I just want to say a huge thank you to all of those who donated so we could purchase the 40 Bibles for the kids in Villa Maria! I wish y'all could have seen their smiling faces!
About 60 children and quite a few mom's came to experience the spirit of giving and love we have for them...
Every kid received presents and every family a Bible...
Susana showing off her Christmas tree she made...
Carla helping one of the boys pop his balloon in a game we played...
Thanks again for your support and I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!
One thing I have really enjoyed about being in Peru is the amount of music I have discovered and the time I have to invest into music and worship! This is a song written by a Peruvian minister (lyrics are at the bottom in English and Spanish) and the video is done by the band Leeland while they were visiting Peru (thank you, Carolina, for finding it!).
After hearing the song a couple times, I realized the main reason I like it isn't the harmony (which is awesome) or the fact that it's Peruvian (which is awesome) or that Leeland can play it well (which is awesome), but it's the lyrics. Without knowing this song, these are the words I've been praying since I came to Peru. Why not before? I don't know. They are such simple words that have potential to change so much if this is what we truly desire! "Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart..." Psalm 37:4 Think about how much our lives would change and how much we would change other people's lives if what we desired from God was this:
more love...for yourself, for others, and for God
more truth...for teaching, for understanding, and for the way you live
more power...to proclaim the Gospel, to glorify the Kingdom, to carry out the plans God has for you
more grace...for yourself, and for others
to be taught how to love
to be taught how to be like Jesus
to have the heart of Jesus
That's exactly what I desire and I want to share that desire with you!
I know, I know...two blog posts in one week! God has been so faithful in providing opportunities for us to hang out with the Peruvians and just have fun laughing and talking together, so I thought two blog posts would be appropriate.
Thursday was a holiday here in Perú (there's a holiday like once every 2 weeks, and I love it!) and was a perfect opportunity for us to have a ladies day! Our group of ladies usually meets one Saturday a month, and we've been reading the book "Every Woman's Battle". We decided at our last Bible study that we would have a day of volleyball, pizza, and discussion over the book on Thursday since nobody had to work.
If you've never seen volleyball (6 players per team) played in a backyard with a rope as a net, allow me....
Team "Leonas" huddling up
Hmmm....
Carla getting her game face/moves on
Our lovely Peruvian ladies
We love volleyball
Can you see the rope / net here?!
Reading in Spanish is captivating...
Smiles all around
Don't worry, Alison (far-left) won't bite
Team Photo
This is what happens when a motorcycle delivers your pizza....however, we ended up with 9 pizzas instead of 6 because the little motorcycle accident. Needless to say...all the girls were happy!
In case you didn't catch it the other times...our team name was * "the lionesses" *Disclaimer: I don't know how to spell the English version of our team name
The outcome was a 6-hour "event" at Alison Thompson's (one of the missionaries) house, with about three and a half of those hours playing volleyball, an hour and a half of lunch and talking about the book, and another hour waiting for the Peruvians to show up :) It was a super fun day, and we're thinking we should start up a day every week to get together and play!
So recently the missionary guys have started renting a soccer court every Tuesday night for our group to get together and play and it's been a great idea. It's soccer, so of course the Peruvians love it!
Lyndsay and I aren't exactly the soccer-playing type, so we decided to take another role on Tuesday nights....hence the title "Team Moms". I'm not trying to brag, but I think we filled the role pretty well!
The Santa hat brownies I made
WHOOP! for finding ideas on Pinterest
Lyndsay to the rescue with disinfectant and bandaids
Poor guy busted his head open on the concrete
Apparently the brownies were a hit and we saw the guy above today on the street and his cut is still bandaged.
As well...you may have heard us talk about "Noche de Jovenes" before, but now we finally have pictures! "Noche de Jovenes" is literally translated "Night of Youth" or "Young People Night". We have one every month and it's meant to be just a time to hang out with the Peruvians our age (more or less...) and have fun! We've done movie night, karaoke night, and game night which included a game very similar to pictionary & telephone as well as Wii Dance. Check it out...
Daniel (L) & Luis (R) getting ready to get their dance on
The only attempt at capturing a picture of this game...sorry!
Carolina & Eduardo chit-chattin'
One would think I was rocking out....the song was the Cotton-Eyed Joe. Lyndsay's got it down, and all I can do is rock out haha
Luis & Gaby
Eduardo & Carolina....great moves!
As a general suggestion....if you need to add some fun into your life, try the Wii and specifically try the Wii "Just Dance" games. It has, on two separate occasions, provided me a lot of laughter, a good workout, and a fun night!
About 60 children and quite a few mom's came to experience the spirit of giving and love we have for them... 
Susana showing off her Christmas tree she made...
Thanks again for your support and I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! 
