London was so much fun even though it was in between two 15 hour flights we had a great day! I ate fish and chips for you bro!! Yum

The girls with the guard!!!

The plane to South Africa!!

I no longer have to worry about back problems after carrying all my stuff around the world because all my bags are being stolen. This morning during breakfast our team put all our bags together down stairs and went to sit down at a table. To get down to our bags you had to walk past our table so we figured all our stuff was safe. On the way up the stairs we passed a nice looking lady all dressed up that went down took my bag and walked out. Candice saw her walking away with my bag, but was distracted by another man that was pushing her out of the way. By the time I went running down the street after the lady she was lost in the crowd. Thankfully I still have my passport and my bank cards. I lost all my shoes, Bible, journal, clothes, stock of toiletries from the United States, and other random things. The good thing is I only have a pair of flip flops and one rolling bag left so it should give our team an advantage on race days. Tim Weisemann wrote a nice blog today asking people for prayer. It is very nice that despite the bad days I am surrounded by great friends!!

Our team is staying at a wonderful church in a very nice part of town. It feels like we are in a nice part of downtown Portland. We are going to be working with an international school here and our contact will also be taking us on a tour of the city. We should have a fun week and be able to get rested up before leaving to South Africa on Tuesday. Thanks for your love and prayers!!

I want to introduce my baby duck to my family and friends!! His name is Eugene the duck! I have had him for two nights and he is still alive and well. I found him in the market place when I was walking with a couple of my friends. It was love at first sight, but I had to leave him and first ask permission from my roomates and the people that own the house if I could bring him home. The owner told me I could buy as many ducks as my heart desires. I went back to the market and was overjoyed that Eugene was still there waiting for me. It has been so much fun having a baby duck, but also a bit more work than what I imagined. I am so happy that I am not the only duck lover in the group and have had a ton of help keeping Eugene happy.

Our time in Lima Peru is about half over.  This has been one of the places I have really enjoyed on this trip.  I enjoy our time working with pastor Moses and being able to visit friends we have made in Llomo.  The church is on the side of a market place in Villa Salvador so I have been able to meet a few people in the market.  It has been a nice change staying in one place long enough to see friendships develop. 

I have also enjoyed being able to stay in a big group. I have had the oppurtunity to get to know other people on the different teams. On our days off we go to a different part of Lima that has nice restaurants and good coffee.  Lima Peru is a beautiful city and like any city there are places that are very poor and places that are very rich. We have spent time in both of these places and I hope that wherever we have been people have felt the love of Jesus. My prayer is that God will continue to put His love in our hearts so that we will be able to love people with a love that powerfully changes lives forever.

I want to report to everyone that I survived the flight from Nicaragua to Peru!! Maybe I should say that the team survived the flight with me to Peru. I took my little blue pill to help me have a better flight and I guess it put me in enough confusion that I kept telling my friend I was on a bus!! Well no more flight stories till the end of the month.

 One of the highlights from debrief was that we were on a beautiful ranch on the beach. The first day I decided to use my friends cowboy hat believing it would turn me into a cow girl and jumped on one of the horses. I guess my question about if the horse was nice or not was lost in translation.  Shortly after I was on the horse I found out it had a different route in mind than the pleasant walk down the beach. I think the cowboy didnīt want me to give up on my cowgirl dreams so they called for their nine year old son to come and be the gringitas guide. I had a wonderful evening being taken up and down the beach. We went through the fields as I was shown all the cows and each of the beautiful flowers as the sun was going down behind the mountains.

The other hightlight of debrief was when they handed us our letters from home. Thinking I would only have a copy of my immunizatons and a new bank card I was shocked to recieve letters from home. The first letter I opened was typed and after realizing it was from mom I had to put it back in the envelope to keep from crying in front of a room full of people. My heart was touched by every single card and letter that was sent to me. I was also relieved to find some humorous cards (also a bit strange) and gum has never tasted better.

Yesterday in Peru was another day of boxes and cards for everyone. I was certain that after all my letters in Nicaragua I wouldnīt recieve anything. God really must love me!! I had a card from a very special mom of one of my team members that really spoke to my heart. It was hard to believe someone who had never met me would take the time to write me a letter. God really used it to speak to my heart and give me encouragment. Also another team member asked her mom to send me a box so I was able to have a new supply of gum, pens, paper, candy, and the nicest pink socks ever!! I want to thank everyone so much for all the love and encouragment. I am excited to be in Peru and I know that God is at work in each person on the world race as well as in the country of Peru!!

We were helping out at a medical clinic and I helped by pulling teeth.

My first shrimp with the eyes and the tail!!! This was much better than the burnt black bird in Mexico!!! We are having lots of good times in Guatemala. Andrew is posting videos from our trip on his site if you want to check them out!!!!