On December 14, 2015, the Bonhams loaded up our suitcases and boarded a Mississippi-bound plane for our very first Home Ministry Assignment (HMA).
^ Mississippi bound!
{In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, HMA is a required part of our job as missionaries with MTW… As Long Term / Career missionaries, we return to the US for an extended period once per 4-year term to take care of our state-side missions responsibilities. During this time, we visit our supporters and supporting churches in order to give missions reports and keep them up-to-date with ministry here on the ground. We also work on fundraising to support our ministry here and recruiting new teammates, as well as take care of lots of administrative needs and medical issues before we return to the field to begin our next term.}
To be honest, I was really anxious about our HMA. I was looking forward to seeing family and friends, and I always love opportunities to share about missions with churches and groups, but I still had a hard time getting on that plane. We had finally gotten into a really good groove here in Peru, and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to our routine and the community we had been starting to build. We finally had some momentum both at home and in ministry, and I knew that a 134-day detour in the middle of that would be difficult.
Plus, since it would be our very first HMA, Nate and I weren’t really sure what to expect. But I can definitely say that we were optimists and idealists rather than realists. We had a long list of things we had planned to take care of and we were completely convinced we’d have no trouble checking them off. After all, we had 134 whole days right?
Wrong. It turns out that HMA was a little more complicated than we’d predicted, and our travel/speaking schedule, to-do list, and unexpected pile-up of medical issues took us by surprise. By the time our April 26 departure date finally rolled around, we felt like we were barely limping onto the plane.
^ a small sampling of our stops along the way.
And while it was certainly an intense and exhausting stretch, it was also strangely energizing. Maybe I can chalk it up to my verbal-processing tendencies, but standing in front of a group of people and sharing our passion for missions and ministry in Peru lights a fire under me. There’s a part of me that genuinely loves the support-raising and reporting side of our job. I love sharing my passions. Every presentation and meeting filled me with a deep longing to get back to Arequipa. Talking and reporting about ministry while having a little distance from the daily nitty-gritty only reconfirmed to my heart that this is exactly where we want to be.
Throughout all of the traveling and visits and presentations, I kept thinking back to an old blog post I wrote 4 years ago. We were in the middle of support-raising for our initial departure to Colombia for training, and we were exhausted from the travel and schedule. A lot of people asked me if it was worth it, or would comment that it was such a shame we had to do so much work to raise our money. Back then, even though we were just in the very beginning steps of our missions journey, I could already see the start of something amazing. I wrote,
Yes, it would be nice to have all of our monthly expenses magically covered by a big missions fund. But it’s even nicer to have someone say to you, “I believe in what you’re doing. I support the decision your family has made. I want to literally invest my hard-earned money into the calling you’re so passionate about because I believe that God is building his kingdom through the spread of the Gospel.”
I look at our list of supporters and realize what they are. Supporters. They support us. Financially. Prayerfully. Emotionally. It’s a powerful thing.
Yes, I’m tired. Yes, I’m sick of sitting in my minivan. Yes, it’s hard work raising enough money to support us and our ministry. But we’re not just raising support. We’re raising supporters. We’re raising prayer warriors. We’re raising gospel partners. In a few weeks, I’ll leave for Colombia knowing I have a crowd of people back home supporting us.
So no, it’s not a shame. It’s a blessing.
Every word of that still rings true, 4 years later.
We were thankful for the chance to spend time with family and friends. We were so glad our boys had the chance to start building relationships with long-distance family members and experience a Mississippi Christmas. We are so relieved to be able to take care of medical issues and surgeries in the US instead of Peru. All of those things were such wonderful blessings.
But most of all, I was thankful to get back on that Arequipa-bound plane on April 26, tired as we were, knowing that we were being supported by such an amazing crowd of family and friends who send us on our way with their love and encouragement and prayers and financial gifts. They love us well from afar, and they are such a huge part in our ability to do our work well. We are equipped and encouraged to go because they do such a great job of sending us.
So, thank you. Thank you for sending us and serving us so well during our first term. Thanks for giving us the opportunities to share and tell stories about our lives here in Peru… for feeding us and loving us and entertaining our kids while we passed through your town and your congregation. Thank you for signing on to another stretch of investment in the work going on here in Arequipa, for asking when you can visit and how you can pray.
But most of all, thanks for sending us back again. We’re so thankful to be here.
*****
{I’m not going to do a full re-cap of all of our stops and visits and meetings and things, mostly because its hard to get all of that into one post. But if you would like to see lots of pictures from HMA 2016, please feel free to scroll through my instagram account!}
This time last year, I mentioned that Nate and I had decided on a new venture that was sure to make us crazy. (Well, mainly me crazy.) But nonetheless, last year we decided that, given our current options, it seems that homeschooling is the best choice for our family right now. So I spent the last year researching, talking to some veteran homeschooling mamas, and doing some “practice days” here and there with the kids to see what they thought. (Munchkin Consensus: YES PLEASE!)
