Long Term Volunteer Details (Volunteer: 32) - Extreme Nazarene Ministries

Headed into the ¨Zona Roja¨ Prayers Needed
We just ask that those who are following this blog would keep our team in your prayers as we head this Friday into the ¨Red zone.¨ We are headed into the prostitution area of town to spread the Good News and we are unsure as to how that will look. Pray for the Spirits leading and wisdom as we head into the middle of darkness to shed Christ´s light. Pray for our protection and that we would have the words to say that will be convicting and yet show compàssion and love. Thank you all for your time on your knees.

Baptisms!

Last Saturday we had our first baptism here in Puerto! It was very exciting because 2 of the 3 people baptized are being discipled by our 40/40s! It is awesome to witness them making this commitment and amazing to see the fruits of our work here!

We drove out to a neat little spot out of town. We had a little mix up on transportation so while we were supposed to leave at 8 or 9am, we ended up leaving at around 10:15am...true peruvian style. Most of the group of about 30 crammed into a cumbi (basically a van) and we rode with Tyson in the motocar. It was great...I love how I no longer get frustrated by this sort of thing...I am adapting I guess:)

We started with a hymn to which Tyson played guitar and a short message from Olivia and Elisa who were our pastors for the day as Pastor Freddy is gone for the month. They did an awesome job.

We did the baptism in a little river...the water looks really dirty in this picture...and it was. But, they were still washed clean:)

This boy, Manuel, is from one of Ana & Olivia´s communities!

Gladys was also baptized and is from one of Callie & Carmen´s communities. She also opens her home every week so they do a service...she is an extremely sweet lady!

And after we celebrated with food and play...futbol of course!

It was a wondeful day and an awesome time to witness and celebrate new life in Christ! Please pray for those baptized (the third person was, Carla, a teen from the church) and for our team as the continue to diligently evangalize, disciple and hold services in their communities. More to come about what each of the pairs and all they are doing!

One Year
On year ago we arrived in Peru. A lot has happened and the time has gone very fast, and also it seems it has gone slow. We have lived in 3 different cities, added 8 members to our family, watched our baby turn 2 and act like it, we have both turned 29, we have learned to speak a new language and live in a new culture. There are also plenty of things I can´t measure, like the love I have felt, the grace I have been given, the faithfulness of our Lord, lives that have been changed. It has been a year I will never forget and will always look back on with joy and thankfulness. But this year has passed and now we look forward to how the Lord will use, mold and guide us through the next one. We don´t know all that is to come, but we can rest in the assurance that he does and he is will be with us and for that I am thankful!

Thank you to all of you who have walked with us this past year. We have so many that are praying for us, who are suppporting us financially so we can be here, who have come and participated in projects and built our home, who are part of our Extreme team supporting us in numerous ways, who have sent us packages or encouraging letters or supplies, who have strengthened us with words of support and encouragement. Thank you, this past year would not have been possible without all of you...and this next year wouldn´t be either. Thank you for being a part of what the Lord is doing here and for the immeasurable love you have given. God Bless you!

Questionable Hiring Practices
We'll we just found out that their must be some sort of discriminating hiring practices going on here in Puerto, because we have noticed the garbage disposal industry has the monopoly on employing larger than normal Peruvians. Photo evidence included....

Water, Water Everywhere!

