He went on a diet not to lose weight but to live

My friend Aquilino, who I mentioned in the previous post, who has a severe case of leukemia, mentioned to me the other day about a diet that would really help him get his blood levels back up. It is super strict and filled with all kinds of herbs and vegetables. He has to eat every two hours. He cannot cook for himself because the smell of cooking these foods that are super healthy and don’t taste good give him nausea. Also, he does not have the money to buy the food that he needs because with having to buy so many fresh vegetables every week and having to buy so many herbs it was just not possible for him to continue the diet. He did this diet for 7 months when his sister was cooking for him in another city, but when he moved back to Lima because he needed to be with his family he had to quit. During those 7 months his blood count greatly increased and he was only 1 point away from having enough of the good blood cells to start treatment. His wife works in a city 2 hours away and comes home every 10 days for 2 days of rest. He has 4 kids: a 17 year old son, a 15 year old son, a 12 year old son, and a 5 year old daughter. Aquilino cannot work because of his health. After he told me about this diet, I wanted to find some way to do it for him, but I thought to myself this is impossible to do with my schedule.

Then I was reading my favorite blog: www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com and she was talking about for half of a year she cleaned a man’s wound on his leg. Everyone thought he was going to lose his leg, but because of God’s healing power and her faithful obedience, not only did he not lose his leg, he came to know Christ, and has given up being an alcoholic. While I was reading this blog, God was telling me this was something I need to do. I have made it a week and a half of cooking for Aquilino every 3 days. Each time, Nicchola, other Peruvians, and I cook 3 days’ worth of meals for him. We bought him a microwave so that he can just pull out the Tupperware and heat it up. Next week a Peruvian woman is going to take this job over so that I can have more time for other things in ministry. She will come here twice a week and cook for him.  

The vegetables for the week

What he eats every night at 6:30 pm (a mixture of powders that make a sugar free dessert)

Every morning at 7:30 am/ and 12:30 pm he eats corn on the cob

Every day at 12:30 he eats a salad full of different kinds of vegetables

Everyday at 6:30 am/ 10:30 am/ and 3:30 pm he makes an extract of vegetables using these vegetables
Every morning at 4:00 am he makes 2 liters of herb infused water which is not pictured here

This is Aquilino excited about his food! He says these vegetables are going to give him life.  We are praying that God does use these vegetables to give him life and heal him completely!

His refrigerator each shelf representing one day of his food!

Aquilino is so grateful for this. He feels this will help save his life. We are praying that God will heal him through this diet. Would you pray that with us too? Would you pray that God will financially provide the resources needed to buy vegetables and herbs for him every week? Would you pray that Aquilino would come to know Christ in a personal way through this act of service? We serve a God that heals and that saves. 

A day my heart was so burdened the only thing I could do was turn to Jesus for help

The only hospital in all of Peru for cancer treatment…….

People on benches with sad faces, families desperate for answers, women without hair……

A lady sitting in the waiting room on a wooden bench with her head in her hands, a tube coming out of her knee draining blood into a bag……..then the bag starts leaking all over the floor…….

An elderly man in a wheel chair waiting for a blood infusion……

A man that looks like his face is burned because half of his face looks like charcoal where the cancer has eaten his face…….

A lady from a mountain town with a tumor the size of a mango popping out of her chest…..

A granddaughter waiting for her grandfather in the ER……

A wife waiting to find out the results of what kind of surgery needs to take place for her husband who just found out that he has lung cancer………….

A mom excited that her son is doing good with his prostate cancer……………..

A goddaughter waiting for her godfather to be treated for his cancer……

A man brought in by friends, laid in a fleece blanket until they could get him to a stretcher……

A man waiting outside in the heat on a stretcher to go home to die because there are no more options for him medically….only a miracle from the Lord will save his life…….

A woman crying and hugging her friends because of the bad news that she received…….

A woman completely bald with a frown on her face waiting for her doctor’s appointment

A girl with her group of friends donating blood for her aunt that is dying……

My friend Aquilino leaving his house at 4 am ….. going to dr.’s appts. all day to check on the tumor that he has in his stomach and to see how his leukemia is doing…..then having to have a blood infusion for 4 hours….then finally getting back home at 9:00 at night….

