Ryan + Amanda + Sophia + Samuel = Bush
We got quite the suprise yesterday when we happened to look at our plane tickets. We thought we were flying out on the 9th . . . turns out its the 8th!!
So anyway, things are getting crazy. We’re tired and excited and sad and a whole bunch of stuff wrapped up in one. And I think Sophie has gotten a whiff of it because she’s been kind of grumpy lately. She won’t hardly let us out of her sight.
Only 9 days until we fly out, but a thousand things to do!!!
After Claudia’s house we met up with all the other missionaries to exchange gifts and eat
Christmas morning we ate Paneton and hot chocolate for breakfast. Then we sang Christmas songs and read the Christmas story.
Here’s me taste testing the peanuts.
We spent Christmas eve and morning with the Puente family is San Juan de Lurigancho.
Here’s Amanda helping prepare the mashed potatos.
Panetón is the food of choice for Peruvians during Christmas. It is a lot like our fruitcake. Here is what it looks like:
Merry Christmas!
This is our first Christmas in Peru. We flew home for Christmas last year. And, although we miss our family and the “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, we are excited about spending Christmas with our Peruvian and Missionary family.
It’s so amazing how God puts us in different situations with different people to help us know him better. Sometimes I forget that it’s not about me or my comfort or what I want. It’s about knowing and walking in communion with God.
So, it’s Christmas . . . and Christmas is all about the chance to walk in communion with God through Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!!!!!
We had Leyshton and his family over lunch last week. This is his little girl Nayara (we went to her one year birthday party last year). She LOVED sophia.
Two new career families just arrived into Peru this week. One is the Austins and the other is the Rains. We had a big get together to welcome them and get to know them.
Here’s a picture of Sophia and on of the Rain’s boys.
Last night we had a annual English Fellowship Christmas shindig. We sang a few Christmas songs, read the Christmas story, ate Paneton, and played sneaky santa.
Somehow Moieses and I ended up with bananas as presents!
Here’s a picture of the Austin family along with the rest of the REAPSouth team.
The Weavers are now in the U.S. for their stateside assignment.
The Austin family has finally made it to Peru! They’ve been in Costa Rica for the past year studying Spanish. Now they join us here in Lima to be a part of the REAPSouth team. Their names are Arnold, Susie, Alisha, Ben, and Patrick. Go here to see their blog.
It’s amazing how 2 years ago Peru was a strange country with strange foods and people. Now, it’s home. And just when we’re getting ‘in the groove’ of life here, we’ve got to say goodbye.
Peope always ask us “Are you ready to go home?” . . . Well, the fact is, we are home. We’ve spent a year and a half of our life here. We had our first child here. We got Wilson here!!! This is home.
We’re very excited to be returning to the U.S. . . . but I think we’re starting to see that leaving isn’t going to be that easy.
Here’s a photo of Lucia and I practicing Bible storying. We were trying to remember the story of creation to tell to eachother.
This was part of our Pastor training in Nazca. Pastors who are able, come from the sierra to spend three days with us learning about different aspects of church planting and pastoring.
In Cuzco, there are tons of kids begging and trying to sell stuff to the gringos. That happens a lot in Lima, but in Cuzco it’s crazy.
My strategy has been lately to just talk to them. Ask them about there lives. These girls asked me about the Bible that we had. I was telling her about it and then I asked them if they knew how to read. They said yes, so I had them read me a few psalms to me.
We have our plane tickets! And we are VERY excited!
But, we’ve got a lot to do between now and then: Pack. Say goodbyes. Host winterbreak teams. Host IMB bosses. Orientate new semester missionary. Celebrate Christmas. Celebrate New Years. Etc. Etc.
God is good.
We’ll be arriving to the USA jobless, but with a good prospect. We’re talking to some folks about a really cool job in Little Rock. We’ll see what Jesus does.
We are spending the week in Nazca with a group of believers from all of southern Peru. They are here to learn more about how to plant and lead churches in there areas.
Yesterday Dr. Sills (from Southern Seminary) was talking about orality and how most of the world doesn’t read but learns in a different way. An old Quechua lady raised her hand and said “Someone told me that if you are unable to read the Bible you will not enter into the Kingdom of God.”, I was floored. First, because someone would really say that. Second, because I knew this old lady must have been living in fear because was not literate. She has a Bible, but she can’t read a single word out of it.
Of course, Dr. Sills got things cleared up.
Her name is Fortunata and a small church meets in her house. I’ll try to post a picture of her.
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