2+2 Sum it all up!

Dear family and friends,

Thank you so much for all of your love, prayers, and support for me. You are so greatly appreciated and I cannot fully express how much you mean to me and the children of Peru! Here is a bit about what has been happening lately in my adventures in Peru.

I think that if I had to describe the orphanage with one word it would be “family”. We have a much more family-like atmosphere compared to that of the government run orphanages in town. There are two girl and two boy houses at Hogar de Esperanza. Each house has a house mother to watch the 12 children (ages 1-16) in the house. They do everything as a family. They eat, clean, play, study, and go to church together as a family. We allow our kids to go to the private schools in the area depending on the age and school needs. The teenagers are allowed “privileges” to go to a friend’s house, or go shopping, just like a teen at home would. By doing this we are letting them live more like a family and not as orphans never allowed to leave the walls. As a staff we pray, meet, and worship together. The workers invite the volunteers into their lives and let us be a part of their families. I think that this aspect is what really makes us stand out and be different from the rest of the orphanages in the area.

Here is a glimpse at what my daily jobs are like. My mornings at Hogar de Esperanza consist of working in the office for a little while making crafts or running errands around the orphanage, playing with some of our 5 yr olds that go to school in the afternoon, and I also help out in the kitchen before lunch. That has been very interesting to say the least! I am learning how to cook Peruvian foods, but right now I am mainly chopping limes and onions. And on that note I have only cried chopping onions once! After lunch I have garden time for a hour with some kids from one of the houses. The garden is split into four sections and each house is in charge of one section. They help me prepare the soil, plant the seeds, weed, and then pick the vegetables. They get very excited about watching the plants grow. It is fun to see them so eager about learning and helping me in the garden! After garden I supervise Yuliana, who is in cosmetology school. She has to practice for an hour and a half, cutting, styling and braiding hair. I have really seen her grow and mature over four months. And of course I fill in at times in the houses when the moms are on their day offs or have to run to a child to the doctor. Those times have been some of the longest and hardest, but some of the most rewarding of all. I don’t really feel like you can really know some of the kids until you live with them. There have been times where I have been watching the boys house and they turn off all of the lights just so they can jump out and scare you, or they get into fights and you have to punish them, or my favorite times of all are those quiet moments before bed and that one kid wants you to read the bible with him. It has definitely been a rewarding experience.


I am very excited about spending eight more months in Peru and learning more every day. I hope that God will continue to use me and those I am working with, in the children’s lives and also the lives of the friends I have made. Please pray that God will mold my heart more and more like his and that I will be faithful to trust Him in every situation I run into. Pray that God will work in the lives of the children. Pray for their families also, and those children who do not have families, which those of us who are working with them can love them and provide for them while they are with us.

I want to leave you with this story of Kevin, who has touched my heart so much in the past four months. He was the 15yr old who worked with me in the mornings before he left for another orphanage. My very first day here, before I knew I would be working with him, he came up to me and told me that he would teach me Spanish if I would teach him English. He showed me around and let me play with him and his friends. Our friendship then began and he would join me in the mornings that first week doing arts and crafts with the kids. The next week we found out that I was working with him. I was a little nervous, but I knew they wouldn’t put me somewhere I couldn’t handle. As the weeks went on we began to get to know one another more and more. We would spend our mornings working, learning one another’s language and telling stories about our families and trying to figure out what we were going to do later in life. I would sit with him occasionally at meal times and later in the day I would play with him and his friends. He became less of a child I worked with and more of a friend. I started picking up on his favorite sayings, “como que no?” and “YIIIIPPPPEEEEEEEEEEE!” I found out that he doesn’t approve of singing songs that don’t glorify God, and that he would always remind you to pray before you ate. Then one day they told me he was moving to another orphanage. I cried. My friend was leaving. They told him little under a week that he was leaving, and noticed a difference in his life. He didn’t smile as much and he was much more somber. He spent his time reading and sitting in the presence of the workers and volunteers. He knew that life was going to be different. The day finally came and I helped him bring his things to the car. Everyone came out to say goodbye and wish him luck in his new life. I think I was the only one who cried. I remember him just looking at me with a blank stare. Oh my heart ached so much that day. The other children ran up to me and hugged me telling me it was ok and that it was ok to cry because I spent so much time working with Kevin. A week passed and we found out he was doing well, just wasn’t showering. He didn’t like the cold water, such spoiled kids we have! I was put on the list to go visit him and was thrilled to find out that my week was first! I was able to go with one of my friends and we brought him all kinds of food and goodies. When we got there one of his friends ran to get him. Kevin started to walk over towards us and then I yelled, “Run, run, Kevin, run!” and he ran over to us but with a blank expression on his face. He stood in front of us for a second and then all the sudden it seemed to hit him who we were and why we were there and the biggest smile came across his face! I about cried then too. We spent the next few hours’ playing cards, taking pictures, and he told us all about his new place. It was hard to leave but I knew that he was in a safe place and that God was with him. I am hoping that our friendship will continue on even though we are in separate orphanages.
I want to leave you with this verse that has so greatly helped me at my time serving these children. ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

May God bless you this Christmas season,
Susanna Davenport

www.chiefsuzinperu.blogspot.com
susannadport@gmail.com

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Christmas time is here....but is it bringing lots of cheer? And if so where does it come from?

Yes I do believe that for some odd reason people are much happier (well those I have encountered) this time of year. Maybe it has to do with all of the singing, yummy food (or panetone here in Peru), and all of the beautiful decorations. But then maybe it has to do with everyone you meet wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. But for those of us who know the real reason of Christmas I think we get our cheer for our Savior who so humbly came as a baby in a stinky manger one night in Bethlehem. We have something amazing to be joyful about. And I love that we can share that with our friends and even strangers on the street. What a joy it is to be saved and to be able to speak freely of what our Father has done for us!

I am extremely happy this Christmas. Yes it is very different, but in the big picture it is only one Christmas of many. I went through a rough time getting out of Peru and then trying to get back in, but through it all I was able to thoroughly enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family and then the beginnings of Christmas. The holiday music, the baking of delicious goodies, a few Christmas parties, warm winter coats and beautiful scarves, and of course the decorating of our tree! (which is real like always) Shame on you guys who have fake trees. So getting to enjoy those things has definitely helped me out now that I am here and am enjoying the sun and warm weather, the multitude of Peruvian Chocolataras (parties with hot chocolate and panetone), snow men and Santa decorations (neither of which they have here) and of course the traditional Peruvian Christmas party at midnight on the 24th.

I think that today, the eve of Christmas eve, I have truly experienced the true meaning of Christmas. I have wrapped birthday presents, eaten banana bread with friends, went to the store to buy ingredients for a breakfast for the kids on the 25th, eaten a delicious mango, played freeze tag with some of the little boys, practiced for an awkward Christmas dance with Peruvian friends, and helped a little girl clean the kitchen. And now as I listen to Christmas music and drink spiced tea I am realizing that Christmas is not the things and traditions we are so accustomed to or where we are used to being, but it is the LOVE that we give. The LOVE that was so freely given to us by that small little baby. That is Christmas. I pray that you too will experience Christmas in this was as well. Help out a neighbor, say hello to an old friend, or just wish a stranger a Merry Christmas, and see how much Christmas is in your heart and not in your bright decorations!

