Happy New Year! As a lot of you do, I want to reflect on 2013 and remember and give praise to God who has been my constant companion and guide in a year filled with transition, goodbyes and hellos! Below is a quick reflection of this year for me.
Near the end of January, My family and I said good bye to an amazing woman, my dear Aunt Era, who lived a full life into her 90's. My favorite things about her included her joy and energy and how she filled the room with her passion for life. What I loved about her most was her encouragement to enjoy life and not to rush into things like marriage. She said there was plenty of time for that! She was such a special person to me and I miss her very much.
In March, I had the chance to go out to California to do a training with Free Wheelchair Mission (the organization that I originally came to Peru with 3 years ago). I got to meet many staff at FWM and talk more in detail with the CEO and founder Don Schoendorfer. The training was to learn how to be a trainer to distribution sites around the world regarding disability education, and how to better fit of the wheelchairs depending on the needs of the recipient of the wheelchair.I will start with my first training with the staff and volunteers at the church Camino de Vida who I work with in Lima in February. My hope is to get to travel throughout Peru and possibly other places in South America to provide this training.
In May I packed up my entire condo, sold a lot of things and put the rest in storage. I said goodbye to the very first home that I owned. There was a mixture of emotions because even though I knew it was the thing still keeping me in the states, that it meant so much to me because it was my first home purchase as an adult.
At the end of May, I moved to Colorado for a month of training with MTI (Missionary Training International). I met about 40 new friends all at once with the same heart for missions. As great as the month was to connect, learn, and grow, it was even more difficult to say goodbye knowing that most likely, I will never see most of these people again in person. Thankfully, there is technology to keep us all connected, and we are a great source of encouragement to each other in this way.
At the end of May, I moved to Colorado for a month of training with MTI (Missionary Training International). I met about 40 new friends all at once with the same heart for missions. As great as the month was to connect, learn, and grow, it was even more difficult to say goodbye knowing that most likely, I will never see most of these people again in person. Thankfully, there is technology to keep us all connected, and we are a great source of encouragement to each other in this way.
After my training, I returned to my work for the summer. In August, I said goodbye to my awesome work, Easter Seals Dupage and the Fox Valley Region. A place I had worked at for 10 years. This place is by far the best place to work at. The staff who work there are exceptional at what they do and were a huge source of mentoring to me. The families and kids I worked with were also part of my family. I had known some of these kids since they were 1 or 2 and now they were 5, 6, 7, and 8! It is still hard thinking about them and how much I miss them.
The last few weeks of my time in the US were spent in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, with friends and family. It was such a blessing to spend time with those I love. I am incredibly grateful that I took the advice from MTI and said goodbye well to those I love.
On September 9th, 2013 I set out on the greatest adventure of my life so far. I've been here now 4 months! I'm going into my 4th month of Spanish classes which are every day for an hour and half. I've learned how to take the complicated bus routes to and from a few places and even do it now on my own. I can communicate in simple phrases in Spanish to hail a taxi, negotiate the price, and then give directions of where they should take me. I've been able to travel to the jungle once and have been able to serve in many different outreaches that the area of the church called "Alcance" does including painting, handing out hot chocolate, sweets, and toys to kids, wheelchair distributions, and going to the orphanage with the 101 kids with special needs (my favorite). I am slowly starting to build friendships, however I would appreciate continued prayer in this area. Two months after I arrived here, another single missionary came and so we have been hanging out together a lot helping each other out, but I still hope to have more friendships with Peruvians here. I was thankful to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving (an American only holiday) at the Pastor's house. He and his family host all the Americans who are part of the church over to his house for celebration and feast. It was such a blessing. Christmas and New Years were interesting here, as the Peruvians celebrate both holidays on the Eve at midnight with crazy amounts of fireworks. We ate a grand meal at my host family's house at 10pm Christmas eve, watched the fireworks, and then opened our presents. It was a wonderful time. Christmas day, I got to celebrate with an American family who are also missionaries here.
So, now that I have spent the majority of 2013 in major transition, I am ready for 2014 to be a year of action. Starting next week I will be going to the orphanage with the 101 kids with disabilities, 2 times a week after my Spanish lessons and will be starting to learn about the kids there, helping in any way I can. Then, I hope to start collaborating with the OT that is currently there about creating plans for each kid to have some sort of home exercise program for people who want to come and volunteer can do with the kids. Once this is done, I hope to then start providing individual therapy. For the next 2 months, I am very fortunate to have the help of a young Peruvian woman named Daniela who is currently in OT school here in Lima (sidebar-there are only 20 graduates a year in Peru in OT for the entire country of Peru). She will assist me with translating, and just understanding basic things while at the orphanage. She is doing this strictly as a volunteer and is giving up her summer to help me, so for that I am very grateful. As mentioned above, in February, I will be educating people in the church about the training program from Free Wheelchair mission. Lastly, my hope is to start going at least 1 Saturday a month (to start) to work in a shanty town (far away) that I went to on my very first trip to Peru. It was the place that pulled my heart so much to be here and I hope to get to meet the boy, David, who was my motivation for all these years to come here and serve. Many more things will start to come up in this new year, but this is what God has put on my heart to at least get started. I would love to hear what your goals are for 2014 and what God has put on your heart to be doing in 2014. It may be a year of waiting, or planning, or transition, or action. Believe me, I've been through all of them. Whatever it is, I would love to hear about it so that I can continue to pray for you. Thank you all for your specific prayers and continued support. Blessings and love to you all.
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