AYC Peru: FAQ

I just want to take a minute to answer some of the frequently asked questions about my trip. This post is accurate as of it's posting but information is subject to change as there are still many things we don't know.

What organization you traveling with? I'm traveling with Apostolic Youth Corps, a division of the United Pentecostal Church International. AYC is a combined effort between the Global Missions Division and the General Youth Division to send young people overseas to be an active part in missions work. This particular trip is also sponsored by another division of the UPCI, Campus Ministry International. 

Do you know anyone you're going with? I do not know one soul on the trip personally. Through facebook, texting, and phone calls I have become good friends with two of my group members but we have yet to actually meet. I know of a few of the people through mutual acquaintances but essentially I'm going with 25 strangers.

How many people are in your group? As best as I can figure from counting email addresses there are 23 of us in the group. We will be traveling with 2 chaperones, David and Holly Jury, and with the Showalters, our host missionaries.

When are you leaving? We depart on Friday July 12 from Houston. We'll be flying out about 4 in the afternoon. The group will assemble in Houston throughout the day and leave together at that time. We will arrive in Lima that night at about 10:30.

How long is the flight? The flight from Houston to Lima is 6 hours 30 min. It is direct and they claim they're going to feed us. It will be the longest I've ever flown and the highest altitude, so prayers for my sensitive ears are appreciated.

How long will you be there? We have 9 actual days in the country plus 2 travel days. We will be actively in Peru doing things other than sitting on planes from July 13-July 21. 

Where in Peru are you going? We are going to Lima, Arequipa, Juliaca, Puno, Lake Titicaca, Cuzco, and Macchu Picchu.

What are you going to be doing? Honestly, I don't really know. Whatever they tell us to do haha. I do know that we are going to be participating in at least one church service in every place except Macchu Picchu. We will even be in a service on a UPCI Island Church in the Uros man made Islands. Because our trip is sponsored by CMI it is probably safe to assume we will do some work in colleges and universities there. I also know we will be doing evangelism. There is sight seeing on the schedule but except for Macchu Picchu it is combined with street evangelism, etc. No time will be wasted.

Will you have access to the internet? At times yes. The two hotels we know so far do claim to have wifi but I will not be paying international data charges so access will be limited to when wifi is available.

Are you going to be uploading pictures while you're there? When wifi is available I will upload pictures to Instagram (which will also post to my facebook and my twitter feed). I also plan to blog as time and internet connections allow.

Will you have your phone? Yes BUT it will be in airplane mode all the time. Phone calls will cost me $2.89 a minute, sending a text will cost me $0.50 and receiving one will cost $0.05. DO NOT TEXT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you would like to send me a message you may either facebook message me or download the app WhatsApp and send me messages that way.

Got more questions? Post them in the comments! That's all for now folks!

AYC Peru: It's almost here!

Warning: This post may be a bit rambling; you have been warned!

So, according to my countdown app, there are currently 8 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes and 41 seconds remaining until my flight leaves Tulsa (assuming it's not delayed...I am flying American so that is questionable). There are so many thoughts and emotions flowing through my poor brain right now that  I don't think I can begin to express them all here -- but I'm going to try.

Disbelief: A portion of my brain is simply incredulous that I, yes little ol' me, am going to be in Peru in just over a week. I have dreamed of going to Peru for years but for a variety of reasons have never thought I'd ever see foreign soil. One former man of God in my life told me upon hearing of my call to the Spanish speaking portion of the world that my calling didn't mean I'd ever go anywhere -- I'd probably just help in a Spanish church in the states and I'd probably never leave the Oklahoma area. Another person in my life told me that "all young people feel called to missions but most never go so don't get my hopes up." So, needless to say, I dreamed about it but never thought I'd ever actually go. Actually it was just a week ago today that my brain finally accepted the reality that I am going to Peru. I was shelving books at McFarlin library when it just hit me that I'm really going to Peru! I almost ran around the library screaming but I instead settled for listening to Shout Now Radio on Pandora and having a praise break while I shelved (if anyone saw me I'm not crazy, just excited). I just can't quite believe that I'm going to South America in less than 9 days!!

1 Thessalonians 5:24

Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.

King James Version

Excitement: So I don't want to do anything these days. I just want to pack and talk about my trip and obsess over how much longer it is 'til I'm in Lima! I've already become pretty good friends with two of the people I'm going with and I can't wait to meet them and spend 6.5 hours on a plane with them while we drive everyone else around us nuts because we won't shut up. (But at least we won't be singing Disney songs, right Justin? I may bring a pillow just to smother those people...) I cannot focus on anything I'm just too excited!!!