With love to you all!

-Susanna

Why I am still in the US?

So what I thought was going to be a quick nice trip home for Thanksgiving turned into a long frustrating 2 weeks...er well i am still here so make it three.

It all started in the Linea bus station Saturday morning before Thanksgiving. Sam and I were waiting for Oscar to pick us up and we were going to look around Lima before we had to get to the airport. So while I was brushing my teeth Sam was watching our stuff. While doing so she got distracted by some very clever men and they stole my backpack. I came back and casually asked Sam where it was and then we started to freak out. It was kinda scary. We went to the police station and then to the embassy where they were really ugly to us and we sat there and cried for a good while. After we got it into our heads that nothing could happen until Monday morning. So Sam left and I stayed with Oscar and his family until I could leave. They were so nice to me. Told me that there home was my home. There I saw the love of Christ. I had a great time at church and spending time with them at the house and running to the store. I hope that I can help someone the way they helped me. So Monday came and we went to the Embassy to get my temporary passport and everything went smoothly until that afternoon. After lunch we all took naps and then missed the time that we were supposed to pick up my passport. Well I could blame us but I would like to blame Lima because it is soooooo stinkin huge. I mean it took us aver an hour to get anywhere. I would not like to live in a city that big at all. I do think I prefer the quaint quiet little towns that I have lived in. So I had to postpone my flight again and wait until the next day to pick up my passport. So the next day came and we picked it up early and i made my flight that night. I was able to talk to a few people on the way home about what I am doing in Peru and what Hogar de Esperanza is all about. That was really cool. People seemed really interested and asked tons of questions.

So I got home and had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving with my family. It was small but nice. We had all of the wonderful Thanksgiving goodies and good coffee to go with it! I enjoyed my next couple of days at home with my family and I even got to see Vanessa! That was a nice surprise. We had a great time. I got everything ready and we headed to Jackson to visit some friends before I had to go down to New Orleans. I got to surprise my old cheer coach Dana and I had a great time getting to see my cheerleaders.

So then I had a great visit with my grandmother and we stayed with Mrs. Broomfield. It was really nice. So then we went to NO and got to the airport and I got rejected for not having a permanent passport. So we drove all the way back home 5 hours. I was crushed. I was heartbroken. I wanted so bad to be back in Peru. I had already been gone from the Alburgue for a week and a half and was so ready to see my children. So I called the Alburgue when I got home and talked to Lori about what was going on.

So for as now I am here in MS waiting to go to NO to get a new passport and then change my flight. I feel like I have missed so much in the past 2 weeks. I really miss my Peruvian family and even though I LOVE my family, friends, and my country my heart is currently in Peru with those kids.

So for now I am in Jackson and enjoying time with my friends. We went to the dance and then played in the SNOW! Kasey and I were like little children in the snow. It was such a great night! Tonight we are going to the Traditional Singing Christmas Tree at Belhaven. So for now I guess I just have to enjoy my time here with my friends and family.

Wishing to be in Peru.

Up to Date

Sorry I never responded after that last post. It kind of is the thing I should have done because it was a very important subject. So thank you so much for your prayers for Robyn's family. The adoption went through and her husband came this past Monday. They just started living as a family last night and will be here doing "family" things for another week or so. Then They head to Lima for another couple of weeks before they can finally go home! We have such an AWESOME God who works such wonders through prayer! Thank you LORD! I will be heading home tomorrow night but won't get to the States until Sunday. So I have plenty of time in the airport and will make a super blog for you!

Chau!

Urgent!

This picture is of three of the kids with one of the volunteers.

We have this family here or rather part of one. Robyn and Joel Hanson are in the process of adopting kids here. They were both volunteers for a year this was about a year ago. Robyn came down in July in anticipation that the process was almost done and that Joel could come in a month and then in one more month they would be home. She has been here for 4, yes FOUR months now waiting. She has put her job on hold to stay with these kids. She is really going through a tough time being here without her husband and only having her kids on the weekends. This week is her most critical week here. If the process doesn't go through this week, they have to wait until February. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for the Hanson family. All seven of them . The kids don't really know what is going on and don't understand why they aren't at home already. Please be on your knees for them and spread the word! Pray hard that God will work a miracle for them this week.

Love to you all.

New things around the 'Burg

Kevin enjoying popcorn at a party before bedtime

Kevin having fun at the beach

So new things happening.

1). I get to go HOME for Thanksgiving. That is 2 weeks away in case you were wondering. :)

2). I am getting a spring cold.

3). The garden is looking great! Squash and cucumbers are growing rapidly. Already picked the radishes and the turnips. Next is the lettuce!

4). Kevin left.

Ok so this last one is what I really want to talk about. Kevin came here to Hogar de Esperanza 8, yeah I said 8, years ago. He was one of the first kids to come months after the doors opened. This place has been his home. His life. His family. When I arrived in August, the first day he came up to me and told me he was going to teach me Spanish and I could teach him English. Then after a few days I found out I would be working with him 3 days of the week. We would be washing and cleaning the vehicles, working in the garden, cleaning the kitchen, and many other odd jobs around the place. Now I have to tell you that Kevin is more of a special needs child. I think his mind is growing slower than his body. He almost seems to have the mind of a younger child, not one of a 15 yr old. And let me tell you that when I found out I would be working with him I wasn't very excited. I would rather work with the cute kids, the smart ones, not him. But I did and it was hard. I really felt like God was working in my life. When we worked I would constantly be telling him to keep working, hurry to the bathroom, or no you cannot get water for the 20th time! He tried my patience. He made me work slower. He made me love. Kevin is a loving child. He loves everything and everyone. He never wants you to be mad at him and always wants you to tell him he has been doing a great job. There were days that were great. He worked hard and I hardly had to get onto him. Other days wore me out, very painful days. We would talk and laugh and sing while working. I really feel like I got to know him. We talked about our families and friends. We talked about God and what He has in store for our lives. He is a child who loves the Lord with all his heart. He has taught me so much and I feel like the Lord used him to work in my heart. Thanks Kevin! He left the other day for another orphanage that can work with him better than we can right now. He found out last Friday and he was so different. We expected him to tell everyone. But he didn't. He was very quite and somber. He usually laughs, smiles, makes happy yelling (WHOOOOO-HOOOO) noises, and says "Como que no?" Which means "how come?" but, he didn't do any of that. I mean really who would if they found out they had to leave a place they loved and called home? So Monday came and when it came time for him to leave, we all walked him to the car and gave him hugs goodbye. When hugging him goodbye I cried. And I mean I cried hard. It wasn't because he was one of the first kids to leave while I was here, but because we had developed a friendship. He means so much to me. I know know why mothers cry when their children leave home. I am nervous for him, his new home, his future. I love him so much that I cried for him. We may be able visit some. I sure hope so. It has been different here since he has gone. He is greatly missed but dearly loved. I know that he has God with him and that He will take care of him always. We must keep him always in our prayers. Please pray for my child, Kevin. I will always love this child with all of my heart.

