Happy Birthday, Sad Goodbyes, and Home Sweet Home Awaiting

Tomorrow I will be turning the big 2-1. It will be an awesome way to end one of the most amazing summers I have ever had. Crystal, Kelly, and I woke up early today and took about an hour and a half bus trip to go to a zoo/nature park near Iquitos. We sat on this pier and talked and prayed for about 4 hours. It was a wonderful and much needed time to reflect on all that happened this summer and prepare for transitioning back the United States. After we went and caught a nice chinese dinner in Iquitos and are taking a break here at the internet before we catch a bus back to Nauta. Tomorrow will be a day of many goodbyes. We have to say goodbye to many children, neighbors, pastors, and good good friends. I know many, many tears will come, but the ability to cry when saying goodbye shows that we made friendships and relationships that really matter and are worth the tears and tough goodbyes.

Kelly and I have some major packing to do, as our parents and families know, we are not the neatest of people. We are not looking forward to the packing but we are looking forwad to seeing our families, friends, and being able to share with others about the awesome ways God moved this summer. The other day Kelly and I made a list of all the things we would and would not miss and wanted to share it with you all:
The things we <3 ed:
-The relaxing early mornings with hot tea and hours just sitting in hammocks spending time with Jesus.
-The surprise visitors who just show up at the house unexpected throughout the day.
-The random heavy rain and the beautiful rainbows afterwards.
-The plaza where we spent many a time hanging out.
-The local polleria and their incredible french fries and chicken.
-Speaking/being around people speaking Spanish all the time.
-Bathing outdoors underneath the stars. (We have this abandoned house sort of thing where we bucket bath that has no roof)
-Praising Jesus in Spanish with our church family.
-The weekly kids program at our house.
-Running on Peruvian time (Being late is expected. When a service starts at 7:30...its normal to show up at 8...at the beginning of the summer this was annoying..now we are accustomed to it)
-The street volleyball. We could always find somewhere to play because there are nets set up on almost every street and everyone is always willing to let you play.
- Nuevo Progreso (The location we started our new kids program on Sundays)
-The hot days and cool nights
-Being able to go outside at anytime and just sit/talk/play with the neighborhood kids.
-The internet hang-out spot. Whoever knew that going to use the internet could be such a social thing.
-The beautiful stars at night.
-The small town vibe and the ability to just hop in a motocarro to go anywhere. Driving my own car after two months will be a weird feeling.
-Hearing all the children call us ¨hermana Sarah and hermana Kelly¨
-Bottled Cokes that we could get for 1 sol...which is about 30 cents in American money.
-Being barefoot 95% of time.
- Spilling water and other things on the floor of our house and not having to clean it up (Concrete just isnt quite as high maintenance as hardwood or tile flooring haha)
-The people here, they are truly beautiful.

A few things we will not miss:

-The morning, afternoon, and nightly roosters.
-The kissing noises and whistling we hear walking down the street solely because we are ¨gringos¨ I have never heard the phrase ¨I love you baby¨so much in one summer haha
- The slow slow slow internet, high speed here we cooooome.
-The stray dogs...everywhere

Thats about it. We love Nauta, so there only so many things we will not miss.

We look forward to seeing you soon, thank you for your prayers and support, we couldn´t have done anything without your prayers and God´s power.

This time next week, we will be on our way to Iquitos to catch our nightly flight to Lima----------->Mexico-->and finally to the beautiful Virginia. This week has brought a whirlwind of different feelings. The first feeling is business. Last week was a very busy week. When the week ended we had sucessfully helped with 6 kids programs. Our 3 weekly ones at our house on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 4 pm. We also helped put on the huge kids program on Saturday morning that Kelly talked about in the previous post, which consisted of kids from many different churches. Our friend Cesar, who is always joking was finally able to put his antics to good use and be a clown to entertain the children. Finally on Sunday, I helped at a morning Sunday School kids program and we went over to Nuevo Progreso where we have started a once a week program and we told the second half of the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors and then hung around and played some volleyball.

On Saturday at the kids program, we talked about freedom we have in Christ and how life in Him can break any chains we may have whether its drug addiction, lust, or even just an addiction to the rules and legality of religion, because if there is one overarching theme I have learned this summer, it is that the Christian life is about knowing Christ. We are not here to please people, to go to church a certain amount of times a week, or to know a certain amount of scripture. Those things will not get us into heaven. The other day, Crystal, the missionary and awesome friend we are living with was sharing during breakfast about the passage when the people are standing outside of heaven and God says something along the lines of ¨Leave me, for I never knew you. ¨ They said ¨but Lord we casted out demons and healed people in your name¨ This passage is a little scary but brings so much truth. So many people, including myself, can get so caught up in doing good things, that they miss the most beautiful relationship with the creator of the universe. We have it backwards many times. We try to do so many things like follow rules and regulations in order to say we know God, when it is in knowing Him that we begin to overflow out of love for Him and the good works follow and we can´t help but serve others and seek to glorify Him in all we do. It is hard seeing so many people bound by religion here, but at the same time many times I find myself in the same position. It takes all the beauty out of the grace of God. We never deserved grace and we never will be able to deserve grace, that is why it is grace.

