Missionary-Blogs 2

The Local Gym

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:42:49 -0800

Today I was able to go work out at our friendly, neighborhood gym. It is just up the street from my apartment, and it costs 50 soles per month (about $17). It was an interesting experience, seeing as the trainer told me (and everyone else there) exactly what to do the entire time that I was there: 3 sets of 10 reps here, 4 sets of 10 reps there. I’ll adjust.

The great part came at the end. One of my main purposes of going to the gym (other than for my health) is to get to know people in my neighborhood. As I was walking home, I noticed that one of the dudes from the gym was walking right behind me. So I waited for him, introduced myself, and we talked all the way to our neighborhood, where he lives with his family. I am definitely looking forward to getting to know Cesar (trainer), Jansen (dude), and others from the gym better over the coming months.

Party with the Preschoolers

yourmovingwhere@yahoo.com (Regina and David) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:27:00 -0800

Friday I was excited to get to go to Larsen's preschool Thanksgiving party. She attends the First Baptist Church Kindergarten where I used to work so I also got to see a lot of other people there that I knew. Larsen is David's niece. We both had a fun time!

Before they ate their food, they said the blessing. It was very cute watching them. I tried to get my camera ready faster but only caught the end of it. Larsen clapped like this the whole time. She was soo funny!

Wouldn’t you like to know…

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:50:08 -0800

Wouldn’t you like to know…this is a list of interesting tid-bits from living in Spanish culture. The list may include, but is not limited to: food, people, expressions, daily living, language blunders, etc.

…last week, in one of the conversation classes, I was waiting on the last student to arrive before beginning. One of the 10 year-old boys who had arrived early let me know that the one missing student, was “the devil”.

…when in Spain, don’t use the literal translation of “boyfriend” to say that you’ve had previous relationships. I told one of my male friends that I have dated four guys in my life, and the surprised look on his face should have given me a clue, but I kept going in conversation (assuming that he just hadn’t dated much) saying that, I feel like I’ve learned a lot from the dating relationships I’ve had. A few weeks later, I found out why he gave me such a surprised look. I basically said the equivalent of being engaged four times.

…one my landlords didn’t understand at all why someone would want an oven. After hearing him repeat this over and over, “I just don’t get it, I don’t understand..” I finally said, “Let me explain it to you, to bake and to cook is a way to serve and be a blessing to others. Not to mention, Thanksgiving is coming up, and as you well know, you have to eat turkey on Thanksgiving, and how am I going to bake a turkey with no oven?”

…I actually have four “mothers”. Let me explain. Because my mom isn’t here with me in Spain, there are three other women that have stepped up to looking out for me, making sure I’m eating right, not walking by myself alone at night, etc. The newest addition to the team is my boss. Manoli. I found out she was joining the mom team when she decided I couldn’t walk from the language academy to the bus stop by myself (It’s less than 200 meters) and that she would drive me. I was even more surprised when she insisted on waiting with me in the bus station. Upon insisting that she really didn’t need to wait with me, she let me know that when the bus arrived, she would also be speaking with the bus driver to make sure he would look out for me. Sure enough, when the bus pulled up, Manoli went over to the driver’s window and after talking with him briefly, called me over to introduce us.

¿donde estás? / where are you?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:01:30 -0800

One of my favorite quotes comes from one of my seminary professors, Dr. Allman, he says,

“If where you’re at, you’re becoming more like Christ, then you’re in the right place.”

Something that I try to keep an open mind about is my geography. Literally, my location in the world. My first year here in España, which was last year, I really started to consider what keeps people in a certain location… Is it a mortgage? Comfort? A good school? Debt? A job? A church? Ministry? The list goes on and on…

I started thinking about all of the blessings of the church that I’ve received in my time as a Christian, women that have discipled me, poured into me, families that model a Christ-centered home, bible studies, small groups, biblical resources, good teaching, fellowship, the Word, accountability, etc. And I started to think, did God just give me all those things…just because. Just so that I could grow and get spiritually fat? Just so that I would have all those blessings for myself?

