Needs for our Cusco boys

I want to thank so many of you for your continued emails and messages asking how you can support the recovery efforts for our boys in Cusco. As I have mentioned before, we are very thankful for one large donation from an individual that is going to cover all of the reconstruction expenses. We hope to find a new piece of land near Urubamba to begin reconstruction as soon as possible.

Apart from the construction, though, there are many other needs that we have for these boys. Unfortunately, when our home collapsed, many things were destroyed or carried away by the flood. Sadly, there was also some looting that took place. We were able get a lot of furniture out of the house before it collapsed, but because most of our furniture is wood much of it was badly water damaged. We have now come up with a list of needs for our 42 abandoned boys in Cusco. In response to so many of you who have asked, here it is:

Our most immediate needs are the following:

• We have decided to move the boys back to Cusco's Sacred Valley as soon as possible (within the next week or two). In order to do so, we will be renting a building in Urubamba as a provisional place where they can live while their new home is being built. We do not yet know what the final monthly rent will be. It will most likely be somewhere between $350 and $530 per month. We anticipate needing the building for 12 months.
• We need approximately $250 to cover the cost of an emergency trip to Cusco that Hector, the house father, had to make.
• The boys come back from summer vacation and begin school in March. They all need shoes and uniforms before they return to their classes. The uniforms cost approximately $70 per boy (including shoes). In addition to that, we would ideally also be able to supply the kids with backpacks and basic school supplies (approximately $45 per boy).

Other needs include the following:

• In the kitchen/dining room virtually everything was lost. We need a new refrigerator and a new blender. We also need new plates, bowls, cups, mugs, forks, spoons, knives, and kitchen utensils.
• Basically all of our electronic equipment was also lost or stolen. We need a new TV, DVD player, computer, stereo, and large speakers.
• Tables, desks, and chairs for the dining room and study room.
• The boys left most of their belongings at the home, and virtually everything has been lost. They lost all of their clothing except the small amount that they traveled with (sizes 7 to 16). Many of the mattresses were destroyed. We need new bunk beds, sheets, blankets, and towels. We also need new dressers for the boys' clothes.
• We have also lost most of the boys' school supplies--backpacks, books, dictionaries, etc.
• Hector and Maritza, our house parents in Cusco, have also lost virtually everything. They lost the couches in their living room, their refrigerator, beds and mattresses, stove, wardrobe, hand tools, etc.

If you are interested in helping support our home in Cusco, then please send me an email (bgreenman@latinamericamission.org), or give be a phone call (248.677.5252). We anticipate other unforseen costs and needs as we work through this difficult situation, but we know that God will continue to provide for these children. I still find myself in awe to think about how he protected them from being at the home during the time of the flooding.

As always, even more important than any monetary donation are your prayers. Pray that the boys would see how God is always protecting them and watching over them. Pray that they would be able to make the adjustment from their old home, to their provisional accommodations, and then to their newly constructed home. Lastly, please pray for the house parents and all of the Scripture Union staff in Cusco. Pray that God would comfort them as they deal with the loss of their belongings, and pray that God would give them strength and wisdom as they provide moral support for the boys at the home.

Thank you all for all of your prayers and support!

Street Children and Girasoles

Every once in awhile, I think that I will write a post to share a little bit of background and information about Scripture Union Peru and its ministries for those of you who are not incredibly familiar with the organization. Because I am currently doing work that is specific to Scripture Union's Girasoles program, I want to start this series of posts by explaining a little bit more about this problem with street children that we experience here in Peru as well as in many other parts of the world. I will do my best to explain the issues to the best of my knowledge, but please have some grace with me as I am fairly new to the Peruvian culture. I do not have all the answers, and much of the following information has been gleaned off of other friends, such as Paul Clark, Billy Clark, and many of the house parents in the different Girasoles homes. I will warn readers ahead of time--this is heavy stuff, but it is real. Even in the darkest places, God is working! This is a longer post, but I encourage you to read through it, and learn how you can better pray for these children.

Where do these children come from?