This summer, however, the twins turned 5 and Luís turned 6…which means it’s time for REAL kindergarten, not just some fun practice days here and there. So “the playroom” transformed itself into “the schoolroom” as we hauled out the toys and hauled in the curriculum, books, and art supplies. We put a big star on the calendar for September 14 and declared it “The First Day of School.” A late start, but we had to get our Colca Canyon and Sacred Valley trips out of the way first. And here in Peru, the first day of school is usually in March (the school year runs from March to December), so our calendar is completely out-of-whack as far as they are concerned.
^ Obligatory “First Day of School” photo. Those are some excited boys! September 14, 2015
Now we are about a month in, and things are going better than I expected. It didn’t take us long to get into a good rhythm, and I think we are all benefiting from having a solid morning routine for the first time.
And while we are off to a good start, I’m a little nervous about the rest of the year. With our impending HMA (Home Ministry Assignment) coming up–more on that later– I have no doubt that our routine and schedule is going to get bumped around a bit. And by “bumped around,” I mean demolished completely. Somehow I am going to have to figure out what homeschooling will look like with an insane travel schedule while we continent-hop. My goal at this point is just to finish a curriculum year within an actual year, however that ends up working out.
And as I mentioned, the Peruvian school calendar is different from the US calendar, so there’s always the question of which calendar we should stick to. Or maybe we should just have year-round school with short breaks whenever we need them? Who knows.
And there’s the ongoing issue of making sure I’m far enough ahead in my planning and preparations that I can order the supplies we need and have them brought down in plenty of time before we need them, which means that I’m already having to start researching and making decisions on first grade materials. (…and also experiencing deep denial that my children are old enough for me to consider looking at first grade materials.)
All that to say…. we have one month down, and I’m pretty proud of that. I have no idea what the rest of this year will look like, or what new complications or considerations will arise. But for now, we have jumped in head-first, and we are loving it!
***
Here are a few more pictures of our first few weeks… Hover for captions, and click for larger view or slideshow view.
Luis and his number/counting practice puzzles
A very proud Noah
Barrett usually has a desk buddy.
L for Luis. or Lizard.
Noah is getting good at math! He doesn’t get that from his mama
As soon as Barrett is finished with his work, he always says, “Can I do my pictures now?” He is pumping out new masterpieces daily.
Just 2 short weeks after our little trip to Colca Canyon with my parents, our team set off on a trip to Cusco, Peru, and the Sacred Valley which surrounds it. There are several families with our missions agency who live and serve in Cusco, and Nate and Nathaniel had been there several times in the last couple of years for meetings, but they had always just flown there for the day. There had never been a good time for all of us to take the kids along, so Alicia and I had never had the chance to see that part of the country.
When an opportunity came up that would require a longer trip to Cusco, it seemed like the perfect time for the whole team to go along. The new director of our missions agency was coming to visit Peru in September, and they were hoping to get as many of the Peru missionaries together as possible to meet him and attend some seminars he would be leading. Some of our fellow missionaries were also having their first official service for the new church plant they had been serving in, and they had invited us to attend. In addition, our teammate Nathaniel needed to finish up some of his meetings and exams for the ordination process and would need to do it in Cusco. Since all of those things happened to fall within a few days of one another, we decided it would be a great time for all of us to drive out together.
^ can’t beat the views on the drive.
We rented a house in Urubamba, which is in the Sacred Valley and about an hour from Cusco. The trip was going to end up being about 10 days long, so we knew we wanted to stay somewhere where the children could run and play without worry, and where Alicia and I could cook meals to save money instead of eating out. We ended up getting an amazing deal on an incredible house that both of our families could share, and the owner gave us a rate that was better than any of the hotels nearby. Plus it had a HUGE fenced in yard, perfect for 6 crazy children. And even though it was a bit of a drive for Nate and Nathaniel whenever they had to drive into Cusco for meetings, it meant that Alicia and I could stay with the kids, prepare our own food, let them play, and not have to worry about being cooped up in a hotel for hours at a time. It ended up being the perfect set-up.
^ So much green space to run!! That’s hard to find in Arequipa.
We headed out early on a Monday morning, expecting the drive to take us 9 hours or so. It ended up being 11, because once again, we had to cross over areas of very high altitude, and this time we didn’t fare so well. We stopped every 20 minutes or so for kids to throw up on the side of the road… and occasionally in the car when we didn’t stop in time. It was a lovely 11 hours, you can imagine. Thankfully, the views were incredible, and being surrounded by such beauty made a rough trip into an enjoyable one, all things considered.
^ this view makes a drive full of sick kids a little more peaceful.
We stayed one night in Cusco for Nathaniel to have his meetings and exams, then headed to the house in Urubamba the next day. The place ended up being perfect! The kids were still not feeling all that well, so Alicia and I stayed put for several days. We certainly didn’t want to put them back in the car on those winding roads after all of that! But since we had such a beautiful place to stay, we didn’t mind a bit. The kids had plenty of room to play, and Alicia and I sat on the patio enjoying the views of the valley while Nate and Nathaniel attended all of their meetings.
