Released

I don't know the details, but I heard in devotions today that the Korean boy kidnapped the other week was released yesterday!  Praise the Lord!!

Huaraz

A couple weeks ago we had a four day weekend so nine of my coworkers and I took advantage of the opportunity to travel a bit.  We went to a town in the Andean foothills called, Huaraz.  The town is at about 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) and takes about a ten hour bus ride from Lima to get there, which we did through the night.  The busses are actually quite comfortable with reclining seats that are about as cushy as a first or business class airplane seat. 

My roommates, Megan and Debbie, on the bus. (pic from Megan)

Once there, we spent the first day getting situated in the hostel, being lazy, adjusting to the altitude (Lima is basically at sea level), and scouting out what might be fun to do over the next couple days.  I had some fun buying a couple knit hats and trying to get some thread for some mending I needed to do to a pair of my pants.  The thread shop had a live owl hanging out in the corner of the shop.  Surprised the heck out of me when it moved!  While exploring the local market I discovered some live chickens sitting in a mesh bag waiting to be made into lunch and dinner, along with some live cuy (guinea pig).  It was fascinating to see some of the frozen limonada stands and I even found an authentic, all the way from Switzerland, “Syngenta” jacket.  I have a friend that works there :)

Fresh meat for your enjoyment :) (pic from Yvonne)

This is a beautiful sight! (pic from Yvonne)

The town cathedral with the hils in the background. (pic from Yvonne)

The second day we took a four hour, bumpy, bus ride from Huaraz to the ancient ruins of the Chavin people.  Supposedly these people used the water of the river from the mountain to create sounds like a puma and whatnot to scare the people, so the priests would have the power.  The priests also ate this cactus flower that acted as a hallucinogen so they could see better in the dark passageways underneath the temple.  Wink wink.  The guide kept trying to tell us the cactus flower wasn’t a drug.  We weren’t convinced, especially after him telling us about the visions they had and so on. 

The plains we had to drive through to get to Chavin. (pic from Megan)

A lake we found along the way to Chavin.  Probably my favorite place of the trip. (pic from Megan)

This was also the day that I went the highest I’ve ever been in the world- 4,500 meters (14,800 feet)!  The second highest I’ve ever been was in Quito at 4,050 meters (13,200 feet) and the third is at the Jungfraujoch at a mere 3,400 meters (11,300 feet).

Us jumping at the highest part of the pass.  We saw Jesus just after this. (pic from Megan)

The last day we had was spent in a bus again, equally as bumpy.  But, we got to go see a gloriously green glacial lake high in the Andes!  It was truly an experience!  We also made an impromptu stop by a lodge that the school might use later in the year and met a very interesting man and his two Norwegian Ridgeback dogs.  He is against society.  The view from his land is breathtaking and an extra special surprise from God.  By the end though, I was ready to never bounce again and was pretty sure some of my insides had been rearranged.  The time and experience I got to share with the other girls was treasured and I am blessed to have those memories.

Taking a moment to reflect. (pic from Megan)

Claire and I enjoying some flat bread made by a mountain woman in a cast iron skillet on a wood fire.  It was delish! (pic from Megan)

One of the most beautiful types of trees I've seen!  The red bark is paper thin and peels from the tree. (pic from Megan)

Anti-society, his two dogs, Amy laughing, and me enjoying his serene hammock. (pic from yvonne)

The surprise breathtaking view.  We all gasped when we got out of the van. (pic from Megan)

Kidnapping Update

I wish I actually had one with news, but I don't.  I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about this boy and ask that you continue to pray for him and the people involved, even those perpetrating the crime.  I will make sure to put up news when I hear some.

Thank you!

Urgent Prayer Request

A Korean student from one of the other International Schools in Lima (Roosevelt) was kidnapped this last Tuesday and is being held for ransom.  He is the son of a wealthy businesswoman here in Lima.  The kidnappers took him while he was on his way to school.

