Peru, week one

Hello friends, family, and everyone else! It's only been a few days since I've become a gringo in Peru but it literally feels like weeks

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Lima is completely different from what I was expecting but is still great. The climate is ALOT colder than I was expecting, its winter in the Andes mountains right now and shorts are not even an option, my "madre" told me this. I am living with a Peruano family in Lima in the foothills of the mountains. My room is located on the roof of the building and has an absolutely incredible view, though Dylan and I discovered yesterday the view from the top of the mountains behind our house is even more impressive.

I have a madre (Tula), padre (Julio), tia, sobrino, and 2 hermanos (David and Estavan). Every morning we wake up and I water the plants on the roof, mop the roof and 3 flights of stairs, and take out the trash then we eat. Breakfast is delicious, we always eat bread and jam and mandarinas and coffee and porridge. In Peru breakfast and dinner are more like snacks and at lunch you feast.

We eat lunch at Dylans house which is right down the street from mine and her family prepares a tradition Peruano dish daily for us as well as their two kids. Everyone here is so welcoming to us but laugh at us, ALOT. It's really quite humbling, after two years of college Spanish I am speaking at the level of a 5 year old, so my padre scolded me (lovingly of course) over breakfast this morning. But, I am learning, believe me I am.

We have done alot so far including go to an internet cafe, hike up a mountain, I got to visit the largest hospital in Lima today and pray over some of our church members, we've experienced a Peruvian walmart, and I have made friends in my church here. We go to "Luz de Vida en Salamanca, Lima, Peru" and its wonderful. I am working mainly with the youth group of this church alongside a man named Paulo. We play games, sing, and have a lesson much like in the states. Except, of course, it's all in Spanish.

My new friend in the youth group, Alex, plays guitar for the church and studied English for a while. He is going to help my Spanish as I help his English. Last night after youth group we were invited to one of the girls quinceanero, which is a girls 15th birthday and in Latin America is second in importance in her life only to the day she gets married. It was quite an incredible experience!

I don't have much time but I hope to post again soon. Anything yall want to know? Ask and I'll do my best to answer! Please pray for Dylan and myself as the language barrier is just that, a barrier. Going a whole day only communicating in Spanish is quite taxing and the days seem longer. We need strength, endurance, and our Peruano families and friends definitely need patience. Thanks again, I love you all! Chao

Arrival

Hello all! Just a quick update, we made it! We sat in ATL in the plane for around an hour waiting on the lightening storm to go away then finally took off and hit some turbulence in the air. We arrived around 1:15 am and then waited on our luggage for about an hour then thankfully it came! We met Mr. Ross and hopped in a taxi and drove to the Berry's home for some sleep. We woke up and ate our first Peruvian meal which was absolutely delicious, I love the coffee here! Today we are meeting our host families and moving into our own apartments, mine is on top of a roof of my host family's house. My "madre" here is named Lula and has two sons who will be my "hermanos" for these three months. More to come! Adios!

Pre Field Training

Hey everyone! I'm currently in the Atlanta airport with three hours until our flight to Perú takes off! The past four days we had Pre-Field-Training in Ridge Haven in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina.

It was absolutely refreshing to be immersed completely into a community of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. All of the 40 interns for MTW this summer share a similar spark and desire for missions as myself and being surrounded with people who actually honestly fully understand my passion was so wonderful.

As we went through training we did many team building activities (including swimming, rope swings, lilly pad hopping, slide surfing, rock walls, obstacle courses and more) as well as training to prepare us spiritually with lessons on Spiritual Warfare, Humility and Pride, and more.

We were also trained about the culture (for me Latin America, specifically Peru) and how to counter such feats as culture shock, offending the native, etc. I can not stress yo you enough how well MTW handled this training, I feel 100% prepared.

The community with the other 40 interns was a small taste of what heaven will be, others are going to Kenya, Greece, Mexico, Japan, England, New York, Scotland, and Ethiopia and the four days we were together in training unified us in our similar mission to, well, the world for the purpose of spreading God's glory and his name. I won't lie, it's strange but even though I've only know these people for four days I feel as if we have been friends for 20 years.

