It's a novel...yes

Let me start off saying, “I have a wicked canker sore in my mouth and it is killing me!” That is truth...I mean, it isn't killing me but it is enough to drive me crazy. It hurts! It is right on that piece of tissue that connects my lip to my lower gums- in the center of my lower jaw. It keeps growing and making itself known, especially when I eat and my lips have to move. This is canker sore number TWO since I have been in Peru- never happens back home. What causes these things?!

We've made our journey down the coast of Peru to a place called Atico. It is a port city, so there are a lot of transient people in this region. (You know...I can do this in the morning. Everyone else is asleep- it is 11:30PM...I am going to sleep and will do this tomorrow. Buenas Noches)

Two days have passed since I first started this entry...and it will possibly be a couple more before I post this. I may be able to get to the internet today, but it really is not that important to me right now so we will see what happens. There is an internet cafe in the town, but we have tried to keep ourselves busy in the town- AND I just don't want to deal with my email account because I anticipate there will be plenty of pointless emails mixed in with the important ones...it takes times to sift through it all and I am not excited about that aspect of it. ANYWAY- I definitely just wasted time explaining that to each of you who have decided to follow up on me via this blog.

Today we met with a couple of people, but let me start with what happened yesterday. As I write this, I just want to cry...crying out to God about purpose and direction. God, I am just a girl in a foreign country- wanting to share Christ with them, but not quite understanding how I have been equipped despite my lack of Spanish. I am here, though, and so help me work through all of the hoops and to jump over any barriers that rest in place. He has most certainly shown Himself faithful, though...and this is what I want to share.

I took a break from this last night...Arturo and I sat down for a little over an hour to work on my vowels in Spanish. It is tough to try and trick my brain to say the “A” sound when I see an “E” in a Spanish word....or to say “E” when I see an “I” in a Spanish word. We also tried to work on my ability to roll my “R”...whew...my tongue does not want to move in the ways the Spanish words demand! I do pray I learn this language...

Yesterday we took our time getting out of the house. We spent the day before in Caraveli walking around and meeting people all day...and then we rode on a three hour bus ride to get back to Atico. Needless to say, we were spent from the LONG day the day before. After studying and talking and showering and cleaning our rooms, we went out for lunch at a local menu. On the way out to lunch we met two fishermen- nicknames are Torro Mata y Hannibal. Torro Mata was fixing his nets- like a pro! We asked a variety of questions for about half an hour concerning fishing...nice guys. After lunch (which consisted of sopa de pollo con pasta, pescado frito y arroz), we walked down to the beach. There were a massive number of seagulls! The waves were quite impressive, too. I took video- look for it on FB soon. Anyway, on the way back to the main part of town from the beach we met three ladies hanging out on the sidewalk while their children ate ice cream just purchased from the ice cream man. The older of the three women, Lucrecia, interacted with us most- laughing and making conversation about the area. Eventually the conversation turned into the typical topic of questioning why a gringita, such as myself, was doing in Peru. Oh- open door. It is crazy how this open door provides great excitement, but at times a slight hesitation in thinking about what is the appropriate way to share. They asked if I was preaching- told them no...simply trying to share the Word of God through my life and share His Word with people who are interested. The women went inside the house to get three chairs so Vinnie, Arturo and myself could sit and share. The first question asked was, “Why are you here? How did God tell yo to come?” It is SO cool...That morning I was reading at the desk before we left- during our 'lazy' morning. I was thinking about why am I here...God led me to read Matthew 28 and I really believe He wanted me to gain perspective of my responsibility to be obedient, but also to have confidence in Him because He is with me to the ends of the world- even here in Peru. So- I joyfully shared with the ladies that passage and shared my heart about wondering what this life is all about...and how God so graciously continues to show me the importance of being obedient to Him. The Lord lead me to share my testimony with these three women while Arturo translated for me. We were able to share several passages of Scripture. I read out of my English Bible while Arturo read from my Spanish Bible...The ladies asked us how do they discern who to believe because the Jehovah Witnesses come and tell them they need to believe, too...the foundation of Scripture, and Scripture alone, in what we share is most important and we shared that with them. I had a pretty overwhelming moment as I shared my heart with these ladies. My prayer really is to just share the Lord. I don't want to convince anyway that they must believe the way I do...rather, just a heart that asks the Lord to come and make Himself known to these people in the same powerful and real way He did to me on December 8, 1999. The Lord has been awesome in taking me to passages each morning and then using those very passages in specific ways during the day as I talk with the Peruvians. Nonetheless, the ladies slowly peeled away from the group while Lucrecia stayed around. She invited us to partake in some ceviche at her store the next day (today) to see her again. On the way back home, we stopped at a random store to buy some drinks...and we end up meeting Lucrecia sister, Raquel! We plan on going back to her store to share with her, too.

