Update 1 of Many

Confucius says, "The fool who doesn't update his blog for 2 whole months will have a lot of catching up to do!" Actually I can't prove whether he actually said that or not but the wisdom is still true. Since I am that fool, I decided to play catch up over the course of the next week or so. My plan is to write a short entry about different topics relating to our life in Peru. Hopefully that way I can inform you a little at a time without writing a super long entry that I myself probably won't even read.

I'm not sure in what order I'll address these topics but I'll cover the Quechua culture, daily life in Chavin, the people, difficulties/ struggles we've had, victories we've had, culture shock, ministry, Jordan and Trevor's adjustment, funny stuff, random stuff, diarrhea (oh...wait, thankfully we don't have much to say about that one yet), etc. Anyway, you get the idea. If I was type-A, I would give you a schedule of the order I would be blogging these topics. Actually, if I was type-A there wouldn't be a 2 month lapse in blogging thus requiring a catch-up calendar. But praise the Lord I'm not type-A because man that just doesn't sound nearly as fun!!!!

Now THAT'S a Tea Party

I know I'm basically a 7th grader trapped in a 35 year old body, but come on- Who doesn't think this is funny?

Up, Up and Away

We've been cleared for take-off. My leg finally responded to the medicine and now it is healing nicely. All the gross blisters have dried up and the swelling is gone. Thank you for your prayers.

Our plan is to leave Lima on Sunday morning. We will drive about 7 hours North to Huaráz, where we will spend the night. We will take some time on Monday to learn the city because we will travel there often for supplies, groceries, etc. It has a population of about 100,000 people, compared to our town of about 2,000.

Monday afternoon we will travel to Chavín (our hometown) where we will meet up with a team of volunteers from Liberty University. They will be working in the villages around Chavín for about 10 days. At the same time, another missionary couple will be working on remodeling/ making our house liveable. We will be needed in both instances. Therein lies the problem. Ideally, we would have a chance to know a little bit about the community, know where the store is, meet some people, help our kids start adjusting to rural living BEFORE we got committed to so many things at once. BUT the Lord saw otherwise. So please be praying for us and especially Jordan and Trevor that they don't feel overlooked in such a huge life transition.

Hurry up and wait!

Just a quick update on the leg issue. It is getting slightly better but still has some yummy, juicy blisters around the ankle. Today the doctor said continue the course of treatment and we'd talk again on Monday. Thanks for your prayers, I am seeing some signs of improvement.

We were able to pass our online driver's license exams on the first try (which is virtually unheard of based on stories we've heard). Jenn studied pretty well and you know me, I looked over some stuff and prayed that the Lord would be gracious. He was and it came down to my final question: get it right and pass, get it wrong and take that 10 hour drive back to Lima to take the test again. THANK YOU LORD FOR YOUR UNDESERVING MERCY!!!!!!! For some reason the Lord said YES to that prayer and now we can drive legally in Perú. Now we just have to learn how to drive in a wild city where it is totally acceptable to make a left hand turn from the far right lane. Now ask yourself, "Why wouldn't that be normal?"

Oh yeah, we also have to learn how to hug the side of the mountain as we drive up over 15,000 feet to get to our new home. YIKES!!! Can you say, Scary? The missionary who is helping us get settled in has told me about the necessary things every vehicle in the mountains should have. For example, a shovel, a pick axe, blankets, water, tow chains, etc. My man should have included some clean underwear in that list cause I'm gonna be wetting my pants when I have to pass a big truck on a narrow dirt road hanging off the side of the flippin' Andes Mountains!!! I'm just sayin'!

The Latest...Finally!!!

After a 2 month 'siesta' I thought I would share the latest information related to the Pennington family. We finished out our year of language study in Costa Rica and graduated on April 24. Interestingly enough, I thought it would be funny to jack my ankle all up so I could walk with crutches for our final week in Costa Rica. So, on the 21st I rolled my ankle playing basketball.
On the 25th we flew to Lima, Peru (crutches and all). We were supposed to stay in Lima for a few days in order to get a ton of paperwork completed BUT.... I thought it would be funny if that ankle got some kind of jungle-rot/cellulitis/watery-blister infection/allergic reaction that would slowly convert into a giant CANKLE!! Since I was succesful in accomplishing my task, we have been in Lima for 11 days and counting. I have another appointment on Wed, May 6th so feel free to pray for me and that the doctors will figure this thing out.
It's fun to be a missionary!!!
At some point in the near future we will be moving to Chavín de Huántar located at about 10,500 feet altitude in the Andes. We are looking forward to the big change to rural life and are curious to see what God has in store.

Official Business

Well, it's official! Today we became residents of Peru. We're still in Costa Rica but we finally jumped through enough hoops in the application process that the Peruvian Embassy stamped our passports with a "Resident Visa" mark. We are entering on a religious non-catholic visa. It was actually fairly easy but dealing with government offices is always a time-consuming pain in the tracero. When we left the embassy, it was a little surreal. I felt like a little kid getting excited about Christmas or something. I've felt called to Peru since I was in college and it was cool to look in my passport and see God's stamp of approval on that call.

I have a really cool opportunity to work with a volunteer mission team coming in from Tennessee tomorrow (March 7-12). They will be passing out the gospel of John in homes and telling people about the sacrifice Jesus made for them on the cross. I will be working with the team as a translator. I will have many opportunities to share with and pray for people. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would give me the right words so I will be an effective and useful vessel.

Also pray for Jenn and the boys. They won't be going on the trip with me. Pray for their safety, sanity (for Jenn), that Jordan and Trevor will get along with each other, and that they'll help Jenn out during the week.

Faith and Flexibility

We just got an email forwarded to us that said our soon-to-be-mentor in Peru is resigning in order to move back to Alabama. We already knew very little (as in NOTHING) about our job assignment in Peru, now we know even less!!! Wait, technically that is impossible. But you get the point I think.

Thankfully, God has created us to be 2 of the most flexible and laid-back people that I know. This will obviously come in very handy on the mission field. Clearly God has a plan for us when we get to Peru. We just don't have a clue as to what it might be. Pray that the Lord will help us trust Him and His will for our lives even when we can't see one step in front of us.