Fear: I'm not afraid of getting kidnapped, murdered or lost but I am worried about many silly things. I'm afraid of losing my passport, forgetting something important, getting sick because of how bad the flight hurts my ears, getting sick in general, embarrassing myself, being the least spiritual person in the group, forgetting every word of Spanish I've ever learned, eating guinea pig, being the most out of shape and slowing the group down, having an asthma attack on Macchu Picchu, somehow sinking an island in the Uros Islands, and a thousand million other things. It'll all be ok though!!

Impatience: Since I began typing this the countdown has shifted down to 8 days, 21 hours, 53 minutes, and 35 seconds. Can time move any slower? Can it be next Friday yet? I'm ready to go! Let's go! Let's do this thing! Are we there yet? Come on! I've got things to do, places to go and people to tell about Jesus!!

So anyways! I'm excited! Expect another post today or tomorrow detailing where we're going etc! Also, if you sent me a donation and I haven't sent you a thank you note I promise you will get it before I leave! It's been a crazy several months with school and two jobs and I've gotten behind! You'll get it though!! :-)

AYC Update

I'm sure many of you remember the post where I first poured out my soul about the desire to go to Peru with Apostolic Youth Corps this summer. Here's your update. I was officially accepted to this tiny trip of 16 students from the US and Canada. I don't know a soul that is going and it will be my first time outside of the US and Canada so I'm both excited and terrified. Now the pressing matter in money. The first payment of $1100 is due one month from today and will pay for our airfare to and from Peru (the return flight is overnight, oh my....) and as it stands I'm only about 35% funded for that first payment. I still need about $700. I know God is going to provide this but I don't know how haha. I'm running a 5K on 4/20 but have very few sponsors. I'm going to be selling Mazzio's Coupon books as well but they aren't in yet. I'm asking all of you to consider sponsoring me or just donating to the cause. I have a Paypal set up just for my trip and it is lana-bible@utulsa.edu. You can gift money to that account and I would be thrilled. I love you all and am looking forward to sharing this journey with you!

Food Friday: Baked Potato Soup

As part of my goal to cook more now that the semester is over I've decided to jump on the "Food Friday" bandwagon. Just a warning the following recipe is not suitable for those trying to lose weight, fight heart disease, etc. :-) The pictures alone may clog your arteries. Enjoy.

On cold evenings when we have a little time to spare my family loves to enjoy a good pot of baked potato soup. This particular version is especially delicious (and fattening). Hint: if a recipe starts with melting a stick or more of butter it's good.

Oh wait, that butter was just to tantalize you. First you need to assemble your ingredients.

Ingredients:

4        large baking potatoes

2/3 c.   butter or margarine

2/3 c.   flour

6 c.     milk

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

4        green onions, chopped

12       slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 c.     shredded Cheddar cheese (additional for garnish)

8 oz.    sour cream

Directions:

Bake potatoes (hint do this several hours ahead, peeling and dicing freshly baked potatoes can remove your fingerprints and prepare you for a life of crime).

Melt butter. Add flour until smooth. Cook 1 min. stirring constantly. Gradually add milk. Turn to medium heat until thick and bubbly.

Add potatoes (peeled and diced), salt, pepper, a handful of green onion, 1/2 c. bacon, and cheese. Cook until hot. Stir in sour cream. If too thick, add milk to your desired consistency.

Garnish with cheese, green onions and bacon and ENJOY!

You Go!

