Pachacutec

Ok, I admit these pictures aren´t mine, but they will give you an idea of what it looks like here...

This is our view from the top of the hill in Pachacutec. I got this picture off google images because it takes an hour to upload from cameras onto these computers, but this is exactly what my pictures look like so here you go. It looks like this as far as you can see, these shacks absolutely cover the hills all the way down to the beach and in the valleys.

A beautiful view of Lima´s main City Hall type building. Some sort of government building. Or maybe it was a Catholic church? Actually I never found out exactly what it was, but I know it was pretty!

Mototaxis! These things zip around Lima sooo fast and nearly knock you off your feet if you step off the curb without looking. Next time you´re in Lima, I advise you to look both ways, and keep any wayward children on a leash.

Obviously I did not take this picutre, but we went to this plaza above the beach and I actually had a STARBUCKS FRAPUCCHINO. Thank you God.

Here is a picture of the pastor and some people from the Calvary Chapel church in Lurin we stayed with... their website is http://www.calvarychapelvida.com/Lurin-eng-donde_estamos.htm if you want to look them up!

Update wishes granted....

Last week we were in the city of Lima, living in the church downtown, which was really fun! We slept on these thin pads, which was not good for the back but oh well, and families from the church would bring us food at the church. The pastor and his family were soooo wonderful, their son and daughter both did their EDE in Pichilemu, so they totally understood what our purpose was there and set up a whole agenda for us to do. Which was really really helpful and effective, I was thankful for their planning so we could use our time more effectively. We went around to lots of elementary schools and did kids programs with dramas and teachings and dances and stuff, The pastor really liked me though and kept telling me how his son was single and was a man of God and is praying for his wife and wants to marry a gringa, and I was just like ´take it easy pastor Luis!´ But don´t worry mom, I made it out of there single, with no plans to move here for good. Plus none of them could even say my name so that might not work out so well.

Then again, the pastor at the other church still thinks my name is Bread because he couldnt say Brooke, and my friend Tere thinks Chase´s name is Cheese, Blake is Black, Ron is Rum, Cheryl is Cherry and Kelsie is Calcium, so basically she thinks its the funniest thing in the world that the weird American families name everyone after food (and one color) and altogether we make a complete meal. Everytime we talk about my family Tere starts laughing so hard and asking me if I am talking about Cheese, Cherry, Rum or Calcium. Hahah ohh man.

So now we are now in a town called Pachacutec, which is about an hour outside of Lima. Its such a crazy place with a short history, there are thousands and thousands of blocks of these shacks and small homes all built up on hills which are kind of more like sand dunes because this whole place is a desert. But its also near the beach, we have a great view of the ocean and of the faraway mountains in the distance and its actually really beautiful. The whole area was purely desert, with no houses, no anything, only nine years ago, and the government opened up the land to build homes for people who had no homes or couldnt make a living in the cities. Then nine years ago they all moved here and within about one year the whole valley was filled with houses as far as you can see. They have only had electricity and water for a couple of years, before that they used lanterns and generators, and a truck came around and pumped water into cisterns for them each week. Seriously life is hard here. But the church we are living at has been growing, and they are SOO excited we are here. Every day we go eat our meals at a different house, and they are so welcoming and generous. It´s actually kind of heartbreaking because you know they are giving to us from what they don´t have. Like they might not eat the next day because they are bending over backwards to give us everything they have today. We pray over their houses and for their families, and they are always really thankful for our prayers and for just having us there.

Gos has been teaching me a LOT about seeing things through His eyes, and how privileged we really are back home. Some of these people work so hard all day, and the fathers don´t even see their children because they all leave to go on a bus at 5 am for two hours to start work in the city at 7 am until 7 pm them get home at 9 pm when their kids are asleep, all so they can buy enough food just for the next day. But the church here is building up the community and they people are encouraged, it´s been cool to just hang out with them, encourage them, do some drama programs for them and bring in some new teachings for them. The church is mostly pretty young, they have a rock band and seriously BLAST their spanish versions of Jeremy Camp and Hillsong and Chris Tomlin louder than any church I have ever been to because its a small room but they play it soooo loud! Its fun though. You can hear the services starting from a mile away, literally. We are trying to get the youth here more grounded and firm in their faith so when we leave they will still be dedicated, because a lot of them are coming just to see the gringos or to hear the music.
Monday we leave for Lima again, and then moving onto Ariquipa, which is farther north. I think it´s more in the country and kindof a poor area like here. Supposedly it will be colder there, which is good cause its soo hot here during the day.

Keep praying for our team unity, we´ve definitely been dealing with some cultural issues lately. We have seven different cultures on our team of 12 people, so its been interesting. Some little tiny things that you dont normally notice about your culture, like how comfortable you are with interrupting, or pointing out other´s faults, or how you view hospitality, are all magnified when we´re living and travelling together in a new culture. For example, some of the South Americans are a lot more comfortable interrupting or being more open and confrontational than North Americans or Europeans are used to being, so we´ve had to all give and take a little to not have tensions or have an ´us and them´ situation. There are so many things we have to renounce about our culture and we´re all trying to live above our cultures. Sometimes people use their culture as an excuse for a character flaw or even a sinful attitude or habit, and there are lots of things God is teaching us all about ourselves and our cultures as we live together and learn from each other. Sounds corny, but its really a big part of what we´re learning!

Also pray for our health, someone on the other team, Alex from Canada, had a bad fever a few days ago and we thought it was yellow fever but I guess it´s not and he is improving. Four of us here have gotten pretty sick from the food, myself included this week, and we lived in the bathroom yesterday, which is super fun with all 12 of us have only one bathroom, haha! But God is healing our group, the pastors prayed over us and today we´re all alot better.

One other thing that has been sooo funny here is riding the buses! Way more than half the cars on the road are either taxis, buses or vans converted into mini buses, and seriously they drive like CRAZY people. And the buses dont really have bus stops, route numbers or anything, you just read on the front of the bus where its headed, and wave it down and it stops for you, then the little man who stands in the entry way yells SUBE SUBE SUBE which means GET ON GET ON GET ON, and you cram into this tiny bus and usually youre standing up, holding onto the bar with your armpit in the face of some Peruvian person sitting down, and when they drive youre falling all over everyone cause traffic laws are more like guidelines here, and then when you get to your destination the little man yells BAJA BAJA BAJA which means GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF and you get off as fast as you can cause they take off after like two seconds. I am so glad I have made it on and off every time our team all crams onto a bus, cause sometimes if youre the last person youre literally running next to the bus, jumping on as its moving. Ahh South American public transportation, there is nothing like it!

Alright I will try to put on pictures soon but it takes forever to upload here. thanks everyone again for your prayers, they help in ways we will never know. Yesterday I was feeling horrible and not loving being here sick, but even then I had a sweet time in God´s presence and seeking Him for our team, and later at night the pastor prayed over us and I could feel His presence again. Then today I had an email from my sister telling me she took a walk yesterday and prayed for me to specifically feel God´s presence radiating out of where I was. How cool is that? God cares for us so personally and intimately! Thanks Kels I love you!

Jesus is King over Lima and Pichilemu, Poway and Santa Barbara, Chicago and Montecito, today tomorrow and forever :)