I was in Puno the last time I write. Since then I have taken two 15 hour bus rides, experienced my first earthquake and found myself in a state of both emotional and physical exhaustion.
I was really excited about coming to Nazca and seeing friends I had said goodbye to, particuarly those on the Barnabus Team. However, with all the different people around, I found myself just being overwhelmed, as I´m not a ¨big group¨person. I like little groups, with one or two other people. So it was hard for me to really find my nitch there.
Making it harder was the fact I knew we´d be leaving early to go back to Chupa so we could be there by Sunday. I confess, one of the big reasons I didn´t like this was because the situation was out of my control, and that I´m not used to a group of people expecting me to be at a certain place that requires me to sit in a bus for 15 hours to get to. The other reason being I knew it´d be sad saying goodbye again, for another month. And Sundays in Chupa just steamroll, as we travel a lot, and sit a lot.
Finally, I found myself with a friend who seemed to be avoiding my presence...and wasn´t sure why. This sent me into tears all day Friday, because I was so scared I was losing this friend.
To be honest, my second and third day in Nazca didn´t contain a whole lot of enjoyment, except for a few things, one of them being a rooftop conversation at midnight with my wonderful friend Allison, who I miss very much right now. But I can say I am pretty much at peace right now. I made another wonderful new friend named Brandy who sat with me through many of my tears, and I thank the Lord that the friendship I was so worried about has been healed, or is at least in the healing process.
Please pray for me and my team these next few days as we go back to Chupa. Tomorrow, we will be visiting the churches, though I may only go to one on the advice of Allison. Also, Tuesday we will be coming back again to Juliaca to pick up a new team member, which will also mean a new roommate for myself and Karen. Please pray for us as we adjust to this change, and that we would accept her with open arms into our little cobbled together family of myself, Karen, Lidman and René.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Half the summer is gone!
Wow! Would you believe that half of the summer is gone already? Tomorrow, myself, Karen and Lidman head to Nazca for mid summer debriefing and training. I get to see all the people I have gotten to talk to in awhile, which is exciting to me!
We were only in Chupa again for about a week since the Barnabus Team left. To tell you the truth, it was really really really hard to see three people I had gotten to know in such a short time leave like that! But I will see them again the day after tomorrow. It was also very hard coming back to Chupa...because of the food. You guys are going to have to pray for me. The food is about to drive me crazy. I´m a fan of rich, spicy foods, and the very bland fair in Chupa had me going a bit crazy when we left very early Friday morning. It is very hard to get more than the staples in Chupa (and even some of what I would consider a staple is impossible to get). I would buy a big jar of peanut butter, but alas, that is non-existant in Peru. I am looking forward to attempting to make some nice Greekish chicken when we get back to Chupa, though my two partners think I´m a bit crazy for spending 22 soles (about 7 dollars) on a bottle of olive oil for it...which really isn´t THAT expensive. I´d pay the same in the States. I also picked up a couple of boxes of macaroni and cheese. Not my favorite, but it´s better than unspiced rice and potatos.
We had another Chupa Bible study Wednesday night, and you all will be proud of me. I did something other than sit there and be lost. Before it started, I just started horsing around with René, giving a mini-comedy skit, where I started pulling on the strings of (what is to American eyes) a very goofy looking hat (look in my pictures, you´ll probably see someone wearing one). Oh! Speaking of that, you can go here to see some pictures: http://ius.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029271&l=89d0a&id=210001285
And yes, I will point out, that we are a BIT strange.
We had our little mini-vacation in Puno and Lake Titikaka. It´s been a lot of fun, but climbing up to the top of the mountains on the islands (or should I just say the island? Islands ARE mountains) was really really tiring, and I´m recovering from that at this point. Where we spent the night, Karen and I had to suffice with reed mats with very thin mattresses on them. It did nothing for my back after climbing the mountains, I´ll tell you that.
Well, should probably be off to dinner soon! I´m very hungry at the moment! I shall update my blog again in Nazca, or possibly Juliaca. I don´t know when I will get to again after that. :(
We were only in Chupa again for about a week since the Barnabus Team left. To tell you the truth, it was really really really hard to see three people I had gotten to know in such a short time leave like that! But I will see them again the day after tomorrow. It was also very hard coming back to Chupa...because of the food. You guys are going to have to pray for me. The food is about to drive me crazy. I´m a fan of rich, spicy foods, and the very bland fair in Chupa had me going a bit crazy when we left very early Friday morning. It is very hard to get more than the staples in Chupa (and even some of what I would consider a staple is impossible to get). I would buy a big jar of peanut butter, but alas, that is non-existant in Peru. I am looking forward to attempting to make some nice Greekish chicken when we get back to Chupa, though my two partners think I´m a bit crazy for spending 22 soles (about 7 dollars) on a bottle of olive oil for it...which really isn´t THAT expensive. I´d pay the same in the States. I also picked up a couple of boxes of macaroni and cheese. Not my favorite, but it´s better than unspiced rice and potatos.
