Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow......

Merry Christmas! y Feliz Navidad!!

I hope you all have had a blessed Christmas with your families and loved ones.

Last Wed. I arrived home to WA for a holiday visit with my family (along with my sister, brother in law and beautiful niece). It has snowed every day since we arrived.....so its been a white Christmas. I haven't been out to see any friends yet...just hanging out at home, visiting my grandfather, and playing in the snow.

Here are a few pics. :) (there are also some from my visit in DC with my sister last week).



I am going to be in the Seattle area until the 12 of Jan - so if you want to catch up just drop me a line.

May the love of Christ fill your hearts this Christmas and New Year!

Bendiciones,
Lauren

Thanksgiving in Peru

Every year we (all the N. Americans working at FH) like to celebrate Thanksgiving together inviting some of our Peruvian friends to share in the very N. American holiday. This year we decided that we really wanted to share this day and our traditions with all of the Peruvian FH staff we serve with. So that means cooking a Thanksgiving feast for 50+ people.

Of course we have divided up the work - one making the stuffing, another the pumpkin pie, another the green beans and mashed potatoes, etc. - but it will be no small feat to get all of that food (including two 24 lbs. turkeys) cooked on time and transported from our homes to the office (since there is no real kitchen at the office). While it will probably be a bit crazy and logistically stressful, my prayer is that sharing this meal together with the Peruvian staff will be a blessing for to us all.

I also pray that you have a blessed Thanksgiving - that you have safe travels, enjoy good food and wonderful fellowship with family and friends. I am so thankful to each of you, for your friendships, and the support and prayers you have given and continue to give towards my work with FH here in Peru.

Que el Señor les bendiga,

Lauren

P.S. Just got back from the Thanksgiving feast - the staff loved the food (I think we have all learned now that the way to a Peruvian's heart is definately through food :) and the we all had a great time sharing fellowship and thanksgiving. Hope you all have also had a happy Thanksgiving.

Random Updates

It has been a while since I posted anything....so I thought I might just post some random pictures and share about some events from the last month or so :)

CUTEST BABY EVER - two pictures of my 7 month old niece Ella. She is (at least I think so - and my sister, brother in law and parents agree) one of the cutest babies ever! I just love her and I am so excited that I will get a chance to get to know her better while I am back in the states for a few weeks in Dec. and Jan.

ADVENTURES IN LIMA (or just outside of the city) - my roommate Claire's fiancé, Shannon, came to visit a few weeks ago, and Claire wanted to show him a different side of Lima (he has been out to visit 4 times now). So we decided to take him out to Lomas de Lucomo (the green area I had visited before). It was a great day - the day was beautiful and we did the hike at a good pace (about half the time from the previous visit). Shannon is an avid boulderer, and towards the end of the hike there are some huge rock formations that provided some more fun - Claire and I even put on our climbing shoes :) We finished the day with an enormous feast of some typical Peruvian fare at this old Hacienda (Casa de Don Cuchos) - and before the meal was over there was even a little temblor (little earthquake). Definitely an day of adventure.

LIMA MISSIONARY WOMEN'S RETREAT - a couple of weekends ago I had an opportunity to participate in a retreat with some 30 women missionaries from 15 different organizations. The weekend was such a blessing - the theme was having a new attitude and life in Christ (study on Philippians). It was a message that I feel like the Lord has been speaking to me for the last month or so as I have been taking time to recuperate and regain a bit of balance after a difficult year working on the earthquake reconstruction/rehabilitation projects FH carried out in Chincha. It is truly amazing how good the Lord is and how he can use even the most difficult, sad, frustrating, and challenging experiences in our lives to draw us closer to Him, and grow us more into the person He created us to be. While I still feel like I am taking just baby steps in understanding and trusting the Lord's love and goodness in the midst of tragedy and challenge, my faith has been invigorated by the last couple of months of rest, fellowship with friends, prayer and reflection. Thank you to those of you who have been praying for me during this time.

Hope you all are doing well too......if you want to send any random updates my way - I'd love to hear.

Dios te bendiga,

Lauren

How do you live in a micro-climate?

Lima (actually the entire coast of Peru) is a desert, and for 9 months out of the year is cloudy and grey, but very little precipitation. We do get "llovizna" as it is called which is just an occasional heavy mist that spits in your face all day, but coming from Seattle I would say it doesn't really count as rain. So it should be no surprise that the all the foot hills leading up to the Andes are brown and dusty (like the communities where FH serves on the outskirts of the city - see picture below).


