Even though we just passed our one year mark in Peru (woohoo!) and it is winter here, I still am thinking of the months of June, July and August as summer.  For the past several years I have always looked forward to a good book to read over the summer.  This year I read three.  (I’m not a HUGE reader, so three is a lot for me.)  Third Culture Kids, Love and Respect, and Searching for God Knows What.  I highly recommend all three.

Third Culture Kids by David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken  is a book about growing up in more than one culture.

Since the time we decided to be missionaries and move to another country, we have heard about this book, because Jake and Derek are now “third culture kids” or “TCKs.”  They are not fully American, they are not fully Peruvian.  They make up a culture of their own–a childhood cross-cultural experience.  This book explains and describes so well the challenges and rewards families face because of their different cultural experiences.  At first I thought that this was something I needed to read about later on, but then a friend recommended I read it now and mailed it to me (All the way from Singapore!  Thanks, Jenn).  The wisdom and knowledge and personal stories in this book are invaluable.  It covers the board–it’s not just for parents.  It speaks to adult TCKs, family members, sponsoring organizations, and anyone else who wants to understand how being born or raised in a different culture can shape someone and impact them differently.  I find this stuff pretty fascinating (which probably explains why I chose a degree in Psychology).  I realized after reading this book that you don’t have to leave the country to have a cross-cultural experience.  I think the newest edition of the book explains in more detail what that means and looks like.

Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerich is a marriage book.

This is actually the second time I’ve gone through this book.  It’s divided into three sections–the first is written to both husband and wife, and then it’s split into the “how to love your wife” and “how to respect your husband” parts.  I think the strongest message of this book is how little we know (us wives) about the importance of respecting our husbands.  It’s pretty revolutionary, actually.  I’ll probably be re-visiting this one throughout our different stages of marriage and life as a fresh reminder.

Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller is a book that has set me free in a lot of ways.

I mentioned this one on Facebook a while back.  It is the kind of book that, as a Christian, you can be proud of and actually want to share it with everyone you know.  And it’s the kind of book for people who believe in God or want to believe in God, and who can respect Jesus but want nothing to do with Christianity or the church.  It set me free, like I said, because I am understanding the message of Jesus in a way I never have before.

We focused our efforts in a community in a part of Lima called Villa Maria del Triunfo and more specifically in an area known as “Paraiso” or “Paradise.”  In this, our first medical campaign, we were really just shooting in the dark on a lot of things.  Sometimes inexperience can be a blessing as well as a curse.  We decided that we wanted to have a traditional medical campaign like most people imagine when they think about such a thing.  We talked with a local government run preschool and were able to use their facilities, which turned out to be ideal.  We had several rooms with doctors, dentists and nurses seeing patients.  Plus another room for vision checks and passing out eyeglasses.  All of this enclosed in a fence with a playground for the kids and space for the adults.  It was perfect and we invited the community to come receive free exams and, if we had what they needed, free medicine.  We saw hundreds of people over the three days we were there.

Also, though, we wanted to do something a little different.  Our ministry here has been one that is not a massive, shotgun approach.  We haven’t plastered signs on billboards and played ads on the tv or radio.  While those certainly have their place, our ministry has all along been intentionally very relational.  We have gotten to know our neighbors and the people that work in our communities.  We talk on the street corners and in our kids schools and play soccer on the local “canchas.”  We do a lot of talking over lunch and generally sharing life with our new friends in a one to one kind of way.  So, we decided we would try something similar with our medical campaign as well.

We formed two small teams with a medical doctor and a few helpers that traveled on foot through the surrounding neighborhoods.  We primarily worked by word of mouth and through many of our relationships in the community, going to visit people in their homes that we knew to be sick and need help.   One of the great things about this approach is that we were able to visit many that were unable to get out of their house and come to the clinic we had set up.  Equally as great though, was that we simply had the opportunity to sit down in these peoples very humble homes and talk with about their troubles, pray with them about their concerns and their health, sometimes drink some tea… we were able to go to them and meet them where they were.

I just put up a post on our team ministry website as well… www.twentyeight19.org.  Go check it out.

Also, John Mark made a fantastic video of our weekend.  Take a few minutes and get some better insight into the kind of neighborhood I’ve been talking about and see some of the faces… of our Peruvian neighbors and our American volunteers.