Love from a learning child.

Yellow

Yellow is my favorite color. It is the color of my room. It is the color of Dante's shirt and 4 wheeler. It is the name of the song I am listening to right now. It reminds me of life, sun, and new beginings.

Lately I have decided to take a step back and observe my surroundings. What is going on around me? What are other people doing? What does this place really look like?

I have come to these conclusions. Here there is love, and with love comes discipline and trust. I see adults here discipling children for the tings they do wrong because they love them. I see children putting their trust in the adults because they love them. There are kids playing with one another, learning, serving, and anything else a kid will do. I see workers dillegently coming to work everyday. Giving up themselves for these children and for God. This place is LOVE. We have Christ in our walls and we are radaiting His love for others in need of it.

I have recently really been able to appreciate the alburgue so much more. I think the more I get to know everyone here and what we are about, I can understand why it is such a beautiful place and why people give up their lives to serve here. I have been able to appreciate the little things in life more, also. Here are a few:

-Sitting in the grass reading to the 5 yr olds.

-Yesterday I was working in the garden, the sun was shining bright, I could hear beautiful music from the kitchen, and the birds were singing. How beautiful.

-making peruvian crafts with Becca while the older girls were on the internet.

-working in the garden with Kevin. Me- Mires tu pais (country) Kevin- Mi pais ti? Me-si tu pai...ummm lo siento (sorry) tu pies (feet). Hilarious moment!

-working in the kitchen the other day Luz had leftover juice from breakfast and me, her, and Filo had a glass. Filo turns around to talk to us and she has this amazing juice mustache! Luz said "tia you look like Santa Clause!" We all laughed and laughed :)

-cooking in the kitchen with Patty on the weekends

These are just a few of the little things that have made my time here beautiful and I am very excited to see what more will come!

I hope all is well with you, wherever you are!

Love to you all.

Just me

I have been playing around with my video maker on my computer...it's not great quality stuff, but it's me.

Hope you enjoy and here is my address!

Hogar de Esperanza - Susanna Davenport

Autopista Moche/Salaverry KM 3.5

Frente de Camal de San Francisco

Trujillo, Peru, South America

Hope it's long enough for ya! ha ha ha

Love to you all.

Psalm 139

Ok so I have this Psalm tattooed on my forearm and every time I read it I want to cry because OUR GOD knows us so well, better than we know ourselves. I feel so open and vulnerable when I read this to God.

Psalm 139
"O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night," Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand when I awake, I am still with You. O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. For they speak against You wickedly, and Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way."

Love to you all.

Give Thanks to the Lord for HE is good!

There is this song that was on a music video, a Steve Green one to be exact, and it was the verse. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever. We watched those videos ALL the time! I am so thankful for sooo much. I have a roof over my head 3 meals a day and hot water. Plus I have my best friend in Peru with me!!! Even though I have so much and am thankful for it, I still want more....I want to be home for Thanksgiving with my family and friends. I am having a hard time with this because right now I cannot go home, but that doesn't stop me from praying that God will allow me to go home for Thanksgiving. Even if I don't get to go, I will still have a good time here and be thankful for all I have. But God pls find a way for me to get home for TG.

Feeling Jazzy?

My current play list is jazz. Michael Buble, Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and other greats! Nothing puts you in a great mood like "Good Morning" from 'Singing in the Rain'. Or hearing Ella's rich voice belting out a tune.

Mmmmm...and then add a good book or a drawing and some hot cocoa, it doesn't matter what continent you are on, you still get that tingly warm feeling from your toenails to the tips of your hair!

Almost like the world is yours. Your own little musical, dancing, snow falling, Christmas caroling, twinkling lights, crisp evenings, sail boating, pumpkin carving, cookie baking, adventure going world! What a quaint little world!

I really wanted to talk about the micros here. But I do feel like it was necessary to share with you my love for classic music.

Ok so micros. You are probably wondering, "What is a micro? How big is a thing like this? Can I purchase one? Do they go in your yard?" Well I am glad to say that I can answer all of those questions and many more just for you! A micro is a bus that runs throughout the city. There are many different ones for each different part of Trujillo, so you can find the place you want to go. They have the name of their destination on them so you can be sure to get to the right place. But before you decide to hop on a micro you have to think, "which letter should I take to my destination, there are several different ones". Well that just means you have to ask someone who knows about each letter so that you can for example take the Salaverry C micro to get to Larco or Espana. These buses vary in sizes. Some are tiny and you have to duck your head when you are standing up on them. Some are so big you can have a party on them (we did one day too). No, I do not think you can purchase one. They are bad for the environment too so I would really recommend you do not get one. Well I do imagine that a old broken down micro could go in your yard, but may turn into a new home for someone or something.

So I would think that it is more than ok to say that I have had quite the adventures on the micros. I think just about every time I am on one I have some interesting story to take with me. I have gotten a lot of telephone numbers. Now only one out of these few has been a guy. That was quite the story in itself. The numbers have been from women living in Moche or Salaverry who think it is just wonderful that I am volunteering at the alburgue and they would just love for me to come and visit them. I have not taken them up on these offers yet, but I think it would be interesting if I did. I do not know what it is but I sit down and the person next to me just strikes up a conversation about anything and everything. Helps my Spanish that is for sure! One day I had my arms full of fruit and hopped on a very crowded micro. This young man jumped out of his seat and kindly gave it to me. I sat down and then he proceeded to talk to me. Asked me where I was from and what was I doing in Peru, blah, blah, blah...and then I looked around and saw some of the girls from the alburgue sitting in the back laughing at me! I looked miserable, Nick wouldn't shut up and then he paid my fare . Oh dear. So I would try to end the conversation and just enjoy the rest of my ride home but I couldn't. He asked me for my number and I promise you he did not understand that I did not have one and that I was not interested. So when we got off the bus to walk to the door the girls decided to ask 2 questions and thought it was so funny that a guy was talking to me. So another time I was riding on a micro one morning and a few of the workers from the alburgue got on and were headed to work. That was neat we got to talk on the way. And then another time I was riding and we past one of my friends and she saw me and we got excited and waved like crazy. Last night I stayed with Patty in town and so this morning I caught a micro home and I have to say morning rides are the most interesting of all. You always think it will be a none crowded one but you pick up people who are on their way to work. You see all kinds of people. Guys who work at factories, gas stations, kids on the way to school, old women with their bread to sell. I saw a man with tons of milk in buckets this morning. There was a woman with 3 children, one was being breast fed one the bus! Man the things that happen on a micro! Oh and I forgot to mention the best part of them...they only cost about 1 sole 50. So round trip you spend a dollar. Amazing!

*We just got a new baby the other day. We named him Daniel. Pray that he will adjust and be adopted soon!!

Love to you all.

Happy heart!

