over the world are born with defects or have cancer and have to loose their hair for treatment, can´t walk, are old women beggars that look like men because they do not have the money to take care of themselves, and I am just freaking about a simple man haircut that soon will grow out and be fine again. This has really made me think about the things that are important in life. I have so much to be grateful for and this is just such a minor thing. God has blessed me with an incredible opportunity to live in Peru and share his love with people all over this country. He has provided in every way possible. This has been a good lesson for me to realize what I have, and how I really need to reach out to those that are physically suffering or going through trials. More than just physical suffering in Peru, which there is a ton of, there are tons of people here that do not know the Savior Jesus Christ, and that is really what I need to be focused on. Thanks for listening to me vent about having a man haircut, but please be reminded along with me that we are so blessed. Our true focus should be following the Lord with all of our heart and sharing His love with the world around us.

Election Day

God is so faithful, even when I do not want to do things or dread doing things that I know I have been called to, He always brings about something incredible that I never would have expected. That is exactly what happened on Election Day this past April. The Peruvians in late April had mandatory voting for the presidential election. This was the first out of two sessions. There were 5 running candidates and it was narrowed down to two after this session: Keiko and Ollanta. Anyway, Amanda and I had planned to go to the voting lines and pass out bracelets that shared the gospel. The bracelets have the arrows that represent:
Jesus came
Jesus died
Jesus rose again
Jesus went back to Heaven
Jesus one day will come again and all those who have put their faith in Him will go to Heaven with him forever
Last year in October Nancy and I had seen huge long lines on election day for the mayor or something like that and had gotten to give out several hundred bracelets. I decided that we would take advantage of this voting day again this year. Amanda woke up sick that Sunday morning and could not go, and I of course overslept. For those of you who know me that is normal. I was feeling very guilty for not getting there as early as I should have, but then I found out that there really were not lines this year. There were for only maybe the first hour but not all day like the last elections. This election was a lot more organized I guess. People were just going straight into vote, so there was no way I could really give the people the bracelets because they were walking straight into vote. I looked across the street and there were tons of vendors selling food to all the people who come by to vote. I started going to the little stands and asking people if they wanted bracelets. At first people were not really receptive, but then others that were watching started wondering what was going on and wanted bracelets. Although, I did not give out the 500 bracelets like I was expecting, I was able to give out about 30 and have about 5 very significant and long conversations about the gospel.
The conversation that was most incredible to me was a lady that was about 50 years old. That day was her first day to sell in that city, she normally sells cookies and soft drinks in another town. She started telling me what she believed and talking about how if you were good that is how you get favor with God to have eternal life. Then she asked me if that was correct? I told her no that it could only be through faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, that we could never gain salvation by ourselves. Of course the conversation was way longer and more intense, but it was just amazing seeing the Holy Spirit work because normally people never ask me “am I wrong in thinking this way in my beliefs?” That was an open door to share the good news that is only by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ that we can be saved. I am going to visit her soon, hopefully next week and hopefully we will start meeting weekly to study the Bible.
Dircectly after that, I had house church at 3 Regiones. I honestly arrived just in time for it to start and did not have time to invite anyone. I honestly did not think anyone was going to come because it was election day and had not studied the lesson, I just knew what it was. Horrible to say..I know. Anyway, before I know it several teenage girls show up. It was probably the best house church we have ever had. They came on their own and even invited a new girl. We actually did the lesson from the week before because known of them had been there besides one lady. God was gracious to me and gave me the opportunity to do a lesson I was prepared for. We literally spent at least one hour reading a ton from the Bible about creation and Adan and Eve. The whole way through the teenagers were participating and answering questions. They were so eager to learn! It was a beautiful time together.
In Summary of the day, even though I was so unprepared on so many levels such as sleeping in late and not having my lesson ready for house church, God did an amazing work in spite of myself. He is so gracious and powerful! God also reminded me that sharing with the masses the gospel is really good, but also on the same token talking to a few individuals in a really in depth way about the gospel is equally important and can also at times be much more effective! We serve an amazing God.

