1st week of classes

Hello everyone. So far we have survived our first week of classes. We usually wake up around 6:30 or 7:00 because we have to be down for breakfast by 7:45. Everyone meets for worship and morning devotions at 9:00 a.m. Jeremiah led worship on Tuesday morning.

They have block classes here so you have one class for 3 hours a day for 3-4 weeks and then you go on to the next class. This week we have actually had two classes a day. In the morning from 9:30-12:30 we have had a lectures class. The first part of the week the lectures were about the Islamic religion, today they covered purity, and tomorrow they will be giving a class on how to use e-sword (an on-line bible software program). Then in the evening we have the Missiology class (theology of missions), it is actually a video class taught by a missionary named Rod Thompson. It is really good.

I work in the kitchen to help prepare lunch on Mon, Tues, and Friday's. Then I clean up after breakfast on Wed. and Thur. I have met some really nice people working in the kitchen. Jeremiah has been working during dinner clean-up since he won't start the T.A. position until March.

We will be leaving to go on a Men & Women's retreat early Saturday morning and the men and women will be separate. I guess we are going to a place in the mountains called BarBar Blanca. We are not sure yet if we will be camping or staying in a log cabin for the night. It should be a good opportunity to get to know some more people. When we get back from that trip the Inductive bible study class will start. Also, we will be choosing a weekly ministry to get involved with soon.

Yesterday I got really sick from the salad I ate at lunch. It was really awful, my chest is sore from vomiting every 20-30 minutes yesterday afternoon. There were 3 0r 4 other girls that got sick at the same time too.

We are learning a lot and most of it is coming from being in a foreign land and having to totally rely on the Lord for His strength. Please pray that the Lord would humble us and break us of our pride that so often gets in the way of serving Him.

You are all in our thoughts and prayers. We love you all so very much!

God bless!

Check out our new pics of our apartment by clicking on the link to the left that says Jer & Ser's pics!

1st Update!

Hola!

We left Indianapolis on Monday, January 21st and arrived in Lima late Tuesday evening. My grandparents, Jeremiah's parents & brother, Josh, took us to the airport. I road with my grandparents and Jeremiah rode with his parents. On the way to the airport the most awesome thing happened.....my grandpa accepted the Lord! He couldn't believe it could be so simple. What a joy it was to pray with him and KNOW where he and my grandma are going. I just called my grandma and she said they are going to church (Woodland Heights) tomorrow. PRAISE THE LORD!

When we arrived in the airport Tuesday evening there was a young man there to pick us up. He didn't speak much english so it was a little difficult making conversation. It was overwhelming and a little scary driving to the bible college. People were everywhere and the drivers are wild. When we finally arrived to the bible college everyone was very welcoming and the Director of the college, John Buchan showed us to our room. We were suprised to learn that we didn't just have a room but an apartment! John said they had some extra room this semester so we got blessed.

We originally thought we were leaving on the missions trip Thursday morning but John informed us that Thursday's bus was full and that if we want to go on the trip we would have to be ready to leave by 7:00 in the morning. We decided we would do that and we just got back last evening from that trip.

We left the bible college around 8:30 to go to Pisco and arrived at the church in Pisco around 1:30 p.m. Marco & Monique Laura are planting a church in this town where the 8.o earthquake hit in August. This quake devastated an already poor community and killed many family members. A group of about 150 of us stayed at the church for 4 days & 3 nights in order to minister to the people in this community.

Everyday they had a free medical clinic for the people to come visit and to hear the gospel message/to be counseled. The first day we were there we folded flyers and went out to hand out to people at the Plaza de Armas. The second day we went to the Plaza de Armas to hand out tracts and those who could speak espanol witnessed to the people that were there. We played with the children in the neighborhood near the church. The thrid & fourth day there was a Festival for the children during the day and in the evening there was a Festival of Life for the adults. At the children's festival I helped paint the children's faces and play games while Jeremiah played/talked with the boys that didn't really get involved with the games. It was amazing, there was probably 200 children there and they were having so much fun.

The Festival of Life was so awesome! They played worship music, gave a message about why we were there, and at the end offered an invitation to those who would like to accept Christ. It was unbelievable there were at least 150 people that went forward. After they accepted Christ in their hearts they all walked through a line we had formed around them. We clapped for them and they were all giving us hugs.

The Peruvian people are very loving and friendly. One of their customs is to touch cheeks with you and make a kissing sound. Women do this to all women/girls and men do this to women/girls. We have felt so blessed by the Peruvian church here. Many of them have been very protective of us and are taking care of us very well!

Oh, forgot to mention that we were blessed yesterday because we were able to go on a boat trip to the Paracas Islands for free. Two people in our group were unable to go so they asked if we would like to fill their spots. It was awesome......their were birds of all kinds, penguins, and sea lions. Animals were everywhere.

I have posted a few pics at the top. One is of the new church in Pisco and the other two are of some of the children we met. One of the little boys was fascinated with Jeremiah's biceps...haha! He kept asking me if I would be his mother, it broke my heart because he may have lost his mother in the recent earthquake.

I am going to post all the pictures we have taken since ight before we left and since we have been here on our shutterfly account. You can go to this sight by clicking on the link on the left side of this page that says Jer & Ser's pics.

Today, Jeremiah & I had orientation. This is where he got his schedule and his work assignment. Everyone was either assigned housekeeping, kitchen, or T.A. duties. Jeremiah was assigned T.A. (Teacher's assistant) duties. He is at that meeting right now finding out what that entails. We will be meeting with John Buchan in a couple of days to find out where I will be working the 20 hours/week.

We love and miss everyone back at home!

Adios!

The haircut

Hola!

Well I just thought I would give a quick update before we leave. A lot has happened since my last post. We got all moved into Caleb's then the day after Christmas we left for West Virgina to visit with my Aunt Laura & Uncle Al. They have been a huge blessing in that they agreed to take our dog Tessa. It was so hard leaving her but I was relieved to know she has an awesome home. She is now living on approx. 4 acres with grazing cattle. I hope to attach some pics of the cattle farm & my aunt laura....if I can figure it out! We had a wonderful time visiting my aunt and uncle. They are truly blessed to live in such beautiful country! This pic is of my Aunt Laura w/ their pet cow, Soozee!

Another praise is that we sold our truck! Yeah! We had been praying that our truck would sell before we leave so that would be one less thing to think about! The Lord sold it for a good price and we are so thankful!

The big news is that I decided to chop my hair off! I have always wanted to be brave enough to go short but I NEVER EVER thought I would go through with it. BUT I DID! YEAh....and I love it! I hope you all like it too! It is going to be so low maintenance for Peru. I hope you all like it too!

I didn't exactly get the pictures placed the way I wanted too but I will figure it out next time!

Only 7 more days until we leave for Peru! Our church is having a going away party at Chapel Books this Saturday at 7 p.m. if any of you would like to come.

God Bless!