Well, estoy aqui! I'm here! My plane ride went well and I arrived in Lima around midnight monday night. I was met at the airport by 4 missionaries with World Reach (I just instinctively typed Campus Outreach... hah.. maybe thats not funny to you but it was to me. While I'm on this tangent I'm just going to go ahead and say that I have actually accidentally spoken in Thai while I've been here. Geez, I can't get the languages right wherever I go! My english is already messing up too.) Okay back on track. I was met at the airport and taken back to the compound which is about 45 minutes from the airport. Even though it was nighttime, the drive was pretty. We drove by the coast. I'm hoping I get a chance to go see the beach in the daytime sometime while I'm here.
Yesterday, I learned my way around the compound, and enjoyed hearing kids laughing, shouting and talking during school hours :) I am so excited to be around kids for the five weeks I am here! The compound is very nice. Mrs. Eva Barrientos described it as a little piece of heaven. Indeed, it is, both spiritually and physically! Green grass, nicely maintained buildings... It is so nice!
Today, I went to the school and helped out/sat in on k-3 and k-4 classes. The kids are precious. I was also introduced to all the other classrooms in the school. They have k-3 through 5th grade here. There is an average of probably about 18 or so kids in each class. I think I'm going to be working with the k-3 and k-4 classes most of the time while I'm here... possibly every day. I'm really looking forward to that.
I also met with the director of the church's children's ministry. We talked about that ministry, which I also will be spending lots of time with. It sounds similar to a good news club. They have various locations in the surrounding area. She told me that I will be sharing the gospel with the new kids that come to the club! I have no quarrel with that idea.
I'm really looking forward to spending lots of time with these kids. In addition to the kids ministry, the school, and stuff at church, I'm also hoping to work some with the pre-natal care clinic here on compound and also possibly teach soccer to school girls during PE.
I think I will be "doing" more here in Peru than in Thailand, but I pray that I will still be able to observe just as much as I did in Thailand! I pray that I won't hyper-focus (which is my tendency) and forget to keep observing and taking in what God is doing around me ( and in me!)
Thank you for prayers! I'll put up some pictures soon.
PS- My spanish is definitely useful but I decided sometimes it is more frustrating when I know the language but don't know how to say something then when I don't know how to speak the language at all. Argh grammar...
