a video tour of our house.

Un descanso, por fin!

Saludos a todos que leen...

Since I last wrote I’ve been in the pueblo of Incuyo for 3 days, then in Quilcata for a 2 day adventure and now I find myself in Pausa, finally resting. As a side note, a lot of people have been telling me that they can’t figure out where I am because they don’t see these towns on the map. Well, that’s to be expected… they’re all very small. If you want to know in general where I’ve been the last week and a half and where I’ll be the next week, it’s the department of Ayecucho.

Our time in Incuyo was wonderful. This was an unscheduled stop but it was on the way to our next assignment in Pausa. Stopping in Incuyo allowed us to experience a brand new house church meeting and meet six youth who are the new leaders of the church. These guys are meeting together nearly every night. There is one elderly lady who has been a believer since she was 15, but other than that there are only youth. There has been much resistance in this town; the priest and the religion teacher spread the word among all of the children that the gringos (funny because most of the time there’s been one North American and one Peruvian working side by side) are there to take out the eyes from their heads and their hearts from their chests. A little 10 year old boy with ADD at Bible study one night told us that he had been told so by the priest and we asked him what he thought. He responded that we were teaching only the Bible and the truth. Please pray for the pueblo of Incuyo. Pray for the six youth who will stand in the gap for their town amidst much persecution.

Our next stop was the scheduled “down time” we had been awaiting. Now my precious teammate Ally and I have discovered that we experience down time in very different ways. For her a relaxing time was a two day hiking and camping trip up to the volcano Sara Sara, making it to roughly 18,500 feet (try breathing in that altitude), eating chocolate and coca leaves to survive the altitude, sleeping outside in 20 degree weather, being lied to a lot by our guides, stumbling down the last 3 hours in the dark, and several other things that I’m omitting for the sake of my mom’s sanity. ;) For me, a relaxing time is doing nothing in Cindy’s apartment in Pausa, making pancakes and banana nut muffins, drinking Nescafé and having nearly unlimited internet access for a day and a half. I also slept about 10 hours the last two nights so I think I’m well on the way to recovery.

In a day and a half Allison and I will meet up with our teammate Justin who is in Marcabamba with Derek and Jacob. They have a team of 20 something youth and adults from the states coming in with the specific plan to work in the schools. As many of you know, professors and teachers across the entire nation are on a “paro”, a strike, so this team’s plans kind of fell apart. It sounds like we’re going to be playing a lot of soccer and just hanging out with people. Allison and I are preparing for “camp counselor” mode as there will be lots of young girls who’ve never left the U.S. before. I would guess we’ll clean up lots of vomit, too. Fun times ;)

God’s already showing me how these 40 days in Peru will shape the future. Although there is much to say about how this looks, in summary I’d say I’ve been challenged in two areas. One: live simply. I’ve got a list going in my journal as to what this means. More thoughts to come. Two: God is showing me more in his word and in daily life among the people we meet how the body of Christ is supposed to function. I’m convinced I’m not living as a part of the fellowship of believers as I should be – in my official church congregation as well as among my community. During our time in Incuyo God impressed upon me to start a Bible study at the high school where I work. I have a lot of 8th graders from last year who will be freshman next year who I know need some spiritual encouragement to stay strong in the world of high school. Pray that this would not just be a vision but that it would happen according to God’s guidance.

The Lord has blessed me greatly; the totaled car situation is working out much better than we originally thought. Thank you to everyone who is helping me figure it out. I am grateful for everyday here, facil y dificil, in which God challenges me and teaches me and comforts me. Yet I must say that I cannot wait to be back in the states to share with my church body, my family and friends all that the Righteous One is doing to make his name great in this beautiful country of Peru.

Bendiciones y amor en el nombre de nuestro Señor Jesuscristo.

After spending six days in Bella Union, I am back in Nazca. In a few hours we will leave for Pausa. The weather in Bella was incredible, but now we´re approaching a 16 hour bus ride into the ¨cerros¨where we will be in sub-zero temperatures at night... oh boy! I had trouble with some sickness when I first got here, but am much better now, gracias a Dios. Our time in Bella Union was simply precious; we had an amazing time encouraging and instructing and learning from the Bella Union team. I got to play Allison´s guitar as we sang together every day; I´ve also had several opportunities to do some translating and I think I just might be getting better at my Spanish... poco a poco. I also had an interesting week when I learned that a tree fell on my car and totaled it! Imagine my surprise at that phone call! The same day my i-pod broke. Oh well, no pasa nada. I´m glad to leave the heavy food of the costal areas...lots of rice with every meal! I was starting to put on the pounds! I hear they eat lighter in the mountains.



