It's been a full few days in a number of ways. The one that interests me the most has to do with what I've been learning about helping people. For one, I'm beginning to see that sometimes my help is more about me and less about the other person. In a negative way. When I fill in for Tim's weakness, is that helping him? Or did I just steal his dignity, his opportunity to grow, and his personal freedom? Am I "helping" him because I care about him? Or do I want him to be "successful" (read: do things my way) because it makes me feel more under control and I'm desperate for this little family to fit a certain mold?

It's really not all about my marriage, although that is one of the easiest examples to describe. In the end, it has everything to do with my work as well. We are here to help people. That's a dangerous job for someone like me who is so used to calling "fixing and controlling people" help. How can I genuinely help these people and do it in a way that is healthy? How can I make a lasting positive impact here?

I think one beginning is to remember (as I see and hear the pain and problems of this population) that I didn't cause these problems and can't actually fix them. I'm not responsible for being their "god incarnate." In fact, every time I try to take that role, I am usurping (in one sense) the authority and power of God in their lives. I have a role here, but it's not His. Any true help I give needs to be help that doesn't rob them of their dignity or freedom, create dependencies I can't maintain, or steal opportunities for change and growth. If I "help" someone in a way that keeps them from taking care of themselves or finding a long-term solution to their problem, I haven't helped. I've hurt. If I help this community in a way that creates a dependency on me and holds them back from learning to love and serve one another, I'm standing in the way of God's best for them.

On another (related) topic, I was looking at some of our support-raising materials yesterday and noticed a phrase I used: Investing in people who impact families to change communities and transform culture. It starts with investing in people. Did I forget that? Yes and no. It's good to remember that my strategy and vision for making a difference in this town is to spend time loving people one by one. I'm not here to be queen of Puerto Supe. I'm here to be a friend.

Here are some of my favorite recipes, typed up for another purpose but here to share! The dishes are mostly arranged to be complete meals. All but one of the recipes is from one of my three favorite cookbooks: Barefoot Contessa (all of them but especially the orange one), Moosewood Low-Fat Recipes, or Desperation Dinners.

Cuban Picadillo with Rice
South-of-the-Border Chicken Salad with Key Lime Dressing*
Lobster Cobb Salad
Watercress Omelets with Roasted Asparagus and Oven Fries*º
Bean and Bean Gumbo with Wild Rice Waldorf Salad*º
Southwestern Corn and Potato Soup with Quinoa Black Bean Salad*º
Savannah Beans and Greens Soup with Cornbread*º
Tempting Thai Chicken on Rice
Corn and Bean Stuffed Baked Potatoes with Spinach Avocado Grapefruit Salad*º
Curried Chicken Salad with Green Salad
Roasted Vegetables with Italian Dressing and Couscous*º
Blue Cheese Burgers with Potato Salad
Black Bean Burritosº

Frozen Key Lime Pieº
Dark Chocolate Pudding*º
Nutty Chocolate Biscotti*º
Herbal Iced Teaº
Raspberry Mojitoº
Guacamole with Cottage Cheese*º
Indian Chickpea Spread*º
Cornmeal Spice Muffins*º


*Low-fat recipe
ºVegetarian recipe

Click here for the recipes!

We had 10 people, some tasty shepherd’s pie and great time of discussion afterwards.

This week’s talk was on why and how we should pray. We decided to break up into two groups for the discussion time and since there were an equal number of boys and girls (usually boys are outnumbered at least 3 to 1 at anything God-related), we decided to segregate them. I started my group (men) with the question of whether or not you’d ever prayed and to my surprise, mostly because of their honesty, two of them said no and another said not really. They then proceeded to discuss whether or not God answers prayers, what kind of prayers God will answer and how long you have to pray before God answers a prayer (apparently if you’re praying for a car they decided you’d have to pray 3 times a day for 9 years).

In the process of discussing this M (the druggie) pulled out a small booklet I gave him last week called Why Jesus, a basic explanation of our need for Jesus and how to have a relationship with him. Using the prayer for salvation as an example, he started teaching the others how to pray. In the process he got two other guys in the group excited about the book and they asked for a copy as well.

We ended the discussion praying out loud together very simply with prayers such as “God thanks for tonight” and “God please give me a car” but everyone in our groups prayed and felt comfortable with it (even the 14 year old daughter of our housekeeper that was in Hannah’s group and those who had never prayed before). We then had everyone draw a name out of a hat and gave them the option to pray for that person this week. All in all, tonight was really encouraging and we saw several sign of people wanting to change and grow closer to God. At one point one lady even said the whole point of this is to change.