There is not always an easy, clear cut answer to a question like this. Each child is different, so there is not just one blanket answer. With that said, the root of the problem is almost always extreme poverty. Behind the lives of many children on the street is a single mother who is struggling to provide for her family. In Peruvian culture, Latin American culture, and probably many other places around the world there is a definite double standard between the position of the man and the position of the woman in a household. It is culturally acceptable in Peru for a man to be the macho figure who can do what he wants, when he wants, and with whomever he wants. The sociological term for this is "machismo." It is not uncommon, especially in impoverished communities, for a man to have children with a number of different women. While the man goes around doing whatever he wants, the mother is expected to provide for and care for the children. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, poverty turns into a vicious cycle. When a mother can no longer provide for the children on her own, she is forced to attach herself to another, often times abusive, man for income.

So where do the children come from? Many times the reason that they end up on the street is very simple. From the mother's perspective, she can either abandon one child on the streets or try to care for everybody as the risk of starving the entire family. Paul Clark, the director of Scripture Union Peru, often uses the illustration of a life boat. When the boat is full one person needs to go overboard, or the entire boat will sink, and everyone drowns. There are other cases where the new boyfriend of the mother wants nothing to do with children from a different father, so he puts them out on the streets, or he at least abuses them until they run away on their own.

Other children begin spending days on the streets trying to sell small bits of candy, shine shoes, or just beg to try to provide income for the family. Many times, they are expected to bring home a certain quota daily, and if they do not meet that quota then they can expect to be beaten. Even when they do bring the proper amount of money home, very seldom does that translate to food on their plates. Many times the father will gamble the money away with his other friends or spend it away on beer to feed his alcohol addiction. After awhile, sometimes the boy decides that he would be better off living on his own rather than trying to meet an unreasonable quota and still not getting fed.

Once a child is out on the street, what becomes of him?

Nothing good is waiting for a child who is living out on the streets. To begin with, many of the populated cities in Peru have a fairly mild or sometimes downright cold climate. The leading cause of death of kids on the streets of Lima is pneumonia, among a host of other preventable or curable diseases, during the winter months of June, July, and August. Even if disease does not come upon a child, the streets are a world of drugs, gangs, violence, and abuse.

Street children in Peru's culture are the lowest of the low. They are generally feared and hated. Prostitutes would have higher social status than street children. Billy Clark often tells a story of a time when the work with the Girasoles had recently begun. He had taken some pictures with the kids, and he took the pictures to get developed. When he arrived to pick up the pictures, the man at the store recognized that the pictures were of street boys, so he asked Billy why he would be taking pictures of these nobodies. Billy answered and explained the ministry that Scripture Union has here on the streets. The man looked at Billy and coldly said, "You want a solution for this problem? Well I have one for you--one bullet for each head!"

One of the most common derogatory names used to refer to a street boy is "piraña," in English--piranha. The name comes from a common practice that some of the boys have of descending upon an unsuspecting person in a small pack. When they mug a person in this manner, they will sometimes even take the clothes off of the person's back. Because they are known for crimes like this, they are feared and hated. Thus, the cycle of poverty once again begins.

If a boy is living on the street, he is already categorized as the lowest of the low. So what are the chances that this young boy will get a legitimate job to support himself in a country where the unemployment rate is sky high? He cannot get a job, and he is hated by the majority of the people around him, so he goes and finds a hiding place to get away from the hostile world. If it were not for the sharp pain of hunger, a boy might well spend his entire life in hiding, but there a comes a point where hunger becomes so unbearable that he has to leave the safety of his secret spot.

Without employment, the child's next best option is to try to steal to survive. Sometimes this means stealing an apple from the market, but other times the boys will attempt to pick a pocket or grab someone's watch to trade for a plate of food. Some of the children on the streets become incredibly skilled at petty theft. I have spent a considerable amount of time with different boys living in our Girasoles homes, and they have shown me how easy it could be for them to get a watch off of my wrist or a camera out of my pocket without me even noticing.

