It´s been quite a while since our last update, and this is actually our last! Thank you for following our journey in Peru; we appreciate your support.
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In the past few weeks, it has been refreshing to travel and see the beauty of this country. We visited Machu Pichu, Lake Titicaca, and a remote village in the mountains called Yarcancunca. While visiting the Mennonite church in Yarcancunca our host father asked us during the service to come up front and share a little about ourselves. Knowing that Quechua is the main language spoken in remote villages, I felt anxious at the thought of speaking in front of the congregation. Once we had introduced ourselves in Spanish, I decided to tell them a few words that I had learned in Quechua. I sheepishly mumbled into the microphone, ¨Chunka…Wawa¨. I did not purposefully put the words in that order, but together they mean ¨ten babies.¨ Luckily, the congregation had a good sense of humor and found my attempt funny.
We also took a vacation to Lake Titicaca, which is the world´s highest (in altitude) fresh water lake. As we have been living with a host family, we were also looking forward to time to ourselves. Once we arrived on the island, we were introduced to our host, Regina, who lives on the island and is a mother of two! Since this was our vacation, we had hoped for a hotel and possibly a hot shower. To our surprise, we ended up at a scarcely populated island with a mattress that felt like plywood and no running water. In the end, it was a once in a lifetime experience and we´re glad we did it.
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Our four months here in Peru have provided an opportunity for us to learn about another culture, to reflect on our own perceptions of the world, and to build meaningful relationships with our host family and the children from the school. We will miss them very much.
While we are sad to leave, we are looking forward to seeing family and friends, and to transitioning into another season of life. Our hope and goal is to continue to live daily life with a ¨missions¨ mindset. In other words, we aim to build Christ-like relationships with others, strengthen our own relationship with The Lord and with one another, and to use our gifts for the glory of God.
While we have spent four months on a mission’s trip, we are still discovering how to live life like the mission it truly is on a daily basis. We are excited to continue this journey of discipleship while living and serving in the U.S.
Jesse and Jessica
Teaching and Serving at PROMESA…
To be honest, not much new has happened since our last update! Jessica continues to teach five students one on one in English, and Jesse helps out with gym classes. He has also gradually become the librarian. This week we created a tree display for sticker charts in the library. Each time a student returns a book they get a sticker, and once they have ten stickers they get to pick a prize out of the prize box. J
Visits to Markets…
Our frequent trips to local markets in our community always bring new experiences and new sights. We see lots of little stands full of jewelry, books, and clothes, Peruvian women in top hats selling their goods along the streets, and steaming piles of fresh, ready-to-eat cuy (guinea pig).
Many times while we are walking around at the market, we end up bartering without even intending to. After asking how much a certain item is out of curiosity, we start to walk away, and the vendor begins to bring down the price, saying “how much you pay, how much you pay?” At times this can be a little frustrating, as we attempt to explain we aren’t actually interested in buying it but just wanted to know. Or, on rare occasions we end up buying things we didn’t intend to (like small trinkets) since they’re cheap and we would eventually go shopping for gifts to bring home anyway. We also like to support the local vendors here.
…We are excited for our last month in Peru as we will soon be celebrating Easter with our mission team as well as taking our vacation…to where you ask? You’ll just have to wait and read our next update!
…We can´t believe that we are at our half way mark and have a mere seven weeks left to live and serve here in Cusco! We often find ourselves missing home, and yet are aware that our time here is brief and not to be taken for granted. As for these past two weeks, our schedule has been the most consistent we have had yet. We now work at PROMESA daily, and we have more specific roles. Jessica is currently teaching five students each week—Micah (6th grade), Bethany (5th grade), Ella (2nd grade), Andreas (1st grade) and Abby (Kindergarten). She tutors these students during their English classes three to five times a week. She is finding that working with students one on one has its benefits. She is able to target the specific strengths and weaknesses of each student, as well as build more meaningful relationships with them than she would if she were instructing an entire classroom.
Jesse is a man of many talents here. One minute he is ¨swing patrol¨ (he makes sure that the little kids don´t fall off or twist themselves up in the chains), and the next he is laminating and organizing all of the new library books. He has also enjoyed playing fútbol (soccer) with the children during recess. Another role Jesse fills weekly is that of ¨gym transporter.¨ That is, because the school does not have a gym facility, they rent one out down the street. Jesse takes the classes to and from this building, and occasionally assists the gym teacher with the classes. This may not seem like a difficult task, but imagine trying to get thirty energetic students to form a line, follow you, and stay out of the street! Jesse thinks of creative ways-- like using a rope that they all must hold on to-- to get the kids to and from gym class safely.