Thanks for you prayers and please continue to pray for the people involved in this course. We are also planning a day long retreat July 20th and please pray that people would be able to come.

p.s. 5 points if you can tell me the song, album and band the title of the post is from

This week’s question is “Why and how do I pray?”

When we started thinking about a “trial period” of missions, one of our greatest desires was to go somewhere where God was already clearly at work and where we could get caught up in what He was doing. Not everything is easy or fun here in Puerto Supe, but I see so clearly that God has answered that prayer for us. Particularly through Alpha, I am surprised again and again that normal people like us could be part of such a remarkable movement of the Spirit. All of that to say that we continue to be deeply grateful for the opportunity to be here and to host this Alpha course. We are watching God transform people before our very eyes and it is breathtaking.

Here are some ways you can partner with us in prayer today:

1. Pray for our guests to come! This weekend is a major holiday for Puerto Supe, the celebration of “our saint” (Peter), and will be a huge party for a few days. Our guests decided we should still get together. Pray that they won’t be kept from coming and that they will come with open, enthusiastic hearts.

2. Pray for our discussion. To deal with the issue of “super-Christians” monopolizing the conversation, we’re going to separate into two groups tonight according to the involvement people already have with “God stuff.” Pray for that to go over well. Pray that the “Christian-y” group will have stimulating conversation that helps them grow in the faith they already have. Pray that the “seekers” group will take off with their new freedom from people who know it all (or think they do)! I think the discussion this week has the potential to be more “real” as we talk about prayer, our thoughts and feelings about it, and our experience of it so far.

3. Pray for the food- taste, right amount, that Peruvians will like it. This really is a big issue every week as we fill all of the Alpha leader roles. We’re making Shepherd’s Pie. We have decided to continue making non-Peruvian dishes since we can’t really compete with the Peruvians on those! Casserole-type dishes have been a huge relief since they don’t involve last minute cooking. If you have any favorites, send them to me!

4. Pray for us. We want to go into Alpha happy and full, ready to love and focus on people.

We are so encouraged by your partnership and devotion to us. Have a great weekend!

I finished reading J.I. Packer's Knowing God this week. I will definitely keep it in my small collection of "books I will never get rid of even if I move across the world." It has a similar flavor to A.W. Tozer's Knowledge of the Holy, which is another of my all time devotional favorites. Both address what I would consider my #1 life goal-- to know God more and more. Not to know about Him even, but to know HIM. This paragraph from the last chapter particularly stuck out to me yesterday:

Have you been holding back from a risky, costly course to which you know in your heart God has called you? Hold back no longer. Your God is faithful to you, and He is adequate for you. You will never need more than He can supply, and what He supplies, both materially and spiritually, will always be enough for the present.

--No good thing does the LORD withhold form those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11
--My grace is sufficient for you, fo rmy power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9
--God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

Think on these things!-- and let your thoughts drive out your inhibitions about serving your Master.

I think I see myself there-- afraid that if I give everything I have, I'll be left empty and poor. I'm afraid that if I spend time with "unlovely" people, I'll just grow resentful and bitter. I'm afraid He's not enough for me.

Another question, though, is this issue of a "course to which you know in your heart God has called you." I think I'm still a little confused there. I'm thinking in particular about a girl that has attached herself to Sierra. She is in a wheel chair and has brain damage to the extent that even though she is 21, she has the maturity of maybe a 10 year old. Maybe less. She doesn't usually remember things Sierra tells her and can't process very complicated information. She comes by my house every day or two and starts calling from the street (because she can't get her wheelchair up on the sidewalk), "Amiga Sierra!" She's come twice this week even though we've told her a million times that Sierra is out of town for the week. Yesterday (Tuesday) she seemed particularly confused. "Don't we have class [Bible study] on Thursdays?" she asked. I reminded her that it was Tuesday. She didn't quite get it.

All that to say that she is a sweet but very needy girl. I'm terrified that when Sierra leaves she's going to automatically assume that I'm taking over all of Sierra's roles and start coming by to see me five times a week. In all honesty, I don't want to spend time with her. And then I remember Jesus, who after all is our example for how to be a fabulous missionary. The question, "What would Jesus do?" has become remarkably relevant to me over the last two months. And what would He do? I know for sure that He wouldn't literally ignore the mentally and physically handicapped girl calling out for love and attention from the street. But I have.

Is my call to love this girl and give her 5 hours of my attention every week? Do I really have "better" things to do with my time? If it is my call and all that is holding me back is fear, I need to address that. I'm confused between "knowing in my heart that God has called me" to serve this girl and maybe just feeling unnecessarily guilty and not knowing how to set boundaries well.