Unfortunately, many of the kids--especially the youngest ones who are too slow to make a fast getaway--get caught and end up in the hands of the police. While there are many goodhearted and well intentioned people in the Peruvian police force, there are also many very abusive, corrupt police officers. It is hard to know exactly why police are often incredibly cruel to these children, but they are. Perhaps it is just the hatred that the culture has coming out in a tangible form. Maybe it is because these boys make the officers' jobs more difficult and more dangerous. Whatever the reason is behind the cruelty--it is absolutely unjustifiable. I have heard story after story. Boy's have been taken to a dungeon and used as a soccer ball to be kicked around. They have been forced to drink other peoples' urine. They have had water thrown on them and then electrical wires attached to their testicles. Sometimes a truck is filled with the children, and then they are driven out into the middle of the desert and left to find their way back into the city--some make it, and some don't. They have been fed sandwiches laced with rat poison...and sadly, the list goes on.

After facing this sort of abuse from the police force many of the children on the streets are very reluctant to continue to steal to survive. But what is left? No family to provide, no job to earn a living, no stealing for fear of getting caught. What other option is there? While it seems like the end of the road, there is one other option. It is safer in the sense that they will probably not be bothered by the police, but in actuality it can be far more damaging long term. The last option for survival is prostitution. In Peru and all over the world sex trafficking and sex tourism is on the rise. The boys will extend sexual favors in exchange for a small sum of money or just a plate of food. Sadly, I have heard there are some places on the internet where you can book a vacation in Peru that includes the services of these children. Of course it is illegal, but it isn't always easy to keep track of, and corruption means that sometimes a simple bribe is all it takes to keep the authorities off of your back.

At the end of the day after a boy has done whatever it is that he needs to to satisfy his hunger, he will probably scrounge around for a few coins to buy a bag of glue called "terokal," and he will go back to his hiding spot huffing the fumes from the glue. When asked why they huff the glue, they often simply answer, "Quiero borrarme" (I want to erase myself). We have now come full circle. They will hide once again until hunger drives them out from safety.

Scripture Union's program is for street boys. Aren't there any girls on the streets?

The simple answer to this question is that yes there are girls on the streets, but there are far more street boys. It is hard to know exactly why there are more boys than girls. Perhaps when a mother finds herself in the situation where she has to put a child out on the street so that the rest of the family can survive, she would opt to choose the oldest boy. It could be that she feels that her oldest boy will have the best chances of survival out on his own. Another factor could be that when a mother looks at her young boy, she imagines him to grow up to be just like all of the other men in her life--abusive, promiscuous, gambling, alcoholics who care very little for the well being of the family. On the other hand, the mother want to identify with her young daughter. She might imagine her to grow up going through all of the same abuses, and she may want to try to protect her daughter from the world that she has experienced. For these reasons, the boy ends up on the street, and the girl remains at home.

With all of that said, I think that the number of girls on Peru's streets is growing. There are some organizations who do work diligently with girls from the streets, and Scripture Union has at times partnered with some of these efforts. We have hosted some of these girls at our summer camp programs that we run. At this time, we are just not well equipped to meet the needs of the girls on a long term basis. We would need to have separate facilities from the boys and care for pregnant girls and infants among other resources. Poverty is everywhere, and hopefully we will never become so numb to it that we can just ignore it, but at the same time, because there are so many different problems we have to be really intentional about defining a very specific mission. If we tried to help solve every problem that presented itself, then we would be spread so thin that we would not be effective anywhere.

On a similar note, we also limit the number of boys at each of our Girasoles homes to about forty. The need is so great that we could easily open our doors to hundreds of children, and some places do. But again, we have a very specific mission. We hope to be able to provide not just for the physical needs of the boys, but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We really want the children in our homes to learn what it means to be a part of a loving, Christian family, and that mission would be impossible if we allowed for greater numbers.

How do the boys arrive at the Girasoles homes?

As is the case of many other questions, this one is difficult to answer because each boy has a different story, and there are many different means by which they arrive. To be honest, I am not the most qualified person to answer this question because I have very little to do with this specific part of the ministry. If you ever come to Peru, I encourage you to ask Pablo Lavado, the director of the Girasoles program, or any of the house parents at our different boys' homes. I know that sometime the house parents go out and do street work. They actually go find boys on the streets and tell them about the home. Sometimes word of our homes travels by word of mouth on the streets, and children show up because they heard about us from a friend. There are also times when children are referred to us by different government agencies when a case of abuse or neglect is discovered in the home.