Never have I EVER connected with a group of people so quickly, I believe it to be because of our similar passion (many times misunderstood by other friends, relative, etc) that unifies us so strongly. Prayer Requests:

1. Unity for each of the teams in their fields and a unification of prayer for all 40 interns.
2. I am living with a host family (which is COMPLETELY new news to me) and will be completely relying on Spanish, I need prayers for their patience and my understanding.
3. Safe travel today and the safe arrival of all of our bags.

I will be arriving into Peru tonight around 11:15 to meet the Peruvian family and missionaries I will be serving with, anticipation is at its absolute highest point for me thus far and I am so excited! I will try to post as soon as I can to let you all know I am safe and how it all is! Thanks for your prayers and love.

Three Month Goodbye

Two days until I leave for Atlanta with Dad for the day before I hop on a bus from the ATL Airport to Ridge Haven, NC for Pre-Field-Training. This is absolutely unbelievable. This time last year was close to my first week of working at McDonalds on Leadership Project in Myrtle Beach, SC.

It was almost a month after that I first started looking into MTW and its abroad internships, specifically Peru. Fast-forward one year and here we are! My clothes are packed and the last thing I need to do in Huntsville is hike my powerline-cut trail on the mountain one last time.

So, this post will be a "goodbye for three months" kind of post. I'll start with all the friends I made on Leadership Project, without yall's encouragement I would not have pursued this internship so strongly. On LP I was so immersed in true community I was motivated to make strive for the same at Auburn. I loved when yall came to visit and when Suz and I made it down to Furman and Wofford!

And Max, I'm sorry I missed your call! Next, goodbye to all my Auburn friends! I will definitely miss you all while I'm in Peru and I am so thankful for all of your prayers! Landrum, keep the adventures going strong and train Sasser and Jeremy up so they can be on our level in the Fall when I get back. To everyone else studying abroad I can't wait to get together and hear all about London, France, Kenya, Europe, Honduras, and everywhere else!

As for all the Huntsvegas amigos, I will definitely see you all very soon. Suzanne, even though the movie was a good balance, the whole Predestination vs Total Free Will was not what were were all expecting! We'll try again when I get back!

Kelly and Anne, keep the mountain fun and don't play with the children at the park again, kinda creepy. Matt and Connor, I really appreciate yall moving all my stuff into the house while I'm gone, you can both expect pet monkeys from Peru in thanks.

Hold down the 256 and all it's glory while I'm gone! I will see you all in three months, I appreciate all your prayers! If you want to contact me, this is the place to do it. Just comment below and I'll respond! Hasta luego, hasta agosto amigos!

Boxes and Bags

I'm back in the glorious land of Huntsville, Alabama. After six finals, four hours of packing, unpacking, and repacking, Sophomore year ended and I am officially through with the first half of my college career at the wonderful Auburn University.

Packing up for this summer was quite strange as I only brought one bag and my backpack back to Huntsville, the rest stay in Auburn. The one bag I brought to Huntsville is full of ONLY clothes I will be wearing in Perú.

Needless to say these next thirteen days could not be going by any slower. Huntsville is the same as always, beautiful green mountain trails, delicious queso at Little Rosies, and my favorite hymns at Southwood.

It's because of this each day my desire for Lima grows ever the stronger. The subtle and routine lifestyle of Huntsville is good when you are married and raising a family, but for now in my life I absolutely crave adventures, new places, faces, languages, challenges, food, I crave Perú. When I think about things I know I am going to miss and will complain to all of you who read this about after a few weeks time in Lima are as follows:

1. Family and Friends

2. Familiarity

3. Auburn and Huntsville

I find myself in a contradiction because these things are some of the exact reasons I am so excited to be in Peru. The one thing that I know will hold true, remain faithful, and ALWAYS will do so is God. In retrospect, the first half of my college career I have gained many things, and lost almost all of them as well.

Only God remains. The same is true when viewing my first twenty years on this earth in retrospect. God IS faithful, always. So as I pack up again in a mere thirteen days from now a few clothes, my camera and computer, and two journals and a Bible, I know no matter what I plan, what I box up for a purpose, the only thing that will bring me any joy in Auburn, Huntsville, or Lima will forever be my Lord.

Be encouraged, friend, that God knows what he is doing! He knows what is ahead of us, in this we take joy.