PART - Y? Because I´m Chavinan

So this will be my last update from Chavina (well CoraCora actually) We head for Lima for our final debriefing on the 28th/29th The huge thing right now in Chavina is the party for the saints that began at 4am yesterday with a 21 gun salute followed with dancing and drinking, followed with more drinking and some more drinking just for fun. Kind of a weird way to honor religious ´saints´don´t you think? So there are TONS of new people in Chavina from all over Peru. We even met another Gringo who is from Miami named Billy who has family in Lima. So the majority of our ministry has been helping people get ready for the festival by making pansito (little pieces of bread) which we have done for hours and hours. We have been able to share bible stories and the gospel during these times, so it was all good. Our main prayer request is that we can still find ways to minister and share the gospel despite everyone being focused on the party.

Dance the Chuta Chuta!

Hey Everyone! I´m posting an update so that means that the team is visiting CoraCora on our day of rest. A lot has happened in the past week in Chavina so here comes the update! Last Saturday through Tuesday morning the Creative Ministries Team (CMT for short, a team that travels around to all of the village teams and does dramas, songs, and comedy bits that contain the gospel) visited us in Chavina! It was amazing having them there! They were able to spark some more intrest in the Gospel, espescially with the children. I got to hang out with Trey and Josh alot so that was a huge blessing. One MAJOR thing that I forgot to mention in my last update is that Chavina, they are having a HUGE festival at the end of the month (from the 22nd on) and everything that people are doing is in prepration for the festival. So everyday we see new faces coming into Chavina for the festival. So with that in mind, people are preoccupied and we have had a hard time getting people together for bible studies. So instead we have been going to people´s houses and studying the bible there (it´s harder for them to run away!) We´re not sure how our ministry will change when the festival time comes.
We have also been continuing our ministry in Santa Rosa, focusing on the youth and a woman named Senora Mecche (who calls me her Christobal and ALWAYS tells me how pretty my eyes are). Senora Mecche is a Christian and is respected in Santa Rosa greatly.
Our team is still getting along awesome! Our major prayer requests include making the most of the time (and days that most of the town will be sober) until the festival as well as growing closer to God´s word personally.

We Make Plans and God Laughs!

First off, sorry it has been so long since my last update. I´ll explain why further down in this post. There is a TON to update you on so this will probably be a long post! Since my last post, all of the Peruvian summer missionaries met in Nazca for our midsummer reflect and relax time for 2 days. It was wonderful getting to see everyone and hear about the work God has been doing all over Peru. Also it was amazing to be able to eat food other than rice and potatoes! We got to eat food like hamburgers, lasagna, pizza, and chineese! So we were in Nazca for Tuesday and Wednesday (the 29th my birthday and the 30th) and then the teams were going to head to their villages Thursday morning. Well I was all ready to head to Bella Union with my new team, when Mike Weaver (the ReapSouth jefe (boss)) pulled me, Ben (the other male on the Bella Union team) and asked if either of us would be open to a change in teams. We both said yes and Mike decided to put me on the Chavina team with Kelsey Harper (a Junior from Witchia State in Kansas) and Mercedez (a 26 year old Peruvian girl from Lima) So as Mike says, Blessed are the flexiable for they will not be bent out of shape!
So for the past week I´ve been in Chavina instead of Bella Union! WOW! Chavina reminds me of a bigger Lambrama, without the biting insects! Alot of what we have been doing in Chavina for the past week is preparing for a bible study by trying to secure a meeting place (which has been really tough!), inviting locals, and reconnecting with people from before Nazca (as well as introducing me as Christobol Colon ( Christopher Colombus)). We had our first bible study last night and had one girl show, Rosemary. The story we shared with her was the story of the Prodigal son (hijo perdido). It went well, but we are hoping for a larger turnout for our next bible study. We have also been trying to start a bible study in a small town that is 20ish minutes away called Santa Rosa. Today is our day of rest so we are in CoraCora, an hour away, visiting. Chavina doesn´t have internet so that´s why it´s been so long since my last update. So I won´t be able to update unless we come to CoraCora.
It was definately a shock finding out that I was on a new team and then leaving with them an hour later, but as the title of this post says, We Make Plans and God Laughs.