Dance Steps

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We kicked off the summer of volunteer teams with a group of high school seniors from South Lake Christian Academy in North Carolina. Every year, a group of teachers and parents bring the members of the senior class on one final class trip to visit the country, work on our construction projects and to play with the boys. We spent the first part of the trip in Kusi, and then headed south to Ica for a couple days before the group returned home in time to graduate.

I had been to Kusi quite a few times this year since January, but had not been to Ica since Billy and I were there for New Year. Of course, no matter how long you are away, going to one of our homes is just like going home – you’re greeted with wide open arms and lots of smiles.

Augusto and Nancy, the house parents in Ica, are always very welcoming to any visitors to the home. For this first group in 2012, they had worked with the boys and prepared 2 different traditional dances to share. We pulled our chairs out into the patio of the home and the older and younger boys took turns presenting carnaval and festejo dances. After the presentations, the boys invited members of the group to join them and learn the steps.

I happened to be sitting next to one of the younger boys, Wilmer, and asked him if he wanted to dance. At 10 years old, Wilmer is one of the smallest boys at the Ica home – he actually looks like he is just 6 years old. Unfortunately for me, Wilmer did not want to get up in front of the others and teach me the steps. After a couple attempts to get him to say yes and being turned down each time, I finally gave up and just watched the others with him.

Later that evening, while the group and boys were all watching a movie, Wilmer came and found me and asked if I wanted to learn the dance. Taking him up on the offer, we went to the patio and he patiently showed me all the steps. Unfortunately, I’m not quite the dancer like these boys all seem to be, but I was moved by the patience Wilmer had with meticulously showing me each step – and then re-showing me every time I didn’t get it right. He showed me both dances two times and then came over and gave me a big hug.

Wilmer wanted to teach me the steps but he wanted to do it on his own terms. In those 20 minutes we were dancing around the patio, I saw a normally quiet child break out of his shell and be excited to share something.

It’s the little things like this that make me truly enjoy being here and being able to share in the lives of the children we work with. It’s because God has so richly loved me that I am able to share God’s love with people here, like Wilmer.

Puerto Alegria Update

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Since my post in the beginning of April about my week in Puerto Alegria during the rainy season, I have spoken with Jherry, the director, numerous times about the river & water situation at the home.

A few days after the group and I left the home, Jherry, his wife Veronica, the staff and all 40 boys packed up their belongings and moved into the city of Iquitos. The river level kept growing and it was encroaching on the house (which is built about 4 or 5 feet above ground, about 400 feet from the river bank). Jherry told me that when they left, the water was 20cm below the kitchen floor and the boat dock and steps up to the property were completely underwater. The serpents had moved into the buildings looking for dry ground making it very dangerous to be there.

This photo of the dining room is from 2009. The water was 20cm below the floor of the building.

Meanwhile the river had taken over the property, the 40 boys and staff were living in a house built for a family of about 6. They have been confined to a smaller space than usual and living in the busy city – as opposed to the “countryside” of Iquitos. It was tight and an unexpected adventure into the city, but thanks to the end of the rainy season and God’s provision for them, the boys and staff are back in Puerto Alegria.

The boys are back in school (since classes were temporarily stopped because of the floods, they go to school Monday through Saturday to recuperate the lost days) and life is somewhat back to normal at the house. Over the next month or so, they will be working on repairing any damage that was caused from the water and cleaning up the debris left from when the water receded.

Please join me in keeping the boys and staff at Puerto Alegria in your prayers as they transition back into life at the home and safety as they are cleaning up the property. I’ll be heading to Puerto Alegria in a month with a group and I absolutely cannot wait to see everybody there.

1 Year

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Today marks one year of living in Peru!

When I think about the past year, I think of the dozens of trips, hundreds of volunteers I have met and countless conversations, hugs and smiles shared. I have spent 202 hours on a bus/plane, and have traveled 20,803 kilometers (12,927 miles) on a total of 25 trips (I kept a record!) and during those trips, I’ve had the opportunity to see familiar faces, meet volunteers and help further the kingdom of God here in Peru.

Looking back on this past year, I can only thank my family, friends and supporters in the States that have stood beside me in this calling. Thank you for the prayers, financial support, phone calls, and emails throughout the last year. I would not be able to do this without your help.

I said Yes!

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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

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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!