Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Rabbit rabbit



December 1, 2010:

The first day of December. I can’t believe how fast time is flying.

I just wanted to write about our friend Vilfredo. He’s the little boy that came to us a week ago in a very bad condition; very dehydrated and malnourished. Well since that day he has gained 2 more kg and he’s looking a lot better. His cheeks are fuller and his skin isn’t peeling anymore. His hair looks fuller and he’s got more energy in his little body. From speaking with his mother we know that he’s now eating solid foods and drinking his milk at least 4 times a day. Lauren even caught a picture of him smiling J

It just makes my heart smile every time he comes in. I will continue to update his progress as time goes by.

New neighbors too

November 28, 2010:

This evening we went out to meet our neighbors and let them know of our Tuesday evening event. We walked to the nearest house to ours and talked with anyone that we could find. Everyone that we met and talked to was very nice and hospital. They all offered us a seat and even a little treat. We sat with them for a good 15 minutes and just chatted. We swapped names and they told us about their families. After our visitations there was one man in particular who touched my heart.

His name is Pedro. Thankfully, it’s a very easy name for me to remember. When we first arrived to a fenced area we called out, “Hola?” We then heard a funny voice answer back, “Hola.” We smiled at each other and walked in. We found a man who looked like he was in his fifties – we later found out he was 75 – just working away. He had a shovel in his hands and was clearing away weeds that were starting to grow around his plants. We told him what we were doing and we immediately hit it off. When we asked him what he was doing he got very excited and began sharing with us all his hard work. He even gave us a tour of all that he had done. He showed us his papaya trees, his planted wheat, rice, aguaje tree, yuka plants, and so much more. He even explained how he would gather some of his produce. After his tour he invited over to his house for a little treat.

At his house we enjoyed curichi. Curichi is a popular frozen treat amongst the Peruvians. It is aguaje juice poured in plastic little bags and then frozen. As we ate our delicious treat we admired his small yet beautiful house. He had a fence around his home with beautiful flowers at the entrance of his home. Of course, all the flowers he had planted and cared for himself. Looking inside his house, it was very clean and organized. We also got to enjoy listening to him talk about his story. It was actually very entertaining. When he would talk about his dogs he would act out exactly how they would act. You would have to been there.

After enjoying his presence, I remembered why I loved doing this. We have the chance to meet all these people and add them to our lives. Just by listening to their struggles and victories in life is such a blessing. It teaches me how to connect with others by sympathizing, laughing, or being excited with them. I’m excited for the many more families we have left to visit.

New home = New church

November 27, 2010:

First Sabbath at Km 8. When we were told that we had to lead out church at Km 8, I was scared and sad. This meant that we would no longer be part of our current church L All the people we had bonded with would no longer be part of our Sabbath experience. And I had never lead out a church before…

But that’s the point of being a missionary. Sometimes you have to do things you’ve never done before and trust God that He’ll lead you. So that’s what I decided to do. I said, “God, I have no clue what I’m doing, but I ask that you guide us and bless us.”

So that week we planned out a church service. We prepared hymns, special music, offering, Sabbath school, a sermon, and more. We also let our patients know that we were going to have church that upcoming Sabbath. By Saturday morning we had the whole service written on a piece of paper.

The service went a little like this:

Rachel had the welcome, announcements, and opening prayer.

We sang four hymns and broke into two groups to have Sabbath school. Cecilia took the adults while Lauren, Rachel, and I took the kids.

We then sang some more.

Cecilia had the offering call and the children’s story.

Rachel, Lauren, and I sang a hymn for special music.

I had the sermon.

We sang our closing hymn.

Cecilia closed the service with a prayer.

It went well, not as we had planned, but I do believe God still blessed. We had a total of 7 people come and join us; three adults and four kids. We’ll continue letting our patients know that we have a church service on Saturdays along with Bible studies in the near future. We want to reach out to our community both medically and spiritually.

My favorite day

November 25, 2010:

Thanksgiving day. I am very grateful that we were given this day off so that we could celebrate my favorite day of the year.

Being in Peru didn’t change the fact that it’s still my favorite. Yeah things would be different, but being here has opened my eyes to new things to be grateful for. Being in Peru has given me a deeper meaning of Thanksgiving.

We started our day by collecting money from everyone and then heading shopping for the food. Lauren and Rachel left to buy the turkey while Jenessa and others left to buy the rest of the stuff and pick up the mail. We were very excited to see what our families had sent us in the Thanksgiving packages. So now I just want to say thank you to all the parents who made our Thanksgiving meal possible and delicious.

Lauren and Rachel returned with a complete, pail, dead turkey. Lauren being the master chef took the responsibility of cleaning it out and preparing it for the oven. She pumped milk into to it, added the seasonings, and wrapped it up. She had planned to prepare it and then send it to Campo Verde so that someone could roast it. When the rest of the gang arrived we all filled the kitchen to help out with the other preparations. Some peeled potatoes, others chopped veggies, and some stirred deliciousness over the stove. We were a team of busy bees while listening to Christmas tunes. When the food was about done Hanna, Rachel, and I decided to decorate for the special dinner. We laid out the tablecloth and plates that Mrs. Downey had sent us. They were decorated with very cute and funny turkeys. Thanks Mrs. Downey J We then cut out leaves of different colors and hung them off the rafters. It turned out so beautiful, we were very proud of ourselves.

Unfortunately, the chicos didn’t get the whole day off. However, when they finished working, Hanna and I joined them in a game of soccer. Considering it had rained earlier that day everything was muddy and slippery. Let’s just say that by the end of the game Hanna and I were ready for our showers. Oh and I forgot to mention that I scored my first goal J

All cleaned up I joined the rest of my family in the other house. With all the food laid out in the middle of the table it made me so happy just walking in. We had invited everyone that is part of our new family. In total it’s almost 30 of us. As we finally all arrived, Jenessa offered a prayer for the food and we all sat to enjoy our wonderful feast. We had: turkey, stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and many more yummy things. When we were about done eating we all went around the table and said what we were thankful for. It was such a wonderful day!

Like I said before, being here has made me very grateful for many things that I would normally take for granted.

*Running water

*A roof over my head

*The food of every meal

*The rain that we receive to cool us off

*Our protection

*My good health

*Moments to relax and take a breath

*The smiles of our patients

But I will never take for granted my families at home that love and care for me. The mission here and everyone that makes it possible. The love of our God.