Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad to all my friends and family.

Here in Peru, Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve the 24th at midnight. So this evening myself and two other gringa friends will return to our host family (we all lived with the same family when we first arrived) to celebrate Christmas with our Peruvian family. The tradition is that at midnight you start with a great feast that includes Panetone (a sweet bread with dried fruit) and Chocolate (hot - chocolate). Yet the eating of Panetone and Chocolate has been going on for a couple of weeks in the communities where we work. In each of the 18 communities we have what is called a Chocolatada - a hot chocolate party, with games, and sometimes even a clown.

I had the privilege of helping celebrate a chocolatada in the community of Los Cipreses. The children loved it and it was so cool to see all the way the mothers in the community pulled together to help with the celebration by organizing dances with the kids and even a live nativity.






More pictures of Christmas Party in the Community of Los Cipreses: http://picasaweb.google.com/lhwoodside/FiestaDeNavidadEnCipreses

When you step into the communities where we work, it is easy to think at first that it seems that these people have nothing, and therefore would have nothing to give. But while material resources may be scarce, these communities really have so much to give. As people realize the gifts the Lord has given them, may it be physical or spiritual (perhaps the creativity to decorate for a party, the ablity to lead, the ability to choreograph a dance, or the know how to make enough hot chocolate for 250 kids, and to know how to distribute it fairly), people also begin to want to share these gifts. It is just this kind development, having a community draw together and organize themselves to serve one another, that Food for the Hungry works towards in the communities where we serve. As I spent time with a few of the mother leaders who helped organize the fiesta, I began to see how God uses the relationships we build in the communities to empower people to serve their own community. I can not describe what a blessing it is to get to be apart of this process. To empower people to serve as Christ serves us.

At these parties, FH also shares what Christmas is really about (even here in Peru - the commercial Christmas has infiltrated all sectors of society) - that Christmas is really about the birth of Jesus. And what an amazing gift - the word, God, made flesh. At Christmas we celebrate the fact that God loved us so much that he actually came down to earth in the form of a baby that would grow to be man, that we could know him better. What more that He would show us how much he loves us by sacrificing his own live to reconcile us to himself. This is the amazing, radical gift of love we all are able to receive and remember at Christmas.

My prayer and hope for all of you this Christmas is that you would experience this love and the peace that paces all understanding.

Que tengan una feliz Navidad y Dios les bendiga,

Lauren

Its been too long but here is a breif update ;)

Dear Friends and Family

It has been a while since my last post and there has been lots that has gone on in the last months so here is a quick update....

First of all our all staff retreat was a great time to get to know the people I work with and learn more about the work of FH here in Peru (both in Lima and Pucallpa). Besides meeting to discuss the most critical issues facing the communities where we serve - health issues, family violence, and youth involved in gangs, we also got to hang out, sing around a fogata (bonfire), and do some team building exercises. We finished the week long retreat with a special evening of dancing....

Here is a link to more pictures from that weekend :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/lhwoodside/2006FHPeruAnnualRetreat

About a week after the retreat I moved into my new home, joining my roommate Claire. It has been a blessing to have such a comfortable place to come home to at the end of a long day, and to have an awesome roommate to debreif the day and pray with.

And lastly about two weeks ago I started my job in the office. Right now I will only be working with the health projects in our communities and then in June/ July we will start working on the disaster response program.

(This a picture of my boss, Nancy - on the right, me and our assistant, Miriam) These women are awesome...and it is a privilege to work at their side.

These last few weeks have been crazy busy, with Christmas and end of the year celebrations in all 18 of our communities. But, while it has been some late nights for me (sometimes not getting home until 11:30pm, it has given me a chance to get to know the health promoters, families, and community leaders I will be serving. Please pray for these relationships, and for the Lord to open up the right doors, and to give me strength to working alongside and invest in these relationships.

Feliz Dia de Gracias

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post - and a busy few weeks it has been, studying Spanish, and getting things together and ready to move into my apartment with my new roommate Claire. Below is a picture of Claire and I in La Punta, Callao (an area of lima on the coast).