What is the ultimate goal of the Girasoles program, and what have the results looked like?

Before I answer this, I want to reiterate once again that I am not the most qualified person to answer this question. I can say with confidence that the ultimate goal of the Girasoles ministry and virtually every other ministry of Scripture Union Peru is to bring children and their families to the feet of Jesus--the only true means of eternal redemption and transformation. In the case of the street boys, this is often a long process. When you tell a street child, "Jesus loves you," the meaning of the phrase seems so simple, but when you begin to look at it through their point of view, those three words can have a very different connotation. Most of the time, the boys in our homes have very little knowledge of who Jesus is. They have very little experience with any type of church, so Jesus really has no meaning. If they have any image in their minds of who Jesus is, it usually comes from the crucifix that is on display at the many catholic churches all over the country. Jesus is just a dead, bloody man on a cross. The term, "love," is another difficult one to communicate with a boy from the streets. In his world, love is always associated with some sort of sexual relationship. Try to look at it through there eyes--"Jesus loves you," can become an almost gruesome sentence.

While there is a lot of baggage to work through, we still believe that it is important to really explain who Jesus is and what true, unconditional love is. The full time Peruvian staff work day and night to care for and counsel the kids. They really do give themselves sacrificially to this ministry to help communicate this message to the boys. We have also found that the different foreign work teams that come to support Scripture Union also play an important part. A boy who has grown up being told that he is garbage will eventually start to believe those lies. In their mind God loves and blesses good people. Because the foreigners that come all of the way to Peru are usually pretty rich, God must love them. When they think about themselves, they believe that they are bad people, and God does not love them so He has not blessed them. Most of the readers of this blog will know that that way of reasoning is not true, but that does not change the fact that this is the way that the boys perceive the world. For a foreigner (again, a good person in the boys' minds) to come specifically to dedicate time towards bettering the lives of the children sends a loud and clear message to the boys that they are important people and that God does care about them. The short term groups help greatly to reinforce the message that the long term Peruvian staff and house parents are trying to communicate to the boys on a daily basis.

So what kind of results have we seen? As with most ministries of this nature, there are happy stories, and there are sad stories. We have found that no matter how hard we try to help a child adjust to life in one of our homes, there are some who just cannot cope with it long term. Perhaps it is they feel unworthy to live somewhere where they are so well cared for. Maybe after so much abuse, they just cannot grow to trust the Scripture Union staff. Some children have a hard time leaving their addictions to alcohol and drugs, and others just cannot adjust to living under rules and a daily routine after so much time of living without anybody telling them what to do. Whatever the reason is, there are boys who come and then leave our homes. We have an open door policy--we do not keep the children against their will. If we kept them under lock and key, then developing a bond of trust would be next to impossible.

On the other hand, there are many boys who have adjusted well to life at Girasoles. We do have children who I believe have come to a place of genuine faith in Christ. There are some boys (now men) who have graduated from the program and are maintaining a job. Many of our homes are fairly new, meaning that very long term results are yet to be seen, but I know children living in some of these homes who have dreams of being mechanics, bakers, policemen, military, and even pastors! Here in Cusco, our Girasoles home has only been open for just over a year. Most of the boys are between eight and twelve years old, and have a long way to go before they are ready to leave and live on their own. When the time does come, we will not just kick them out and never hear from them again. Just as any family, Scripture Union will always be these boys' family, and we hope to remain involved in their lives.

Other questions or comments?

The questions above are some of the most common questions that I get asked by work teams in Peru and by friends abroad. I know that many of you may have other questions or comments about this ministry. I welcome your thoughts. Reply to this post with a specific question, and I would love to share more.

Prayer and encouragement...

