House and Hearts Hunting

We recently went to Puno to check out houses/apartments for us to live.  Above is the manner in which they advertise: boards and boards full of advertisements.  They have a deal here in Peru called anticresis.  What it means is, for example, we would pay $10,000 to a renter to live in a house for two years.  At the end of the two years we get our money back and the renter would get his land back.  A win-win situation because the renter gets a non interest loan and we would get a place to live, with only the loss of interest, for two years.


So this is the first one that we checked out with the anticresis deal, so you can see what kind of business we’re in.  This was actually in a pretty run down ghetto area but right in the center of town.  And we all know that location, location, location are the three most important things.  It was too small and still not finished, so it was easy to turn down.
Other than that, we couldn’t find any other anticresis deals that would be suitable for fourteen people.  We went to check for rentals, letting the pastor know that he has to keep his eyes out in Puno for an anticresis.

The leading candidate for apartment is the one pictured below.  It was two separate apartments behind the same gate.  One with two floors and the other with five.  I have various pictures of what would be the guys’ apartment.


























Well that’s the business side of things.  We actually had a great experience while we were down here.  It reads as follows on the Extreme website…

“We have a praise from the city of Puno!  We recently traveled out to Puno to look for some prospective living places and to get to know the city better.  During some of our free time, we decided to explore the city.  From our explorations, we discovered the most authentic “Punonian” souvenir shop!  Garren and Roy initially discovered it, and then Kristen, Francisca and I met them there.  By the time we had gotten there, Garren, in an attempt to get a discount on a hat, had told the store owner that we were missionaries working in Puno to plant churches.
The store owner, Hector, showed immediate interest and started asking more questions about what we were doing there.  Francisca, being our only native Spanish speaker there, took the opportunity to share more about who we are and what we believe.  Then, she asked him if he was ready to make a decision to give his life to Christ.  There was no hesitation. He immediately said yes as he wiped away tears.  We gathered around him, and Francisca led him through the sinner’s prayer.  Afterward, we were joyful and shared more with him about our Christian walk and tried to feed him spiritually as much as we could in the short time we were there.
I think one of the most amazing things is how he shared how he had been looking for the truth in other religions.  He had gone to Seventh Day Adventist, Mormon, and Living Water churches, but he didn’t find what his heart we looking for there.  He told us that he could feel God’s presence with us.  Then, I think the most amazing thing is that he told us he never has his shop open in the mornings… and that he knew that that day he needed to open his shop.  I told him God had a plan and wanted him to come to him that day!
We gave him the address to the local Nazarene church in Puno, took down his information, and gave it to the Pastor.  Pastor Herman said he would be in contact with him!
We are all blown away with this blessing.  Not only was it awesome to see this man come to Christ, but also to see how God is preparing Puno for us before we are even there!  His hand is working, cultivating the hearts of these people. It is so encouraging to see the evidence.  Praise the Lord!  He is so GOOD!  Keep praying!  The Lord is listening!”

…what was crazy was how much God it was.  It was nuts because the shop wasn’t supposed to be open, and that for some reason I picked that shop.  I told Roy I wanted to go buy a hat, so we headed on our way to the touristy area of town.  He had a few suggestions for stores but I kept saying no, and told him I wanted to go around the corner and down a little ways to see the shops there.  I don’t know why I turned down those shops at the time, but obviously now I know.  It was also God that everybody else showed up right at the time I was talking to the store owner about missions.  Fransisca told me that she noted his interest in the subject and she took over the conversation. Crazy!

Quick note: They’re obsessed with slides in Puno, and I’m chillin with some kids who only know one word: Hola.
Click here, oh reader.

The New Normal

Normality, how……boring.  Well I can’t say that a day here is boring.  By no means am I bored, because I know what to do with my free time.  I’m easily always doing something, and when I have nothing to do…I further my studies in the Bible, to get to know my Boss better.  The saying here at Zamacola is:

“Either you’re overwhelmed or you’re bored. There is no middle.”

That can be true, but I’m in South America for only two years.  I can’t let that happen.

Normality, how……intriguing.  The new normal me is a completely different normal. I’ve changed so much since being here.  These are only the things that I am self aware of, who knows the things that others observe:

What legalism I had, is gone.  Having seen what legalism does to people made me self aware of what I thought.  Now in comparison, the amount I had and the amount I see on a daily basis are worlds apart.

A dedicated time of devotion.  Before, I would not have a set schedule but I would get my daily readings in.  Now, first thing in the morning is my devoted time.  A day without it is literally hell because of the spiritual warfare.