So imagine my surprise to find lush green hills just 40 min south of the city. In a small town, Quebrada Verde, near Pachacamac, due to some strange weather/ geographic anomaly, the hills find themselves in their own little microclimate that actually receives rain and turns what is normally brown, dry and harsh into a lush green oasis.



Thanks to a national holiday (Battle of Angamos Day) last Wednesday I too got to experience an oasis in the midst of what has often seemed to be a dry and harsh year. With a bunch of friends from Lima we trekked around for several hours exploring beautiful green hills, looking for walking sticks and snails along the way, and talking and laughing a ton. A great day, spent with awesome people - very rejuvenating.


But now I find myself back again in Lima, sitting at my desk and wondering....how do I keep from living in the desert? How can I live in a micro-climate that is beautiful and green and alive regardless of what my life surroundings are like? For the next couple of months I am cutting back my work hours to regain some balance and hopefully figure out the beginning of an answer to those questions. While I my brain knows that the answer lies in living out of the Spirit of the Lord (the well that never runs dry), I think I have gotten out of practice in living in and through that oasis. While I don't really have an answer to those questions yet (I think it is going to take a while), I just wanted to share a little about where I am at, and ask for you prayers - that in the next few months I would be able to reconnect and remember how to live in the micro-climate of the Spirit.

Time to Catch Up

Wow! Can it really be that it has been more than 4 months since my last post?.....well....yes I guess it can. Time flies when you’re having fun....and when you are working a lot ;)

Before I say anything more though I want to thank each of you that have been so faithful in your emotional, spiritual, and financial support of me and my work here (even when I have not held up my end of the bargain in keeping you posted). I know that these days time and money are resources in short supply, and I am so blessed to have your support.
GRACIAS!

As of August though, the relief projects I have been o attached too in Chincha came to a close. (There is more about the projects and its transitions and transformations in the last blog I posted).

September turned into a month of writing reports and sorting out financial statements for the projects. Although there was one week of rest in the middle of the month with an unplanned/ unexpected trip to Colombia with my friend Norah (pictures below).


And now here I am in October - slowing down a bit, and hopefully getting caught up on some long over due conversations with friends and family.

I hope you all are doing well. I would love to hear from you.

Dios les bendiga,
Lauren

Transitions and Transformation in Chincha

As some of you know, the last few months have been very busy with work in Chincha. For the last 7 months I have been working as the coordinator of two key projects FH-Peru has been carrying out in three communities hard hit by the earthquake of Aug. 15th last year. While the last few months have required a ton of work, time, and energy, the Lord truly blessed the work and the people and communities served by it. Here are some pictures from each of the projects:

1. psychosocial project - an intervention aimed at helping children and families recuperate emotionally and spiritually from the effects of the earthquake

2. reinforced adobe training project - aimed at providing a rebuilding alternative that is safe and economical

With lots of hard work (from the entire team working in Chincha), and lots of grace the projects have had a very positive impact on three communities severely affected by the earthquake and in the end the projects' goals were met - providing activities for 500 + children, providing training to over 40 community volunteers/ mother leaders, training to individuals in reinforced adobe construction, and the reconstruction of some 20+ homes for some of the most vulnerable families. However more than these successes, lives have also been trasformed as......

• mother leaders see their true worth as creations and children of God through trainings that gave them an opportunity to learn, and then use their gifts in serving children in their communities
• men and women gained not only skills in construction of their homes, but also were able to take pride in their hard work as they saw either their own home built, or were able to build the home of a neighbor in need
• children overcame their fears through participation in various activities where they were able to relax, play, learn, make new friends - having people who love and care about them take the time to invest in their development
• families began to work through problems that existed before the earthquake, but were heightened by the stress of living in a disaster zone (family violence, alcoholism, conflict, neglect, etc.)
• communities have drawn together to beginto reach out to one another

As Brenda, a mother volunteer with the psychosocial project explained....

Through participating in the psychosocial project, I began to regain my self-esteem, and learn that I have something to offer my community. After loosing my home to the earthquake, I was so overwhelmed and could not imagine how I and my family would ever overcome this tragedy. But now I have a hope for the future. Before the earthquake my community was not very united and everyone kept to themselves, but through the projects with FH we have learned to be organized and work together. FH has helped me to see that together, as a unified community trusting God, serving one another we will be able to move forward and rebuild not only the physical aspects of their community, but also the unity and relationships in our community that had been lost long before the earthquake.

