Back "Home"

We´ve been back for over a week. How wonderful it´s been to see our families! We´re enjoying our time with them.

What has been difficult is our mutual feeling of strangeness. We feel foreign in our own home culture! It´s something I have a hard time explaining.

How could what was once normal now feel uncomfortable?

Why is it difficult to get back into routines we´ve had for years after only months out of the country?

Like I said, I can´t explain it. We just need to figure out how what we´ve learned in Peru fits into our lives here. 

We´d love to catch up with you, so if you´re in the area please feel free to call or email any of us to hang out in person.  We´ll look forward to it!

Meanwhile, we ask that you keep Nuestras Semillas and the church in Tacna in prayer. We may have finished our mission there, but the churches continue with ministry every day. They need unity, wisdom, love, perseverence, and resources.

Thank you!

Hope Christian Church came for two weeks,
 bringing with them their own version of Operation Christmas Child,
only this Christmas took place in July!

The kids were so excited!

Ejail approves of his new toys and school supplies.

Edu fits in his new shirt!

And Laura just kept painting...

Matthew 9:37-38

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

 The childrens' room in the New Jerusalem church

The Parable of the Lost Sheep in New Jerusalem

 

The last few days were really special for us.

We enjoyed time with our Peruvian friends, family, and church.

Stephanie with her Peruvian family,
Talia, Rodrigo, Sandra, Vidal

Ana and Laura with their family,
Jessica, Luna, Tio Victor, Tia Adelaida, Alejandra, and Christian 

like family: Judith and Tia Maria

Cusco was Amazing!

 Ana and Laura at Pisac

Stephanie in the Central Plaza

A young girl in traditional dress with her pet llama ¨Juanito¨

One of several Cathedrals in Central Cusco

Karla, Ana, Laura, and Stephanie in Sacsaywaman, 

a hill above Cusco with just the base of what used to be an Incan temple behind us

Karla and Reinaldo are good friends of ours who were our guides the week we were in Cusco. 

We are so grateful for them! 

Ricky and Tracy, Iberoamerican missionaries in Cusco, 

were generous enough to open their home to us during our stay away from Tacna. 

We greatly appreciate their friendship and giving spirit. 

Now that this refreshing trip has come to an end, 

we gringas have less than a month left! 

We are both sad to think of leaving 

and excited to come home to our families and friends.

What a strange week! God has certainly been in it.

        Last week we let go of our responsibilities at Nuestras Semillas. It felt strange to do so. After months of dreaming, praying, planning, buying, making changes, getting to know our team of teachers and the kids, we walked away.

         The kids are in good hands; the teachers are capable and comfortable; and Pauly, the director, has great ideas and a great work ethic. 

This program, as it always was, is in God´s hands. 

Our extra free time this week seemed divinely appointed; it provided us with opportunites to encourage a few friends experiencing deaths in the family and health problems. We gave a lot of hugs and lent our ears more than we´re used to, but it was a blessing to do so together. 

We are now planning to spend one week of vacation in Cusco! We are really excited for this week of traveling the culturally-rich former capital of the Incan Empire. Our good friend Karla, who spent almost two years there as an intern, will be our guide. Ricky and Tracy, Iberoamerican missionaries in the city, will be our hosts. We look forward to spending time with them as well. Our bus tickets are purchased; we leave tomorrow!

 

 Laura´s first glimpse of a Llama!








A lovely day in Arica, Chile with our dear friend Mily

one cold winter´s night

On Monday we went to Arica, Chile, to renew our documents for the remainder of our time here. It´s always fun to go, but I am always glad to return to Tacna. Maybe it´s calmer here, or maybe I´m just used to it now.

What I´m not used to is rain in Tacna! Well actually, any moisture at all! When we returned to the bus terminal last night the weather was COLD and misty. I couldn´t wait to go home and get in bed.