For me, I wanted to go to a place where those things don’t currently exist, or they exist but they’re not as common, and invest myself there. Referring to the quote above, for me, I know I’m in the right place, walking with God, and becoming more conformed to His image. I’m constantly reminded that I can do nothing, apart from Him.

I make me sick!

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:53:00 -0800

Or, the post in which I whine and then puke at my own whininess.

I may have posted here before about the needs of the local feeding center. Well, I wrote some letters. I made some phone calls. I called in some favors. And now the money is here to start construction on the wall and buy the needed supplies to properly run the center.

So my husband tells me that we should go and talk to another missionary, who has more authority over this center than we do. Sure. Great. No problem at all.

Then he tells me to let him do all the talking. "Sure." I said, though less enthusiastically.

Then this morning he tells me that while I'm in the middle of homeschool, he will be going to talk to the Brother. Sigh.

Now I'm pouting. I wanted to be there. I wanted to hear for myself what was going to happen. I invested so much. I, I, I, me, me, me...

I should be happy that things are finally going to progress for the center. I should be happy that the kids will get in out of the cold. I should be grateful that the actual doing of it all does not rest on my shoulders.

But instead I'm pouting. Pouting because of perceived injustice. Pouting because my husband should have known how important this is to me. Pouting because I'm not sure if I was excluded because of scheduling conflicts, the fact that I'm a woman, or because I'm too forceful with my opinions. I'm leaning more toward the latter 2.

And all of this comes after I lectured my teenager about his attitude problem. Um, Mom, I wonder where he gets it?

Sigh.

I may have to go into the bathroom so I can have a little privacy to throw my crying fit. Then when I get it all out to no one but God, maybe I can be happy for the kids.

Maybe.

Not believing how fast time flies…

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:24:53 -0800

Corban will be 3 months tomorrow. Almost every day I think to myself, he isn’t far from…and I fill in the blank with some new thing babies do in the first year of their life. Hard to believe. We are loving the stage he is in now. He is just so darn adorable! One night (about 3 weeks ago or so…yeah, i know it’s taken me forever to post this!) I got him laughing, and we caught some on video. He does a lot of this these days.

We haven’t gone yet for his 3 month appointment, although we did have to go to the Dr. this past week due to a bit of a fever and a few other things. He’s good now it seems. He weighs right around 14lbs, and I have no clue how that measures up to most 3 month olds. One thing I do miss a little bit is going to the Dr. and having all of his stats be in pounds and inches instead of kilos and centimeters. I feel like I’ve never know in these past 3 months just exactly how big or how long he is. Oh well…not the end of the world…just something I miss a little from the States.

Corban sleeps really well, he generally eats ok, although there are times when I think he needs more (he doesn’t seem to think so…hah), and he just loves his big sister. Cailyn continues to be great with him. She has become quite the helper and distraction in critical moments. I like that.

3 months

So, we press on in hopes of being the kind of parents we need to be to this sweet little one and his sister. We feel so blessed that God chose us as their parents!

Thanksgiving this week…unbelievable! We are looking forward to having our team over for some good ‘ol American food!!! Then, just a few weeks till family visits for Christmas!

Poco a Poco

The Fletchers — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:31:00 -0800

I think I have heard this sentence about 80 times this past week. Everyone has told me "don't worry, little by little (poco a poco.") That's exactly how it's been, little by little. I knew our settling in process was going to take a while but I didn't anticipate HOW slow every little thing was going to be.

Our teammate Wes said it best "everyday you set two goals. At the end of the day, if you have reached ONE of those goals, be really happy."

One of those goals of being a "blogging queen" while we were gone has obviously not made the "completed" list this past week. I'm really sorry I never got to tell you my awesome buying silverware story but today is the day. Now that's it's been a week it just doesn't seem quite so funny so I'm also going to tell you about buying our chairs to make up for it. I will try and give you the really short version of both.

