Back to Work!!

Time is short here in AREQUIPA, Peru where I have just under a month left of language school! Though, being done with school is going to be a huge blessing...unfortunately that does not mean I will be fluent! It seems the more you learn...the more you realize how much you don't know!

Pucallpa, Peru is on the horizon and I am very excited! I am looking to embark on three jobs (two of the three kinda blend together). I am going to be teaching high school bible as well as PE to about five kids. I am also the youth pastor to these five kids. My other job is to lead SAM's church of Mil Palmeras in the area of local missions through home projects! AREQUIPA is in southern Peru in the middle of the desert - so I am really excited to back in the land of rain and clouds again! I guess that also means muddy roads (see pic below!) This all begins on September 14th!

A huge blessing came about three weeks ago when I received a notice that a church in Texas had voted to give me $5,000. This will entirly go to help me purchase a truck - but doing some research on used truck prices - $11,000 (that amount I have) does not go very far. I am looking for more support in order to purchase a used truck in the next three months or so. If anyone knows of anyone who needs to get rid of some money...haa haa....let me know - I know where they can make a good investment! : )

Can send the "unwanted money" haa ha to:
South America Mission., INC
1021 Maxwell Mill Road, Suite B
Fort Mill, SC 29708

Phone: 803-802-8580

Last thing...I am curious if anyone is actually reading this blog - if you are...could you leave a message or email me...or even find me on facebook - please let me know!

How you can pray:
Language learning, funds for a truck, and smooth transition into ministry in mid sept.

Thanks so much!

Hey Kids!

Just thought it is time to drop everyone a line and give you a little heads up! Life here in Arequipa has been quite normal. The neat thing is this brain of mine gets a break as the Spanish Institute is having it annual two week vacation! Sooo...you know what that means...I get a vacation too! More like a mental break...but you know what I am finding...I am finding that my I can't speak a lick of Spanish these last three days! Guess my mind needs school!

Peruvian Holiday!
July 28th is Peru's Independence Day! Everywhere there are signs saying "Feliz Fiestas Patrias!" I will stick a picture of my neighborhood here in Arequipa of all the Peru flags flying in the stiff wind we have here!



The last two days I have tagged along with Pedro and Cecila (the family I am living with and also the director of the Spanish Institute) as the family and I have traveled to some "waterfalls" about an hour away and yesterday we even made it to the beach to play volleyball! Mind you it is winter here...and the beach was like 60 degrees and the water even colder...BUT it was a lot of fun!!!

I am flying to Lima tomorrow (7/31) to take care of three to four days of paper work as I complete my resident visa and am able to get my carnet...finally!! School starts back up again on August 11th and I will be making my way to Pucallpa sometime in the beginning of September!

Pics from recent trip to the Colca Cayon

Two alpacas along the way at 12,000 feet!

Our group at an ice pit stop at 15,500 feet!

Children who came and did a traditional dance for us.

Our group at the beginning of the Colca Canyon!

Me at the Colca Canyon in southern Peru!

Two Trips and lots of Spanish…

Hey all…Well in the last ten days I have been from Arequipa south to Tacna, Peru to cross the border and go to Arica, Chile in order to get my resident visa for Peru. I went with another SAM family and the going was great – the being in Arica, Chile was great…but the return trip had a little hiccup! We were in a nice vehicle and well it broke ALMOST in the middle of nowhere. We managed to limp back 10 miles south (lucky for us it was all down hill). Anyhow…found a mechanic who had to weld a nut onto a broken bolt (which was ¼ still inside the engine) in order to get it out. Needless to say it set us back about 5 hours. Thanks be to the Lord for his provision and timing of the mishap!

Then, it was back to normal…studying Spanish. It seems I am learning a lot in the short month I have been here. I am excited to see what I learn the next two months – but also…the more I learn the more I realize how much I don’t know! So, please keep praying for my understanding of new words and have the opportunity to use them daily in speaking.

We (ten of us) took a short weekend trip on July 11 and 12th to the Colca Cayon. It is the deepest canyon in the world (twice the depth of the Grand Cayon). It was a five hour trip there from Arequipa. We went from 8,000 feet to a summit of 16,000 feet, then quickly descended to about 12,000 feet. We were able to hike around (huff huff huff…sigh) and see some pre-Inca ruins and some hot springs. Then we traveled another hour and a half up through the canyon to the spot of the Andien condors. The condors usually fly in the morning, but because of the way our trip was set up we only could go there in the afternoon. We got to see some condors. Then we had a four hour trip back to Arequipa…ascending quickly to 16,000 feet and descending all the way to 8,000 feet in Arequipa.