challenged & encouraged.

David Platt (one of my faves for sure) gave this exceptional sermon on Missions.

Here it is said to be "one of the best sermons on missions you'll ever hear."

It's well worth an hour of your time.

I was challenged and encouraged - not guilted - to be more pointed in praying for the advancement of the Gospel of Christ.

"The greatest news in all the world is that the slaughtered lamb of God reigns as the sovereign Lord of all."

my own kind of marathon...

Ruins (in the distance) in Chiquitoy --- see post below!

maybe i should just be honest and say that i'll be lucky to post once a month... :)
that's what i'll shoot for.
i'll share pictures, stories, cultural lessons, what i'm learning, etc.

i'm still running and running with the ebb and flow of life down here.
working 3 classes this month again, what a blessing!  i've been called to sub for other teachers which makes it a little more than 3 classes which helps me out financially.

although in American eyes i'm making peanuts as a wage, i'm so happy at the end of every month (you are paid monthly down here) to see that the Lord has provided for exactly what i need.
i have enough to cover my expenses, and a very little bit for necessities, taxis, and fun with friends.
it just fills my heart and calls my heart to worship my Provider.

i've had more days off in this last month since i've posted (7 collectively!!) than i've had since i've started-- which has been SO refreshing.

let me recap just what has been happening on this side of the equator...
- 1 trip outside T-city with friends
- 1 birthday
- 2 earthquakes (yikes!)
- 2 trips to the beach
- 3 trips to Starbucks!
- 3 months in Peru!
- 3 Easter church services
- 4 baking successes!
- 5 days under 80 degrees (more of that please!)
- 6 substitute days
- 7 vacation days
- 8 (ate) & cooked a meal with my small group
- 9 the number of times I was asked how old I am now from my students, ha!
- 10 minutes: how long it takes me to walk to work and get set up in my classroom

here are some posts about the end of march to april.
[i'm going to try to post them in order!]

giving thanks.

like i said in a previous post, when i was thinking about what to "lent" i couldn't think of anything besides chocolate... and really that's not even a struggle right now as the chocolate here is not even that good, and it isn't in the house.

so i thought that the lent season of 40 days, to best prepare my heart for Easter, i would jot down 10 things that I am thankful for, trying not to repeat any.  So i put a large piece of white paper on my door, and every night i jotted down {at least} 10 things i was grateful for.
it was a discipline for me (especially when you are just snuggled up in bed, and you remember you forgot to write!) and it really called my heart to be more grateful: something i'm really learning i need to be more of.

Easter in Peru was so wonderful.
 i feel like my heart was prepared to worship
and be in awe of the great sacrifice on the Cross...
which the center of Christianity.

By his wounds, I am heal.
Thank you Jesus.

side note: 

i still have it up, it's a good reminder to me, 

and it's fun to look back even to the end of february 

and see how the Lord was faithful and gracious.

pollo & caramel macchiato. (but not together)

after surviving my second month of teaching, we had 2 whole days off to recover, and then started the April cycle of classes.
what did i do in my 2 days?!
well, i entered the marks for my classes from March one day, and the second day i prepped classes for the next day :)
ok, i DID have some fun!

a lovely British friend from my school is heading home this month.  her and her Peruvian fiancé invited me out for pollo a la brasa.  that's fancy (or spanish) for grilled chicken & french fries!!
i hadn't had it yet, so they took me to a delightful chicken place: we ate, we laughed, and we had fun.  i will be sad to see her go :(
they brought me (and treated!) because 2 months back i helped her fiancé in asking for her hand in marriage with his to-be in-laws via skype.  it was really sweet actually to be a part of that!
praying that the Lord will bless this time as they prepare for a life together.

i also finally went to Starbucks that is here in T-city -- yes to carmel macchiato!!!
being in a starbucks i really felt like i was bolted into another world... a world so familiar.
it warmed my heart.
delicious coffee, dear friends, great chats.

as a side note: in coming here, i came knowing many people here, and having friends.  but as i was preparing, i felt that the Lord was asking me to be open to new friends.  in reality, i didn't want new friends, i was just so excited to build on the friendships i already.  but i was open, and have been open.  he has brought me friendships that, only of the Lord, have gone deep and real in such a short time.
again, so blessed by that.

chiquitoy.

i'm just so awful at making decisions!
after starting the April cycle of classes on a Saturday, we had 5 days of classes before Easter break (4 days! + I asked for Monday off for my bday and they gave it to me!! = 5 days offffff!!)

a group of my good friends invited me to go out of Trujillo for 2 days, 1 night.  they hesitantly invited me because they didn't have much planned, and it was expected to be pretty rustic.  it was a "last minute adventure."

the Chiquitoy gang --- Edson, Laly, Lessly, moi, Catrina (from Switerland), Kati & Alex

i was looking forward to 5 whole days off, and what did I want to do most??  clean my room and bake. 2 things I couldn't do outside of T-city.

much of the scenery in Northern-Costal Peru

after much contemplation, i decided to go midnight the night before.  i had to be at Lessly's house at 7am!!  i had no idea what i was getting into.