Life has slowed down a lot since our crazy kids program filled week. 2 days ago I got news that my grandfather on my mother´s side passed away. Being a world away in a time like this is not easy, being away from family, but what joy I have in reflecting on the wonderful memories shared with my grandfather and rejoicing in the truth that his citizenship is in heaven.

A few fun stories/tidbits that have happened in the last few weeks:

1. The other night we were out front of our friend Isai´s house. Many people here have tables outside the front of their houses because they eat dinner outside late at night. Well we were all sitting on the table taking pictures and all of the sudden the table began to move. Soon we were all the the ground with most of the neighborhood laughing at us. It turns out that the table was not quite as sturdy as we thought.

2. Yesterday Kelly told three of the neighborhood girls she would paint their nails. So she invited them into the house and because we are both softies, she ended up painting their fingers and toes, and then they got a hold of her camera, so now we have pictures of the inside of our refrigerator, the bathroom, and many other random things. The children then listened to our music and fell asleep in our hammocks. About 5 hours after arrival we finally managed to get them out.

3. Now that Chris is gone, the cooking responsibilities have grown immensely. Crystal is always out and about working and running errands and so we all cook together and are learning many things. The other day Kelly and I successfully went to the market and bought a chicken, bread, milk, and juice. So we may have accidently bought way too much juice, but things could have been much worse. I also learned how to cut a pineapple with only minor cuts and bruises..haha well I only cut myself once and there was not thaaat much blood.

4. The other Sarah, Sarah Jennings was sick a good amount of the summer and finally got tested for parasites and had two. Dear Kelly Brill has been having some stomach pains lately, nothing serious, but it is still immensely cheaper to deal with testing and treatment here than in the U.S.(test and treatment here is like 10 bucks in American money) So today we went by the hospital and soon we shall know if any lovely parasites are crawling around in her body.

5. Last Sunday before our kids program we went to Isai´s grandparents house. His grandfather is also a pastor. They invited us to eat lunch with them before we headed over the kids´s program. Isai and his cousin Cesar call their grandmother their ¨crazy grandma¨ so we really weren´t sure what to expect. She is an amazing woman of God and a prayer warrior, but also brought some enjoyable memories. Kelly had the privilege to sit next to her at lunch. She began to serve Kelly soup, rice, fish, plaintains and she just kept going and going, and Kelly just kept eating and eating, while I was laughing and laughing. Kelly would just say Gracias and the grandmother just continued giving her more food, even from her own plate. If I am correct I think she ever gave Kelly her fish head to eat, which Kelly managed to somehow avoid eating. She also continually spoke to Kelly in Spanish, the rest of her family tried to explain that Kelly doesn´t speak Spanish but she insisted that Kelly could understand her.

6. For all of you youth who grew up in the 90´s...remember Pogs? Well I guess Peru is just way behind because that is the big thing down here right now, except the game is called Taps. I forgot how bad I was, I just lose, lose, and keep losing. The kids will give me cool ones with Barbie or Pokemon pictures, but then I just lose them playing someone else haha.


That is it for now. One week left. Keep praying. The Lord is good all the time.

Sarah Booth
p.s tried to put pics up but wouldn´t work:(

dos semanas mas

All the kids made pictures of Joseph and his coat of many colors! This is at the Quebrada....playa del amor!! We had a mud fight!

This was the jump where i hurt myself.....it hurt REALLY bad!! Somebody´s STUPID idea!

Sarah and I with our two favorite kids....Lains and Junior!

okay! sorry I have not posted in quite some time. We just get busy around here, and I don´t even think about updating!

Life has been CRAZY around here. Today, Sarah Jennings and Chris leave for good. Chris will be heading to Congreso in the jungle for a week and a half, and sarah is leaving to go back to the United States. Yesterday was the beginning of Many tears!!!! Our neighbour, Lita comes over every morning with her little daughter. Lita is 16 years old. Her and Chris have formed quite the relationship. She helps Chris with her clothes, cooking, and taking her to the market, while Chris gives her clean water, food and money! Although there is a language barrier, Chris has reached out to this young girl, and has blown her away with Christ´s love. Now watching them say goodbye is even difficult for me. On a better note, Crystal has returned here to Nauta after being in the jungle for two months. I enjoy having her here. She knows more scripture than I have ever seen, and everything reminds her of a Bible verse.

This weekend, Sarah and I are helping put together a program for about 100 kids. This a LARGE group, but we are so excited to help out. We put together a lesson for the kids. This is independence week, so the theme is going to be about freedom. We will be sharing Luke 9, when Jesus healed the demon possessed man, and set him free. Jesus then told this man to go share about what Christ had done for him. There are so many things that bind us in this life. It could be money, religion, alcahol, or drugs. The only things that can ever set us free from these things is the cross of Jesus. He is the only one that can break the chains that bind us. Hopefully everything will go well on Saturday.