Silverware Nightmare
One of the very first things I needed to buy was silverware. Looking back I was getting a little obsessed about wanting to accomplish this task but I was SOOO sick of mixing my tea with a pen. So we went to the mall with all of our kids and had Liam in his carseat. Lee took Liam and Maddox in one store and Hope & I took Sofia into the big department store.
It was CRAZY! We didn't realize that we went on a major sale day and half of Lima was in that store. I found some silverware (needless to say I wasn't being picky) that was half off that day and got in line.
I finally realized there wasn't anyone working the register so I tried others. After going to three other registers where no one would help me, I ended up back in the same line only two more people were ahead of me now. By this time it had been already about 20 minutes. I then waited in line for 30 more minutes and when I FINALLY got to the front of the line, the lady looked at me and just said "cash only, the credit card machine just broke." Ok, so I was angry now. Not only are there 50 people working and the ONLY ones that can check you out had to be wearing a tie, but there were literally only two people in front of me when I had to wait 30 minutes so another line was just not going to happen.
The lady said she would escort me to another line and let me check out but when we got there the other lady said I couldn't and they argued for a minute. I finally just told the lady I didn't want them and walked away. At this point Lee found me in the store and I think his arm was numb from carrying Liam in his car seat and Maddox had touched every item in the store and was tired so ALL of us were fed up. Did I give up? OH NO.
Lee graciously said he would wait in line (ok maybe not so graciously) so I went to get my silverware back but they were gone. I went back to the spot they had them and they didn't have ANY left, what??? Finally the lady I had given them back found another set and Lee was off to wait in line. Oh did I mention that it was 10PM at this point???
Lee finally met us at the entrance and said that when he got to check out they told him he wouldn't get them for half off because he was in the wrong line! Don't worry he got them anyway and we found a taxi and got home around 11pm. That was all for ONE set of silverware.

Buying the Chairs
Here when you buy furniture (at some places) they have little delivery trucks that deliver your furniture for pretty cheap, waiting outside the store. Well Lee went to go find a truck to deliver our two chairs we had purchased and when I got over there with Hope and the kids he looked at me and said "get in." I don't know if you can picture this truck but it looks like a REALLY small pick up with wood bars that were rigged around the sides. This was again late at night and pretty chilly. NO WAY was I going in the back of that thing with my six week old in an open air, nasty truck. I'm adventurous and if we didn't have the kids that would be fine but I just said I would get a taxi back. Well I guess the man saw the look I gave Lee and told his wife to get in the back so Hope and I could sit in the front (so I now I'm feeling guilty.)
Well that's what happened. Lee and Maddox got in the back with the lady and Hope, Sofia, Liam and I got in the cab of the truck with the man. So here is the best part of the story- this cab was made for MAYBE two SMALL people. The man was a very large man I sat in the middle holding Liam with the stick shifter (I know that's not the proper term for that but work with me here) too close for comfort and Hope was holding Sofia. Hope and I looked at each other like "what in the world is going on?"
Liam started screaming cause he was hungry so I had no other choice but stick my sons head right into this guys armpit and feed him while every time he shifted Liam or I got elbowed. We were so squished and the man looked uncomfortable too but it was absolutely hilarious. It got even funnier when he was wanting me to give him directions and I realized the only person who knew how to get home and how to speak good Spanish was in the back of the truck somewhere. I somehow figured out how to get home, the man THANKFULLY decided to just hold his seat belt instead of attempting to put it on under me and Liam peacefully went to sleep in the man's cozy armpit. All was well and we have two beautiful chairs!

Well so much more has happened since these stories and I have lots of pictures to share so I PROMISE this week I will get busy and share more.

Poco a Poco
Stephanie

P.S. Today we had church at a pretty park and the Fletcher fam got pretty sun-burned. So funny to think of getting sun-burned in November.

The Sun

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:05:13 -0800

Well, we have had sunshine here in Lima for 3 out of the last 4 days. It is wonderful! You never know how much you love the sun until you move to a city that has overcast skys for eight months per year. Soakin’ up every minute of it…

Untitled

kjvindian@juno.com (kjvindian) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Packed house. Gad to bring extra chairs in. Boys came from the group home. 29 teenagers today and 12 saved n 2 right with God. Now we feast

A Letter from my Husband

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:13:00 -0800

Taking a short break in the Truth series, I wanted to post my husband's most recent mission update. I have snipped certain areas to retain anonymity. I hope it is a blessing to you!