Medical Campaign 2010 – Paraiso from Twentyeight19 Ministries on Vimeo.

One of the lessons I listened to was on parenting.  Here are a few of the things I gleaned that boosted my day:

1. I am a better Mom when I spend time everyday with God.

2. My kids need to see me put that time with God at the top of my priority list.

3. Our top goal in parenting is to raise kids who love the Lord and hate sin.

The enemy is hard at work over here to destroy our spirit and keep us down!  Please pray for God’s Light to shine bright in our dark areas of weakness, struggle, and hardship so that as His word says, “everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light” (Eph. 5: 13).

Only God can turn what was once dark into a light that reflects His glory.

Okay, so now about Easter, or Pascua, as they call it here.  We had seven of our new Peruvian friends come celebrate with us!  Including us and Mark, there were 10 adults and four kids there.  We were very excited that God brought them here even on such a short, one day notice.  Here’s a quick run-down of what our afternoon looked like.  I made two pans of my trusty Baked Spagehtii, because I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like it.  And even though they all said they liked it, I think it would have tasted better if I had actually gotten to bake it instead of cut it all into pieces and put it on plates in the microwave, because we ran out of gas for the oven!  Minor detail that the enemy would have loved to drag me down with, but I stayed calm and didn’t freak out.  :)

Anyway, so before the meal, Wes read a scripture passage about the Passover meal, and Mark prayed for us.  The conversation between all of us flowed really well and we all felt comfortable being there together, just enjoying each others company.  It was awesome.  After lunch Wes and Edgar hid the boiled eggs (that Wes and the boys dyed in food coloring that morning; yes we did finally find food coloring by the way) in our backyard.  They don’t have egg hunts here in Peru, so this was all new to them, and the kids were beside themselves excited about it.  So also, as you can tell in the pictures, we couldn’t just run to Wal-mart and pick up some Easter baskets, either.  We had to go with bags from our Wal-mart substitute, Wong, instead.  And made do with just putting some candy in the yard, since they don’t have those hollow plastic eggs here, either.  Regardless, the kids had a blast!  And we did, too, watching them!

After the egg hunt Wes took pictures of everyone.   Now you can have a face with the names.  Which is great, especially for those of you joining with us in prayer for them.  Also, a funny story.  The day after Easter we were talking with Edgar and he told us how his little girl, Danna (sounds like Donna), went home and told her grandma about the Easter egg hunt.  She said, “Grandmother!  We went to The Gringo’s house and hunted for eggs in their yard and got candy!”  We laughed pretty hard.  And Edgar said that Danna’s grandmother didn’t believe her!  Maybe it won’t be too long before we won’t just be The Gringos.  :)

Anyway, Edgar also told us that day that he and his wife, Graciela, were talking and wanted to ask us about some ideas they had.  He said they thought it would be great if we could get that same group together every Sunday and not just have a meal, but have a Bible study and sing some songs, too.  Then he asked us, “Do you think that’s a good idea or a bad one?”  Needless to say, Wes and I jumped on board with that and told him we had had almost the exact same conversation as well!  Our prayer all along has been that our relationships with the people we meet would serve as a foundation for introducing them to Christ.  In our minds we pictured that happening and then finding ourselves in a position with new friends who would want to start meeting together for Bible study.  God has answered our prayers!  The next Sunday not everyone was able to show up, but those that did, taught me how to make Lomo Saltaldo and Ceviche, two Peruvian dishes.  After the meal, Wes led everyone in a Bible study that went really well.  We have been so blessed by their interest in the Gospel, participation in discussions, and in taking ownership to our gathering together!

Sergio

Sergio is 17 years old, lives in a neighborhood close to ours, and he works on our street as a guard.  He is far away from his family, because they still live in the jungle, where he spent a good portion of his childhood.  He has been playing soccer with the guys on Monday nights and we get to talk with him often.  Sergio told Wes this week that he wants to be apart of what we are doing here.  It won’t be long before he finds out what that means, and Lord-willing, his life will change forever because of it!

Graciela, Edgar, and Danna

Wes met Edgar on his way to Monday night soccer.  You can read that story here.  Wes meets with Edgar to study the Bible every Tuesday.  We have been so encouraged by Edgar’s desire to know God more and to become more like Jesus.  You can pray that Edgar continues to grow closer to the Lord and that his wife, Graciella, will come to desire the same thing.  She and Edgar have been reading the Bible together and learning together.  We are excited about her desire to want to be apart of what we are doing, also.

