Monkey Business

So the other night we had a little visitor…an uninvited one. Elisa was downstairs hanging out with my while I was cooking and I hear “Es un mono?” (It’s a monkey?) Sure enough, I look out the window and see a monkey scaling the house. I was so excited I grabbed my camera and ran out the door to see it…leaving the door wide open. Open doors are apparently invitations to monkeys because it promptly tried to enter the house (those things move fast). Luckily we shut the door in time and yelled up to the girls upstairs to check it out. The money scaled the walls once again and headed to the second story just as Wendy opened to door to see what we were yelling about—she quickly went back in (because again, the monkey tried to get inside) and checked it out from the window. It also climbed up the bars on the window and tried to get in that way (*note* our bars are not monkey proof…thankfully we have glass to shut). A very curious monkey we had on our hands. After a while it came back down and began to check out the church. I had to run in front of it and shut the church door before it got in which the monkey did not like and began to push against my legs to get in…I screamed but did not give in. I would like to say I stopped the little rascal from getting in but it just went up to the window and got in that way. I was worried that it would start playing with the sound system or something but it didn’t seem too interested. I should end this by saying there is a “zoo” down the street from us from which the monkey escaped so this was no ‘fresh out of the jungle’ monkey, but a monkey just the same. A little excitement for the evening was fun…but I am not hoping to see it again anytime soon!

I thought I would through this picture in…this was hanging out in the pond/swamp/gross water that is right next to our house…so we sometimes have nice, pretty animals visit us too:)

4 years!

Tyson and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary a couple weeks ago. Sometimes it is hard for me to believe we have been married 4 years already. But then I think back to all that we have experienced together and it seems crazy it has fit into only 4 little years:) This past year has been packed full of its own joys and challenges. We have packed up our lives and moved to Peru, lived in three separate cities within Peru (which means we have set up and tried to establish “home” three different times), we have learned (and continue to learn) a new language and culture, faced the challenges of raising a 2-year-old (anyone hear me on that one), we have walked with our team through victories and disappointments, had our own victories and disappointments, learned again and again that the Lord is mighty and great and bigger then our circumstances and have watched him work in the lives of his people.

We have also faced the challenge of learning how to work together as husband and wife in every area of our lives. This has been one of my biggest challenges and biggest joys this past year. We went from a united couple who had our own jobs and ministries, to being a couple fully united and engaged in every area of life—marriage, family, ministry and the responsibilities that go with that. The first few months for me were such a challenge to learn to work together, how to honor and compliment Tyson in all areas, and how to separate family life from ministry life once in a while. I cannot say I have figured it out, but, I am now seeing the fruits of our time and work together in regards to our relationship. I feel closer to my husband now more than ever, I appreciate him and understand him better more and more each day. I have learned he has amazing instincts; his heart is even bigger than I thought; and his honesty is more often than not, just what I need. I love him now more than ever and my loves grows more and more each day. I know the Lord has grown the roots of our relationship deeper in Him and has prepared us to face all that this next year will bring.

This past month has been the hardest for me yet in Peru. I have not struggled much with culture shock until now (a little delayed, yes) and this, along with a mix of other things have caused me to fall back more in the arms of my husband, knowing with assurance that the strength and love he gives me comes from our Lord. I have a loving, faithful, God-fearing husband and we serve a faithful God. The Lord’s faithfulness has been so evident throughout our entire marriage but this past year He has showered us with blessings, answers to prayer and love beyond what I had imagined. Thank you to all who have partnered with us through prayer and support, each of you are examples to His faithfulness to us. Today I ask for your continued prayers—for our ministry but also for our marriage, not because we are struggling, but because we don’t want to wait until we are to ask:) Please pray that we continued to be united, to encourage and lift each other up. Pray that our marriage could be an example of a loving, godly marriage to our team, church and neighbors, and that it would honor our Lord in all circumstances. Four years ago this verse was printed on our program “He is before all things and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17. Those words continue to ring true for us as we have seen the evidence of his going before us, and as we have felt his arms around us and our team, holding us together. We are privileged to serve such a great and loving God!