I wake up sooo early.  Some days I am the first up.  You get so much more done.

I like eggs.  Vegetables. Meat. Sauce.  It all.  There are some things I don’t mind and wouldn’t choose, but I will eat.  Before, I used to think how in the world would anyone put an egg in their mouth.  Now, I make two huevos fritos for myself daily.

I would say I was on the more cold side of things before coming here.  Now I feel so much love for others.  Before stuff was just a fact of life, now it’s how can I help this or that person.

My Spanish, of course.  I am picking it up so well.  I truly think it is an answer to my daily prayers, I can only give the credit where it is due.  I understand about 90% of what the professor says in class and my tongue is improving every day.  I talk with confidence most of the time and am not afraid to start a conversation with someone on the street.  I always secretly hope that people will talk with me on combis and stuff so I can tell them who I am.

I have such a grateful heart.  I am thankful for things that you cannot realize you have unless they are take away.  I see materials in a completely different aspect, including money.  For example. Imagine you need to go somewhere across the city.  Let’s say 15 minutes away by car.  You don’t just walk out to your car and hop in it.  You go to the end of your driveway.  Wait there while a ton of buses buzz by with names of districts on the front of them.  You pick the one that you need and hop on it as fast as you can because about 20 other people are thinking the same thing you are.  You’re in.  You’re packed in.  You didn’t get to be the lucky one and you standing, squished.  Of course this bus doesn’t take the direct route to your destination.  In fact it doesn’t go exactly there at all.  It goes relatively there and you have to walk there.  This takes and hour, and you’re standing.  More people are getting on, and actually hanging out because it’s so packed.

I didn’t mind it at first, for the first couple of months.  But now it’s such a pain.  It makes me wish that Carlos was down here with me.  If you just want to go to the grocery store, you have to go through this hassle (well it doesn’t take an hour, but it’s also only 4 or 5 minutes by car.)

The new normal, for me, is actually the new awesome.  You thought I was awesome before, well you were being deceived by my awesomeness.  Now I am truly awesome, and will only excrete more awesomeness to others.

Be in prayer for me, as they always help.  My awesomeness took a hit this week as I really felt the spiritually warfare.  Somebody doesn’t want me to be here, and I felt like I went into a slight depression.  It’s tough, but it’s also good to know.  It means I’m doing the right things.

Taking Puno by Iron Puño

If posts were hills this one might be a mountain.  There are a lot of pictures so remember that you can make them pretty huge if you click on them, just saying.

The opportunity to go to Puno was absolutely incredible.  We were able to be tourists with nothing holding us back, and oh boy did we go at it.  We went to be able to get to know the city and just experience where we’ll be living for almost two years.  I almost pee my pants when I say that.  This city is absolutely it’s own culture and to be able to have the chance to live in it just blows my mind.  Everyone needs to see this city, probably.

We came by bus, which only cost 15 soles for a 6 hour journey.  The trip there in itself was awesome.  Down below in the photographs you can see a herd of wild alpaca.  That’s neat-o.  We came around a turn and boom there was this city on the side of the mountains.  We arrived at night, so where the lights in the city ended is where the lake started.  The city seemed to be positioned next to the lake with a mountain right in the middle of the city.  When you’re in any given area of the city, there’s more you can’t see because it has a mountain right in the middle.  You have to remember how big Lake Titicaca is though.  We can only see about 1/15 of it because Puno is located on a bay.  But this lake is massive.  Its an all day boat ride just to get across it.

We met the pastor of the Naz church there, ate dinner at his house around 9, and then stayed at a gangster hotel.  I got up the next morning to look out the window to a mountainous landscape that is significantly greener than Arequipa.  It does look a tad Mediterranean.  From there, after breakfast we went to the floating islands in Lake Titicaca.

Now this is insane.  These people build up reeds and live there with their families on them.  Most of them go home at night after the tourism is over but some of the actually live there.  It was probably top 10 coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life.  Down at the bottom, I’ve placed a panoramic of one of the islands that we visited.  We got a little lecture of how they build them.  On the “capital” island (as the owner of the “supermarket” calls it,) I bought an alpaca sweater/hoodie thing in order to satisfy my tourist needs.  I found out later that I overpaid a little, but heck, I bought it on a floating island.

The pictures down below:

Upper left: Wild alpaca.

Upper right: A field in the lake with a little calf.

Bottom left: One of the floating islands that we passed.

Bottom right:  The squishy ground of the island.