We had another Chupa Bible study Wednesday night, and you all will be proud of me. I did something other than sit there and be lost. Before it started, I just started horsing around with René, giving a mini-comedy skit, where I started pulling on the strings of (what is to American eyes) a very goofy looking hat (look in my pictures, you´ll probably see someone wearing one). Oh! Speaking of that, you can go here to see some pictures: http://ius.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029271&l=89d0a&id=210001285
And yes, I will point out, that we are a BIT strange.
We had our little mini-vacation in Puno and Lake Titikaka. It´s been a lot of fun, but climbing up to the top of the mountains on the islands (or should I just say the island? Islands ARE mountains) was really really tiring, and I´m recovering from that at this point. Where we spent the night, Karen and I had to suffice with reed mats with very thin mattresses on them. It did nothing for my back after climbing the mountains, I´ll tell you that.
Well, should probably be off to dinner soon! I´m very hungry at the moment! I shall update my blog again in Nazca, or possibly Juliaca. I don´t know when I will get to again after that. :(
Thursday, June 14, 2007
So much to say...and so little time to say it!
I can´t believe it has been two weeks since I´ve gotten the chance to use the internet here! Chupa has no Internet, and two phones (which cost an absolute fortune to use for an international call). So here I am. Where do I begin? I´m sitting in a little cubicle thing in an Internet café in Juliaca, Peru, my brain getting rather blasted by someone playing very loud music in the next cubicle.
The church that adopted the village of Chupa left myself, Karen and Lidman to ourselves as of two weeks ago. Since then, we´ve visited many of the village churches, and have tried to bring the Gospel into a couple few new villages. Unfortunately, we have had to shake the dust off our feet regarding two of them, called Chiña Chiña and Alto-Schandopi, as they refused to talk to us. Please pray for these two villages, that a door would be open for future missionaries there. In one of them, Alto-Schandopi, we did manage to speak to some people once, and the second boss agreed to tell the people of a meeting with us, but when we came the other day, we found that some of the villagers and the first boss had become angry with him because of this. He is still interested in listening to us though, so pray for his heart to be open to the message of the Gospel.
It´s been a very interesting week I must say. Unfortunately, something I ate on Monday very much didn´t agree with me, and I got sick. I was much better by the next morning. Please continue to pray for my health! Even without eating things that don´t agree with me, we still have to walk a lot and we´re at a very high elevation, so it´s very hard on our bodies here.
Last Friday, the Barnabus Team arrived in Chupa to visit us. There are two of these teams, and they go to visit each of the teams working in the villages to encourage and to help resolve any conflicts that have come about in a team. They leave to go visit the Lampa team tomorrow, and we´re going to miss them so much, as we´ve all become great friends. There is so much I could say about Allison, Justin and Amy that I could fill a novel with it! I know I can speak for Karen and Lidman both when I say we´ve all had a great time having them around. Pray for their safety and their health as they continue to travel around Peru.
The church that adopted the village of Chupa left myself, Karen and Lidman to ourselves as of two weeks ago. Since then, we´ve visited many of the village churches, and have tried to bring the Gospel into a couple few new villages. Unfortunately, we have had to shake the dust off our feet regarding two of them, called Chiña Chiña and Alto-Schandopi, as they refused to talk to us. Please pray for these two villages, that a door would be open for future missionaries there. In one of them, Alto-Schandopi, we did manage to speak to some people once, and the second boss agreed to tell the people of a meeting with us, but when we came the other day, we found that some of the villagers and the first boss had become angry with him because of this. He is still interested in listening to us though, so pray for his heart to be open to the message of the Gospel.
It´s been a very interesting week I must say. Unfortunately, something I ate on Monday very much didn´t agree with me, and I got sick. I was much better by the next morning. Please continue to pray for my health! Even without eating things that don´t agree with me, we still have to walk a lot and we´re at a very high elevation, so it´s very hard on our bodies here.
Last Friday, the Barnabus Team arrived in Chupa to visit us. There are two of these teams, and they go to visit each of the teams working in the villages to encourage and to help resolve any conflicts that have come about in a team. They leave to go visit the Lampa team tomorrow, and we´re going to miss them so much, as we´ve all become great friends. There is so much I could say about Allison, Justin and Amy that I could fill a novel with it! I know I can speak for Karen and Lidman both when I say we´ve all had a great time having them around. Pray for their safety and their health as they continue to travel around Peru.
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