No Gum, what?

Word to the wise, don’t make your last “American meal” a big ‘ol whopper complete with onions…when you are in an airport that doesn’t sell gum. Yes this is how I began my journey to Peru, however God used even something as trivial as a gum to remind me that He knows everything about me and that He pays attention to even the smallest of details. One of my big concerns about this trip was maneuvering international travel alone (since I know very little Spanish at this point). I had traveled down to South America (Paraguay) last summer so I had some sort of idea of what to expect but then I had traveled with a group, one of those having grown up in Paraguay. So I started praying that God would send me what I like to call “helper angels” that were kind and spoke English to help me out, and you know what? He did just that. On my first flight (remember I am still missing my gum right now) I was seated next to a sweet mother and daughter duo. They spoke English so we made small talk and the mother offered me gum as we were taking off (yes it may seem trivial but it was a reminder to me of how detail oriented my God is).

 Another great thing is that I had window seat on all of my flights so I was able to look out throughout the flights and see bits of landscape. As the first plane lifted off of the runway in Orlando, I realized that this is what it means to jump out of your comfort zone and trust in God completely (like Peter did when he jumped out of that boat into the stormy water with nothing but his faith in Christ to hold him up). I was leaving behind everything that I had ever known, everything that was familiar and comfortable to me, all the people that I know and love, to go to a place I’ve never been with people I’ve never met, who speak a language I don’t know,  to teach. Me teach? Ha! God does have a sense of humor and I don’t really know yet what exactly I have gotten myself into but I do know that God opened a door and I jumped through it (although knowing me and my (non)graceful self, I more likely fell headfirst into it and will probably end up landing on my head instead of my feet, but hey God said GO, He didn’t say it had to be graceful). At a worship service on Friday I felt like God had laid the message on the speaker’s heart just for me to hear. He spoke from Isaiah 6:8, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’” He talked about how serving God is commitment, it is not something that you do half-heartedly or do for your own personal benefit. You do it because it God has asked of you and my desire is that this is my heart as well, that I am doing this solely to glorify and profit God, not for anything that I might benefit from it personally. James 1:27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

I arrived in San Salvador without any problems and was greeted at the terminal with a smell that was some sort of combination between hospital sterile and back alley sewage. Other than though it was fairly clean and I quickly found my gate after passing by tourist shops, coffee shops, and even a Subway. I did not get to see San Salvador outside of the airport but as we were descending I was I able to take in the lush green landscape and watch the beautiful orange and pink sunset as it ducked down behind the mountains. After a short layover I was back in the air (on a little 96 passenger plane) and on my way to Lima, Peru. The passenger next to me was another answer to prayer. See, when we first started our flight, the attendants passed out customs forms for us to fill out for when we arrived in Peru. Of course they were all in Spanish. I figure most of them out but was not quite sure about a couple of the blanks. Before this my seat buddy had been quietly enjoying her book and that’s when I noticed that it was in English. She was more than happy to help me finish filling out the form and we got to talking. I found out that she was from Peru and she was able to tell me some useful information about the area. Once arriving in Lima I had to figure out where to go for customs, then find my bags and go through customs for my bags. When you go through the check for bags you push a button and it will randomly show green or red. If a green light shows you can continue through, if it’s a red light, well you have to go to a side line and they will search your bags. Of course I got the red the light and had to be searched. But once they completed the process I was able to make my way back to the check-in desk to re-check my bags for my last flight and go through security once again. Praise the Lord for Starbuck’s Frappuccinos because at this point my body is telling me it is 4:00 o’clock in the morning (and since I have had 3hr and 4hr flight, I only got maybe an hour nap in between the two) but I still had to wait 3hr before my flight began to board.

As I stepped off the plane in Chiclayo and walked onto the runway a cold wind met my face as I my eyes took in the beautiful mountains still in a haze as the sun continued to rise higher in the sky, and my ears were welcomed by the sound of sea gulls singing their morning song. Chiclayo is the main city in the area but the compound that houses Strong Tower school and Morning Star Children’s home is located about 15-20 minutes outside of the city in a small town called Pueblo Nuevo. It is a beautiful school secured on it’s boarders by a ten foot tall wall with school buildings, children’s homes and a playground inside. I arrived just after classes started so I was given the grand tour of the school and the homes that house the children. It was like being in a dream and watching from afar because honestly I was so tired from being up for over 24hr that it was a lot to take in.

My room is located on the roof of one of the school buildings and since it is not fully enclosed, it’s a good thing that bugs don’t bother me (yeah good thing Brian and Adrian aren’t here!) because they are everywhere. In my clothes, on the walls, probably in my bed and even on my keyboard while I’m typing. And this morning I woke up to something big walking around on the roof, I’m just telling myself that it was a bird…. Of course I couldn’t figure out the shower so I got to have a cold shower this morning (Oh and did I mention that the shower is outside and it gets down in the 50’s at night) so that helped me wake up this morning, coffee is for pussies! But honestly I love my room, it has one of those  cool, narrow spiral staircase to get up (yes I will be taking a face plant in the near future) and it sits up high so I can look out at the town (and even though the town has no paved roads, they have a nice soccer stadium that is so close to the compound I could throw a ball into it from my room) and I get a great view of the sunrise in the morning and then the sunset behind me at night. And my roommate Elizabeth is a sweetheart through she doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak much Spanish, I am looking forward to getting to know her.

Today was my first day shadowing at the school. As the students poured in through the main gate into the courtyard (all 160+ of them) I realized there was no need for a jacket in the mornings (even though it was a bit cold) because as soon as the children start arriving all the teachers are swarmed by children on all sides. Even though they don’t know me I was adopted right in with them and lost the use of my hands as they were always in the hands of several children at once. It’s a good thing I was one of the best in my grade at playing three-legged race when I was little because walking around with kids hanging off of every side is a lot like that. The day was spent learning the ropes in the three year old class (I will taking over on Thursday when their teacher leaves) and also figuring out how English class works for the third graders. There have been many surprises since arriving here, one of them being that I will also be the teacher for the third grade English class, God’s sense of humor is really killing me right now! Haha

So anywho that got long, I’m sorry! Hope I didn’t bore you but all of that to say that God is good, He helped me through traveling and now I am ready to tackle this whole teaching thing. I would really appreciate your prayers as I go through lesson plans and start figuring things out for taking over classes on Thursday and for me to be a quick study at Spanish as this would make my transition much easier. I have a ring that I have worn since highschool and written on it is a great reminder, “If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.”