^view from our hotel room in Cusco… then on to Urubamba the next day!
Over the course of the 10 days, we explored the little town of Urubamba as we had time, as well as a bit of Cusco on the days that we had to drive there for various things. And while it was fairly laid-back trip for the mamas and kiddos, that wasn’t quite the case for Nate and Nathaniel. They were certainly busy and had a full schedule, but we were all really thankful to get to spend time with some of the other missionaries serving in various parts of Peru with our agency, with the new agency director, and with our regional director. Alicia and I were able to go with the guys to a few events, and it was wonderful to catch up with our coworkers here in Peru. The kids were thankful to get to play with their missionary-kid buddies that they hadn’t seen in awhile, and we were glad to have the chance to go to the very first service of one of our new sister churches here in Peru.
^ the guys enjoying dinner and discussing ministry with the new agency director (Far left: Lloyd Kim) and our regional director (Far right: Bill Yarborough)^ dinner and a meeting with the Peru missionaries and some of the people involved in the churches in Cusco^ we had the privilege to attend the very first worship service of our sister church in Cusco, La Fuente de Gracia.
At the end of the trip, we had a couple of days for our two families as a team to spend some uninterrupted time working through planning, vision, and goals for the future of our ministry in Arequipa. (Unless you count interruptions by the kids, in which case we were interrupted about 270 times.) It nice to dream about future ideas, work through logistics of ministries that we hope to start soon, and spend focused time discussing the vision for our team. The evenings were spent chatting by the fire, playing a little Catan, and being reminded of how thankful we are for our teammates.
^ preparing a pachamanca… a delicious peruvian meal cooked in a hole in the ground! YUM!
Finally it was time to fill the kids up with anti-nausea medicine and hit the road again. Thankfully we did a little better on the return trip, but we were all ready to be out of the car when we arrived in Arequipa again. And even though it was a long drive, it was completely worth it. The boys are already asking for another trip back to “the Big House!”
^ The sun just starting to set over the sacred valley, as seen from the backyard of The Big House. We can’t wait to go back!
***
Check out a few more picture from our trip. Hover over the photo for captions, and click for larger view or slideshow viewing. Enjoy!
stunning views on the drive
a nice place for a pit-stop and a picnic lunch
alpacas along for the ride. I debated transporting the kids in the same way.
stunning views along the drive
we enjoyed relaxing wood-burning fire every single evening
the kids learned to play fooseball… and cheered their daddies on in the fierce competitions
a little evening Catan. If you’re not a Settlers fan, don’t tell me. (ps I never win)
very narrow back roads to get to the house
a blurry view of Urubamba from above as we descended the mountains
stunning views along the drive
stunning views along the drive
stunning views along the drive
Alicia and the kids petting alpacas
a few Peru missionaries: Nathaniel, Scott, and Nate
Nathaniel, Lloyd Kim, Bill Yarborough, and Nate
These 6 like to stick together
enjoying a big meal with many of the missionaries with our agency in Peru
In the year and a half that we have lived in Peru, I havn’t had much opportunity to really explore the country. I have heard how beautiful it is, and I have seen some photos, but I havn’t had the chance to see much of it for myself. Other than quick trips to Lima (the capital) here and there for visa issues or filing government documents, I haven’t really left our little corner of southern Peru. All I knew was Arequipa, which is breathtakingly beautiful in its own right, but I was dying to see more.
In August, I finally had the chance. Twice. And though I still didn’t really leave southern Peru, I was finally able see a little more than just our little city.
In the middle of the month, my parents came down for a visit, and we decided to take the opportunity to take a couple of days off to visit with them and explore. We decided to head out to Colca Canyon, which is one of the deepest canyons in the world (over twice as deep as the Grand Canyon!), and only a 3 hour drive from the city of Arequipa. We weren’t really sure what to expect or if the kids would enjoy it, but we booked 2 nights at a kid-friendly hotel and headed out.
On the drive there, we had to cross over some areas of pretty high altitude. We actually hit the 16,000ft mark at one point (which leaves you feeling a little woozy if you’re wondering).
^ The screenshot from Nate’s app that was tracking our altitude. 16,000ft is definitely high!^ stunning views on the drive^ tunnels through the mountains
We made a stop at a volcano lookout, where 7 volcanos could be seen from one spot, and the kids flipped out over seeing snow. (They threw a few snowballs at each other, then jumped back in the car because they aren’t really used to anything below about 50 or 60 degrees.) And of course, there were lots of stops to let the alpacas, vicuñas, sheep, or burros run across the road in front of the car. At one point it was pigs. You just never know.
^ please move.
^ the kids on “shoo” duty… which includes running, jumping, shouting in the road without getting too close. That last part is important.^ delayed bc there’s a bull fight in the middle of the road. Just another day in Peru.
After coming through the mountains, we descended into the valley and spotted the grounds of our little hotel, which turned out to be an amazing place to stay with kids. {Comfy beds + hot water with good water pressure + rooms large enough for a family of 5 + a yummy restaurant on-site + kid-friendly staff + GRASS TO RUN IN = a major hit with the Bonhams.}
^ view of our hotel as we were descending into the valley^ we absolutely cannot wait to go back here again!
