Hooray! A team is coming!

I got the news yesterday that a team from my home church St. Peter and St. Paul will be coming to Arequipa at the end of July! Awesome news. They put in their request to come 4 months before their proposed date and were confirmed about 3 months before their arrival. Maria, my host mom, said that usually teams need about a year's notice to  be able to come on a trip. She thought it was pretty miraculous that they were even approved. The team will be coming out to help construct a church in a mission area of the local church. It will be a week long trip full of great experiences.

So these last couple of days I have been full of thanks and wonder. What is happening here in Arequipa? What kind of works are being done? Time will only tell.

St. Peter and St. Paul, get excited with me and give some thanks up. There is a lot of good to do in the world, and we are privileged to be given such a wonderful opportunity to come and work and experience such an amazing place.

On another note, these pictures were taken on Saturday in the downtown area. There was an amazing sun setting with golden light playing off of the Cathedral walls. I couldn't believe I caught that bird in flight on the picture in the middle. The last picture is of some action going on downtown.

The newness of Easter

I wrote this poem during Holy Week and seems to go well with the newness of life that comes with the Easter Season. Hope you enjoy!

A new fascination

On the grass under the sun

Lies a young boy and lion

One and the same he crawls

On hands and knees, open jaws

He lets out a half lion roar

Then charges, always looking forward

I put out my hand

And he puts out his paw

We walk together

Under the sun

We pass all kinds of colors

All seeming new to me

Looking through the eyes

Of a boy, half lion, of three

Each flower is valued

Equally for its color and smell

Many prizes are found

Each step a new story to tell

Everything has a shade of new

And every moment is precious

Looking through newest of eyes

And walking under the sun

-JM 

Daniela

La Pascua

Padre Juan Carlos looking on after a great sermon

Today was a nice Easter Sunday. Mass was really great. The message that Padre JC gave made me thank Jesus for how good He is to us. The message that he gave was focused on God's grace, overwhelming grace. The main passage was Mark 16:7 - The angel tells the women to go and tell the disciples and Peter the good news. Peter, the one that betrayed Him 3 times - Jesus calls him by name. And in this He makes a special effort to reconcile and console him.

This is what Jesus is all about! He wants to have real relationships. He wants to get into the gritty with us. He doesn't ignore things that are wrong in the relationship, no, He goes for the throat and lets us know when we've messed up or when something is out of joint. Jesus is always the one taking the first step to make things right. Death and Resurrection, it is His nature to make things good and make things right - reconciling the world to Himself. And His strategy for reconciliation is to focus in on each one of us, on each and every relationship, just like He did with Peter.

Hallelujah!

Went to the pool afterward: Me and Daniel

After mass some of the guys and I went to a local swimming pool to exercise and have some fun. The picture above is pretty funny. You'll notice that everyone has a swimming cap on, including me. It is mandatary in all public pools in the area that swimmers wear caps. I think it is pretty funny, but it's the culture. You just have to laugh at yourself and then blend on in...

Happy Easter Season!

Futbolito

Host brothers: Jhassmanny and Christian warming up

The soccer...court

I always thought that soccer was played on a field, but when I arrived in Arequipa, Peru for the first time that thought was proved to be otherwise. Yesterday morning my 3 host brothers and I went out to play some soccer. Jhassmanny and Christian were calling their friends and cousins so that we could get a full game. We played for about 2 hours! It is a very fast game that involves a lot of skill, especially if you want to control the ball. I have gotten to where I can stop the ball alright, pass, and occasionally shoot.

Going out and playing with the guys has been a great way to build relationships and break down some of those cultural barriers that exist. It is easy to see what kind of person you are when you are on the court. Passing the ball and being a team player carriers over into life in so many ways.

After the 2 hours of soccer we went over to my host brothers' grandparents' house to drink some Orange Crush and talk about our victories on the court.

Jueves Santo - Mass and Desert

Padre Juan Carlos welcoming all

Alesca wouldn't leave the camera alone

Victoria chowing on some arroz con leche

Padre JC with the ladies

I made a mess with my Mazamora Morada

Boys will be boys

At San Jose: Xavier, Waldir, Armando, and Ronald

I have had a great time hanging out with all the kids at the Casas Hogares. I get to go to San Jose (the younger kids') two to three times a week. The boys and I always have a good time. They are always wanting to arm wrestle, shake hands as hard as they can, and do anything to test their strength.

The main thing I do at the younger kids' house is help out with homework. I am the English homework expert. Helping the kids with their homework has really become special to me. Not only are we talking and figuring out problems together; we are celebrating after finishing, we are grinding out the hard problems with scowled brows, and we are sharing love.

On another note, our main English teacher at the school had to leave for Lima on Monday on short notice. I was left in charge of the remaining classes during the week. Yesterday and today I was left to teach the classes of my own accord. The school system here is different in many ways but one way that it is strangely different is that the students will only have extracurricular classes one time a week. So, all grades only have English class one day a week for an hour and 50 minutes. Knowing this I felt a bit more pressured to come up with a lesson plan and some activities so that the students wouldn't go two weeks without having any practice.

Overall the classes went well and I was certainly glad that this week was a shorter week due to Holy Week. We all get off tomorrow and Friday. Four day weekend!!! Thank you for all the prayers for all of you who knew that I was going to be teaching this week.