I just heard of this this morning!  I looked for an English version of the story but couldn't find one yet, but here is a Spanish version.

Please pray that the Korean Embassy here in Lima or anyone else would be able to help the family get this boy back.  Please pray that the Lord protects this boy and that He would be everpresent and reveal himself to this boy as his protector.  Please pray that the boy would be safe and the kidnappers would be caught.  Please pray for the family that they would see God's hand working in this situation.

Please also pray for the city and Peru, that the Lord would have his way in the hearts of all the people and that these sorts of things would not happen.

Please pray for the families and staff of the student at Roosevelt and that we as ICSL would be able to reach out and show God's love to them in this trying time.  Please also pray that our families, students, and staff would be safe, as well.

Thank you for joining us and coming before our father with us!

First Grade Class: 2011-2012

Here is a picture of 9 of my 12 students.  The other three are just as crazy :)  The woman in the back row is the First/Second Grade Aid, Rocio.  She's awesome!

 

This year's class has 5 boys and 7 girls.  They represent at least that many countries, if not more- one thing I love about my job!  The two boys in front and the girl in the front right are new to this group and are making themselves quite at home.  The boy in the front row, second from the left only speaks Portuguese and Spanish, which makes it challenging to communicate what he should do, but even more challenging explaining what he did do was wrong and why.

 

We made it through our first full week and let me tell you, I am plum tuckered out!  We ended the week with a lot of tears and I almost joined the kids toward the end.  God and his provision are bigger than our troubles and emotions though, so we all made it through.

 

One struggle I am having with this class is that so much of my time is spent managing behavior, so I don't really get to teach.  I actually like to teach and we have more fun as a group when I get to, but the kids haven't caught on to paying attention and I keep forgetting that some of them are only five.  It took us 20 minutes to move from activities on the floor after lunch to sitting at our seats and paying enough attention that I could start the lesson, which was all the time we had for the lesson.  Needless to say I was quite frustrated and expressed my displeasure.  I felt terrible when L came in from P.E. and asked in the sweetest, most innocent, genuinely curious voice, if I was still 'disappointed' in them.  Man, that puts my frustration in perspective and makes me feel crummy. 

Please keep this in prayer... that I would be able to clearly communicate my expectations and the students would understand why I have them.  That we would all get on the same page so I don't have to manage behavior and we can all have more fun learning.  That my patience would not come from me, but would be abounding in the Lord and that I would LOVE them well inspite of my human self.

 

I truly desire to see each one of them in the beauty of which God created them and the hurts the world has given them, so that I can more deliberately and wholey love them.

 

Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers as I continue in this ministry!

"Summer"

For most of you reading this, it will be summer and the way our school year works here in Lima, I am on my summer break, alas, I am in the Southern Hemisphere, so it is currently winter.  It has been a much milder winter than the one in which I arrived last year this time.  I appreciate this immensely! 

There is no such thing as heating inside any of the buildings here.  Thus, I tend to dress warmer to be indoors-I'm usually moving less- than I do when I am outdoors.   It has rained (I use the term loosely.  It's more like the air gets really wet and misty and standing water just appears on flat surfaces, such as the sidewalk.) more in the last ten days than it has in the last year, which, from what I understand, is pretty unusual. 

This is my fourth winter in a row with a few weeks of summer sprinkled in between.  I hope that next 'summer' I will get to spend a major chunk of it in someplace warm... Holiday anyone?

Blogs

I get a bit intimidated by blogging, so please forgive the lack of them.  I hope this explains it a bit.  Sometimes, I have more things to say than I can remember, but don't know how to confine it to language, especially to language that will make sense :)  and other times I have a desire to communicate, but I just don't know what. 

Then, I read people's update letters and blogs and am blown away by the thoughts and talent of my circle of friend's.  You all are quite eloquent and clever!  I feel like the bar is set high, which I need to get better at realizing I don't have to be as good as or similar to my friends.  I've also felt lately that I've lost my writers voice, a bit. 