So that was our day Saturday, except for a pretty energetic teen service a the church, and the hilarious presentation by our Peruvians.  On Sunday, Roy, Trevor, and I headed out to hit the town to see what’s up.  We found a cute little market with the sweetest old ladies ever.  Roy had them going, and we told them that he is single.  We decided to go up to the condor (TO THE CONDOR!) which over looks the city.  On the way, we ran into Chad and he came with also.  It’s quite the hike trust me.  Remember that Puno is at 12,000 feet above sea level, and we had to climb 600 something steps.  Those steps you see in the picture are about 1/3 of what’s actually there.  The other 2/3’s are behind us.  We stopped about every 100 steps and talked about the “most hillbilly things we’ve ever done.”  Roy won that conversation.  Well it was super hard but super worth it.  Now remember, this is my tourist weekend so if you’re thinking that this sounds kind of “fun,” you’d be right.  It was a blast.  Down below you can see a the condor overlooking the city.  When we arrived at the top, it was kind of surreal.  There was one of those old ladies selling candy.  I named here Athena, because she was at her temple at the top of the city.  Of course we all bought something from her.

So, I bought an alpaca sweater, and two hats.  The classic, originally made in Puno hat, and just my first Peru sag hat.  They’re pretty balling.  The weather’s not bad at all in Puno.  It gets real chilly at night but other than that it was nice.  The black and white pic is of the catholic church downtown, which was not too far from our hotel.

Well that is about as touristy as I get, I kind of felt annoying being a tourist.  I’m really glad it’s out of the way and I’m super excited to call this place home for two years.  Hope you enjoy the update, even though it was pretty small.

 

Me he mudado y me mudare otra vez

So, I have moved into Zamacola (the Church/Dorm/School) and according to the title of this post, I’ll be moving again soon in a month.  More about that later.

I arrived here at Zamacola on Friday before graduation.  At graduation, we had to do a skit, which I believe was a major hit.  Right away, my body didn’t like adjusting to this environment and it went crazy.  So far I’ve been sick since I got here, with some kind of allergy.  So, I’ve been taking a lot of Benadryl and fall asleep at random times which is exciting.  School has started, but I haven’t had classes yet because our professor failed to arrive on time.  So this afternoon I’m going to have classes, in all out Spanish.

My partner arrived on Saturday and his name is Jeremias Something Something (they have like 100 names.)  He’s pretty chill and super nice and generous.  He’s kind of quiet and conservative but we’ll fix that all in good time.  Can’t really describe much about him until I get to know him better.

 

A little about Zamacola: It’s kind of cramped.  Hot showers are found between 11 and 1 because that’s when the sun is heating up the water.  It’s so cold all the time.  The food is so-so.  But we’re all together so it makes up for it (awwww.)  The picture above is the view from on top of the building in Zamacola.  No big deal.  The building to the left is Zamacola in all it’s glory.  It’s actually a pretty gangster looking building.

Zamacola is about a 15 minute combi ride from my old house.  It’s not a central location, but the pollution is a lot less here compared to my old house.

This is our classroom.  We’re all getting ready and it’s about 8:30 only to be told that the professor won’t be showing up until the afternoon. Que pena, pues eso es Peru.

 

 

 

 

This is what it looks like when I enter Zamacola.  To the upper left is where my dorm is and to the upper right is the sanctuary.  To the bottom right is where we have school.

So I don’t think that anyone actually likes to live here in Zamacola because the conditions aren’t great, but in truth, I have no problem with them.  But, according to the title we are going to move again! In a month we’ll be moving to the red building pictured below.  It’s going to be great.  My cluster support parents, Chad and Amanda, will be getting the third floor, the girls will be getting the second floor, and us men will have the first floor.  Each floor has there own kitchen and bathroom.  I’m excited, and its only a two minute walk to school, which will remain in Zamacola.

Random: Went to a parade, accidentally.  The difference here, at parades they throw vegetables instead of candy.  Wow, that’s awesome.

One last thing, this weekend we’re all going to be going to Puno to visit the city!  I’m so pumped.  I’ve been told by so many that it’s different but it has its own culture.  I'ma get my tourist game face on.  I’ma get that outta the way so I don’t be touristy when I return again.  I’ma wear some cargo pants, a button up shirt, a belt that’s too long, a hat to protect me from the sun and some socks that go halfway up my shins.  That’ll fill my tourist fiche.