Still there is much to be done in these communties, and in the surrounding areas. While there still remains much to be done in these communities, it has been amazing to see and be involved in the ways that the Lord has begun to redeem the tragedy of the earthquake in these communities, and to rebuild them back better, stronger, and healthier than before. Currently the work of FH-Peru in Chinha is in transition as the relief/ and rehabilitation projects wind down, and FH begins to plan (along with community leaders) to begin a long-term development program in Chincha starting in these three communities.

This also means transition for me and my work with FH. Until the end of the year I will be working with a team of FH staff to develope the long-term plan for work in Chincha (Sometime in Feb a new regional manager will take over my responsibilities in Chincha, so that I can return to developing disaster mitgation curriculum for communities, and churches). In the last few months of the year I am also going to be taking some time to refect on the last year and the transforming work the Lord has been carrying out not only in the communities where I have been serving, but in my own life as well.

Blessings from Ella....

I am waiting in the airport (8 hours) for my flight back to Lima, after a week long visit with my sister, brother in-law, parents, and best of all my new beautiful niece, Ella. It was a good week.



In these last few months I have had to deal with some difficult challenges, and frustrating situations in my work with the earthquake reconstruction/ rehabilitation efforts. It seems like the only thing I have had time to think about are how to best support the reinforced adobe reconstruction/ training program, budgets, meetings with other NGOs and the government trying to help develop (not so successfully though) plans for long-term housing reconstruction (that benefits those most vulnerable and in need). I am thankful that the Lord has opened the door for me to serve in this capacity, and that He has given me the grace to make my efforts useful (at least a little I hope). But the difficulties of the work, and the frustration, of seeing so many still in need and knowing that help for many is moving slower than everyone would like, have left me both physically and emotionally exhausted. For weeks I have been looking forward to the break of coming back to the US to see my family, and meet little Ella.

So the week came, and the Lord granted me rest, and a joyful time with family, a couple of friends, and of course, Ella. She is precious - and as my mother said "just looking at her makes me smile." Still, I fell like the visit was too short, and now on my way back to my home in Lima, I am missing my family (even the newest addition) more than I have in the last two years).

Then, as I was looking through the hundreds of pictures from the week, I remembered last night. Ella, who had been a pretty quiet baby in the last 4 weeks, was very upset, and fussy, and my sister (who is an awesome mom) just could not figure out what to do. In the end we ended up sitting in the nursery (all four of us: Ella my sister, brother in-law, and I) and we sang to Ella different praise song to our Lord, taking turns rocking and holding her. If we stopped for just a moment she would start to get upset again so we just kept on until my sister was finally able to nurse her to sleep.

It was beautiful to sit there and sing to Ella, truths about the Lord, his power, and glory and most importantly how much He loves us. When I think about the last few months, I feel like I too have felt inconsolable like Ella (usually without all the fussiness), but in those times I have not always clung to the truths I know about my Lord. I have not always sung his praises, and in doing so remembered that He is in control of all thing, and that He loves me. I think this is something I will try to be practicing as I go back to my work and find myself again in difficult, frustrating situations. What a blessing it is to be reminded of the basics by someone so small :)

My Beautiful Niece - Ella Kate

I'm an Aunt!

What a blessing, this morning early (at 1:18 eastern) my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl I just got the call from my parents and I was so excited I had to tell someone. May the Lord bless them as they get to know this awesome gift of life - Ella. I will post some fotos when they send me some....and it just a few weeks I will get to see her myself.

WOW - how awesome...I am so excited for them.

Back from Bolivia......

This last week I spent about 5 days in Cochabamba, Bolivia (attending the FH Latin American Regional Conference). It was great to see a bit of Bolivia if even for just a short while (most of the time I spent in a cold conference room). Bolivia is a beautiful country I will definitely want to visit again. It was a blessing to have a change of pace, and take in some fresh mountain air. Actually even the conference time was a blessing - giving us a chance to hear and discuss how FH as an organization is supposed to carry out the vision the lord has given us:

God called and we responded until physical and spiritual hungers ended world wide.