But as we waited for a taxi I noticed a woman sitting in the cold across from me. Her many layers of clothing caused her to appear larger than she was. At her feet were several thermoses. I suppose she was trying to sell tea, but I didn´t see anyone buy from her.

Impatient for a taxi, we walked toward the main street. On the corner were still more women sticking out the cold trying to sell, of all things, fruit on a winter night.

How difficult their lives! I do not know, of course, their individual stories. But I know that those women would not expose themselves to the cold just to make a few cents if it weren´t out of absolute necessity. These women live day to day.

¨Give us this day our daily bread…¨ is a reality I know nothing about.

And yet to those living in this way (in which the majority of the world lives), Jesus called them blessed. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

--Stephanie

*we did not take this picture



John 15

          We want to share with you an interesting interpretation of the I am the Vine, You are the Branches analogy we heard about in one of last Sunday´s sermons.

          Some of us want desperately to produce good fruit, but we must remember that fruit grows as a result of staying in the Vine, persevering with God.

          Pastor Victor of New Jerusalem reminded us that while God´s children will produce fruit, every tree has its time. A head of lettuce grows in a matter of months, and an orange tree bears fruit in 5-6 years. A palm tree bears fruit after 40-50 years!

          While God is certainly the root of a healthy tree, whether person or church, He has his purpose for each one. He will decide what type of fruit we will bear, and when. There´s no sense in hurrying something that takes time as long as we remain in the Vine.

Recently we held our first parent meeting at Nuestras Semillas. It went well! Not perfect--we forgot to say things--but Judith, Brunner, and Maria Jose did a great job of expressing important points.

Maria Jose, afterwards, told me:
"Diego´s mom came up to me after the meeting and she said his professors at school are wondering if he´s really doing his homework, because IT´S SO WELL DONE. They said his BEHAVIOR has been markedly better in these last weeks too."

So we praise God! By His grace we are doing something right!

 

Happy Mother´s Day! in Ciudad Nueva

We took pictures of mothers and their children to give them as gifts.

Upper left: Diego and family

Upper right: Angela and Joselyn with mom

Bottom: Tia Paulie leading the kids in a Mothers Day poem

Fresh Produce en el Mercado

If you´ve talked to us through Skype, you´ve probably seen one of our little friends, Danilo or Heidi, in the background.

Happy Birthday Laura! In March, but still...  :)

Ana and Laura with their host family at Laura´s surprise birthday party.

 En el Centro de Tacna,
in front of the city Cathedral.

Every Day...

Our Schedule looks something like this:

Mon-Fri mornings are flexible. We do laundry (by hand), spend time in the Word, prepare for classes/ Bible studies, or work on painting projects at one of the three Tacna Iberoamerican churches.

At 1pm we have lunch with the children from church and our fellow Nuestras Semillas teammates.
At 2pm our 20 elementary students begin homework, which lasts for at least two hours. (These kids have a LOT of homework!) During this time we gringas assist the professors by making copies, taking kids to use the church computers, or supervising a classroom if a professor must step out. We also use this time to talk to parents interested in signing up their children for the program.

5pm is "workshop" time. The kids learn (and eat!) in the kitchen, do a craft (with Tia Laura), play a game, or practice theater.
At 6:30pm the children get picked up or walk home. We then, as a team, clean the bathrooms and classrooms and gather for a brief meeting (and often prayer) before going home ourselves.
8pm is dinner in our homes. (Us gringas eat fruit, leftovers, and peanutbutter sandwiches in the afternoon to survive until such a late dinner :)

My (Stephanie´s) favorite hour of the day is definitely lunch, before Nuestras Semillas even starts. For many of the 70 church kids in the lunch table program, this is the only time during the day when they will tenderly hear their name called out or recieve a hug or pat on the back. I DELIGHT in greeting by name as many children as possible; I love seeing a group of kids huddled around Tio Brunner as they eat together; I´m happy when I see timid Joselyn fly into Laura and Ana´s arms for a bear hug. We cherish these moments, and we ask God to work His Love through the lives of these precious children.

