Santa Rosa - What we found.

Sorry for the late blog. We have been very busy here plus having technical difficulties. This is Julie H. by the way, I kidnapped the blog post.  Now that it is time to write I don't know where to start. God has worked IN US in a hundred ways since we have been here. He has opened our eyes and our hearts to this place, these people, and even each other.  Santa Rosa has become dear to all of our hearts. SO instead of trying to convey my heart in words that are nowhere near adequate I will try to show you.

We found Majesty here. Standing amidst extreme poverty we stand in awe of this beautiful view that touches our souls so deeply. A constant reminder that this is also God's place, his people. That He is here and He is sovereign. This view is from the front of the church.

We have found new friends here. So much in common that we didn't expect. An added blessing. This is Jason standing with Eric as they discuss the best setting for the camera. In the field to the right we are playing soccer with the local kids. Eric is one of our translators and just a great guy to know. Next week we will get to spend time with his wife.

As expected we deepened existing relationships.

 This time is so sweet because we know there will never be another one just like it.  This time in history, this place, these people.

We found lots and lots...and lots of dirt/sand. Some of us appreciate that more than others. (Malachi) Next week I plan to play in the dirt too because we found...oh wait I'll tell that last.

We found beautiful children. We were happy to love on them. And it was easy to not be afraid to talk to them. We did ok with some adults but plan to be better next week. We aren't used to being foreigners...and it is very good for us. (this is Lydia with her new buddy)

Lily blessed us. What a sweet mature young lady. Also VERY talented. There are really SO many pictures I want to upload and show you. However, since it takes so much time to upload I had to chose only a few and tried to let everyone see how their kids are doing!! Otherwise I'd have a book on here.

We are a musical group and this has been SO much fun. We worship CONSTANTLY and it is an extra blessing that our new friends in Santa Rosa also play. Worship bridges the gap in the language barrier. We often play the same songs and sing in our own language. We have literally worshiped on rooftops. What a blessing! We are in South America worshiping the same God and he his HERE with us.

We would love to bring these sweet babies home with us...or stay with them. SO many emotions. Such love. So much we have to leave in God's hands but we are grateful for the time we have. We are grateful that His hands are bigger than ours. We will come back again. Syd is ready to stay! Oh how we need more time.

The kids were a little shy at first but it didn't take long for them to claim us.

And to do what we do. We are trying to be a Godly influence in the very short time we are here.

They bless us. Over and over again.

This is their home. But we will leave our hearts here with them.

We hope that they will remember us. The gringos, that is what we are called all the time...and we start referring to ourselves that way LOL below is play time that was lead by Gram and Riley. The church here has a children's program weekly. They could use more hands. Permanent hands.

Ok so I could really sit here all night and upload. It is so hard to chose photos because we have so many and a story for each one.  Graham and Riley constantly entertain us along with Jason. We laugh ALL the time. We have constant music and fellowship. Good food from Reachel here and Aleta in Santa Rosa.

A few stories...we are STILL laughing about. I will share a few sweet things first...then the really funny one that I know Allison's mom is waiting for...then I will have to close.

First on Friday night when we met with the church this older woman named LaLa had bought bracelets for the entire team. That touched our hearts because no one here has "extra" but they are sharing what they have.  Another night we are sitting at the table eating and a family from the community walks up with fresh baked bread for all of us. They heard missionaries were in town and just wanted to bless us! They did. Hearts and stomachs.

We have plenty of these little God moments. For one meal Aleta ran out of hamburger buns. She sent us to the store (bodega) to get more but the bodega was closed. We tried to tell her we didn't need buns but she was really upset. She is our host in Santa Rosa and our cook (we really haven't sacrificed much here). We were debating what to do and the fact that it would take over an hour to get more buns. All of a sudden we hear a horn and this man is coming down the street selling fresh bread in a big basket. It was so small but so big because God provides.


Ok so we saw this sign when we came in...BANYOS DE VAPOR and even Reachel wasn't sure what it was. So we found out that it was a vapor bath. About 10 of us gringos walk up the hill and find this little place and knock on the door. Thankfully Geoff translated because even if we spoke Spanish we were laughing to hard to get thru it. So the three dirtiest of us...which happened to be Riley, Allison and Graham could get ...well...vaporized. Riley was REALLY scared but he was a trooper after Jason said he would only announce it on the airplane intercom if he backed out. Anyway I don't know who was more surprised the "Doc" or us. LOL I have more pics but again can only upload two. SO you will have to get the full experience from one of the three. We had a ton of laughs and a few of us plan to get vaporized next week. They came out of the experience none the worse for the wear and smelling a bit Herby.

Wish I could say more but a picture is worth a thousand words.

Blessings from the Peru team 1. We are thinking of you all. Please pray for us this week as we minister to the youth that come to the Word Made Flesh progam. They are street kids and we get intimidated. Their hearts are more cautious than the kids from Santa Rosa. Please help us to touch their heart and share the love of God. It would be the greatest thing we could ever leave with them.

Blessings from Julie for Reachel who is seriously way to busy here to blog so take it easy on her. They really weren't on staycation for 3 months.