Women of the Bible graduate!

Early Sunday morning I peeked out of my little dirt floor room, and found the courtyard humming with activity. These ladies peeled 400 POUNDS of potatoes to feed 100 people. Yes, that's the Quechua estimate: It will take 4 pounds of potatoes per person to keep everyone happy.












I also appreciated this lady's work, sweeping the dirt. That's not something you see everyday in my home town. You could actually see the difference!







Around 10:30, we started heading to the church for the graduation ceremony. It was scheduled for 10 a.m., but everyone knows that's just a goal. The service will start when everyone is ready. (My kind of place!)

Almost as soon as we started, Jan began to honor the trainers who had dedicated so much of their past year to these workshops. Each came forward to receive a gift of appreciation and we prayed over them.


The groups from each of the 3 workshop locations shared songs of praise. These ladies from Pachas couldn't have been more exuberant!




Plays were created, well, produced, out of the lessons. My favorite was supposed to be describing Job's wife, but instead focused in a very Quechua-like manner on the animals that Job owned, lost, and then regained. In this dramatic moment, the ox-driver is trying to control her "animals". Don't ask me where Job's wife ended up in this scene. (Actually I think she's on the right, helping control the oxen!)

This girl of 13 recited many, many memory verses in Quechua. She is also a star pupil, teaching these Bible lessons to men, women, and children in her church. Their level of hunger for Bible study doesn't seem to mind that this workbook is geared toward women!











Victoria shared about the "hardness" in her heart that softened when she heard of this class and started studying the Word of God in Quechua. Her smile alone tells how her heart is now.















After introductions, dramas, testimonies, memory verses, and a message, finally it was time to graduate. Felix, Bruce, and Polly joined with others to help pass out the certificates. These ladies were the "stars" of the show.













After the ceremony, we feasted together to celebrate the moment. It didn't take long for 400 pounds of potatoes, 50 pounds of onions, and 25 pounds of hot yellow peppers to disappear! Jan and Ernestina even made a three layer chocolate cake (two of them!) complete with chocolate frosting.


It was hard for me to come down from this all-day high, but the ladies had to jump on buses quickly to get home before dark, and the cooks and local folks were ready for their weekly volleyball game just an hour later. A good way to end this great day!

"Come unto me"

I spent most of the workshop last weekend looking into faces like these.

As you can imagine, we had a lot of fun together!

While moms were studying, we went outside to play with, well...whatever we could find. I was so impressed with their resourcefulness, I started keeping track of how long we played with things I would have just passed by. Kayla and I played with one rock for over an hour. Another day, 3 girls played with a loop of rope for close to 3 hours! It's amazing how much fun you can have, even without Tickle Me Elmo. ;)

People who work with kids overseas will tell you that kids are the same everywhere. Same basic needs, same desire for your undivided attention. That was true of this bunch of kids...as well as the fact that a child's affection can melt your heart faster than anything. Kids don't seem to mind the occasional language barrier either.

Hasta Pachas

Come along with me on a trip to Pachas, one of the Quechua villages that held the 5th in a series of 5 workshops on the Women of the Bible this past weekend. We'll take the Bensons' truck, pack the back full of supplies for the workshop and the following graduation day, and drive about 6 hours out into the countryside. The road will be bouncy and the other drivers will be unpredictable, but around every curve will be breathtaking views of the hills and valleys of the Andes.

Now we're traveling from up from about 6,000 to around 11,000 feet. The air is getting thinner and it's chilly all day long, unless you're standing directly in the sun. We slow down for herds of sheep and goats, as well as the occasional donkey. This one has an albino baby!

Now that we've reached Pachas, we're driving up to the church, unloading all of our stuff, and parking the truck down by one of the participants homes near the plaza. Every town in Peru has a central plaza, or town square, and this one happens to have a bell tower too.


We are staying the next few nights in these rooms on the church property. The trainers are getting together tonight to adjust their lesson plans, to account for the absence of their leader hasn't been able to make it due to her late-stage pregnancy.