Recently, I injured my foot. One night, a group of us were outside on our front porch, and we were taking a bunch of photos. Well, somebody decided it would be a wonderful idea to jump off the front porch, while somebody is taking a picture of us. As we were landing, my foot landed on something, and the front part of my foot got pushed up. I was limping for the rest of the night. When i woke up in the morning, I could not even walk on my foot. Needless to say, all the kids loved making fun of me. They would imitate me by hopping on one leg, and they would call me the crippled girl.

Continue praying for us these last two weeks. We still have many friends who have not yet accepted Christ. They are so interested, but none have actually taken the next step. We have one friend who is constantly struggling with the decision to accept Christ. We constantly tell him that you can not have the world and God. A choice has to be made. We pray he makes the RIGHT choice SOOOON!!

So, our time here is winding down. I don´t know how I am ever going to say bye to the children here and the new friends we have made. Yesterday was difficult for me, just watching others say goodbye, and i know soon it will be me and Sarah´s turn! We talk about how we are excited to go home and see our family and friends! But then we like to make jokes about losing our passports also!! We talk about the things we will miss, and the things we definitely WILL NOT miss. I will not miss hearing the roosters at 1 :00 A M, or hearing hello my beautiful love. I think those are the only english words peruvian men know! But all the good outweighs the bad. I will miss hearing the children say the verses outside on our porch. There is this boy junior, who is one of our favorites! And at night now, He likes for us to come sit with him on the porch. He will just lay in my lap, and I run my fingers through his hair until he is tired and wants to go to bed! Life has been good here. Please keep praying for us!!

Kelly

At Kel´s party with Carlos and Betsy and Kel´s new jewelry

The paint crew hard at work

Our Lion Masks at the new kids program

After going star gazing here one night....the view is amazing!!

Chilling with our friends in the plaza...like usual haha

First off, I must apologize for how much time has passed since our last update. At first we did not update because there really was not too much going on, but now we haven´t had anytime because we have been so busy. I wish the words I type could truly describe to you what an incredible time we are having. Hm...where to start.....Well last week the main church we do a lot of work with took a team into the jungle for a week because the pastor, his wife, and about 12 others left, we were asked to help out by taking over 2 of the 5 weekly services. The first service I spoke about love: Agape, Fileo, and Erros. I have been learning a lot about this, especially after reading 1 Corinthians recently. There were not too many people there because of the mission trip and also because right before the service it was raining very hard, but it still went very well and if anything I left the church extremely challenged by my own words. For the second service, our very own Kelly Brill got up and shared her testimony and I translated for her. She talked about how through a horrible sledding accident, God became very real to her and how life is so short that we shouldnt waste it on things of this world. We definitely had to practice a few times before and two of our friends Isai and Jorge helped me figure out words that could replace 4-wheeler and sled and other things that most Peruvians who have never seen snow wouldnt understand. It was awesome to see Kelly share and Isai´s father Pastor Bazalar, who is another local pastor would like her to come share in his church sometime as well.

Our kid program continues to go well and on Sundays we have started another kids program working with Pastor Bazalar about a 30 minutes walk away from where we live. In our weekly kids program the kids know all the songs, many of the stories, and an incredible amount of Bible verses from the memory verse program we have going on. But in the new location the kids hardly know anything, but it is so much fun teaching them. Last sunday we shared the story of Daniel and the Lion´s den and talked about God´s faithfulness to Daniel. We then made lion masks to help remember the story. Afterwards we just hung around a few hours and played volleyball, and the the first time won a little bit of money instead of losing like usual. By the way the betting here always very small amounts of money, like one sol or 2 soles which equals about 30 to 60 cents in American money. It is a huge cultural thing here, everyone does it. It is such a great way to build relationships with the people that live here, especially when there can be a language barrier.

In other news, 5 Americans from the Adventures in Missions team were sent from the jungle to Nauta on a fast boat to be tested for Malaria and Denghe fever. I met them at the port and took them to the hospital. All the tests came out negative and they were all told they had a bacterial infection and given antibiotics to treat it. 4 of them woke up feeling a little better, but one girl woke up with incredible pain which everyone thought to be appendicitus. While the 3 went back to the jungle, Molly, the team leader Jesse, and our house mom Chris left for Iquitos to treat her. While she was gone, we decided to get busy and do some physical labor and house work to surprise Chris when she returned. She has been meaning to paint our walls for a good while now. They were kind of a mixture of concrete and some green paint. So we all woke up early and began. Kelly and Sarah began washing the walls, which was the messiest part of all. I decided to take on the job of ¨mowing the lawn¨which in Peru translates to Machete time. Our backyard has been growing out of control, so I began chopping away using my machete ¨skills¨that I picked up last year in the jungle. After about an hour, about 13 neighborhood kids showed up , many with their own machetes to show me how it is really done. These kids have the most amazing work ethic, they didnt want anything, they just really love us and wanted to help. About three hours, many blisters, and a bit of sunburn later it was done. I went down the corner store and bought some cookies and coke and we all relaxed in the shade, it was so much fun, those kids are so precious. By that time, Kelly and Sarah finished wall washing. We took a break and met up with our new friend Patty who showed us a new swimming spot named Playa Del Amor, or translated The Beach of Love. After all the work it was relaxing to cool off and swim...no worries we did not find any romance on the beach..but we did have a lot of fun. We returned, prepared and had our kids program and then began painting away. We had two of our friends and old students from the institute helping us paint, it was actually successful...more paint ended up on the walls than on us. Sadly, Chris showed up in the middle of our surprise, but she definitely appreciated it. The doctors in Iquitos said that Molly had a urinary tract infection and not appendicitus and so she is now at our house recovering until the rest of her team arrives in Nauta today or tomorrow.