Thank you Pinelake Church for having your sermons and your renewal Bible reading plans on podcasts! My life is happy :)
I really like my church here Larco Pres. but i have to say I haven't found a church yet like PL. And it was so so so exciting to find these podcasts online! http://www.pinelake.org

Boys, boys, boys

I am like a monkey. I like to run. I talk really fast. I stand on my head. I hate shower time. I play with my friends. I don't like homework. I like to help out in the garden. What am I? A boy!

Fernando with the octopus on the pool

I have spent a lot of time with the boys these past two weeks. Do girls exist anymore? I miss playing outside with the girls or being in the houses braiding their hair. One of the volunteers has been in the Tesoros house (boys) for about a week and a half now. Each house has a casita assistant that helps clean, do laundry, and help out with homework. Since she is in the house I have become helper. I, with Kevin, go in the mornings and do laundry, sweep, mop, clean bathrooms, and many other things. In the afternoons I help out with more laundry and then homework and bath time. I think there was one day where all I did was laundry. It has been a challenge for sure.

Franklin and Piero they are so precious

This past weekend I was in the Amigo's house Saturday am - Sunday am. They are a much better house than the Tesoros, but they are still wild. They had visits in the morning and those who didn't couldn't go out to play. I had to put some kids in their rooms. Later after lunch I did more laundry and cleaned the house some. I tried to get them all outside to play because it was so warm and beautiful, but it is really hard to get 12 boys outside. One would think it wouldn't be, that they would jump right up and run at the opportunity to go out and play, but they are weird. Later that day two of the boys got into a fight so I sent one to his room and the other had to plant the rest of the seeds in the garden for me. I need to find another punishment because the boys enjoy gardening way to much! We had a good talk about family and why we do bad things. He told me that he was abused and so was him mom. I was so sad for him because I was so blessed to grow up in a good family situation. Before dinner I tried to get them to all take showers, but the water was too cold. Poor Sebastian and Paul had to take freezing cold showers, and I got soap in Paul's mouth. After dinner they didn't want to go to bed so they played with some toys and watched TV. A few others decided to play indoor basketball. I probably shouldn't have let them, but sometimes I just feel like things like that are ok because they were having so much fun and being boys. After what seemed like forever they finally were quiet and went to bed. It took some threatening to get another Tia but they fell asleep. All except Pedro. He wandered into my room and asked if he could read the Bible. Well of course I said yes. So he came in and sat on my bed and read and I let him listen to some Spanish Christian music on my iPod. He was so precious (let me tell you that he is a rambunctious, wild, crazy kid). He would read some from one book and flip to another and then tell me to read some. He asked me if I had ever read the book of Matthew and then proceeded to tell me that it was the most beautiful book ever. My heart was so touched. A little boy the age of 9 was sitting there wanting to read God's word. But also it was a stab in the heart. I felt God saying you should have faith like this child, you should yearn for me and want to learn so much more. I feel like children know so much more than we as adults do. I wonder what happens while we grow up. So he finally went to sleep and I couldn't sleep. I had that new mom feeling. Worried about all my kids and were they sleeping alright, and so on. I had to wake Paul up to go to the bathroom twice and then twice I had to pick Sebastian up off the floor when he rolled out of his bed. Then 5 am came. Time to get up and take showers because they didn't get done the night before. Oh it was a long morning, but we all made it to church nice and clean! I slept just about all afternoon! I think I would definitely cover that house again.

Samir playing with his trompo (top) it is a favorite pastime for most of the boys. I still haven't been able to conquer it.

Boys are such interesting beings. I do not think that girls will ever understand them. I thought that because I grew up with so many and have so many guys friends that I knew them pretty well..WRONG! I am not even close. They can be wild and crazy, mean and ugly, and then out of the blue they are sweet, loving, fun to play with. No entiendo. Hmmmm, I bet they think the same about girls. One thing I do know is that working with boys from the ages of 4-14 makes you really tired. I think it is time to go to bed. :)

Please pray for Samir. He is going through some really hard things right now that we don't understand. Pray that God would break him down and that he would want to cling to God. Pray for his heart that there would be a MAJOR change. Pray that he would listen, obey, and respect those in authority of him and also respect his housemates.

Love you all!

I cut a boy's hair for the first time tonight! They all asked to get theirs cut after I finished with his!

Finding myself

It is funny how you get to a place in your life and you stop and think, "What am I doing here? Where will I go next, and why am I doing these things?". It takes a while to answer those questions, but after time and much thought they all come together.

I remember back when I got home from my first trip from Peru and thinking why did I go? Did I really make an impact on the lives of those I worked with and served? Well I managed to get there by the grace of God and He had a plan for me. I didn't see it while I was there or even when I got back, it didn't come until just about now. I Got home and knew that for some reason He was pulling me back there. I had to get back to Peru, but why I didn't know. I do know now that He had me go there the first time so that I could come back and work now. Other wise I doubt I would have found out about it and would have gone on to do something else. I am here now to serve Him and his children but why else am I here?

I came with the expectations of being involved in some of the daily programs like jewelry making, arts and crafts, physical education, and games. When I got here Sam told me I was going to be doing jewelry, good I expected that, then she said working in the kitchen and working with Kevin and helping out with homework. Wait what? I was not expecting that at all. But with a new found love of being flexible I smiled and said I would do those things. But then my scheduled changed again and I wouldn't be in jewelery but in the garden and not tutoring but working with Julie. Aah, so again my life has been rearranged. But I again smiled and said I could do those things. As time goes by I get placed in different spots, helping cover houses and helping with laundry and cleaning the houses. I am getting more and more used to change and am learning that God is placing me in these different situations because one day they will be useful and right now I can learn to serve in many areas instead of just one.

I was working in the garden today, preparing the soil so I could plant vegetables, and I had a lot of time to think. I thought about Mrs. Sarah Ellen and how I would love to have her help me out digging and stirring the soil around on our knees and with our hands, getting dirty and laughing or having a good conversation. I also thought about how at first I was sceptical about working in the garden and how I knew nothing about seeds and growing them. I looked around and saw the many stages of growth. Hard soil in need of tilling, freshly planted rows, rows that had tiny sprouts coming out of them, and lastly the sprouts that had grown just over the weekend. How fulfilling these things were to see. That I with my own two hands, plus the help of some kids and tools, did this. It was so cool! I then was thinking about why God had me working in the garden, the kitchen and with two of our needy adolescents.

As I was working thoughts of my future were racing through my head. I have thought about teaching, being an artist of some sort, going to grad school for design or ceramics, when it hit me. Maybe I should write, but not just anything something to make an impact on those that mean the most to me...children. I could take pictures and then make them into children's books. This is just a thought. I have been writing more and I realized that the thoughts in my head become stories when I work alone. Just another thought. I still have a year ahead of me and I know that God will place me where He wants me.

So maybe I am not only here in Peru to serve God but to get to the next place in my life. My life is full of journey's and I am finding that each of them is very different. Where will He take me next and what will He do with me? Only He knows for know, but I know that with time and prayer He will make it clear for me. For now I will enjoy my time in the dirt, hand washing clothes, helping in the kitchen, and where ever else I am needed!

Here are some pictures from this afternoon I hope you enjoy!

Love you all!

Family

Ok so I have been playing with my blog. Got tired of the old boring one I had. Let me know what you think!

