Home Sweet Home

A big thank you to my dear sister Amber for so kindly (& bluntly) pointing out that I have been back in the States for almost TWO weeks & still have not updated...my bad. It's been a crazy month!

 A lot of mixed emotions during my last week in Peru. We started out with a trip to the nearby city of Arequipa. It was a crazy 7 hour bus ride up into the mountains, & it was an absolutely beautiful city! And guess what? They had a Starbucks!!! I never realized how heavenly the aroma of Starbucks coffee was until I went without it for 3 months. Haha!

 One of the things that impacted me the most about the trip to Arequipa was our trip to the Santa Catalina Monastery. This picture is actually of a different Cathedral; I couldn't get a good pic of the outside of Santa Catalina because it was so massive! The Monastery covered about 5 acres....it was crazy. I have a ton to say about that, so I'll save it. Hopefully I'll actually crank out a post about it, but I don't have a great track record for writing what I intend to, so if you feel like it, just ask me about it sometime & I'll share. =)

 I flew out of Tacna the 10th at around 8 am, & I got to my sister's house in Wisconsin at about 4 am the next day. That afternoon my mom & I drove up to school, & that's where the next phase of craziness began. Helloooooo reverse culture shock, climate shock, health issues, FINALS, friends, PIANO, snow....it was a bit overwhelming the first few days! This sounds really strange, but on Monday one of the most overwhelming things for me was just how many white people were all around me speaking English! For the past 3 months I had the same 10-12 people around me that I could speak English to, otherwise I was immersed in Spanish. Now suddenly there were a TON of people all speaking a language I could comprehend without having to concentrate on translation. It felt like my brain was trying to take in every word that every person around me was saying all at once...headache!

Besides the initial feeling of being overwhelmed with all the English, It was SO wonderful to catch up with my family (for half a day), and some of my close friends at school that I was able to sit down with & catch up a bit even in the busyness of finals week =)

There were some difficult things though that came along with all of the catching up. Outside of the circle of about 10-15 people that emailed with me & kept up, there were a lot of people who I hadn't seen in 3 months that had no idea what I had been doing all semester! Suddenly I found myself in conversations that went a little something like this: "Hey! You were in....Spain? No...um, wow you're tan! You had a great time, huh?" I hate to say it, but I found myself getting frustrated...how do you sum up the incredible experiences, friendships, trials, growth, pain, & joys of three months abroad? It was one of the best semesters I've had, but it was also some of the most trying 3 months of my life, and I've found that when I try to explain that paradigm I get some blank stares...I need to learn how to communicate! Haha!

I have roughly 200 journal pages from this past semester; some with big, bold, happy letters expressing the joy of new experiences, new friends, glad days.  Others are filled with my "comfort" verses, & stained with tears. There are pages with prayer requests for my new Peruvian friends who live in Viñani; who every day struggle just to get meals on the table. And next to those prayers, I have requests for friends & family who are on the other side of the world, going through trials that are on a different level, but still weigh heavily on my heart. Prayer has never been so "real" to me...whether it's because I finally had no other choice but to pray for the impossible when I was burdened with needs of those around me...needs I could never possibly meet. Needs that only God can meet. Or because I couldn't be there to hug my friends when they were on the other side of the phone in tears because of the pain they were facing...I could not be physically with them, so prayer became a tangible way I could express my love for them even when I was so far away.

The first journal pages after I returned to school expressed my mixed emotions; frustration with feeling like an outsider, but also the encouragement that came after catching up with friends. The busyness of finals is a difficult time to be dropped back into another culture. God has changed me a lot in the past three months, but His work has not been isolated to Peru. All of my friends have changed a lot too! And it's all happened in ways I can't understand because I wasn't there. But it was very encouraging to be able to sit down with 2-3 of my closest friends & hear about the tools God used in their lives this semester to change them to be more like Christ.

My most recent journal pages are covered in "Rock" verses...Verses that affirm God's stability in the midst of never-ending change. I'm still adjusting to some "American" things that I have been around for years, but suddenly view in a new way. And now that I've had some time to sit & really consider what took place over the past three months, how God has worked, and what He has revealed about me, I'm seeing myself in a different way. Finally surrendering to the fact that I have been bought with a price; I am not my own, & my life needs to be a constant pursuit to give God the glory. Even if it means giving up some of my own rights for the sake of serving others.

I want to thank all of you who have kept up with me, & prayed for me. I cannot express how much it means & how thankful I am for that support! It has been the hardest/most incredibly challenging/best 3 months and I can hardly believe it's over, but I am thankful to be home with my family for Christmas =)

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you[...]For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.


So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7-18

11.11.11 ★ Chile Trip!

