Lauren in Peru

Christmas!!!

Making Christmas sugar cookies

Christmas dinner

I made my first wreath!

Chicken foot at like 3 am. Some people were very tired.

Christmas day in the park with Nicchola's family

Teaching the kids about the story of Christmas and making Nativity scenes with them.

Got the opportunity to talk with these ladies about Jesus.

I had a blast this Christmas. It was my first Christmas to live in my own place and get to start my own Christmas traditions. Nancy was so kind and surprised me and bought a Christmas tree and stockings. We also bought a nativity set and a wreath. Our house was very simply decorated but at least this year we were able to put up some Christmas decorations. We are so blessed. We also made Christmas cookies together which was super fun! Peruvians celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve not really on Christmas day. A couple of Peruvians came over Christmas night for a steak and bake potatoe dinner. We played games like sequence and phase 10. It was so fun! At 12:00 midnight we went on the roof to watch fireworks go off all over the place. It was BEAUTIFUL! We even did some of our fireworks. I was a little scared to be honest. Then we played some more games and more Peruvians came over. There was about 10 of us in all. Then I brought out mattresses into the living room, the boys were in one part of the room and the girls in the other part. We all watched a movie and all fell asleep about 4 in the morning in the living room. The next morning everyone got up around 9 and went to their houses. It was so fun. Nicchola, our peruvian dad, invited me to go spend Christmas day with all of his brothers and sisters and neices and nephews in a park. It was so fun, we ate great food, and I got to play with all of his neices and nephews. More than that, I got to teach the kids the story of Christmas and got an opportunity to talk to some of his family about the gospel. No one besides one of his sisters in his family are Christians so it was a really great opportunity. It was neat to put names with faces in his family. On the way back to Ventanilla, we stopped and ate Christmas dinner at Chilis! It was a great Christmas!

Another Christmas Party

I cannot give much details about this Christmas party for confidentiality reasons, but we had another Christmas party with some kids in our neighborhood. It was so fun. We were also able to give out clothes, act out the Christmas story, eat a chicken dinner together, and watch the Nativity Story movie. It was a blast and I am so thankful that we had the ability to have this party as well.

Promociones!!! (graduations)

Well this Christmas season mixed in with all of the Christmas events, I have also been the godmother for several kids for their graduation. In Peru, for every major event in someone's life, they have godparents to help with the cost of the events. Anyway, I was the Godmother for a boy named Joel for his 6th grade graduation in Huaral and went to also support our good friend Christina who John was the godfather for. I was the Godmother in Puente Piedra for a little boy in the 6th grade named Christopher. And last but not least I had the wonderful privalege of being the godmother for 3 girls graduating from high school in the Community (the orphanage I used to live in).

Each ceremony was quite interesting. The first one started about 2 1/2 hours late. Everyone was in like sweat pants and tshirts that attended and I was in a dress. I was WAY over dressed. I also fell down twice within 30 minutes because the floor was so slick and my shoes had no tracking. It was so embarrassing. People were totally making fun of me, they definitely had reason too! The second one started about 2 hours late and once again I came in a dress and I was way UNDER dressed. Everyone was in prom dresses and suits. I never really know how to do things here. It always on a live and learn basis. The 6th grade boy had to teach me how to dance with him. He said Lauren watch my feet.

My favorite graduation ceremony was the high school one in the Community. There were 56 graduates and I knew almost all of them because I had lived with them the year before. It was so special seeing those kids graduate. I was able to give each one of them a watch because of ministry money with a letter talking about God's timing and was able to share the gospel in the letter. During the ceremony, I actually gave them their gifts. With my Goddaughters, the day before I took them shopping for their graduation clothes and we went out to eat together. It was a very sweet time. I was so thankful to get to be at that ceremony and get to see kids once again whom I dearly love. My "son" also graduated. It was so great to see him! God is so good!

My godson Joel in Huaral

His cousin Christina who is a part of our Bible study in Huaral

My godson Christopher in his 6th grade graduation. He had to teach me how to dance!

Christopher and Christian, twin brothers.

The watches for the girls in the Community.

The watches for the boys in the community.

I didn't mean for this to happen, but they ended up looking like diplomas, wrapped around each watch is a letter sharing the gospel.