As I promised at the beginning of this very long post, this is not light reading. Even as I write it, I feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem. On our own, we can accomplish nothing. On our own, any work that we do is in vain. On our own, we will be quickly drained by the stresses around us. But GOD is bigger than all of that. With HIM we can accomplish anything. With HIM the work we do is for HIS kingdom. With HIM our strength is renewed day by day. Please do not read this post and leave feeling overwhelmed and useless in this world. Instead remember that God is in control, and he has a purpose and a plan. Pray for these children today. Intercede on their behalf that God might reveal himself to each of them--whether they are in one of our homes or not. Pray for the staff that work with the kids on a daily basis, that they may know that their reward waits for them in Heaven. Pray also for the culture here that is so resentful towards these boys. Ask God to soften their hearts--even to break their hearts for these boys. If we remain in HIM, then HE is faithful to remain in us. Be encouraged today by the words from Isaiah 40:27-31...

"Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God'? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

I'm Back!

Hey everyone...I know that it has been more than one month since my last post, and the goal is not to let that happen again. Being one full month since my last post, I have quite a bit that I can write about. Rather than putting everything all into one long post, I think that I will write a number of short posts over the next week or two. Also, make sure to check out my new pictures from May and June.

I have now switched gears--from working in the schools in Lima to working with American and Scottish short term missions teams who come to support the street boys' ministry that we have here. I have enjoyed the switch and the change of pace, but it is quite busy here. I traveled with my first two teams to one of our boys' homes called Kusi. In the Quechua language that is indigenous to Peru's sierra, the word Kusi is used for three separate English words: (1) Contentment, (2) Happiness, and (3) Joy. The word Kusi also fits very well with the name of our street children program--"Girasoles" or "Sunflowers" in English. In Peruvian culture to label a boy with a name like sunflower has no girly connotation as it would back in the States. The reason the boys here and all over Peru are called Girasoles, we hope that they will turn from the darkness towards the Light, the Son of God just as a sunflower turns to follow the light of the sun as it moves across the sky throughout the day. Only when the kids turn towards the Son can they find true Kusi.

Over the past couple of years that I have had the chance to become familiar with the site of Kusi, and for me personally it has certaintly lived up to its name. I have been blessed with a great friendship of the house parents in Kusi, Angel and Rosa, the scenery is beautiful (at the base of the tallest mountain in Peru), and it is always a joy to work with the kids at the home as well as share the ministery with the different short term groups.

At the base of the mountain near Kusi

After my few weeks in Kusi, I headed straight down to Cusco where we have our newest Girasoles home. It opened just over a year ago in March 2008, and there are already 42 children living here. My job from now through August is to work as the site coordinator here in Cusco. It is up to me to host, translate, and figure out all of the logistics of transportation, lodging, food, and ministry for all of the short term teams. I will talk more about Cusco and the ministry here in later posts. I will leave you with this short video (sorry for the poor quality) of one of the new seven wonders of the world--Machu Picchu! While most of the work teams that come here to Cusco spend a tour day at Machu Picchu, I rarely accompany them. In the case of my first team in June, my friend Polly had planned on going with the group, but then decided that she wanted to meet up with a friend who lives in the city of Cusco during the groups Machu Picchu day. I was happy to take the ticket off of her hands, and enjoyed having a tour day with the work team!

Also, I wanted to leave you with a few prayer requests. As I have talked and emailed with many of you, I have been reminded over and over again that so many people are praying for me and the ministry here. Thanks so much. I continue to covet your prayers.

--Pray me as I adjust to the pace of hosting work teams. The job extends far beyond the regular 8 hours a day, 5 days a week time period. When there is a group here in Cusco, I am almost always on the clock. Pray that God would give me strength to be able to encourage the short-term teams in their ministry. I will be in Cusco full time until August 8, then I have a few week break when my mom, dad, brother, and sister are coming down to visit. And after they leave I have a pretty full schedule with work teams through the middle of October.

--Another difficulty that I have during work team season is that life is very much like a roller coaster. Just as I start to become accustomed to one group of people, they leave, and I start over again. I am very thankful for the other Scripture Union staff that live here in Cusco. They have become good friends quite quickly, and they are a welcomed constant here where life has so many changes.

--Pray for all of the work teams this summer. We are know into the middle of the season, and there are traveling within the country a whole lot. Pray for their health and safety. Pray for God to work in their lives--that they would not go home the same as when they arrived here. Pray also for their ministry be it medical, construction, or with the boys--that their hearts would be overflowing with God's love and that God would use their efforts to further His Kingdom!

