less than 48 hours??!

G'day!

Back in Brisbane. I am graduating tomorrow night (actually today because its past 12)! Now that's crazy. This week and some of last week was spent doing debriefing and re-entry lectures. Its been good. I am very excited to come back home, but also so sad to leave this place and my friends here. It was such an amazing experience. I learned and grew so much, both in my relationship with God, but also learned a lot about myself and goals and ambitions I have for my life. This was such a blessing to be able to experience, and I know that God has new things in store for me when I get home as well.

So update on the week in the village..
We didn't go up in a fruit truck by the way! We lucked out last minute and got to ride in a van (I actually was hoping for the fruit truck though, because it looked more entertaining for the long ride). So we arrived that evening and they informed us we were leading a church service that night. Luckily they had warned us to always be prepared to preach at a church service within hours notice. That went well. Their worship is veeeeery different. Very different. They hit a pitch that I don't think I've ever heard before. They also played cool instruments and danced in some of the songs. It was actually really awesome to experience a whole new culture and see how different people worship God. The church was this cute little mud hut with candles stuck to the walls and a light bulb hanging in the front. This village had electricity, which was surprising. So the buildings were all mud huts and they did not have toilets or even holes in the ground. so that was new. haha The food there was pretty good. Wasn't sure exactly what it was all the time but it was usually pretty good. I was sick and throwing up the first day so luckily the boys ate my portion of food. It was actually pretty cool what they did when they saw that I was sick. They rushed in and had about 3 bottles of scary looking liquid. I was like... I pray to Jesus they aren't going to ask me to drink that.. And they didn't. They just poured it in their hands, clapped and then put it on my face and told me to take a deep breath. Instead, I held my breath in fear.. haha but I think it was fine because it was just herbal stuff. And I got better :) so it couldn't have been too bad. So we had a church service every night. They went a few hours, and we prayed for the people at the end of each one and asked if anyone was sick or hurting or if they wanted to get saved. Almost the whole church would come up and ask for prayer. It was really awesome though. The last night God healed this woman's stomach infection, which brought her so much pain. I prayed for her the night before that and nothing happened and she seemed so sad and hopeless. After this though, she had a big smile on her face and was so excited and thankful to what God had done. It was so cool to see the change in her. We played with the precious children there, and they attempted to teach me Quechua. That language is so hard!! Most knew spanish too so I could interact with the family we stayed with and the people there fairly easily. This cute old lady I was talking to braided my hair and was so much fun to talk to. God just gave us tons of great opportunities to bless these people but also to establish relationships with them, even if there was a bit of a language barrier. All in all it was a great week, challenging but so worth it.

And now I'm in Brisbane and about to be done with all of this! I'm just so thankful for all I learned, and experienced. Its been amazing growing closer to God and being able to see all He is doing across the world.

I cannot tell you enough how thankful I am for all of your prayers and your encouragement. Its really made a difference and helped me tons a long this adventure!



Here are some pictures from the village:

Our home

the family we stayed with :)

 

 

we had to get out and clear a landslide in the road on our way up the village

he gave me his hat so that I could be more like a mountain lady

such a beautiful area!

lots of animals!! :)

In the church doing the skit

Inside our cozy home

The main part of the village.. this is where we would walk to get to the church

 

 

during worship.. this was one of the jumping and dancing songs :)

Preachin it up! (2 translators-English to spanish then spanish to quechua)

 

 

 

The church

eating just outside where we stayed

at the end of the trip-washing our completely muddy shoes in the stream

daily enjoyment of mud

Kale with his tiny friend

The cute lil lady braiding my hair!

When we first arrived

Our beautiful bathroom... up and up and up that hill

Goodbyes!!!

And click this link below to see a video of the worship there:
Worship in the village

THANK YOU AND LOVE YOU ALL!!

Last Week Here I Come!

Hola!