This vision is clearly a tall order. It often seems in our work that we are constantly running up hill towards this vision, a vision for which we know we must count on the Lord (and not our own strenght and ability) to carry out. During the conference, through our devotions, as well as various presentations about finances, project planning, reporting, policies, procedures, and other such "administrative" topics - it became clear that it is the Lord who works through these things to bring about transformation and development in the famlies, churches, leaders and communities we work with. As we offer up our various jobs to the glory of God, in service of those most in need, God also works in us to transform our lives that we might be agents of His transformation in the lives of others. Yes we do our jobs, but is the Lord that uses that work to make lasting change (and we are not in charge of that part).




That message is something that I think I have really needed to hear. In the last few months I have been so busy with my work managing and/ or coordination the various rehabilitation and reconstruction projects FH is carrying out in Chincha, an earthquake affected area; it has been overwhelming at times....most of the time really. I have come to know the people in the communities we are serving and I see there is so much need - and not only need for homes to be rebuilt, but a need for transformation, and I often faced with the reality that I am not in control of whether or not these needs (physical - like new homes, or spiritual). Trying to meet the needs of the families we are working with has been a heavy burden I have spent many months trying to carry - frustrating as well, knowing that I am not able to meet all of those needs.

But this last week I have been reminded that I am not the one who is in control or in charge and that is a good thing. The Lord is in charge and in control of every step of the work we do including the work He has allowed us to do in Chincha. While I might play a role in the process of transformation of these communities and families, it is the Lord who does the work of transformation, and He is completely faithful to complete the good work He has begun in my life and in the lives of the families He allows me to serve.

Tomorrow we are beginning our reconstruction training project in reinforced adobe. My prayer is that the training would go well, that people would learn a cost effective alternative to rebuilding their homes in a safe way. I pray for the communities, for the families involved in the project that they are able to use this training to rebuild, and I pray for the government officials of Peru that they would put in line the right systems so that families can access the necessary building materials they need to utilize the teaching they are receiving. But over all of this I pray that the Lord would be gracious with me and with the other FH staff - that He would continue to use us to be agents of transformation, that families would not only have new homes built, but that their lives and the life of there community would be open to he transforming power of God. I recognize that these things are not in my control to carry out - that they are in the hands of the Lord, who is faithful to carry out our best.

And so I put these things in the hands of the Lord and ask that this too would be your prayer for me, for the work of FH here in Peru and for the communities we are serving in Chincha.

Dios les bendiga,
Lauren

Rest, Good Friends, and Beautiful Mountains

While my days in Peru have been quite on my work with FH rehabilitation efforts in Chincha (see previous post), this last weekend I was blessed with a few days break (for semana santa, or holy week). Thursday and Friday I got to sleep in, make and eat big breakfasts, and enjoy the company of some good friends.

Saturday we (me, Claire - my roommate, Guili and Jannina - some close Peruvian friends, and Kami - the newest FH missionary) got up early for a get out of the city day - up to a small town east of Lima, in the beginnings of the Andes, to a town called Matucana. There we ventured to a smaller village where we got to hike in some beautiful mountains up to a huge waterfall (with no one around except a few sheep and goat herders). It is incredible how just 80km from Lima, the city disappears and you enter a different landscape, encounter different people, and catch a glimpse of a different culture. Peru is amazing that way.



I am so thankful for these days of rest, of good friends and beautiful mountains, and for the love a God that would not only lay his life down for me, but would also overcome death so that I (and you too) may also have life to the full.

Blessings to you all,

Lauren

Update from Peru - Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Work in Chincha

As I mentioned in my Happy Easter post - I am long overdue in writing an update to this blog. Here is just a quick catch up of the events that have been going on in my life and work here in Peru.



- Since the beginning of January, my awesome coworkers Wilda and Jorge have been working and living in Chincha. Wilda has helped to organize three community centers in areas that prior to the earthquake had little community organization. Each community center has volunteers from the community (mothers, and a few teenagers), who offer activities every day for children in the community - activities that allow these children to play, laugh and learn, in order to help them move beyond the trauma of the earthquake and difficulties of living in the midst of rubble and tents. The project has also gained an incredible psychologist who loves the Lord, and has been helping to train the community volunteers and other parents in order that they would be able to begin to better meet some of the psychological and social needs of the children in their own community. This project is a huge blessing to the children and the communities as you can see in pictures above.