They explored the whole place, hiked up to the top of the nearby hills (which they called their “superhero adventure”), and had plenty of space to run. We headed out the next day to explore the nearby towns and find some natural volcanic hot springs. We weren’t disappointed! We found a great spot down inside the valley where we could sit inside the steaming pools with the walls of the canyon rising up around us.
^ the view from the natural volcanic hot springs
Our last morning, we drove to the “Cruz del Condor,” where we were able to stand at a lookout at the edge of the canyon and watch the condors soaring overhead. Andean Condors are the largest flying bird in the world, with wing spans around 10 feet, and they are incredible to watch.
^ condors soaring above the canyon^ these birds are amazing!
After a couple of fun days exploring the area, we loaded up and headed back to Arequipa. The trip was short and sweet, and we are hoping that we will get back to Colca again before long! And now I have my first check on my list of “Peruvian Places to Explore.”
***
Check out a few more picture from our trip. Hover over the photo for captions, and click for larger view or slideshow viewing. Enjoy! And don’t forget to come visit (:
Nikki & Alicia at a lookout at Colca Canyon
The Bonhams at Colca Canyon
The CrossCollaboration Kids at Colca Canyon. These 6 love traveling together!
Colca Canyon
Condors at Colca Canyon
GrandDaddy and Luís waving from a lookout at Colca Canyon
Colca Canyon
Vendors on the road
Beautiful views of the valley
Nate, Nikki, & Nikki’s parents
Nate & Nikki
Beautiful views of the valley
Nikki trying to be a photographer from the passenger seat
5 happy explorers on their hike, aka “Superhero Adventure”
Gaba Gutierrez making friends with a well-accessorized baby alpaca
stunning views on the drive
stunning views on the drive
little houses on the side of the road
driving through the little towns around Colca Canyon
The Bonham boys can’t resist a puppy. The rule is that they can’t touch strange dogs, so they lie on the ground and talk to them instead.
Quechuan ladies
driving through the small towns around Colca Canyon
driving through the small towns around Colca Canyon
baby alpacas are adorable
stunning views on the drive
a huge box of chickens. That’s the most chickens I’ve ever seen in one place!
Today is our missioniversary. At least that’s what Alicia calls it, and I love that. She calls Luís’ family day (July 25) our “Luísiversary,” and December 11, when we finally touched down in Peru, is our Peruversary. And so today, September 18, is the 3 year anniversary of the day we boarded a southbound plane and moved to another continent as missionaries. Our missioniversary. 3 years ago today we landed in Bogotá, Colombia, with 12 pieces of luggage, 2 kids, and not a word of Spanish.
When I think back on Year One, I mostly remember culture shock, Spanish, and waiting… waiting for anything at all to start to feel normal, waiting to figure out where we would be long term, and mostly, waiting for Luís, whom we finally brought home 10 months into our first year. I remember feeling frustrated that I couldn’t communicate, exhausted from studying spanish, and really lonely. But I also remember loving Colombia, embracing our new lifestyle, and thinking, “YES. This feels right.”
I remember Year Two as “The Year We Plowed Through.” We moved to Peru right at the beginning of Luís’ transition to our family, and it was a whirlwind. Juggling adoption, continued language deficiencies, illnesses, and adjusting to a new country (again) felt a little like I was under water and fighting to swim upward so that I could finally come up for air. I was pushing through as hard as I could to get to a place where I could breathe. I remember the prayer journals filled while sitting on the floor of the boys’ bedroom while they slept; I remember Nate’s late-night spanish study sessions and early-morning prayer times; I remember wondering how long it would be before I finally made friends again in this new place. But I also remember the numerous tiny glimpses of the amazing work God was doing in each of us as we adjusted to being a family of 5; and I remember falling in love with the beauty of living in a desert; and I remember rejoicing at each new person who slowly opened up to the idea of a friendship with a clueless gringa. It was hard, but it was good, and God was faithful.
And Year Three. What would I call this last year? I’m not sure, to be honest. It’s been a weird one. With the first two years, I knew what I was walking into ahead of time, more or less. Even though there was no way to truly be emotionally prepared for the reality of culture shock or adoption transition or learning a language, and even though it’s been exponentially more intense than I had imagined, there was still a sense in which I walked into it knowing what I had signed up for. Intellectually speaking, I knew what was ahead.
But Year Three showed up with some unexpected turns. The only way I know to describe this year is heavy. All of it. It’s been an emotionally difficult year. We’ve had significant changes in our team, we have taken on new unexpected roles in ministry that have stretched us thin, and we are pouring into a church and community in which every single person has been affected deeply by abuse, poverty, and pain. None of it has been the way we had imagined, and most of it has felt too difficult and draining to write down.