Servolution

In the past week or so I have been very busy. In addition to my work with Scripture Union in the schools my new church joined with a bunch of other churches all over the world for a week of "Servolution." The motivation behind the entire week was to intentionally do acts of kindness and to be able to show Christ's love to the people in Lima without looking for anything in return. I participated in two of the service projects that the church helped to organize last week. Saturday of last week was the kickoff, and nearly everyone in the church showed up to get involved. We spent about a half an hour in prayer and worship, and then it was out into the city...everyone wearing the same red shirts the read "It is a pleasure to serve you." Some groups walked around the streets and passed out bottles of water. Other people went into local hospitals dressed as clowns to visit the children. One group jumped on a local bus, paid every passengers fare and handed out newspapers to anyone who wanted one to read. We were all over the city!

The Congregation Before Leaving to Serve

On Saturday about 50 of us from the young adults group squeezed onto a minibus and left to paint a community center/public cafeteria in a more needy area of town. While one group of us painted, another group of girls offered manicures to the ladies in the community. We sanded and then painted the entire outside of the building in addition to many of the wooden tables and chairs on the inside of the building. Naturally, a group of 50 people all wearing the same bright red shirt attract a little bit of attention from passersby. The community mayor even came by and gave us all bright green visors to wear when he noticed that we were wearing homemade newspaper hats on our heads to keep the sun away. When people asked why we were there it was really neat to respond that we are doing all of this because we love Jesus and because we know that he loves you!

Painting in Our Newspaper Hats!

Then last Thursday a smaller group of about 20 of us got together to give food out to some of the children and the beggars living on the streets in the center of Lima. We spent the better part of the afternoon preparing sandwiches, buying bottles of juice, and assembling all of the meal packs. We then all headed over into the main square of Lima--again with our bright red shirts--and walked the streets handing out the food in Christ's name!

Handing Out Dinner

We closed the week on Good Friday with a big praise and worship concert to celebrate what God had done through the congregation over the past week. On a side note, though, I do have to say that Easter here is very different than it is in the states. Yes, it is a holiday. Many people did not have to work on Thursday or Friday of the week, but most of the protestant churches do very little to celebrate Christ's resurrection on Easter. The local catholic churches do make a huge deal about Holy Week, but their focus is almost exclusively on Christ's death. For instance, many of the country's stores and restaurants are closed on Good Friday but open on Easter Sunday. I was glad to call my family on Sunday to be able to say "CHRIST IS RISEN. HE IS RISEN INDEED!"

Apart from the church activities, I was invited to a friends 18th birthday party this past Saturday. It was a great time, but there was one noticeable difference between Peruvian culture and the USA. The party was supposed to start at 8pm. I happened to spend the entire day with my friend and his family, so I was ready to leave with them before 8:00 so that the guest of honor would be there in time to greet everyone. Well 8:30 rolled around, and we had still not left their house. We finally walked over to the church where the party was at around 9:00, and of course, no one was there yet. People started to arrive around 9:30, and we actually started the party at 10:00pm or so. This is common practice in Peru for any type of party or social event--even weddings usually get started 2 or more hours after the time on the invitation! We had a great time at the party...I even won in a game of reverse charades (the whole team acted while I had to guess).

Winning in Charades!

To leave you with a few points of prayer...

--First, praise God for the week of Servolution and for literally the thousands of lives that were touched by my church and many other churches.

--Pray for the work teams that will begin coming down in May. Pray that God would use each team as his hands and feet in Peru and that the ministry that they come to do would bring people closer to the kingdom of God

--Pray for our work in the schools--specifically that God would raise up volunteers to continue to grow the ministry. This Friday afternoon we are holding a training for all of the volunteers to help them understand how to manage a classroom of students and how to effectively reach the children.

Thanks so much for all of your prayers. As usual, please let me know if there is any way that I can pray for you.

Settling In

So I have heard from a number of people that they are anxiously awaiting another blog entry...mostly my parents, but a few other people as well! Quite a bit has happened since my last post.