Como Estas!!? So we were not able to go the villages this week but instead are going tomorrow morning until Thursday. Basically this week was supposed to be our last week of outreach but got switched with the village week, so it was much more low key.  It was really great. We did a mix of working at The Meeting Place and helping out at the orphanage (the MAD team finished up the mini dts this week so we helped with the kids). We also were so blessed and we were able to go to Machu Picchu!! Oh my goodness, it was increadible. We woke up and had breakfast at 3am then left at 4am to hike up to Machu Picchu and see the sunrise (but there were too many clouds to really see the sunrise). So this was 2 hours of climbing stairs... my muscles were defnitely not awake yet. Then we got up to the top where the ruins were. SOOOOOOOOOOO amazing. We then hiked up to the top of Waynu Picchu Mountain. So scary but so beautiful. I can't even describe it. It was so soooo so beautiful and just such a blessing.

Last week- mini dts was so good! The students I think really grew a lot and enjoyed it. They also participated a ton, which Mr. Lenz, the father was worried wouldn't happen so that was cool to see. My teaching went much smoother than the one I did on evangelism, and I was much more used to a translator, so that was so good. Everyone else also did really great in their topics. We played soccer after lunch with the kids some of the days which was AWESOME.
So one of the kids asked where I learned how to play soccer,
and I was like "umm I just grew up playing.."
and he was like "oh so where do you live??"
".. California.."
"WOW! so do you guys just play on the beach?!"
"hahaha ummm there is grass in California ya know.."

It was funny. Its been really interesting actually to see people's preception of CA.

So that week was so great. I also went one of the days with Mrs. Lenz (mom of the orphanage) and the MAD team to this women's prison to talk with some of the women that Mrs. Lenz has been reaching out to. That was so eye opening. We talked with them and some of us shared about our life and testimony. It was such an amazing experience. I have never gone to a prison before.. haha thankfully I guess. But it is a cool way to reach out.

Tonight we went to The Meeting Place church and at the end they all prayed for us which was so cool. Our friend, Alex, also met us there and I attempted to translate some of the sermon for him. Its been awesome to stay in contact with him too. Also, today Freddy and I tried to get tickets for the villages but there were not any buses going tomorrow so it looks like we will be taking a fruit truck there tomorrow. haha that should be exciting. I am not sure exactly how many hours it is. Someone said they think eight, but I am not sure. We are not entirely sure what we will be doing exactly. A group from MAD went to a different village the other week and they said they mainly did a TON of teaching and preaching and it was a crazy and amazing experience. So who knows. It may be that, or completely different. We prepared a skit so we will probable throw that in there sometime this week. I would super appreciate it if you could pray for our time there. We do not have a ton of time there, but I know God can definitely do a lot. So please pray for safety, good health, and for God to work in the hearts of the people we will be meeting. Also for God to really speak through us and use us. Thanks so much.

p.s. I don't remember which week this fits in (my grasp on time is kind of gone) but we also preformed this skit in the plaza. It was so cool, and we did it for this group of hippies. One of them said he was looking for a church in english and so we invited him to the meeting place. It was awesome.

Okay, its way too late and I have to get to sleep, so I won't put any pictures up on this one, but hopefully will later. I love you and miss you!! Thank you for your prayers!! So we leave to go on a 20 hour bus ride to Lima next Sunday and fly out of Lima on Monday. Crazy, only a week left.. THANK YOU for all your love and support through all of this.

GOODNIGHT!!

6 week mark!

Hola mis amores!!!!

so... we have reached week 6, and only have 3 weeks left until we leave. Crazy..

It has been absolutely amazing here. God has given us so many awesome opportunities to reach out to the people. I taught on evangelism at the youth service last Tuesday. That went okay. There weren't too many students, so I wasn't too nerveous. I have just never taught with a translator, so that actually made it way harder than I expected. But it was still really good. Katrina, Freddy, Elina and I performed a skit for the service, which was good too.

The rest of that week, we went up a few times to the Jesus statue and prayed for the city and did worship. We met the sweetest ladies selling things there and we were able to pray for their families and encourage them. That was awesome and such a blessing to be able to do that. That same day we also did some worship music in the plaza.

