Thursday, January 12, 2012

Graduation at Kusi

This past weekend Kate and I had the opportunity to visit our Kusi boys' home. The house parents, Rosa and Angel, invited us for a very special ceremony. Five of the boys graduated from elementary school (Martin, Arnold, Frank, Mauricio, and Kevin), and Eloy graduated from high school. They didn't have the opportunity to have a graduation party with their school, so Rosa and Angel decided to throw a big party for them all at once. I was excited to go, but at the same time I wasn't sure what to expect. Would the boys enjoy this opportunity to celebrate their achievements? What was all of this going to entail?

We were not disappointed and neither were the boys! Rosa did a great job organizing the entire party. She had a whole ceremony set up just as if it were a real graduation. All of the graduates were dressed in a shirt and tie, there were special graduation pictures, cake, and the whole nine yards! Kate and I had brought Bibles for each boy as a small present, and Rosa decided that because of that we would be the padrinos, meaning godparents, for this party. We both had a chance to tell the boys how proud we were of them, how much we valued their friendships, and share a few words of encouragement as they look towards their future.

The graduates
The toast (Sprite, of course!)

I decided that I wanted to share two verses with them. First, I spoke about 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old is gone, the new is here!" Many of these boys have come from difficult pasts. In some cases they have endured terrible hardships that have left deep marks on their lives. In other cases, they themselves have made mistakes that continue to affect their lives today. The beauty of this promise, though, is that in Christ all things are made new. Christ doesn't look at their pasts and condemn them; on the contrary, he is the one who makes all things new. The boys are at a turning point in their lives, and as they look to the future they can rest confidently in the fact that Christ brings renewal each and every day!

Secondly, I shared Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." I wanted the boys to remember where their strength comes from. Some of them have big dreams, and others struggle to dream of becoming anything. But if they learn to rely on Christ, then He will give them the strength to do His will! He is the wind behind our sails. If we rely on Christ, then He will show us the way. If we try to make our way through life on our own, then we will always finish disappointed.

We had a great time of sharing and celebrating together. To finish the party off, a group of friends from town came up to Kusi and joined us in an hora loca. Literally translated, that means a crazy hour. Here in Peru that means a straight hour of dancing without stopping. I am not much of a dancer, but I have to say I had some great fun. Sorry friends, no pictures or videos :-) Maybe next time!

The boys' new Bibles wrapped and ready to open
With Kevin, Mauricio, and Frank

The graduates with all of their other fellow Girasoles

Okay, just one picture of me dancing! Did I mention that some imaginary friends joined us?

I can never quite express how much of a blessing it is to be a part of these people's lives. To comfort them in their sadness and share in their joys and triumphs. Thanks to everyone who is a part of this ministry. God is definitely at work here in Peru!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

New Year 2012!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone from Peru! We are already well into 2012, and I am excited for things to come this year. We already have a number of different short term work teams and medical teams signed up to partner with our ministry in 2012, and I know that God has great things in store for us.

We had a great holiday season here in Peru, but it is still funny to celebrate Christmas in the middle of the summer! Kate and I spent part of Christmas Eve at the beach! If you want to read more about our Christmas experience, then I encourage you to read Kate's recent post.

To bring in the New Year Kate and I headed down to our boys' home in the city of Ica. Augusto, the house father in Ica, really wanted to have a pig roast for the boys to celebrate. They had a turkey dinner on Christmas, and for New Year they wanted to do something different. Augusto set off in search of a decent size pig, and he did not disappoint; he came back with a 300 pound monster! They prepared the meat, and then they sent it off to a place that had an oven where they could roast it.

Augusto working on the pig--I'll spare you from seeing the other photos :-)

In the mean time we all headed up to the beach. Ica is a hot, dry desert city, and the refreshing water was quite a treat for everyone. Some of the boys jumped right in, others played making sand castles on the shore, and still others passed the day by searching for snails and muscles in the tide pools that they then used as fishing bait! They even caught a few fish.

Swimming at the beach
Sand castles
Agustito half buried in the sand
Kate and I

We came back to the house that evening ready to say goodbye to 2011 and to bring in 2012! Around 10:00pm we all gathered together in the dining room, and we had a great time of reflection over 2011. We discussed some of the hardships that the boys and the home had been through, and we spent some time praying for God's blessing and provision in the year to come. Around 11:00pm the roast pork came out of the kitchen, and we ate like kings! I wouldn't be surprised if they are still finishing off all of the meat from that huge pig! At midnight we celebrated along with the rest of the country by lighting off all types of fireworks, bottle rockets, and sparklers. It was such a joy to spend time with such a special group of friends. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Girasoles Ica!