Well, as I'm sure most of you are aware, this past Friday was the super awesome date of 11/11/11! So, myself, Sarah, & um, Sarah.(Sarah Earnhart & Sarah my roomie =), decided to go to Chile for the day! Arica Chile is only about a 45 minute taxi ride, so it was a very easy trip. Well, started out a little bumpy because I forgot to take my little white visa paper along with my passport, but the Lord worked everything out so I was able to cross the border without even having to pay the fee =) 

We started out with just chillin' on a beautiful beach for roughly 4-6 hrs. It was an amazingly beautiful day! We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. I was able to journal some, & just rest. It was great. We all got a tad too much sun though, & ended up with some sunburn, but my poor roomie actually got sun poisoning & is just now recovering. But, at least now we all have great tans. Hahaha! 

 After the beach, we walked downtown to a cute little cafe & got some lunch. Super yummy!! The check was a bit difficult to figure out though. As you can see from the picture, Chilean pesos go by the thousands, so a sandwich costs like $12,000 and a drink costs $5000...you get the idea. So needless to say, figuring out our bill got a little confusing when we tried to split it up between us. Haha!

 We walked around & explored a local Cathedral. I always get chills when I walk into places like this. Christ is only ever depicted as a helpless child, or a dead man. Just below this display was a padded stool for kneeling so that people could pray to a dead Jesus statue. It's just sad to me; so empty & hopeless. I'm so thankful I serve a risen Savior, & I know He is sitting at God's right hand because He accomplished His work on the cross & paid the price for my sins! =)

 Shopping!!! I just about died when I turned the corner & saw this shop...it's all handmade & all super cheap. But I was good & restrained myself from buying anything...here. The other shops? That's a different story =)

 We returned to the cute cafe for some coffee, tea, and ice cream. Great way to finish off a great day!! As you can see, we were all a little toasted. Lol!

It was a beautiful night & definitely one of the best days ever!! I am so thankful for the experiences I've had =)

The Danger of Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
-1 John 4:7-11


“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
-Matthew 22:36-39



If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
-I Corinthians 13:2-3

God's Word is very clear, we are commanded to love; to open our hearts to others & give of ourselves just as Christ gave of Himself to us. But we all know that whenever you let someone else get close to you, then there is a risk of being hurt. I think C.S. Lewis said it well in his work "The Four Loves." Take a look:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves


I hate being vulnerable. I like to feel independent, self-sufficient, unbreakable. But God calls me to be Christ-dependent, find my sufficiency in Him, & to be broken at the foot of the cross. I've been contemplating this over & over again the past few weeks as I find myself missing my friends back in the States very much, yet somewhat apprehensive to develop deep friendships here because I know that when I return home in December, then I will have more friends that I am missing. Then there's always the possibility of trying to make new friends, & being rejected or hurt. All of this was going through my mind the other day when I was also thinking about Hebrews 12. And these two words stuck out to me: "Consider Him." Speaking of Christ, verse three of chapter twelve says "Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." 


How must Christ have felt? Coming to earth a helpless baby. Creator of the universe, unable even to ask for food or water. Completely dependent on the very fragile human beings he had given breath to. Christ was willing to be vulnerable & broken to restore a relationship with humanity. Yet I retreat behind my wall of insecurity or self-sufficiency all for the sake of protecting my pride. "What if they don't like me?" or, "what if they hurt me?" These are my arguments, but Christ came to earth knowing full well that he would be crushed by the very ones He had come to rescue. Chances are, I will never be physically harmed for sharing Christ, or reaching out to love on others, so what is my excuse? I don't want to love, because love=vulnerability? Unacceptable. 


"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." -Ephesians 5:1-2 

Three Weeks in SA

I have been here in Peru for exactly three weeks and a day. What have I learned so far? I've learned nothing ever goes according to plan. At least not my plan, & that my friends, is a very good thing. God's plans are so much bigger than mine, so who am I to say what should & shouldn't happen? I've learned that there are ways to show love without communicating verbally, as many Peruvians have done for me. I've learned it's not always the big things that matter, but the little every day blessings that bring a smile to someone's face. I've learned that above all, my worth, my identity, & my purpose is not in what I can do, or what I look like, or where I'm from, but it is in Christ alone. A little over a week ago, we took a trip into the mountains, to a city called Juliaca. I didn't know there could be so much variation in culture in the same country, but even the Earnharts kept commenting on how it was completely different than the culture in Tacna. The weather was very cold, about 30 degrees or so. But unlike in the states, the homes have no insulation, there aren't heaters in every car, & very few buildings have any heating system. 