Last but not least, yesterday was a very special day. Little Kelly Brill turned 20 years old. We had a great day. We woke up to amazing chocolate chip pancakes which Chris has been planning for awhile because Kelly and I would always talk about how they are our favorite. We then went with some friends to this huge garden of all sorts of plants. Our one friends knew so much about the plants. There was cotton, coconuts, and lot of medicinal plants as well. We ended up overlooking water and had a nice view of Nauta. We came back and had a great lunch and then went and played so basketball. Kelly and I went and got some of Nauta´s best french fries and then we headed back to the house and had cake and ice cream. About 20 of our friends came to celebrate, it was an awesome time. Our friend Jorge and his mother knit Kelly a beautiful wall hanging that said PAZ...which is peace translated. Another friend Betsy made her some beautiful jewelry and our friend Cesar, the joker of the group finished with the best present, the Peruvian tradition to crack an egg on the birthday girl...which I think we all enjoyed much more than Kelly did. Anyways we are headed to Iquitos this weekend. It will be a nice break.

God continues to do awesome things. More and more people are interested in the gospel. I was just sharing last night with a friend who always seems so full of joy. He really opened up that he is absolutely empty inside and has even contemplated suicide. His best friend committed suicide last year and he is really struggling right now, from family problems to financial needs. He said he just wants a new life...to start over. That is exactly what we get in Christ...the old things pass away and God gives us a new life. Please continue to pray for the youth here. There is so much hopelessness and emptiness that only God can fill.

Congrats if you read this all. We miss you and love you so much.

Paz

oooo, life here in nauta!!

So, one night it was storming really hard, and i was home alone. I broke the rule and let the kids come in the house. We all had a good time, and I really got to practice my spanish since no one was home!! I just love these kids! All the Ninos!

These are some of our friends. We were in the plaza last night and Decided to get some pics!

This was after a big evangelical campaign that they had in the streets. All the kids came out, and this is our friend Isaig!

Sarah, Indra and me

So, I apologize that it has been so long since the blog has been updated. This past week, nothinggg happened!! It was a very relaxed week, and it was much needed. Sarah and I got plenty of rest in. We have been hanging out with our friends, doing the children´s program every week, and just LOVING life down here. God has truly been working down here, and Sarah continues to have AMAZING opportunities to share the gospel with our friends. I love it! I want to ask all of you to continue praying for the friends we have made down here, who do not know Christ.

Anyway, to change the subject, we have been on a water shortage. We have not received much rain here lately, so our water supply is very low. This means that when we bathe, we get one tiny tiny bucket to wash our hair and body . Just think how much water we use in America for our showers. I am so used to taking 15 minute showers, but here, I get one bucket. Sarah and I managed to get by today, with water to spare!!

Sarah and I experienced our first time of washing our clothes in buckets. Oh my, how difficult that was, but we managed to get through it. We were scrubbing, scrubbing, and scrubbing. The little girls here would put us to shame, they all work so hard.

We love each day that we are here, and we can see God working in many different ways. I can not believe that we have been here for a month, and we are half way through with our trip here in Nauta. We constantly talk of how difficult it will be to leave this life here, and the friends we have made! Please continue praying for us!!

This is Me and Kel outside our house with the kids before church one night! They all came in begging for water so they could bathe for the service! They put on there best clothes! This is our interviewing at the radio station!

Our first peruvian wedding! So interesting. 4 Hours is a long time!!!

This was at the all night service. This was taken at 2 30 in the morning. We were Tired!

Times have become quite busy this last week. I only have about 45 minutes to update this before our children´s program at our house at 4. Friday night there was an even called a vigilia...which is when many churches come together for a huge praise and worship service and to hear a few different messages, often times these services go to the early hours of the morning. My one friend Melvin who is learning English asked what the word is in English, I think it literally translates vigil, but I also told that we don´t have services that lengthy in the states. The service started at 7, our friends Isai and Cesar´s band was playing and they are awesome. After an hour or so of singing and praying, there was a speaker, Isai´s father who is a pastor at a pentecostal church in the area and later a Baptist preacher spoke. Both great sermons, but we all were struggling to stay awake around 12 am...We caught our second wind during the second round of singing, but were very excited around 2:30 when it ended. The people have have such a passion for the Lord here, it is so encouraging. They are not bound by time restrictions or inter denominational struggles because they embrace the fact that we are all serving the same God. Speaking of this passion for knowing the Lord, many villagers from villages days away have come in canoes in the past couple of months crying out for preachers to come to their village with the good news of Christ. There are still many who have never heard. These people really do treasure the truth of the gospel as a precious jewel. Back to our all night service, we went right to bed.

