Peru

I said Yes!

Posted on 9 Comments

Billy asked and I said yes!

Last Friday night, Billy and I went to dinner to the Rosa Nautica, a restaurant we had visited a couple times in the past. We decided to go out for the night since it was going to be one of our last nights together without volunteers before the busy season of traveling with work teams began.

Dinner was lovely and we ended up sitting at a table right next to the window. The restaurant it built on a pier and a majority of the restaurant is built over the ocean on stilts. The water was a little rough and we could hear and sometimes feel the waves crashing against the floor supports. We spent the evening just talking, something we will not be able to do very often for the next few months.

After dinner, we each ordered a dessert and ended up getting three different plates. While the waiters were setting the plates down on the table, Billy smoothly got down on one knee and among very sweet words and sentiments, asked the question every girl wants to hear sometime, “Will you marry me?”

Of course I said yes!

The third plate that the waiters brought with dessert happened to be a dish with a red rose on it, and text written around the sides. Inside the rose, I found a beautiful ring that Billy had lovingly picked out for me.

After the initial shock of “oh my gosh, I can’t believe this is happening!” slightly wore off, we took a few photographs ourselves.

…and asked one of our waiters to take one too.

And, we made a few calls to share our happy news!

After dinner while walking out to a taxi, Billy told me he chose this particular restaurant to propose to me for a couple reasons – it was one of the first places we went after we started dating and so that it would be a place we could always come back to on special occasions and remember the night. I’m looking forward to returning for the beautiful view, delicious food and absolutely wonderful company and memories.

How we met

For those that don’t know, Billy and I originally met in 2001, during the summer after our freshman year of high school on a trip to Peru. We were both 15 and it was our first trip to Peru. We both joined teams at our respective churches, where our youth pastors happened to be brothers. We’re both from Michigan, and our parents live approximately 20 minutes from each other.

A few years later, after the occasional encounter in Michigan, we both ended up spending the summer of 2008 in Peru as volunteer translators. During the past 7 years (since our first trip in 2001), we both had remained involved with Scripture Union and traveled to Peru numerous times, but with our respective churches.

During the 2008 trip, we spent a month working together at the Girasoles home in Kusi and became friends. After that month, we both returned back to Michigan and remained in contact and went out to dinner, got coffee or caught a movie about every other week.

2008

The following year, Billy had finished raising the support needed to begin full-time ministry with Scripture Union Peru and he moved to Lima in March 2009. I remained in Michigan and a few months later, went to Peru again as a volunteer translator for 3 months. We didn’t see much of each other that summer, but managed to spend a few days here and there together. I returned to Michigan, and we traded the occasional email and about once a month, a lengthy phone call.

2009

During the summer of 2010, I returned to Peru yet again as a volunteer translator while I was raising my own support to work full time with Scripture Union Peru. Again, we didn’t see much of each other since I was working in the Amazon jungle and Billy was primarily in Cusco.

2010

That year, Billy decided to spend Christmas in Michigan with his family. We spent a few days together while he was home briefly, including an extended family dinner for his sister’s birthday and going to breakfast at 6am the day he returned to Lima. We spent a few hours at breakfast that morning and it came up that we had mutual feelings for each other, but agreed it would be difficult to maintain a long distance relationship.

During the next 6 months, from January to June 2011, when I finally moved to Lima myself, we spoke on the phone or Google Talk (so handy!) almost every other day. When I arrived in Lima, we were able to spend a couple days together in Lima before I headed north to the Amazon jungle again and Billy traveled with volunteer teams. It wasn’t until a few months later in August when I returned from the jungle that we officially started dating.

2011

When our volunteers ask, I like sharing this somewhat long and complicated story about how we met because despite the fact that we were raised about 20 minutes from each other in Michigan, God had been working in each of our lives separately and preparing us for a ministry in Peru and a life together. We both developed our interest and passion for working with Scripture Union apart during those first few years and then have been able to see it develop even further together.

2012 – just last week!

And now, we’ll have the great pleasure of spending the rest of our lives together.

A Michigan Review

Posted on 2 Comments

Billy and I have been back in Lima for almost 2 weeks now and we jumped right into the busy volunteer season a few days after getting back.

While in Michigan, we spent almost 3 weeks with friends and family and soaked up everything “Michigan” that we could. We had meals at our favorite restaurants, get-togethers with friends, went to Indy to visit friends & siblings, shared about what we were doing in Peru with Scripture Union, and were able to spend time in worship with our respective church families. We even attempted to go to a Tigers game, but sadly the only game we could possibly go to was rained out.

In addition to all of this, we attended the wedding of Billy’s brother Matt to his beautiful bride Bekah.

While it seemed like a quick trip, it was nice to spend real, face-to-face time with people we’ve missed over the past year or so. While I love Skype and think modern technology is great, I can only agree with the little six year old that told me “having you here is so much better than Skype!”

But in the meantime, Skype, Google Talk, and email it will be!

Michigan Awesome.

Posted on Leave a Comment

Ah Michigan… the land shaped like a hand.

But also, it is the land of drinking water straight from the tap, family, driving, longtime friends, four distinct seasons, Supino’s Pizza, Tigers baseball and so many familiarities.

And, it’s my first time back after almost a year in Peru (324 days to be exact). I know that at some point, I will accidentally greet somebody with a kiss on the cheek, or will forget and will put toilet paper in the bathroom trash (Peruvian plumbing typically can’t handle toilet paper), or I’ll mistakenly ask a shopkeeper or waiter for something in Spanish. But nevertheless, it is good to be back – even if it is just for a short 3 weeks.