- At the beginning of February FH-Peru received approval for funding from the Canadian government for a 6 month training and reconstruction project. Most families are still without any permanent housing (still living in temporary shelters or tents). While most families do not want to rebuild using adobe (mud bricks that do not stand up well to earthquakes), the costs of other more seismic resistant materials such as brick, concrete and rebar are out of reach for most families. Our project will provide training to 60 people in how to build with adobe that is reinforced with a plastic mesh so that the home can withstand future earthquakes. In the process of the training about 25 model homes will be built to provide more permanent housing to vulnerable families (single mothers and the elderly) with great need. The aim of the project is that the 60 individuals trained will be able to earn a living by providing technical assistance to families who are rebuilding (the government of Peru is giving a small fund to each family to purchase building materials).

I know that to many of you (especially those with whom I have not been able to share with regularly) these activities may not seem very personal. However each of them has required much of my time and work: writing proposals, traveling back and forth from Lima to Chincha (a 3 hour bus trip each way), running around to purchase equipment and supplies for working with the children, managing budgets, countless meetings with other NGOs and government officials to coordination and collaborate reconstruction efforts, and lots of time supporting the staff in the field in Chincha, as well as visiting with and listening to the needs and concerns of community members. And PRAYER - none of what I or FH is doing is done on our own - it is done by the grace of God, and requires a covering of prayer. Please continue to pray for me and the other FH staff - that we would be able to accomplish the work laid out before us in a way that uplifts and encourages the communities we serve, and also honors the Lord. Please continue to pray for the families in the communities we serve, and for all of the families who continue to be affected by the earthquake from last August.

Happy Easter!

Hope you all have a beautiful, blessed easter - that you would know the risen Lord, Jesus Christ and his love for each one of you.

As usual these days, I am long overdue on an update, but wanted to wish you all a happy Easter. Hopefully I will get a chance to post some more pics and catch up later today.

Blessings,
Lauren

Feliz January (and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too)

Feliz January! Oh - January is not a holiday....ok.....as I seem to start all my entries lately....it has been again too long since I have posted something to let my friends and family know my where a bouts and the goings on in my life and work here in Peru. (Hopefully with the New Year, and my work starting to take on some sort of normal schedule again, I will make my posts a bit more regular again).

I do hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. I was blessed to be able to spend the holidays with my family (my parents met there also) at my sister's home in Baltimore. During my time back in the states I even made a surprise visit to see my parents for a couple days in WA. We had a great visit just hanging out, eating good food, catching up, and relaxing.



After two weeks of some much needed R&R, I spent a couple of days meeting with some people from the FH office in Wash DC, and then returned home on the 11th of Jan. Yes that is right I returned "home." I guess that is a blessing too that the Lord has helped me to feel at home in Lima. While my visit with family and a few friends was wonderful, (and while I do really miss the beautiful NW), it was a good feeling to be excited t return to Peru and see my friends and "family" here.

I am continuing to work as the program coordinator/ manager of the relief/ rehabilitation work that FH-Peru is carrying out in three communities in Grocio Prado, Chincha (a peri-urban area severely affected by the Aug. earthquake). We are currently starting a project to provide safe learning/play areas for children in three communities. One of FH-Peru's long time community promoters, Wilda, is coordinating the program; organizing the communities, and training mothers from these communities as volunteer staff to supervise different activities designed to help address different health, education, and psychological needs of their children. In support of Wilda, I have spent the last couple of weeks running around Lima purchasing books, puzzles, games, art supplies, soccer balls, volley balls, hula hoops and other such paraphernalia that will be used by some 800 children the project hopes to serve over the next 7 months.

Here are some pictures of our recent work in the area: distributing water storage containers to families, distributing some of the supplies to be used in the children’s program, celebrating Christmas with many of the children from the three communities FH is working in.



It has been amazing to see how community members have pulled together to help their children by being involved as volunteers with the children's project. Still there is much to be done to help families reconstruct not only their homes, but also their lives in the aftermath of this disaster. There are over 100,000 families who have been left without homes as a result of the earthquake and in the three communities where FH is working there are approximately 600 families still living in make-shift temporary shelters.

We are still waiting for final approval on the financing from a donor that will fund a project to provide reconstruction/ training in reinforced adobe to the families in these three communities. Please be praying that the Lord would give us (FH) favor to be able to carry out this training to help families begin the process of reconstructing their home in a safer way. Also pray that the Peruvian government would begin to make clear how they will help families with reconstruction (as they have promised). Please be praying also that the Lord would be at work in the lives of families and communities to help them pull together to reconstruct not only the physical buildings of their communities, but to also work towards reconstructing the important social fabric of their communities.