This past week I have noticed one major thing here at the alburgue. FAMILY. What a great thing to notice. There are so many different aspects of family here. I see first the family of the individual casitas. Each casita has about 12 kids and one mom. They are most always helping each other out with chores, homework, and just playing with each other.

Next there is the actually family between the kids. Some of them have lots of brothers and sisters here with them. It is really interesting to see them interact. Sometimes they act like they aren't friends and never hangout. Other times they are always playing with each other. The other day I saw a brother and sister playing tag together. They were havng so much fun and it was so good to see them like that. We have a 2 yr old Marecielo and she has an older brother Enrique. The other day I saw here out on the playground with one of the older girls and he was riding his bike near by. He saw her, dropped his bike and they started running towards one another. As they reached the point of contact, they both extended their arms for a great embracment! They then started to play together on the swings and in the playhouse. My heart was so happy. What a great thing to see. Even when sometimes these families cannot live in the same house, they still have that bond. It made me long for my family, my brother and my sisters. How I love you guys!

Thirdly, there are Saturdays. This means family visits. The kids biological families come in the mornings form 9-12 to visit their children. Today is Saturday. For me this time is one of the hardest. Now you have to understand that not every child here is an orphan, even when up for adoption they have family. The kids parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters come to see them. I find it so hard to watch the kids all dressed up running to their families, spending the morning with them and then having to go back to normal alburgue life. Some kids have many visitors while some have none. Some kids get lots of new things, food, and clothes, while some just are content spending the time cuddled up in the arms of their mother. My heart at this time aches for them. For all of them, the crying child beacause the mom keeps promising that "next week is the week you will come back home to me", the mother who is holding her chld and truly wants her back but cannot afford to even keep herself together, the grandmother who wants to be the mother again and take care of her loved ones, but is too old to take in all of her grandkids, for the father who didn't run out on the family and has two or three jobs just so he can bring nice things to his little one and one day get them out. My heart aches. I wish I could magically take glue and never ending love and money and paste all of the families back together again.

Family is such a big part of our lives and without one we feel homeless, left out, and we are always looking to other things for acceptance.

I thank the Lord for my family, for the families that are good and wish good things for their children, for the parents who put their children here because they knew that was the only way to keep them safe for the time being, I thank Him for the many familys here betwwen the children and how strong their bonds are. Thank You Lord for being our Father, escpecially when our own fathers cannot be with us. You are the one and only Father we will ever truly need, and You are always with us. I praise You for being a great and loving Father!

Pray for the families here at the alburgue, that they would continue to be strong and care for one another. Pray for the volunteer's families back at home, that they would know that God is doing good here and taking care of them. Pray specifically for the Hanson family here. That Robyn and Joel and their kids would be able to return to the states very soon!

Love to you all!

Where is the sun?

The sun likes to play games. Weekends are warm and sunny, and it is such a joy to have beautiful days off. This past weekend it was nice most of Saturday, but Sunday it was sooo cold. Monday was warm but the past days have been cold. I am so ready for winter to be over. Funny I am actually listening to The Beatles song "Here comes the sun" right now! Here is comes...I sure hope it comes soon!

This morning was my first day back working with Kevin. He was sick for about a week, and was so excited to be working with me again. Or that was until I told him we would be pulling weeds in the fruit orchard. He did a good job and I helped him a lot. It can get boring just supervising him and telling him to constantly work, so I worked along-side of him. He told me that my spanish is improving greatly. I was thrilled to hear that. Although I cannot say the word hear in spanish. I have a hard time with that one. We talked about a lot. He wants to grow up and live in Moche which is right down the road from where we are. He also wants to work washing dishes and cleaning. Those will be very good jobs for him. I am glad he is thinking about his future and is trying to figure out what he can do and what is best for him. He told me after he saves up money he wants to move to Lima. He has family there I think. He told me about his family. Broke my heart. He said he has 7 brothers and sisters. He said they used to be in other orphanages around Trujillo but now live in Moche with his mother (maybe his aunt). I am not entirely sure about this because he has been here for about 5 years and told me he had only been here 1 year. He also thinks he is leaving to be with his family this December. Many of the kids think that they are leaving soon and end up here for much longer, possibly until they are 18. But nonetheless, it was really good to talk about families and our goals in life. I also asked him why his brothers and sisters where living with family and he was still here. He told me he didn't know why, but that only God knows. We talked about the graciousness of God and who He was and why he does things. He told me he was so thankful for the alburgue because it has been such a good place for him to live and God has blessed it and everyone inside of it so much. WOW!!!! What a testimony! I am seeing him grow up and I have only been here 6 weeks. Amazing!

Pray for Kevin. Pray that he gets a good family, whether his own or an adopted one. Pray that he will continue to learn how to work and think on his own. Pray that he one day will also be able to share his life experiences with those who need and can benefit from it, so that they can grow in God. Pray for me as I work with him. For patience, a loving heart, that we can have more talks about God, and for creativity in our jobs.

Love to you all!

-Susanna

La Fantasma y Senor Pollo

I have recently been watching "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" on youtube. I thought of that movie the other day and thought to myself, "self...I bet you can find it online." And I did. I always loved that movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VffXZ44_LQ

This week has been a very weird and strange week. It started off warm and sunny and only a few kids were home sick with a fever and cough. Now Thursday, it is cold and damp and I think over 20 kids are home sick. In the mornings like I said earlier, I have been helping Becca clean, wash clothes and take care of sick children. Today we went to a new level of cleaning and disinfected every house, door, bed, even some children. We bought them masks...they look rather ridiculous, but I think they are working! So because everyone has been sick, no one is outside playing. Which makes for a quiet orphanage. I don't like it!

This is Italo wearing his mask at Anthony's Despedida.

So things were really weird around here, and still are, but at 3 today we had Anthony's Despedida (his going away party). He had served here at the albergue for 8 months. It was sad but it was good. It lifted all of our spirits. Miss Alli was the master planner. She is the teacher of the Miller School here on campus. Anthony was here assistant. She had everyone plan a skit, song, dance, or speech to give to him. Everyone did a great job! We made him a slide show that consisted of his volunteer despedida and his trip to the police station (it was a horrible joke!). For his despedida Sunday we all dressed up as superheroes and had a party on a micro bus. We passed out cake and drinks, danced, and made the Peruvians think we were ridiculous gringos! So after many tears and laughs all the kids said goodbye to their Tio Anthony. It was a good interruption from this weird week.

These are some of the kids during the different performances. The guy taking the pictures in the first picture is Anthony.

After the despedida, I went to talk to Alex, who is in charge of maintenance and the garden, and I was actually able to communicate with him! I didn't understand everything that he said but it is definitely improvement! I went to see if Jonathan could help me plant some of the cilantro today because he was causing trouble earlier, but because everyone was sick we decided he better not go out in the cold. So Becca decided to come help me and get out of the house. It was nice to talk and spend some time working in the garden by ourselves. Later I did some more laundry and punk little Josue came over to bug me. I realized today that he really doesn't dislike me, I am just fun to bother. He kind of reminds me of my dear friend Armando, who likes to bother me. I guess I react better than most people. It has become his little joke or rather I should say I am not it. But I think that in a few months we will be friends.