Nos Mudaremos a Zamacola

To the convenience of most who read this, I will not be writing in Spanish.  In advance, I had a long stay at the Plaza de Armas (the main plaza) so I took a bunch of random pictures of stuff, and they’re on this blog.  But am in need of throwing out and update, so here’s what's going on in the forthcoming days.

The truth is that I am a week short of completing language school!  Give a little shout for that one.  I graduate on Friday the 13th!  There should be a nice little ceremony and what not but I'm not exactly sure as to what's going to happen.  Because I graduate, that means I move out of my host family's house and move into Zamacola.  Zamacola is the academy/church/dorm where I'll be living and taking classes.  I will post pics of Zamacola and my living quarters and all that juicy stuff and a new blog after all this goes down but it’s nice to know stuff in advance.  This Saturday, too, I get my Peruvian partner that will be with me for the next 2 years.  That’s pretty important, so please keep it in your prayers, thanks!  We’ve got 2 days of meetings with a psychologist from Lima preparing us to be able to work as a team.  Yeah, don’t really know what that’s all about.

Other than that, there is not much going on but things are about to change quickly this next week.  Right now I have hot showers and very good food (all as compared to the rest of Peru.) BUT, in Zamacola we’ve got cold showers and frightening food.  Not much to complain about especially when you think that we’ll all be together, awwwww.  My Spanish is going to improve dramatically after speaking for hours and hours daily to my partner.  Well that is all for now except for the update on the mustache: It’s looking hot.

Cómo Vine Acá

Amigos y Familia,

Este es el cuento como vine a Peru. 

Todas las cosas empezaron cuando yo tenía dieciséis años. Tuve la oportunidad asistir al colegio y segundaria al mismo tiempo. Decidí asistir a los dos y cuando me gradué de la segundaria, yo estaba casi dos años más adelante que mis compañeros de clase. Después de segundaria, yo decidí asistir la universidad nazarena cerca de Chicago para ser ingeniero mecánico. Después de un semestre, yo cambié mi área principal de estudio a matemáticas financieras. Durante el primer semestre, me concentraba en cosas pocos importantes. Un día, yo tuve una conversación con uno de mis amigos. Le dije que yo quería seguir a Jesús y ser diferente que mis compañeros. Cuando yo reté a Dios, mi vida empezó a cambiar. Yo tenía los mejores amigos del mundo aun yo tenía una enamorada por primera vez se llama Amy.

Un día, Amy me invitó a su iglesia. Fuimos a un culto especial con Christian Sarmiento quien fue a predicar. La iglesia fue a ofrecer un cheque a Haití para ayudarlos. Durante su sermón, él Señor Sarmiento mencionó algo acerca de unos viajes para misioneros. Sentí algo sobre mi corazón y le dije a Amy que había algo sobre mi corazón. Esa noche, visité el sitio web de Extreme Nazarene. Les di mi información incluyendo mi nombre, número de teléfono, y el correo electrónico. Al día siguiente, Brent Deakins me llamó durante una de mis clases. Salí la clase y caminé por el gimnasio mientras yo hablaba con Brent. No conocía a Brent, pero esa conversación fue increíble. La conversación estuvo llena del espíritu santo. Brent me explicó información acerca de Extreme y que tipo de persona él estaba buscando. Yo era la persona perfecta para la misión. La misión era en Perú e íbamos a salvar la gente de sur Perú. No creí lo que yo estaba haciendo. No estaba buscando unas misiones. Mi vida era perfecta, no quería salir ahora. Cuando yo quería salir fue mi decisión, no la fue de Dios. Pues, muchas cosas estaban teniendo lógica como yo estaba dos años adelantado en escuela y yo era la persona perfecta para esa misión y más. Me sentía bien y yo sabía que tenía hacerlo.