Hello all. It has been ages. I've returned to tell you a story. A long time ago there was a little girl. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and as one old preacher said, a kissing smile. She was cute. But even at the age of five she had more than ruffles and bows on her mind and heart. Her family faithfully attended General Conference every year. Every year during the foreign missions service she would sit there primly, dreaming of responding to the alter call for new missionaries and knowing she was way to little. After services they would go to the exhibits and if her parents lost her they knew she would be in the Foreign Missions area chatting with the missionaries. All her life the missionaries were her heroes. She loved to hear them talk and dreamed of visiting their countries. She dreamed of people getting the Holy Ghost and of a man, preaching in Spanish about el fuego del Spirito Santo (the fire of the Holy Ghost). And yet she wondered why God never sent an angel down or any such amazing thing to call her. She remembered sitting at the table with Nixes and dreaming of visiting them in Peru. She remembered all this and she longed to go but somehow she was convinced she hadn't been called. Then one day in deep prayer she realized she had been called for so long that she simply didn't realize because she couldn't remember NOT being called. That little girl grew up, gone is the blonde hair and blue eyes. Still her heart longs for Peru. Life is what it is and she's still to young to just run off to another country as a full time missionary. But she has wanted to do an AYC trip for a long time. Each summer though the time wasn't right and Peru wasn't on the list and she was determined to go there. For a while she gave up. And then the tugging to go on an AYC trip returned. And so she decided to start saving vacation time for the Summer of 2013, not knowing where the destinations were but knowing 2013 was her last summer before adult life set in. The summer before senior year seemed like the perfect time and so she started saving those vacation days. Then she decided to check the AYC website. And she found they had posted the 2013 destinations. And there on the list, towards the bottom was Peru. The letters leaped out at her and she it was time for her to go. Or should I say it's time for me to go. 

July 12-22, 2013

Peru

Est. Cost $3000

Will you help me go? Will you donate? Will you pray? Will you give me fundraising ideas? Will you help me go? Many obstacles stand in the way and most of all I would ask that you pray for my father. I am his baby girl and he worries about me. I send him a text when I get places so he knows I'm ok. Peru would be hard for him to handle. But the LORD is able to give peace. So pray with me! Thank you and if you are 16-35 YOU GO!

How Much Does the Love of God Cost?

¿Cuánto cuesta el amor de Dios? Cuesta nada pero costó la vida de Jesús. 

How much does the love of God cost? It costs nothing but it cost the life of Jesus.

I love Him.

I love Him.

Because He first loved me.

And purchased my salvation on Calvary.

Learning Spanish has been such a beautiful thing for me. I've come to the point that I love to worship and pray in Spanish. It's so much more real even though I do make mistakes sometimes. I give so much more thought to the meaning of what I'm saying. I've realized that it becomes easy for words to become meaningless. We use them so much we don't think about it. We forget their meaning and we forget such important things. We say things over and over but do we even know what we're saying anymore? It's so easy to speak the words and not really remember what they mean. We just have an autopilot response and that's that.

I have heard and said all my life that God loved me so much that He died for me. I've heard and said time and time again that His love is unconditional, that it costs me nothing, that He already paid the price. Oh, but do know what it means? Do I know?? ¿Cuánto cuesta el amor de Jesus? How much does it cost? Oh, it's easy to say it costs nothing but not remember that it really means NOTHING! And so I forget and I begin to try to earn His love. I try to buy it with my deeds.

But then I feel His arms of love wrap around me when I least deserve it and I remember again as the oh so emphatic words "El amor de Jesus cuesta nada"  slip from my mouth. ¿Nada? Really? Nothing at all? It costs nothing? 

And then I am shaken. I tremble in shock as I remember "costó la vida de Jesus." It cost the life of Jesus. And as those words travel through my mind I see the picture of Christ Jesus on the Cross. The blood drips from His battered body and I really remember the love of God. I remember His love cost me nothing but it cost Him so much because He loved me enough to ensure that it would cost me nothing. And in that moment I am truly grateful and aware of His love for me. I'm truly aware that it cost me nothing because it cost Him everything.

John 13:15

Greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

King James Version

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

King James Version

2012 - Memories Made - Week 1

1/366 - Jan. 1 - Kaylie (a wonderful member of our A-Team bus ministry) was baptized in Jesus Name. What a great way to start the new year.

2/366 - Jan. 2 - Enjoying the Journal Josiah (Honey-Pie) got me for Christmas. Using it to take notes on my Bible reading.

3/366 - Jan. 3 - Productive day but a never ending sinus infection is sent me to bed early so goodnight from me and Teddy.

4/366 - Jan. 4 - Back to school seems real now. $518.32 real. Anyone wanna subsidize that? ;-)

5/366 - Jan. 5 - Got to work and discovered I'd been awarded a "Dewey" (our library employee awards). Isn't my frog cute? He's for those who go above and beyond. Thanks to my co-worker Matt for the nomination.

6/366 - Jan. 6 - Discovered Barnes & Noble will buy used textbooks. Shipped these babies off.

7/366 - Jan. 7 - Preparing for school to start Monday. A nice clean desk ready for lots of studying (or facebooking).

And finally the song that I've had on repeat all week.