Remember our friend C, the uber-promising Alpha leader who had to move to Lima for work? For now, he's staying in Lima and coming home 1 day every 2 weeks. Yesterday was that day. He, his wife, and his teenage daughter came over last night. We also have a pastor from Lima staying at our house every Sunday night and it just so happened that last night, the guy who came works at a church in the same neighborhood where our friend C is living and working! In a city of 10 million people, that's not very likely. I guess we'll blame God.

Last night was genuinely fun for me. I made some tasty meatloaf (no really, it was!) and my first ever successful Peruvian rice. I felt so relaxed hanging out with them for some reason. Honestly it's a rare experience that I enjoy spending time with people here (is that illegal to say?) but I did last night. These are the kind of people I want as friends.

We ended up talking a lot about the church, here and in general. C and his wife explained why they (and it seems most others) feel uncomfortable at the Comunidad Cristiana here and we brainstormed a little about how to change that. It's a relief to have someone from the outside give us their perspective and trust our relationship enough to be honest with us. C genuinely does have a heart for God, for people, and for connecting the two. It's beautiful.

He says he's been wanting to check out a church in Lima and wondering where to start. We will be in Lima next Sunday morning and are planning on meeting him to go to the church our new friend works with! Funny that he's so interested, because he's never come to the Comunidad Cristiana here. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe God didn't send him to Lima to grow a little in his faith and bring it back to Puerto! We see so much potential in him as a leader and servant of people, and I would love for him to have a season of training under Peruvian Christians in Lima.

This morning at 4 am we walked the 1/2 mile to the bus stop with the pastor who was staying here. We ended up running into C on the way as well. He's heading back to Lima for his next two weeks (but will be home for the Alpha Retreat! yay!). I'm hoping he and the pastor can talk some on the 4 hour bus ride. I've been up since then for some reason and mulling over the weekend's events in my mind. "Sweet" is what comes to mind. Is it okay to call God sweet? I think C would laugh if I called him "sweet," but that's what I saw last night. A sweet, gentle guy with sweet, fresh faith. Thank you, God.

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