On Saturday, we had our children´s program and then went to a Peruvian wedding. It was so different than the United States. 5 couples got married in one church. The church was decorated with toilet paper and balloons and the first hour was like a regular service, with singing and a message. An hour letter each couple walked down with their parents and individually went up to say their vows. They don´t really have receptions here. Afterwards the couples left and everyone stayed in the church for a meal, chicken and rice, and eventually things slowly wound down. One couple that got married looked about 75 years old. They were so precious and the minister made them kiss twice because he jokingly said the first kiss was not good enough. Although we all three tried to avoid, we were called up to try and catch the boquet...of all five brides. Kelly almost had it once but once she realized whoever caught it had to say words of congratulations and wisdom to the bride she quickly gave the flowers over to the girl she fighting with. Don´t worry Kelly, one day your prince will come.

In other news, this weekend another American team has arrived. They come with the same organization, Adventures in Missions, that I went into the jungle with last year. They are about 12 high schoolers and three older leaders. They will be here for about 3 weeks working with Pastor Williams, a local pastor. One of the boys had a birthday yesterday, so the other Sarah, the one who actually has cooking skills made a big cake that we all shared after church. It was a little different than American cake, but was still awesome. Right now there is a Christian campaign going on. There is an American Evangelist here who is married to a Peruvian woman from the jungle and has been to 50 different cities all over Peru. His wife spoke at a conference today about the armor of God, it was an awesome message. Tonight and tomorrow night are the biggest events. There is a stage set up in the plaza for music, dramas, and messages tonight and tomorrow. I can´t wait to see what God is going to do.

Last but not least, I can´t forget this. Saturday morning, we were on the radio. One of the pastors interviewed us. We are kind of famous haha. We found out after that the radio goes into Iquitos and the jungle as well as Nauta, so we had quite the audience. We just shared about who we are, why we are here, and I was able to give a little message on the hope we have in Christ and how I have learned that the things of this world only bring joy for a few moments, while Christ brings a joy that last a lifetime as well as into eternal life. I shared John 10:10 as well. It was a very cool opportunity and fun to have people we knew saying...hey I heard you on the radio today!

Thats all for now!! Keep praying and leave your comments!

we´ll try not to burn the kitchen down!

This was our volleyball game in Graur. We had a lady from this village on our team, but we still lost. This is at the beginning of the Amazon river. Where the beach strip ends is where the Amazon begins!

We were adding the finishing touches to our pizza. This was before sarah tried to kill us all!

We were just beginning our meal! I would have been lost without Sarah jennings helping me out. The whole teaspoon, tablespoon can really get confusing!

So, we have entered our third week of being here in Nauta. It seems like sarah and I have been here for so long. We are so excited at the fact that we still have 8 weeks to live here. We had an awesome weekend in Iquitos, but after 3 days of not being with the kids and seeing our friends, we were ready to head back here to Nauta. As soon as we arrived, all the kids came running, grabbed all our bags and carried them to the house. Needless to say, they were excited to see us!

Well, a few interesting things have happened the last few days. Sarah and I have no cooking skills whatsoever. WE have told our friends that we can not cook. So one day, sarah and I decided that we watned to make a whole meal for our frieds and for the lady we are staying with, Chris! Also, Sarah had a conversation with a friend here who said he really wanted an American meal. So, we decided that we would make pizza, cheese bread, and cookies! On Tuesday night, we had a practice run of our meal. We wanted to see what it would taste like before we actually served it to others. Sarah ,the other Sarah, and I began our cooking adventure. Everything started out so well, the pizza looked delicious, the garlic cheese bread was amazing, and the cookie dough batter looked perfect. After we finish eating our delicius meal, we bake our cookies. Chris noticed that they smelt quite interesting, and realized that we had actually added a special ingredient to our cookies. Sarah Booth had picked up Amonia instead of baking soda. Apparently peruvians dont know what baking soda is. I was a little concerned because i was continuously eating the cookie dough batter. Instead of coming to peru and dying of malaria....i would die from amonia in my cookies!! We just need to keep sarah booth out of the kitchen!

Yesterday, we headed to a village called Graur with a church down here. It is where the Amazon river actually begins. It was so interesting to be in this village. There is absolutely nothing there. No internet, phones, or televisions. They just sit outside on there porches, and play soccer and volleyball. We actually played some of the jungle woman in volleyball, and they were SOOOO good! Needless to say, they beat us, and we lost money because we had bet on the game. They actually beat us 3 times. Apparently the thing to do down here is to bet on any sports games that are played. I thought that was really interesting.

Anyway, this village had one sidewalk, and one school building, thats it! I continuously asked sarah how people could live like that, with nothing. She just said that this is all the life they have ever known, so they don´t feel like they are missing out on anything. I am seeing and learning so much here. It´s a completely different way of life than I have ever seen.

Pray for us, tonight is the night we are making our meal for our friends. Sarah is out right now trying to actually find baking soda to put in our cookies. lets hope she finds the right thing this time!!