Thanks for letting me think "out loud." The number of people I encounter here who want to listen to me process through these ideas is pretty slim.

I just ordered this T-shirt for Tim from Woot Shirt, a website that sells a different T-shirt every day for $10 and free shipping ($5 international). The actual shirts are made by American Apparel, which I think means that they will be high quality and fit well. We'll see. Anyway, I thought the shirt was hilarious. Thanks for the tip, Chapmans!

Here's Don F ("Don" being a title of sorts, showing respect-- think Don Quijote). He's an older guy, kind of out of it, doesn't hear or speak well these days. He doesn't have any family left and can't work, partially because of his age and partially because he's a former fisherman and there's no longer any fishing going on. The Comunidad Cristiana supports him monthly with I think around $20. In return (not as part of the deal, but just as a way to say thanks) he started doing a little garden up-keep. Don F, the jardinero.

Most days you can find Don F sitting outside the building we use for meetings, which also is the home of a coffee shop some girls are trying to get going. He just sits. All day. Yesterday I took him a cupcake and brought Ellie down to visit. He seems to like her and she likes everyone, including him. We visited for a while. Mostly we just talked about how fast Ellie was growing. He says he likes to play cards, so I think some day I might go back for a game of War.

Another note on Ellie. She is the life of every party. When I take her out, everyone wants to talk about her. They also ask me if she bites. At home, I would be shocked that someone would imagine my dog would bite. Here, I respond, "Depends." This is meant to be our guard dog after all. No use letting everyone know what a baby she is. They say the breed is the perfect guard dog. I'm not seeing it yet, except in the sense that she might just look scary. Or frighten someone with all her slobber.

Saturday morning my neighbor came and asked me if I could be her grandson's godmother for his cachimbo. Godparents are an interesting thing around here. You have one for baptism but also for first communion, confirmation, first year of elementary school, first year of secondary school, graduation, and marriage. My neighbor assured me this was no big deal, and as the other godmother had to drop out in the last minute (her boss sent her to Lima for the day), I agreed to do it.

As it turned out, she was right. The cachimbo is the ceremony to mark the first year of secondary school. The kids wear their uniforms (plus a cape and hat), the godparents paint marks on their faces, and everyone eats lunch. The whole thing is mostly a fundraiser for the school, because the godparents are supposed to give money to the school and a present to the kid. The other godmother sent the money and present so I really just showed up.

Afterward all the hubub, each family pulled out their picnic basket and found a place to sit and share the meal they brought. We had guinea pig. When the food was gone, the kids cleared out their classroom and danced. Grandma and I took off. In the end, I only had to stay 3 hours. The whole thing turned out better than I expected, particularly because I know it was meaningful for my neighbors and I got to spend a fair amount of time chatting with them. They are growing daily as a significant part of my life and I think vice versa.

For anyone who cares, I've removed the Country Statistics widget (wasn't updating for some reason) and added a Blog Subscription widget. If you want to subscribe to receive new posts by email, you can enter your address in the sidebar on the right.

This last week I spent a few days in Lima picking up a projector and taking my computer to be repaired. One thing I hate about Lima is that it takes 30 mins to an hour to go just about anywhere and the taxis can tend to be expensive. Whenever I'm going somewhere not with Hannah I try to make a point to sit up front because then the driver will talk to me. If I'm going to be in a cab a few hours a day I might as well get some language practice in. Also you tend to meet some crazy people in the process.

I would say in general, taxi drivers are the most difficult people to understand. Their speech tends to be incredibly fast and slurred. To my amazement, I was actually able to understand pretty much everything this time as well as communicate quite well. It made me feel good about my slowly improving language ability.

This last time I was in Lima I took one cab driver who happened to be from Puerto Supe and his parents still live on my street. He proceed to ask me what seems a standard question protocol: How long have you been here? How long are you going to stay? Is your wife Peruvian? Why are you here? So you are Mormon? So you are Seventh Day Adventist? Are you Catholic or Evangelical? Are you a preacher?

I think we must not fit into the usual foreigner mold because at the end of it, they really have no idea what we do. This time was no exception but the taxi driver did figure out I had something to do with religion. He proceeded to share with me a few 2 or 3 word phrases from the Bible and out of no where he asked me how I became a Christian. I gave him a 2-3 minute summary of my life and at the end of it he told me that he was going to be 46 next week and that he had wasted 28 years of his life messing with drugs, although now it's just an occasional problem.