And yet, there’s still somehow a deep, sweet undercurrent of joy. I have never felt more incompetent or ill-equipped for something in my life than I do right now, and yet I also have never felt more sure of our calling to missions and to Arequipa. God has so lovingly and gently reaffirmed this to my heart over and over again. I love these people. I love this church. I love serving them and crying with them and praying for them. And sometimes that terrifies me because I have no clue what I am doing. I absolutely cannot do this…which means I am reminded every moment that it doesn’t depend on me, and that my insufficiencies point all the more to Christ’s strength.
This year has been heavy, and I am thankful for that, because once again, God has tenderly shown me that difficult or heavy doesn’t necessarily equal bad. Ultimately, it has reminded me that carrying burdens isn’t a part of my job description. Casting them off is. I lay them down before the cross, and then I walk with others and show them this amazing Jesus who calms our hearts and carries our burdens and loves us fiercely, and I pray that they too will experience the sweet joy found in casting their burdens on Him and resting in the One who holds the universe.
I don’t know what Year Four holds in store, and this time I am walking into it KNOWING that I don’t know. It might be an even heavier one for that matter, but that’s okay, because I’m not the one carrying the weight. I’m the one being carried.
Happy missioniversary to us, and here’s to many, many more.
Six or eight months ago, if you had told me what life would look like in February of 2015 here in Arequipa, I wouldn’t have believed you. When we were back in Mississippi last June for a few weeks, several people asked me how they could pray for me, for our family, for our ministry. And my response was always twofold: 1.) I was lonely and was praying for friends, specifically Peruvian friends. A community. And 2.) I was praying that the Lord would give us some clear open doors for ministry and growth, and that I could be patient in the meantime while we prayed for his guidance. I was ready to get things going, and waiting was hard. But that was my prayer… Community. Open doors.
That was June. Fast forward to the first Sunday in January, and this is what was going on:
^ Nate and Nathaniel with Pastor Emilio
For several different reasons, the pastor of the tiny church we were partnering with made the difficult decision to step down from his role as pastor. After the pastor’s announcement, the congregation met and unanimously decided to invite Nate and Nathaniel to serve as their co-pastors during this season, with hopes of growth and revitalization of their members and ministries.
The original intent for our team had never been to pastor, but rather to assist in the training and discipling of future pastors, so this invitation was unexpected. However, Nate and Nathaniel knew that they would be better equipped to disciple and train future pastors in this context if they had first served in a pastoral role here themselves. Also weighing heavily was the fact that without support and leadership, this small congregation would continue to struggle. Nate and Nathaniel spent some time praying and seeking counsel from some other missionaries and pastors, and they ultimately decided to accept the invitation to serve this little church in a new role to help them through this difficult season.
The first Sunday in January, the pastor and the congregation symbolically “handed over the keys.” The congregation we had been spending so much time with for the past 6 months embraced us, figuratively and literally, with warm smiles and open arms.
Community. Open doors.
Of course, when we look back, we can see all the ways the Lord was laying each stone of the pathway, even though it was unknown to us at the time. Relationships being formed, trust being developed, foundations being laid.
And now, 8 short months after I asked several people to pray specifically for community and ministry opportunities, we find ourselves with more ideas and options for ministry than we can pursue at one time, as well as steadily deepening friendships with women, men, and families whom we are coming to love dearly. We are burrowing down and investing whole-heartedly in this little community the Lord has called us to, and it is so incredibly exhausting and yet so deeplysatisfying all at the same time.
Of course, the new roles came with new responsibilities as well. Nate and Nathaniel are now preaching, leading prayer meetings, teaching sunday school, discipling, leading music classes, doing leadership training, and counseling (all in spanish!) every single week. Alicia and I are teaching the women’s bible study and children’s sunday school. We’ve had a few special events on the calendar, and we’ll be starting some english classes in the community soon. It occasionally feels like we were tossed into the deep end, but it’s definitely good for our spanish and our cultural understanding, even though it brought the language-fatigue back with a vengeance! But thankfully, this is the perfect group for us to learn with because they are so incredibly patient, kind, and welcoming.
^ music lessons and jam sessions
So in this new season, which has brought forth new challenges, new hardships, and certainly new joys, my prayer has changed from community and open doors to wisdom and growth. Wisdom as we lead and minister in new ways, even as we’re still in a steep phase of language and cultural learning. Wisdom to see our sin, recognize our cultural crutches, and be sensitive to differences. Wisdom to pinpoint needs and wisely choose a course of action in order to respond. And growth. Growth in numbers for our church as we begin reaching out into its surrounding community. Growth in the hearts of the members as they begin to thirst more and more for a true relationship with their savior. Growth in the bond and connection the members have with one another and with us. And our own personal growth as we learn more and more what it means to love and serve Jesus well cross-culturally.
Thanks for praying for us and with us, friends. You’re a bigger part of our ministry than you’ll ever know.
I am late with this, but that’s par for the course these days.