6 friends, one bus, and one bumpy convi ride through fields of sugar cane, we arrived to chiquitoy.
a pueblito--town/village.
we went to the house of one of the friend's grandparents.  however, it's been abandonded!
his grandparents recently moved to T-city.
no stove, running water at some hours during the day (thankfully a bathroom!) and a very dusty/dirty house welcomed us.
we started cleaning, me understanding this is where we were going to sleep.
we also went to the local market to find out what we would eat.  a few that were back at the house cleaning got a fire started in the back patio to cook the food over.
we came up with tuna, tomato, lime and onion salad, white rice (never go anywhere without your rice cooker!), potatoes and juice.
it was seriously like the fish and 5 loaves of bread... okay, there were only 7 of us, but this is probably the closest i've been!  the food was suffice to fill our bellies, and we gave thanks to the Lord.

next we went to the town's horse locale.  the owners opened the gates to welcome us in, and there were probably 100 horses in all.  we pet them, took pics, and maybe named a few of them!

then, a friend of a friend invited all of us to sleep on the beach with his family.
we agreed, and said we would walk to the beach.

the powerlines in the far off distance was 1/2 way :)

we were told that walking to the beach would be about 45 min-1 hour.  I just don't understand how they are ALWAYS so off on time here, it's nuts!  it took us 2 hours to walk, and it was about 10k.
We arrived when it was dark, so we set up camp and started to make our fire to cook supper (coffee to go with the bread we bought).

since it was Maunday Thursday (the day before Good Friday) we had a devotional time, prayer time, and song time.  it was so nice, and all with the sounds of the waves in the background!!
It was a really nice clean beach.  i think ALL of Chiquitoy was camping on the beach, there were so many people!!

the sleep got to be kinda hard at night, but it was nice.  the 5 girls crammed into 2-2 person tents.  the tent with only 2 girls (mine) had to hold all the valuables!
we ended up not having to walk back to Chiquitoy, thankfully!  we got a ride with the neighbor's in the back of their truck.



upon our arrival back at the house we prepared breakfast over fire.  having some spare time before our departure, we then walked to some old ruins in the midmorning/afternoon (another 45 min. walk each way---yes there are moto taxis, but we're too cheap!).

Ruins just outside of Chiquitoy -- Peru's history is SO fascinating!

hot and tired we returned, packed up our belongings, cleaned up the house, and were on our way back to T-city!

it was a nice trip, i look back on it with fond memories with great friends :)

birthday.

i had my first Peruvian birthday!

my birthday fell on the Monday after Easter, so I asked for that day off of work too, found substitutes, and i was set!!

in the morning Pastor Marco made me an omelette, yum!, and then i went up to the rooftop to spend time reading and journaling.  it was so refreshing and relaxing.  just thinking about this past year, the Lord's mercies, grace and blessings.  i've been blessed with another year of life, so grateful!  may i use this next year, if you will, to bring glory to your name.

Olenka and Gaby took me to Roky's for Pollo a la Brasa (again, yum!) and then my friend Lessly took me to the beach to walk, talk and watch the sunset.  so fun and chill.

the birthday sunset, a gift from above!

the ladies: Graciela, yo, Cinthia

the gentelman: Toño, Jorge and Sebastian

In the evening, my small group invited me out for Chifa: Chinese food!  I love Chinese food, but haven't tried it Peruvian style yet.

It was delish!!  But I enjoyed the company more, good friends, good food = good times!

When I got home, it was time to prepare for Pastor Marco's birthday!!  His birthday is the 10th, so Gaby and I walked the streets looking for ingredients to make him a birthday cake.  We decided on a Banana Cake, which turned out awesome!

The next day I returned to work, sigh.  No, it was actually so good to be back!  AND my students even threw me a surprise party!!  They took pics, hope to post them soon if they ever bring them for me!!

my Peruvian birthday was a success.  I also heard from many people via email, facebook, skype AND snail mail (packages & letters, so great!!) !!!!

Birthday singing on Easter Sunday from 2 sissys & 2 nieces!

Birthday singing on my bday from the rest of the fam!

Thank you all for your love!!

on the menu.

Mexican Lasagna, Guacamole & chips, and Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars.

my sweet small group asked me to teach them how to prepare an "American Dish."
i suggested we just go to Jano's for a burger and fries :)

i had no idea what to make... but i know that i really love Mexican food.
so, with hopes that they wouldn't get offended that I wanted to prepare a different Latino dish (I had to convince them that I LOVE Peruvian Cuisine more than Mexican, ha!), i suggested Mexican Lasagna.  They LOVE lasagna, but I wanted it to have a little bit of a Mexican flavor, instead of Italian.

It took us 2 hours to prepare and cook it all, but it was SO worth it!!
It turned out delicious, and we had so much fun :)

I love my {Peruvian} SG!!
(miss my SG in MN!!)

Full Bellies = success!!!