So I pray that the rest of the week goes better, pray for wellness among the kids and the staff. Also please pray for the director Liz's mother. I do not know all the details but I do know that she isn't doing well and financially they need help.

Love to you all!

Moldable like putty

Abel-this is his smile...it is enough to make you laugh!

I think the title sums it all up. Is there really a need for me to go on any further? Well ok if you really want me to. So right now, at this point in my life, here in Peru, I feel rather like putty. You know silly putty. The stuff we all used to play with in our childhood. Ok and yes in our adulthood as well. According to dictionary.com silly putty is: "a brand of children's clay like modeling substance that can be shaped, stretched, rolled into a ball and bounced, etc".

So I would say that is also a definition of my life here at the alburgue. I am put in the most random places to do work. Some have even said that I have the weirdest job here. This week not only am I training Kevin to work, practicing with Juliana on rolling hair, gardening, and helping out in the kitchen, I am also helping my dear friend Becca do her job. She is covering the Amigos' house because their madre is out for 2 weeks on vacation. So Becca needs help with homework time, laundry, taking 2 of the kids to school, and many other odd jobs. I am her silly putty. I go, stretch, and mold into whatever she needs me to do. Including controlling the kids for 30 min so she can take a small nap. I guess I know somewhat of how my mother felt when we were all in the house running around. Cleaning in the morning and picking up after kids all day, the constant never ending laundry, helping with homework, gardening, and cooking these are difficult jobs. Really. Honestly. It has been a good experience for me though. I am growing. Learning to be more and more flexible in life. I am molding to where people need me to be.

Today was a WILD day! This morning came bright and early at 5:45 when I had to be in the Tesoros' house to cover for Milagros until lunch time. Got 10 kids up and out of bed and struggled to get them all dressed at 6am. We just got 2 new twin boys in that house. They are 4 or so. They are still getting used to things so I had to help them get dressed. They didn't know where their underwear was. So I did the only thing I could think of. Let them wear Abel's. He was so mad that I did that. He threw a fit and wouldn't put on his shoes, and when I was struggling to help him he hit his head on the wall. That made it all worse. Finally I was able to get the twins dressed, and Abel had calmed down, when from the living room I heard a scream. Kevin had blood pouring down his nose. I had to deal with that. Got him cleaned up and then I found Dante running around naked! So I had to yell at him to hurry and get dressed, it was time for breakfast. I finally got everyone out the door or so I thought. I had to go back to the house and get on to the older boys for playing around and not coming. Then at the table Abel threw another fit because I didn't give him the cup he wanted. I think it was only 7 at this point. After breakfast some kids left for school, the others brushed their teeth and cleaned their ears. That is when I found out that Dante and Danni tried to sneak an extra snack in their backpacks. Lost them. They were not happy about that, and I thought I was going to have to pick up Danni and bring him to the bus. Finally they were all off to school, and before I went into the kitchen I had to do their laundry. I was glad when Milagros got back early and Luce let me leave the kitchen early as well. I went to the Amigos house to help Becca. We had a good afternoon. The children behaved mostly. She even got a nap in! I was glad I could help out. It really wasn't a bad day, just a wild one. My favorite part was at the end when I had to pick up Yen and Paul from school. While waiting for Yen to get his notebook, Paul hit a window screen and it fell on top of us! We were able to get it back up thankfully. Then I got distracted talking to Manuel and when I looked over at the boys they weren't there. They were already running home, and they were halfway there! I went racing after them wailing my arms about. Finally caught up to them at the door and they were laughing hysterically. They mimicked me waving their arms about screaming mi Tia mi Tia! Then we raced to see which could get changed into their pj's the fastest. I think Yen won by a good minute or two. We laughed and had so much fun!

This is just one way that I am like putty. And even though it is only 7, I am more than ready for bed...tomorrow afternoon I have the girls from the Chispa house.

love to you all.

Pescado y Aji...something sure is fishy around here!

Ok so that was a really bad one, but I couldn't resist! I work in the kitchen 2 mornings a week and most everyday before lunch. Today it was just Luce and me in the kitchen until lunch. When I walked in at around 9 am she was picking out all of the bad peas, so I joined her. That didn't take too long, but that is when she told me we didn't have water (a common thing around here, but I think it may be fixed for a long time). Without water it is hard to cook. Mateo did bring us some water from a hose. I can certainly say that I have never cooked with hose water. I guess you really try something at least once! We also used some of the drinking water. (For those of you who aren't familiar with Peru, you do not drink the tap water...AT ALL!) Once the water problem was solved we were able to really start cooking.
First she had me chop onions and tomatoes. I almost started crying, because chopping onions for 70+ people is a lot of onions. After that we had to sort through the rice to get all of the bad rice out. I know this seems to be a common thing in this blog, but that is only because this rice was cheaper so someone got it....Elias..ha! So we sat there for a long time going through rice, and I know we didn't get it all. Then we made aji (pronounced ah-heee), which is a very Peruvian pica sauce that they use on evrything. This was for the fish. I looked over and Luce asked me if I could take the fish and marinate it in the aji. I told her I could help out that way. So she got the fish out. Now remember that while yes we do have access to the supermarkets, the real market is more inexpensive. And when you are feeding this many people you need fresh and inexpensive. So this means no freezer packaged Sysco fish like at camp or school...no this is fresh stinky fish. Heads, fins, tails, everything but the eyes. I looked over and she was taking the head, tail, skin, ect..off. It was no big deal to her. She then proceeded to throw some cut fish into my hands! I almost lost it. My stomach turned upside down and I think it did some break-dancing or something like it. I could feel the bones. GROSS! So with a blank expression in my face I started the marination process. I was so glad when we were done. Also very glad the aji was so spicy it drowned out the fish smell...well for a while.
After that it was time to cook the fish and she had me make more aji on the stove for the onions and tomatoes. It burned my nose, the pica was so strong! Finallly I was done and had to go lie down to not get sick. Then it was time for lunch....I went in and got rice with onions on top and then beans on the side. Then there was the fish. And it just stared at me, so did Luce. SHe smiled at me and looked happy that I was eating what I had helped with. I sat down at the table with my food and took a bit of the fish, when my stomach started its party again. I looked at Becca across from me and told her, "I can't do it. I can't eat this fish. I watched Luce chop it up and I helped cook it." She laughed and so I gave it to the girls. Thank goodness for girls who will eat anything!
I am sure I will have better and worse experiances in the kitchen but for now that tops it! Tonight me and Becca are making SWEET TEA!!!! We are stoked :)
Love from your onion and fish smelling hands!

Running thoughts

This is Lariza, I think she is so beautiful and she didn't want her picture taken. Alot of the kids are like that. We have so much fun hanging out and playing together.