I never got around to doing a 2013 wrap-up post, and now that I don’t have one to go back and read, I regret it. I love being able to go back and read bits and pieces of our story whenever I get nostalgic. So, I want to make sure I get one written for 2014 even if it is February before it is getting posted. And of course, there’s no way to do it without it being ridiculously long… sorry about that. But I’ll make up for it with plenty of pictures (:
It was a crazy year, but I have a feeling I am going to be able to say that every year for awhile, so I should probably find a more specific descriptor to use. It was another year of adjusting, transitioning, and figuring out what “normal” is going to look like for us here in Arequipa. It was another year that pushed and stretched us a lot. It was full of some really great highs and some really rough lows. But that also feels like another generic description of a year that was anything but.
So since I can’t figure out how to describe it, here’s the roundup of what went down in 2014.
January. We started the year on our rooftop at midnight, watching the entire city erupt in color. Arequipa does New Years right. {Click here for a video to see what I’m talking about.} We had been in Arequipa for 2 weeks. We were still staying in a temporary rental apartment while we hunted for a place to live and a vehicle that didn’t cost a million dollars. (Cars are expensive here. Although a million might be an exaggeration. Barely.) We had 3 huge sicknesses back to back that wiped out almost every member of the team, and 2 of those sicknesses were stomach bugs. There were children vomiting everywhere AT THE SAME TIME. We finally found houses for ourselves and our teammates, and we all moved in. But we didn’t have any of our stuff that we had shipped from Colombia (mostly clothes and beds bc we had sold everything else). We were sleeping on the floor of an empty house (my back says NEVER AGAIN. The kids thought it was fun). But mostly we were just thankful to finally be here and to have a place to live.
^ the day we showed the house to the boys, they were thrilled to find TURBO (the snail) on the roof! Sadly, he was gone by move-in day.^ the view from the rooftop of our house. We were so excited to move in!
February. Our container that we had shared with the other 2 families finally arrived…except it was late because it was caught in huge agricultural strike that blocked all the roads. After two and a half months living out of a couple of suitcases, opening up our boxes felt like Christmas! We tried to save as much money as we could on furniture, so Nate ended up buying a bunch of lumber and making a good bit of our stuff: dining table and benches, side tables for the living room, bedside tables, a buffet/island for the kitchen. There was sawdust everywhere, and then I sanded, stained, and painted everything. The house was a mess, but we were happy with the results! We spent the month getting the house set up, exploring our new city, trying to meet new people, visiting various churches around town, learning our way around, and continued hunting for a reasonable vehicle. {Click here to read our team’s February 2014 newsletter to get caught up.}
^ checking out the loot from a trip to the fish market^ the Plaza de Armas in the center of the city
March. With the beginning of March brought the beginning of preschool in spanish. The boys began 3 days a week, which meant 3 days a week of homework help for me. The “school” part wasn’t as helpful as I had hoped, but the spanish boost it gave to the twins was worth it. Nate started classes again as well. The car-hunt continued, hopelessly, and the guys (Nate, Nathaniel, and Josh) finally decided to take a trip to Lima, where there is more selection and the prices are a bit lower. They found and purchased cars and drove them back, which took 17 hours on some rough roads. We found out from the US government that Luís’ citizenship had been denied due to us living outside the country and they sent him a green card instead and said we would have to come back to the US to finalize everything. Noah came down with Tonsillitis and was the sickest I’ve ever seen him, and I braved a pediatrician’s office in spanish for the first time. We continued visiting churches and making ministry contacts. My parents took their first visit to Peru! We participated in a Leadership Assessment with our missions agency and were encouraged by the results. {Click here to read our March 2014 newsletter, which was a quarterly “Family Update,” to get caught up!}
^ the boys on their first day of preschool^ showing my parents around Arequipa
During those first few months, we also surprisingly dealt with culture shock all over again. I thought there would be some, but I wasn’t prepared for it to be intense again. But Peru is different from Colombia. And though there are some similarities, there was still a heavy adjustment period. Thankfully this time we could get by with spanish, which helped tremendously. But we also had the added difficulty of not knowing anyone, whereas there was already a team on the ground when we moved to Colombia. I also struggled with a lot of loneliness the first few months. (I still do occasionally.) And even though we had our small team here, whom I love dearly and am very close to, being constantly surrounded by strangers is difficult, and it weighed on me. Plus, Luís struggled a lot with the move. He had only been with us 5 months at that point, and was still at the height of initial transition in many ways. He regressed a bit and was very anxious, and it took some time for him to settle back in. All of those things combined with Nate’s initial busyness to get us settled made for an intense few months.
April. We started the month with a bang. Or a shake, rather. Our first “big” earthquake happened on April 1st, another big one on the 2nd, and I was a bit jittery for a few days following. But it wasn’t long before getting shaken up became kind of normal! Small quakes are pretty common. The boys continued in school and Nate continued in class. We began visiting a new church (the one we are a part of now) and began developing relationships with the small congregation there. Nate started getting together with a few Peruvian guys to learn Andino music and practice spanish. He took a trip to Cusco (another city in Peru) to visit other missionaries there. We experienced our first Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Peru. Our landlady taught me a bit of Peruvian cooking. Luís started speech therapy. Our teammates Nathaniel and Alicia began preparing for their trip back to the US for their son’s skull surgery, and we hugged them goodbye on the 28th. {Click here to read our team’s April 2014 newsletter to get caught up}
^ Nate and the guys practicing Andino music in my living room^ torta de choclo… So glad I learned how to make this because it is AMAZING!^ Making salt dough volcanos!
