5 Initial Thoughts Being Back in the States:

•Life is EASY - I understand everything, I can communicate with ease, I can hop in my car and go where I need to go, when I want to go there, and know how to get there. I feel like my mind has been able to relax for the first time in 10 months.

•In comparison, the American culture is cold - No, not the weather. That's the warmest things around these days. Nothing against my "American family", but a homecoming is not nearly as warm as seeing a Peruvian friend on any given day. Now hello's and goodbye's just seem awkward (really? a handshake?)

•DRIVING. There's almost too much to elaborate on here.

•Another chapter closed - As much as I promised myself, and my friends, that I'd be back to Peru as soon as possible, I can't help but accept that things will never be the same. The hardest reality to face is that life moves on.

•Another chapter begun - I feel like I'm living my dream. Despite difficult goodbyes, and overwhelming culture shock, I know the best is yet to come. I have a lot to look forward to, and I can hardly contain the excitement I feel about what He is going to do with me and and through me at UW Sports Ministry.

Family Activity Day

Today we hosted a special event at school known as Family Activity Day! Families from preschool through high school arrived eager to begin today's competition. About 20 stations were set up around the school campus, each emphasizing teamwork and camaraderie. Whether is was walking across the basketball court with everyone's ankles tied together, or setting a record time for the obstacle course, or building a bridge out of newspapers, everyone was involved to achieve a common goal. Families were awarded a specific number of points for each challenge they accomplished, and the family with the most points at the end of 2 hours won a pizza from Papa Johns! On top of that, if all the families involved were able to earn enough points collectively, the entire school would get an extra day of vacation in May! Here are a few pictures from today's festivities!

"Welded Feet"

Announcing the winners

Afterwards, our director talked about teamwork using a duffle bag and balloons.  Together we can do more! 

Leah, a 4th grader at LMCS, enjoying a "chup" (ice pop) 

The senior class was selling "anticuchos" (cow heart) for lunch to raise money for their senior trip. 

A few senior girls working hard and having fun!

God is Good.... but all of the time?

Have you ever cried so much that you start to feel sick to your stomach? Or your head begins to hurt? After receiving the news of Tami's death this afternoon and attending a packed-out funeral tonight, my head throbs as my stomach continues to turn. So many tears have been shed over the span of a week. And not just mine, a community of people impacted by the lives of Jorge Terrazas and Tami Matsusita. If you could collect ever tear that has fallen since last Thursday, I'm almost certain there could actually be rain in Lima. For weeks. For those of you reading along that are completely confused and those who are starting to regret reading this because of the dark cloud that seems to have settled over your computer, allow me to explain. I promise it gets better.

Last Wednesday our school staff set out for our annual retreat to kick off another school year. It wasn't long before hugs and stories of each other's summer vacations quickly turned to sobs and an evening of sobering silence. A beloved friend and favored teacher passed away unexpectedly from a hiking accident Thursday afternoon. We returned from our trip early with heavy hearts.
The funeral was something beautiful. His wife and 3 daughters glowed, though they were fighting back tears. There was a peace and joy exuding from them that could only be explained by a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Friday afternoon, a midst the chaos from the day before, the news began to spread about Tami. A soon-to-be 9th grade student at LMCS, she and her mom became victims of a severe car accident, leaving her mom disfigured and Tami in a coma. The days that followed were filled with prayers, hospital visits and words of hope as we all waited for Tami to wake up.
Today the nightmare continued. Teachers curiously entered the school's main building for an unscheduled- but required- meeting. Hoping against the worst, we received the news that Tami had died.

For some reason, I didn't think it would be as hard as it is. I had only known both of them for a short year and a half, but the impact of it all caught up with me tonight. Life is fragile and it is not up to us to decide when we will leave this world. Whether you're 63 or 15, your life is not your own.

I was reading in 2 Samuel when King David lost his newborn son. He prayed and prayed that God would heal him, but when He didn't, David immediately went to the temple to worship the Lord. You see, God's character doesn't change based upon our circumstances. However, often times our convictions about who God is largely stems from how we feel.

               Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

    WORSHIP the Lord with gladness;

    come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and WE ARE HIS;

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

    and his courts with praise;

    give thanks to him and praise his name.

 

For the Lord is GOOD and his love endures forever;

    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

The Lord is good. The Lord is sovereign. The Lord is faithful. I don't know many songs by Laura Story, but this one in particular has been replaying over in my head for days now. I hope everyone who has read this will take the time to consider the gift of life, but also the question of eternity. If it were not for Jesus, there would be no hope. I would still be destined for a place far worse than any pain here on earth. God's love is incredible; the choice is ours. If there were ever a time to surrender your life to the Lord, it would be now. 

Jorge Terrazas

Tami Matsusita

Run For Their Lives

This morning I have a meeting to lay the groundwork for a 5k race that will raise awareness, and voices against the inhumane crime of sex trafficking.  Here are a few goals that you can help us pray for:

Race Day - October 20th, the same day it will be held in cities all across the United States

Race Course - including permission from the municipality to hold the race and close down necessary roads, support from neighbors where our potential course will be held, a clear pathway (Peru's neighborhood streets are often dead ended by a locked gate, which makes it difficult to create a fluid race course)

Race Team - a solid group of 4-5 people passionate about seeing Jesus glorified and his people justified, who have the time, wisdom, and creativity to make this thing work

Race Participants - we want to spread the word through the local church and open up this event to our surrounding communities. The more people who know about this issue, the more help we can provide, and the more lives that will be rescued and restored.  We would like to have at least 300 runners.