Up until this point the conversation was pretty normal, I'd had half a dozen or so just like it. For the most part you don't talk. You just listen and nod. But then he started saying that he felt God was knocking on his heart and that he needed to change and he wanted to know more about Christ and the Bible. He asked me if I could pray for him like the apostle Paul prayed for people that he would be changed. I explained that I would be happy to pray for him (although I'm far from the apostle Paul) but that I wasn't the one who could change his heart. He interrupted me to say that he knew and he was going to be praying too, it's just that he had to drive and couldn't close his eyes. So we prayed together and afterwards he asked about some churches he could go to. I gave him a recommendation of one that I knew also had the Alpha course in Lima and suggested he check it out.

The whole experience was quite interesting because even though I understood the words I couldn't really understand what was going on. Also I hardly said anything to the man but you would have thought I gave him an hour long sermon. To be honest, I don't know if anything changed in V's life that day or not but I wouldn't be surprised if that was either God calling V to himself or is beginning the process of it. Either way it was pretty exciting and I felt quite honored to be a part of it.

It's been a weird night but somehow I still feel good about where things are going with the Alpha Course. The talk was "How can I be sure of my faith?" I started the discussion by repeating what the speaker gave as the definition of a Christian: a person who has a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It all went downhill from there.

Ten minutes into the conversation, I said, "So I think this is what I'm hearing: You disagree with the speaker. He said to be a Christian is to have a relationship with God. You're saying to be a Christian is to be a good person." Heads nod, mmmmhmmmm. Oh dear. The dominant speakers of the group went on to discuss in super-religious terms how it's all about what you do and whether you're meeting "the standard." Our druggie neighbor did a great job of interrupting and arguing, but other than that, there weren't a lot of dissenting parties.

It's okay. I think this is why Alpha is 10 weeks instead of 3. It was hard letting them go without correcting them, but I have hope in this particular way of bringing people alongside and letting them watch over time, discovering for themselves rather than just being spoon-fed again. When they all left, Sierra, Tim and I just laughed. What was that? A group of people dead set on refusing the liberating truth that you aren't all that great of a person, God knows it (and you do too on one level), and He Himself has made a way for you. They'd rather not be accepted, received, liberated, empowered, caught up in a new life. They'll just focus on being decent people and making sure they don't steal or at least not very often.

If you're ever going to find freedom around here, it's going to be in Jesus. You'll find a lot of small-town nonsense in Puerto Supe (judgment, criticism, gossip, inescapable reputations, hypocrisy) and nothing that looks like freedom. They're taking their grudges to the grave. The only place I'm finding acceptance and forgiveness is in the good news that brought me here. Jesus is the one offering freedom from condemnation and this moral rat race we're stuck in.

Thank you for your prayers. I feel strangely encouraged tonight and I can't imagine why. We had a great turnout, and our druggie neighbor brought along his cousin. He in particular has been a gift to us recently. Pray for him. I'm pretty sure something remarkable is going on in that heart of his. The chicken pot pie was tasty (although Tim still argues we added too much cayenne) and was portioned perfectly. Now there's a miracle if I ever saw one!

We feel good going into our third night of Alpha. Here are some things you can pray for:

• Pray that we would be surrendered to God's will and protected from the attacks of the enemy. We have been having sinking spells before Alpha, either between us or in terms of discouragement. Pray that tonight we would go into Alpha full and happy.
• Our guests. We want a good turn out and want a group that can grow together in comfort and vulnerability.
• The food. We're making chicken pot pie tonight and hoping in goes over well. Pray that we would miraculously get the portions right (difficult when I don't know who's coming!).
• Discussion. Pray that our conversation after the video would flow easily and be meaningful. Pray that it would stay focused on things that matter, guided by the Holy Spirit.
• I think it's very possible that there have been some lives turned over to God in the last few weeks and/or that there are people on the edge of a big jump of faith. Pray for the Holy Spirit's work in the hearts of these precious people and that they would have the courage and clarity to follow God.

As a side note, one of the big ideas of Alpha is that the leaders are not supposed to be preachy. In fact, we really shouldn't do more than ask questions to stimulate discussion. That is working exceptionally well since when they get going, we can't always understand exactly what they're saying!

One more thought about small town life.

Yesterday Sierra had some people over for lunch. They are members of the Comunidad Cristiana, people we think we know well, who are battling with food insecurity. While they were eating, a man came to the door to sell odds and ends. I told him we weren't interested, and after a while, he left. I felt a little awkward about rejecting him in front of my guests. Their comment was that he does drugs and doesn't deserve charity. "Everyone knows that."

This morning my housekeeper asked me about one of the women who was at lunch. She didn't know the woman's name, but she wanted me to know that this particular woman is known to steal things. Is it true? I don't know. Maybe currently, maybe in the past. All I know is that at this point, people who don't even know her name "know" her character. Or at least judge it. She's stuck.