Our goal while we are here (and always) is to live like Jesus instructed- to love our neighbors as ourselves. Most often, apart from the other staff members at PROMESA and our host family, our ¨neighbors¨ are between the ages of five and ten and enjoy smirking when you ask them to do something, running away, and sticking out their tongue! One little boy, after washing his hands, ran up to Jessica and jerked on her sweater, only to use it as a towel and then laugh as has ran away happily, leaving her soaking wet. It is in these moments that we desire to be an example to the kids, yet to have the vocabulary needed in Spanish to instruct them.
We have also appreciated spending time with the other missionaries here. We always look forward to our weekly team meetings. Jessica has led the team Bible studies/discussions a few times, and Jesse has prepared the snack. The team continually becomes more of a unified family as the weeks go by. More recently, the women on the team have attended Spanish Aerobics during the week, which has been a lot of fun!
We spent the rest of the week working at the school and getting to know the other teachers while doing so. I mostly worked on making Spanish-English dictionaries for the back of various school books while Jesse cleaned the walls of classrooms and helped with the construction of classes on the fourth floor. We later worked together on the teacher supply room, which was packed full of many year’s worth of supplies, decorations, and random odds and ends. We moved everything up a flight of stairs to the library where it will remain until the new teacher room is finished and we can then reorganize and relocate everything. PROMESA has become a busier place this week and many are completing their lesson plans and decorating their classrooms with urgency as on Monday we will welcome one hundred and sixty students!
We also attended a potluck at The Meeting Place Church, which is an English-speaking church that we attend weekly. The Church also owns a coffee shop, and aims to minister through both the service and the coffee shop to travelers passing through Cusco. We met many people at the pot luck ranging from Texas, Germany, Finland, Belgium, and even Lancaster, PA!
Thankfully, our Spanish is getting better little by little. We often spend many evenings talking with our host family after dinner at the kitchen table. There are times that we don’t exactly know what the topic of conversation is, but our host family includes us without pressuring us to talk. One evening, we showed them pictures on our computer of the snow in Pennsylvania and of our family’s annual butchering weekend. They often exclaimed at the sight of the snow, “Brrr! Qué frio!” They explained that they had only seen a small amount of snow once. Another evening while we were talking after dinner I was practicing my Spanish and explained something simple about my day. I told them how I had seen pigs in front of our house eating grass along the street and that I thought they were cute. Valeria then said, with her hand making the gun sign, “yo mato chanchos,” (I kill pigs). Jesse then added, “tú matas; yo corto” (you kill; I butcher/cut). Roberto responded, “y yo como” (and I eat). Marisol, a girl after my own heart, explained, “entonces yo llamaré a la policía” (I will call the police). …We enjoy laughing about simple topics; our host family seems to enjoy it too.
Prayer Requests:
-For our health. It seems that as soon as one of us feels better the other is sick again. We have only had a few days that we have felt our best since we’ve been here.
-For PROMESA. There are new teachers and students. Pray for the beginning of our school year.
-For our schedules. Jesse and I are not teachers, so we do not have a solid schedule yet. Pray for Jessica as she tutors students one on one and serves as an extra helper in various classrooms and reading groups. Pray for Jesse as he continues to help with various tasks and with the construction of the school.
Three weeks of classes have been completed at PROMESA English Summer School.
I went from teaching seniors in high school (during my student teaching practicum in the states) how to write five paragraph essays and how to interpret literature, to teaching first graders here in Peru how to write the letters of the alphabet and how to say “good morning, my name is ____”. I also taught the students numbers 1-20, the parts of the body, the names of fruits and vegetables, action words like “jump,” colors, names of family members, animal names, and simple phrases like “I am ____” (they learned happy, sad, excited, fine, sick, and tired). It really is a different world here in terms of student to teacher relationships. During student teaching, I felt my heart jump with delight if a teenager half smiled at me or mumbled a “see ya later” at the end of class—this was a GOOD sign! Here, it’s not uncommon to get attacked by all of your students with a big hug at the end of the day, exclaiming, “goodbye teacher, goodbye teacher!”
