slow internet, a bit of sickness, and the blessing of God

yep. ok, here´s the run down from my last post because my time in this precious internet café is running short!

Sunday - amazing church service! Got to help Hilda teach Sunday school (and for the record, boys are the same in every culture. geez louise. can´t sit still or be quiet for anything.) AND saw the fruit of some of our work - several people we´ve contacted were at church for the FIRST TIME EVER or for the first time in a LONG time! and several of our kids from class came! including Shayle and Jorge. (Jorge even brought his little cousin! so cute) After service, we had lunch (to break our fast) and rested before the PM service. After the PM service, we went to visit little Juan Luis, a five-year-old in Yungay who was hit by a car a few weeks ago and has a broken leg and an aluminum plate in his head after two brain surgeries. such high spirits! he showed me what he was learning in his take-home lessons from school while Pastor Joel and Hilda talked with his family. His father said that he cannot see the hand of God anywhere in this situation and has been really discouraged (obviously), but we took some time to pray and encourage his family... keep praying for open hearts and healing for Juan Luis!

Monday - rest day. good time for refreshing, cleaning the bathroom, washing clothes by hand, etc. etc.

Tuesday - taught class to about 25 kids - most of them NEW! AARRGGHHH. i felt so unorganized - not a happy feeling for me. but God is faithful! After class, Krista was not feeling well, so we went back to the hotel... and both of us got sick. yuck. no fun. therefore...

Wednesday - slept. all day. quite literally. i´m pretty sure i slept 20 hours yesterday. and was still tired. yuck. yuck. yuck.

Thursday (TODAY!) - oh the faithfulness of God! Felt SO much better this morning (both Krista and me!) and got ready for our class. Two girls arrived 45 MINUTES EARLY - which never happens in Peruvian culture. We reinforced what we taught Tuesday since it was so ridiculously unorganized, and taught the Bible story about Noah and God´s provision for him and his family because of Noah´s faithfulness to walk with God - something the kids had never heard before. SO COOL! Shayle and Jorge and Lourdes and Yadira and all their friends were there and paying such close attention! It was fabulous. Played pictionary at the end of the class and then got the customary kisses as kids left. Oh, how I love this place.

So. Now for prayer requests.
Continue praying for the kids here!! We have definitely seen fruit from your prayers and it has been amazing watching God´s faithfulness in drawing them to Himself... it´s the most incredible feeling to SEE people here and have them recognize us (of course, the only fair-skinned people around, but whatever) and stop in the middle of the street to have conversations! SO keep praying!
Pray also that we will be intentional about building more relationships with shop owners that we frequent - especially intentional relationships for the Gospel as many people we see every day don´t have a relationship with the God of the universe...
This Saturday-Sunday, we have four teammates coming to join us! Sam, Daniel, Kyle, and their translator are coming to Yungay since their plans for the rest of the summer doing research haven´t panned out. Of course, we know that man may plan his life, but the Lord determines his steps, so He has got a GREAT purpose in their coming! (especially considering the number of kids we´ve had in classes lately! we need the help!) so pray for safety in travel, unity as a team, and God´s continual guidance in His Will here in Yungay. (BTW - these teammates are GUYS, in case you didn´t notice. Tough transition for us girls here, but SUCH A BLESSING for Pastor Joel, as he is the ONLY guy in our group as of now! So. yeah.)

Thank you so much for your prayers! Keep em coming!

Other random sidenotes -
1. Peruvian fireworks are terrifying. Day and night. EXPLOSIONS. For no apparent reason. People here also get really excited about Father´s Day and play music all night long. Not kidding.
2. Barney made an appearance here today as a part of a political campaign. Yes.
3. Just finished Irrisistible Revolution - highly recommended read for all, second to the Bible, I think, if you need something to read this summer. :)
4. About to start reading Passion and Purity in Spanish. pretty pumped.

BYE for now! Besos!