Everyone is suspicious of everyone else. Where does it end? Who can be trusted? Or should I be suspicious, too? I don't want to live condemning everyone I pass on the street.

The last few days have been heavy here. We are seeing the poverty all around us, the hopelessness, the hunger, the lack of creativity and unwillingness sometimes to think outside the box, and I for one feel sad. People here are poor. I want to help, but I feel convinced that hand-outs are not the answer. What now? And what happens when I suggest some other ideas for improving their situation and I hear responses like, "I'd rather just have money."

I hate the begging, both because I am still uncomfortable refusing to give what they're asking for and because I am so frustrated to see a human being reduced (and reducing himself) to such a level, putting aside his dignity and taking up desperation and manipulation. This town is wearing on us even in the midst of our love for it. I'm tired of hearing all negativity all the time and tired of everyone judging and taking advantage of one another.

How is it that some people (like my housekeeper) always seem to be able to find odd jobs and little tips for things whereas other people insist that their only possible source of income is to get a monthly payment from us? How can we help people if giving them money is only going to perpetuation the situation and leave them needing more in another week? How can we take seriously our responsibility as Christians to provide for the poor, beginning with those in our own congregation?

The only ideas I have so far for the poorest of the poor are to write a pamphlet of really low-budget recipes (the kind where a family might be able to eat for $1/day) and suggest that maybe they don't need electricity. The second one still puts me in shock a little, but I really think it might be a solution for some. After all, food is a more pressing need than TV (which they all miraculously seem to have).

Here are some of the things I bought in Lima Monday. It's amazing what you can't get in Puerto Supe and also amazing how many things you can get in Lima.

• Corn Flakes
• brown rice
• rice vermicelli
• nori seaweed (for sushi)
• risotto
• black beans
• orzo
• tortillas
• rice vinegar
• balsamic vinegar
• cider vinegar
• dijon mustard
• sesame seeds
• saffron

As a disclaimer, this post has everything to do with our love for Will Ferrell and is not intended to say anything about George Bush.

I am really growing to adore my neighbors across the street. They are involved in the Comunidad Cristiana in a variety of ways and the whole town can tell from the mom's enthusiasm, warmth, and genuine goodness that she for one is a person transformed by her relationship with God. We see them often and they are becoming increasingly important in my life for a number of reasons other than just seeing them at weekly worship meetings. One is that the mom does our laundry (by hand and then irons every piece). Another is that one of the daughters, a 30 yr old single mom of 2 who doesn't attend the Comunidad, is an enthusiastic participant in Alpha and the knitting group. And a third is that the mom is providing childcare during Alpha for free as an offering to us and to God.

Today when the mom came over to drop off our laundry, I asked her if the whole crew could come over next week for lunch (the main meal of the day). She agreed, but when I asked her how many people would be available (not at work or school), she seemed a little confused and said she'd get back to me. Then she looked up at me and asked, "Are you inviting us to come over for lunch?" Yes, I said, a little confused myself now. What had we been talking about all this time? "No one has ever invited us over for lunch," she said.

Now there's still a chance that there's some confusion here. I started to doubt myself later and think that maybe I communicated to her that we were taking them out to lunch. But what if there wasn't a misunderstanding? What if she really has never been invited to someone's home for a meal? Is it possible? I get excited thinking about how many chances we have here to be a blessing to others. And I'm looking forward to having the lot of them for Black Bean Chilaquile, Mango Avocado Salad, and my housekeeper's delicious garlicky, oily, slightly crispy rice.

Last night's Alpha was everything I wanted it to be and more.

We are scheduled to start at 7, and at 7:45, we had only 3 guests. Two of them were women who are already involved in the Comunidad Cristiana. The other was a girl whose family is involved but who doesn't attend meetings because of a conflict with someone else. I have been wanting to connect with her more. At that point in the night, I resigned myself to the idea that maybe God's work for me with Alpha was just to reach out to this girl.

You know how Jesus always managed to make the food multiply to fit the people? Well last night He did the opposite. As I started serving the food for the three of us (Tim, Sierra, me) and our three guests, the people multiplied to fit the food. By the time I was done serving food, we had 10 guests total. Another (my druggie neighbor) snuck in later just as the video was starting. What mattered to me most was the numbers but the people themselves. We had a great variety in terms of gender, age, personality and devotion to God. The people who came were people I care about, I enjoy being with, and I think could find benefit in the course.