Ok so I have been super busy this past week and have been very tired. I fell asleep during movie night on Friday with Paul in my lap and Rosario asleep next to me. Saturday morning I had to cover the Chispas house from 6am-12. Took a quick nap had lunch then spent the afternoon with some friends at the mall. Later met other firends for a really late dinner and an awkward party. Ha! Was so tired when we left and fell right to sleep. Woke up today for church and after lunch took a 3.5 hour nap! It was amazing, but I am suffering now because everyone is asleep and I cannot get to sleep. Thanks nap. Now tomorrow I will be tired, and I have Kevin in the morning and working with him is very tiring in itself. I am sure I will be fine, but lying in bed I have started to think. I sometimes wish I couldn't think. I have been thinking about how strange we all are here in the alburgue. We all have our on little quirks and weird things about us. Even the kids. I personally think it is being in these walls all week long. But I do love it even inside the alburgue's walls. :)

I have most recently been thinking about home and Jackson and things I thought I wouldn't miss or didn't miss at first.

1. Running with friends - we walk on the dunes here

2. Playing in the park with Kasey and our amazing yet sometmes lame bonfires

3. Dance parties with my girls - dancing here is so much different

4. Eating sandwiches ALL the time - we eat a TON of rice everyday

5. Tanning - I have the sun here but I miss my tanning bed and the people I love there

6. College friends

7. Hanging out with boys - this is silly but here you cannot just chill with boys the way you can at home
8. Clean feet

9. Cheerleading - this is one of the biggest ones, I REALLY miss stunting and throwing Jen in the air. LOVE you girls!

10. Camping and exploring the woods and creeks

11. Driving

12. My nephew Parker!!!! And all of my family. :)

13. My old apartment it is so beautiful to me.

14. Weight lifting

OK i will stop now 14 things are plenty to miss and the longer I think I will come up with more. Don't worry there are so so so so many things that I love about Peru.

1. I love getting funny looks for being the only gringo with 8 kids.

2. Hanging my clothes up on the clothes line to dry.

3. Playing like a kids with the kids

4. Most everything here is sooooo inexpensive.

5. Nice breezes and warm sun

6. New experiances and learning new things

7. Getting told I was going to marry the pastor's son whom I have never met - some things just make me laugh and I enjoy laughing

8. latin music

9. the access to fresh fruits

10. CHURROS!
11. the beautiful mountain and beach view from the roof

12. Patty will be here in one month!!!

13. Saying that I actually am doing what I have always wanted to do - live in a spanish speaking country working with kids.

14. I am going to miss winter in MS! YAY it will be summer here!

now time for sleep.

thought of 2 more things about home i will miss...football and christmas

Dirt

I was digging a hole with Segundo, we had lots of fun!

Segundo putting his shoes on after cleaning them with sand.

Sebastian lying in the sand. We had a great play day!

Feet, they get dirty.

Ephesians 4:22-24

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Trujillo and most of the area around the coastline is very dirty. The people are very clean and keep their houses and things clean, but this part of the country itself is sandy and dirty. There isn't much grass. By the end of the day we are very sandy and our feet are usually black. The other day after playing outside with some friends I had sand in my hair, up my nose, in my ears, just everywhere! I couldn't just use a baby wipe and clean myself, I had to shower to become completely clean. We can look at our lives in sin that way. Sometimes it seems easier to pray a quick prayer to clean ourselves from our sins or change one or two things in our lives, but is it sincere? Or are we just doing it to make us feel better? Are we really becoming clean? I mean totally clean. We need to emerse ourselves into HIS arms, cry out to Christ and let Him know that we need Him to clean us. We cannot clean ourselves. We have to become clean in order to put on a new self. A clean self. I think I can look at the dirt from playing and the dirt from gardening as sin and at the end of the day I have to become clean, so instead of changing just clothes I have to become completely clean in Christ take off the old and be washed and put on the new.

The newness and excitment of being here is starting to wear off and I am tired some days from work, translating spanish all day, and the kids can be a handfull. Please pray that each morning will be a new morning in my eyes and I will look to Christ for help and not myself. Love to you all!

Susanna

Father I am running, Father I am coming home. Back to where I belong

Strip away my calloused heart
Set Your arrow hit Your mark
Bring me back to where love starts
Bring me back to where You are

Father I'm running Father I'm coming home
I cannot go onYour child is running, Father I'm coming home
Back where I belong

I know You've heard this all before
When I'm down and crying on the floor
Saying I want You and nothing more

But I'm breaking in my heart tonight
I've tried to stand I've tried to fight
But I cannot see without Your light
No I cannot breathe without You

-This is a song by Phil Wickham called Home. I am not sure if any of you are familiar with his work, but he is truly an amazing and honest song writer. He hits you where it hurts. As I was listening to this song I realized that God is bringing me home, not my home with my family or even my new home here, but to His home. To His heart. That is my home. Everyday He reminds me that this life is not my own, it is His and I have to let Him lead the way, fight the fight, breathe for me, because without HIM I can NOTHING!!! I cannot go on without Him, so I have to run to Him. He is truly leading me back where I belong.

This week has been more challenging for me. It has been because God wants me not to lean on and trust in man, but in Him. Yesterday was my first day of working with Kevin. Kevin is one of our 15 yr olds. He goes to school until 9am then works with me until noon. He has the mind of about a 9 yr old and has to be prodded and you have to watch him always to make sure he gets his work done the right way and without playing around. So yesterday we dug 2 compost holes and filled them with rotten vegetables and weeds. Then we started to till the soil in one of the gardens. It was hard work and I had to constantly get onto him and keep telling him to work. It was a long morning but we got alot done. The gardens still need much much work.

That afternoon, a few boys from the Tesoros house came to work in their garden and they were so good at digging up all the veggies. They then were supposed to start digging up the soil when they found worms. They were so fascinated with the worms that they made homes for them, and they founf the mother and father worms for all the tiny children worms. It was soooo funny! I let them keep digging for worms because not only were they having the best time, they were actually getting the soil dug up! After that, I had hair practice with Yuliana. She is in regular school as well as cosmotology school. She needs alot of practice with her motor skills. I am her new doll. She gets to practice styles and rolling my hair 5 days a week. Yay me. I was miserable yesterday. It hurt really bad, and I don't like people touching my hair. As I sat in the chair I thought about how God is making me flexible, and also I heard kids playing outside and how much I wanted to be out there playing with them, than sitting there getting my hair done. On the brightside, my hair will look nice for the end of the day! HA!

This morning a few of us newbies went on a tour of the city of Trujillo, it was pretty good but I fell asleep in the post office. I was really tired from walking and the work I did the day before. But on the bus ride home I sat next to a woman named Matilla. She is from Salaverry which is right down the road from where we live and she was really nice. So nice she gave me her phone number. We talked about kids drinking and how many cows there were, what her family did for a living, where I was from, how many schools there were in Moche. It was a good bus ride. I was very thankful I could understand most of what she was saying and was able to talk to her the entire way! It was good! God id good!

Time to use my muscles in the garden again! I think I may start to get stronger by working there everyday! YAY! haha! Love to you all :)

Susanna

Carrots carrots and more beets

Dante and me, I promise he smiled later!

Franklin and Pierro!

