| Tuesday, July 08, 2008 |
| 4th of July |
Here's an update on my American Life. Chris arrived in Jackson on Monday June 30th. We spent the week helping him find his way around Jackson and just spending quality time together. This past weeked for the 4th we were able to see lots of friends and family.
The weekend started on Thursday night when Chris and I met up with several of my High School friends. We went to Mugshots and had a fun time visiting and eating a dang good hamburger (well everybody else ate a hamburger... i had a grilled chicken sandwich).
Friday we spent the day with the Varners-- a family that Chris worked with in Turkey. We had a great time eating good food, fishing at the pond, and shooting fireworks.
  Saturday night we spent the time at my sister's house where we cooked out again. My daddy joined us and we all had a good time.
 Then on Sunday after going to church at Pinelake we headed down to Brookhaven to meet all the family. Mama cooked a huge lunch: ribs, baked beans, twice-baked potatoes, bread, and homemade peach icecream. She made me a special little meal with Chicken and other things my belly can tolerate a little better. (i have the best mama in the world!).
 After lunch, Chris, my sister, her husband, and I headed down to the creek behind mama's house.
Our dogs (Allie and Gus) loved it and I'll have to say I had a pretty good time myself!
It was a great weekend with lots of fun memories. I'm so glad Chris is here and we can start making these memories together!
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posted by Laney @ 8:44 AM   |
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| Please Pray |
Hey Everyone,
I have a prayer request for all of you. A young man by the name of Greg Gomez died in an automobile accident in Peru on July 5th. He just graduated from Ole Miss in May with an engineering degree. He was serving as a Summer Missionary with the Reap South team. He was on the Research Team going to different remote villages finding people groups so that those groups can later be reached by Missionaries. He was on a combi (van-public transportation) when the van hit the side of mountain. He died of head injuries. Several others were injured. Two other young ladies were with him from the ReapSouth team--one of whom (Claudia) was my roommate in Peru. As far as I know the girls are doing fine, but they did have some injuries. This is all I know at this time.
Here is a news article about the accident: http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=149530
and for those of you who read spanish: http://www.correoperu.com.pe/correosur/cusco/nota.php?id=23716
Please keep the Reap South team and all of our summer missionaries in your prayers.
UPDATE:
I just spoke with Arnold (one of the Missionaries on the Reap South team). He says that because public transportation strikes are starting tomorrow they are having trouble getting Greg's body back to the U.S. Also, there is just tons of paperwork that has to be done in order to get him back. Please continue to pray for the team and the missionaries.
Thank you! |
| posted by Laney @ 8:37 AM |
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| Tuesday, June 17, 2008 |
| America-- original I know |
Well now that it's been a good 3 months since I've even looked at this thing I figured it was time to get everyone updated. After writing this blog I plan to send one final Newsletter. I have by no means arrived home and been able to process everything in the last 3 months. I would say this is more like the beginning of the process, this blog may be my first real step to start embracing and understanding what has transpired in the last 2 years and how to move forward with what happened and changed in my life.
I guess I should go ahead and mention that when I arrived in the U.S. I freaked out in every possible way. Those of us who have lived in foreign countries for long know that American food can be pretty constant on our homesick minds. However, when you arrive in the U.S. you hit this sensory overload especially in the area of food. Just the idea that you could go to Arby's, Chic-fil-a, Quiznos, Atlanta Bread, Starbucks, and Wendy's makes your stomach and head swim... and that's before you ever leave your terminal much less the airport! There is a whole world of food out there, and if you are in my situation (where your stomach is a mess) you want to eat it all and are afraid to take a single bite. So, needless to say I dealt with that insanity for at least 2 weeks. Meanwhile, I was trying to get into the Doctor's office, get out of my mother's house, and find a job so that I could afford the outrageous gas that has gone up at least 80 cents from my arrival until today.
My first Sunday home just happened to be Easter Sunday. Great I think... the best Sunday of the entire year. I'm not only going to see every person that does and doesn't go to church I'm also going to get some good ole "Special Music" in the mix. Again, sensory overload. Before church was over I looked at my mother and asked her to drive me home. I pray the Lord has forgiven me for walking out on such a special Sunday.