A hospital full of cancer patients…..dying, sick, desperate, without hope……

But there is HOPE in Jesus Christ. I spent all day talking with people, each of these scenarios above I personally witnessed and the majority of these people I personally talked with, mainly listening to their stories, and then praying for them for healing, and sharing the good news of Jesus. I talked with people for about 5 hours that day about the gospel. I only met 2 Christians in 5 hours. It broke my heart to watch people dying without hope. 

Would you pray with me for miracles for the people? That they would be healed? More than that, would you pray that they would come to know the Savior before it is too late? Would you pray that God would draw them to himself so strongly that they decide to give their lives to Him for salvation? Would you pray that we would figure out how we could incorporate this into our ministry on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to visit this hospital and minister to the people there? Thank you for joining us in your prayers. We are burdened for the people that are in this hospital that they would be healed but more than that they would come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. 

Abusive labor.....144 rings for $3.75

I was brought back down into the reality that I live in everyday when I went to visit a lady that I have known for the past couple of years. I wrote about her in one of my blogs at Christmas. Her name is Marta. Anyway, come to find out she was doing really badly again in health. She has had some kind of horrible pain in her abdominal area for the past 5 years and along with it comes fever. Nicchola and I decided to take her to the clinic right then and there. I had taken her last year, but it seems every summer the pain comes back really strong. While we were talking to her in her living room, I saw all these beads on the table and rings like the picture below.

After asking, she explained to me that she makes 144 rings having to string together each pedal since they are all separate and string on each individual bead which takes about 30 to 40 hours to make. For 144 rings she earns 10 soles which is about $3.75. She said she has to do that to make the ends meet and they still don’t meet. She says she hand washes her neighbor’s clothes for a little extra money because her husband does not have a secure job. From other conversations, she has explained to me that her husband is a drunk that is lazy. She says that he only brings home 10 soles a day for food and that is for a family of 5. $3.75 a day for food for 5 people, that is almost impossible to live on and not be hungry all the time. Later she explained me that she feeds the kids at 10 am and at 1 pm and that is all they have to eat all day because there is nothing else. On top of that they have to pay the light bill, enroll their kids in school etc. That broke my heart. I was brought back down to the extreme poverty that these people live in. It made me so mad to see the injustice of the situation. She gives these rings to a lady in Lima who at least makes 144 if not 288 soles from those rings and she only pays Marta 10 soles. Anyway, we took her to the clinic, and they said she had a urinary tract infection, but come to find out later it is not that either. Please pray for her because this week she has been taking various tests to see what the real problem is. Then we went out to eat “pollo a la broaster” a very famous way of cooking chicken here in Peru. The restaurant had an indoor playground. The kids had a ball. There kid’s meal came with free t-shirts, a balloon, a king crown, and ice cream. Needless to say they had a great time. Marta broke down in tears at dinner; she was saying how she didn’t know how they were going to eat dinner that night. She had been asking God to provide for her, and God had sent me to her house. She said not only did we get to eat; we got to eat chicken which is a very huge luxury. Her kids have always wanted to play on like mechanical toys like at a carnival but there has never been the money.  This indoor playground was the most carnival type thing or fun adventure they have ever gotten to do in their childhood. This afternoon/ night blessed me much more than they were blessed. God is so good. Please pray for wisdom, right now I am looking into ways to set up a way to export homemade jewelry to the states or to take to Mira Flores a very touristic town in Lima for people like Marta to make a real living. Please pray that she would come to know Christ. Pray for her and thousands of other families like her here in Peru that God would provide financially, emotionally, but most of all spiritually. If you ever would like to help Marta’s family or someone like her, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Playground at the restaurant

Dieron

Hans who was super excited about his food!

Marta and I

Nicchola and the 2 boys!

A Peruvian Boda (wedding)

The landlady downstairs was the godmother for a wedding and her granddaughter Luana was the flower girl, and she wanted Nicchola and I to attend it since our family members could not come to it. I told her that I would not be able to be a part of the wedding because I had a prior commitment but that I would meet her at the reception. I have come to the realization that there are some things that I will never figure out about Peruvian culture. One of those is there wedding receptions. First of all they mainly have night weddings and then the reception does not start until like 11 pm. The people stay there all night including the bride and the groom. It seems so weird to me. All they do is do these huge long introductions that are super boring and then they just get drunk and dance. It is so unappealing to me. So what did we do? We just sat there and listened to long boring speeches, talked to the only 3 people we knew the landlady, her sister, and Luana. We ate some free food that they served and then finally left at like 1:30 am. I will think twice before I agree to go to another Peruvian wedding reception.