I have also been getting to know some new Peruvian friends who invited me to join their bible study. Getting to know them has been great, and definately has helped me to start feeling more at home here in Lima.




But I wanted to wish you all a belated, but Happy Thanksgiving. As last Thursday was not a holiday here in Peru, today is actually my Thanksgiving day. So...what has my first Thanksgiving in Peru been like - an awesome blessing of friends and fellowship. There are 10 "Hunger Corps" (non-peruvian FH staff) here right now in Lima and together we put together a huge Thanksgiving spread complete with turkey (10.9 kilos to be exact), stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams, and of course - pumpkin pie :). We each invited a Peruvian guest to share in a gratefulness and it was so special share this tradition with our friends here. Bellow are some pictures of our festivities.


God is good - and I have so much to be thankful for - this awesome opportunity to serve here in Lima, the community friends God has provided here, and amazing and supportive friends and family at home in the US. Thank you to all of you have been so supportive of me in the last year. Your prayers and support have been such a great encouragement to me in the days when I am homesick.

This next week I am going on the all staff annual meeting. We will be meeting for 4 days at a retreat center a few hours south of Lima on the coast. I am so excited to get to know better some of the people I will be working with. Right now the plan is that I will start working in the office on the 11th of December, and continue taking spanish class one day a week. Please be praying for safe travels and that as an organization God would enable us to learn and grow through this meeting, and also pray for my upcoming transition into working in the office.






I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Many Blessings,
Lauren

Awesome!

Peru is beautiful. Even when the city is loud and bustling, there are still awesome places to go. Just the other day I took a walk down to the Miraflores (the district of Lima where I live now) Coast. Paragliders, sufers, and beautiful green clifts. I am blessed to be here.

Caio!

Lauren 

Keeping In Touch

Some of you have been asking me how you might contact me or send something while I am here in Peru. Below is the FH Lima Post Office Box address where I can also receive mail.

Lauren Woodside
c/o Fundacion Contra el Hambre
Casilla 18-0917
Miraflores, Lima 18, Peru

It has been said that it takes about 1 to 2 weeks to receive a letter from the States...

If you are thinking about sending a care package, there are some restrictions so I can avoid paying customs.
- the package needs to be less than 2lbs
- it needs to be sent in a padded envelope versus a box.

Of course you can always email or you can give me a call at my old WA telephone # which I had to an internet phone service. No international phone charges for you and none for me too :)

I would love to hear from you!

Night and Day

This has been such a full week, I wanted to update you all with some of my new experiences. On Tuesday, I got to visit the FH office along with all the other Hunger Corps to meet with the FH International President, Greg Vestri. It was a great time of learning more about FHI and about FH Peru and the projects going on in the communities where FH works here in Lima. After a morning of presentations and a fabulous lunch of Chifa (this is what Peruanos call Chinese food) we then had the opportunity to visit some of the FH communities in los pueblos jovenes (the "young towns" on the outskirts of the city).

After seeing my pictures of where I am living now (from my last post)- the beautiful mall, beach, and even a Starbucks, some of you might be wondering...."I thought Lauren was going to Lima to serve the poor - where are they?" So let me show you another side of Lima, and a difference of night and day.


One of the hundreds of communities in los pueblos jovenes de Lima ("the young towns")



Greg Vestri, with a women and her children we visited with an FH case worker. Two of the children are apart of the child sponsorship program through FH, but during our visit, the case worker made sure to ask about the health and welfare of everyone in the family including the parents.



One of many steep steps going up to the homes in the communities. While these stairs look difficult to climb (and they are) they are a great improvement to having just a steep hill to climb. You can also see many 55 gal. garbage cans in this picture. In this community there is no water, so every day a truck comes by with water to fill the "water tanks." Imagine having only 55 gal of water a day to do all your wash, cooking, cleaning for a family of 5 or 6 - very difficult.

You can also see in this picture the retaining walls built to hold back the dirt and make a level place on this hill for building a house. As we walked around the community, Rousaura, the country director, kept nudging me to look at these huge stones fit together with no cement or reinforcement. Imagine, she said, what would happen if there was a big earthquake....I don't want to, I replied - this is just a little evidence of the great need there is for disaster prevention and mitigation work here in these communities.