Race Logistics - the more I plan, the more I realize what is involved in organizing a race. We will need people who want to serve by running registration, passing out water, providing food, taking pictures and video, directing traffic, etc.

We have a long way to go in a short amount of time, but God is able! Thanks for joining us as we pray and plan to end modern day slavery in Peru and around the world.

One race at a time, one life at time. 

Together for the Kingdom!

Rescued

"Abigail! Abigail!" Voices erupted from the school soccer field where our PE class usually reeks havoc. 25 1st graders ran wildly trying to escape the chosen few chasing them with small, yellow balls in hand. If they were unfortunate enough to be tagged, they were frozen until rescued by the one student holding the magical blue ball- the ball that set them free to run again. A chorus of desperate voices rang out as more and more students stopped frozen in place, dying to join those who had escaped. It was in that moment that I had an epiphany. When handfuls of kids were crying out to be rescued, I had the perfect analogy of the Gospel. Gathering them all together after the game had ended, I drew their attention to the parallels between "ball tag" and the story of salvation. Who is the ONLY one who can save us? "Jesus," they answered. The feeling of being helpless and then set free was no longer a foreign concept. Ball Tag was the perfect personification of the gospel for 1st grade minds. I love how God can use a simple game of tag to teach His children the incredible truth of His saving grace. I hope it's a lesson they never forget.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.       John 14:6

Anything Else?

In exactly one hour I should be sitting on a plane headed for Tampa, FL, but instead I'm sitting in my room writing a journal entry from my bed. Ever since I decided to fly home for vacation, my trip seemed destined for trouble. A week after I got special permission from my school director to leave a day early, I was looking over my calendar and finalizing a few plans for the weeks ahead when it dawned on me. A scheduling conflict made me realize that I had booked my trip one week TOO EARLY than I meant to! A dumb mistake that was eventually resolved $110 later. "Thank you Lord that I saw that NOW and not when I arrived at the airport (a week too late!)," I remember praying. 

Fast forward about a month and a half later. It's the night before the day I was to fly home. While catching up with a friend over Skype about her recent trip back to the States, she wished me luck -her's turned out complicated and stressful. The rest of our conversation went something like this:
April: "Just make sure you have the little white paper." (Immigration form)
Me: "I don't have that, Mr. Voysest does."
April: "You can't leave the country without it! Call him right now!"
Well how convenient that his wife works at the school. I'll just ask him to pass it along to her, and she can give it to me when I see her at work the following day... Or so I thought. Come to find out, that this little white slip was now in the possession of the Peruvian government officials responsible for issuing my Carnet (foreign resident identification card) - requiring a drawn out and somewhat complicated process, during which I am not allowed to leave the country. Perfect. Now what? My flight was scheduled to leave in T-24 hours and I had to get special permission to leave the country.
I called my parents to give them a heads-up on the situation and asked if they could send any medical documents to help me plead my case to travel home. Since I recently had a major medical issue, with a follow up appointment scheduled for Monday (3 days after I was to arrive), I figured I had a pretty good excuse. We had to get a bit creative though in order to prove that my appointment was indeed real. Because my mom had made the appointment over the phone, we had no written record to show for it. Luckily with an old "appointment reminder" card and some white out, we were back in business.
So along with some recent medical records, a copy of my passport, my actual passport, a copy of my flight itinerary, 2 other signed documents and 25 soles, I was headed to downtown Lima the next morning for an adventure at the Immigration's Office. After standing in 3 lines, paying a fee, and practicing my heart wrenching speech, we walked up to the window where the woman with the power to send me home told us that she would not even consider my case because I was requesting to leave in less than 24 hours. However, I found out that I could still leave that night, but the status of my carnet would be terminated and I would have to restart the entire process from the beginning- notaries, fingerprints, application fee- the whole shebang. But I was still going home, "Thank you, Lord."
5:30 pm rolls around and my taxi would arrive soon to take me to the airport at 7:00. When my roommate asks me what time I will arrive at home, I decide to check my email- just for good measure. An unread email awaited in my inbox, subject line "Spirit Airlines flight cancellation." Opening it only confirmed my disappointment. My hope hadn't completely faded yet because I jumped back and forth between the phone and computer for the next 30 minutes, until it was finally confirmed online. The rest of the story is just a jumble of details, but long story short I was finally able to get another flight home leaving Peru 2 days later. Unfortunately, these plans weren't finalized before the taxi arrived, so I had the pleasure of paying the cancellation fee.
Even with pockets growing empty and expectations of seeing the Sunshine State any time soon running low, I know my God is still in control. And I'm so glad He is! Because I know that frustrating things like this have a purpose and He's teaching me through it- even if I have to learn the hard way. I overheard my roommate playing this song in the other room and I felt like it fit the situation perfectly!

"This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use"

The Way of the Master

For the past few weeks our church has been learning "The Way of the Master," an evangelism course created by Kirk Cameron. Today we put our training into practice and hit the dusty streets of Manchay to share the exciting news of freedom and forgiveness! The conversations were intriguing and interesting, to say the least. Because most people have been raised in the Catholic faith, it was genuinely exciting to share about redemption outside of works. If you're unfamiliar with The Way of the Master, check out their website  http://wayofthemaster.com/, or take "the test" for yourself!  http://www.areyouagoodperson.org/ Below are a few pictures from today...

 Mr. Surrett giving some last minute instructions to our group before heading out

 Gathering materials to hand out

 First stop: neighborhood park. Emily did an illusion and was able to share with the kids there!

 Talking with some street vendors

Emily sharing the gospel