We also took the kids to the zoo and a local market so that they could use the English they had learned. We were amazed with how excited the kids got at the market as they pointed out common fruits that they see every day and yelled something like, “teacher teacher! Look, an apple!” It seemed the local market people were surprised to see three gringos with a group of twelve Peruvian children shouting out English words. Perhaps it was not surprise but annoyance we observed, as our group of energized children proved to be quite a hindrance to those working and trying to get through the narrow market alleys. We made our purchases and headed back to the school, where the kids helped to make fruit salad, which we all enjoyed.
Alfredo, the son of our host family, has left for Santa Cruz, Bolivia to return to college. Unfortunately, we won’t see him again before we leave. He has been a great help with translating for us, acquainting us with the area, and just being a good friend. We are sad to see him go.
This has been our busiest week so far. In the mornings, we headed to PROMESA to teach English classes to new students from 9-12 a.m.. All new students at PROMESA are required to attend three weeks of summer school, to help them catch up to their peers in English. Jesse has been helping out with the 4th-6th grade class, and I have been teaching the 1st-3rd grade class. On Wednesday, we took all of the kids to the zoo as an extension of a lesson on wild animals, and they had a lot of fun. After we were done teaching, we rushed home to eat lunch and to get ready to leave for our Spanish classes, which were from 3-7 p.m. Jesse has been impressed at how the students have been able to learn English more quickly than he has been able to learn Spanish! Our Spanish is certainly improving, but learning how to converse and understand Spanish when our host family asks us questions is much more challenging than completing a worksheet for homework. Another highlight of this week was the arrival of the other three English teachers (Malinda Stoner, and Becca and Emily Martin). We had not seen each other since our training in Harrisburg, and we have enjoyed catching up (not to mention having friends to take the forty-five minute bus ride to language school with... and to speak a little English with). Today (Saturday) has been a good day to relax, catch up on sleep, and do our laundry. We are now looking forward to the Superbowl party with other EMM missionaries tomorrow... Go Colts!
Jesse was able to travel along with doctors from a missionary clinic to Lucre, one of the affected towns. They met early Thursday morning to pack as many medicines and first-aid products as they could into backpacks. The flooding has made travel extremely difficult, so they had to hike forty-five minutes to get to the town. The doctors provided one-on-one medical care at no charge for anyone that needed it. They were able to help roughly one hundred people in one afternoon (See Pics).
We have both been involved in teaching at PROMESA. The school is holding summer English classes for first year students to prepare them for the regular school year. I have gradually taken over the K-3rd grade class, and Jesse has been assisting with the 4-6th grade class. The students that come seem very excited and eager to learn English. It has been a fun opportunity for us to help teach and connect with really cute and energetic kids. These classes will continue for the next two weeks, and the regular school year will begin in March, where we will continue to assist with teaching.
As we gradually become more involved and invested in this area and in the ministries already developed here, we feel thankful and excited for what is to come. Thanks for your prayers and support.
We are writing to inform you about the weather conditions here in Cusco. It has rained more this rainy season--specifically in the last week--than many can remember (click here for a summary/news article). We are safe; our host family does not live in one of the affected areas. However, the friends and family of many people we have met have lost their homes completely. Yesterday we went along with one of the full-time missionaries to the town of Huacarpay (pronounced "walker-pie") and joined the group of church members already there to help a family move their belongings from their muddy and wet house to cars and vans. We were struck by the sites of the colapsed homes, lakes of water in the streets, and families walking alongside the roads with their remaining belongings. This family and many others from the town have lost their homes, and are now figuring out what to do next, and where to go. The church of Huacarpay has also been destroyed. In fact, we have heard that this town is in such bad shape that the families and church may need to relocate entirely.
Our prayer requests:
--For those that were stranded at Machu Picchu (click for video). We aren´t sure if all have been evacuated. Prayers also for the families of the guides that were killed.
--Prayers for the people of the surrounding towns--as they will not be hellicoptered out of the rainy mess like the tourists at Machu Picchu, but have lost their homes because of it.
--Prayers specifically for the town of Huacarpay... for the families that have lost their homes.
Thanks for checking in,
Jess and Jesse
Reflections on our first week in Cusco, Peru…
After our parents (Jim and Judy) dropped us off and we had said our goodbyes, we departed from Newark, NJ to Lima, Peru on January 15th.
