Crazy last few weeks 9/11/2012

 I had a great time in the district of Ate this last weekend with Igor and Aliane. I went with Rafa and it was about an 1 hr bus ride. Igor and Aliane are a young Brazillian missionary couple who are holding a house church in their home as an extension from the Church of the Savior. Friday night we spend time with their church group and then woke up the next day with a nice shower,
a big breakfast, and coffee. We spent most of the day relaxing and fellowshipping and that night went out to the downtown part with some guys from the house church and preached the gospel to several people. Overall, it was nice to get away, and to stay in a nice apartment and take a nice consistent shower and to eat really good food. :)

My apartment is still holding up pretty well. My roommates and I have our quirks and eveyone thinks different. THey are clean for the most part and they all work as Insurance brokers. I'm thinking of starting an online business with one of my roommates who can develop webpages and E-portals. We are trying to think of an idea or a way for marketing peruvian products and selling them to people mainly in North America (U.S. and Canada).

I'm also taking classes at La Catolica Idiomas institute, an extension of the university 2 hours a day. I think for now, I'm focusing mostly on getting to a more advanced level in Spanish. I tested into the Upper-Intermediate bracket which means I need to get through that level, and then the Lower and Upper Advanced levels. I would really like to use my spanish skills as a job when I get back to the U.S. God willing and I see it as a huge asset not to mention that it is fun knowing and thinking in another language.

The students in my class are all from different countries, U.S., Germany, Brazil, China, South Korea, Kroatia, Switzerland, etc.

I've been having a lot of language exchanges with others in the church too, 1 hour teaching them english, 1 hour them correcting my spanish. I really like where my classes are situated.

San Isidro is a really beautiful and cultural area of Lima. Everything is way more expensive. There's a huge park called Olivar. They have over 20 different types of birds there. I think I'm going to have one of the guides show me around. It's a nice to relax and study after class. There's also a nice library in the middle which is where
I've been studying after. Usually I have 2 hours of class and then I study for about 1 to 2 hr of Spanish after since I don't have a job yet.

Tomorrow I'm going to help Eddy and some others put on a roof over a part of the church. So, for the most part, I've been able to keep busy during my time here.

I also talked to Pastor Martin today about my future. I really need to pray whether I am going to stay here long term or if my time here is going to be a few months. It will also depend if I can find a job or not. Pray that my heart would be more fixed on the Lord and that I would be a living sacrifice (Romans 12). I think when we give the Lord our all, then we know what His will is. It isn't necesarily WHERE you are stationed in life exactly but an obedient life towards Him that loves and is waiting for the Day when Christ comes. I think things will be more clear when I am spending more time
in the Word and spending good time in prayer too.

Pray that I can find a job, (a legal one too!), - still looking.

A few weeks ago too I had a nice time with a missionary family from Montana who is going to help plant a church in Cusco. They rented a really nice apartment in Miraflores so I was priviledged to spend 2 days in their huge apartment with a nice shower, and comfortable bedding, and a wifi connection. It was really neat to here their testimonies of how they came to know the Lord and how He worked through them to come all the way here to Peru. They also told me of some revivals that were going on in Montana which was very encouraging to hear. I was able to help him and
some friends of his to transport all their posessions to a moving company to send it off to Cusco. Through that process, I met Jaime who is a Peruvian guy who also loves the Lord. He was very encouraging as well. He and his wife have a house church in Lima as well and invited me to come over any time.