A Request

Please pray for our family in the days ahead.  As most of you know, we have been praying for provision and guidance.  God has not opened a door here in Peru yet, although we are still praying.  So today Junior traveled up to the United States.  He is headed back to Oregon to talk to his former employer about getting his job back.  We ask that the Lord will be the one guiding us.  If he has plans for us back in Oregon, then we pray that he opens the doors there for work.  If he has other plans, then we pray that he will close the doors there.  Thank you for joining with us in prayer.  We will be sure to keep you posted. 

Diego

This past week Diego celebrated his 10th birthday.  We are very proud of him and pray that God will continue to bless him.  We had a special birthday party for him with his friends from AWANA (a Bible club). 

Diego at 10

He likes soccer.

The cake was yummy!

 

 

Everyone was very hot after an exciting game of soccer

Time Takers

Dear loyal blog readers, if there are any of you left, I apologize for the long absence.  Normally the first half of the year goes by slowly for me, but this year I have barely blinked and already it is the middle of March.  Wow!  I guess I haven't been writing for awhile because I have lacked inspiration.  I need some sort of a schedule or series to keep me writing, but I have yet to find something that works for me.  I am going to make an effort to write a bit more regularly.  I'll try!  I have decided to do a short series on our life here in Peru. 

When I wonder where the time goes, I look back at my day and feel as if I haven't accomplished much.  I usually manage to feed the family, do the laundry and finish homeschooling for the day.  But that is about all I can get done.  Part of that, I have decided, is that some things just take longer to do here in Peru.  So that is what my series will focus on.  Little things that I have to do each day (or almost every day), that I didn't have to do in the United States.  The little chores that take up a few minutes here, or a few second there, but all added together help fill up my day.  I'll call them "Time Takers." 

So my first time taker will deal with laundry.  Why not start with the dirty laundry, right?  :-)  We have a small patio here where we have our washing machine and 3 short clothes lines.  I feel blessed that the Lord provided us with a washer, because there are sooo many people here in Peru that have to wash their clothes by hand.  Talk about taking a lot of time!  Truly I am so thankful to have a washing machine.  So that isn't a problem, but what I don't have is a dryer.  Here in Peru, not many people do have dryers.  The weather is pretty warm most of the year, and clothes can easily air dry.  Most people have clothes lines on the roof of their house or in a patio (like us).  Since I have only 3 short lines, I have to do laundry every single day in order for it to fit.  In the US I used to do 5 or 6 loads of laundry all in one day, and I could get it all done.  Here, however, I only have room to hang and dry one load per day, and even at that I have to be pretty creative with my use of clothesline space. Although hanging clothes on the line is a job that I enjoy, it definitely takes more time than throwing a load of laundry in the dryer.  But I enjoy it because I feel that at least in some tiny way I am doing my bit to save energy, save the planet, save money, etc., etc. 

Our patio - where we do laundry, store bikes, hang up clothes,
and whatever else we need to use it for.

So it isn't much, but that is my first post of the Time Takers series - hanging my laundry on the clothesline. 

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

Eph. 5:15-17 (ESV)

May we all use our time wisely.

Christmas at our house - by Alexis

Christmas is my favorite time of year because we celebrate God's gift to us: Jesus. Whenever I look at the tree or hear one of my favorite Christmas carols, a tingling feeling of joy and happiness comes over me.  Here are a few pictures I took of our decorations.  I hope you like them!



MMMMMM....spritz!

Beautiful ornament

 

BIG tree

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in July

OK, I know it isn't really July, but that is what Christmas here in the southern hemisphere feels like.   The seasons are the opposite from those in the US.  We are definitely not walking in a Winter Wonderland, or Dashing through the snow.  We are just entering summer and the temperature is rising. So it feels like Christmas in July. It has been so nice lately, that we decided to take a trip to the beach.  The day turned out a bit cloudy, but it was still warm enough to enjoy the surf and the sand.  As you can see, the kids had a great time. 




Merry Christmas from Peru

Although we miss the snow, sledding on Mt. Hood, and sipping hot cocoa in front of the fireplace, we can't complain about being able to go to the beach two weeks before Christmas. 

Corcona Church Anniversary

About a month ago, the church up in Corcona that we work with celebrated an anniversary.  They had a special church service for  the occassion, with lots of singing, preaching, testimonies, and even a skit performed by the children of the church.  Afterwards, we celebrated with a big lunch.  It was a fun time, and we were glad to be able to share in the festivities with them.  I wanted to show you all a bit of what it is like to be in a church service here, so I shot a short video.  I must tell you that I am obviously no professional.  This is the first video I have ever made.  I apologize for the wiggly shots, but I just wanted to try something a little different.  My sister posts a video every month on her blog, so she inspired me to give it a try.  I hope this gives you a feel for what the churches are like here where we are working.
 


Corcona from Kristen Vega on Vimeo.

Back to School

Most people started back to school several weeks ago.  We weren't able to.  For the last few weeks we have been busy trying to get our school books out of customs so that we could begin the school year.  We ordered our books and had them shipped here from the US, but due to a variety of complications we couldn't get them out of customs.  The most unique of the problems we encountered was that you can't import maps of Peru into the country without special government permission.  That is a rule that I knew nothing about.  So while we ran around town trying to get the necessary documents, and making phone calls, the days ticked by. 

We had hoped to start school about the same time as people in the US, so we were extremely discouraged by not being able to get our books.  The red tape they were requiring of us and the inefficiency of the system was so frustrating.  I couldn't understand why God was letting this happen.  What could possible be the point of having our books held up in customs for 3 weeks?  Who benefits from that?  As I talked to others, however, I realized that my problems, as frustrating as they are, really are trivial.  The world will not end if we start school a few weeks after everyone else.   Things don't always have to go according to my schedule.   Life will go on, and we will survive.  Here in Peru, they have a much more laid back approach to schedules and time lines.  Things will happen when they happen.  For example, one of the major roadways (I hesitate to call it a highway) from Lima to the interior of the country is closed for renovation.  It has been closed for a year, and in the meantime, the traffic is detoured through side streets and residential neighborhoods.  In America, no one would have approved this slow construction time or this inconvenience to traffic and residents alike.  But what can people here do?  There really isn't much to be done, but just to live through it.  As an American, I feel like I should have certain rights.  I have the right to good customer service, efficiency, being treated with respect, a certain degree of convenience.  But in the rest of the world, things don't always work that way.  Things don't always go the way you think they should.  I'm not saying that we should all just kick back and let life go by as it will.  But it just serves to remind me that even when I can't control the situation, there is someone who is in control.  There is a master schedule for all of our lives, and while things may frustrate us, "set us back", or detour us from what we had planned, in the end we have the assurance of knowing that none of it is happening by chance.  We know that there is a God who loves us and is ordering our lives.  He has our best in mind.  So we can rest in him, wait on him, and let him fight our battles.  Sometimes we just have to accept what He gives us, even though it isn't what we would have asked for. 

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."  Pr. 16:9

I praise the Lord because he sees the bigger picture, and he knows the end of the story.  I know that I can trust in him in all things.  God is good ALL the time.

Well, this story does have a happy ending.  Last week we finally went down to customs ourselves and did all of the paperwork in one day.  Thanks to the Lord we got our books and this week we started back to school.

Celebrating "Box Day".  Thank you Lord for
helping us get our school books

Diego is happy to be in fourth grade and also enjoys playing soccer.

Lucas is starting second grade and just lost his front tooth.

Joshua is very excited to finally be in Kindergarten.

Jonathan is two and loves playing with his tiger.

Alexis is in sixth grade and now has a heavier workload.