 Unlike the climate, the Peruvian church families were very warm & inviting! Many people invited us into their homes & made amazing meals for us. Keep in mind, me+the Earnharts=9 people! Saturday evening we had a youth activity at the Plaza Vea, which is the Peruvian version of a mall/walmart. It was a lot of fun getting to know the college/career age people from the church, even though I still can't really speak Spanish very well, they all made me feel very welcome. Sunday the altitude sickness that had been plaguing us since our arrival finally leveled me completely that morning. We had just finished breakfast at the church, and all of the sudden I felt like I would  pass out. It was awful! I weird combination of the flu/sea sickness/cold/pure nastiness. I played piano for the special, and then while walking away I blacked out, but thankfully there was a wall there that caught me. Lol! I went into another room during the service & just took it easy, & then by late afternoon felt much better. I am very thankful that I have only gotten sick once since I've been here; God has been so good!

Monday afternoon we went to Juno, & visited Lake Titi-CaCa; the largest, high altitude lake in the world. The locals thrive on superstition, & even when Sarah was teaching the kids classes earlier that week we heard stories of man-eating mermaids that supposedly inhabit the lake. Mermaids or not, we went on a boat tour to visit an amazing cluster of man-made islands inhabited by the Uro people.

























It was an incredible experience! An entire village made out of dried reeds...craziness! We had a lot of fun exploring & enjoying the sunshine. Afterwards we made the 10hr bus trip "home" to Tacna. Hallelujah for sleeping pills! We were all very thankful to be back where the sun actually warms the earth; little things we take for granted =) It was an awesome trip overall, & I am thankful for all of the opportunities God has been giving me, & all the little things He is using to open my eyes, & widen my perspective of ministry.

Thank you all for praying! I will definitely try to give a more current update soon, but alas, homework calls. Adios for now!

Weekend Ministry

I've discovered that the weekends around here are pretty crazy! Friday night there is a ministry called "El Refugio," which is a counseling ministry for women. About 20 ladies attended & Sarah taught a very helpful & applicable lesson about how to handle depression. Depression is a huge problem for our generation! Sarah gave the basics on what the signs of depression are, practical ways to handle depression, & also taught about our most important defense against depression: God's word. It all comes back to focusing on truth. As Isaiah 26:3 says--"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,because he trusts in you." We also had a great time of fellowship & games. This was the first time since I arrived that I had enough courage to attempt conversation in Spanish. The Peruvian ladies had so much patience with me! I could understand a few sentences & converse a little bit, but I still have a LONG way to go! They kept telling me "Esta bien! Poco a poco! (It's ok, little by little.) One of the ladies after I looked particularly confused laughed & said "Tienes tiempo para apprender." Which basically means "you have time to learn." To which Mrs. Earnhart responded, "yup! And in that time you're going to get laughed at a lot!" Haha! I told them people back home make fun of me when I speak English, so I'm already used to it =)

 Saturdays are very busy around the Earnhart home! We started out bright & early going on visitation; this was an area down town that we went to & either invited people to church who had never been, or went to visit church members. This is considered to be more of an upper-class part of town.

 After visitation in Tacna, we went to Viñani...this is the place that broke my heart in 2009. Those thatched walls that you see in the background are actually homes. There are very few buildings with roofs; there is no running water; there is unbelievable poverty. We visited quite a few church members while we were there & tried to encourage one family in particular that is going through an extremely difficult time. Pray for the family of Ignacio if you could; pray that God would reveal attributes of Himself that Ignacio cannot ignore, & that as a result of seeing God for who He is, that Ignacio would in turn lead his family in a godly way.

 That afternoon we had a ladies activity which was a lot of fun! Some of the younger ladies made bracelets & then afterwards Abbey gave a lesson out of Romans 8; it was so cool because I had just read that passage Saturday morning during my devos! So that helped me follow along better when she was teaching in Spanish =)

 After the lesson, we all went to a nearby park & played volleyball. Those ladies have got some skill! it was a lot of fun, & they all had a great time laughing at me when I got really confused over some directions they gave me in Spanish. I think I'm going to get used to being laughed at -- haha! That's ok though; I don't mind =)

When we got home, we began getting ready for the young-adults activity that evening. We had over 20 young adults & we all had a great time playing games, fellowshipping, & then we had a short challenge from Pastor Cristian. I met a sweet young girl named Sheyda, who speaks English pretty well; so between her good English & my not-so-good Spanish, we were able to have a good conversation =) All in all, yesterday was great! Please pray for those who visited church this morning & responded to the message; pray that it would not be a one time thing but that that would continue to attend & to grow in their understanding of God's word.

Thanks for stopping by!! Hasta luego =)

En Route to...PERU!!

