HALFWAY.

Well, we are now halfway through our summer missions in Peru. We have spent yesterday and today doing some debriefing and talking about things we are going to do different our second half of the summer. One thing we are hopefully going to do some more rest time, PRAISE THE LORD!!! We are going to seven villages this half but I know it is going to go well.

Our time in Nazca has been amazing. It was good to see everyone again, eat some American food , and have a toilet seat which we have not had in a while. We leave Nazca tomorrow and we are out in the villages for a month. Hopefully, tomorrow we are going sand boarding. We think how many times will we get to go sand boarding in Peru? Sometimes we feel kind of guilty for doing some fun things or even just resting sometimes, because we came to Peru just to be missionaries not to be some tourist.

Then after we go sand boarding, tomorrow afternoon we will be on an 8 hour bus ride to Carabelli. Carabelli is one of the bigger villages we will be in, and Valleydale Baptist Church in Hoover, AL adopted this village to disciple believers and get a house church going. So the team in this village is 5 college students from the Birmingham area. There are more people here from Alabama than any other state, out of 120 students about 16 of us are from AL. It wa so amazing to sit down at lunch yesterday and have a conversation about Alabama football. If there is anything I miss most it is my moma, Chick-fil-A, and my Alabama football.

Mid-Summer!!

Well, I haven´t updated in a few days, we were in a village with out internet. Now we are in Nascua for mid summer. Monday will make 5 weeks in Peru and our halfway point. It is sad and exciting at the same time, I love Peru and would love to stay here but I know I have to go home.

As we are halfway and we have traveled so much we are so very close to be exhausted. We got up at 6am this morning (for us that is early) and planned on napping as soon as we got here but come to find out we can not get in our rooms until 2pm. Then we will get our much needed rest. While we have been waiting on our rooms, we have been out in the town and we got to do some souvenier shopping, which yhas been so fun. We went to one shop and there was a lady listening to some worship songs in Spanish, which we knew and started singing along to. We told her we were missionaries and she shared some scripture with us. Here in Peru it is a big thing to meet a believer, because there are not that many. I think I can count on one hand how many Evangelical churches I have seen, and I have been alot of places.

We left one of our last villages Monday and traveled about 6 hours. We stayed in Arequpa for one night. That was one of the most beautiful cities we have been to. Tuesday we got on a bus for 8 hours and went to Bella Union, which is in the desert. The ride to Bella Union was amazing, it is funny to be riding down a road seeing the desert on one side and the ocean on the other. Once we got off the bus it was still another 45 minutes to Bella Union, so we got 1 taxi. All 7 of us, plus a driver, and all of our luggage got into one taxi, and it was so painful but thank God it was only 45 minutes. In a taxi, bus, or convie there is always room for one more.

Jon is doing much better, and we can all tell. Thank you all so much for your prayers. Please continue to remeber us. As we are at our halfway point, pray that we will not forget why we are here and what we are doing this for. Now I think our time here will be going by alot faster.

37 days until we come home.

UPDATE!!!!

Jon is back with the team, thanks to all of your many prayers. He had some intestinal blockage, but he is up, feeling much better, and walking around now. Please pray for him though he is on a strict diet and the doctor said it would take about 3 weeks for his body to completely heal.

Right now we are in Aryaviri, but tomorrow we are off to our next village and in less than a week we will be at mid-summer. I think once we hit our half way point the time after will go alot faster. We have not really done alot over the weeekend, due to Jon and Brandon not being here, but we got to sit in on a ESL class and that was interesting. All of us had forget how hard the English language really is.

Although, things may be going great today please continue to remember the team in your prayers. We have been here nearly one month, but we all are going through a great amount of spiritual warfare while we are doing so much for God and His kngdom. Jon has been sick, Ashleys dad has some serious health problems, and my mom is have test done for some serious health conditions. We have so much going on at home, but God called us here and I know that my work in Peru is not done. We have to believe and know that our parents and teammates will be ok. God is working in all of our lives, no doubt. He takes delight in my every breath, now I want my every breath to take delight in Him.

WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS!!!!