Singing at a FH Kids Club (after school program for sponsored children in the community - although all are invited - where they do crafts, sing, play games, and learn about the word of God and how much God loves them).



Me and Anabel, a little girl who clung to my arm the entire time were visiting Kids Club.

While there is great wealth in this city, there is great poverty as well. But there is hope in these poor communities as well. One of the most powerful projects we got to visit was a meeting and training for women who have experienced violence in there homes. Organized by FH, the women and their husbands (during a different training) are receiving guidance on how to build a stable, loving, violence free home. Several women expressed how much they and their husbands have learned form the biblical teachings, and how much it has change their attitudes and behavior in the home. As one women expressed - she is not going to pass on this violence to her children.

I can not say how great it was to see lives in the process of transformation, and how much this experience has both challenged me and given me excitement to begin my work here.....but first a month of language school, which I started today :)

Caio!

Lauren

Week One in Peru

So - I have been here in Peru for just about a week now. Right now I am living with a host family - the Aranzaenses (a Peruvian family with two daughters about my age - one of them is married and lives across the street). They are great, and since I won't start language classes until Thursday, we have been spending lots of time together - taking walks, watching movies, talking and getting to know one another. What a blessing to get to know them.

I have also been busy trying to get to know this enormous city. Lima is huge! I have a map of the whole city, and when I look at all the streets I know so far I know only 2 or 3 inches - so much more to see. Here is just a taste of what Lima is like...I took these pictures while on a walk to the coast this morning (about a 30 min. walk from where I live).

This is the park (Parque Tradiciones) near where I am living in Miraflores (one of 20 + districts in Lima). Even though it is a big city, there are lots of beautiful parks - lots of people sit and enjoy them at all hours of the day and night.


One of the highways that run through town.


Cliffs of Lima and the Pacific Ocean (notice the cloudy sky - not so different than Seattle, but with out any rain).


Here on this section of the coast is a very modern outdoor mall called Larco (name of the street) Mar (spanish for sea). Can you spot the Starbucks?



Me at the lookout (mirador) at Larco Mar - even though it is cloudy, it is so bright I have to where sunglasses.


This is the front of my home right now. The tree on the left was planted from a branch taken from a tree in Araquipa (the city in Peru where the Aranzaens family is from)

Llegue (I have arrived)

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. Last Thursday, I traveled to San Francisco to get my visa for Peru. With my visa in hand I even had some time for some Dim Sum in China Town.

It has been crazy the last few days, saying good bye and packing up, but I am finally here.
I arrived in Lima last night around ten, and have spent my first day exploring the city....just wanted to let you all know I have arrived safely. I will post some pictures and some more info in a few days.

Blessings to you all,

Lauren

Adios Fiesta

What a blessing! Today we had an open house going away fiesta. It was so good to see so many of you - your words of encouragement and prayers are such a support to me. As I have just one week before I leave I have been asked a lot how I am feeling - and honestly I am so excited and ready, but I know it is because I am being supported by so many prayers. Thank you all.

So - next up is a trip to San Francisco to get my visa on Tuesday and then packing and a little more farewell visiting with family and friends.

Count down to Peru - 8 days :)

Pictures From Cambodia

Ok....it has been a while since I have been back from Cambodia, but if you want to see some more pictures visit the following link: http://pictures.aol.com/galleries/furnace3.

Search for tags "Cambodia" to see all the pictures from there.

In the future I will add more pictures from Peru :)

A Legacy of Faith

On Sept. 18th about a day after I returned from Cambodia, My Grammie, Millie Woodside, passed away from this earth to be forever in the presence of the Lord.

It has been a difficult few weeks, as my family has been missing and remembering her. But there has been such a great sense of peace as well. We know that she is no longer suffering from the Alzheimer's that afflicted her the last few years of her life, she is whole, and she is with her beloved.