A little bit of paint goes a long way.....

The landlord of my house lives underneath me in the first floor. I have grown to love her and her granddaughter. We have a very close relationship and talk all the time together. One day we were talking and she mentioned that her neighbor said, “what has happened to your house?”. It is ugly. You used to always keep your house pretty. She told me that after her daughter died she just did not have the energy or the money to keep the house up. Her money was now used to raise her granddaughter. It was true her house did look bad, the paint was peeling off the walls, her granddaughter had colored on one of the walls, and her house just needed a little TLC. God really touched my heart that day to paint her house. I also knew that a lot of her family and friends would be coming over in a couple of weeks on the one year anniversary of the death of her daughter. If you know me well, a lot of times, God gives me a spontaneous idea and I run with it without realizing how much work it is really going to take. BUT it is always worth it. A couple of days later, I asked her what color she would like her living room to be. She told me she wanted it to be two colors; I asked to borrow one of her pillows so I could buy her paint for a little surprise. I did not tell her that I was going to paint her house, but that night Nicchola and I went to go buy paint. We came back and surprised her with 2 buckets of new paint. She was so excited. The next day I spent all day until the middle of the night painting. We are so ghetto that by the end to be able to finish we were adding more water to the paint and wringing out paint with our hands from the brush. The house looked like it had had an extreme makeover. 2 days later, I realized that since it was dark when we finished, that it was really lacking a second coat. We went and bought 2 more buckets of paint and painted a second coat over the whole living room. John and Nicchola helped me a ton! The lady downstairs also helped as well and cooked us some good homemade Peruvian food. It was such a blessing because the 2^nd day her son was there and he made the comment to me that he knows we are doing this for a bigger purpose. The reason that we are painting her house is not because we are passionate about painting but because we want to show the love of Christ. We got to have about a 2 hour conversation about the gospel. It was such a God ordained opportunity. I am pretty sure they both are not believers, it was an awesome opportunity to show and talk about God’s love for us. Below are the before and after pics!

Before

Painting!

Victoria and her granddaughter Luana

I think he was delirious by this point after so much painting

After

After

A much needed vacation with the Bible study group!!!

A group of us from our discipleship group decided at the last minute to take a mini-vacation to the beach for 3 days. Fernando, Nicchola, Carlos, and a girl for privacy reasons that I will call Rachel, and myself all enjoyed a great vacation in a touristic town called Paracas. We decided at the last minute to go because it was the last week that everyone had some free time to do something like go on a vacation. So we bought food at the market, packed the rice cooker and a small electric stove, put some clothes in our backpacks and set off driving. We didn't know where we would end up just somewhere south of Lima that had a pretty beach. We kept driving and driving until we ended up in Paracas which is actually a very famous city in Peru. We drove around until we found 2 rooms in a “hotel”, one for the girls and one for the boys. We set up camp and then headed out to find a beautiful beach that was in a Peruvian reserve. It was gorgeous. It was a kind of tricky and steep drive, but we finally made it. The water was crystal clear and it was so much fun just getting to bask in God’s creation. Rachel, Fernando, and I went exploring on a rock pier and found a HUGE red jellyfish. That night we walked around the town and ate Salchi Papa (hot dogs and French fries for dinner). After that we played a game of chicken foot! Gotta love teaching Peruvians American games. Of course, being a little low on money we pretty much brought all of our own food, so we were able to make frozen lemonade and also got to teach some kids in the street the hand game which explains the gospel. The next day, we went and looked at some of the touristy shops while our dear friend Fernando stayed and cooked in the hotel room, a Peruvian dish called causa. Rachel and I decided to get a braid put in our hair, and we met this really fun Peruvian guy named Frank who put the braid in our hair. We started joking with him, and I was practicing using my Peruvian slang with him and before we know it the whole group is sharing the gospel with him. I was in shock!!! My “spiritual children” were correctly sharing the truth of the gospel with this man. Before I knew it Fernando, was bringing lunch to us and to Frank and his other worker. We had over an hour conversation with him about Jesus. Then Carlos brings his Bible to give to Frank. Each and every person shared their faith with him. I was blown away. I had wanted to go to the beach early that morning but God had other marvelous plans!! That afternoon we went to the beach and had a great time. Carlos and I swam out to a rock island, we all played chicken wars, and just enjoyed each other’s company. That night we walked around the town, got to hang out with about 15 the kids in the street and teach them all kinds of songs including the most famous song, My God is so big, play the hand game, and share the gospel. It was beautiful. Adults were gathered around watching as well. Rachel is a missionary at heart. I can’t wait to see what God does with her life in the future. I have a feeling one day she might be working with me. J That night we ate rice, fried eggs, and hot dogs that we cooked in our hotel room. Man, I think I have turned Peruvian! The next day, we packed up and started driving home to Ventanilla. We were going to stop at a beach on the way home, but it was super cloudy. BUT on the way home we stopped in Chincha, a very historical city here in Peru. Chincha is famous for its African heritage, good food, and culture. We walked around the plaza, taught some more kids about Jesus, and ate some delicious food. After that we made our way back to Lima. When we got to Chorillos, Nicchola drove us up this mountain that looked out over the city, and we could see the ocean and the sun setting. This is the same mountain that has a huge lit up cross. It looks so little from far away, but it is actually huge!! Then we went to Mira Flores and ate at McDonalds. It was Rachel’s first time to eat at McDonalds. Then we went and ate some churros from Manolas and looked at a local art fair. Then to end our vacation, we ate at our favorite ice cream shop called “el parque.” It was a wonderful vacation, and there were also some very special times of ministry that God brought about during the vacation. I am so blessed to have Peruvian friends and friends that are passionate about sharing about Jesus. I can not share any photos of Rachel for privacy reasons....but here are some photos enjoy!