I'm not one to sit still for long, so my mother's permission (more like longing) for me to stay in her back room until the day I die was a bit overwhelming. Needless to say I only stayed there for a grand total of 3 weeks. By week 2 I had completely exhausted every semi-exciting thing you can do in Brookhaven, MS. Going from 8 million neighbors to neighbors who consisted of my extended family was a bit claustrophobic.
I moved into an apartment in Jackson with no source of income by April 5th (I think--it's all a little fuzzy). The Lord blessed me with a job on my birthday (April 28th) so that I could pay my bills and keep my sanity. This job is a true blessing. The people I work with are wonderful and the pay is great for Mississippi. (Especially when people tended to continue asking me "and what kind of job experience do you have?"-- oh I don't know how about living as a single girl in a foreign country and culture doing everything that YOU do on a daily basis only IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE!-- excuse me, that was a tangent).
So, by May I had settled into this job and lifestyle and have been really enjoying myself for the most part. I attend church on Sundays at a Mississippi sized Mega-Church. Again, quite overwhelming, but now 3 months in I'm almost to the point of being able to concentrate without staring at the sheer number of people and size of the auditorium. I'm a work in progress for sure.
Lastly, but possibly most importantly, I was able to see Chris this past week. He just arrived back in the U.S. on May 31st. After a 10 day camping trip with his best friends he arrived in VA as did I for our debriefing conference. It was so great to see him and finally be in America face-to-face. I enjoyed my time at the conference and you can say that this blog entry is a result of me seeing my need to process what I've been through these past 2 years.
 Chris and I in Wal-Mart (his first time there since arriving to the U.S) The good memories are starting to come back and the stomach aches aren't at the foreground any more. I'm remembering why I left to live among the "nations" in the first place and how ready I am to go back. I do believe that I would eat only bread for the rest of my life if that was the only way for me to live overseas....then again, I've been labeled as dramatic! However, I do know that I am willing to go to great lengths to be on the field and I do pray that God gives me another chance in any country... just so long as He's doing the leading.
I guess I should also mention here that my stomach is returning to normal (whatever that is). After seeing a GI specialist and having a colonoscopy and endoscopy all the tests came back "normal". Once again I have been given the diagnosis of IBS--- meaning my stomach hurts when I eat. Thankfully I have found a couple really good books on the subject and I'm learning to control the pain with diet. I do not like how boring the new diet is (it pretty much takes away every Southern dish I've ever enjoyed), but I've learned to like it simply because I no longer have stomach pain.
Now, I will not apologize for the length of this entry because it's more for me than all of you anyways. But if you are still reading at this point I hope you enjoyed walking through the first months in America with me.
Thank you to every one of you who has read and prayed along with me over the past 2 years. It is possible that I will continue to write on here again in the future-- possibly just changing the blog title..... however, it's just hard to imagine that filling up my F150 at $4.00 a gallon can be as exciting as flying over the Amazon in a Cessna, hiking in the Andes to reach a some no-name village, or doing disaster relief in the Desert. The truth is though, the Lord has me here for now and I pray that I am just as willing and obedient to share His truth in my office as I am to hike through mud and muck to share that same truth.
Thanks again for your prayers. Leave some comments... if you like!
I love ya'll!!!!!!!!! |
| posted by Laney @ 5:07 PM |
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| Wednesday, March 19, 2008 |
| Last Sunset and the Strangeness of America |
 This was what the Lord gave me the night before I left Peru. Thanks to Bobby Lane for stopping and letting Kristen and I take photos!
Now here are a few things that have seemed strange to me since I've gotten home:
1. I can order things with lettuce because it is okay to eat lettuce in the U.S. (however, i've yet to do so because there is still something in me that says, "don't eat the lettuce!")
2. I don't have to completely dry my glass after rinsing it with sink water...I can just put ice directly into it with no fear of Bacterias from either the water or the ice.
3. Those ice machines at Subway allow you to get as much ice as you could possibly want without having to ask the lady for more (and i don't have to have this conversation with the lady behind the counter: yes, i'm serious i would like more ice than that...yes, that is what i said MORE)
4. People don't expect you to greet them with Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening. In fact when you do so you are looked at strangely.