So we woke up to rain yesterday morning...nothing unusual, we live in the rain forest after all. But today it kept raining. Hard. And after a few hours we noticed water was raising in front of our house...and still coming. We have had issues with drainage and water since we moved here but it has never gotten up to our door like this. We have sort of been waiting for it to get worse as we kept hearing about how the "rainy season" was coming. I didn't expect the water to rise so fast or so close the the house. All that to say, please pray. Pray that the water goes down, that we can get it drained out and that in the meantime, it doesn't rain more. Right now it is centimeters from entering our house, our water cistern is covered by the flood water which means there is bad water in there. Given, we can't drink the water from here anyway...but this is really bad water that we don't want to use for showers, dishes or anything. Also, we have water entering our house through the bathtub and drains in the floor. It is gross, but this is not a new problem. We rarely are able to flush our toilet and almost every day have sewer water in our bathtub/shower. I have learned to live with it but it is not my favorite. Please pray we can solve this problem to keep from happening in the future. Can I also just say I have an amazing husband. He was out in the disgusting water (that has gross worms floating in it) working to get us ladies cinder blocks to step on and trying to stop the water from entering the cistern (which eventually became impossible). He has also been working hard since we arrived here (2 months ago) trying to solve these issues of drainage. He has been at the city office mulitple times a week trying to get them to do something and has just finally gotten approval from them to do it ourselves. That is the way it goes here...slow, slow going to get anything done. We are praying this is the solution and would appreciate your prayers as well. Please also pray for the health and protection of our team. Thank you all and God Bless!

from our yard into our house...

Today Tyson spotted a little crocodile outside in the "pond" next to the church....I saw it's little eyes sticking up too but we couldn't get a picture. It wasn't too big...but still a crocodile...yikes!

our front door view

and for the pleasure of all...our bathtub...yummy! I have poured more bottles of bleach then you can imagine in that tub...it helps. But still. Gross.

Monkey Business

So the other night we had a little visitor…an uninvited one. Elisa was downstairs hanging out with my while I was cooking and I hear “Es un mono?” (It’s a monkey?) Sure enough, I look out the window and see a monkey scaling the house. I was so excited I grabbed my camera and ran out the door to see it…leaving the door wide open. Open doors are apparently invitations to monkeys because it promptly tried to enter the house (those things move fast). Luckily we shut the door in time and yelled up to the girls upstairs to check it out. The money scaled the walls once again and headed to the second story just as Wendy opened to door to see what we were yelling about—she quickly went back in (because again, the monkey tried to get inside) and checked it out from the window. It also climbed up the bars on the window and tried to get in that way (*note* our bars are not monkey proof…thankfully we have glass to shut). A very curious monkey we had on our hands. After a while it came back down and began to check out the church. I had to run in front of it and shut the church door before it got in which the monkey did not like and began to push against my legs to get in…I screamed but did not give in. I would like to say I stopped the little rascal from getting in but it just went up to the window and got in that way. I was worried that it would start playing with the sound system or something but it didn’t seem too interested. I should end this by saying there is a “zoo” down the street from us from which the monkey escaped so this was no ‘fresh out of the jungle’ monkey, but a monkey just the same. A little excitement for the evening was fun…but I am not hoping to see it again anytime soon!

I thought I would through this picture in…this was hanging out in the pond/swamp/gross water that is right next to our house…so we sometimes have nice, pretty animals visit us too:)

4 years!

Tyson and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary a couple weeks ago. Sometimes it is hard for me to believe we have been married 4 years already. But then I think back to all that we have experienced together and it seems crazy it has fit into only 4 little years:) This past year has been packed full of its own joys and challenges. We have packed up our lives and moved to Peru, lived in three separate cities within Peru (which means we have set up and tried to establish “home” three different times), we have learned (and continue to learn) a new language and culture, faced the challenges of raising a 2-year-old (anyone hear me on that one), we have walked with our team through victories and disappointments, had our own victories and disappointments, learned again and again that the Lord is mighty and great and bigger then our circumstances and have watched him work in the lives of his people.

We have also faced the challenge of learning how to work together as husband and wife in every area of our lives. This has been one of my biggest challenges and biggest joys this past year. We went from a united couple who had our own jobs and ministries, to being a couple fully united and engaged in every area of life—marriage, family, ministry and the responsibilities that go with that. The first few months for me were such a challenge to learn to work together, how to honor and compliment Tyson in all areas, and how to separate family life from ministry life once in a while. I cannot say I have figured it out, but, I am now seeing the fruits of our time and work together in regards to our relationship. I feel closer to my husband now more than ever, I appreciate him and understand him better more and more each day. I have learned he has amazing instincts; his heart is even bigger than I thought; and his honesty is more often than not, just what I need. I love him now more than ever and my loves grows more and more each day. I know the Lord has grown the roots of our relationship deeper in Him and has prepared us to face all that this next year will bring.