Our team has an interesting role in stepping in, addressing strategy, forming relationships for less than a week and then leaving again. Last night I said goodbye to many precious lives in Bella Union... to Katia and Roxcela, two pre-teen girls we spent time with every afternoon who are learning English through Bible stories and memorizing verses.... and to Celia, the old Quechua lady who adopted me and Allison as her daughters for the week and stroked our hair and rubbed our hands with her precious, warm hands that are tough and smooth like old leather from years of hard work; I nicknamed her ¨Consuelo¨- comfort ... and to Alicia, the 18 year old who works in the restaraunt beside our hostal who was there every meal with a sweet smile and curiosity in who these 6 gringos are... and to Maria, a girl my age with a husband and 6-year-old daughter who works at our hostal. I invited her to have lunch with us one day and we learned that when she was 16 she left the Jehovah´s Witnesses because she started to see the truth in that they preach extra-Biblical commands. Then her husband became sick and she prayed to the Virgen de Chapi (the patron saint of this region) to heal him and he was better. Now she is devoted to the Catholic faith which in this area is sometimes nothing more than praying to saints and not understanding why ( I could write a separate blog just on what I´m learning of the Catholic church in Peru but just don´t have the time) ... and to Max and his family who run the restaraunt and hostal and in whose life family time is sacred; a present and active father is a rare thing in some of these pueblos as it is in the United States.



I am at the point on my journey that I knew would come where I begin to question this concept of ¨foreign missions¨ ... that which I say I´m called to for the rest of my life. Even now it´s difficult for me to put into words what I´ve learned and soaked up from the Peruvian Christians with whom I´ve come into contact. I don´t question why we do foreign missions. I don´t question scripturally the great commission - go and make disciples. What I question is should we be in Peru? When I first came with REAP North and now with REAP South, I believed that the research had been done and that no other evangelistic work was being done in the pueblos of the mountains and jungles of Peru. I believed this to be an unreached people group - the ends of the earth. Allow me to give just one example of how this is currently being challenged for me. Last night on our 2 hour bus ride from Bella Union to Nazca we met an older Baptist Pastor from a church in Ica, not far from here. He invited us to have dinner with him when we arrived in Nazca and from 9 until 11 last night I learned the mission strategy of an amazing Peruvian Baptist church. I took in too much information to be able to write all of it here, but basically their vision that is already being played out is to send out missionaries, begin churches, find leaders among those believers, send them back to Ica for training, and then back to their own people. He desires to still work with American churches, taking American missionaries who are accountable both to their home church and to his church. This pastor asked me the name of my fiance; he wants Ashley and ¨Cristobal¨ ;) to come back to Peru and work with him.


Another disheartening thing I´ve seen among some Peruvians and Americans, that I´ve come across don´t view salvation as a process.... they view it as a prayer. They focus on conversions and not transformations. This is not the majority but a minority who don´t have a Biblical view of a life in Christ. This blog may sound like a downer, and I hope that´s not how it comes across. I´m seeing some amazing things here, but blogging about the problems I see is a way of processing new information for me ( as well as asking for wisdom if anyone has resources to guide me to!) I think our team has pinpointed several areas in which the volunteer process can improve. All is not disheartening. Bible studies are being started and simple church is beginning in some areas. Young Christians are being discipled and God´s name is beind declared as beautiful and holy among the nations! I pray for wisdom for strategy coordinators to work with national believers in a more fruitful way for the glory of our precious Savior.

in Nazca

Have you ever heard of the Nazca lines? That´s where I am right now... in Nazca, Peru. We arrived yesterday from Lima and on the way stopped in Paracas (near Pisco) to go sand surfing! Oh we had such a blast on a dune buggy in the desert; I´ve never seen sand dunes like this. You take a skateboard without wheels and ride (fly!) down the dunes. Then today I went to see the Nazca lines... maybe it would have been different had I paid for the airplane ride, but I only climbed a tower to see two of the symbols ( a tree and a hand) and they were much smaller than I had originally thought. Interesting but a bit anticlimactic.

I met my new teammates Allison and Justin today. Allison and I bonded instantly and had a sweet time of prayer and singing this morning and encouraging each other with scripture. Both my new teammates are both strong in their faith and will be amazing travel buddies; I can´t wait to hit the road with them! Next stop after Nazca... Bella Union. For now we are in Nazca for a mid-summer briefing of all the volunteers who are in the village teams. In total we are about 75 people here in Nazca and we´re staying in a nice hotel and holding meetings in a local baptist church. The next two days I will be doing one on one and group interviews to check up on everyone and see how it´s been going so far, to encourage and pray with them, and to see if any conflict has risen among the teams. I really enjoy this type of informal counseling... I pray that it will be beneficial for all.

