Tuesday

Today we woke up and visited the school Jorge Polar. I loved going back and I saw and talked to students that remembered me from 2 years ago. We met upstairs and moved some things from one room to another. Next, we escorted the Kindergarten kids to the computer lab by holding their hands. They were soooo cute. I held Matteo’s hand and when we got there I lifted him up and set him on his bench. It was such a beautiful thing thinking about this little Peruvian boy and his tiny hand in mine. I can’t help but thank God for His beautiful creation. We then split up into groups to help in classrooms with English. I was in a class of about 12 year olds. We had fun just talking to them and they enjoyed practicing their English with us. After class, we were surrounded by students by students asking for our autographs.
Later, Amie, Shawn, and I went to Starbucks to use the internet and to get the webpage updated. I tried to get internet set up at the church without success. I didn’t have any success getting on the internet on my computer at starbucks either, but we used Shawn’s to update the Peru 2007 website. I can now get internet off and on at the church.
We held a training session for the youth at La Vina tonight. We enjoyed talking and playing games with the students. We then had praise and worship in both English and Spanish and a time of testimony when Eric spoke.

Monday in Peru

Monday we were able to sleep in and rest which was something greatly needed in order to be energized for the rest of the week. Cesar took us on a prayer walk on the beach in the morning then we had a wonderful lunch of some of our Peruvian favorites including ceviche.
Later we had meetings to get everything scheduled for the next 2 weeks, including ESL classes, school visits, and youth training sessions. We had a great time discussing God and teaching strategies with Cesar, Coqui, and Patty. We began dreaming about having some Peruvian students came and help us with Extreme Kansas Camp and in the future opening a camp in Peru. They were all very excited about this idea which greatly excites me and the rest of us working a camp.

As We Arrived

It’s the third day in Peru and it is the first time I’ve been able to write about what god is doing.
Before this trip I was busy I had little time to think about the trip and I was not nearly as excited as I was two years ago. But the moment I walked out of the Lima airport and saw Cesar, Gaby, Janinia, and Pepe, I was so excited to be back. It was the most joyous reunion. We arrived in Lima around 4:30 am after very little sleep.
We had a little trouble in the airport though. On the flight from Wichita to Dallas Matt lost his passport. He didn’t realize it until we were in Miami. We went ahead and boarded the flight for Peru after making some calls to try and track it down. When we arrived in Lima they told Matt that he had to get back on the plane and go back to Miami. There was some time when they were trying to work out the details of Matt returning and it was very emotional for Matt and the team. We did not want the team to be split up. Finally, a man named Raul came up and asked if the copy we had of his passport was an exact copy. When we said yes he let him pass. We had been praying that our team wouldn't be split up and everyone was so happy Matt could stay. We sang a praise song for Raul in the airport and he loved it. It was so awesome to see God use an unfavorable situation for His glory before we were even in Peru.
When we arrived at La Vina it was about 5:30 am. We had a short time to rest before church on Sunday. During service at La Vina we saw friends from 2 years ago and listened to a sermon in Spanish. I don't know what the topic was but from the passages, which I read in English, but I think it was about growing in Christ. I greatly enjoyed praise and worship. All the songs were of course in Spanish but I love looking at the words and eventually catching the tune and lyrics and singing along in Spanish. I think that is what heaven will be like.
After service we had a great time of fellowship with old friends. We had pizza together and then our team went up to rest and nap until dinner and a cultural orentiation. We were very happy for the day to be over and night to bring rest but we were thanking God for everything he had already done and for allowing us to be in this country with wonderful friends.

Check the Peru link above for more updates about our team

Update

Thank you again for all of you who are praying for this mission trip to Lima, Peru. Continue to pray for us as we prepare to leave. We leave the 26th of May. This is in two weeks. Financially we are $6,000 away from this trip being completely covered. I am learning that God provides for His work to be done. I pray that God's name will be glorified this week.

Retreat

Last weekend was our Peru team retreat. This is also the reason I rushed home from Texas. We had a great time meeting together and learning more about each other. Although the weekend turned out to be pretty stormy and wet we had a great time. The weather caused us to bond together and unify in ways we didn't expect. This picture was taken after we swam across a cove at Milford Lake. The water was about 54 degrees Fahrenheit. We spent time together preparing for our trip and worshipping together. Thank you for your prayers.

New Idea

I have never been very committed to updating on blogs but I feel that this summer it has the potential to be a great way to keep in touch with people that will be soon scattered all over the United States. If you have talked to me at all lately you know how excited I am about this summer and how excited I am for what God is going to do this summer. I know many of you are praying for me and supporting me either in the past semester of school or for either the mission trip to Lima, Peru or camp this summer. It is only fair that I find a way to keep you updated and I absolutely love to tell and talk about what God is doing in my life and in the ministries I'm involved in. Thank you who are praying. Prayer is powerful.

Context

I don't feel that is it right to have Exodus 9:16 as my subheading on this blog without giving the context for the verse. I stumbled across this verse during class this semester and it stood out to me. First, I want to point out that this verse is referring to Pharaoh. Not a sold out Christian, or a perfect man. It reminds me that the awesome God we serve is in control of everything. He used a man like Pharaoh, who wouldn't let the Israelites go, to show His power and bring Him glory. God was the one who hardened Pharaoh heart, God who had a plan. It is encouraging to remember that God uses imperfect people to glorify His name. It also reminds me to keep life in perspective. God has raised me up not to live the way I want to but to show His power and proclaim His name in all the earth. It's not about me.