Entonces, yo tenía que decir mi familia, iglesia, amigos, y enamorada. Esta parte fue la más difícil que todas las partes de mi cuento. Fue muy difícil explicar a mis padres iba a salir de Los Estados por dos años o más. Cuando les llamé a mis padres y mi pastor mi voz estaba tembloroso porque fue difícil decir a mis seres queridos que iba a salir por tan cantidad de tiempo. Necesitaba una recomendación de mi pastor y mis padres y las recibí pronto. Solicité el puesto rápidamente y entonces tuve que fijar una hora para la entrevista. Fijamos una hora dos meses más adelante en Ohio que es cinco horas a carro lejos de donde yo estaba. Durante estos meses, empezaba a dudar del llamado que Dios me dio. Hacía pequeñas cosas de fe como compré una pelota de futbol durante este tiempo. Fui a Florida con mis amigos pero no estaba bien porque yo tenía un sentimiento de nerviosismo. Por fin, la entrevista ocurrió. Me levanté a las tres y cuarenta y cinco de la mañana y Amy y yo fuimos a Westerville, Ohio para la entrevista. Mis padres nos encontraron en Ohio también para mostrar apoyo para lo que iba a hacer. La entrevista fue muy difícil y los ayudantes de Extreme Mobile me hicieron unas preguntas que no me había preguntado nunca en mi vida. Aprobé la primera entrevista y entonces tuve que entrevistarme con Brian Tibbs, el director de Extreme. Tres días después, Brian me entrevistó y me preguntó con preguntas más difíciles que las otras. También, la aprobé y les dije todos de mis amigos y familia. En ese momento, fue oficial que iba a Perú. Estaba emocionado pero al mismo tiempo tenía un poco miedo para que lo iba a venir.

Las semanas ultimas estaban muy bien. Tenía diversión casi todos los días pero no fue fácil porque había muchos sufrimientos. Teníamos buen tiempos y malos tiempos pero sabíamos que iba a hacer lo correcto y que iba a regresar. Los últimos días pasaron rápidamente, demasiado rápido para mí. Durante esos días, tenía que pensar y decidir acerca de cosas importantes. ¿Que iba a hacer después de la misión o que iba a hacer con mis cosas o mi dinero? Tuve que decidir en cuales cosas traer conmigo y cual necesité comprar. Estaba ocupado todos los días.

Fue la mañana de diecisiete de mayo cuando tuve que salir y no regresar hasta julio de 2012. Fue difícil pero yo sabía que estaba bien. No fue fácil despedirme de mi familia pero tenía un sentimiento de paz cuando me subí al avión.

Ahora, estoy estudiando español y la biblia y aprendiendo la cultura de Perú. En enero, yo voy a Puno donde voy a empezar más que tres iglesias. Espero que sea un triunfador pues solo lo puedo con Dios. He encontrado una familia nueva en mis amigos peruanos y americanos, mis anfitriones, y mis grupo de apoyo. He visto ya muchas cosas increíbles y estoy emocionado para lo que va a venir.

Gracias y Dios Te Bendiga,

Garren Moore, Perú

Mollendo

I wanted to update somehow, something that is besides “language school blah blahh…” so here's what I did this weekend at Mollendo, a little coastal town.

About 3 hours by bus between the two cities.

The bus ride was absolutely amazing, the pictures I took could not do it justice.  We were going from 7,800 feet to sea level through the Andes mountains.  The scapes were crazy.  We arrived at about 1 on Saturday and I got checked in to my hotel.  I was the only one in my room, so that was ballin.  Micah tried to talk me out of it but I saw his jealousy of my own-room-status.  The room was pretty cool and had an awesome (for Peru) shower.  I went and got lunch at the club, and proceeded to get some guys together to play futbol.  We ended up ballin for about 5 hours on a little basketball court with goals and a little turf field.  We had a tourney, and that was pretty cool.  I didn't really relax on Saturday.  We went to dinner and then walked around the town for an hour searching for a coffee shop that didn't exist.  I went back to the hotel and went to bed after that extremely successful run to the coffee shop.

Sunday I woke up and ate breakfast with the Linnell's at the hotel.  I went out and took a bunch of pictures because if I didn't take them then, I wouldn't take them at all.  I went to the beach with Trevor to read my Bible but one of the short termers that works for Extreme was in the water.  So I had to be in the water too.  The swells were so big, and the undertow was so strong; I could have easily died.  Once you got to your waste you start to panic because the ocean does whatever it wants with you.  I've never seen the Pacific before but this left a whole lot better impression than the Atlantic or the Gulf.  The sur was so much more active than the Gulf or Atlantic.  After that, I went and showered for the second time that day and it was only 11 in the morning.  I went and bought 15 pieces of bread, a bag of "lady fingers" (which are like ricotta shaped things with a sweet layer on the outside), and a 2.25 liter of Inca Kola, and I watched the Tour de France in English.  That was pretty relaxing, so much so that I couldn't resist taking a nap.  I dined out with Trevor, Micah, the Duerre's, and the Smith's to Patrick's Bar & Grill which was pretty good.  We then had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs on the beach to celebrate the Day of Independence.  It was pretty fly.

Monday, I don't really remember what I did so it must not have been that important.  Well this blog post might have been a bit dry, but I wanted to share my weekend and first experience doing something.