Yesterday we had a memorial service to celebrate her life - and remember how much she loved everyone she met. She was an awesome grandmother who loved me so much - but more powerfully she always shared how much God loved me, and always sing "Oh how he loves you and me". She shared this love with everyone really. I think my cousin, Nate, captured this best with the song he wrote and shared with us all yesterday. Thanks Nate for helping me remember her so well...

Simple Things
Nate Boyt

I remember in days gone by
Running to the door screaming “Grandma!”
And seeing the sparkle in your eye
And I knew that you loved me
From your head down to your feet
And more than anything
You wanted to see me complete

So you would hold me close, take me on your knee
And you would sing to me
You’d tell me of a greater story, a greater love
Greater than you and greater than me

It was the simple things and the simple words
That let me know you loved me
When the day was done, just like it had begun
I knew you were praying for me
But now that you’re gone
I wish the letting go
Was that simple

I remember a day not long gone
You sat in the front row & I stood with my bride
Age held you in your chair, but I still caught your eye
I saw that sparkle, I felt your love, it wore no disguise

I leaned over and held you close, you whispered in my ear
“Grammie can’t stand right now, but you know that I love you,
You know that I care”

Now I’m the jealous one, ‘cause you’re standing with Jesus face to face
And he’s holding you in a simple embrace
Now, he turns you to your dancing partner
Once again, the two lovers’ eyes meet
Now they’re dancing the night away
They’re dancing to this simple song

Oh, how he loves you and me
Oh, how he loves you and me
He gave his life, what more could he give
Oh, how he loves you, oh how he loves me
Oh, how he loves you and me

Now they’re dancing
Gone are the weights
Gone are the pains
Gone are the chains that held you down

Everything is new
Everything is new
Everything is new
Oh how he loves you and me

Heading Home...

Well - in just about 4 hours I will be leaving Cambodia. The last week has been great - learning more and having some great fellowship with the other trainees. The group is an awesome mix of people who have blessed us all in the last 3 weeks with lots of insight and laughter. So now it is time to head home to Seattle - and then off to Peru (a new home) in about 6 weeks.

Another home coming to be praying for - while I have been here my grandmother has suffered some lung problems that the doctors have said she will not recover from. While this illness has been unexpected, she has suffered from Alzheimer's the last few years. Many tears and prayers have passed through me these last couple of days, but I know that she is getting to go home (to be with Jesus) too. She has been a wonderful grandmother, and I will miss her much. Please keep her and our family in your prayers as we all continue on the journey our Lord has called us on.

Till Seattle,
Lauren

River and Rain

I was just getting ready to leave the internet cafe....and a down pour has started...
All the moto drivers are hanging out under the cover of the gas station...so I think I will stay here a little longer and write about our night on the river last night.



Last night we went on a boat tour and dinner of the Mekong. It was awesome - good food, and fellowship. We even had our own little dance part on board. Here are some pics of the evening.







Blessings,
Lauren

Back from Chhuk

Wednesday we all returned from field experience in Chhuk, Cambodia. The first night we got to stay with a family - with was awesome. I and another girl stayed with a man named Um Phor who is a field coordinator with FH Cambodia. He generously opened his home and introduced us to his family. He also had lots of great stories to tell about how God has changed his life since becoming a Christian 10 years ago. One way is that he really appreciates beauty and has made a beautiful back yard with volleyball court. It is a simple act, but very different from the garbage that fills the yards of most other homes.

Behind his house there was actually a pond and when he bought the property people said he was crazy because the land was so small. However with the help of some neighbors he filled part of the pond to expand his back yard and make room to build his house larger. As he said "God wants man to be able to manage his resources and change his history." Um Phor was such an encouragement to me as to how wholistic ministry can transform lives. In the next year FHI will be phasing out of Chhuk to begin work in a nothern much poorer district of Cambodia, and Um Phor and his wife will move there to minister to and serve people there. As I get ready to go with FHI to Peru, I am excited to see that there are people like Um Phor who have been empowered to like wise go and be missionaries and serve people outside of their own community.