I´m starting to remember some of the cultural differences that I learned when I spent time in Chile that change life for me when I´m in Latin America. Time is more relaxed and people actually take time to talk. When I´m in the states I have my own schedule which is my top priority... everything else comes second. Here if someone wants to talk to get to know me, I don´t stop them and say that I have to go make a phone call or something; I talk to them. This mindset seems to have infiltrated all the gringos on our team and those with the IMB here and I absolutely love it. I love being in a culture where relationships and conversation come before schedule and self. It truly opens the doors for conversations of a spiritual nature.

I am ashamed to say that I am a different type of believer in God here. My prayers are more often, my time in study sweeter, and my conversations more intentional. Even my moment by moment thoughts are more God-centered. I am so grateful for this time in Peru. Many more updates to come; thank you for your sweet emails and especially for your prayers.

Life in Lima

I have three days left in Lima and plenty of internet access, so I thought I'd write again. I did end up going surfing yesterday; I'm not so good at it when it's wintertime here and the coast is rocky. I'd like to try again on a sunny, sandy beach. I rode three waves and never really stood up. Oh well, I can still check it off on my life "to do" list.

My engagement ring has moved to my right ring finger because apparently that's where you wear it here. And I want everyone to know I'm "taken." :) I've been eating out quite a bit... don't know what food will be like when I leave Lima. I've also had just a few lattes from Starbucks. Awww yeah. Good stuff. I've enjoyed getting to know the other missionaries here - volunteer and career. I've been especially blessed and excited about a possible missions career in watching one family - the Austins. They have three pre-teen/teenage kids and have been in Peru a few months. They seem to have such joy in their ministry here in Peru and their kids have adjusted well. The entire REAP South gang is a pretty fun group to be around.

Some of the down time here these last few days has been very nice. And thank God for free downloads from Desiring God and an ipod! It seemed very cushy when I bought it, but I am grateful for sermons and music right now. This morning I was reminded of our hope in future glory... I can't wait to be glorified and finally display Christ's perfections. It's not very often that I ponder eternity in this way, but it's a great time to have a renewed joy in this. It's brought me to prayer for the work among REAP South and reminded me what this is all about. Spent some time praying for you guys at home. I'm excited about what God is doing in our church and community with Adventure Camp. To God be the glory!

I think I am headed to an orphanage in the outskirts of Lima today and then to an evangelical church tonight. Thank you for your prayers. Les extrano!

Estoy en Lima!

Just a quick update to say that I'm here in Lima. God blessed me with incredibly easy travel. Smooth sailing. I walked up to my team just as they had lifted the "Ashley" sign at the end of the tunnel of people at the Lima airport. They had gotten there just in time to meet me.

I sat in on a REAP South team meeting with two career missionary couples and a few other volunteers. I will stay here in Lima just helping out with things/learning/SURFING for a few more days. I know there's a movie night tomorrow night with an ESL class here, church on Saturday and Sunday, etc. Then on Tuesday or Wednesdsay I will head to Nazca where all college volunteers who are all over south Peru will meet up for a mid-summer briefing. I'm very excited about this time of worship and story-telling. During most of the free time there will be individual and team interviews. My first real role will be as an interviewer to give the students a chance to share what is going on with their village team. I hope to be an encourager as well as have wisdom should any conflict management or intervention arise.

After Nazca my team of one other girl and guy (who have already been traveling with a third, but I will take her place) will begin the Barnabas team role and we will spend the next month traveling from village to village. As far as I understand the travel plans are sort of in our hands, so that is one thing to pray for. I also forgot a towel... oops. Other than that, all is well and I will keep you updated as I can.

Thank you for your prayers! Bendiciones de Peru!

T Minus 8 Hours & Counting...

Hi friends & family!

As of tonight at 11pm I am in Peru for the next 40 days. I'll be using this blog to keep you all updated on my travels (as internet is available). I'm working with the IMB through REAP South Peru (REAP stands for Rapid Entry Advance Plan), a church planting movement among the indigenous population of the southern region of Peru. I'll be serving on what's called the Barnabas team traveling from village to village checking on U.S. college students who have volunteered for the summer. The original plan was to be in Lima for a week working with English classes, go to a mid-summer briefing for all of the REAP teams, and then travel for about a month. I've recently heard that some of these plans may have changed so I'll just have to see when I get there tonight.

Please pray that I would be open to God's voice during this trip; that I would learn and be comforted through his word; that I would learn selflessness and be able to minister to my team, to the volunteers I am visiting, and to the nationals. I'm excited about learning more about church planting and how God may guide mine & Chris' future through these experiences.