Here's to hoping this will be the beginning of me finding it again! 

Ecuador

A couple weeks ago, the staff of ICSL went to the International Christian Educators Conference held at Alliance Academy in Quito, Ecuador.  The school wonderfully blessed us by covering the cost of airfare, registration fee, and supplementing accomodation so that we could all afford to go. 

Our students enjoyed a five day weekend while we spent our time socializing and learning with other teachers from International Christian Schools throughout Central and South America.  While some of the information was just a refresher of what I already knew, a lot of it was new, and all of it gave me things to ponder.  I told my Director that even if I hadn't learned anything, the opportunity to be reminded that we are not the only school doing what we are doing was worth the trip and expense.  How refreshing to be amongst an international body of believers who are like minded in ministry!

So, here are a few pictures from our free day...

Me walking along the Equator.  Surprisingly difficult.  I was shaking :)

I should mention that my eyes were closed and I was trying to walk heel to toe.

Megan, Me, Tim, and Lindsay (w/Little Elmore) at La Mitad Del Mundo!

Striking a pose.

The view of Quito from the top of the Teleferiqo.  It was hard to breathe, but worth the view.

the joy of youtube

Every once in a while I find myself searching youtube for videos or songs to help add to lessons or to gain ideas.  I've found some interesting ones along the way, but this one was particularly amusing.  I'll be using it soon and I'm sure the dated clothing and cheesy ways will go completely over my students' head and they'll learn the lesson on which I'm still working at 27 years old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhweWXu54E4&feature=related

Punta Rocas

A couple days ago, the girls and I went to the beach.  Having a roommate with a car has it's perks!  We went to a place called Punta Rocas.  It was lovely!  There were people around, but it wasn't crowded.  The water was a bit rough, so swimming wasn't really an option, but if you just want to sit by the ocean and relax; this is the place to do it.

This was the traffic we had to sift through in order to get to the beach.  We're only a few blocks from our house at this point.  We quite enjoyed the license plate.  The license plate of the car to the right of us said "sow".

The view from our beach chairs.  God's creation!

Debbie, Jenna, and Megan soaking up some sun and fresh ocean air.

The sun rainbow :)

The lifeguards who had nothing to do since no one was swimming.  They ended up playing a lot of raquetball.

(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_OSVTTWiaDgMia75Y6mSRNH60ad5awPjLrXU3Ydmzp9PjuhrPthyfaUqSGmC0ys7fIjXO0VlYedaQnzMkLrj2FMBEhBMAkHJqbI-6gDAAuEBc6K0DwErBmxFj8ZmTgs7UdazVxWU5Bbhe/s400/cevichemasgrand.JPG)

I also had the opportunity to have my first try of Cerviche with a side of Camote.  Cerviche is raw fish with lots of lime and onion!  I liked the latter two quite a bit, but wasn't too thrilled by the texture of the raw fish, so I have to say I probably won't have it anytime soon.  The Camote (Sweet Potato) on the other hand was fabulous, especially with the flavors of the Cerviche.  This picture shows Choclo (Peruvian Corn), as well, which is one of my favorite snacks in Peru.  I am happy to say that I have not gotten ill from any of the food I've eaten since being back, this included.  Praise the Lord!!!

P.S. Thanks to Megan for sharing these pictures with me.

Back in Lima

After 5 weeks of Christmas holiday back in Basel, I am in Lima again and gearing up for my second semester. It's been a new experience to be here and have all my roommates home and lounging around (reading Us Weekly, editing pictures, and catching up on TV). We rarely lounge, especially for a whole day or days at a time.

A few days ago, Debbie, Megan, and I decided to be somewhat productive by getting out of the house. We went to the pear shaped park a couple blocks from our house to play a game of Bocce Ball. It was a gorgeous day full of sunshine. We had a wonderfully relaxing and entertaining game all through the park, even using the street as an obstacle. The local cops who have a station in the park were in luck that day because we provided them a bit of entertainment :)

All in all a great day in Lima!