Life is amazing here. Sarah and I are enjoying every moment of this. Pray that we will continue to build awesome friendships, and that we will be able to share the love of Christ with our new friends! It´s difficult for me since I do not know Spanish, but sarah has Alread been able to really share the Word of God with some of our friends down here. This really is an awesome experience, and God is working!!

Adios!

Ice Cream and Clean Clothes?....Que Buenooooo

Kelly and I overlooking a small river in Iquitos.....beautiful sky!

Fathers Day is a big deal here. After class on Friday, our friends from the institute told us we should go to the local school who were having a big shing dig for father´s day. Classes were cancelled and there was dancing, singing, and many presentations. Moments after showing up our friend Isai pulled us to the front and we found out we were to sing ¨Mighty To Save¨ by Hillsong in front of hundreds of people with just a guitar and our voices. The students were excited to hear a song in English and even wanted an encore. It was quite the experience and the surprise but what a blessing to sing about the Lord´s power to save in front of hundreds of students.

The four of us singing with Isai accompanying us on the guitar.

Here ya go Daniel! This is the street we live on and the one below is the front of our house!

It is such a joy to be coming to you all at a quicker internet connection than the one in Nauta. We are spending the weekend in Iquitos and Pastor Jorge´s house. He is in the jungle with a team so his awesome wie Elvira is alone for a few weeks and invited us to spend a weekend with her. It came at perfect timing because here in Iquitos they have laundromats, and so we were about to begin hanwashing all our clothes but realized we could bring them here. Friday after the kids program we left and arrived after a 2 hour bus ride to Iquitos where we had a late dinner and went straight to bed. It felt awesome to sleep on a mattress after 2 weeks on just a wood bed frame. It is interesting to come to Iquitos which is a land of comforts when compared with Nauta. I can get ice cream here, go to nice restaurants, and even see a movie, but would never trade my 2 months in Nauta. My heart is there, with the children who wait outside our door to see us and the youth and the institute who we are building incredible friendships with. God is teaching me a lot...how to be flexible, how to take risks, how to just sit and be quiet before Him. Kelly and I are having the time of our lives. Here are just a few moments that we have had that may bless you with a little laughter:

1. One night on the way back from church there was a very drunk man trying to talk to us in the street. Well after we went to bed we heard him outside our house talking to some of the children (who were just laughing at him bc they are very used to the town drunks) he then began to pass gas very loudly which caused kelly and I to erupt into laughter....I fell asleep moments later...well about three times during the night Kelly woke me up to tell me the drunk man was outside growling. To me it sounded like dogs, but i just reassured her it would be alright. The next day sure enough there were about 6 or 7 dogs outside or house making the same noises as the ¨supposed¨ drunk man...we couldnt help but laugh.

2. Today on the way back from eating large amounts of ice cream, our motor car driver who told us he knew where he was going really had no idea. So we spent about an extra 15 minutes riding around extremely bumpy streets looking for the pastor´s house. We finally arrived and were very hapy that our ice cream stayed in our stomach.

3. While we were teaching at the institute we were playing a game where we had to say a sentence in Spanish and see if they could translate it into English. Well I began with the sentence ¨Kelly....¨ and was thinking something along the lines of tiene una hermana (has one sister) but before i got it out one boy shouted out in a thick peruvian accent ïs my lover¨ I laughed for about 3 minutes straight before i could pull myself together.


I hope you enjoy those and the pics....thanks for the prayers and support....we love and miss you all mucho!

3 church services a week...and i dont understand a thing!

So, this has been a great couple of days. Sarah, Sarah and i have been getting up in the morning to go teach at the english institute. i like going there obviously because i get to speak english! We have been teaching the students worship songs. This week we taught them God of Wonders, and they love singing these songs. Today, we met with some of the students because they wanted to practice the song, and practice their english. Some really want to learn, and then others just want to be around the american girls! lol We have been playing with the kids like usual, and they are still precious as ever. We had Bible School today and the lesson was when jesus turned the water into wine. we did a little skit and made the water turn into red juice. The kids really liked that. So, the church services are so interesting. I go and don´t understand much, which is kind of frustrating, esp. since i have to sit there for like a good 2 to 3 hours sometimes. I have noticed a few things though, as i sit and listen. Everything is so simple here. The church services, music, and buildings are all so simple. They come not because they have this sweet sound system and lights, and the music is just off the chain. No, they come simply because they are so in love with Jesus. Some times in America, i get so caught up in the lights and big bands in the church services that i miss the point of why i am there. Being here puts things into perspective. I´m not necessarily captivated by how the music is presented, but i know that we are singing to Jesus, and thats all that matters. Sarah and I are totally enjoying ourselves. She asked me the other day what was one thing i missed from America and i said, the comfort of a clean bathroom. lol and She said she misses a nice shower. But none of that seems to even matter to us. Things have defintely been interesting since i have been here, but it´s all wonderful. Continue praying for us!