Little Esmeralda, Luis, and Arnold eating lunch at the church

This is what's been happenin'

Leticia enjoying the "sunflower" she made in Christine's kitchen craft class

Christine with the 5-6 graders decorating sugar cookies for her last class

Sonia, Christine, and Maritza...not wanting to say goodbye just yet

A beautiful day-trip to the city of Tarata, two hours from Tacna

A Taratan llama!!

One morning we climbed the hill that overlooks the city

The kids planted sunflower seeds in front of the church

          Nuestras Semillas has been running for over a month now! Every week a few more kids join, which is an answer to prayer. Many children in Ciudad Nueva receive only harsh, or even abusive discipline at home, while others receive none at all. The “profesors,” Brunner, Maria Joce, Judith, and Pauly are dedicated to loving, teaching, and disciplining the kids. In just the few weeks the professors have spent with them in the classroom we have seen the children already reciprocate the love they receive. Almost all of them kiss and hug several of us “Tios” before leaving the church in the evening.

          While Nuestras Semillas is going well, our team is missing Christine, who just a few days ago left Tacna to return home to the U.S. She had been here for 3 months with us so it is very strange not to have her here! We are blessed that she was here teaching food decorating to the kids, handstands to the teens, and baking to friends. I, Stephanie, thoroughly enjoyed having my sister here! But I´m content knowing she´s back home having learned a lot and now able to bless the rest of my family. Try to catch up with her if you can!

         Laura, Ana, and I are doing well . God has blessed us with love, patience, and humbleness to learn. As Laura has recently said, “3 months together and I can´t believe we´re still friends!”  And we definitely are. But we´re not always together. Ana is becoming involved in ministering to some young ladies from the church her host family pastors. Laura is being contracted to paint for other churches and friends. And I´m trying to spend time with the teen girl in my house and others from the church.

          Thank you to all who have prayed and given recently; we now have enough to stay here serving through the end of May! If you are able to pray, please continue to pray for this project of Nuestras Semillas, that God would protect the children and strengthen our church team in the spiritual battle for this city. If you are able to give, please consider donating in order to provide everything necessary so the church can glorify God in the community.

Any questions or comments, please email us!    Tacnateam2011@live.com

From Stephanie´s Journal

   

            Surely the hardest part of this job is saying “No” to kids who really want to stay at the church after school, but whose parents are not willing to put in the extra effort for them to be here.

            Last night we walked two girls home whose mom has not paid anything after a week of their staying at Nuestras Semillas. Joselyn, a 3^rd grader, warned us that her mom “is usually not home when we get there.”  She wasn’t. So today I had to almost push them out the door, reassuring them we love them and want them to stay, but we need the support of their mother. It hurt my heart to do so. But the idea of Nuestras Semillas, Our Seeds, is that the parents work together with the church; we cannot raise them ourselves.

            Walking with the girls in search of their mom brought back into perspective the real neighborhood of Ciudad Nueva. Living on “Main Street” in Ciudad Nueva and walking daily back in forth between the safety and warmth of my house and the church soothingly numbs me to the reality of the kids whom we are serving.

They too walk to and from their schools on Main Street and the church halfway up the hill. But after lunch at the church they continue up the hill, carrying their heavy backpacks and pulling younger siblings along during the heat of the day. Their feet get dusty when the road ends; they have no running water to wash them well. Coughs echo between houses, the whole pueblo sick from cold, dry air that penetrates the makeshift walls of their homes each night. And it’s not even winter yet.

Even though we are living in Ciudad Nueva and daily interacting with these precious children, we can easily forget the hardships they face when beyond our reach. I’m trying to remember so that when I greet them, I greet them with all the love I can tangibly give them.