The video was, in my opinion at least, a powerful and intruiguing presentation of our problem as people separated from God and the remarkable offer of God to draw us near again. In the conversation time afterward, there was a comfortable exchange of ideas and opinions. People were willing to disagree with one another, and at the same time, there was an air of mutual respect. We heard a lot of good questions (and ones we don't necessarily know the answers to) like "How do I know if God has forgiven me?" "What is true repentence?" and "How many times will God forgive me for the same thing?"

I for one had a good time. I think others did too and that next week we'll have most of them back to hear the "How can I be sure of my faith?" talk and share their ideas.

PS I botched the food badly and watched the joking about it put everyone (and especially me) at ease during the sometimes awkward beginning time. God's ways always surprise me.

Tonight is week 2 of our Alpha Course. The talk is titled ¨Why did Jesus die?¨ and explains the problem of sin, the solution of the cross, and four analogies for the way God opens a way for us to come to Him. I am so excited to be able to share the message that rescued me from the pit with these people I care about! We will be meeting from 8-11 EST in our house. Here are some things you might pray for:

1. Our guests. I have no idea what that will look like tonight, and although I want to be open to God´s will, I´m also not so secretly hoping for a good turnout. Pray our guests would come eager to hear and receive truth, that they would be authentic during our discussion time, and that the Lord would draw them to Himself, some for the first time. Pray that these precious people would feel comfortable in our home and with one another.

2. Us. Pray that we would stay confident in the sovereignty of God and willing to do His work tonight, whatever that may be. Pray that we would be filled with the love, joy, wisdom, confidence of the Holy Spirit.

3. Spiritual protection for spiritual battles. We are fighting a war here for the hearts of people. The enemy is fighting back, but we know our God has conquered death and has the power to protect us and these people.

4. Logistics. Pray that the food preparation would be smooth. Pray that people would come on time. Pray that we wouldn´t be interrupted by ridiculously loud block parties or crying babies. Pray that everything would go fine with the video.

We are sustained by your prayers! Thank you for joining us in our mission and being part of unearthing the Kingdom of God into Puerto Supe.

We just ate one of the top meals of my life. Wow.









Homemade flour tortillas: Combine 3 c flour, 2 t baking powder, and 1 t salt. Cut in 4 T butter (use your hands). Little by little, add 1 c (more if necessary) warm water. Form into 12 balls and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Roll each out into a tortilla. Heat a heavy (cast iron is good) skillet to med/high heat. Cook the tortillas on each side until they bubble (20-30 seconds).

Fried fish: Cut up some kind of white fish in bite size pieces. Coat it with a batter of 2 T salt, 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c cornmeal and 1/2 c light beer. Fry in oil until crispy.

Cooked salsa: Saute 1 c onions, 2 T of some diced spicy pepper, and 2 T mashed garlic in oil. Add 1 c diced tomatoes, 1 T cumin, and 2 T chopped cilantro. Saute until everything is more or less mushy. Add 3 T lime juice and salt to taste. Throw it in a blender. Serve warm.

Yogurt/mayo sauce: Combine equal parts of mayo and plain yogurt, a little lime juice and however much you want of the following spices: cumin, oregano, dill, cayenne, salt. Toss the cabbage in the sauce.

Garnishes: mango, avocado, radish, cabbage, cilantro

Make sure you prepare enough! You'll want more. Our favorite accompaniment to Mexican food is champagne.

PS- This is the kind of happy accidents you get when you live in a developing nation and can't buy salsa in a bottle or tortillas in a bag. And believe me, it makes all the difference!

Yesterday no one showed up for the knitting club. No one. We meet (supposedly) in a room attached to the coffee shop. As it turned out, only one person showed up at the coffee shop in that amount of time either, and it was one of the two owners. The result was that M from the coffee shop sat with me and talked. Our hour and a half together was precious to say the very least. I see her so often and chat with her, but I rarely have time to really talk with her. She got to tell me more about her sweet preteen son and wildly jealous/macho husband who doesn't like that she works outside the house. We talked about love and insecurity, about how to be a strong woman and a wife who honors her husband, about her fears and dreams as her son makes the journey out of childhood.

How can I be disappointed that no one came to knit when I got such a special afternoon with M instead? I find myself back where I was at Alpha last Friday-- reminded that if I believe in the sovereignty of God, I have to admit that He had a purpose for that time. I'm grateful that it involved such a sweet connection with M.

Thanks for your prayers. Just as an update, I had some good time with people today. My friend A came over this afternoon to read Captivating with me and discuss it. She is young, single, and has no kids (not always true for young single women), but she also strikes me as a remarkably mature girl for her age. I (at least) had a good time with her and am looking forward to more Tuesday afternoons with her.