May. I celebrated my 30th birthday, which just felt weird. But in a good way, I think. Much of the month was spent in preparation for a quick trip back to the States in June. We needed to go back to the US to work on Luís’ citizenship issues, plus we needed to update some of our US paperwork/IDs and needed some specific medical checkups. Trying to make arrangements for everything we would be doing for those couple of weeks took us a lot more time than we expected! May was an admin-heavy month, for sure. But we also had the chance to host several different families in our home for meals and to get to know them better. The team was also invited to participate in a youth ministry up in the north of the city, and Nate started attending and getting to know the kids. Nate’s mom came down at the end of the month to see Arequipa and help me travel back to the states with the kids while Nate stayed in Peru for a few extra days. {Click here to read our team’s May 2014 newsletter to get caught up}
^ at the boys’ favorite park^ silly boys^ homemade bows and arrows from stuff we found in the park
June. On June 3, the twins turned 4 (THEY ARE GETTING TOO BIG!), and we boarded a US-bound plane that same night. The boys were excited to get an airplane ride for their birthday! We made it to Mississippi the next morning and began 3 whirlwind weeks of seeing people we love, updating a few churches about our ministry here, and doing a lot of government and medical appointments. I wrote about the boys’ impressions of Mississippi, and about the specifics of our trip on the blog. In short, it was both WONDERFUL and EXHAUSTING. As much as we enjoyed it, we were ready to get back to “life” and sleep in our own beds by the end! {Click here to read our June 2014 newsletter, which was a quarterly “Family Update,” to get caught up}
^ we had sweet time in Chattanooga with Nate’s family^ this crew spent every waking second together^ my beautiful sisters^ My family. I miss them every single day.
**a couple of summary side-notes: During this second quarter of the year, I entered another phase… I still struggled with intense loneliness, but things were settling more at home and I was having the chance to breathe a little more. I had moved into a phase of anxiousness to get the ball rolling. I wanted to be busy with ministry, to be making friends, to be active in things going on in Arequipa. The process of observing and learning and praying and waiting to see which doors the Lord would open for ministry was so difficult for me! I knew that the first year needed to go slow so that we could make wise decisions, but being patient was hard. I began praying fervently for Peruvian friends, and I asked several others to pray with me. I was lonely, but I was also very confident that the Lord was working here, and that he was laying the groundwork for building community, which also made me hopeful and excited.
July. We jumped back into things head-first after arriving back in Arequipa at the end of June, excited about the small ministry possibilities we were seeing. We had been refreshed and refueled on our trip, and we were excited about the possibilities we were beginning to see take shape here in Arequipa. Nate became more and more involved with the local youth ministry, and our team accepted the invitation of the small church we were attending to officially partner with them for ministry. We were excited about where things were heading. Nate took a trip to Cusco to help them with the building of an orphanage, and a few of the guys from church went with him to help. Luís also started speech therapy and psychomotor therapy sessions at a new therapy center that has proven to be AMAZING. We also had a LOT of celebrating — July 4th, Nate’s 30th birthday, Luís’ “Family Day” and 1 year anniversary of meeting him, Luís’ 5th birthday, and Peruvian Independence Day. {Click here to watch our July 2014 video update to get caught up!}
^ one year home with our sweet boy^ outskirts of Arequipa
August. This was around the time I started thinking of making some changes for the boys concerning school, so much of August (for me) was spent researching options and making plans. We continued investing in and being a part of the little church we had partnered with, and Nate’s music group, “Jesus El Verbo,” performed for the first time. The pastor who had been running the youth ministry left for seminary in Brazil and asked our team to take over during his absence, so Nate was excited to invest more fully in that as well. We celebrated “Arequipa Day,” which was more chaotic than we had expected (: Nate and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on the 21st. 10 YEARS! My sweet grandfather fell and wasn’t able to fully recover in the following weeks, and on the night of August 23rd, we received the call that he had passed away. I threw clothes in a bag and boarded a plane the next day so that I could be there for the funeral to say goodbye, and Nate stayed in Peru with the boys. It was a difficult, emotional, and yet very sweet time, and I am so thankful I was able to be there. I was in Mississippi for about 48 hours, then my mom and I traveled together back to Peru. Months earlier, Nate and I had booked an trip for our 10 year anniversary, and my mom had planned to keep the kids while we were gone. I was back in Arequipa for about 24 hours, then Nate and I got on a plane and left for our trip to meet Kelly (my best friend) and her husband who were also celebrating 10 years. We spent a week with them on a cruise boat, and I can’t even begin to tell you how much we savored the down time! It was Nate’s and my first get-away since before we left for the field, which means we’ve had 2 international moves and an adoption since then. A vacation with our best friends was just what we needed! {Click here to read our team’s August 2014 newsletter to get caught up!}
^ letter practice^ the last picture I took with my sweet grandfather when I went back in June.^ sailing with this crew was amazing. Best trip ever.^ Happy anniversary! 10 wonderful years with my favorite (:
September. We came back from the anniversary trip and Nate had about 6 days at home before he was gone again, this time to Cambodia for a leaders’ conference with our missions agency. He traveled about 42 hours each way, then dealt with jet lag, so he was exhausted by the end of it! I started some preliminary homeschooling work with the boys just to get them used to the idea, and they finished up their last few weeks of preschool. Josh and Emily announced their plans to transition back to the states. We as a team got busy working on all of the things that the transition entailed for all of us. Nate continued on with more involvement in the church and the youth ministry, and our relationships with the little congregation we were serving continued to deepen.