Derek, Juan Carlos, Maritza, Jake

This is Jaun Carlos who is also a guard on our street, and his girlfriend, Maritza (sounds like Mar-eeska).  Wes has been studying the Bible with Jaun Carlos every week and has been getting to know his family and friends in his neighborhood district called, Villa Maria.  Both Jaun Carlos and Maritza have shown a great interest in studying with us and getting to know us better.  (And Maritza thinks Derek is the cutest thing she has ever seen!  I happen to agree with her.)

Sonya, Davidson, and Martin

Martin is a gardener and works for many people in our neighborhood (including us).  He is also the head guy over the guards on our street and does other side jobs like painting.  We found out early on that Martin is well respected in our community.  Wes describes him as a “person of peace.”  His wife, Sonya, is one of the hardest working women I know.  She has the heart of a servant and an awesome laugh!  Seriously, I love to hear her laugh!

You may have noticed Sara and her kids missing in all these pictures.  Well, she hasn’t been able to join us on a Sunday yet, but we are still keeping in touch with her.  We’ve had her over for a couple of meals during the week and are hopeful that our relationship with her will continue to grow.  Thanks so much for all of your prayers for us and our new Peruvian friends!

]]> http://theyoakums.net/blog/our-pascua-passover-in-spanish-celebration/feed/ 4 http://theyoakums.net/blog/humbled-by-hospitality-part-2/ http://theyoakums.net/blog/humbled-by-hospitality-part-2/#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:51:27 +0000 Stacy http://theyoakums.net/blog/?p=686

Sara has three daughters and two sons; ages 15, 13, 10, 6, and 4.  At about 11:00 AM on Good Friday two of her daughters showed up at our house.  We all piled in our car and they directed us to their house.  Manchay is the kind of district that reminds Wes and I of a small country town.  It is quiet, pretty small, and just outside of the big city.  Only it is desert country, so don’t imagine grass and horses.  More like dirt and dogs.  It took us about 30-40 minutes to get there.  We passed through the main part of town and kept going.  Pretty soon the only kinds of houses we were seeing were shacks.  My stomach just kind of dropped as it occurred to me where exactly we were going.  We got off the main road and passed through a valley.  No more roads, just dirt paths.  And lots and lots of wooden shacks that look like the outhouses you see in Western movies.  The sun that day was strong and hot.  It was a beautiful day.  But there was little beauty outside our windows.

When we arrived at their house we were going to park outside, but then we saw Sara open her gate made of tin and motioned for us to pull inside.  We literally parked in their living room.  But it was a dirt floor, and there was no furniture, and most of the ceiling was missing.  We found out later that the wind blew it away.

There was a small area that was a concrete slab.  She had two small dining tables on that part and that’s where we ate our meal.  They had two bedrooms and one bathroom without a door.  One side of the house had a brick wall.  And they have a small area where they keep some ducks.  (Jake and Derek were looking forward to seeing the ducks.)

In the kitchen was a stove, a small counter space, and a small cabinet that held their dishes and other things. Later I noticed that the two barrels outside their house were full of water.  There is a water truck that comes by every day to fill them up with water.  They use that water for everything–drinking, cooking, cleaning, flushing the toliet, feeding the ducks, etc.  Though most of the floors are made of dirt, we could tell she takes care of their home, because it was clean and organized.

The sink.

Well, she prepared a FEAST for us.  It is tradition here that everyone eats fish during Holy Week.  When she was at our house she was asking me what we liked to eat.  She made ceviche for Wes.  And I told her I don’t like fish very much, but that I do like fried fish.  Of course, I was talking about the fried fish you get from Luby’s.  It never occured to me that her version of fried fish is to put the whole fish in oil and fry it in the pan–head, tail, eyeballs and all.  Sure enough, there it was.  An entire bowl of fried fish staring back at me.  All I could think was, “Oh, Lord, help me!  I have to eat this!”  Along with the fish she prepared corn on the cob, rice, green peas and potatoes.  And lucky for Wes he had a side of seaweed with his ceviche.  Everything was made on her gas stovetop.  We were absolutely blown away by her generosity!  We found out she left at 4 in the morning to take a 2 hour bus ride to the fish market to buy the fish that morning, and then another two hour ride back home.