Our other friends J and C, parents of the infamous dog-washer, came over tonight to play cards and eat pizza. The dog-washer kept herself miraculously occupied for 3 hours with dominoes, playing cards, and Boggle pieces. So far I don't feel like I'm connecting with J and C on the level I'd like to, but I do appreciate spending time with them. Entertainment is always appreciated.

PS I still don't understand how people can keep their 4 year old up until 11 pm and then get her to preschool at 8 the next morning.

Sierra came back from the dentist a little miffed yesterday. She was getting some strange work done, in her opinion, and also frustrated that the dentist seemed to be doing things without consulting her. When she talked to Grace about the whole issue, Grace immediately identified one of the procedures as a root canal. Who knew!? Having names for these things makes them all come into place. I think also that in Peru the medical professionals don't really bother trying to explain details to patients. They assume their patients aren't smart enough to understand. That would be fine I guess if we trusted the "professionals" 100%. But after seeing Tim's cast (which he shouldn't have had), Taza's whole fiasco (which seems to have only been worms) and a friend in a wheelchair because of bad medical treatment, I'm a little hesitant.

Tonight we marked Kyle's departure with a "surprise" goodbye party, which I think was not a complete surprise. Nonetheless, it was a special time for the community to let him know that his time here has made a difference in their lives. Parties are really not my thing, so I was scheming up a plan for how to make it less about small talk with the person sitting next to me and more about something else. In the end we played Pictionary, which I think turned out to be a big success.

This morning the dogs and I were back on the beach, back in our normal routine. It was beautiful out there. We sat down on a flipped over boat and watched the tide come in around us. I love the waves and the wide open sky. It has been such a place of refuge to me recently. I find I am able to pray there in a way I can't in my house.

We had a very strange day yesterday. There was no real guarantee that the guy was going to be done replastering the ceiling, and the house was disgusting. We also realized in the morning that we didn't have the projector and that it was stuck in the Cubas' house with them out of town. I felt a strange peace all day-- very strange when you consider what an anxious person I generally am. I felt deeply grounded in the confidence that God had work for me to do and that He would make possible whatever work that was. It was a beautiful feeling and a freedom I am growing to experience more and more.



Here's how the house looked at 5 when the plaster man left.



Tim and I went to work right away cleaning up and ended up pretty much "done" at 6 with nothing to do for the next hour, much to our surprise.



At 9, we had 8 guests and went ahead and started the video. We were both pretty confused. A number of people had us convinced they were coming but didn't show up. I'll be interested this week to get a sense of whether they really did want to come and something came up or whether they aren't interested. At this point, I still think they actually are interested, but I suppose I'm still learning to read people in this new culture. I found myself fighting disappointment last night but reminding myself that in my head I believe in the sovereignty of God. To take that to my heart means that I rest happily in whatever happens and trust that there is a purpose to it.

The discussion afterward was pretty heavily "Christian-y," which I found frustrating. To me, it felt insincere, like everyone was trying to impress each other with their religion. I'd rather just be real. At the same time, there was discussion, and I didn't feel like it was hard to get people to talk. The biggest encouragements I would say were my housekeeper and my neighbor, who both seem to have a real desire to know God more but right now don't seem to be connected to God the way they want to be.

Taza got her first at-home haircut this week. She's definitely looked (a lot) better, but I think after a few more tries I'll be an okay doggie hairdresser. In the meantime I'm looking forward to her hair growing back out.

And Ellie had her first bath this week. Man did she ever need it! I don't know how other people bathe their dogs, but every time I do it, I end up soaked myself. I've given up trying to stay dry and now just bathe them in the shower when I'm taking one too!

Pray for Week 1 of the Alpha Course (8-11 pm EST Friday night June 5)!

• Our house is currently a total disaster zone. Pray that it would miraculously be done (construction) and clean by tomorrow (Friday) night or that we would miraculously come up with a new location option. PS I'd prefer it be done and clean!
• Pray for the food preparation to be smooth, quick, and not hog all my energy and time. Pray that we would have the right amount of food (enough for everyone but not that I get stuck with leftovers for 4 days).
• Pray for us as first-time small group discussion leaders. We're particularly concerned about how we will keep certain people from monopolizing the conversation with their preaching.
• Pray for our peace of mind as we prepare all day tomorrow. Pray that we would be spiritually filled and that our house would be filled with and protected by God's presence.
• Pray specifically for our guests, for the right people to come and the wrong people to stay away, for open hearts and minds, for growing relationships and community.
  

Here's how the conversation went:

Carpenter: Tell Tim to come home quick! The roof is going to fall!
Me: Is there anything we can do to prevent it?
Carpenter: No.
Me: Well then go ahead and do whatever you're going to go.
Carpenter: Yeah, but Tim needs to see it first. Otherwise he's going to have a heart attack.