Well, I'll be the first to admit that I am terrible at keeping this blog updated. Don't worry, my sister gives me a wonderful little guilt trip about the whole thing! But aside from that obvious fault of mine, I do have exciting news: I finally get to go back to Peru! TOMORROW!! Well, I'll be flying out tomorrow; I don't actually get there until Wednesday....but that's beside the point. Anyways, God has been SO good in bringing this all together! I just wanted to share with you all about how this came about =)

It's been almost 3 years since I first went to Peru. A group of 23 from my home church youth group went on a one week missions trip back in December of 2008. Just to give you a little bit of my background at that point, I was definitely going for the wrong reasons! There were so many things in my life that had my focus off God, I don't really know where to start! But...God gives more grace =) Even though I was living in hypocrisy & going on the trip for the sole purpose of escaping the Wisconsin winter, God had bigger plans. I've talked about this before on this blog, but for those of you who are only reading because I'm doing GSA this semester, this is for your benefit. Lol! Long story short, God used some difficult circumstances back home & some selfless people abroad to start changing my heart. When I got back home I broke up w/my boyfriend at the time; that relationship had been part of the reason for my spiritual nosedive, & I knew that was one of the biggest things that God wanted me to give up. Also over the next 6 months God just started giving me a love for His word & a desire to be changed into Christ's image. I went to Northland for 2 weeks of Leadership camp that summer & that really helped develop a foundation for spiritual growth.

Freshmen year at Northland I learned SO much! Which I guess is the whole point of paying an arm & a leg for college...but not just academically. There were so many people who invested into my life, & I am so thankful for them!   At that time I was still praying about going back to Peru. I really wanted to go back with a better perspective. Hopefully with a less selfish attitude too! But God said no at that time. Instead of Peru, He opened up the opportunity for me to go to Haiti last summer after the earthquake hit. I was very excited, but God had some hard lessons He wanted to teach me. My family always accuses me of being adventurous to the point of recklessness at times. So I was pumped to be able to experience a culture completely different than my own while also having the amazing opportunity of serving alongside an incredible missionary family. When I got to Haiti, I was overwhelmed with culture shock the minute I stepped out of the airport onto the street. Before I even made it to our vehicle waiting nearby, 2 Haitian men tried to grab my arm & pull me into the crowd. The trip up the mountain to the Bower's home took 3 hours, even though it was only 30 miles away, just because of how bad the roads were. The property that the Bower's home, church, & school are on has an 8 foot brick fence surrounding it, due to the violence in the nearby town. While we were there, a young man was killed by voodoo, & as girls, none of us could even walk between the buildings without a guy accompanying us at all times....I HATED it there! The first three days were some of the most miserable that I can remember. I kept telling the Lord, "I know I told you I would go anywhere....but I could never live here! I could never, ever raise a family here." But again--He gives more grace! I had been studying Philippians that week, & the Lord used it to break me. Particularly  chapter 3, in which Paul talks about all that his Jewish heritage had granted him, but that it is all less than nothing in comparison to knowing & serving Christ. For the rest of the trip, the Lord just gave me a joy in serving the Hatians that cannot be explained by anything other than God's all sufficient grace. It was SO hard to leave! I definitely cried. But something interesting happened on our last night there. I can't fully explain it, but the Lord just made it clear to me that He would make a way for me to return to Peru this year! I was pumped!

I was also confused, since I am a music major & study abroad was not an option at that time for my department, I had no idea how the Lord was planning on getting me to Peru. I started praying about changing my major so I could study abroad. That was a big "No." So now I knew that God wanted me to go to Peru, & also remain a music major....hmmmm. Next option, take a year off of school, go home & work for a while, take a month long trip, & come back to school as a music major. I started making plans, & I had talked to our head missions guy at Northland about it & he began talking through logistics with me. Three days after I had decided to take a year off & go, Northland made an announcement that they were changing the music program to allow majors to study abroad!! It was such a clear answer to prayer & I was immediately filled with peace! God truly does have everything under control if we will just trust! Not only to I get to go back to Peru for a whole semester, but I also get to stay with the wonderful missionary family that we stayed with during our trip back in '08. The Earnharts have a great ministry & I am so humbled that they are taking me into their home & allowing me to take part in the work God is doing there. I would definitely appreciate your prayers as I fly out tomorrow. Specifically that I would make my international connection in Lima. I will be updating again shortly with some more specific prayer requests. You can also check out the Earnhart's website if you would like to know more about their ministry or how you can best pray for their family. The address is: www.earnharts.org

Thank you so much for your prayers & for all of you who have been such an encouragement to me throughout this whole process. I look forward to sharing with you all about what God is doing throughout this semester. My goal is to update once a week, so if I go another month, make sure you send me an angry email or fb message or something. Haha! Peace out for now y'all!

(That y'all was in honor of my little Georgian roomie Miss Betsy Sue =)

P.S. Sorry this turned out so long. I always jabber after I haven't updated in awhile. If you actually made it through that whole thing, you deserve a prize....or at least some ice cream.