Mexican fiesta numero dos

So, we had SO much food leftover from the Mexican fiesta with our gringo friends that we had enough food without buying one thing to have another Mexican Fiesta for the landlord of our house and her whole family. This was such a cool opportunity because her parents were in town visiting from the jungle. They were supposed to stay here only 2 weeks, but they ended up staying 3 weeks! I had been wanting to share the gospel with them but had never been really presented the opportunity or taken the time to do it. Anyway, we asked them if they could come over on Sunday night after we finished with our house bible studies. I asked her how many there would be, and she told me 10! Wow! In the end, it was the owner of the house, her granddaughter, her sister and her son, her niece, and her parents! Nicchola, our Peruvian dad, also came! It was so cool! When they walked in the house they were immediately drawn to the arrows that were drawn on the wall. Nancy had just painted them a couple of days before. We were able to explain to them the significance.


Jesus Came
Jesus died
Jesus rose
Jesus went to Heaven
One day He is coming back again, and all those that have put their faith in Him will go with him to Heaven forever.


They saw the bracelet that Nancy was wearing and how it was the same as the arrows on the wall. We ended up getting to give each and every one of them a bracelet that explained the good news of Jesus. Even the elderly parents were sporting them and excited to have them. It is crazy to see how much God has used these simple salvation bracelets in Peru to share His Good News.
Then we were able to read the Bible verses that were on the walls which were John 3:16, 14:6, and Romans 10:9. God really answered the desire of my heart which was to share the gospel with her parents before they went back to the jungle. We had such a good time. This family has been going through so many hardships, and it was just good to have a time to spend together just eating some great food which was totally a new type of food for them and chat! One of the boys that is a part of their family we actually taught last year in one of the public schools. It was so cool to see that he was impacted by our 3 short times of teaching in his classroom. He remembered all the crafts and said what he loved most were the songs that we used to sing. It was so precious to remember the mighty work God had done last year and how it is still impacting our ministry even today! I would say Mexican food was definitely a huge hit with all of them. We just kept on eating. I loved it because the owner of the house kept eating with me until the very end when they left. Normally, I am always the last one eating, but this time I had a Mexican food eating companion. I am just so thankful to have had this sweet time of reunion with our precious neighbors.

Cheddar Cheese + Sour Cream + Guacamole + meat + hard taco shells + Nertz + 5 Gringos = One of the most fun nights of my life!

So anyway, after the extreme makeover was done, I really wanted to have our other missionary friends over to our house! No one normally would come out this way because unless you are ministering out in the rural parts there is not really things that draw people out to where we live. BUT we have ballin’ friends so they came all the way to Ventanilla to hang out with us and eat TACOS and quesadillas! It was a BLAST! We ate, ate, and ate some more! We had so much food! Then we had a really neat time of prayer for Peru and for each set of missionaries specific prayer needs. We went up on the top to pray and were able to see the whole city of Ventanilla. It really touched me to have our friends pray for us and our ministry here. Then, we came in and had banana smoothies, chocolate cookies, and chocolate brownies. It was so delicious even if I have to say so myself. We then played the best game ever, NERTZ! It was so sad because I lost, Amanda definitely beat me bad. We also listened to Shane and Shane while we were playing and sang along to all the awesome old school songs. We may or may not have listened to a little Lecrae and Justin Beiber as well. It was such an amazingly fun night. I am so blessed that we have other missionary friends here from the states, wongs where we can buy Mexican food, and the time to all pray together, and of course play NERTZ!

Extreme Makeover Peruvian Style

The first night that we lived here.
Chili's after the surprise for Nancy!
Nicchola's first time at Chili's!
Woo Hoo Extreme Makeover!
I came back to Peru after furlough towards the middle end of March. When we came back, we did not know where we would be living. I stayed with Amanda and Shaun Wissmann for about 4 days while I was working on my residency. Then I moved in with a sweet family for about a week and a half. Nancy and I love this family, but the main problem is they lived too far away from where we needed to work. It was too dangerous to work late at night and get back to their house. So one night, Nancy and I went with the Ventanillan police to look for places to stay to rent that would be closer to where we needed to work. Each place that we went in was super shady and looked like the second you left your room all the other people that were renting rooms would steal your stuff. I was honestly pretty discouraged at the situation, living in a place that was way out where we did not know anyone, but then at the same time not being able to find a safe place to live. The next day, I called one of my closest Peruvian friends Nichola to come pick me up because he is a taxi driver and to see what we could find. He went to a pharmacy on the corner to ask about places that were for rent. The pharmacist sent us down the street. We did not know exactly where she was talking about, so we decided to ask some ladies that were on the porch, and they said they were renting the second floor of their house. Wow, it was a miracle. Nichola and I went in and looked and I knew right then that was the place that God had provided for us. At the time the electricity was not installed and there was not a level floor, but the owner did that for us the following week. God honestly completed all the desires of our heart for where we wanted to live:
A safe place, a place where we could host company, running water, and electricity
He even provided more than just that, amazing neighbors that literally watch out for us all the time. The lady that we are renting from just lost her 25 year old daughter 2 months ago due to a brain aneurism. She is in a time of despair right now, and God has provided us the opportunity being 2 girls that are in our twenties to be able to get to minister to a hurting mom. They are always checking on us and are honestly the friendliest people we could ever live by. Her sister is also our next door neighbor.
When we moved in the house, there was absolutely nothing in there. There was one utility sink, a toilet, a shower, and the day before they had put in a bathroom sink. Everything else was just cement walls. I am not complaining at all, I just wanted to describe how the house was when we found it. Nancy and I then spent the next week going to markets and stores trying to buy Peruvian furniture. It was a little difficult trying to buy things that were Peruvian and to make sure that we were not putting too much of our American culture into it. Before Nancy left for her trip to Germany, we had bought the majority of things for the house. Another miracle, while I was home in the states, people from all over Texas gave financially to our work in Peru and with that money we were able to move and furnish our house. God is so good, he always provides.