Today Jon woke up feeling weak. We started just like any other day but Jon did not have enough strength to get through. He went back to our hostel to rest and later a nurse come to care for him. We ended up leaving our village early to get to the next village and take Jon to the hospital. It was a long bumpy ride, and I think we were all praying the whole way. Right now Jon, Brandon, and our translator are all at the hospital waiting on some test results, they think he has appendicitis. As of right now his family does not know about all of this, and I know it is going to be hard on them, so please pray for them as well. Once the test results come back we will know if Jon has to be taken to Lima or another city for surgery. So far, through all of this, i have realized Jesus has to be our strength. There is absolutely no way we can make it on our own.

Pray for the team as well. We are a team so when half of us are away things are not the same.

Much Love,
Britney

22 DAYS IN PERU!!!

Well as of today we have been here 22 days, or half way point is quickly approaching. It is so hard to believe we have been here that long and I feel after mid-summer it will go by even faster.

Yesterday we left Pomacachi to go to our next village, and there has been a strike within the transportation system here in Peru, so things got kind of interesting. We got on a convie (that is a taxi but a van or in the US we would call it a shuttle) and we drive on a bumpy dirt road for about 2 or 3 hours. They dropped us off in a village that is about hlfway to where we are supossed to be going and we thought we would be waiting on bus to take us to Punno. In the meantime, we sat on a street corner for about 4 hours waiting on our bus, we started talking to a few people and 2 people that I know of accepted Christ. Around 7pm a convie randomly came through the town we were in and he willingly took us to Punno. It was a wonderful gift straight from God. It was so luxurious compared to what we had been traveling in. Due to the strike we really did not plan on being in our current village so soon, we thought we would could not get out of Pomacachi and there was a time we were concerned of our safety. GOD IS SO GREAT!!!!!

The last few days have been amazing. I have got to see at least 4 people come to Christ. One lady worked at our hostel and she started talking to our translator about why some greengos are in Peru and what we are doing. They talked a little more and she prayed the prayer of salvation, all by herself. A few nights ago, we were in Pomacachi and the village team have there a few times and they have got to know a man, named Louise. He knew the Gospel and understood all of it but never knew and accepted who made the Gospel. We prayed for him just the night before, and the village team has been praying for him for a while.

I have realized, now that I have been to Peru, I can say many things. I have been to North, Central, and South America, I have got to see the Atlantic and Pacific ocean, I have been on the other side of the Equator, I have seen the Andes Mountains, and the list goes on. I can say I have been here and done all these things, but I have to stop and think, what can God say about me doing all these things? I mean after all, He knows my every thought and every motive. I want all I do to be done in and for His glory and none other. I have also thougth about missions in my home state and what I do there. I( am only in Peru for 10 weeks, that is one little portion of my life. I am at home alot longer than I will be in Peru.

On to the Next Village!!!

Today we are leaving Cusco and heading to our next village, and THANK GOD it is only 4 hours away. Some of us are kind of attatched to the village near Cusco, but at the same time we ready to move on and see more. Please pray for some safety as we will be traveling his afternoon.

Yesterday we planned to go to a local school and do some skits and puppets, and that did not really go as planned. It seems when things do not go our way that is when God moves most. We took a random trip to a local convience store just to get some water and there was a boy, about 10 years old and knew a little bit of English. We started talking to him and eventually he brought his Bible outside and we started to read some stories with him. Meanwhile, another lady walks up and someone asks something like ¨What do you think you should do to be saved and go to heaven?¨ she reaplied ¨Good works.¨ as we talked more she had questons we answered and she accepted Christ. We could really tell she was real and was missing something. All through our conversation she never smiled, that was until she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart.

We have went to 4 or 5 schools over the past few days and it went really well. Yesterday we got to try some alpaca and it was good (tasted like steak). Monday we got see some Inca ruins, which was amazing. The long walks up some steeps hills made it all worth it.

So far about about 6 people have accepted Christ and a local pastor and a few summer missionaries are doing some follow up with them. I thank God that He has put some people in this area to do follow up with these people that give thier heart to Jesus. I was kind of wooried about what would happen after we left.

THE LAST FEW DAYS

Well we survived our 22 hour bus ride, to say the least. We arrived in Cusco (home of Machu Picchu) on Saturday and we are still trying to adjust to the altitude, so please pray about that it is not as easy as we thought it would be. We are now at 12,000 feet and soon we will be going to 15,000 feet.

Saturday the screen on my camera broke but it will still take pictures, so I can not complain. My greatest desire is for every bit of me to desire nothing but Jesus Christ. I think we all know when we desire Jesus so much we also have someone against us. Between our health and my camera screen breaking, sometimes all we want to do is just go home, but I know I do not belong at home this summer. Everyone of us come from a different setting and background. We all have burdens concerning things at home, but God called us here and we daily have to surrender to Him.