Christmas in Peru

We had our first Christmas in Peru! Here in Peru when you ask what special foods or traditions they have the immediate answer is -- paneton y chocolate! That is, fruit cake and hot chocolate. They love it and only have it once a year. So, our teams gave out paneton & hot chocolate in their communities and it was a great time!

Ana & Olivia in 7 de Junio

Carmen with a group of their kids in Enace. Callie couldn't be there since she is at home with her family but all the kids asked for her and she sure was missed!

Here in Peru they also celebrate Christmas at midnight on Christmas Eve. They eat a huge dinner at midnight, open presents, let off fire works and go out into the streets to wish friends and neighbors a Feliz Navidad. We were planning on celebrating Peruvian style but because Daniel and Andrew wouldn't be home until Christmas morning we decided to wait for them. We did go to the Christmas Eve service where we watched an adorable Christmas play. Then we stayed up to midnight playing games and drinking hot chocolate. At midnight we watched all the fireworks from our balcony. The next morning we all slept in---well, I didn't. I really wanted to have Boppa's famous cinnamon rolls for breakfast so I woke up early to make them--totally worth they lack of sleep:) We make stockings for our team and opened them up when the boys got home. We had a lazy, relaxing Christmas and had a big turkey dinner (with paneton & hot chocolate). It was hard for all of us to be away from family for Christmas but I felt blessed to be able to celebrate with our new family here!

Smith Family Visit

We were beyond blessed to have our family here for a couple weeks in December. It was refreshing to spend time with family and to watch Kai adore his grandparents and auntie! It was also so wonderful to have them experience a bit of what life is like for us--the frustrations and joys we experience every day here! While they were here went on a trip into the jungle and did a canopy walk and a boat ride on Lake Sandoval. We were also able to spend a few days with them in Cusco and saw some of the sights there including Machu Picchu! To see lots more pictures and here some more details check here. Time with family is so precious to those of us so far from home. Thank you Boppa, Pa and Auntie Taryn for coming to see us--we love you all very much!

Challenging Times...Please Pray

Again, for all of those who are checking this blog, please pray for our team. We are really feeling like Satan is trying very hard to disrupt what we are doing here. Along with various forms of sickness and other issues. Two days ago one of girls visited the doctor for a vision problem and was abused by the doctor. She is fine and okay but she will be taking time off . Please pray for us as we have to deal with this situation and pray for our team as we are all away from family during the holidays. Thanks, The Smiths

Happy Thanksgiving!

We were excited for the chance to share our Thanksgiving tradition with our Peruvian family. Monday we celebrated Thanksgiving a few days late because not everyone was here on Thursday. The girls and I had fun staying up late the night before preparing some of the food. Although we missed being home with our family, it was to be women in the kitchen together, carrying on the traditions of our family. Olivia made her grandma’s rolls and Wendy made the stuffing (typically her dad’s job). Callie and I made the biggest pumpkin pie I have ever seen—thank you Church on the Hill for sending down canned pumpkin for us, it was delicious! Although we couldn’t find a turkey, Tyson cooked 2 big chickens and they were so yummy I didn’t even care it wasn’t turkey. It was fun to figure out how we could make all our traditional dishes using the ingredients of Peru (other than the canned pumpkin;). Pastor Freddy and his family joined us as well and we had a great time giving thanks to God for all He has blessed us with.

After the Thanksgiving festivities had died down Tyson and I brought up our surprise for the team…a Christmas tree, lights and a few decorations. We know that the Christmas season will be very different this year for everyone and we want to make it feel as much like home as we can. They were all very excited and had fun decorating. My favorite part was when Andrew brought out his John Deer tractor ornament his mom had brought down for him and hung it on the tree...a little piece of home;)

I have so much to be thankful for and could go on and on. I have such an amazing, faithful, God-fearing husband who I am blessed to have as my partner in life, parenting and ministry. A little boy who is healthy, creative, smart, funny, energetic and brings so much joy to my life. I have 8 bonus members of my family in the 40/40s and I thank the Lord for each one of them. We have amazing family back home who have loved and supported us unselfishly. I am thankful beyond words to each one of you back home who are supporting us in prayer and finances. I can’t express how much a part of this you are, your generosity allows us to be here in this ministry and your prayers carry us through. God bless you all and we give thanks for you!