Anyway, one of the biggest tasks of all this move was all the materials that Southmont Baptist Church had left with us over all the times they had come to Peru in this last year. They always left with us all of their left over supplies. We had used almost all of them this year, but then they came again at the end of January and left a TON of stuff, all of which we are very grateful for….but the question is where to put it? Also, I wanted to count all the materials to be ready for whatever project God would call us to next. Anyway, I say all of this to say that when Nancy left for Germany the house was an absolute wreck. It was not from a lack of not working very hard on it together, it was just because there was more than we get done in one week. I was very discouraged as she was leaving for the airport because basically all we had time to do together was put together the beds, and buy the majority of the stuff for the house, and nothing else. We had spent the whole time shopping for the furniture for the house but not unpacking, organizing the materials, or constructing the other furniture. You would think by now that I would have learned this lesson that God always provides and to not have a bad attitude about things.
As I was driving with Nancy to the airport, I was letting myself get bitter about how much I had left to do. Then my mom encouraged me that God was providing great help for me and that I needed to change my attitude because my good friend Amanda Wissmann (a fellow missionary that lives in Lima) was going to come spend a week with me while Nancy was gone. Amanda Wissmann is a gift from God in every way. She is the one who helped me move in January before going back to the states, and once again she was willing to help. She is one of the hardest workers I have ever met, she works circles around me, and she is the queen at organizing!
Within 11 days of Nancy being gone, God did a huge miracle and expanded our time. We were able to go and pick out doors, get four doors installed, find a kitchen sink install it, construct cabinents, finish the upholstery for the couches, put curtains up, paint our bedroom, paint 2 verses on the columns, paint all the columns, count and organize ALL the materials Southmont had left, unpack everything, wash all the dishes, clean, install everything in the kitchen, make a library of books to check out for the people we minister to, and do a huge surprise for Nancy all at the same time. We had been “joking” with Nancy and had convinced her that we had not had time to do anything on the house, and it was just like she had left it. She believed it. I have never had to lie so much in my life, but in the end I was going to tell her the truth. I am not promoting lying! 
Anyway, we decided to call this Peruvian extreme makeover! Almost every day, Nicchola, our dear friend, came over to install and construct all kinds of things. We had so much fun! Everyday, we would get up and work all day and sometimes until the next morning until we would finish a certain project. We honestly finished everything 10 minutes before Nancy came home. Amanda had made cookies and cake. We had a big banner that said “You have been chosen for Extreme Make Over Nancy Lane.” She was so surpised! We had pulled it off only with God’s strength and grace, the biggest surprise that I have ever been a part of. What in the beginning, I thought was going to be a burden, turned out to be an amazing time with 2 of my dearest friends Amanda and Nicchola! I got to see team work play out at its finest! All three of us had different things to offer to finish the project and with God’s strength we finished! It was a beautiful 11 days and such a blessing to be a part of it. We did little fun things all throughout the 11 days, like drink coke floats (it was Nicchola's first time), play phase 10, watch movies at the end of the day, and just a lot of laughing! After Nancy arrived and we gave a tour, we all went to Chilis! It was Nicchola's first time, and he LOVED it! What a blessing! If you would like to see pictures, I can e-mail them to you.