A beautiful Peruvian reserve in Paracas!

Fernando chillin' out!

A Peruvian mermaid!

The huge jelly fish that was right by us!

Playing the famous hand game

Eating Salchipapa!

Fernando's delicious causa that he made in the hotel room for all of us!

The guys with Frank after they got done sharing the gospel with him.

Hanging out in Chincha!

One of my new friends....that was super interested in Jesus. Pray for her, she is so close to giving her life to Christ. Her family members are Christians, but she has not made the decision to follow Jesus yet. 

Beautiful sunset in Chorillos!

The "tiny" little cross that you can see all across Lima. 

We are standing right beside where the cross is on top of this mountain that overlooks Lima.

Enjoying McDonald's!

Waves and waterfalls

Wow, God not only meets our needs but also the desires and wants of even the smallest things in our lives and hearts. Over a month ago, we decided to take our Bible study group from Huaral to the beach because they live close to several beaches. We thought it would be a fun time to get to know them better and have a good time of fellowship taking advantage of the summer vacation. God is so so good. I can't even explain the goodness of God because just days earlier, I had experienced a very hard  emotionally draining time because Nancy had moved to Chorillos just 2 days before. It was as if God was telling me, "Lauren, I have not forgotten about you, I love you even enough to take you to a beach filled with huge waves and fresh water waterfalls." Maybe if you are reading this, you don't know that my absolute favorite things in creation are waves and waterfalls. At this beach there were ginormous waves and beautiful waterfalls. More than 20 of us packed into a small little rickety bus. I felt like I was living out the book of Acts. I brought sandwiches for us all to eat and they brought watermelon, bananas, popcorn, and one of them bought homemade popsicles for everyone in the group.. It reminded me so much of the verse in Acts that says: "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." Acts 4:32 Not all of the people in Huaral are believers, but it is definitely growing. There are now 6 adults/ teens that are now Christians. We had so much fun! We played in the waterfalls, in the waves, and just enjoyed the beauty of God's creation. I had the opportunity to take my neighbors, John and his 2 kids, and Fernando. God blessed my life so much this day and just reminded me of his love for me and his goodness. Below are some of the pictures.

My sweet sweet neighbors

Yep, that is right, I am selling helatinas (jello) to people I don't know for one of the girls in our Bible study

Getting ready to have some fun in the waves!

Filomena and her husband (he is an atheist), she just became a Christian. Please be praying for both of them. 

Making a "swimming pool" for the little ones!

One of the amazing fresh water waterfalls!

The water felt so so amazing!

Another one of the waterfalls

Eating watermelon and watching the sun set over the ocean