^ the desert surrounding Arequipa^ Nate sharing about his Cambodia trip with our church
October. It was an exciting and a difficult month, all in one. We headed to the Dominican Republic for our agency’s regional retreat, which is held once every 4 years. We were able to catch up with other missionary friends that we hadn’t seen in years and sit under excellent teaching. It was a great time for encouragement and motivation in ministry, and we were so thankful for the chance to spend time with so many of our friends and mentors. We were also reunited with Nathaniel and Alicia! After 6 months in the states for their son’s big surgery, they were able to meet us in the DR for the retreat and then head back to Peru with us afterwards. But we also had to say goodbye to Emily and the kids, as they headed back to the States directly from the retreat, and Josh finished out another week or two in Peru before heading back to the States to meet his family. I bawled my eyes out. After the retreat, the boys and I started officially homeschooling and Luís continued to make excellent progress with therapy. I started classes a few days a week to give me a spanish boost. Nate and I had to make multiple trips back and forth to Lima to get our residency figured out, and we welcomed a sweet puppy named Lucy to the family, which meant lots of long nights at first (: {Check out our team’s October 2014 newsletter to get caught up}
^ I was so thankful for time spent with good friends at the retreat, especially with Esta! I miss living in the same city with her, now that we have both moved away from Bogota.^ Nate napping with a teensy tiny Lucy. This arrangement wouldn’t work these days! She’s huge now!
November. November was busy as Nate and Nathaniel jumped into a few different ministry opportunities in the church and in the city. They were invited to lead a few different things at church, and they were both asked to preach. They were also asked to help with some counseling situations, and soon began counseling weekly. I jumped into the ladies ministry at church, continued helping out in other ministries where I could, and continued homeschooling the boys. I taught my first women’s bible study in spanish! In order to balance ministry, homeschooling, language study, and just general home maintenance and cooking (which takes longer here than in the States), I hired a sweet peruvian lady who helps me a few hours a week with whatever I need (house things, cooking, keeping the kids, etc), and also helps me with spanish. She has proved to be an immense blessing to us and a sweet friend, and is quickly turning into the boys’ peruvian grandmother! Nate’s mom came to visit for thanksgiving, and she helped Alicia and me to pull off an amazing thanksgiving dinner! {Click here to read our team’s November 2014 newsletter to get caught up}
^we put the tree up!^ Mammaw came to visit!^ I wasn’t sure what to do when we got to this part of Thanksgiving dinner prep…^ Nate preaching in spanish at our church for the first time.
December. A nasty flu swept through the family at the beginning of the month and wiped out 4 of us (not Luís… he never catches anything here!). We were in the bed for awhile, and we were very thankful when it was over! But we didn’t have much down time, because December proved to be an exceptionally busy month. We hosted 3 big Christmas parties (one for the church, one for the youth ministry & its surrounding community, and one for our neighbors). Alicia and I were so tired of cooking by the end of it! But all 3 events went even better than we had hoped. We helped plan the Christmas service at our church, where Nate was able to preach the Christmas message, and I participated in the Christmas pageant that the women’s ministry put on. We spent Christmas even drinking hot chocolate on our rooftop watching the amazing fireworks display at midnight. On Christmas morning we celebrated together as a family, and in the evening all together as a team with a delicious Christmas dinner. My parents arrived for a visit on the 30th, and we were excited to finish out the holidays with them. {Click here to read our team’s December 2014 newsletter, which is our quarterly “Family Update,” to get caught up}
^ The Christmas Service – Nate preaching and performing with the Andino music group, me dressed up with Juana for the pageant^ me with two sweet friends from our church^ new Christmas Eve jammies!
Over the course of the month of December, the pastor of our small church made the decision to step down to handle some personal matters, and the congregation met and voted unanimously to invite Nate and Nathaniel to be their pastors. After a lot of time spent in prayer and seeking wise counsel, they accepted, with plans to take on their new roles at the first of the new year.
And so we ended the year the same way we started: sitting on our rooftop, watching the city erupt in fireworks…a little exhausted, looking back over the craziness of the year we’d just walked through, and extremely excited at the opportunities the Lord was bringing for the year to come.