This is Segundo one of the newer kids...he always asks me to play with him

Everything has been going pretty well so far and I was thinking that things weren't going to get tough. HA! What was I thinking. I mean I am here to serve the Lord so of course satan is going to attack me all over the place.

Yesterday was a tough day. It was cold and I wasn't able to communicate much with anyone. Spanish just didn't make sense to me at all. I knew that I shouldn't have been getting frustrated because I have only been here for one week, but I was. Everyone I talked or tried to talk to in spanish would just make me tired.

This morning I was listening to a sermon of Chip's (my pastor in Jackson) and he was talking about how God wants us to be faithful to Him when the going gets tough. Satan is going to try and make us turn against God but we have to stand firm in what we believe. God will bless us like He did Job and he will give us more than we ever could have asked for. I have been thinking about this and so I looked at today with a new perspective. Today is a blank page that I can start over on and make up my own story, and satan is going to try and be the main character in that story but I cannot let him. Christ is the only main character in my life. Without Him I am nothing. Nada.

As I went to work today in the kitchen I went with a new attitude. I went in there not thinking about the laguage barrier but how can we work together to serve the Lord. Luce was the olny cook that was there today and we sat down and made spaghetti and grated carrots and beets for 3 hours! And we talked. We talked about our families and what I went to school for and so much more. She was such an encouragment to me today and she tols me that by the time I leave here my spanish will be perfect! I doubt it will be perfect, especially since the cooks talk alot of slang, so much more than I do at this moment. Thank goodness!

This afternoon I spent my time in the garden with the girls from the Chispa house and it was good. We had to dig up all the plants in their section and start to till the land...by hand shoveling and raking. Alex one of my bosses said it should take a few weeks to get the soil ready. I have never really gardened before and will be doing the majority of it here, it should be good though!

After my duties were done I went out to play with Segundo who was too busy playing with Dante for me, so I went to hangout with Arnold and the other boys who were playing with their "trompo's" or spinning tops. Jhonathan (11), who is a punk kid, always calls me Tia Mala, for no reason might I add. He was being himself, being tough, and I grabbed him up in my arms and told him I loved him and I felt his body loosen up and go almost limp. He loves me too :) I love moments like those. Those moments when you can take a kid in your arms and show them love that they never saw as a small child and let them be loved and they want it so bad but are so bad at letting people know it sometimes. When I told him I would be here for a year his eyes lit up too! And when Pierro asked if I would be there for his birthday in December and I said yes, he smiled the biggest smile and jumped into my arms like a little boy of 5 would. I loved and cherished that moment. There is so much love that needs to be given to each child specifically and there isn't enough time each day to get to every child one on one to give it to them.

Pray that God would allow more of those tender moments where we can show them love like Christ loves us. And Pray that those who can be adopted would get the chance to be adopted before it is too late ( Josue, Kevin, Yuliana, I know there are more too) and that for those older kids that they will get the attention from us that they need and the guidance. Pray that God would comfort those kids who are homesick and new to us. Pray pray pray! I have to remind myself of this daily. Love to you all!

Weekend and dancing

Saturday night most of us volunteers went to Salaverry (which is only maybe a ten min walk from us) to eat dinner. We had a good time there and they had the best tres leches torta with whipped cream. Yumm! Then we went back to the alburgue and there was talk about dancing, I wasn't really up for it because we were going into Huanchaco the next day after church, but Sam conned me into it. So I went. What an experiance! First of all it was only 5 soles ( about $1.70), at home we pay about $10 to go dancing. I was speechless ha! So we were early, but people came in fairly soon after. It got crowded fast. The music is mostly reggaeton and salsa. We went with some of our Peruvian friends and they taught us some moves. It was really cool how the guys there can really dance and not just move from one foot to the other like at home. II think the guys could dance better than the girls! So with much laughter and apologies we made it through the night. I like to think that I did a decent job of learning the salsa/other dance moves but who knows...hahaha! My legs, mainly my calves are sore from dancing. What a great workout! They did play about three english songs. They were the oddest choices I thought, some songs from the late 90's and then of course the ultimate song "Apple Bottom Jeans" hahahahahha! I about fell on the ground laughing when I hard that song (reminds me of those good ole cheerleading days)!!!
The next day we went to Centro Biblico Church (the Elliot's church). Yes as in Jim Elliot's brother started this church! How cool is that! Then we went to Huanchaco to see the beach (it's much prettier than ours here) and grab lunch. We ate at this Mexican place that tasted like weird peruvian mexican and it was over priced. Then we looked at jewelry and walked along the board walk. I was hoping it would be warm by then, but I think it only got colder as the day went on. We had a good time but I left my camera battery in the charger so I will have to get pictures next time I go. We are thinking about camping on the beach! Then we went back into Trujillo to buy fruit and I have to say it is so nice to buy fresh fruit that doesn't have a sticker on it or been enhanced.
I will tell more about the kids later. Thanks for your prayers!

Week one

Ok so I am going to give blogging a try...maybe it will be easier than journaling. Although something tells me they are the same thing.

I have officially been here in Trujillo for ten days. I was really disorriented at first and it was frustrating. I had a hard time understanding anyone who spoke spanish and everything about the culture and country of Peru is different from home, but after the first days were over I started to settle in and feel more at home.

There are about fourty kids here at the alburgue, ranging in ages from 2 - 15 years. There are four different houses for the kids; two boys (Amigos y Tesoros) and two girls (Luces y Chizpas). They each have a house mother who is there 24/7. Props to them because I couldn't do that! The kids have chores and help out around the alburgue to keep it looking nice. When they aren't in school or doing other activities they just run around and play like kids do. It is nice to hear the sounds of laughter and singing and all of the noises that children make.

Today they went to Pizza Hut in town so it is nice and quiet here! I did my first load of laundry and wow does it make me appreciate what I have at home in the US. The washer trickles water in so we have to pour buckets of water into it so that it won't take hours. Then we go onto the roof and hang our clothes on the line. But be sure to wipe it down or you will get black sand on your clothes! It is very much a different world than I am used to but I do love it here.

The kids were on vacation this week so we had activities for them in the morning. I was incharge of art and crafts. They were nuts, but we had fun! I am beginning to uderstand more spanish and they are helping me learn more.

Thursday at lunch I was able to have a decent conversation with some of the boys at my table and their house mother! It was actually a funny story. So I was sitting next to Arnold and Kevin and we were almost done eating lunch. I took a small bite of my salad which consisted of cucumbers and beets. I made a funny face and didn't eat anymore. The boys asked me if I liked it and I said no. They told me if I didn't eat my salad I wouldn't grow to be strong and well. They told me to eat 2 more small bites and that wouls suffice. So with horrible faces I ate my two bites. By then most of the other boys had gone to wash their dishes so Milagros (the house mother) came over to finish lunch with us. She told me to eat all of my salad so I could be strong. I was about to fall out laughing. She said she doesn't like some of the food but she makes the kids eat it so she must eat it also, and so must I! I tried not to think about the beety taste and finished my salad. After I did they clapped for me and told me that now I will be strong. It was really funny.

I miss you all and think of you often! Write more later :)