There are a lot of things that I see here that make me really sad. So many poor and handicapped people sit on the street and I want to help them all! It can be depressing. But then there are little things that just make you laugh. Like this past Monday, we went to get Lee's tire changed and while we were there, we got bombarded with water balloons by some little boys on a roof across the street. They were starting to celebrate Carnival (which is a month-long holiday in February) early.

Then, earlier today, I saw an elefante walking down the street like it was nothing unusual. If it works, I've loaded a short clip of him at the end.

There are two people who have weighed heavily on my heart. The first is a man, who we found out today is named Enocencio, who sits on the side of the road (I've seen him three times this week) because his foot is incredibly infected. It's probably five or six inches in diameter and has sores all over it. I'm sure that if nothing helps him, he'll probably die from the infection. There just has to be something we can do. James talks all about taking care of the poor and widows and orphans in their distress, right? I guess I need to find out how much it would cost for him to at least get looked at.

The second person is Julber. He is a little 12 year old boy from the mountains who has lived at the Styrons' for a while because he is so sick and needs better nutrition. He has tumors that grow on his joints: one on his shoulder, one on his elbow, one on his hip and one on his ankle. He keeps out of sight for the most part and he's not able to be an active little boy because he's always in pain. There is a chance that he could go to Lima to get treated by a German doctor who is interested in his case. So, please pray that I can reach out to him, even though I don't know the language yet, and that he will really be able to go to Lima and will miraculously get healed.

Lastly! I am really excited about tomorrow. Earlier this week, we were walking down near the center and there are people all over the streets who beg for money (or even more sad, this one man was playing his harmonica so cheerfully) and are obviously really old or hurt or sick. And, of course, there is always a chance that if you give poor people money, they will just go and buy something useless or harmful, so instead of giving them money, we are going to make a bunch of sandwiches tomorrow and hand them out to the very immobilized and poor. Please pray that it won't just be a handout, but will really touch their lives forever! I really think it could be great! There are no strings attached, just we who are blessed so much by God reaching out to those that he loves so so much.

And I'm still looking for a place, and waiting to hear from the school about when I can start and waiting to get a phone with a plan that allows me to make calls anywhere in the world! But those aren't too big a deal.

Hyper-Compassionate

I don't know what it is. I don't think it's culture shock, but for some reason I feel incredibly hypersensitive. Everything that touches my heart I feel 5 times stronger. When I look at people on the street, I want to smile at everyone and make sure they are doing well and are happy. There are so many people who sell things on the street and people pass them by because "they're just somebody who's selling something." I hate it! I mean, that is how I saw them at first. But everybody is a person with feelings and a heart and a need for Jesus.

I am also feeling a weight for people whom I have caused pain in the past. It has been unusually strong the past few days. It is good though because it brings these things to the front and I have to deal with them. It drives me to do what I should be doing every day, to feed on the Bible and talk to Jesus. And I call and talk to my mom and dad which helps a lot too. I have a problem with letting things go, both good and bad things. But there is so much good out there to let the bad things get in the way! I think it was Oswald Chambers who said something like, God doesn't want to make you into something you once were, he wants to make you into something you've never been. Man. It's like these things that we go through, we can't look at them and say that "if they had just never happened..." It's like, they can happen and, only by the grace of God for sure, we can be somebody totally different in a good way.

Up To Date, Not Up Late!

I finally get a chance to write. I want to tell all about everything that has happened between Georgia and here in Arequipa, but I know that few people will probably read all of it, so for your convenience (that’s what this world’s all about right?) I have divided it all into short stories with titles accordingly.

The passport, or The Story Which Centers Oddly Around The Number 7.

Sunday night, we were all at the Williams home—me, my parents, Lee, his mama and daddy, and his sister. Our flight was scheduled for the next day Monday at 5:00, so we started to pack. At 7:00pm, or round abouts, I thought about putting my passport into my carry-on bag. But I couldn’t remember where it was!

I left it at home!

I called my reliable friend Dominique and she agreed, although she was very busy, to go over to my house and look for it. She found it a little while later, and I asked her the big question: would you be willing to drive four hours out this way to meet us and bring the passport to me? Would you believe that she said yes! After finally hooking her up with some cash (from our good friend and neighbor Mike Sagassar) [because just the night before Dominique had her credit card stolen and $700 charged to her account], she was on her way and we were on our way.

She brought the passport to Florence, South Carolina, we met up with her and chatted, we took a picture and said goodbye, and we got home at 7:00 round abouts Monday morning.

Getting to Lima, or The Taxi Driver Who Cheated Us (or tried to).

I had my passport and we got to the airport. The next big thing was finding out if Lee could make it on the same flight as me, seeing as he was flying via a buddy pass (or standby). Fortunately, he was able to get on, and more than that, was able to leave his seat and sit in one of the two next to me that was empty! So, praise God for that.

After landing in Lima, we had the blessing (apparently) of finding a good taxi at a really low price to get to Miraflores (which means “look at the flowers” and is not as poor as other parts in Lima). Only 20 soles to get there! Most drivers start out at 50 and have to be talked down to 20 or 25.

The whole ride over there, we chatted, and he took nice roads and found us a hotel and unloaded our luggage. When we got inside he asked for his money, but not in soles, in dollars! He wanted 20 American dollars for the ride over there! With an exchange rate of about 3.2 soles for every dollar, that would be about 70 soles!! The driver knew what he was doing the whole time. Lee was so shocked that he’d try to trick him like that, that he gave him 20 soles (the original agreed price) and sent him away. Needless to say the man was not happy. I was a little afraid that he’d come back later with a knife or something, but fortunately crime in Peru is mostly non-violent.

