Diligence is the Key!

This has been quite a week!! I will start from the beginning with my trip to the zoo!
Wow was it fun and funny!! Es fue muy graseoso! It was Me, Jovana, Jean Carlos, and their little brother! We had a blast! I have so many Peruvian traditions to tell you about! The first one is that every time a blonde American comes and goes to the zoo they have to wear a tiger hat on their head! It is a must! Oh and then its another tradition that when you see water you have to jump in and go swimming! You can't pull the native Peruvian in with you because that is very offensive! Last but definitely not least when birds poop on you its good luck! Did we have fun or what! They also bought me a Popsicle called pintura lengua! Which translated means painted tongue! They gave me the green one because they wanted my whole mouth to be green! I figured it out though because I am so smart!! What a wonderful Saturday I will never forget!

Now onto Sunday.....was another great day! I preached! ME!!!! I actually spoke to adults! I was really nervous about it because I have never done it before but at the same time I had such peace about speaking! I knew what I was going to say and I knew it was from God for now! The title of my message was praising through the race! I was using the story in the bible where moses was on top of the mountain with his hands raised while the Israelites were fighting the battle! And God just spoke to me and said," Austyn you have to praise through the race!" Life as a lot of people say is like a race! Its a pretty long marathon in my opinion! Sometimes its really easy for us to become distracted by all the other runners that we forget the purpose of the race!! At the end of a marathon only one person wins! At the end of my marathon I want people to be praising God not singing praises to my name! I want God to be glorified!! What we do during times of endurance determines the Glory brought to Gods name!! Had a great Sunday! After service we played volleyball! So much fun!

MONDAY! On Monday a lot happened! David and Ceci were gone almost all day working on trying to get papers for the land! It's a really confusing situation! It was a real tranquil day for the most part! At night I taught the adults English! That was the funniest class yet! You see one of my students was making fun of me the day before! I told him that he was laughing now but I had in class for one hour so I would be laughing soon! Sure enough did we laugh! I did a review of what we had learned so far! At the end of class I walked to up to the misbehaving student and said,"VETE A LA ESQUINA!!!' Which translated means go to the corner in a very strong voice! I moved an adult man to the corner and tried to take a picture it was hilarious! After class they tried to teach me some Spanish! It was wonderful! I had such a great time!

TUESDAY! What an eventful day! David and Ceci were gone all day! I was at home with the boys and hermana Julie almost all day! We started prayer at about 7 p.m.! In the middle of prayer there were squatters on the mountain behind the church! They were shooting fireworks towards the church and throwing rocks and saying bad things! We all went outside and started to praise God and pray! It was wonderful! After that they stopped and went away so we all went inside the house! And wow was it fun in the house! I showed them how to do the cupid shuffle! We were all dancing for like 2 hours! It was such a great time! Videos of this are going to be on my FB and on YouTube!

WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY! Well these days have been a little less eventful! Today is my Internet day!! Soaking it up lol!! I will tell you this funny story! Last night Jean Carlos was trying to call Jovana but her phone was dead so I told her to use my phone! So we used my phone and she called him! After like 20 minutes he called back so I answered considering its my phone! He said hey can I talk with Jovana! I gave the phone to Jovana and told her to tell him I was really hurt that he kept calling my phone but never talked to me! So today I sent him a message and He called! I said HEY Jean Carlos how are you doing? How is work coming along? The funny thing is I just saw him like 20 minutes before! He said what you think your funny you think your funny...well you are lol!

Well that is all as of right now! I did the prayer meeting last night as well due to other things going on! It was really good! I shared about the difference between hearing and listening! Had a good time! Please continue to pray about the squatter situation! We have a feeling that they will try and invade this weekend! I am really excited to see what God has in store! He has done so much already what else could possible happen! Seek understanding diligently and He will give it to you! Not just whenever but diligently! Diligence is the key! I serve an Amazing God!!
Thanks to everyone for praying!! Love you all oh so much!!

Trust and Be Led!

Wow....Its the beginning of my third week in Peru! I can't believe I have almost been here for one month! God has already spoken to me so much I can't even imagine what He will say next!!

I will give you a little insight as to what a week looks like for me! I wake up every morning around 8 and eat breakfast! After breakfast I teach school to Eliel Hodges, Then is English classes with the kids! There is three church services a week and the nights we don't have church I teach the adults English! A pretty full week yet so much fun!!

God is so good! On Tuesday night during prayer God really spoke to me! We were praying and singing songs to the Lord and God brought to my remembrance the story of Esther! He said,"Austyn just like Esther had to undergo a beautification and purification process before being brought to the king.....so do you! Now is your process! Esther was taking away from her natural surrounding, away from her family, away from everything she knew to undergo this process! It was uncomfortable I am sure but she was never alone! Pretty neat when God tells you things! I just love the way He reveals it to me!!

The next day (Wednesday) we went out to evangelize! I taught about 14 kids English and then a bible lesson about Noah!! It was awesome because God used the little kids to let us be able to lead 3 parents to Christ! God is so amazing!!

Yesterday in my devotions God really revealed to me to TRUST AND BE LED! Everyone thinks they trust till they are taken out of their comfort zone then its a whole new aspect of trust! I never realized how much I didn't trust God until I was in Peru! Trust and Be Led! We have to learn to be willing to let God do his will and delight in it!! So do your part and Be Led by God and He will to the rest!!

Please continue to pray about the squatter situation! It has been quiet for now but we believe they are getting organized for a big invasion! We are praying for confusion in the enemies camp and just like God just the mouths of the lions in the lions den with Daniel that He will do the same here!! TRUST AND BE LED!!

It's My Choice!

A lot has gone on since my last blog!