Derek, Stacy, Sara.

Our boys had a great time playing with the kids and playing in the dirt, of course.  I think the highlight of Jake’s visit there was the fish on the table.  He was so curious and amazed at the fish and all its bones.  He wanted to know what was inside the heads, too.  We asked Sara, “Can you tell that he doesn’t eat fish often?”  She was hilarious, because Jake was sitting next to her, practically sitting in her lap trying to see the fish on her plate.  So she picked up her fish head and opened it’s mouth and made the fish talk to Jake saying, “Hola, Jakob.  Como estas?”  (Which means, “Hi, Jakob.  How are you?”) I wish we had a picture of Jake’s expression, because it was priceless.  He was elated and laughed so hard!

After lunch we sat around and talked.  I was amazed at how comfortable it was to be there.  She and her family were so welcoming and totally at ease with us being there, which made it easy for us to relax.  Wes brought a Bible for her to have and he briefly explained the outline of it and the order of how it’s written and how there are different versions.  He suggested that she start reading Mark and they planned on picking up there the next time they met together.  We also met one of her neighbors while we were there, who invited us over to see her brand new baby puppies.  We were there for at least four hours and the only reason we left was because Derek was exhausted as it was well past his nap time, and he’s been fighting a cold.  So after taking a bunch of pictures we headed back home.

I had the rest of the afternoon and evening at home to take it all in.  I thought about how Sara barely even knew us, but invited us into her home and gave us more than she could probably afford.  I thought about how I couldn’t think of the last time I showed such an act of kindness and sacrifice like that.  And I thought about all the people we’ve been meeting and wondered what kind of Easter weekend they were having.  God used Sara that day to humble me and teach me what kind of person He wants me to me for His people.  I told Wes that we should try and invite as many people as we could over for Easter lunch and have an egg hunt with the kids in our backyard.  I told him that at like, 10:00 at night on Friday.  So we had one whole day to invite people and prepare everything.  We didn’t know who or what to expect.

I love the way God works.  We’ll tell you about it in our next post!

(See all the pics here.)

Then I met Sara.  A couple of weeks ago Edgar showed up with Sara at our front door (here, though, it was actually at our front gate, not door).  Edgar knows Sara through their jobs working with the bus system.  This particular day Edgar noticed that Sara looked sad and he asked her what was wrong.  She basically said, “Well, I am a single mom of five kids, my husband left me a few years ago, I work all the time, and life is hard.”  Edgar looked at her and said, “You need God.”  And she laughed at him thinking he was joking!  But Edgar said, “No really, you do and I know a guy that can help you.”  Realizing that Edgar wasn’t kidding and recognizing that there had really been a change in Edgar’s life and he seemed much happier, she followed him and they walked to our house.

Doesn’t that just make you say, “Wow, God, You are so amazing!”

Wes met with Sara and Edgar for a little while and listened to part of her story, then they planned a Bible study for the following Sunday, when Sara would have a day off of work.  Well, Sunday came and we were not sure exactly what time Sara was planning on coming over or if she was still coming.  Wes left to go help Mark with a meeting of Peruvians at his house.  Not three minutes after Wes left, Sara showed up at our gate with five kids.  I was in a panic!  I knew that she lived pretty far from here and that it takes her almost an hour to get here on a bus, and I didn’t know how to communicate to her that Wes had just left.  I didn’t want to send them home, either.  I called Alison and asked her to translate for me.  Sara was really sweet and kept offering to help me clean up and it was clear that she didn’t want to be a bother to us.  (Since she showed up unexpectedly there happened to be plenty for her to help me clean up all over the floor.  Jake loves to use the scissors.  And tape.  Need I say more?)  She wouldn’t let me take the broom away from her, so after we cleaned up the floor we went and sat in the living room.  We watched the kids play and I talked to her as much as I could.  I was able to talk more than I thought I could, but we mostly just talked about family, food, and what the kids were doing.  Her kids were really well behaved and they were all so kind-hearted.  Which is not surprising, because I could already tell that their mother is such a great example for them.  Before she left she asked if we had plans for Semana Santa (Holy Week).  I said no and she asked if we could come to her house for lunch on Friday.  I said that sounded great!  Then she kept saying that her house is muy feo (very ugly) and not pretty like our house.  I guess she wanted to warn us of the differences.  I remember Wes saying he thought that she lived in a house that had no running water or electricity.  Well, we did just that.  We had a traditional Peruvian lunch of fish at her house on Good Friday.  But, that deserves it’s own post… more to come.