God Bless

When it Rains...It pours....seriously

I know that phrase ¨When it rains it pours¨usually refers to how when something bad happens to someone...usually many bad things follow. But in our case we are talking about the literal rain. There are moments of sun....then of all of the sudden it pours...and then things are dry again...and the rain begins all over again. We saw an awesome rainbow after the rain though...the whole rainbow...there was a second one too..it was very beautiful...a great reminder of how many times it takes a lot of troubles and hardwork to finally see the rainbows in our lives. Life has been so good here. We are starting to get into a bit of a routine which is nice. We usually go to the institute in the morning to teach some English and then have a few hours of free time before lunch. Monday, Wednesdays, and Saturdays we have the kids program in the afternoon and then usually play with the kids till dinner. After that we either have a church service or find something else to do around time. This morning at 5 am, the other Sarah and I met some of the youth from the church to run a few miles around town yelling and singing..some tradition for today´s date. We told Kelly about this opportunity last night, she just laughed and told us to have fun...but hey she missed out on a great sunrise. About the children, I have fallen in love. They just sit outside our door and wait for us to come out. Our porch has become a playground and the walls are so thin we can often hear them singing the songs or reciting the verses from the vacation bible schools. Both Kelly and I are improving our Spanish majorly and have only been here a week. On Saturday at the youth service I spoke a short message about how there are so many things in this life that try to fill us with joy, but nothing lasts like the joy we find in Christ. It was a little nerve wrecking speaking Spanish in front of the pastor and all the youth, but it was the super drunk man in the back shouting random phrases and wandering around that made it hard. But hey if a drunk guy has to wander somewhere, where better than a church? Kelly and I still haven´t mastered any cooking skills. Today Chris made some incredible bbq chicken which we shared with two men who were working on our house, they laughed about how Americans can´t eat their food without some kind of sauce on it. Well that is about it for now. Keep praying for us..God is doing great things!!
Sarah Booth

bad soccer and mud fights in the street

So, today was a awesome day. This morning around 7 30, we went to the institute where the youth here in nauta are learning english. Sarah, Sarah and i had the floor for a class period. We broke up into groups, and helped them with there english. This was really good for me, because while i was helping them w- english, i was able to really practice my spanish. This was an awesome opportunity for us. After class we were able to invite the students to come to a youth event at the church tomorrow night, where Sarah will be speaking. pray for the youth here. some of the students we invited dont all know Christ, so this will be an awesome experience to share the gospel with them. After we went to the institute, we met up with the kids and went to play basketball, volleyball, and soccer. The kids are soooooo precious. We ended up playing in the rain and were soaked by the time we ended back at the house. We figured since we were already a mess, we might as well get a little muddy. Well sarah ended up throwing the first pile of mud and it ended up in my mouth. next thing we know....all the kids are out in the street and we were all in a huge mud fight. We were a mess. We all ended up walking down to a little water hole and the kids dumped buckets of water on us to clean us off. We had SOOOOOO much fun today. i am so excited to be here for two months, and really dont want to imagine what it will be like to leave these people. i have only been here for 4 days, and have already built great friendships, and wonderful relationships with the children. Sarah is awesome with the kids and we feel so blessed to be down here in nauta. Continue praying for us, and the community here.

Awkward Runs and Difficult Bathing Times

The first 2 pics are from the church service. The last pic from left to right is Elvira(Pastor Jorge´s wife), Sarah B, Chris, Kelly b, and then the other Sarah.

We are here! And by the title I´m sure you may be wondering what we have experienced so far. Our housemates Sarah and the missionary Chris are awesome. We are all getting along so well. Yesterday we arrived in Iquitos and ate lunch at Pastor Jorge´s house (the head of many of the Amazon churches I visited last year in the jungle). We also went shopping and got some money exchanged. It felt so exciting to be back in the same city as last year. After a 2 hour ride back to Nauta, we quickly unpacked and washed up. Al the bathing here happens with buckets. This makes showering a little awkward, but hey it´s always a fun experience. We then went to visit Crystal (another American missionary), who was about a 7 minute ride away and is with a team of about 20 college students preparing to go into the jungle for 2 months. We then went to church and had a blast meeting all of the children. They are so precious and hopefully our pictures will load correctly so you can see the kids. About the awkward run, Kel, Sarah, and I decided to go for a 7 am run around Nauta. Here in Peru, people don´t run for fun. So we enjoyed the staring people, laughing children, and awkward glances we got. I LOVE IT HERE and am so excited to get plugged into all God has planned for us. Kelly and I get to experience our first bible school today, usually about 30 to 40 kids come to our house. I am going to read and teach on Jesus when he was 12 and his parents left Jerusalem thinking his was with them when actually he was in the temple, his father´s house. This will be a great lesson for the kids to understand how important it is to communicate with the Lord through reading the Bible and prayer. Well that´s all from us for right now. Continue to pray that we will be obedient to whatever God has for us.

Much Love from Peru

Leaving on a Jet Plane....

This is the day!

We fly out of Dulles at 5:32 pm ---> Mexico City. From Mexico City--->Lima. From Lima--->Iquitos. 

At 9:35 am tomorrow we will be arriving in Iquitos!

We don't know what is in store for us, but we know God has big plans, as usual! Let the adventure begin!!!

-SB

3 days before departure!

