Liberti4peru

Peru Trip 2009 video

2009-04-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Everyone,

I am sorry that it took me so long to upload this to the web! But it's finally here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

love,

Bethany

Pictures of Peru 2009

2009-02-02T19:53:00.001-08:00

Hello faithful readers,

There's still more to come... A blog on food and many more pictures. For now, here are Seth Shimkonis' pictures from our trip:

liberti Peru 2009: Seth's pictures

Post on Chivay

2009-01-25T05:37:00.001-08:00

written by Bethany

We left on Wednesday morning, January 21st by chartered Mercedes-Benz bus - I forgot to get a pic of all of us by the name! It was a sweet bus. Very comfortable. And the views were amazing. We stopped a bunch of times to get out and see alpacas, then llamas. At one stop there were two wild baby alpacas!! The white one in particular looked like an abino - it had red eyes and looked like it had been born just that week. The part I enjoyed the most was when Alissa got on the mic and narrated h

alf the trip for us and it was hilarious. See video below :)

We arrived in Chivay around 3pm and had a late lunch at a Peruvian style buffet restaurant after checking into our hotel (to Americans it would be called a motel, but a nice one and it only cost 15 soles per person, which roughly equals 2.50 dollars). I have been eating so much when I'm here because the food is so good. I wouldn't be surprised if I gained several pounds, what with my second and third, and sometimes fourth helpings of things (when the food is available). Everything here is mostly starches and some kind of meat, like llama, lomo (beef), pollo (chicken), or cuy (guinea pig). I usually go for pollo de la plancha or something of that sort. And everything here is served with french fries and rice!

After we finished eating, we piled onto the bus to go back to the hotel to change into our swimsuits for the hot springs. We had about an hour to kill, so Maresa, my roommate, and I napped, changed, and

then did some shopping before meeting up with the group.

We drove down to the hot springs and it was wonderful. We sort of took over the one pool we were in, but it was great to just sit in the hot water, with the cool evening wind blowing on our faces... We met some Aussies the

re. It's funny how everywhere one goes, no matter how remote, you will meet some Australians.

We left there around 630 or 7pm I'd say. Went back to the hotel to shower, change, some light shopping again, before going to yet another restaurant. And the Australians were there as well! Anyway, most of us were not hungry again yet, but I had a chicken sandwich and some dessert. During dinner, there was a band playing and some Peruvian dancers. Lydia was sitting next to me and explained the meaning of the dances to me and people sitting around us, Alissa, Brad, Maresa, and Lindsay.

Then suddenly one of the dancers needed volunteers, or forced volunteers I should say! An Australian guy was chosen for one part and then I was dragged out onto the floor. But it wasn't to dance... They made us sit together, kneeling on this large piece of brown cloth and eat some colca leaves (what cocaine is made out of). My team was so animated, taking pictures and video. I had no idea what was happening until afterward Lydia told me I was now traditionally married in the Peruvian way to some random Aussie guy! haha.

The next day we traveled to the Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world, but not the longest (the Grand Canyon takes that cake). Maresa will elaborate on this for you now.

Mama

2009-01-23T20:19:00.000-08:00

My day was made today when little Julio called me Mama. We hadn't seen the kids for over two days. Sandy told me the story: Julio came running inside where we were and kept saying "Mama Mama" and then he ran to me. It made me happy to feel such a connection yet sad to think we'll be leaving the kids soon. Freddy called me mama later on too. I once heard a quote something to the effect of "Healing comes through children." It's sad to think these kids don't have any real parents. I want to be all of their "mama's" and give them full time attention. It will be hard to leave them.

-Maresa

Good Times Go by so Fast

2009-01-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

It seems like just yesterday we arrived here in Arequipa, Peru, however our time here is quickly coming to a close. I thank all of you that have been and that continue to pray for us while we are on this journey. It is a great joy for me to have the opportunity to lead this trip for the second time. I enjoy seeing each member find his or her place in this touching opportunity. We have been blessed and very busy. Each day brings a new challenge and a new opportunity. One of the greatest joys of this trip is to see the team not only connect with the children but to see them connect with each other. We took an overnight trip as a team to the Colca Canyon (the deepest canyon in the world). It is hard to leave the children for that time but this trip served as a great time for the team to grow closer to each other, as well as to really get to know the directors (Dave and Debbie Bolos) and to understand their heart. The more time we spend with them, the greater our understanding of this great work. Dave and Debbie really look at each of the forty plus children as their own, and that does not include the 80 plus that have either aged out of the home or that have been moved to other places. Dave and Debbie feel such a responsibility for each one.
We have had such a great time serving and being served. For all of you that gave money or donated clothes, you should have been here to not only see the look on the children’s faces but also the look on Debbie’s face when she walked in and saw the close to a hundred pair of brand new shoes. I know that was a blessing for her as well as the children.
We have a few more days here and we hope to finish up some of the projects that we have started. I am excited to see the mural when it is finished as well as the new and improved clothing storage area. Please continue to pray that our remaining time here will be prosperous both in our work here and in our hearts. We serve and great and gracious God.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support,
Nathan Cottrell

Making lunch for the kids

2009-01-22T19:11:00.002-08:00

One day this past week we made lunch for the kids. We broke up into teams just as we did for the pizza contest. My group, consisting of Nathan, Stacy, and Lindsey, decided to make a Mexican/Peruvian theme. Dave and Debbie took us all to the market and we had to go shopping for our items. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, but it was a lot of fun and a wild experience to see things like full-bodied chickens, cow tongues, and many forms of potatoes. My team's meal consisted of tortilla chips and guacamole dip, chicken tacos, sweet potato fries, Quinoa, watermelon, and ice cream. We were nervous about whether they would like the food, but we know for sure they loved the guacamole and sweet potato fries. I'm sure it was a little strange for them to eat food that was somewhat different, but I think they really enjoyed it. The other groups made some really delicious meals as well and the kids really liked it. We all concluded that while it was a lot of work to create this meal, it was our way of serving not only the kids, but the regular cooks as well because we were able to give them a break.