I am having fun reconnecting with Kayla, my 8 year-old friend, whose mom is on the teaching team. We are playing with my camera and telling Bible stories. Her mom has done a great job training her, because when Í try and translate what Jesus says from English to Spanish, she always has a correction for me. She remembers the Bible verse and my translations aren't that great yet!

Tomorrow morning, we'll all get up as soon as the sun rises, and start the first day of the workshop. But for now, it's time to snuggle under layers of wool blankets and get some sleep.

La Loma, I love ya

I've now been to La Loma twice. Last Sunday, 3 of my Peruvian girlfriends and I took a taxi out of Huánuco 30 minutes into the countryside. Turn left up a hill, drive through a little town, and you'll find La Loma, a beautiful retreat center where you can eat a fabulous 4 course Peruvian meal, wander around the gorgeous grounds, and even spend the night. After lunch we walked up the hill to the Quechua town of Conchamarca and visited the local church. By far the highlight for me was the hour we spent listening to a local man talk about how God rescued him and keeps giving him opportunities to share that same gift with others. It felt like a piece of heaven, sitting around recounting stories of God's great love, meeting others who've experienced the same. One day those conversations won't have to end!

Peruvian Birthday #2

It was my birthday Tuesday and the ladies surprised me with a full-blown birthday tea instead of the cake and hot drinks I was expecting.

What a great time we had! Sandra, Sara and Ana came from church; Jan, Martie, and Marilyn from the missionary community; and 4 new friends as well!

We aren't supposed to live alone, and I thank God all the time for putting me in a community here!

I also thank God for this piece of dessert heaven which we are calling Pecan Pie Upside-down Cake. Thanks Jan!

Comeback

Some of you know that "The Princess Bride" is one of my favorite movies. I'm mostly a fan of Inigo Montoya's quest for the 6 fingered man who killed his father, but if ROUS's want to make a comeback, I'm all for it. The photo below was taken by a friend while visiting the high jungle city of Tingo Maria. They were looking in another direction, when her sister said, "What is THAT?" She whipped out her camera to catch this shot. We're all still wondering many things, not the least of which is, who taught that Rodent Of Unusual Size how to HOLD ON to a person on a bicycle?!!

I lift up my eyes to the hills--Where does my help come from?

This verse from Psalm 121 has always been one of my favorites. When I think of this verse, I find myself looking up at the hills around my hometown(s), and imagining God coming over one of the mountaintops, down into the valley of my life to rescue me.

I wonder what Israel thought of this verse when David wrote it. When they looked up to the hills around their home, were they wondering if those hills would provide safety from attackers? Would they think of strength coming from alliances made over those hills?


Living in the Andes, the superlative of hills and valleys, I can lift my eyes up to the mountains any moment of the day. In fact, they are hard to avoid. (The view above is from my yard. These hills circle 360 degrees around Huanuco.)

Quechua people groups make their homes on these mountains, up to many thousands of feet higher than where I live. What do they think of when they lift their eyes up to the hills? Maybe because of their majesty and awe-someness, maybe because of their danger and intimidation, maybe because people control others through fear, maybe because of evil... for whatever reason, Quechua cultures traditionally fear and worship the mountains around them.

They believe that a mountain has the power to protect them from falling or the power to throw them off the mountain. Mountain spirits are believed to be responsible for landslides and failing crops. Sacrifices and other acts of worship are considered essential to appease the spirits of the mountains. To this day, many Quechua people fear the mountains and do whatever they can to keep themselves safe. Pastors struggle to pray only to God, worrying that they might anger the mountains that they've always prayed to.

When one of my Quechua friends looks up to the hills and asks "Where does my help come from?", the answer given in the rest of the Psalm 121 is life-changing:

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip--
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you--
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm--
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Reaching the Amazon

In the Peruvian jungle, there are dozens of ethnic groups, and in the first part of October, I got to facilitate at a workshop for Christian leaders from 6 of those groups. I can't explain how cool it was, turning to your right and meeting someone from a culture and language so beautiful and so different from your own, and then turning to your left and meeting someone from yet another completely different culture. Then, standing behind him, is someone from a third...and this keeps on going around the room. I was also kind of star struck because these guys hail from people groups I have only read about, deep in the heart of the Amazon region. You know, the kind where you have to swing your machete to clear a path to walk through the jungle.

Missions has been a mostly foreign-led effort here for decades. Now the Peruvian church is growing and sending missionaries themselves, even within their own country. Instead of depending on an overseas agency and staff, the three organizations at this workshop were 100% local folks. They are self-starting and self-supporting, and their goal is to reach their "neighbors" for the Lord and to see those communities transformed because of Christ.

Here in the Amazon, reaching out to a neighboring people group can take more effort and sacrifice than a trip out of the country. It often takes days of strenuous travel, learning an unrelated language, and being prepared to face dangers from drug traffickers and other smugglers. Venturing to Africa might actually be easier, but these guys are getting it done!

Our workshop was designed to help each organization solidify their vision and then plot a course of action which will allow them to see their ultimate goal (hopefully God's ultimate goal!) realized in the communities they serve. To teach this "results-based management" style, we used a lot of practical analogies and examples, including an illustration involving the wheelbarrows below and lots of splashing water--no one complained about that in the over 100 degree weather!

I was a facilitator for the group MINAP, Misión Integrál Nativa de la Amazonía Peruana (which translates to the Holistic Native Mission of the Peruvian Amazon). They are the first missionary-sending agency run by leaders indigenous to the Amazon. At our table alone, we represented 5 distinct cultures and languages, but that didn't stop us from working together, getting a huge amount of planning done, and seeing God move as we sought Him throughout the process. Here's a picture of us on the last day and you can see their organizational plan laid out on the board behind us. Please pray today that God would continue to empower and provide for the ministry of MINAP.

Jungle 101

Weather: Hot and sticky like you forgot to leave the fogged up bathroom after your shower

Flora & Fauna: Even within the city limits of Pucallpa, the largest city around, it's lush and green, and there are butterflies, birds, free-roaming pigs, and sounds in the night that I could never identify.

Surprising fact: Peru is 2/3 jungle, the popularity of the Andes leading to the assumption that Peru is mostly mountainous.

Streets: 1/2 paved, the other half are red dirt roads - "Pucallpa means 'red dirt'" and it is red, everywhere!

Transportation: Mostly by moto-taxi, half motorcycle, half covered backseat, that lets the red dust in, but not the sun

Languages: Dozens of people groups and languages separated by hard-to navigate Amazonian rain forest

Food: Fried plantains (bananas), lots of crazy fruit, fish, palm heart salad, cocona salsa...

People: Even more warm and friendly, lots of music, flowers, offers of help, low crime rates, but struggles with poverty, familial abuse, and justice (just my opinion)

Why was I there? I got to facilitate at a workshop for the leaders of 3 indigenous missions groups. More on that in my next blog.

Homeward Bound

I was so glad to see Portland, Oregon, out my airplane window on September 10th. I still can't believe home is only a plane ride away. It was a gift to spend time with my family, and visit churches and friends during my two weeks in the Northwest.

Of course time with niece Katie, who is such a big girl now, was one of the highlights! We went to the zoo and were both excited to see the elephants up close.

Of course there wasn't time for everything and everyone, but I had a rich time with every person I was lucky enough to see. I had the chance to meet with a missions group at my church, share at a recruiting event, and spend time with the "family" I have at the church I grew up in.

Getting to hang out in person with friends was something I really had been looking forward to. A group of girlfriends threw a tea party, and we all had tons of fun over 5 gourmet courses and many, many pots of tea.

I spent my last few days in Colorado, spending time with my dear friend, Deedra. We took a drive up into the mountains on 1 of the 2 peak days per year to see the aspen turning. What great timing by God! I felt His hand of direction and provision throughout this trip.

Snapshots from the Road

Five of us packed ourselves and our gear and the teaching materials into the Bensons' truck. We were headed to the 3rd round of workshops, happening simultaneously in 3 towns far into the country, all training women to teach the Word. In 4 days, we traveled from Huánuco to each different location, all several hours apart along unpaved gravel roads. It may have been dusty but it was beautiful!

In each small town, women came from all around to advance their understanding of Scripture and how to teach other women.