I will start with the wedding! It was so much fun and very beautiful! It started out with worship music and then very similar to a normal ceremony in the States! I do have a funny story from the wedding! We were all standing and the Father of the bride was taking pictures on the stage when all of a sudden he stepped to far and fell off the stage! Then he was trying to get up he couldn't grab on to anything!! Pretty hilarious if I might say so myself! Then the Mother of the groom was so short her feet couldn't touch the ground when she was sitting down lol! Anyways it was lots of fun!

Now I have a scheduled day for now!! I have been teaching Eliel Hodges (that is the missionary family that I am staying with son)! I do school with him everyday in the morning! Then after lunch I teach English to a group of about 6 kids! They are so smart! I also teach the adults English 2 times a week! We are having are third class tonight! They are so funny! The very first class I had with them one of them brought me an apple! hahaha!

It is so neat how sweet they are! They are really making me part of their families! One of the ladies in the church told me that the reason she wanted to learn English was to be able to communicate with me while I am here! WOW just amazing how sweet they are!

On the 23rd of September we had another squatter scare! There were about 5000 squatters trying to take the mountain again! The police and lawyers took them away this time! Now there are rumors that they are going to try again today or tomorrow! We just continue to pray that God will shut the mouth of the enemy!

God is so awesome! I have really learned that since I am here it is my choice how these two months go! If I want them to be a good and productive two months then I have to make it good and productive! It is my choice! I have really been seeking Gods face in a way like never before! There is something about being somewhere were you don't speak the language and you don't have you normal leaders to speak into your life that you have to speak for yourself! It has definitely been a growing experience for the time that I have been here! I can't wait to see what this next week holds!

Well thanks everyone for your prayers! I will try my best to keep you as updated as possible!
P.S. (The food is amazing! I already have recipes to bring back with me to the states! The only meal that I don't really really like is called ceviche! It's raw fish lol!)

¡Peruvian Wedding!

Today has been an ok day! My dad left this morning which was very hard for me! When I woke up at 7 he was gone! I said goodbye at 3 in the morning and it didnt hit me bacause I was so tired! I read my bible and is Psalms 18 it says that God is our strength! It doesn´t matter where you go God will still be your strength and help you! I am really relying on that verse right now to help me make it through! I am trusting in God to give me peace!

Tonight I am going to a Peruvian wedding! I am so excited! I will take tons of pictures to show you! Its going to be so much fun!

On monday I start teaching! I am a little nervous because I have never done it before but I know I will do good!

Dame un abrazo Senor!!

My Door To The Nations Is Open!

I have been in Peru for 5 days now! It has been a great experience so far! For all who don´t know the second night I was here I experienced a tremor! All you do is run out of the house and wait for the earth to stop shaking....pretty awesome right? Then the next day i was woken up at 5 in the morning due to squatters on the mountain! They were trying to get land to live! I heard gunfire and rocks were being thrown and people were yelling in spanish! I was a little nervous because I didn´t know what was going on! I had my friend Rosita translate for me! Now everything is fine! The police made them leave! God works in mysterious ways! I was telling David Hodges (the family I am staying with) that God had it all planned out for them to have that property! See what he didn´t know was that congressmen and a mayor and the president has land near him and because of that they don´t want trouble! So God knew that on that property he would be safe! Then lateron that day we climb to the very top of the mountain and it was pretty awesome! It reminded me of how amazing and beautiful God is! He created the most beautiful things in the world!


Tomorrow Morning my dad leaves! Its a bittersweet moment! I have sad to see him leave but ready to grow more! I will start monday teaching! I am super excited to get started! God is going to stretch me and I am ready to be stretched like laffy taffy lol or a rubberband haha!!

Well I am sorry that it took so long for me to get on hear and write but internet access is limited! Continue to pray for me and Peru!

¡Jesus Dijo: Yo soy la camina, la verdad, y vive!

Last Sunday!

Today was a very bittersweet day! For the bitter part it was my last sunday and last day till I leave and embark on an adventure! The sweet part I AM GETTING READY FOR AN ADVENTURE!! It was really rough this morning saying goodbye to everyone. (I think I am all out of tears at this very moment.)  I leave bright and early in the morning! I am so ready for what God is going to do in me and through me! I realize that this is an opportunity that not many people my age get to experience! Grace, Grace, Grace!!  God has given me the grace to walk through this next season of my life! WOW..... I just can't believe that it is already here! I am getting ready for an adventure that only I can partake in! God has something special in store for me and I can't wait! I don't know how much I will be able to get on here and update but I will try my best! It gives me a lot more space than FB hahaha!! Please do keep me in your prayers as this is the first time I will be away from home for this long! I know that it will be a stretching and growing experience that I am as prepared for as one can be! Thank you all for encouraging me and pushing me to the next level! Tomorrow is the day! Not the end but the beginning of a whole new chapter in my life!! 

12 days and counting...

As I count down the days I am getting more and more excited! I know that this is going to be an amazing trip where I will discover not only more about God but also more about myself! I believe that God has something amazing in store for me and I can't wait to get there!  

Ok so now that there is only 12 days to go I have to begin to pack... its a never ending process! The list of things to get is forever long! I mean what if I forgot something... that would be a world crisis! Ok so maybe not but I have a lot to pack!  Any suggestions on what I can do to make packing easier???

Tonight we had hour of power at the cathedral of praise! It was very powerful and very sad at the same time! It was the last hour of power till I leave! I am beginning to realize that I am going to be gone! I know that I will only be away for two months but its still two months! I am nervous, excited, scared, happy, full of joy, ready to go, anxious and pretty much any other emotion you could possibly imagine! 

"Be the change you desire to see happen in the world." Ghandi