-Maresa

Pizza Contest

2009-01-22T19:11:00.001-08:00

The other day we had a pizza contest. I was on the team with Nathan and Stacy and the teenage girls/older women. This was a top-secret operation. Nathan made our award-winning sauce, Stacy grated our cheese, and I was the head chef who directed the pie creations. We made the following pizzas: Hawaiian, meat-lovers, white sauce, veggie, and combination (combo was our favorite. Our secret ingredient in this one was Aji, a spicy local pepper powder). Some of the ingredients were different from what we have in America just because we couldn't find the items in the local grocery store (our version of pepperoni for example). It was funny to see how the girls weren't quite sure what to do with the ingredients or how to make the pizza. They gave me a few strange glances throughout the pizza making process, but I took it in stride because I knew they would like the outcome:) We took our pizzas to the brick oven along with the rest of the teams and handed them over to Dave, the master brick oven keeper. It took a long time for the pizzas to bake, but it was well worth it (we're finding it more difficult to cook here because of the high altitude). The kids had a blast eating the pizzas. It was a wild circus in there with pizza slices flying into mouths and kids climbing on top of each other. It was great. I can't resist the urge to brag about how great our team did. We won best-tasting and best overall for creativity, taste and hard-work. The girls were delighted the pizzas came out so well.

Church

2009-01-22T19:04:00.001-08:00

On Sunday we went to two church services. The church is a very humble cement-block building carved into the ground. During the morning service we sang songs (en Espanol of course), then split up into Sunday school classes. I went with Bruce, Lindsey, Stacy, and Sarah Allen to join the youngest kids' class. It was a joy to see the kids learning bible lessons and songs. I didn't understand most of what was going on, but I listened to Lindsey's sermon on the golden rule. Rachel and Lydia translated. The thought crossed my mind during Sunday school class about how well-behaved these children are. In America I think it would have been much more difficult to control the kids and have them listen. The only real trouble maker was "Lil' John", but I put him in my lap and he was distracted with my bracelet so he calmed down. I was impressed with one little boy's prayer at the end of class. It was very confident and heart-felt. After class we went back to church and sang the song "No no, no me Soltaras" it means "You'll never let go." The song is about God being with us even when we're in the valley. That is a favorite song of everyone however, we cannot get it out of our heads. Some of us have even woken up in the morning singing this song.

The evening service was very powerful. Some of us gringos gave testimonies to the congregation. They were all very moving. Some tears were shed. Also, our team sang a couple of songs for the congregation. "Open the eyes of my heart Lord" and "You are my All in All." We thought the first would suffice but the congregation wanted an encore, so we sang the second piece. Niel and Sarah Allen did a great job of leading us in the two songs. Sunday was a powerful day of worship.

-Maresa

Short post: 3rd by Bethany

2009-01-20T05:37:00.000-08:00

We were supposed to be on the bus at 830... So this has to be fast.

The mural is coming along as you can see... but we bought oil based paint and so we need paint thinner to get it off our skin, which wouldn't be so bad if we all didn't have sunburns!! Ouch!

Yesterday we had a pizza making contest for dinner with the kids. Very fun!

Tomorrow we travel to Colca Canyon until we arrive back here on Thursday night or Friday morning. Not sure.

New clothes for the kids

2009-01-18T13:49:00.001-08:00

Two days ago we began sorting through donated clothes and toys for the children. It was a lot of work, but we organized everything according to size and category. It was worth it when we brought the kids through one by one to pick out their new clothes. I took Marceve through the line and he was overjoyed to receive his new items. The smile on his face was priceless when he found an item he really liked. He especially liked his new camouflaged pants and Mickey shirt. I was worried at first that we wouldn't find any shoes that fit him. He was sad as we went shoe pair by shoe pair and couldn't find any that fit. But then we found a pair hiding behind him and his face was overjoyed! It almost brought me to tears. After we got his clothes, shoes, socks, bath and body items and candy, I took him to his room and we cleaned out his closet. I was very humbled to see how few clothes he had. Some were ridden with holes and stains. We had to throw them away because they were broken and torn. But we had new ones and he was ecstatic about the new ones. As we sorted through the clothes, he taught me some new Spanish words such as "sucio" aka "dirty"and "media" aka "socks." During our cleaning project he sneakily ate a piece of candy every now and then, and then stashed the plastic baggy back into his clothing drawer. One thing I've noticed is that the kids like to stash their prized possessions. After cleaning the closet we went back to the "clothing store" and picked out a couple of more items that were left that he needed. Once we were done, we announced "no mas" and Marceve went off to play.

- Maresa

The Epic Mural: Day Uno

2009-01-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

How's it going, USA?

Maresa, Bethany, Haley, and myself have set to work transforming an ugly cement wall by the soccer/basketball court in to a super cool mural of alpacas and sheep playing soccer. Oh yes.

We began the project by priming the 11 x 40 area. At first, it seemed a daunting task. However, it didn't take long till we were swarmed by kids, eager to lend a hand. It was a really great experience, working side by side with these children who have so little but enjoy so much.

At the end of the day, I stood back to take in our work. A Peruvian girl was standing next to me, also admiring the white wall. "Si?", I asked her. "Si," she responded. We nodded and smiled at each other, satisfied with our progress. It was a very simple exchange, but it meant a lot to me.

Stay tuned, America.

- Erin Filson -

PS: I am so glad I'm here!!

2009-01-16T21:38:00.000-08:00

It feels like it was just yesterday since I was last here at Nueva Esparanza. Much seems the same. Many of the same familiar faces greeted us upon our arrival and those who no longer work here or have graduated still manage to come around. Nelva was our cook last year but her son had some personal issues so she went to live with him (a 10 hour bus ride away) for most of the year. Julia, one of the 6 from our team from last year who has returned to live here for an indefinite period, told Nelva that we were coming to visit. She decided to visit while we were here so we could reconnect with her and enjoy her wonderful cooking. We greeted each other happily and I jumped on the opportunity to go with her and Judith to the market where we saw many familiar but unusual items, including the hanging chickens complete with heads and feet. It was there that I shared, en espanol of course, my theory that if we in the US had to butcher our own foods or shop for complete chickens, we would probably starve. (We are not as strong as they).

Our coming here last year, this year, and 6 of our team from last year coming separately to live and work, has spoken volumes to the people here. One of the major impacts our group has had is how we can love their Peruvian outcasts. David and Debbie Bolos, founder of the Home and parents to Tony, who ran the Home with his wife Julie , when we were here last year, explained that the common thought on abandoned children is that they are rats and they should be gotton rid of. There is no hope for them outside of a Home like this where Debbie aspires that one of them becomes President of Peru one day.

While we miss Tony and Julie, the apple didn't fall far from David's tree (they are practically identical in looks, mannerisms, and speech) and Debbie reminds me of Julie with their hearts so full of love for Jesus and these children. Debbie explained to us that without Christ it is very hard for many of the women she works with to understand what it means to love your children unconditionally, that if the father of your child is replaced by a new boyfriend, you don't give up your son. It is thru their tireless efforts and the transforming nature of the gospel that she hopes parents who are still in touch with their children at the Home can be reconciled with love and forgiveness to their parents. It is often the forgiveness of the children towards their parents and abusers that astounds Debbie and helps her to let go and let God transform her heart towards them too.

Some things have changed here. There are some new kids, a new stockpile of donated clothes, we brought, three beloved little boys who are gone because they were thankfully adopted by Italian families, our friends who now live here, and a new team from Liberti Church & co. Our group is 15 strong plus a family of 4 (including two daughters ages 5 and 7) who sadly leave us tomorrow. [The tears from Olivia, the elder of the two, nearly had us in tears as she is already feeling the pain of separation from the good friends she had made since her family arrived last Saturday]. The balance of us are 11 women and 4 men. I don't know about the others, but that many women in one house sharing only 2 bathrooms, made me a little nervous! Women are complicated creatures and I wondered how we would get along . To my surprise and pleasure, this group is awesome. We passed our first 24 hours of travel and our second 24 hours of playing with the kids, organizing clothes, and talking and praying through our book study (The Prodigal God by Tim Keller) with flying colors. I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone on the trip even better and make new memories with them, while recalling the special times I had last year. Being here is a huge blessing to me and an honor; I am so glad to be back.

~ Stacy Sanseverino

2nd Day in Arequipa

2009-01-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

2nd Post by Bethany

We are blessed to have a laptop in its own in room on the 2nd floor of the mission house that we are staying in Arequipa. It is about a 30 minute trip to the orphanage.

Thanks to Keith and Ryan for driving us and our luggage to JFK in NYC on Wednesday evening. Our flights went very well. I will leave the details of that for Maresa to elaborate on since she already started a post earlier today... However, we've all had headaches and need to drink a lot, but the weather is beautiful and everyone is healthy today! Now it hasn't rained yet... but it's about to.

We went to the orphanage after dropping our luggage off at the mission house yesterday. That was crazy because we were all very loopy and the kids kept saying stuff about sueno and dormido to us.

Today, our 2nd day, we spent separating the donations we brought and cleaning out their entire clothing inventory. Amazingly, we completed it in one day! You should see the pictures. It was just mounds upon mounds of clothes... I will try to post them later. I have already managed to post some pictures on facebook though. Be sure to check those out.

Right now, we came back to the misson house to sleep, read, and post before we head back tonight for sport extraganza!!!!!

Tomorrow I think I will be going to the store with David Bolos, Erin, and maybe Haley to buy some paint and start on some murals! But this is Peru after all, the plans here are never solid - subject to change at any moment. It's a little like surfing.

Prayer requests: Pray for our team's strength and health and safety. Praise that we've all already started to bond with specific kids. Henry, Gladys, and Luis are my little Peruvian posse so you can keep them especially in your prayers. Praise for hot showers - a rarity on missions trips.

Note for future posts: I will be posting pictures of every meal I've eaten here so far. I've liked the food so far. And by the way, they love pizza here! My kind of country :) Yesterday I went to El Super (the supermarket) after dinner with some of the team and bought manna cookies. They are similar to vanilla oreos, but healthier and tastier.

We're here!

2009-01-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

Greetings from 8200ft asl in Areguipa, a.k.a. "the White City", named so because of the white-capped volcano that overlooks this scenic city. We call her "Misty" because she's usually hiding behind clouds. We finally made it to Areguipa after 20 long hours of travel. We took off from Philly to JFK airport at 5 pm on the 14th and made it to Areguipa at about 1pm on the 15th. No major traveling issues except a lost wallet and a lost ATM card, but our gazillion and one bags made it safely. Bruce almost lost his backpack today though. It fell out of the window while we on the bus to the orphanage. Luckily someone spotted it on the street. Back to our first impression, the newbies were quite impressed when we walked down the plane stairs onto the tarmac. We took in the mountains and the fresh, warm and breezy Peruvian air for the first time. We met the Liberti folks already here: Lydia, Seth and Andrew. We were happy to see each other again. We then crammed in all our luggage and more than a dozen people into a small bus with lots of character. We took off in style. The scenes along the drive were interesting: many stray dogs, sheep, old Incan women, and lots of rubble. We arrived at the casa we will stay in for the next couple of weeks and met Mariesa and Lou, the missionary owners of the home. Mariesa and I were very excited to have met another person by our name, even if they're spelled differently. Our next adventure was the orphanage. Those who were returning were ecstatic to see the kids again, and the kids were just as overjoyed. The rest of us began to forge friendships with the kids. We played a variety of games: the zip line, hours of jump rope, volleyball, soccer, and basketball. It was great to see the joy in these kids faces and to know that they are safe and not in the streets. I took a particular liking to a nine-year old boy named Mercave. He's really intelligent. He's very patient in teaching me Spanish. We played chess and legos and I let him take some photos with my camera. He has a really great eye for photos. I'll post some of his photos. He also speaks a little bit of English. After our time at the orphanage our group split up. Some went to church and dinner in a Turkish restaurant. I went with the other half of the gang to eat at a small sandwich/empanada shop and then to a grocery store. The grocery store was a circus but fun. One of the first things I like to do in a foreign country is go grocery shopping because it's always an adventure. Our night ended with much needed sleep and hydration. - Maresa

Our First Post for our 2009 trip

2009-01-13T16:21:00.001-08:00

Post by Bethany

So this is it. After months of planning, meetings, and fundraisers we are finally off to Peru this Wednesday night to join Brad LaBriola, Julia Black, Seth Shimkonis, and Andrew Heo who are already living there. Those that I've talked to on the team are all super excited, especially after Jesse Rahn, who lived down there for several of the past months, attended our last meeting and updated us on the latest goings-on down there. I've been thinking about it nonstop for the past two weeks. We don't know what exactly to expect and that's part of the fun. I'm really excited to make new friends on the team and play games with the kids all day long instead of working my desk job.

I've been praying, and asking anybody who asks me what to pray for about this trip, for some kids at the orphanage to give their lives to Jesus while we're there. There's nothing in the world more precious and special than that. I went to London for my first missions trip in the summer of 2001. On the tube (aka subway) to church one Sunday while we were there, a middle aged woman sat with a large group of 12 and told us a story about her life. She was also on her way to church, but she didn't become a Christian until a few years before that. She told us that she grew up in a small remote village in Africa. One day a missionary came to her village and stayed for a few weeks. Then he moved onto the next village. Even though she didn't accept Christ at the time, what she heard and saw, stayed in her mind for years and years. When she moved to London, the seed that the missionary had planted in her through the Holy Spirit, was watered when she started attending a church and sprouted into salvation after a year of living in London. This story really encouraged our group and I hope it encourages our group and for those of you who are praying for us and other missionaries and those that they minister to. The seeds that we plant are buried deep in the soil so that one day, when they grow, they will have a deep root in Jesus. And any child who confesses belief in Jesus dying for their sins, is a result of many other people's influences in their life. What a privilege it is that the Holy Spirit allows us to be a part of this process...

So Sunday night, 1/11/09, after our evening service at liberti: Fishtown, the Peru team of 2009 will be meeting at Stacy's house for dinner and to collect and pack all the things we have accumulated from charitable donations. The things the kids really need are socks, underwear, and sports gear. I hope we have a lot of those things.

At our last meeting, Sarah Gulish announced that she will be making a short documentary of our trip. I'm excited about that and hope that it can be posted here on the blog for everyone to view. There's nothing like a video, aside from the actual experience, that can capture the essence of a trip like this, though a blog like this is certainly a plus!

A typical day for us in Peru will, theoretically, look like this: Pancake and egg breakfast at the mission house where we will be living, spend the day at the orphanage and eat there as well, followed by going out to eat dinner in the city every evening, and possibly playing sports with the older kids afterwards. Our team is blessed to have many musically talented and trained people so I imagine that there will be a lot of music lessons and practices while we are there... maybe even a mini recital at the end of the two weeks? That would be super cute.

Until later,

Bethany DePoy

P.S. Hi Mom!

La Palabra

2008-01-24T11:14:00.000-08:00

So, today I went to class and talked about language, of prescriptivist grammatical applications, the viable subjectivity of set sentence structures when spoken, and the deconstructed version of the old form/content discussion, among other things... interesting huh. Yet, for me it was a renaissance of a long-dormant part of my life and training. The word.
When we first arrived in Arequipa, I had an idea of what I was supposed to do. I would help where I could, play with the kids. But most of my mental energy was spent wrestling with the fact that I might have to teach English to the kids. It wasn't an external pressure but, rather, a self-imposed stricture to make myself feel useful, purposeful on the trip. When all that was taken off my hands, it was an odd mix of relief and resentment; I didn't want to give anything, but I was annoyed that I now had nothing to give. You'd think I'd have heard and experienced often enough that only when you come to the end of your own resources can God take control. But, knowing isn't yielding.
So, I had to give up all my desires for self-glorification, for usefulness, even for blessing. It was all peeled away, not unlike the skin of my nose. Hadn't Stacy and I talked the first night about Colossians 1:10? The fruit Paul talks about is for the body, the people, not for the worker who wants to be present to witness the fruits of his perceived labor. Yeah, preach it to yourself. All I could do was listen then, to God, to my teammates' stories, to the Peruvian hermanos, to the children.
As was the the case with many of us, I don't really speak Spanish, conjugate verbs, know vocabulary, etc. It must seem so funny to the Peruvians that we only speak in the present tense, giving new meaning to living in the moment. But, as I listened, I could understand bits and pieces. Tony's bible study on Thursday night, the songs in Spanish, Marylou sharing about Josue's situation, Abel's sermon on Sunday. Words.
Yes, we were created by God's Word. But unlike the animals, He breathed His breath into us, and gave us His Word as part of our birthright with which to name His creation and commune with Him. But we wanted to raise ourselves up, and the Tower Of Babel ultimately scattered us, divided our tongues, so we would be separated from Him and each other. Something like that. So when Julie tells us the stories of some of these children, words seem inadequate, no substitute for the sound of pain and rage that bursts out of me, a pit of sadness, inexplicable, she shares in prayer, each of us left to our own devices.
But I remember the Pentecost. I remember the body of believers speaking in each other's native tongues. I recall the words of my brothers and sisters on this trip, their testimonies of faith and submission and love. I weep when Julie asks us to sing her a song in English. I can hear the children's trusting laughter.
At times, I'm afraid. Of the world outside this circle, of the kids left behind, of bonds broken. And yet, again, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." His Spirit is with us, and He is risen; He is alive. God "led [us] with cords of human kindness, with ties of love" on this trip as ever He does. We are bound to the children as truly as He is alive in us and between us. So, never will I fear nor forget.
So, today, I go to school and remember that I wanted to be a bible translator, and all the ideas percolating in my head for how to teach English to kids in other countries won't recede. Perhaps, I'll still try to be a doctor. Dios mediante. All I know is that la Palabra de Dios is here in Philly.

homeward bound

2008-01-23T20:28:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, 1:00pm, I step out of 30th st station in Philadelphia, my home, to see my bus just lumber away to 76 without me on it. I'm in my 16th hour of travel, and all things considered, my mood is fair. I make my way across 29th st, through all the stupid construction, to the bus stop, shelterless. It's very, very cold. I sit with my luggage and tuck in, two hoods, one scarf, and brace myself for a 45 minute wait. I like to prepare for the worst, you see. I watch the cars inch past me, watch the pedestrians walking against the wind, and watch as icy rain starts down.

But this is home. Everything is familiar. It's easy to communicate with others, and to know what to expect. You know I'm just trying to make myself feel better. Of course, being back has its disadvantages (work, coldness, an unpleasant and unfindable smell that took up residence in my house), but at least we can flush our tp. Haha.

New Friends

2008-01-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

As I sit here at my computer in the US after only being in Peru hours ago, I'm the only one in the house. I feel lonely without my team or my new brothers and sisters in Arequipa who I bonded with and played futbol or volleyball with.

It was warm and sunny in Arequipa with the kids and the team and while its drizzling and grey here in Philadelphia, I have plenty of photos and videos from the friendships formed and time spent with everyone at New Hope. I'm posting a video of my brother Juan Carlos who played me a song in spanish about being friends just before we boarded the bus. I have no deep thoughts to record about what the song means to me other than, the song and thought of Juan Carlos brings a great joy to my spirit and helps me realize this friendship is not over because we are now half way across the world, but rather as one person put on the trip, this is only the beginning and I can't wait to see him and all the kids at New Hope again.

As a photographer, I like to play a game with friends called the "Situation Game." Basically you give yourselves an emotion or situation to act out for the photo. The results are hilarious. Here are a few which Juan Carlos and I did. See if you can tell what we're doing.

What's in a name?

2008-01-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

It is the last day here and I've only blogged once, so I thought I'd better do one NOW. Well, it seems that many of us have been given different names and/or nicknames. For example Neal is being called Ronaldinho, the Brazilian superstar soccer player, however more so because of his long flowing dreadlocks and ever-present broad boyish smile than his futbol (soccer) skills. Myself, I'm being called Zidane, the French soccer player who was ejected from the World Cup for head butting another player..... I am hoping it is because of my shaved head and good looks; not my bad temper and random acts of violence. Haha. : )

Of course this has caused us to develop nick names for each other, like Shim-shim, Darddi and Lyds among others.... besides the numbering system our fearless leader devised to tell if we were all on the bus, plane or boat. You see we all have a number, Nathan (Natan) is numero uno (1), I am nueve (9), all the way up to quince (15)... that is Brad (also known as Mateo) cuz he was the last to arrive, but you will hear about that later. So, every time we gathered Nathan would shout UNO!, and I mean shout (come on y'all know how loud he is, it isn't a secret!) and we would count off in Spanish. I am quite sure it was very amusing to the locals, especially since we had some difficulty with it most of the time. Not because we didn't know our number but we were never paying much attention to Nathan.

Silliness aside, and there was much silliness, I know because I was voted the youngest person on the trip.... attitude wise. We did get some work done on the property. We managed to finish spackling some drywall, cemented a rather dangerous ladder in place (read between the lines Nathan almost fell off of it) that lead up to the roof, clean a great deal of water (it's the rainy season here in the high desert) and debris off the roof, put a tarp down and created some additional drain overflows to ease the ponding problem, and fixed a leaking drain among other small issues . As well, I surveyed the condition of another leaking roof and the general conditions of the buildings and facilities so I can assist in organizing future work efforts.

We had a total blast and become a true "family in Christ" on this trip. We have all bonded in our service to Him. I whole heartedly challenge everyone who reads this to take a risk and experience what serving can really mean to you!

David (Zidane) Dardzinski

Last Day

2008-01-21T08:19:00.000-08:00

Over the past nine days there have been moments of laughter, excitement, sadness and reflection. As we spend our last day with the kids, I find myself fighting back tears, while hoping time would stop so we don't have to leave. The love and affection that we have felt this week from the children is indescribable. So as we get ready to leave this evening, all of us are already finding it difficult to say good bye. But as for most of us it will not be a "Good bye" but rather a "See you later". For experiencing this only once is not possible. Lifetime friends and experiences have been made and it was by the hand of god.
-Brock Blaisdell

Ponder and treasure

2008-01-20T13:11:00.000-08:00

... But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heat Luke 2:19 The sheperds told Mary wonderful things about her son Jesus the Savior, the Christ and what Mary did was treasure and ponder them in her heart of hearts. Since I have been here in Peru at HOPE orphanage, I have felt many emotions and find it extremly hard to place things in the nice little sections that make me feel in contol and comfortable. So far all I have been able to do is treasure and ponder them in my heart. I treasure the honor that God has given me to be in this sacared place where these incredible children have shown me so much of His love and displayed so much hope. I treasure the new Liberti friends that I have made, I have bonded with and love. I treasure being able to hold one of the young children who was deeply weeping for his mother who he most likley will never see again. I treasure the the hope that I see every day in the eyes of these wonderful children who have been wonded in so many ways. I treasure
Christ in us (you) the hope of glory and I ponder how soon I will be back here in Peru.

Neal Stephens

Hermanas y tias

2008-01-17T09:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I became an "aunt"! As a sign of affection and respect, the kids here call the adults "hermano" y "hermana" (brother and sister), as in "Sister Stacy", "Brother Nate". When kids connect with adults in a special way, it is not uncommon for them to ask their friend to become their adopted "tio" o "tia" (uncle or aunt). Yesterday, one of my little friends, Yenny (pronounced like Jenny), asked me to be her "tia" and she would be my "sobrina" (niece). It felt amazing when that happened... We exchanged emails (and already have written each other!) and handmade cards that we made with the awesome arts and crafts supplies that Lydia (aka Lyds) brought for the kids.

Happy Thursday

2008-01-17T08:05:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, Lydia and Julia here. Can't believe it's already Thursday--but we still have a lot planned. Tonight we are attending our first Peruvian church service at Iglesia Bautista Amistad--Friend's Baptist Church. We're told that church services here last for 3 or so hours: let's hope we can get through it in spite of our lack of sleep and altitude sickness! We have been told that we must perform in some way at the service so we (Julia and Lydia) will most likely be singing a Spanish praise song we learned.

Today has started out clear and dry. Every day we've been here it has rained and been foggy. Last night on our way to the center of town we couldn't see two feet in front of us! We had heard rumors of a giant volcano looming over the town but hadn't actually seen it until yesterday morning when the clouds cleared. (we are attaching photos of the volcano, Misty--one before the clouds cleared and one after).

Knowing that we will spend time with the children motivates us to get out of bed each morning. Their generosity, affection, and unconditional love is overwhelming. Lydia and I can't get enough of them and already are sad for the day we leave. Talking to our bus driver, John, we discovered that the children often stay indoors and keep to themselves. One would never know this after spending time here. The kids are friendly, outgoing and energetic. It is clear God is present in this home and working in the lives of the children.

Still not sure where we will be going this weekend: it's a toss up between Puno (Lake Titicaca) and Colca Canyon (allegedly deeper than the Grand Canyon). In Puno it is currently in the mid 20's and we're not all equipped with winter gear so the canyon appears to be the best option. Either way we will have a great time.

That's all for now, we are going to play some more with the kids!

What to say...

2008-01-17T07:11:00.000-08:00

I find myself with tears in my eyes, desperate to convey my feelings but have not the words to express them. I am not even sure I can identify them. Perhaps I am overwhelmed by the ability of these children to trust, embrace and care about us with such abandon after being hurt, left and lost by the people closest to them. It is terribly humbling to be given so much love without any expectations of reciprocity; we only need receive it. They have learned their most important lesson at such tender ages, that the greatest gift is to love and be loved. I pray that I can follow their example and love as they love, as Christ loves.

David Dardzinski

God is working

2008-01-17T06:49:00.000-08:00

While we came on this trip to be a blessing to the children here at the home many if not all of us are amazed by what God is doing in each of our lives. We are wrestling with what it will look like for us to continue to love these children after we are gone. Each day we are amazed by how excited each of the children are to spend time with us. New Hope Children's home has not had a significant team to visit in at least two years, so needless to say the children are loving every moment they get to spend with us. It has been such a blessing to watch as each person on our team has stepped up to the task. Many have a special child or two that are waiting for them each morning as our bus pulls in. We took a risk and decided that we were not going to give each person a rigid task to perform and praise be to our Lord that each person has taking on a much needed task. Whether it has been playing with the children or taking on a work project I feel that this team is doing so much for the Body of Christ. Liberti Church (and others) be encouraged by the work the ones you have sent are accomplishing for Christ. Last night a few of us were gathered talking about what a great blessing this experience has been for each of us, and I was amazed at how many of us really wanted to come a spend significant time here with the children. God has really put this team together with people that have a big heart to serve and be a blessing. We still covet your prayers. Please continue to pray that God will work through us and in us. Ask Him who is able to help us as we reach out to the abused the abandoned and neglected of Peru as they are His Children.

Nathan Cottrell

Connecting with the kids

2008-01-15T12:57:00.000-08:00

When our team first arrived at New Hope, we were all warmly greeted by the children. The language barrier was immediately evident, but didn't prevent us from connecting with them in other ways - like with smiles and hugs and games and by trying to understand them. In some
ways, the language difference wasn't really a barrier at all. We were still able to begin to know them and love them with care and affection.

On Monday, I had the privilege/challenge of spending time with six of the older boys. After trying to learn their nobres, I got to play guitar with the some of them and we shared what we knew in song form. We also taught each other a few verbs and nouns as we tried to
communicate. Eventually, when attention spans were gone, we went outside with the rest of the kids to hang out and play before the crafts began.

Later in the day, I rested on a bed as the rest of our team played futball in the rain. I've been pretty sick since last Thursday before we left Philadelphia. With the lack of decent sleep while traveling overnight on three flights, the higher altitude at 8,100 ft, and the change in diet and routine, my energy level has been extremely low. Even though it hurts to talk a lot, and it's difficult to hear because my ears are clogged, and I don't have the energy to run around with the kids, I'm having an amazing and blessed time here in Arequipa. I hope I can recover soon and I thank God for all of you who have been praying for me. With a team of 15, I have no shortage of medicine options.

Some of the children are more active than others. So, with my current lack of energy, I've had a special opportunity to connect with the less active kids. Since they outnumber out team by 3 to 1, there is no shortage of opportunity to spend time with them individually.

I'm so glad I'm here. It is such a great blessing. Thanks for checking the blog! Enjoy the pictures.

Jeremy

It Was A Cold And Rainy Night...

2008-01-14T17:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary,
Today was full of great opportunities to spend time with the kids at the orphanage. Everything went off without a hitch. Until the ride home.
After spending a few hours playing soccer in the semi-cold and rain, most were ready for food and semi-hot showers. The short bus ride home through the serpentine streets of Arequipa was probably what one would expect of a third world country. Jarring. Here and there pairs of people clung together in their sodden clothes for the benefit of body heat and strained to see through the bus windows, which were fogged over with the shared sentiment of pleasant tiredness.
We arrived home as the sun was setting and shimmied up the stone and earth walkway, stopping at the locked gate just in front of the house. Locked gate? There should have been a gate, yes. What was wrong was that we were denied entry through that gate, whose lock should not have been engaged. The front door mocked us openly, smiling its wooden grin and breathing out its promise of warmth and dryness.
In desperation Andrew scaled the spiked security fence in an attempt to find a working key inside. In the meantime the rest of the group took shelter from the rain in an unfinished house next door. From that vantage point we saw said person come out of the house and ask for the security code, as the alarm had been tripped by his entry to the house. As we couldn't furnish him with this information, the inevitable siren commenced. We caused quite a commotion; so much that, another neighbor, her children, and possibly a distant cousin hung from their windows, offering us temporary solace from the elements. We declined after a brief consideration of the gesture. It was probably better for her not to have fourteen soaked and hungry Christians running a muck in her home.
Stacy reminisced and quoted Julie, who had said something to the effect of "even the best laid plans fail here in Arequipa".
Our spirits weren't broken and we couldn't have been any more wet, so we decided to crash at Tony and Julie's place nearby. All ended well, with an added bonus of another story to reflect on and tell the folks back home about.
For your benefit, diary, are a picture and video to mark the occasion.

Yours Truly,

John C. Neely

Pics

2008-01-14T12:48:00.001-08:00

From Claudie on Monday with rain

2008-01-14T12:00:00.000-08:00

Today a few of us went out to buy supplies for the orphange, like paint for my mural, and some cement, floor paint, and we looked for lots of other things that simply were not available: Spackle, plaster, trowels, drop cloths...and the information we kept getting was that the laborers whom one would hire to do those jobs will have these items. No one seemed to be able to accept that we were to be the laborers.

I say "my mural" only because it's been left up to me to decide what to paint. No pressure. I'm planning something that reinforces "home" and "family of God" and is generally enjoyable to look at. Fernando, one of the older boys, took an interest in the project and he had me follow him so he could show me some of his drawings and projects. I'm sure he would love to be in an art school; he asked me to teach him how to paint (though he's done murals, too) and he wants to help with the mural. Evidently, he's under the impression that I know what I'm doing. Haha.

Later, after soccer, we will go out to dinner and to buy some food supplies for the house. Most of my house pics are on my manual camera, but I can post some digi pics...more to come!

Please pray for the health of Jeremy, who's been very ill with a cold/flu. Please pray for the energy of the team so we can be available to los ninos and pray for the unity of the group. We've all been having a blast together, and we have an unusually strong connection for having known each other for like 2 days. But still we can use prayer because of all our individual things that we're dealing with. Thanks!!

Time for Tea

2008-01-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

(above Seth and me; more photos to come soon!)

Entry By Stacy Sanseverino
What a blessing to be in Peru with these children! The minute we arrived to the Home, they were all smiles, kisses, and "buenos dias". At first we weren't sure what we were supposed to be doing, getting a tour or what, but it soon became clear that it was time to get acquainted. We played volleyball, futbol, and just hung out with the kids. According to Julie, the wife of the "Tony and Julie" team who runs the Home, only a few teams like ours come each year to spend all day with the kids for an entire week. So when folks do come, they remember them for years to come. Already it is clear that the kids are forming attachments and are creating arts 'n crafts gifts (cards, bracelets) for their new friends. It is likely that we will remember these darlings for years to come as well.

The children live in about 4 different apartments in the compound according to gender and age. Each apartment has a living area, dining area/kitchen, sleeping quarters, a bathroom and a bed for their "tutor" or den parent, who cares for them from 2pm to 8am. This type of arrangement fosters community among the children and helps them to feel like they are part of a family unit.

Today, when we arrived, Julie assigned us to different groups for the morning activity for the entire week. One team went off to shop for supplies for drywalling and a mural, one team help set up the arts and crafts, and the others were divided to play with the older boys, the younger boys, the older girls, and the younger girls. Jesse and I took charge of the younger girls (Stephanie, Leslie, y Ashley so far) and spent most of the morning in this surprisingly idyllic setting complete with white picket fence, yellow flowers, green grass, and multiple swing sets. We started our day as young ladies should, with a tea party. Then we explored our more creative side and drew on the sidewalk with chalk. To keep in shape, we had a thrilling game of tag. Not surprisingly we were short on breath because of the altitude (at least that is what we like to tell ourselves). To finish off our "alone time", we played ring around the rosey before joining the larger group.

Once we joined the rest, some of whom were singing and playing guitars or playing volleyball, some boys joined us for sidewalk chalk, headstands and duck, duck goose. As we all tired of the physical activities, we retired to the classroom/chapel for arts and crafts. And then, finally, it was time to eat! The kids went off their separate ways, to their "family" apartments, and we ate this amazing meal in the dining area. We enjoyed cilantro rice and onions soaked in lime and salt, traditional Peruvian dishes with mucho gusto! My roommate in Philadelphia and our fluent Spanish speaker, Julia and I are definitely making this dish when we return!

!Ahora, debo regresar a los ninos jugar y hablar-- hasta pronto y gracias por leer mi "post"!

We made it!!!

2008-01-14T10:34:00.000-08:00

Blog entry by Seth Shimkonis:
Our fearless leader Nathan has gotten us to our destination in Arequipa Peru with everyone intact including all our bags, thats right, not one bag was stolen, lost, or misplaced. Which is pretty amazing considering each person had about 3 - 4 bags. We were picked up from the airport in Arequipa from Dave the owner of the mission house we are staying at. The place is beautiful and so is the scenery!

The local Arequipa area is pretty interesting, the weather in this high mountain desert is pretty much perfect, about 78 all year round, so they have these single pane glass windows in all the buildings which have very little to no insulation, if that tells you nothing of the climate, then I'll just tell you to retire here.

After unpacking we were all pretty beat and most of us took a nap until it was time to head over to the New Hope Orphanage to meet the kids and get a tour. When we arrived we were introduced to the kids, took a tour and hung out with the kids after our tour. For me, it was great to just play futbol with the kids and run around. I know little to no Spanish and at first it was difficult to communicate, however words are only a part of communication and the little kids just wanted to be picked up and see their picture on the digital camera, and the older kids just enjoy spending time with you and playing futbol or volleyball.

When it was time to leave the orphanage we headed over to Tony and Julie's (They run the orphanage, click here to see Tony and Julie's blog) house for a get to know you session before dinner. It was great to hear some personal stories and reasons others came to Peru. Personally, I knew I would have time available this time in the year so I came to just be available to the kids and be willing to do anything.

Following the meeting we headed to San Fransico Ave, the Tourist district, to get some dinner at El Turko Dos, where I was able to sample many different foods from others dinners such as: Alpaca, Fish in an squid ink sauce, and guinea pig...trust me, they were all very good! And none tasted like chicken. I also ordered a lemonade...its actually limeade, and it was my favorite thing of the night from dinner, actually I think its my favorite drink ever!

The beginning of the trip has gone extremely well, and the friendships are beginning to grow with late night game playing and sharing of our personal histories. I'm really looking forward to the days ahead. And with that, I'll leave you with a few photos from the first 36 hours of our trip.

And were off

2008-01-09T15:00:00.001-08:00

Please continue to pray for us as we set of this Saturday. We are pumped and can't wait to be there. Please check back daily for updates as we are on the trip.

2007-11-06T14:13:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the Peru Missions Team Blog! Here you can find out why we are going, how the trip is going, ways you can get involved and fundraising events you can attend.

Where and why are we going?

New Hope Childrens Home, in Arequipa, Peru (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arequipa) currently has 50 children in their care. Our team of about 20 from Liberti Church (www.liberti.org) will spend the majority of our time helping with maintenance projects, leading arts & crafts projects, playing games/sports with the kids, participating in their regular weekly activities, and spending one on one time with them. The team leaves Philly on Saturday, January 12th and returns on Tuesday, January 22nd.

The kids that live there have difficult backgrounds that led their placement in a facility like this. Many of them are true orphans and both parents have died, been murdered, and/or are incarcerated. The majority, however, have been abandoned by their families at young ages because of financial strain on the family. Many children are found on buses, lost in bus stations, or wandering the streets at 2-3 years of age. Many young girls turn to prostitution as a means of making money. Most of the children have a severe history of physical and/or sexual abuse. When they are placed in this home, they have significant needs for physical, emotional and spiritual healing. Teams like ours are able to provide encouragement to the staff and kids at the home by relieving the work load of the staff and spending time with the kids. We also expect and hope that our hearts will be touched by the lives and stories we will encounter on this adventure to South America!

Fundraising Events

Fri. Nov. 16^th: NORTH BOWL FUNDRAISER in Northern Liberties (909 N.2^nd @ Poplar Street) 6p-8p

All you can bowl for $15, including shoes and one raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets can be purchased for $2 (or 3 for $5). Raffled items will include: Lithe Method Pilates lessons, La Luna Dance Studio salsa or ballroom lessons, and Arden Theatre Company tickets! Come thirsty and hungry- North Bowl has a great menu!

Please visit our sponsors at: www.northbowlphilly.com, www.lithemethod.com, www.lalunadancestudio.com, and www.ardentheatre.org.

Sat. Dec. 1st: "80s Prom Party" at the Romanian Orthodox Church gymnasium (awesome!) in Northern Liberties. More details to come.

Other ways to get involved:

* direct financial donations (tax deductible! online or by check!)

* donation of a used laptop to sell in Peru (funds go to the orphanage directly) or goods to sell on our Ebay store

* suggest a sponsor for a raffle prize or food/drink for our 80s Prom Party fundraiser in December

* pass this along to a friend who may be interested in partnering with us in some way

* regularly visit this blog to keep track of our journey

* pray for us- that we will raise the money, be a blessing to the orphanage, and that our hearts & attitudes will be permanently changed by this experience!!!

How to donate funds for the cost of the trip (tax deductible!):

The total cost for the trip is $1,000 per person which includes airfare, accommodations, food and all travel expenses. The team needs to raise these funds by December 15, 2007 in order to purchase the airline tickets and finalize team participation. Any donations that go beyond the cost of this trip will be used toward the cost of building materials and construction supplies that we will need for our work projects.

Pay by check:

Make checks payable to Liberti Church with "Peru Missions Trip" written on the memo line and mail by December 15th to:

Liberti Church

1818 Market Street, Suite 2020

Philadelphia PA 19103

(If you would like to support a particular team member, write their name on the memo line of the check.)

Pay online using PayPal or your credit card by December 15th

http://liberti4peru.notlong.com

(If you would like to support a particular team member, please send an email to bobbi@liberti.org right away telling her to apply the funds to that member's account, otherwise it will be applied to the whole group.)

Thank you for your prayers and support in helping to send us to Peru! Keep checking in with the blog for updates!