5. And finally, you can spend U.S. dollar bills that don't look perfect and the cashier will not hand it back and say that she wants a different one. However, I did feel like I had pulled a "fast-one" when the guy at Subway took my $5 that had an ink stain on it! |
| posted by Laney @ 11:12 AM |
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| Thursday, March 13, 2008 |
| Last Class |
Today I had the privilege of facilitating an English Conversation Class. The class took place at a local English Institute called ICPNA. We had a great time discussing controversial subjects which required lots of thought and lots of speaking English. At the end of the class I asked the students if they had any questions for me. They proceeded to ask me the normal questions: Where are you from?, What do you do?, Do you like Peru?, etc. Then I had one student ask me: "How would you share with us the love of God?"! Whoa! I was so shocked. I proceeded to share the gospel with the class thinking, what a neat opportunity. After class I ran into the guy who had asked me that question and he told me that he was a believer and he just wanted to give me the opportunity to share in class! I was so thankful! God works in the neatest ways, and when we are least expecting it.
Now the reason I named this entry "Last Class" is because that Conversation Class was the last class I will be teaching in Peru. I have made the decision this week to return to the U.S. because of continuing medical problems. I feel a perfect peace from the Lord about this decision and I know that He is guiding me. I would appreciate your prayers as I will be returning "home" on Monday (March 17).
And here's one more picture for your viewing pleasure. This is my Bible Storying Class that I have been teaching on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. I was able to find a Dr. Pepper and let them each taste the goodness. They think it tastes like medicine!
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| posted by Laney @ 5:19 PM |
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| Wednesday, February 20, 2008 |
| Not an Author |
I'm pretty sure I need to scratch the idea of writing a book because some days I can't even think of a decent blog entry. I mean it's not that I don't have the material for a good entry I just can't seem to put all of it into an interesting format.
I guess I'll start with what I know. I've been teaching my advanced English class every Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. By "advanced" I mean conversational. I'm not so good with the English grammar; therefore, we've been doing quite the opposite-- learning Southern slang. I like to hear "ya'll" and "ain't" come out of my students' mouths. I know you won't hear that from your average English teacher, but I've never claimed to be average.
We have been reading the "Southern Journal" articles from the last page of Southern Living magazines. The students seem to really be enjoying the classes. I decided that since most of the missionary volunteers that come to Peru are from the South it is important for our translators, a.k.a. my students, to be aware of Southern culture and idioms.
We are doing this because I decided I needed to regroup on my Bible Storying lessons. I was having trouble helping my students understand the need for Storying. They were doing a great job memorizing the stories for themselves, but I'm not sure I was expressing the importance of learning this as a method of sharing the gospel with others. So, this week I found several articles online from the IMB which explain the reasons and methods of Bible Storying. Next week we will begin again. I hope that as a teacher I am able to help them understand the concept.
On to other news. . .
Yesterday, Sandi and I were able to go with one of our students, Mijail, to his church. We went there because he is teaching English to a small group. He came up with the idea of teaching English in order to encourage people to come to his church. He invited us to come because he wanted them to be able to hear "real live English speakers" first hand. The whole trip was quite the adventure and we had a great time! Mijail came from his home to get us at our office at 4:30 p.m. We rode with him by bus back to his home/church. The trip took an hour and 15 minutes. We taught for about an hour and a half maybe. I can't really remember because the time flew by. We had so much fun. The group consisted of Mijail's brother, Father, and 3 other students. They all had great attitudes and came prepared with the questions they had been learning. We left and went with him to catch a bus back to our home after class. We stood on the street for quite a while waiting for the right bus, but it never came. So after about 20 minutes, at least, we decided we would have to take 2 different buses. Mijail rode with us on the first bus in order to help us catch the second one. Again, the bus we needed never came, but we found an alternate that actually took us very close to our neighborhood. I know you probably think it is crazy that I have lived in Lima for so long and can't even catch a bus by myself, but just come here and you will understand. On any given day the drivers don't even know which route they will be taking! So, we finally arrived home about 9:45 p.m. I'm so glad I was able to go! It was such a great experience to be able to go with a student to his neighborhood and to also see him teaching others what he has learned from us.
 A sign at Mijail's church. It says, "The Bible: light for our district"  Mijail's father (his name is Pastor, but he's not a pastor, he's actually a communist!), Sandi, Priscila, Mijail's brother(sorry I forgot his name), Roger, and Mijail  Our second bus on the way home. The most comfortable, and by far the most empty. The others had been standing room only and no cushioned seats. The rest of the pictures are from today:  I ran into the Extreme Team in town (a rare ocassion). They were passing through and they HAD to enjoy a good meal at Chili's. I enjoyed sitting and getting to know the girls.