So - the visit in Chhuk was great, but sleeping......not so much...hot and hard beds left me exhausted. However, last night several of us went out to get a massage and I feel as good a new now. 1 hour for $10 - definately something I will have to do again before I leave Cambodia.

Pictures: #1 - Um Phor's yard, #2 - me and Um Phor's family, #3 - amazing sunset in Chhuk, #4 - people working in a rice paddy









Hope you are all well - Many blessings!

Around Phnom Penh

Hi from Cambodia again.

It is Friday and we have just finished up our first week of training - mostly spent in a classroom, but on Wednesday we got a chance to go around town in a Tuk Tuk ( a small motorcycle taxi) and see some parts of town (a little cultural immersion time). Here are some pictures of our day...it was awesome.

#1 - me in front of the river front (Mae Kong River)


#2 - little boat in the river


#3 - Sambo - an elephant in the park around the What Phnom (temple)


#4 - part of the royal palace and temples


#5 - market picture


Tomorrow we are leaving for southern Cambodia to the city of Chuk. We will be there until Wednesday getting to see some Food for the Hungry projects and we even get to have a home stay....yea for some outside of the classroom learning!

Thank you all for your prayers and support. It is awesome to be here and I feel like God is really preparing me for Peru in October :)

Blessings to you all.

Jum riep sou (sp?)

A Khemer hello from Cambodia - Jum riep sou (not quite sure how it is spelled). Cambodia is amazing. My first 4 days here have been blessed with time to know a little of Phnom Penh, eat some fabulous food, and fellowship and learn from some wonderful servents of God. The Lord has already begun to work out somethings in my heart and mind. Tomorrow we are going to have a few hours to explore the city...hopefully I will figure out some way to share pictures then.

Thank you everyone for your encouraging words and prayers.

Phoenix to Phnom Penh

So, right now I am in Phoenix where I have been for the last two days signing papers and getting logistical things taken care of for beginning work in Peru. Tonight though I am off with a group of 12 other Hunger Corps members to Cambodia. For three weeks we will be learning more about the values, mission and work of Food for the Hungry, as well as getting a chance to see some field projects in country. This should be a great experience and I am praying that God will use this time to continue to prepare my heart and mind for the service I will be doing in Peru. Check back to see updates (and hopefully a few fun pictures) in a week or so.

God is Good!

Just a quick update: God is Good! As of today I have 100% of my monthly pledged support requirement - thank you to all of you who have so generously pledged to support this ministry on a monthly basis. I now only need about $4000 (this is about 25% of my total outbound expenses) for the remainder of my set up costs, training and travel expenses - thank you to all of you who have so generously given gifts toward the first 75%.

I have about 14 days left before I go for training in Phoenix and then Cambodia for three weeks. I am so excited for this, and have been busy with preparations and trying to get in a few visits with friends in before I go.

God bless,
Lauren

Good Visits with Friends and Family

My friends Greta and Gunter were married last week in a beautiful ceremony - praise for that. Also praise for a wonderful visit with my sister, Alison, this week. It has been so fun for her to be home :) I am also so thankful for the outpouring of generosity from family and friends, as I have been building a support team of ministry partners. So many have been praying for me and various preparations for Peru and I am now so close to having 100% of the financial support I will need for Peru. What an scary but awesome experience to be so dependent on God and his working through others to bring about such a huge task; the outpouring of support has been such a blessing and confirmation that this is the next step the Lord would have me take. Please keep praying for the final funds to come in, but lift up a prayer of thanks for His providence too:)

1st Posting

This is the first posting of this blog. I hope that this gives you a chance to see why I am up to in perparing to leave for Peru, and also what is happening when I get there. The Lord has really blessed me with awesome support in the last few months. I am constantly amazed at how He works to touch people's hearts to be a part of this ministry I have been called to. As of today I am almost completely funded. The next step in preparation will include a three week training with Food for the Hungry in Cambodia at the end of August. Please pray that this would be a useful time of prepartion in learning more about the work of Food for the Hungry.

Other praises: This week my sister is coming for a visit, and I am also excited to celebrate the wedding of two dear friends, Greta and Gunter.