Jenny Marino: April 2011

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: