Finding Parton » Peru

2/10 News Letter

Modest Byte — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:13:34 +0000

This is our latest News Letter. We will be putting this in the mail soon.

5 more days

Modest Byte — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:23:27 +0000

That is all that is left. This has been a fantastic trip for Sharon and I, though it has been hard and often times more than trying. Being with 13 people for 2 months is just hard I guess. I am hoping to make another attempt at this next summer, we will just have to see how everything pans out. For now, our next steps involve lots of studying Spanish. Hopefully, we will be closer to fluent next time. This trip we learned a lot as far as language goes, and even more as far a leadership goes.

Almost Finished

Modest Byte — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:50:07 +0000

We are back in Lima. It’s kind of refreshing. I really like Lima, especially Miraflores. We will be back home Tuesday of next week, I believe. August 4. Both of us are excited about getting back into a normal routine and working toward going to language school. This has been an excellent trip for us and hopefully we will be able to continue doing these kinds of missions.

Arequipa and an Update

Modest Byte — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:02:31 +0000

It’s been up and down for the past week. We were in a really great village even though we didn’t have the internet. We are all tired and I imagine that has something to do with all of the up and downs. The last village was Chuppa. There we got to go to the sports park every day and play with children in basketball, volleyball, and futsal. It was a great and lifted our spirits. Our main ministry in Chuppa was to the children and young adults. It was a nice change. The main soccer game was fun, except for the hardness of the field. It was just like concrete, and that made it difficult to play on.

Right now we are in Arequipa, this is our rest city and it is beautiful. There is a really big volcano right behind the city, and the city gives off a European vibe. It is huge, and much like the states. We have been able to go to the movies, eat BK, and have good internet. We will be here just one more day, and then we head off to Caravali. Hopefully. There is a possible strike occurring tomorrow, and we don’t know what that will look like.

Today we went to an orphanage. It was really fun. I also bought some new socks. Praise the Lord. I needed some. We only have a little over two weeks left. Please pray for renewed strength and that we will make the most out of the opportunities we get.

Recent Pics Ayaveri, Chuppa, Arequipa

Modest Byte — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:24:33 +0000

This is Luciano! Our Peruvian friend and guide.

The view from a mountain in Chuppa.

This is where they sacrifice to idols. Crazy stuff!

I almost felt bad for these guys! But it was really fun.

Thoughts on Missions

Modest Byte — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:56:20 +0000

I had a great talk with one of my dear friends the other day and it got me to thinking. It got me to thinking that maybe many of us have a false idea of what missionaries are and what they do. I think most of us would say that missionaries are people who go to other places and share the gospel evangelically. This is all well and good but I would say that maybe we have missed the picture.

We are not here just to share the gospel evangelically. Why should we pick fruit and just leave it to rot? We do not want these people to rely on us for the word of God. No, they are smart and when they become Christians they too are called as we are. It is our desire to see these people come to know Christ in a real way, but also to be able to lead and disciple other Peruvians. We are not here to just teach, but also to encourage. We want these people to be able to teach themselves. Just as Americans taught us, Peruvians can teach Peruvians. This is vastly important so that we void creating dependencies. The people here don’t have, and they must learn how to share and teach the word without having. There are no projectors and few hymnals but they can still praise and teach. I don’t know if this makes all that much sense, but i hope to write more elaborately on this in the future. What is important is that you know that there is more to missions than the evangelist. Without discipleship and encouragement these people will just dwindle and be choked out, as the seed that the sower sowed among the thorns. Because here it is the thorns, just as it is in the states.

We had talked about all this with the REAP south team at our training during the first part of the summer. But I hadn’t really thought too much about it until now. And I hope that it will serve as encouragement to you, because we are all called. And though we are not all called to be evangelists, there is so much more to missions than that. We all have our part that we can play.

We made it to Orurillo

Modest Byte — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:47:34 +0000

I don’t know how you are supposed to say that name. Anyways we made it and all it took was a 6 hour bus ride to Ayaviri, a night there, a Conbi ride which was stopped by a group of people on strike and a wall of rocks, and a 1.5 hour walk down the road. It was pretty cool though, the scenery is WOW!. There are flamingos right outside and the mountains are surrounding. I guess you could compare it to Montana. As I said all the people are on a transportation strike. It is a little weird, and we don’t really know how to take it. Please pray that we will be able to travel to the places we need to. The strike is supposed to only last 3 days, and hopefully that will be the case. Sharon added some more pictures to the photos album and I hope to post some more pics soon.

Cusco and Ankawasi Photos

Modest Byte — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:11:37 +0000

A Few Prayer Requests

Modest Byte — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:24:10 +0000

Please pray for Awareness. Pray that Sharon and I are able to be aware of how our team perceives us. That we handle success and failures in a way that builds respect. It’s easy to get caught up in a moment and just react to situations. Pray that we can remember to think it through.

Pray that our team will take pride in our work. Not vain pride but that we will do their tasks to the best of our ability and spend time making our talks and presentations as good as they can be. Our team is full of talent, and we hope that we can use them to the best of our ability.

Spanish. Again please pray for our language skills. We now have no translator but rather 5 or 6 people who speak some Spanish. This can be frustrating b/c we try to teach each other. It also makes it hard to speak Spanish if front of the group b/c saying something wrong is embarrassing and so many of want to help make the communication go smoother. I believe that a few of us genuinely want to learn Spanish and if we never speak it we will not learn how to communicate. I believe what is necessary for us is to allow each other to attempt and wait for a cry of help so that we are not ashamed to try.

Work. Pray that this next month I am still able to complete as much of my work as possible at Bacone. I want to put more time into my work than I have b/c this trip is kind of a determination of the next. I want to be able to go above and beyond what is expected.

Also please pray that God will continue to reveal his calling on Sharon’s and my life. We are having doors open and please pray that we get a clear vision for what God is calling us to do. Sharon is so good at fitness, please pray that doors open so that she can use her talents in fitness.

Some Pictures for Mom and Dad

Modest Byte — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:11:55 +0000

Here are some pictures that I thought you would enjoy. And a couple of the pictures are just bonus.

Dad, I saw this scene and had to take some pictures for you. This is apparently the best way to build roads. Sarcasm. I think Peruvians could use some of your expertise.

Mom I though you would appreciate the horse stuff.

This is the saltiest cheese you have ever tasted.