First, I have to say thanks to everyone who has been praying for me faithfully--specifically in regards to my concern over finding an apartment. I bought a Sunday copy of the newspaper, and I shopped around. Being new to Lima, it was somewhat stressful to find my way around the city to look at different apartments and trying to negotiate a price with the owners. After my first day of searching, I thought that I had found a suitable place. It was a little bit bigger than I needed (2 bedrooms), but the price was very good...at least I thought. When I came back the next day to sign the contract, however, the owner included a bunch of extra fees that she had not talked about the day before. So, it was back to the drawing board. I spent one more full day looking all over for another place to live, but I had little luck. Eventually I ran out of contacts to call from the classified ads, so I resorted to just knocking on doors of apartment buildings and asking if there was anything available for rent. Needless to say that accomplished very little. I was about ready to call it a day and head back to Paul and Marty's house, when I realized that I had one more landlord's contact information in my pocket. Praise God, the apartment was exactly what I was looking for. There is not much to the apartment itself, but it has everything that I will need. It is in a secure location in a part of the city that I am already quite familiar with, it came pre-furnished--even dishes and pans included--and they are letting me rent the place on a month to month basis without signing any long term contracts. I have been living here for about a week now, and having a place to call my own is a huge blessing. Praise God that his hand was in this long before I even started looking.

Another big praise is that I think I have found a church that I can plug into. It is a fairly large congregation, but coming from Ward Church in Michigan, a large congregation is what I am used to. I went this weekend with a friend who works in the schools program with me at Scripture Union. I really do desire to make friends and fellowship with other believers during my time here, and before my first day there was over I had already been invited to participate in a service project taking place next week. The youth/young adult group that I attended was also very encouraging. There were probably about 300-400 people there between the ages of 17 and 30. I am excited to go back next week and to begin to learn more about the specific beliefs and doctrines that they hold. God is so good, and I know that he is answering prayer.

The work here is going well too. As I mentioned, I am working in the schools right now in Lima. Peru's school year just began in March, so right now our work involves a lot of administration and organization. Before we actually enter the classrooms, we have to visit each different school and talk with the director to coordinate what hours and what classrooms we will be entering. I am feeling a little bit restless because I really want to get in and do ministry with the kids, but this has been a good time to get to know the people on staff. Traveling to all of the different schools in a relatively short period of time also means that I am rapidly learning my way around the city. There are approximately 9 million people living in this city, and it is roughly 2,900 square miles (slightly less than the state of Rhode Island). I welcome any chance to learn how to navigate through the streets.

In other news, I did have a chance for some fun on Sunday evening. I attended my first big Peruvian soccer game! It was a world cup qualifying game between Peru and Chile. Tensions were high, and the police were out in full force, but for the most part my friends and I had a good time. Sadly, Peru lost the game 3-1. I have posted a few pictures below.

Hanging Out Before the Game

Johnny and I at the Game

Fútbol!

Underneath the Peruvian Flag

At the Game

Well, if you made it this far down this long blog post, then you must really have an interest in my life, or care about the ministry here with Scripture Union. I will leave you with a few prayer requests.

--Pray for me as it is slowly sinking in that I am here for a long term. As you have read in my blog, things are going really well, but there is naturally at least a little bit of homesickness that comes with living so far away. Sometimes it is difficult to know that I can't just call up friends back in the States to hang out for an evening, or see family as often as I have become accustomed to.

--Pray for the process of changing from a tourist visa to a resident visa. So far everything is going very smoothly. I went to Interpol this morning to get fingerprinted and to establish a dental record. Now we are at the point where all of the necessary paperwork has been filled out and turned in, but everything has to move through all of the proper channels within the Peruvian government as well as through the FBI back home. If everything goes as planned, then I should have my resident alien card within the next 30 or 40 days.

--Pray for Scripture Union--specifically in Lima. They have decided to sell the land that the offices and boys' home is currently sitting on in downtown Lima and relocate. Pray that God would provide all of the parties involved with wisdom as they begin to plan the relocation process. Pray that God would provide a great environment for the new boys' home to be located, and pray that a good location will be found for the main offices.

Thanks you so much for all of your prayers. Please let me know if there is ever anything in your life that I can pray for! I will try to get back into the habit of blogging at least once a week.