Yesterday we done some of our skits, puppets, and music in a plaza of a nearby village and 3 people accepted Christ. Today we went to a local school and done all of the same things and 2 or 3 kids accepted Christ. It is totally Christ that is working and not anything team is doing and there is not anything we could do on our own.

Today for just for some fun we got to do some hiking, which I love to do and we got to see some Andean runs. We went with a loal pastor who knew all of the history and it was amazing to see such a thing, it made that hike (that was all up hill) completely worth it.

LAST DAY IN LIMA :))

Tomorrow we will be on a bus for 20 hours going to our first village. I think it is a moment we have all been waiting for, it seems tough but we are going to make it fun. Healthwise we are doing much better, thanks to all of your prayers. Lima has been fun and we have got to do alot. Last night on the way back to our hostel we ran into the soccer team and they are staying in the same hostel as we are. It is such a huge blessing to have them around.

...On Other Note.

Ever since I knew I would be coming to Peru, I have been so excited about lack of technology. It doesnt really seem like I am in South America because I have gotten on Facebook nearly everyday. Hopefully, that will change soon. I want to take hold of Jesus like I never have before, especially since I do not have access to all the technology and things I have at home. I mean He has already captured me, so now it is up to me to pursue Him. The first few days I have been in Peru it seems all I have been concerned about is praying for the trip and my team and God have His will with all of the things we will be doing. Truth is I still pray for those things and need to pray about those things, but that does not need to be the only thing I pray about. God just kind of said "you know Britney while you are here away from everything there is so many things I need to be praying about and should be praying about."

I do not want to get so caught up in myself, as it seems I always do. I feel I pray so much for God to do stuff in my own life, but I really need to praying for others more than I pray for myself. I do not want to get caught up in praying for God to do so much that I forget who He truly is. MY DADDY WHO HAS NEVER LEFT OR FORSAKE ME..... MY UNFAILING LOVE... MY ULTIMATE PROVIDER!

Even though I am not at home this summer I still pray for my church, everybody at home, and my own family members who do not have a relation ship with Jesus Christ . I am not really there but I know it is the least I can do for them.

PLEASE, Let me know if you have any prayer request.

bshubert2007@yahoo.com

CAN'T WAIT TO BE IN THE VILLAGES

Well, yesterday two teamamtes were sick. I started feeling sick yesterday, and today Brandon has not been feeling sick. Please pray for us and our health. When you are on the mission field and sick, it is so easy to forget why we are here.

We are still in Lima and will be until Friday. I love Lima but I am so ready to get out. I feel like I have been a tourist long enough. I am so ready to be in the villages and do what God has called me to do in Peru. Once we leave Lima it is a 20 hour bus ride to our first village. So pray for us as we go through along bus ride and altitude changes. Training has been going well, I feel like we actually accomplished alot today.

Please pray for all of us. Pray that we will make our quite time with Jesus a priority and not forget who we belong to. It is so hard to get caught up in the everyday things and concentrate so much on what needs to be done.

Pray for our health. When we get in the villages and fruits and vegtables may not be washed properly or at all, our health will be more at risk. Not to forget the mountains are 15,000+ feet high. So pray we will have some good health and great immune system. No matter how sick we may be, we still have work to do.

Pray for our safety. We will be traveling 20 hours Friday. Pray for safety as we travel. Pray for safety also concerning our luggage and belongings. There are alot of props we are going to have to carry with us so pray that God will have his hands on all of our belongings.

Week 1

Well, we made it to Peru safe and sound. Have went through 4 days of training, had two days off, and now 4 more days of training. We are planning our skits, songs, and puppets for the villages we will be visiting. We are in Lima now and it is amazing,It is like the NYC of Peru. We have got to see alot due to off time and getting lost. I am ready to get to the villages and see more and do the things God has called me to do. We will be going through some major alttitude changes within thwe next week, so please pray about that. Time is flying by, it is so hard to believe we have been here for a week, already. I am only here for 10 weeks, such a short amount of time and I want to make the most out of it. Our missionary supervisors have trained us how to do some stuff that is reproducible. I thank God for that, I was kind of worried about what wuould happen after we left. I wanted them to be discipled and grow in thier faith.