Taking my goddaughters from the Community shopping for their graduation clothes and out to eat!

The 56 graduating seniors from the Community! Love those kids!

My 3 goddaughters on graduation night!

Friends!

My "older son" graduating from high school!

Teacher friends dancing!

Christmas in the Campo

We had a beautiful Christmas celebration in Huaral a mountain town where we have Bible study every Saturday afternoon. We first did Nativity coloring sheets together. Even the mom's were into coloring diligently the coloring sheets. Then we acted out the Christmas story using costumes. Since we are out in the country it reminded me even more of how it would have been in the stable. There house has tons of dogs and ducks just running around. The adults and children both participated in the drama. It was precious. Then the children opened their outifts from the money that the Mission Arlington lady had donated. They were so EXCITED. These kids are very poor and do not have very nice clothes. They were thrilled to get new clothes. Then we had Christmas cake and hot chocolate. There were 3 kids there that we were not expecting. It just so happened that I had brought some other people's gifts with me that were not for that group. I brought them for another reason, but God used them to be the exact size that was needed for two of the kids. And another kid that did not show up, had the exact size of another one of the kids. God always works everything out! I love the things that God does that we could never do! All Glory to HIM!

Coloring the nativity scene pictures

My favorite Luis!!!

All the angels!!

Shepherds

All the Nativity actors!

Getting ready to open there presents!

All there new outfits!

The beautiful ocean on the way home!

New Believer's Christmas Party

This was such a special and fun night for me to get to celebrate what was half the group's first Christmas as Christians. We had a Peruvian dinner that consisted of Aji de Gallina, Chicha Morada, and Papa Huanicina! It was delicoius! Then we did the Candle and Carol's service together. After that we had a prayer time. That was my favortite part of the night. Then I gave gifts to each of our peruvian new believers. We are able to do things like this thanks to the ministry money that Southmont gives us which helps us so much!!! Each person received a different Christian CD in Spanish, the book by Andy Stanley "How Good is Good enough", another book different for each person, and a devotional book. I am most excited about the devotional book. We are going to do it together all year long. Each page has the reading plan for the day to read the Bible through in a year and then a place to write a prayer for that day, write what you learned, God's promises, and God's commandments from that reading passage, and a daily Bible verse. I am hoping this will really help our new believers spend there own personal time with Jesus. We started it on January 1st! There is a really neat Christian bookstore in Lima that sells all original things. There is a huge problem in Peru with piracy so it is so refreshing to find a place that sells original things. We were able to buy books like "Get Out of the Pit" by Beth Moore in Spanish, or "Wild at Heart" etc. The book "How Good is Good Enough" is a great book that explains that by our works we will never be good enough for God it is only through faith in Jesus Christ. I told each of them to read that book, learn information from it, and then give it to a non-believer. After a time of unwrapping presents, we played NERTZ! The night was a blast. So thankful for this group of new believers (our missional community). I will post a few pictures but cannot post the majority due to confidentiality reasons.

Milagros opening up her gift.

Wild at Heart!

Every young women's battle

Nicchola gave me a 2012 planner....hoping to be more organized this year

Fernando with his gifts.

William not wanting to take a picture

Jesus Freak

Neighborhood Christmas Party

Another huge Christmas blessing. We were able to have a neighborhood Christmas party. It was more like a neighborhood Christmas service. We had over 100 people in our living room. About 85 kids and teenagers and about 20 adults. We even had a baby come that was only 15 days old with her parents. It was phenomenal. Anyway, we made nativity scenes at the beginning while we were waiting for the late comers. Then we did a candle and carols service. I grew up doing that at Southmont and I absolutely love it! Of course the carols were in Spanish. This type of service you use candles to explain the Christmas story. It is beautiful! I am not sure how much this type of service translated in this culture. I am not sure they actually understood what was going on. At least though, after we still got to share the gospel. Then as they left, we gave each person a sucker, Christmas cake, and hot chocolate. It was such a special time as a neighborhood. The really cool part was several peruvians are the ones that helped me make it happen! My neighbors came over about 2 hours before it started and helped me clean my house and cut all the Christmas cake. It is so cool watching God use Peruvians to help share His gospel!