 The guys also enjoying a break from rice and sugar (the meal they have eaten everyday for a month!) Thanks for suffering through the post. I love ya'll!
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| posted by Laney @ 8:25 PM |
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| Wednesday, February 13, 2008 |
| Llama Tails |
I went to the Lima Zoo yesterday with a friend and his brother who is in Peru visiting. When I was invited my first question was "will there be llamas?" for you see I've missed these creatures something aweful. My buddy says, "I don't know we'll just have to see". So, as we are entering the gate my first question to the lady taking tickets was "Where are the llamas?". Well they were in the Sierra section of the zoo, of course. I was thoroughly excited when I saw a small field filled with llamas and alpacas and a few other breeds of similar animals. As we were passing by LJ, my friend, asks me, "Do you know how to tell the difference between a llama and an alpaca?". I reply with, well, the natives have tried to explain it to me, but I think they are just making it up. I mean some of them tell me that llamas are the big ones and some tell me that alpacas are the big ones. Some tell me one has more hair than the other (what about when you shave them.. how do you tell?) LJ, though, tells me that it's all in the tail. He says that "they" (the natives) told him Alpacas' tails are always up and Llamas' tails are always down! Now, go figure! Well, we are clearly not experts, but I sure did have a great time seeing my animal friends again. I've missed them since I had to leave the mountains. Too, I thought it was only fair that I dedicate a little blog space to my furry friends since, afterall, they were the inspiration for the blog title!
p.s. keep reading (below) to find out what else i did yesterday
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| posted by Laney @ 8:49 AM |
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| Tuesday, February 12, 2008 |
| Sellin' Shoes and Studyin' the Word |
This week I've had the awesome opportunity to hang out with some new friends at their place of business. I introduced my friend Tania to ya'll in the last blog entry. She is one of the students that comes to our English classes during the week. When I met her a few weeks ago I was really touched by her sweet spirit. I felt the Lord telling me that she would be a good person to invest my life into. So, last week I asked for her email address and asked if we could hang out sometime. She quickly agreed that that would be a great idea and so began a new friendship. I am very thankful that she invited me to spend time with her at the shoe store that she and her mom run. It is one thing to meet my friends at a restuarant or some other mutual meeting place, but it is something entirely different to spend time with them in their homes or, in this case, business. Thankfully, Tania lives and works within a short commute of my house. (This is usually not the case with our students. Many times they travel an hour or two on a bus to be able to attend our classes.)
So, I say all that to say... on Monday and Tuesday, I went with Tania to her store. I met her mom and friend, Noemi. Noemi works across the isle in another shoe store and also lives in the same building as Tania and her mom. On Monday we worked on Tania's English, ate lunch together, and the four of us studied the Bible. Tuesday I had less time to spend with them, but I was still able to eat and read a passage of scripture with Noemi. Noemi actually brought her Bible in anticipation of me coming to read with her! Not to mention, Tania sold a pair of shoes! For me that was one of the most exciting things about being with the girls. Peruvians work so hard to acquire a business. They spend all of their waking minutes working at that place and yet many times the economy just doesn't cooperate with their need to earn money. So, I was thrilled to be present when she sold a pair of 120 sole (about $40) shoes.
I will be going with the girls to Noemi's church on Sunday. She attends an evangelical church. Tania is not a member of a church, but we invited her to go with us on Sunday.
 Tania and her mom working  Left to Right: Noemi, Me, Tania eating lunch in the store Tania going upstairs to get shoes (the store is so small they don't have a back room to store things in, but instead store everything in the ceiling)
This is the neighboring store owner's child. Notice the blue string that keeps her from rolling too far! Please pray for these relationships. Pray that we will have time each day I go to study the Bible and talk more about what it really means to follow Christ. |
| posted by Laney @ 5:02 PM |
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| "But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul." -- Hebrews 10:39 |
| About Me |
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Name: Laney
Home: Lima, Peru
About Me: I started this journey in August 2006 in the jungles of Peru. Since then I've traveled remote Andean trails and busy Lima streets hoping to share the love that was freely given to me.
See my complete profile
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