Today was our first day of the after school program. We were all pleasantly surprised with how calm it was. Even when things didn’t go according to plan, everything worked itself out smoothly. We definitely felt the peace of the Lord throughout this exciting first day.

The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves during lunch, crafts, kickball, and even while doing their homework!

Laura led a craft in decorating visors.

Paulie and Maria-Jose helped kids with their homework.



Please pray that God continues to do a work in the hearts of these kids as well as prepare and lead our Nuestras Semillas team in the right direction. Thank you to all who have made this program possible!



A lot has happened in the past month and we’re very excited to share with you!

In our last update, Stephanie and Christine were still living in Local Central, the church 20 minutes from the church we work with every day in Ciudad Nueva. They have both moved now and are living with host families! Stephanie is living two blocks away from Laura and Ana in Ciudad Nueva with a married couple, their two daughters, and grandson. Christine is living with a good friend, Judith, and her mom and son. Judith lives further away but works in the church so she and Christine take public transportation to the church together each day. Stephanie and Christine are very thankful to God to be living with a family and sleeping in a bed!

We finished painting the two classrooms after four and a half weeks:

The first room is for 0-8 year-olds on Sundays and will be used for the daycare Monday-Friday during the after school program.

The second room is for 9-12 year olds on Sundays and will be used as a classroom for homework and other activities Mondays-Fridays in the after school program.

We had a lot of fun coming up with the ideas for these rooms and watching the walls come to life!

It was a lot of work; here are a few pictures of us painting:

Laura

Ana

Stephanie

Christine

After finishing painting the classrooms, we’ve focused almost every hour of every day on preparing the after school program.

We cleaned out an office that hasn’t been organized in years.

We’ve walked throughout the neighborhoods passing out flyers promoting the program.

We’ve been purchasing games, balls, shirts for the workers, smocks, and other supplies we’ll need.

Ana and Stephanie have worked with parents to sign up children for the program.

We’ve had countless meetings with other committed brothers and sisters in Christ to plan the program. In addition to us four, we have been meeting with:

Judith—She is lady Christine is living with and works in the church. To start, she will be running the daycare center. If God provides someone else to run the daycare center she will be a teacher in the after school program.

Pauly—She just moved here with her husband from Chile and will likely be the administrator of the program. She has had a heart to be a part of an after school program for years.

Bruner—He coaches soccer in Tacna and will be in charge of teaching sports almost every day at our program.

Maria Jose—Bruner’s wife who worked at an after school program for years. She has more experience than any of us and her advice is extremely helpful. Depending on other work, she hopes to be a teacher in the program as well.

All of these people love God, love children, and are just as excited about this as we are! We are so blessed to have such committed people help plan the program.

We also have a lot of interest from other adults and high schoolers in the church who want to volunteer in the program. It’s exciting to see that God is stirring the hearts of others to work in this program. We praise God so many Peruvians desire to help long-term.

We’ve decided to call the program “Nuestras Semillas,” which means “Our Seeds.” The idea behind the name is that the children are the seeds of the parents and church/after school program. The program aims to work closely with parents so that the children from the community will grow in knowledge, wisdom, health, and love.

Our specific hopes for the children are:

1. That they experience the love God has for them through the actions and words of the teachers.
2. That they feel secure with the teachers.
3. That they feel they are part of a greater family—the family of God.
4. That they understand the material from school and complete their homework.
5. That they learn how to live healthy lives (physically, mentally, spiritually).
6. That they have fun with the activities such as sports, games, teaching, art, crafts, cooking, choir, and drama.

Our specific hopes for the parents are:

1. That they feel secure sending their kids to a healthy, sound place after school.
2. That they grow in knowledge and wisdom as parents and desire to participate in the growth of their children.

Above all we are praying God works in the hearts of every child and parent involved in the program.

Well, Nuestras Semillas starts TOMORROW! We can’t wait to see what God has for the program, and of course, we are looking forward to keeping you all informed. Thank you for reading and thank you for your prayers!