Romans 12:2

I’ve had this verse written on my note card for a while now, but it is just now making it to the computer.  Thanks, MeMa, for this verse!  I’m using one that you gave me.  Being transformed by the renewing of my mind is what I have been working on very hard since last January.

As you may have noticed… some of our technology resources around here kind of crashed.  Wes’ camera is currently at the repair shop, and after three weeks of a visit with applecare, my computer is back with a brand new hard drive.  Apparently, computers and hard floors aren’t such a good combination together, either.  That would be my fault.

When you are teaching them how to steer the sailboat, talk to them about how Jesus calmed the storm and controls the waves, and He does the same today in the storms of life.

When you are giving instructions on how to shoot the bow and arrow, looking at a target with a bullseye, tell them that the definition of sin is missing the mark.

Or when you are on the tree tops, a high ropes course, and they are afraid of falling, tell them that even though we may slip and fall, Jesus is holding on to us and He won’t let go.

Honestly, to most of us young college students at the time looking for these teachable moments, it sounded like “Jesus cheese.”  Like, do people really say this kind of stuff?  And if they do, it’s only because they are supposed to, right?  Even though I knew this was similar to how Jesus taught in parables, I felt like I never was very good at finding teachable moments at camp.  I think those are the only three I ever used, because they are the only ones I could ever remember and I had a hard time coming up with them on my own.  Besides that, who has sailboats at camp and knows how to work those things, anyway?  Not me.

Nevertheless, as silly as it sounded, I still wanted to be good at finding those teachable moments.  To a listening child, they never forget those concepts when they are coupled with real life experiences.

Well, fast-forward 10 years and here I am with two small children of my own. Finding teachable moments is even more important to me now that these are my own kids.  Tonight, I remembered to be intentional about it.

I had gotten the kids out of the bathtub and we were putting on pajamas and getting ready for bed.  Wes was gone, so it was just me, Jake and Derek.  Next thing we knew the lights went out.  It was dusk, so there was still a little light coming in from the window and I could see that it wasn’t just our house, but the whole neighborhood.  Jake was with me and started to get scared.  Derek was in the process of running away from me as I was trying to get his p.j.’s on, so next thing I heard was him crashing into some toys in the darkness of Jake’s room followed by some tears.  Gathering the boys next to me, we slowly make our way down the stairs while my mind searches for a way to find some light.  I can’t think of where a flashlight is, I know where some candles are, but I don’t know where any matches or a lighter might be.  The gas stove wouldn’t light.  So I find my phone and called Wes to find out if he had any helpful advice.  All the while, Jake is hugging my leg and wishing I was holding him in my arms instead of Derek, borderline crying, and saying that we need Daddy here and what are we going to do without any light!?!  Well, after about 10 minutes, the lights came back on and all was well.  We went back upstairs and finished getting ready for bed.  We had our routine “family church,” which is basically a little devo where we read a Bible story or two, sing a few songs, and then pray together.  During this time a little light bulb when on in my head and I thought of a teachable moment.

“Jake, do you remember how scared you were when the lights went out?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s what it is like for people who don’t know Jesus and don’t have Him in their lives.  Jesus is the light of our lives.  It’s a scarey place to be without him, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

A little bit later I was reading a short book to Derek, about to lay him in his bed.  Jake was sitting close by, playing with a toy, when he looked over at me and said, “Mommy?  How can we make sure that Jesus is in our hearts?”

Wow.  Jake turns four years old next month.  This is what Jesus meant when He said to become like little children, isn’t it?  With hearts ready and willing to listen, willing to receive a teachable moment.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3

I have been trying to focus on how God provides for us this month, so that’s why I have chosen these first two verses.  Sometimes, as we work on our budget and adjust to the changes we go through, we hit some financially rough times.   But it’s also encouraging to know that God also meets our spiritual needs and not just our physical ones.