This past month has been the hardest for me yet in Peru. I have not struggled much with culture shock until now (a little delayed, yes) and this, along with a mix of other things have caused me to fall back more in the arms of my husband, knowing with assurance that the strength and love he gives me comes from our Lord. I have a loving, faithful, God-fearing husband and we serve a faithful God. The Lord’s faithfulness has been so evident throughout our entire marriage but this past year He has showered us with blessings, answers to prayer and love beyond what I had imagined. Thank you to all who have partnered with us through prayer and support, each of you are examples to His faithfulness to us. Today I ask for your continued prayers—for our ministry but also for our marriage, not because we are struggling, but because we don’t want to wait until we are to ask:) Please pray that we continued to be united, to encourage and lift each other up. Pray that our marriage could be an example of a loving, godly marriage to our team, church and neighbors, and that it would honor our Lord in all circumstances. Four years ago this verse was printed on our program “He is before all things and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17. Those words continue to ring true for us as we have seen the evidence of his going before us, and as we have felt his arms around us and our team, holding us together. We are privileged to serve such a great and loving God!

Christmas in Peru

We had our first Christmas in Peru! Here in Peru when you ask what special foods or traditions they have the immediate answer is -- paneton y chocolate! That is, fruit cake and hot chocolate. They love it and only have it once a year. So, our teams gave out paneton & hot chocolate in their communities and it was a great time!

Ana & Olivia in 7 de Junio

Carmen with a group of their kids in Enace. Callie couldn't be there since she is at home with her family but all the kids asked for her and she sure was missed!

Here in Peru they also celebrate Christmas at midnight on Christmas Eve. They eat a huge dinner at midnight, open presents, let off fire works and go out into the streets to wish friends and neighbors a Feliz Navidad. We were planning on celebrating Peruvian style but because Daniel and Andrew wouldn't be home until Christmas morning we decided to wait for them. We did go to the Christmas Eve service where we watched an adorable Christmas play. Then we stayed up to midnight playing games and drinking hot chocolate. At midnight we watched all the fireworks from our balcony. The next morning we all slept in---well, I didn't. I really wanted to have Boppa's famous cinnamon rolls for breakfast so I woke up early to make them--totally worth they lack of sleep:) We make stockings for our team and opened them up when the boys got home. We had a lazy, relaxing Christmas and had a big turkey dinner (with paneton & hot chocolate). It was hard for all of us to be away from family for Christmas but I felt blessed to be able to celebrate with our new family here!

Smith Family Visit

We were beyond blessed to have our family here for a couple weeks in December. It was refreshing to spend time with family and to watch Kai adore his grandparents and auntie! It was also so wonderful to have them experience a bit of what life is like for us--the frustrations and joys we experience every day here! While they were here went on a trip into the jungle and did a canopy walk and a boat ride on Lake Sandoval. We were also able to spend a few days with them in Cusco and saw some of the sights there including Machu Picchu! To see lots more pictures and here some more details check here. Time with family is so precious to those of us so far from home. Thank you Boppa, Pa and Auntie Taryn for coming to see us--we love you all very much!

Challenging Times...Please Pray
Again, for all of those who are checking this blog, please pray for our team. We are really feeling like Satan is trying very hard to disrupt what we are doing here. Along with various forms of sickness and other issues. Two days ago one of girls visited the doctor for a vision problem and was abused by the doctor. She is fine and okay but she will be taking time off . Please pray for us as we have to deal with this situation and pray for our team as we are all away from family during the holidays. Thanks, The Smiths

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