Ok- so today. We are headed out to visit the town and we run into Torro Mata fixing his nets- two different ones. We sit with him and converse a great bit about fishing- trying to simply build relationship. Tomorrow the men go out fishing for 3-4 days so the nets must be ready. Arturo asked him if we could possibly see them off tomorrow and he said we could...and Torro Mata said the owner of the boat may be willing to give us a ride out in the ocean. (Atico is a city right up on the ocean...fishing is what Atico is made of- these men have been fishing all of their lives, so it is neat to learn about these men because they make up Atico.) After an hour and a half of talking, we headed over to see Lucrecia and have some ceviche. She was pleased to see us and she happily sat us down at a small table in her small store (which is a unit in this market). She served us ceviche, which I was hesitant to try at first but knew I had to just do it. It was quite good, actually- much better then the first time I tried ceviche (which was at a menu in Lima). She asked us if we wanted fruit juice... Yes! Surtido, por favor! (Mixed fruits)...and then she gave me a piece of cake...We sat and talked with her some. I worked on my Spanish some with her by trying to talk in Spanish...what a mess! After about an hour of being there we were going to get going...I asked her how much it would cost. She insisted it was a gift and she thanked us for sharing yesterday and then coming to visit her again today. I was overwhelmed- again....I couldn't help by cry. We asked if we could pray over her and she said we could. I prayed and Arturo translated...what a moment for me in regards to being faithful in sharing and desiring to build relationships with folks. Blessed my heart- seriously.

After ceviche, we left to find the store her sister owns because I wanted to talk with her...maybe share the Bible stories and make conversation. We had a basic idea of where it was (the store), but we were not 100% sure. We turned up a random road and there was this old boat out on the street. I stopped to take a picture of it. While I was messing with the camera, a lady's voice gets our attention from inside of a home and behind the security bars of the windows. She asked where we're from....we start to talk. She proceeds in giving us marcianos (popcicles)- lucuma y leche. They were quite tasty!! Fresh milk from the cows, she said. So, as the sun was beating down and we were enjoying our marcianos, we were able to talk. I practiced a little more Spanish (because I have to be intentional in it...it is very easy to hide behind Arturo's ability to translate instead of putting myself out there to learn). Kati y Carmela- mom and daughter, it seemed...they invited me to come back and visit. I think I will and I hope we can work on my Spanish some while I share the Bible stories. We left their home to get to Raquel's store, but Vinnie had a bathroom emergency. We headed back to the hostel to accommodate Vinnie's need and to get ready for lunch. (Faustina, the woman we're staying with, is making our meals for us for very cheap!) We were supposed to meet with Faustina yesterday because she asked for a meeting time to read the Bible (because she was VERY interested in home-service visits with reading the Bible- no one does that here) but she had many things going on yesterday. Well, today was the day to meet!! After lunch, which was pretty tasty, she came in to do some reading with us. We talked about MANY things...and it was AWESOME how the Lord used Scripture I read this morning to make a point about needing to be in His Word... So faith is by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Romans- what a book! After 2 hours of talking and sharing and finding Scripture, Faustina asked if we could meet again tomorrow to read. We are going to work through a book of the Bible while we are here. I pray the Lord absolutely captives her heart. She told Arturo she wished I spoke Spanish so we could talk more about the things we were discussing... I was so thankful how the Lord was truly giving us the words to speak. I also experienced a time or two where I felt the Lord tell me to not say anything just for the sake of sharing something...rather to just wait on Him. This has been a REALLY neat day for me.

I also shaved my legs! I couldn't handle it anymore. I have had dreams about shaving...it was time! Silky smooth goodness...

February 14- Valentines' Day... yep, only mattered to me one year (when I was a junior in high school- Thanks, Ryan.) Valentines' Day reminds me of one thing these past couple of years- it was the day I entered into the Smokey Mountains on my thru-hike experience back in 2008. I was with Racheal, Vagus, Stormennorm, and Waterbear. Today, in Atico, it is a day for a major party on the beach. The people of Atico really pride themselves on their beaches, their seafood, and they enjoy drinking- perfect excuse to party today. I am hoping to get some laundry done, update my stuff online (emails and blog), and spend some time with Faustina- reading through John.

Yesterday was cool (chevere) because we were able to see the life of a fishmerman. Saul (aka Torro Mata) was going out on the sea for 4 days. We asked if we could watch them head out from the pier and he welcomed us to tag along. There were many bags of nets and lots of gear for their 4-day job out on the sea (I almost put 'adventure', but this is their livelihood- not a hobby). After all of the gear was emptied off of the truck and then loaded onto the boat, he invited us to get on the boat for a short trip out onto the water. His friend gave us the tour while Torro Mata loaded up 5 huge bags with ice....we arrived back to the pier, loaded the ice, and said farewell... And it was simply neat to have this man allow us to tag along to see how he makes a living. We hope to see him come in- to see their catch and welcome them back- on Thursday.

This is a lot to read, but a lot is going on. We just met with Faustina again this morning, despues desayuno, and we walked through the passage of John 1:1-18. We talked about baptism- she was under the impression that baptism brought salvation (like many folks). We shared with her about being born of the Spirit- bringing in John 3 and Nicodemus. Her daughters are coming from Arequipa tomorrow and I think we will get to sit down with the three of them. PLEASE pray for our time with the ladies, especially pray for Faustina and her salvation. We have had some pretty neat conversations and I am hopeful (certain) the Lord put us here (in her home) for the reason to share with her and to see Him at work.

Another update to come on another day... Don't hate me because I am wordy. Much love from Peru!

P.S. The wicked canker sore is slowly healing. It is about time...