Jhon, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

During these next few weeks, I’ll be traveling around, trying to spend quality time with as many friends as possible. I will also of course be sharing. If you’re interested in hearing me share about my experiences during the past 11 months in Lima, I invite you to join me on Sunday, May 6th during the education hour (9am) and worship service (10am) at First Presbyterian Church of Dearborn (600 N. Brady, Dearborn).

Michigan: where God painted the lakes and carved the land to remind us we’re always in the palm of his hand.

—–
Feel the same way I do about this great state? You will want to check out Michigan Awesome. It’s a celebration of hometown love, disguised as a t-shirt company. Both Billy and I sport our Michigan Awesome sweatshirts around Peru!

Puerto Alegria Underwater

Posted on 2 Comments

I had the pleasure last week of heading north to the Amazon jungle with a group from Philadelphia for a week to see some familiar faces living at the Scripture Union homes in Iquitos and Puerto Alegria, a little village about 45 minutes by boat outside of the city.

As I have mentioned before, Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest and is surrounded by three rivers: the Nanay, Itaya and Amazon. The city can only be reached by airplane or boat, and houses along the three rivers are either built on stilts or floating logs, which rise and fall with the river water levels.

Houses along the Itaya River built on stilts – June 2008

Houses along the Nanay River on floating logs – August 2011

We started our week off by visiting the older boys (13 and up) that are now living at the newly formed Girasoles Iquitos home. While the location is different and some the faces are new, it is always a joy to spent time with kids that I have seen grow up over the past 3 years.

After saying goodbyes, we headed out to Puerto Alegria where we would spend the majority of our time with the little boys (who are 12 and under). Along the way, it was quite evident that the rainy season this year had hit Iquitos much harder than in years past. Boarding the boat that would take us to Puerto Alegria, it was hard not to notice the dozens of tents that had sprung up along the bank as temporary shelters because the occupant’s home was flooded – or more aptly put, completely underwater.

Many houses only had an exposed thatched roof – the rest was completely underwater like this home.

By the time we arrived to Puerto Alegria, the sun had set and it was hard to fully comprehend how much the river had increased – it had grown so much that the floor of the maloca (which is at the entrance of the house at the riverbank) was completely covered in at least 3 feet of water – this doesn’t take into account that the maloca floor is elevated at least 12 feet off the ground, and all of that was underwater too. Talking with Jherry, the director of the home in Puerto Alegria, he said that if the water levels grew another 2 centimeters (which was expected), they would surpass the city’s record.

Usually, none of this is underwater.

These stairs were completely underwater – from August 2010

Despite the constraints dry locations (we could pretty much only do things in the dining room), we had a very fun week with the 40 boys living in Puerto Alegria. Since the high river level flooded the school, classes were cancelled indefinitely until the students could return safely. I can’t imagine a more perfect group to have been in Puerto Alegria that week because without knowing that the boys would be off of school, they had prepared many games & activities to do with them. It was a blessing to both the team and the boys that they were able to spend almost all week together, from early morning to late evening.

Since it was Holy Week, the group shared about what the week meant but also brought a few traditions that American children participate in during Easter. We had an Easter egg hunt (which turned into bob for eggs in the flooded soccer field), the boys made & decorated Easter baskets (which were “filled” by the Easter bunny) and we had a Easter party, including decorations.

And, of course we made the customary trek to Iquitos with the boys to go to the Quistococha Zoo and the group was generous enough to invite the boys & staff to a pollo a la brasa lunch and the movies.

It was rainy at the zoo, so Alvaro and Presley turned a garbage bag into a rain jacket
Lexon & Job Neber, brothers

Marcelo & Alexis at lunch

It was the first time Lenin had pollo a la brasa. We had to take a photo with his first chicken!

We ended the week with dance and skit presentations and a dance party on the last evening. Of the 40 boys at Puerto Alegria, the majority of them are new. Despite that I had spent 2 months at the home during summer 2011, many of these boys arrived after I left. I enjoyed seeing the new faces, learning new names and being able to share a bit with them. For many, this volunteer group was their first experience with a group of foreigners who had come from far away to play and have fun with them. As we left Puerto Alegria to head to the Iquitos airport, we all couldn’t help but talk about how great it was to hear laughter and see big smiles on the faces of these boys – many who are at least a 3 day boat ride from their family & home.



– – – – –
A little bonus sighting at the end of the trip? President Ollanta Humala was visiting Iquitos, surveying the water damage from the river and declaring a state of emergency for the region. We caught glimpses of him boarding Peru’s equivalent of Air Force One at the Iquitos airport before our flight took off. Humala is the man in the white shirt boarding the airplane.

40 in Kusi

Posted on Leave a Comment

8 days. 2 universities from Texas. 40 students. Kusi.

It was spring break a couple weeks ago for two Texas universities, and instead of heading home or the beach, 40 students from the RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) programs at Southern Methodist University and Texas Tech decided to spend a week helping at our Girasoles home for boys in Kusi.

They moved tons of rocks for the floor of the addition to the school and planted 1500 eucalyptus trees.

We visited the on-site school and the students performed a couple typical carnaval dances.

And we spent time playing with the Girasoles boys – like the other boys, Socimo, can entertain himself with anything.

Since it was a large group and I was there with them by myself, very few photos were taken during the 8 days… It was a busy week, but a great time with the Girasoles boys and getting to know the students and leaders.

The next group arrives this Sunday morning and we head north to the jungle – to Puerto Alegria and Iquitos!