Greetings Everyone!
I‘m having a wonderful time in Lima. Miro and Fulvia Rojas have welcomed me in their home and Fulvia has been bombarded with my questions when we’re together in the house or at the market or moving about the city. The first 6 days were very chilly with low clouds, but the sun finally made an appearance yesterday and I started taking pictures. To see them, copy this link and paste it in the address bar. I’ll be adding photos to this album and will let you know when I start another album.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Brenda.Philippians.4/Lima2009_12_07?authkey=Gv1sRgCLqFzJ_yr9HInwE&feat=directlink
Last week I was working on my documentation and my Peruvian ID card should be ready to pick up this Friday. I learned how to use the bus and taxi system here and can get to the banks and the church from here on my own. I met a group of ladies at the church cafeteria before prayer meeting Wednesday who have become friends. They invited me to their small group study Friday and then to go out for a “coffee” yesterday. They want to get together again before I leave for Venezuela.
The mother church, Miraflores, has five services: Saturday at 6:30 pm, and Sunday at 8 am, 10 am, 12 and 6:30 pm. I have been to all five! Roberto Bastante is the preacher in all of them and there are two worship teams. The sermon and the music were excellent. What a blessing! But in addition to that, I was thrilled to see two couples that I had met last year in Piura who have since moved to other cities. One couple, Bernardo and Lorena, were visiting in Lima. Eloy and Lorena now live in Lima. Mariana’s mother introduced herself to me and I met Carola. Her husband is a pastor in Piura and we will be working together there. I also met another couple being sent from the Miraflores church. The strategy has changed, but I’ll write more about that once I have a better understanding of it. For now my assignment is to get to know Lima and the culture of Peru.
Yesterday Lorena took me out to see the city and that’s when I started snapping photos from the car. She left me with new friends from the church and you can see their photo. From there I returned home for the small group and a celebration of Fulvia’s birthday, which is today. Today I hope to get pictures at the parrilla and then at the church, so you may want to check the photos again in the next day or two to see the new ones.
Every day I see new places, meet new people, learn more of the culture and learn more of the language. Please pray that I will be able to absorb everything possible. Please also pray for safety because December is a high-crime month.
God bless,
Brenda