Alright, so sarah booth and I will be heading out in three days. I am beginning to get that super nervous feeling, but it's a good nervous. More of an excitement. I have been praying constantly that God truly works through us this summer, and that not only lives will be changed in Nauta, Peru, but that we will all come back changed. I want God to move in ways that I have never seen. I want my faith to be tested. My hope is to come back to America with my heart turned upside down, with a greater love for people. We are all selfish, but I dont want to be selfish anymore. I want to be a servant. God has called us all to lay everything we have down, to be completely surrendered.....ready to go anywhere He may lead.
God has called me this summer, and there was no I could say no to Him. I have constantly had Isaiah 61:1 on my mind, and it says:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound."
Thats what Sarah and I are being sent out to do!! 3 days we will be gone....remember to keep praying for us!!
won't post again until we are in Peru!!! woohoooo

Kelly Brill

Anticipation in the Midst of Education

I am pretty sure I have come to the home page of this blog site numerous times in the past few weeks with the intention of updating, but time constraints always seem to get the best of me and I only get a few lines scribbled out before just giving up and declaring I will just update later. I only have a week and half left of summer classes left and I am so thrilled that if it wasn't for exhaustion I would be jumping up and down right now. The days are long and busy with student teaching and papers galore. Jim Elliot words keep me going strong as my desire for school continues to dwindle and my excited for the next two months builds:

 “Wherever you are, be all there.  Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.” 

When I am sitting in one of my summer classes and my thoughts begin to wander to the precious children I will be soon be reunited with after a year of absence, to the numerous items I have to pack, and to the Spanish words I still need to learn, it is the words of Elliot that bring me back to the place I need to be, knowing that right now my main focus is finishing strong in school. Every moment in this life is precious and has the ability to be beautiful if we treat it as something to cherish. I realize that as Americans, the clock often puts us in handcuffs and becomes our master. Every car ride we spend thinking about the next place we have to be instead of simply enjoying the ride. We check off every day until the next "big event" which makes us miss so many little incredible moments that appear every day. Every night, instead of thanking God for the experiences that day, is spent thinking about all that is to be accomplished the next day. Psalm 46:10 has become so cliche. "Be still and know that I am God." Man do I need to take this verse to heart. Worship music is awesome. Talking to other believers is great. Going to church is wonderful, but it is only in the silence and stillness of meeting with the Lord as the world around you continues to be governed by the clock that true refreshment comes.

2 weeks from today we will be in Peru.

Your prayers mean the world.

-Sarah Booth:)

PERU!!!!

So, school is winding down. It is so hard to concentrate knowing what the Summer holds for sarah and I. I am so excited to get to Nauta, and start building relationships with the people. I have never done an extended missions trip before, and this will be quite the experience for me. I am nervous, and so excited at the same time. I am in the midst of learning spanish, which is a difficulty, but I know once I get down there I will really be able to learn. Please keep us your prayers daily. AHHHH!!!!!

-kelly Brill

Finals...Finally

Hello all you blog readers,

Here in Lynchburg, we are in the midst of the final stretch madness. We have two more days of classes and then exams begin. It is hard to believe in about a month Kelly and I will be literally boarding a plane when months ago, the idea of going back to Peru was simply a dream in my head. It is incredible to look at all the doors God has opened and surreal to know that plane tickets have actually been bought. We officially leave the Dulles airport at 5:52 pm on June 8th and after a few layovers arrive in Iquitos, Peru at 9:35 am on the 9th where Chris and another Sarah who is staying in Nauta for the summer will be meeting Kelly and I. Many have been asking what kind of ministry we will actually be doing there. Crystal, one of the missionaries there who will be leaving this summer to lead another mission trip into the jungles has shared many possible opportunities that we can get involved in: (This is from an email Crystal sent us)

 Ministries

*School - I know at least one school/teacher who would love to have an English assistant.

There is also a program here for teaching Biblical values in the schools and I know workers are needed there.  

        *Children's program - this we've been having 3 days a week in the house - they'd love for it to continue while I'm gone.

        *Youth group - feel free to get involved in other churches too, but don't church-hop.  Pray about and find a church to be involved with this summer and stick there.  

        *Sports ministry - self explanatory? Make sure it is an intentional conduit to build relationships and to share Christ. 

        *Visitation - can be awkward, but people here LOVE for you to come and "pasearlos" at their house. 

        *Medical knowledge - there are a bunch of people who never go to the doctor because they don't have the money nor insurance to do so. Keep your eyes and ears open, and be ready to pray, share ibuprofin, etc. at any time. 

The opportunities are clearly there, it is just figuring out how God wants to use us in our two months here. Even though we are over a month away I ask for your prayer in a few things:

1. Support- We still have a lot to go, the word is out, the support letters are out...now we just have to wait

2. Finishing strong in school- We want to be spiritually and physically prepared for Peru as well as finish strong in our Academics here.

3. The details- It is easy to get the big things done, but there are so many details we still need to figure out, just pray that everything continues to work out easily and smoothly, and if not that we will be able to handle everything in a way that is glorifying to our Lord.

-Sarah :)