They studied the Word:

Learned teaching techniques:

Worked in small groups:

And enjoyed activity times together:

What a blessing it was to hear of the progress each is making in her own teaching "practicuum". Every trainee's homework is to teach the Bible lessons herself before returning to the next workshop. We were excited to hear stories of women who are teaching multiple classes. One girl of 12(!) is teaching men, women, and children in her church. Another lady approached Jan thanking her for giving her the opportunity to read, learn, teach, and promote the Gospel in Quechua, the only language many of her women friends speak.

Women of all ages, like the girls below, are hearing the Good News, learning how to study the Bible, and growing in their ability to teach. Praise God and pray for this effort.

What shall we say then?

The Huánuco “region” is one of the seven poorest regions of Perú. I don’t know if it’s #1 or #7. In these seven regions:

“66% of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition,
79% of households have no piped water,
94% percent lack sewerage, and
94% of families use wood as their cooking fuel.”

Sadly, this data is right on. (Source here.) This is what life is like for the women and their families that we were visiting last weekend during the most recent Women of the Bible workshops. While leaving the last town, we stopped to snap this photo of a little girl waiting for her mom and big sister:

“Clean water

and health care

and school

and food

and tin roofs and cement floors,

all of these things should constitute a set of basics that people must have as birthrights.”

--Paul Farmer qtd. In Mountains Beyond Mountains

Huaylas NT Dedication

The Huaylas New Testament was dedicated at the beginning of August in the city of Huaraz. Most of you probably have already heard about the dedication because you get my email updates. If you'd like to start getting my (monthly) emails, just let me know!

We started the dedication day with a march (photo above), something most memorable occasions begin with here in Peru. There were around 2,500 people at the ceremony which included the presentation of the New Testament hot off the press. Carrying in a box of books might not look glamorous, but after hearing the stories of the sacrifices and joys since 1964 when this project started, it was an exciting moment.

But the story of God's Word in this part of the world is just beginning, because having the Bible in their own language is a turning point for many of the churches and believers in this area. They are excited to read and study the Bible themselves and many have a heart to share the Good News with their neighbors and even the world. These ladies below are sharing a song of praise as part of the celebration.


The celebration continued with a cuy lunch and a local music festival. That's guinea pig I'm eating, a delicacy here! Doesn't that make you want to come for a visit?

Earthquake Report

Updated August 27.
An 8.0 earthquake occurred off the southern coast of Peru late Wednesday night, August 15. Authorities are reporting over 500 dead and over 1000 injured. Already impoverished areas are suffering the greatest loss of life, health, and property. 85% of the homes in the town of Pisco, nearest the epicenter, have been destroyed, as well as 1/4 of the buildings in the nearest large town of Ica.

While we are fine here in Huánuco, we are praying for our brothers and neighbors to the south who are hurting. Please pray for the injured, for those who have lost family or property and for protection from after-shocks. You can find out more in this story from cnn.com, and can give through a reputable relief and development agency (that I used to work for) by clicking here. You can also give to the Peru Earthquake Relief fund that we will use to provide aid to those in need. Just ask me for the details.

The best thing you can do is pray. Here are some ideas of what to pray for:

• Pray that people would receive the comfort and health in the person of Christ and through the love shown them through the relief effort.
• Pray for wisdom for the government and organizations as they strive to meet the needs of the people. Pray that relief would be deployed quickly and effectively.
  
• Pray that people will be patient and calm and have wisdom in how to care for their families and communities.
  
• Pray for healing for those that are injured.
• Pray for the families of those that have died. Pray they receive comfort and peace from God and from those around them.
• Pray that cities and communities can come together to build again, interpersonally and structurally.
• Praise God for the response from those here in Peru and around the world. People are contributing food, clothes, water, and money daily. Pray that these supplies will make it safely to their destination and into the hands of those that most need it.
  

Huascarán!

At 22, 204 feet, Huascarán (Wahs-kah-RAHN) is the highest mountain in Peru. You can see the orange trunk of a queñal tree in the foreground. They are believed to grow at a higher altitude than any other tree.

While in Huaraz for a Bible dedication, we spent an afternoon at Lake Llanganuco, which sits at 12,464 feet on Mt. Huascaran.