November

This last month has gone by so fast. I apologize for the lack of posting lately. Things have been so busy and we don’t have internet at the house so you really have to carve out time to get anything done. I will try to do a little overview of November.

The 40/40s are out working in their communities. Each pair has three church plants they are doing over the next 18 months. The girls are working in all three of theirs right now, except Callie & Carmen who have a 3rd one aways outside of the city so they will start that one in a few months. Every weekend this month we have been in a different community doing a Jesus film showing on Friday night followed by a Kids’ Festival on Saturday.

There has been a great response and has provided a lot of contacts for the pairs to follow up with. Throughout the week they are evangelizing, visiting people in their homes and disciplining. Andrew & Daniel are out in their communities all week long and we only see them on Mondays for their day off. They have families they stay with while they are out there and have two different communities they are working with. They are doing evangelism, discipling and put on the services that happen in these areas. Please keep each of our pairs in prayer—Andrew & Daniel, Olivia & Ana, Wendy & Elisa and Callie & Carmen. Please pray for the Lord to continue to open doors for them to share God’s love with people. Pray for strength and energy for everyone. Pray for protection for all, especially Andrew & Daniel who are far from the rest of us.

Tyson and I have been trying to take care of all the details so the team can focus on their ministry and trying to get our own home settled a bit. We have been running around getting items for the two houses, fixing and finishing things that need to be done…all part of moving into a new home, shopping for the team, and searching for a cook. We finally found someone to cook lunches who started this week. I have been teaching the pre-schoolers Sunday School with Wendy and Tyson helping with worship.

We have had a few issues with water. The second Sunday we were here there was a huge rain storm and there were not yet gutters on the church. That means the rain that came off the church roof aimed directly into our windows. Kai woke up from his nap screaming “Mom, it’s raining in my bed.” And boy was it, there was a waterfall coming in and his room had about 2 inches of water in it and the laundry room was the same. It took me the rest of the night to mop of all that water and a couple weeks for it to dry out. The drying out is an issue that brings mold along with it. I have cleaned up a lot of mold and it is just have fans going constantly to try to keep things dry. The next Sunday night and all day Monday it rained and we soon found we were surrounded by a lake. By Monday evening we could not flush our toilet because it would come up from our shower drain. Apparently the water was so high it caused issues with the septic. There was no quick fix for this and we had to just wait for the water to go down…for 5 days. There was also a ton of water between our house and the wall which was a great home for frogs, I guess, because there about a zillion outside our window and they kept coming in the house. Kai of course, loved this, but it wasn’t my favorite. Please don’t think I’m complaining, I really just want to remember these memories so I am writing them down...looking back it is fun to see all that we have experienced in our new home in a month;) We know that there is much more rain coming in the next few months so Tyson has been on the phone, talking to neighbors and down at the city office trying to come up with a solution they last 3 weeks. Today he got someone from the city to come out and look at it (which is a huge feat in itself here in Peru) and they are planning to bring in dirt to fill in the pond surrounding us and then they will begin to put in a ditch to move the water elsewhere.

Well, there is much more to tell I am sure but this has already gotten long. We are settling well and excited to be here and be a part of all that God is doing in Puerto Maldonado! I should also add that Kai is loving life here and has transitioned without missing a step…you can check out what he has been up to on his blog here. We are looking forward to the Christmas season and celebrating here with our Peruvian friends and family. We are really looking forward to Tyson’s family coming to visit us for a couple weeks…they get here next week! Thank you all for your prayers and we will keep you updated more often from now on!

