Billy

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.

Llanganuco

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Llanganuco, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Today I went up to Llanganuco and the Huascarán National Park for the last time this year with work teams. This beautifully blue-green lake, which is 30 meters deep, is located in the valley between Peru’s tallest mountain, Huascarán, and others in the Cordillera Blanca.

Thankfully, we had beautiful weather for spending the morning at the lake and then walking through the park.

Since Billy was with me this time, we took a photo together – something that has become sort of a tradition over the past few years (in 2008 and again in 2009).

Sunny Ica

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We’re back in Ica! It’s been 6 months since I was last here and it is so nice to be back with friends. Over the past few years, Augusto and Nancy, the house parents of the abandoned boys home, have become good friends always with words of encouragement and plenty of stories to share and it is always nice to be in company of friends.

Here are some photos from the first few days in Ica.

Alexis and Augustito.


Alexis and Augustito, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Piles of new t-shirts that were brought for the boys.


T-Shirts, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Somebody from the US Census Department donated a bunch of white hats for the team to bring. The boys were given markers and a hat to decorate as they wanted, and quickly they all started to ask for us to write our names on their hat to be kept as a souvenir of our stay.


Hats, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Group photo of the current Ica Girasoles.


New Jerseys, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

Boys with their new Dearborn Soccer Club jerseys.


New Jerseys, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

And finally, Billy made a surprise trip to Ica and was able to spend a few days with us at the home. He was here when we went to the Huacachina oasis and despite it being a relaxing afternoon, he still managed to make a few preparations for his next visiting work team!


Billy, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

More photos from the week in Ica (and the past month in Peru) can be found on Flickr, while videos are online at Vimeo.

After 10 Days in Miami…

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lamsuwhiteweb
After 10 days of meetings, 3 interviews, and 2 presentations in Miami….

I am an official Latin America Mission missionary appointee to work with Scripture Union in Peru!

This means that I will be moving to Peru to work with Scripture Union full time. This means leading and translating for work teams from the US and UK, teaching English at one of the Casa Girasoles homes, working with the deaf program in Lima, and being the entire communications department for the organization (think website, communication with supporters, photographs, etc). Of course, all of this is just an example of what I will be doing and I expect that this job description will change frequently… It is a Latin culture after all!

This wasn’t an overnight decision for me. I have been feeling “the call” for the past few years, but didn’t take it seriously until recently. God has been working in my life in various ways preparing me for this calling – by giving me a love for helping others, a love of travel, the gift of learning Spanish and the confidence, ability and experience during the 2008 and 2009 2 summers in serving Him with Scripture Union in Peru.

You might be wondering why I am involved with the Latin America Mission? Answer is simple, the LAM will be my “sending mission” to work with an already formed partnership between the LAM and Scripture Union Peru. There are already three others involved with the LAM and SU (Billy and Yashmin Clark, Pablo and Bertha Lavado and my friend, Billy Greenman). When I expressed interest in working with SU full time, both Billys recommended the LAM for their excellent support and philosophies. But from becoming more familiar with the LAM over the past few months, I am finding my own reasons for appreciating the organization. One unique thing about the LAM is that its partner ministries are run by nationals in the country – not North Americans coming in to “fix” everything, rather working alongside Latin Americans (and in my case peruanos) to help them in what they are already doing.

Being accepted as a LAM missionary appointee and before I am able to move to Peru to work with Scripture Union, I need to raise monthly support to assist me in this ministry. I need to raise $3,500 a month, which includes things like housing, food, administrative costs, and insurance. In addition to financial support, I am also looking for prayer partners who will commit pray for my ministry, health, and any other needs I will have over the next few years. I will be updating this site with specific prayer requests and updates about my work.

So over the next few months I will be visiting different groups and churches, sharing what I will be doing (and what is already happening in Peru) with Scripture Union. If you are interested in hearing about this exciting new opportunity I will be undertaking, let me know! Give me a call or send an email and I am more than happy to share more about what I will be doing with you, your small group, or congregation.

Floods in Cusco

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What some have called “the disaster the world ignored” is now becoming more and more clear as some humanitarian aid makes its way into the Cusco region, after residents of the state have lost their homes due to the recent days of heavy rain. Since the news focus on international disasters has been directed at Haiti over the past three weeks, very little information about the Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu/Cusco floods has made it to the US version of CNN.

Searching on the internet, one will find plenty of information about the stranded American, Argentine, Chilean and European tourists that were stuck in Aguas Calientes when the rain washed out the train tracks, the only access to the city. You can read about tourists being evacuated in helicopters and presidential planes, the extreme inflation of goods such as bottled water and crackers, and how bad this disaster is for the tourism and agricultural economy of the region. It takes a deeper look, and more thoughtful search to find out how the Peruvians living in this area were affected.