Greetings from cool, sunny {Snip}!

Fall began with rain and mud and it looked like the rain was going to carry us right through to the snow, but the last couple weeks have been rather nice. We've been able to buy, cut, and stack wood for winter. We were also able to do some insulating of the house. The kids were able to take some walks and play at the new little park in our village. We appreciate the good weather. We still have roses in bloom.

The work is going strong. The churches are praising God for salvation through Jesus Christ. They testify about their life while serving Mohammed and how Jesus changed everything so completely. He gave them love. He gave them peace. He gave them grace. {Glory to God}! (<-- translated from foreign language)

One part of the ministry that gives the people strength is the morning prayer meeting. In our village, we meet together each morning. We sing a few songs, pray, and fellowship. On one recent morning, the Pastor's daughter told us of some of the people she has told about Jesus. One lady, a "clean Turk" from {snip}, asked her one day why she prayed to Jesus. She told her all about Christ, salvation, and unconditional love. The lady said she would think about it. Well, one day the lady got sick. The Dr said her condition was grave. She called the Pastor's daughter and said, "Pray to Jesus for me. I need to know that He hears prayers." God heard the prayers and answered. Now the lady is a believer.

Another story is of a man in our village. He used to have wealth, but lost it all. He lost his wife, his children, his cars---everything. Today he has no job, no wood or woodstove, and no family. He is an alcoholic. The Pastor's son-in-law is a friend to him. He invited him to church. The man, Miglen, said that an alcoholic couldn't go to church. He said that he was ashamed and thought that the people would tell him to leave. The son-in-law kept after him that he would find love in the church. He promised he would come. That was last week. He didn't come. But they are still inviting. Still reaching out. Still showing him kindness. It is our prayer that he will come to know the Lord as his personal Saviour. Pray for Miglen.

The last story was about Rocko's grandmother. Perhaps I've not mentioned Rocko before. He is a young teen, born in prison to parents who are inmates. At birth he was taken from prison to live with his paternal grandmother. She is a poor widow in our village with barely enough to care for herself, let alone a child. As Rocko grew, he became an angry, bitter young man. He hated everyone and every thing. He caused many problems in the village. By the time he was ten, he had a small gang. Many were afraid of him.

Then he started going to the church's feeding center. At first he was angry and treated everyone at the center badly. If he was having a bad day, he would throw his food and yell at everyone. When hymns would be sung, he would mock. Then one day things changed. As he was yelling at the lady who was feeding him, she answered him softly. She remained kind. He saw something in her that day that he wanted. He went away that day and didn't come back for a while. When he did return, he was different. He showed kindness to all and wouldn't allow his friends to be mean, either.

That was a few months ago. Now he waves to us as we pass. When we are at the park, he comes over and talks to us and wants to play with our kids. He has volunteered at the center to help with any work that may come up. It's night and day difference.

A couple weeks ago, Rocko got the flu. He was very sick. The Dr told him to stay home and not go to the center because he could spread the illness to the other kids. But, if he didn't go to the center, how would he eat? His main source of daily nutrition comes from the center. So he went early one day and asked for food. The lady gave him a jar of soup to take home. She also sent a jar for his grandmother. Day after day for a week she sent a jar of soup to their home. Finally the grandmother came to the center (hunched over, walking with a cane) to thank them for feeding her. She'd never been treated so kindly. The cook asked if she wanted to come to the center daily and eat with the kids. She said no. She said that it should be for the kids. But when the cook insisted she take home some soup, she didn't turn it away.

The feeding center is feeding the poor, the widows, and the fatherless. What a blessing! Thank you all for your prayers and support to reach these people for Christ. You have been more of a help than you know! Glory to God!

I hope these testimonies have been a blessing to you!

Because He First Loved Me,
Brother {Snip}

Here is a picture of Rocko.