Prayers!

Here are a few of our prayer requests as of late...please be praying for our pairs as now that we have hit the ground running, it is easy to lose sight of teamwork and focus on the task. Pray for strengthened understanding for each person. That they would understand their partners needs for all our 40-40s. Please be praying for those that have decided to give their lives to Christ here in Puerto, that they would continue to seek Christ and have a desire to learn more. (We have had roughly 12 people meet the Lord up to this point). 4 of our communities have designated a location for holding weekly meetings, pray that each location would work out perfectly and that we would be able to find locations to meet for the other 8 communities. Please pray for our family, as we have been going straight since we got off the airplane and we need a break. Please pray that we would find rest in the Lord and time to relax. Thank you all for your prayers!!!

Update

Just thought I would give a quick update. It has been a week since the short term group left and it has been a whirlwind. We have pretty well gotten the 40/40 house furnished and comfortable for living which was our priority. Our house is still lacking furniture but it we should be better settled next week (I am hoping:). The 40/40s have been visiting their communities and meeting new people and there have already been decisions for Christ! Daniel & Andrew left yesterday for their community which is quite a ways away. Please pray for safety and logistics for them. They left having a vague idea of what to expect but fully willing to go for it. They will stay up there until Sunday or Monday and then come back and this will happen each week. We are looking to hire someone to help shop and cook for the 40/40s so please be praying we can find someone good and trustworthy. Currently everyone is pitching in on cooking and I am learning the art of shopping at the market...I bought my first chicken at the market (and promptly asked them to cut off the head & feet:)! Kai is adjusting well and actually loving life at our house. There is still construction going on for the church so he is in a little boys paradise...equipment and a huge pile of sand to play in...he is constantly dirty but beyond happy:) Tyson and my main focus right now is to get everything settled for the 40/40s and make sure they have what they need. I will also be teaching the 0-5 year old Sunday School and Tyson will be helping with worship. Well, there is a little update...there will be more to come but just wanted to let you know we are settling in but could sure use your prayers through this process. Thanks and God Bless!

Thank you, thank you, thank you

I really don't know what to say except "thank you" a million times. The short term group of missionaries who built our home and kick started ministry in Puerto left last week. We were beyond blessed to have 9 friends from our church back home down for the trip. They worked so hard...seriously, really hard, in ridiculous heat every day getting our house finished. And can I just say, wow, amazing...the house is wonderful and beyond anything I expected. Here are some pics of them working...mostly doing tile...our house is filled with tile...so much work! My camera battery was dead and I couldn't find the charger so I am using pictures from the Moens' camera. All that to say I am missing a picture of Debbie who most likely took these (and grouted tile for days) and of Jan who was working with the Impact group.

This is where the house was at when they arrived...

And when they left after 10 short days...It really meant so much to have this group here. To see them working so hard to complete our house, to see them experiencing Puerto and the people here. Over 300 people accepted Christ during their time here...amazing! It was not just getting to see friends (which in itself was a treasure) but they were here as we started our ministry here and it was so incredibly special. On top of building our home and serving our community they also brought us a ton of stuff to start out. Thank you to everyone at Church on the Hill for blessing us beyond, beyond what we could have imagined. Our kitchen is stocked with things we have been missing from home (brown sugar, baking soda, spices, etc), we have utensils, measuring cups, tupperware, towels for our kitchen, toys for Kai, supplies for ministry, I could go on and on. Shoes for Kai...not used shoes like I asked for, but brand new ones (he walked around proudly showing everyone his new shoes by the way). Oh and on top of all that (of which I am leaving out a ton) they brought us an a portable air conditioner! I know! Amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Really, we are so incredibly thankful and blessed by you all!

Beyond our group from Church on the Hill there were a ton of other people who worked so hard during their time here. It was wonderful to meet everyone and get a chance to work along side them. Thank you to all who poured their hearts into this project. Thank you to those back in the US who prayed, sent items and supported those who came. God bless you all and come visit again soon:) We love you!