One of the Perks

I have a really cool "job" if you will. That is, I get to share the love of Jesus Christ with people who do not know him personally. Because of the generous mission offerings given by Southern Baptist Churches, I actually get paid to do what Jesus commanded each of his followers to do.

There are many positive things about my "job." However, I am experiencing one of my favorite perks this week. I have the privilege of working with a group of volunteers from Idaho for 5 days. They have been here for 3 days already and we have seen the Lord do great things through the team.

My favorite part is watching how the Lord changes and molds the hearts of volunteers during their mission trip. He especially has been impacting the lives of a few of the members of the group this week. He has called them out of their comfort zones and they have responded in faith. One overcame the fear of travelling on a very steep and narrow road (which actually brought her to tears) to be blessed by the many children and mothers that were waiting for us at the top. She said that God was really stretching her this week, but in a good way. Sometimes the road is tough but it always seems to be rewarding when we travel it by the Lord's side.

This group has experienced several "firsts" during their time in Chavín. Obviously, they have had many new experiences, but I'm referring to a different kind of "first." They are the first volunteer group (as far as I know) to travel up the scary road and minister in Rúntu. They are the first group to hear the Quechua ladies in one of our Bible Studies pray out loud from their hearts instead of recite a memorized prayer (one even prayed in Quechua). Tomorrow, they will be the first group allowed to teach English and share the Gospel in the elementary school in San Marcos. God has really allowed this great group of volunteers to take part in some amazing things. I'm thankful I have been able to share these experiences with them.

Jordan's Birthday (Chavín Style)

Jordan turned 10 yesterday!!! We loaded up the truck and headed out to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. We pulled out of the driveway, passed 2 donkeys, a small flock of dirty sheep, and ran over a few cow patties before we realized that the closest thing to Chuck E was probably the mouse crawling around in the attic. (Obviously that was made up, except for maybe the mouse part)

Actually, today we had a little Chavín style celebration. Well, more like our style (which just happened to take place in Chavín). Jenn made 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes with chocolate icing and candy sprinkles. Jordan told a bunch of the neighborhood kids to come over to play and eat 'queques'. Jenn was a little worried that the cupcakes didn't turn out perfect; but they wolfed those babies down in no time.

The best part was I asked the kids to sing "Felíz Cumpleaños" for Jordan. I counted to 3 and they all began mumbling in a sing-song voice "hoppy bearfday to you, hoppy bearfday to you..." I about cracked up. These little guys were all trying to sing the song in English. Not exactly what I had in mind. When it all started going horribly wrong they just cracked up laughing. Finally, I was able to get them to sing in Spanish. We finished off the party with some full court basketball and some good laughs.

Happy Birthday buddy!!! I love you.
PS- We'll get your presents when we get to Lima!!!!

Riding Bikes

A few times a week Jordan, Trevor and I go riding our bikes around town. There are several interesting aspects to our rides. It's not everyday that 1 gringo and 2 little gringos pass by on bicycles in Chavin. We get a lot of looks and the boys get a lot of comments like "Oh, how cute!"

These short journeys allow us to see new areas of town and the surrounding communities. Another benefit is that we have met many people on our treks that we wouldn't have met otherwise. I usually end up stopping to talk to people while the boys practice bike tricks in the background.

The boys really look forward to our rides and ask me to go just about everyday. Truth is I enjoy our time together as much as, if not more, than they do. I told them on our last long ride how cool it was to go exploring with them. During that ride Jordan decided to name us "The Roadrunners."

Everytime we have to ride up a hill Trevor asks me if they make kid bikes with gears. They're a little jealous that I can change gears and climb (ever so slightly) easier. But we're not too proud to walk our bike up the hill if it's too steep. I told them they're going to have huge leg muscles if we keep it up. Jordan said, "Yeah, and huge lungs too."