Overall we had a good flight, but we were fairly disappointed that our seats would not recline as we had been placed in the emergency row. (It’s not easy to sleep when you are sitting straight up and can barely tilt your head back!). Luckily we each had an individual touch screen to play games or to watch movies on. This screen also updated us with a visual map as to where we were in the sky. We watched as “we” (a little plane icon) flew over Haiti, Panama, and Ecuador. Our anticipation grew as we realized that while we were over 30,000 feet above land, we were indeed in South America . Eight hours later, we landed in Lima, where we had a six hour layover. Our second flight went by fairly quick, and we soon arrived at our final destination: Cusco.
Roberto and Alfredo picked us up from the airport (the father and son of our host family). They were holding a sign that said “Jesse and Jessica Heindel” – so we were able to spot them outside as soon as we had our luggage. Alfredo is able to speak some English which was a big relief and enabled us to communicate semi-effectively. As we drove through Cusco, Jesse and I took in all the new sights… Enormous green mountains that seemed to frame the sky, random stray dogs scattered along the sides of the streets, houses made of clay, billboards in Spanish… not to mention the way everyone was driving! The dashed white lines dividing the “lanes” on the streets are barely considered to be boundaries or guidelines. We thought Massachusetts was bad, but it doesn’t even compare!
When we arrived we were greeted by Valeria who already had breakfast prepared for us. We had muffins, juice, and Mate de Coca tea (which is said to help with adjusting to the altitude). We then took a long and much needed nap…
I have to admit, it had only been a matter of days until I had begun to picture the “kind of people” that would be better at this mission trip. If only we looked more Peruvian; if only we were fluent in Spanish; if only when I did speak Spanish my accent was convincing. If only, if only if only…Why is it that I often find myself imagining all the people I’ve ever known that would (in my mind) be better in the situation that I am in? Why is comparison and envy so often my un-wanted companion when I am tested or put in a new environment? Certainly it stems from a form of pride, but also from a misunderstanding of who I am, and of who God is, and of how He works through His people. Listen to Paul as he writes in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 2:
“When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1-5).
While I’m concerned with conjugating verbs correctly and not making mistakes, Jesse is jumping in head first. He could care less how smoothly things go; he just wants to learn. At meals we keep our dictionary near by. Jesse will reach for it, look up one to two words, and smile while he says them, hoping to strike up conversation. One night while we were eating dinner with Valeria he said, “Que instrumento…Alfredo?” She got the point and filled in the blanks. “Toca? (play)?” She clarified” “Si, Si,” said Jesse. We then talked for a few minutes about what instruments her son plays. Or, like the time Jesse saw her shelling peas and he wanted to help. I’m often too nervous to take initiative. So while I was figuring out in my head how to properly ask, “Can we help you shell the peas” Jesse had already looked up one word: the verb “to help.” He got up from his chair, smiled, and said, “Ayudar?” Not conjugated. Not in a sentence. Just, ayudar. “Si! Si!” said Valeria. And while Jesse and Valeria happily shelled peas I sat at the kitchen table and realized that sometimes perfectionism prevents action. Jesse’s attempts demonstrate humility. He wants to build relationships more than to say and do everything just right. Is it perfection and eloquence that God wants from us, or love in action and in humility? May we be like Paul, and may God use us in our weakness. May we act, and may our actions “speak” the kinds of things that we don’t yet know quite how to say.
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature…if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of sinful nature are obvious: …jealousy, selfish ambition, envy…But the fruit of the Spirit is: LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS AND SELF-CONTROL. (See: Galatians 5: 16-26).
PRAYER REQUESTS:
...Made by our host family
...How we begin every school day
One of Jessica´s students
Jesse found this pupppy wandering down the street before we left for the zoo... un perro!
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On the bus, on the way to the zoo.
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It´s amazing how they build on steep hills!
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...Has a wing span of up to ten feet!
This bird holds an important role in ancient Andean religion. Check this out, it´s pretty intersting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andean_Condor
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Many kids actually didn´t abide by this sign..
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Doesn´t it look like we were inside the cage? Maybe we were..
Daughter of Ron and Regina (Full time missionaries).
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When you first enter the house you see the garden...
We always take the green " Pegaso" Bus to go into the city (to language school).
Our host family´s dog; Bethoven.
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We saw all of our bus driver´s drinking INKA KOLA so we wanted to try it... tastes like bubblegum soda.
Our Host Family´s Kitchen.
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Rack for cups/glasses
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We think this is a wild parrot that our host family tamed because is lives in their garden/yard, but can fly away if it wants to.
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The Parrot eats grapes!
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... We liked these pictures of the parrot a lot.