I have found a few different sites or posts (in English) that covered how the nationals are dealing with this disaster and have shared them here.

Two posts from the “…En Perú” blog that show pictures of the region, photos of houses being washed away, flooded farming fields, and what is being done in the area. The first, Humanitarian disaster in Cusco includes the best photos of the current situation and an updated time line of what has been happening over the past week. The second, Emergency declared in Cusco, includes video from the last train leaving Aguas Calientes and returning back to Cusco.

Finally, here is a video from CNN that shows some of the damage that has happened in the Cusco-Aguas Calientes region.

As many of you know, Scripture Union operates one of its homes for abandoned boys in the area, the Casa Girasoles Valle Sagrado (Sacred Valley Home). There are approximately 40 boys living in this home, with house parents Héctor and Maritza, and their two children. Unfortunately due to the flooding of the Urubamba River, which runs along the back of the property, the home has sustained very serious structural damage, but thankfully no one was in the home at the time.

Hector and Maritza had decided to take the boys and staff of the home away for a vacation during the summer holiday, a trip that would be make memories for a lifetime for their 40 boys. Throughout the past year, Hector and Maritza have been very resourceful with supplies and funds and were able to make the 24+ hour trip to Kawai, another home operated by Scripture Union, which is located on the Pacific Ocean one hour south of Lima.

Upon their arrival to Kawai, they learned of the news of the flooding in Cusco. Hector has since returned to the home to assess the damage and salvage whatever can be used. From reports, it appears that the home has suffered major damage and will need to be completely re-built. It is unclear as of right now where the boys from the Sacred Valley home will be living while renovations and construction occurs on their home. Please keep each one of those boys, staff members, Hector, Maritza and SU workers in your prayers.

For some more information about Scripture Union’s abandoned boys home in the region, the Casa Girasoles Valle Sagrado, I refer to Billy’s website about his time in Peru.

Billy writes:

A Big Prayer Request and a Huge Praise

“This past week has presented us at Scripture Union with some difficult problems, and I appreciate your prayers for wisdom in decisions that are going to have to be made in the coming months. You may or may not have heard anything about the flooding in the Sacred Valley in the past week. CNN has been following it because the record flooding has taken out a significant part of the train line to Machu Picchu leaving 2500 tourists stranded in Aguas Calientes.

Anyway, the floods have been incredibly violent, and they have completely washed our boys’ home away. There is basically nothing left of the building. The good news is that for months and months Hector (the house father for Cusco) has been saving money from his budget because he really felt like God had placed on his heart to take all of the 42 boys plus more volunteers and staff workers on vacation to one of our other campsites just south of Lima on the Pacific Ocean. Most of the children had never before seen the ocean, and Hector really wanted to see it. The vacation was originally planned for the first two weeks of January, but at the last minute a situation came up that forced them to change it to the last two weeks of January. Praise God for his timing. I know that it was Him that put this vacation on Hector’s heart, and He is taking care of the boys. The water arrived at our boys’ home in a flash flood in the middle of the night that almost immediately covered over the bottom level of all of the boys bunk beds. Eventually it rose to the top level of the bunk beds too. The building is made out of the traditional mud adobe bricks, and it has now been washed away. I can’t imagine the tragedy that would have happened had the boys not been on vacation. Praise God for his protection over our kids!

A few days ago Billy Clark (my boss) had a meeting with the person who donated all of the money for the construction of the boys’ home in Cusco. As you can imagine Billy was not looking forward to telling this man that his entire investment in this boys’ home had just been washed away. How did the man react? His words to Billy were, “Well, it’s just money. We will have to rebuild–this time with cement and bricks instead of adobes.” He has agreed to donate the complete amount to rebuild the home. Praise God for his provision!

Please join me in praying for the situation at the boys’ home. It is a difficult situation, but what an awesome testimony to these boys of how God’s hand is protecting them! Pray for wisdom as we begin to plan for the work team season in Cusco. Pray for everyone who is involved in deciding how and where to reconstruct our home. Most importantly pray for the lives of these boys who are temporarily without a home (they are currently staying at our campsite on the ocean where they came for a vacation). Also join me in praising God for His faithfulness, his provision, and his protection!”

I can only agree with what Billy has written, thanks be to God for His protecting hand, provision and for the lives of these boys. Many things will be changing for them in the future, and I ask for your continued support and prayers as they continue on.