Saturday was my "leader day" where I could plan the whole day. That was so much fun, and God gave us sooo many opportunities to share His love with people. I was finally able to do a skid row- Peru style outreach :). We all baked cookies and wrote up verses in spanish to hand out to people that day. We were able to talk to a ton of people, especially the young teenagers offering massages. We asked if there was anything we could pray for after talking with them and giving them the cookies and stuff, and almost EVERY person was so excited to pray with us. That same day we met up with our taxi friend, Alex, and helped him with his english.

Sunday, we went to a different youth service and performed the skit again. Our friend, Alex, met us for that and we all went to dinner after.

This whole next week we are doing a mini DTS for the kids at the orphanage in Cusco. This is the other half of the jungle orphanage. Also, a DTS is the type of school I am doing now, but instead of having a whole topic a week, we are teaching them a different topic each day. I taught Monday on the Character and Nature of God. It went really well. This time I was more used to having a translator so it went much smoother. The kids were also really engaged and participating so that was cool. After we hung around and had lunch there and played with the children. We all had a big soccer game as well, which was a ton of fun.

So the rest of this week, we will be there at the orphanage, while some people go and volunteer at The Meeting Place each day. Tomorrow Elina and Elsa are teaching on the Father Heart of God, and then Freddy on Lordship, and then Katrina on Worship. It should be a really good week. So you guys could be praying for open hearts as well as wisdom for those speaking. Thanks so much.

The beginning of next week (depending on when we can get a bus) we will go to a village to live there for a week. We don't actually have a ton of details of what we will be doing. The pastor that Jordan made connections with (where I taught on evangelism and where we did skits) heads up churches in different villages, so he asked us to come help for a week. As far as we know, it will probably involve farming, teaching, and pretty much whatever they need help with. I am really looking forward to that.

Once we get back, there is only one week left, which is so crazy to me. Time has really flown by. Thank you all so much for praying. Also, thank you for praying against sickness. We are all pretty healthy now, so praise God.

I love it here. It is sooo beautiful. Everyday when I walk outside, I am so in awe of how beautiful it is. God has been teaching me so much, especially what it means to live by his strength and not my own. He has also taught me so much about what it means to really love people, and to put their interests above my own. Still in the process of learning that actually. Haven't quite mastered it haha but getting there. God has been teaching me a lot about His character and what it really means to lay our worries and fears at His feet.

This time is such a blessing, and I am soaking in every moment. I really appreciate your prayers, and your support. I keep telling you it means so much, but IT REALLY DOES! Please keep praying for health and protection, and for God to really shine through us. Also, just for continued wisdom and direction for our leaders and group.

Thank you thank you thank you!

Below are some pictures so far. I tried to put on a lot, but this internet is pretty slow, so its hard to put on tons.

Me, Elsa, and Elina

In our beautiful main plaza in Cusco!

Enjoying the city on our day off!

This is where I taught on evangelism

Our skit :)

Evangelismo..



We went to pray one night at the Jesus Statue, and this is overlooking the Plaza



So increadible

After we prayed at the Jesus statue one day, we found random stairs that lead all the way down to the  Plaza. It was so beautiful!

Dinner with Alex after church

Our cookies and verses that we handed out!

This is one of the ladies we gave cookies to and got to pray with

At The Meeting Place with Alex, after we helped him with english

On Sunday after church.. Alex bought us icecream.. after I accidently screamed "ice cream!" really loudly when I saw a lady selling ice cream.. haha

the orphanage in Cusco- "El Arca"

Where I taught on Character and Nature of God



I had a chicken claw for lunch.. They taught me how to eat it-"suck on the toes and get as much fat off as you can".. yummmy



Kale let me wear his shoes cuz my foot got all bloody after playing soccer and he didn't care if I got his gross.. haha

Elsa and I in the Plaza



Our whole team outside our house! left to right:
Annabel (Germany), me, Katrina (Australia), Elina (Finland), Jenna (US), Elsa (Switzerland), Freddy (Sweden), Kale (US)
hhaha Freddy wasn't cooporating for the photo.. per usual..

click this link to watch something awessssome

LOVE YOU ALL!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!