IRS Tax Receipts, or Note to Self: Take Care of Business Stuff in the US When Possible.

At the end of the year, Lee has to send out receipts to everyone who gives to O Brother Ministry, Inc. so that they can claim their donations on their taxes. Well, because the time at home was so busy (at least two meetings with supporters and friends a day), he didn’t get going on it really until the last week home. I had to brush up on my excel skills and create some sheets for the receipts. We didn’t get done before we left, so we just thought we could finish on Tuesday in Lima.

Well, we finally found envelopes and some pretty Peruvian paper to write notes on. I guess we didn’t realize how long it would take to write a short note to each supporter. Once that was finally all done, we had to find a place to print out the excel documents. There are cabinas internet (little internet places) all over Lima, but nowhere that could both read the excel sheets and print them. Once we finally found a place, which took a long time, it could only print one page at a time.

And so today, Friday, we finally sent the letters Fed Ex to Georgia where they can be mailed out through the USPS. Note to Self: stop procrastinating!

Getting to Arequipa.

Lima was fun. We stayed with the Lopez family (a young missionary family with 5 kids: Mordecai (8), Isaac (6), Ezra (4), Lydia (2), and Isabel (just born a couple weeks ago). They are the coolest family I’ve ever met I think. And we met with Lee’s missionary friend Nick and his wife and son who all live in Trujillo. That was all really great.

But it’s good to be back in Arequipa. It’s not muggy or cloudy like Lima. But it’s super high, which made me feel pretty sick when we got off the plane. Everyone has gotten sick since being back. But I think it’s wearing off.

I’ve written a few letters, but I need to write some more. We’re getting together with the church tonight over at Patti’s. That should be cool. I’ve met most of the people, but haven’t gotten together with everybody all at once yet. I’m sharing a room with Emily right now, which is very sweet of her. Next week we are going to really crack down and look for a family for me to live with. And enroll in a language school here in Arequipa.

My Goals.

I’ve thought a little bit about this, but not completely. My goals for the next three months are to get a pretty good handle on the language and be able to hold a conversation with the people, and to form one really good relationship with someone from here. I guess these don’t sound like that big of a deal, but I can be pretty introverted, and I tend to make only a few good friends, so I think those are pretty good goals.

I Guess That’s It.

That’s all I suppose. I miss the church office and my home and my family and knowing that I can just call and hop in the car to see my friends in Havelock. God has blessed my trip so far! Thanks for praying for me and please, keep in touch!

¨It is a stupendous love to love the sea.¨

Wow

We went to Toccoa yesterday to see people, and man, was that a good time. In the evening we all gathered at Helen's house (a lady that the Styrons know) and that was one of the most special times I've ever experienced.

There was such a strange mix of us. Helen and Juan knew Chenoah through homeschooling in Georgia, Elaine knew Helen and Juan, Lee and I knew the Styrons, and Margie and her husband knew Lee. So none of us really knew everyone who was there.

Anyway, it was the closest thing I've ever experienced to the church in Acts 2. And it wasn't forced in any way. We all just ate together, started talking, then praying, then singing, and then we did it all over again. And we all just had that one thing in common, that we are all in God's kingdom. It was amazing.

I am really excited to see what their home church is like down in Peru. I met most of the people, but I didn't get to see what their lives were like together. I have a feeling that last night wasn't as uncommon to most of the people there.

Only five days til I'm in the air for six hours! I'm getting more and more anxious.

Blessed are the poor in spirit...

I probably shouldn't be writing right now. There are so many thoughts that I could spew out through the keyboard, but it would be too much! What to say... what to say...

Today has been an amazing day, really sad at some points, but overall wonderful. I guess it's these times of change or, dare I say "crisis," that make you see reality. I've been realizing that more and more- when God moves, there is revelation and illumination, but not so much in the way people generally think. It's not like a revelation of God's plan or will or illumination of the mind. It's like, things come to the surface: motives, sin, thoughts, the truth. And the wonderful things are illuminated. I never realized how deep and strong and meaningful some of my relationships were until now. And by "some," I'm really talking about one imparticular. It is so sad to say goodbye, but I am so glad to know that I have that kind of bond with someone so genuine.

I packed up my office today. It felt like such a normal day, until I took my picture frames down and took the keys off my key ring. I covered the room in post-it notes, partly to help people navigate their way around my former domain, and partly because I felt like I could still say just one more thing, just another thing. But I finally had to close the door and walk away. Walk away from the dear and familiar. The afternoons in my office with Bojangles when Joe and Pastor Ray and even occassionally David VanPatten threw their trash on my floor on "accident;" the really "terrible" days when it rained and the roof leaked and I had to share an office for an entire day with Ms. Gin; the singing of Christmas carols entirely out of key, loud enough for people in the other offices to hear; the long talks about nothing's and everything's. That was definitely the best job I've ever had, and even if I'd had more than three jobs my whole lifetime, that still would be the best job I've ever had.

Anyway, I just can't even describe every little amazing thing that has been going on in the past month or two or three. I've had a lot of thoughts lately about Christian accountability and fellowship, and money, and music, and lots of different things. It's like, for about two months my mind swirled around in a way that I couldn't even really understand and I couldn't make sense or sentences out of anything, and now all the sudden, it's coming pouring out! I think I'm changing, I hope I am.

Tomorrow I am packing up the rest of my stuff and saying goodbye to my parents, who are leaving for Wilmington to celebrate their anniversary. Saturday I'm heading out to Georgia with the Styrons and meeting up with Lee. A week from then my parents are coming back out with some of my stuff, and then that Monday I'm flying out! But for now, I'm going to bed.