As it turned out, the roof was not falling. Only the ceiling. Thank goodness. Nonetheless, it's a mess around here.

Keeping exceptionally busy yesterday helped in terms of avoiding the sinking feeling of watching my house be destroyed again. Wednesday seems to be the day for meetings around here: team meeting in the morning (usually 3 hrs), worship planning meeting at 6 and Board of Directors for the Comunidad Cristiana meeting at 8 (usually until 10). Yesterday I added one new one that I happen to be excited about: knitting.

A good number of the women around town already know how to knit and do it much better than I do. A few others have been asking me to teach them how to knit, so yesterday we started a knitting club. To begin, I'm having everyone knit identical squares, which we will join together to make a blanket. We're going to give the blanket to a family that maybe doesn't have money to buy one (remember it's winter here). They don't seem super stoked about the blanket idea, but they're going along with it.

The main thing is that we had some time yesterday for women to hang out with no particular agenda, some time to be together. People here don't have much to do, so it's good to offer an alternative to gossip. I think also that it has potential as a way to expose new people to the Comunidad Cristiana. I'm going to make fliers for next week. Lastly, the ladies running the Cafetin (coffee shop type place) are in charge of selling the yarn and needles (imported from the next town over). I'm hoping that will help increase their sales a little. Right now I think that their income is like $10 each per month, so anything would help.

Look for some photos next week!

Today I started meeting with my friend A one on one, partially to work on my Spanish and partially to connect with her. She promised to correct me when I say something wrong and I promised to actually try my very hardest not just to say what I want to say but to say it correctly. We're going to be reading Captivating by John and Stasi Eldridge (in Spanish) and discussing it, but I don't have a second copy of the book yet. In the meantime today, we read some of the Bible and then some Al-Anon literature. Her brother is a drug addict currently in a live-in rehab center, so it's pretty relevant for her.

We're going to meet once a week, and I feel hopeful about the relationship that will grow out of that time. I'm praying that we would have a space to be friends and for us both to grow spiritually as well. There is so much I wish for this girl-- self-confidence, hope, purpose in life, joy, a bright future-- and having studied Captivating before, I'm excited to see what fruit is born in her life out of the study. Pray for our relationship and for the Holy Spirit to unveil the beautiful woman she is. He can do it.

I had a sinking moment this morning. As I was moving all of my things out of my office into my bedroom, I found myself back in our first two weeks here and nearly lost it. I just feel like I can't live like this. There is dust everywhere, and there's really no way to clean it up, because they finish at 5:30 and come back the next morning at 8. The noise is unbearable. You can't carry on a conversation in the house. And there's no where else to go in this town. Oh, how I miss Starbucks right now.

I keep coming back to what I learned in the last round, that the Lord carried me. And He will carry me again this time. I can survive this. Being at peace with God, there is no other problem that should shake me. In relation to that peace, these problems melt away. What is a house? What is noise? I am right with my Maker.

Cesar and Grace tell us that Alpha is the big "buzz" this week around town. It's something new and different, which is always fun to talk about, and it sounds like the reaction is good. We've had a couple more people ask us about it who are planning to come.

On Friday we were a little anxious about our carpenter, who is quite a bit older than the majority and not as connected to the various groups present. I wasn't really expecting him to come back, but he told us today (at his own initiative) that he and his wife both had a great time, are coming back, and are going to bring one of her friends. Thanks to Taza for mysteriously attaching herself to him and letting him know he was welcome in our home to visit and not just work!

A day off is significantly less restful when there are people knocking large holes with a chisel and hammer in the wall 6 feet away. Somehow I nonetheless just managed to take a 1.5 hr nap! I think I ought to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for my amazing capacity to sleep in any and all situations.

Anyway, the carpenter assures us that the ceiling was actually going to fall again and that it is in fact necessary to reinforce it asap. He's going to put some trunks across it (on the inside of the house). I guess at home this would be a quick process: drill holes, cut wood, install. Because houses are concrete here and no one owns serious power tools, it becomes slightly more complicated in Peru. The hole in the left of the photo goes through to outside.

He did mention a second ago that it might be better just to throw out the whole ceiling/roof and put in a new one. Tim is pretending he didn't hear it I think.

We just participated in (by internet) what I thought was a remarkably powerful worship service at Northland Church out of Florida. The sermon was on Psalm 84 (How lovely is your dwelling place...) and work. If you're interested, I would definitely recommend either dropping in on the whole service or downloading the specific sermon.