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