Hello!

I hope you are here, because you have received a letter from me and you would like to be a part of what God is doing among the nations. As far as summer missions goes, I am still trusting God to provide financial and prayer support. I know He will provide since this is His will. I am looking forward to seeing what God is going to do over the next few months, as I minister with with East Fremantle Baptist Church in Perth, Australia. You will be able to keep up with me on my blog, which I will update weekly (at least).

Please be in prayer for me and the 13 other college students going to Australia! Pray for God to prepare us for the journey ahead. We leave one month from today!!

I thank God for all of you, your support and prayers. God bless each one of you!!

Back 2 Life in the U.S.

As of now I have been home nearly a week. I have adjusted to life back home pretty well, or at least alot better than I thought I would. It is still a daily process. I have to tell myself 2 or 3 times a day that I will be ok. I have taken a shower EVERYDAY since I have been home, it seems unreal. I still freak out everytime I see toilet paper in the comode and everytime I use toilet paper I want to put it in the trash can next to the comode, but then I remember that I can flush toilet paper in North America. For a little while I got so excited when I saw someone wearing a crimson Alabama football t-shirt, but then again I have to be reminded that I am in AL. The language differance was a little hard at first but I am back to English for now. I have not been sick at all since I have been home, and I just knew that I would get sick once I got home.

I also miss blogging. Yesterday I was constantly thinking "I have not blogged in 4 days. I need to blog." I think I may turn it into a weekly thing and just write about what God is doing in my life or some new things He is teaching me. I also learned how to knit while in Peru. I never thought I would pick up 2 new hobbies with this trip, but that is more than ok.

Over the past few days I have been busy, but that has been good. It has kept my mind off of Peru. I miss my teammates. It would not have bothered me to be in Peru for a longer term, but i know for now I have to be in the U.S to finish school and who knows what else.

I'm Home!

I left Peru at 11pm Sunday night and I arrived in Birmingham at 5pm Monday. I had to travel about 20 hours coming back, but really it did not seem like it. It really feels more like 8 hours of traveling. We got through customs and all security without any major problems.



ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!!!!!



It is so weird being the US now. I have gotten used to being a Peruvian. Whenever someone asks me a question my natural responce is to answer in Spanish, I freak out whenever I flush toilet paper (in South America you can not do that), and I know the language that everyone speaks. I just have to keep reminding myself that I will be ok. It was hard not to cry on the way home from the airport. Life as I have known it for the past 10 weeks is no more, but I have learned and seen some wonderful things.

the Last

Plane ticket - $1086

Traveling Expenses - $1553

SUMMER MISSIONS - PRICELESS

As of today we are 5 days away from being on our way home. We can finally count on one hand how many days we have left and right now it is hard not to start crying. We are in our last village and tomorrow will be our last full day in this village. I have learned so much this summer from I can go 8 days without a shower to knowing how much the world needs to know the one who died to take thier place. I have had fun but there also some moments I would not care to relive. I know there has been some people who have prayed for me and are still praying.

My moma, who let me come to Peru for 10 weeks and has been more than supportive since I said I wanted to come.

Mrs. Christy, Thank You so much for taking the time to talk to me about summer missions and answer my every question.

Willis family, thank you all so much for the neverending support and prayers, I thank God that He has put ya´ll in my life.

And many thanks to all of the churches who have supported me.

I have not come to Peru alone. I could not have done any of this without you and Jesus Christ being My Lord and Strength.

I ask that you please pray for us over the next few days. We leave Lima, Peru 11.30 pm August 2, and I will arrive in Birmingham, AL around 6pm on August 3. Please pray for us as we leave, that we will get through customs without any problems. And as we are about to be at home please pray 1. for our health, over 2 hours I am sure our eating habits will change dramaticlly and 2. we are going back to a differnet culture and language. Most of us have gotten in Spanish mode and everytime someone talks to us in English we even answer in Spanish.

Change of Plans

Yesterday we were about to leave Ica and go to our next village but we got a phone call saying there is a festival and we wouldn't be able to get out. So now we are in Lima and hopefully in an hour we will be headed to our last village. Brandon is not feeling so well right now, so we are waiting to see how he feels within the next hour. We arrived in Lima yesterday and last night we ate dinner at TGI Fridays. That was the best food we have had in 2 months. Hamburgers and Hiens Ketchup never tasted so good. And I got to go to Starbucks in Lima. I love my Starbucks!

We are about to be in the last village. This summer has went by so fast. This time next week we will be in final debriefing. It has been wonderful seeing God work through all things. I know this will not be my last time to be in Latin America. Please pray for us as we are about to be home. It is a completely different world. I can not wait to get a hold of some cold sweet tea, Jim-N-Nicks BBQ, and I miss going to Birmingham and going to see my besties at thier work. I don't know what I am going to do when everybody speaks English instead of Spanish, I have to take a shower everyday, and I can put toilet paper in the comode. It was hard coming home after I had been in another country for one week. I really can not imagine coming home after 10 weeks. It is not going to be easy, but I know I will be ok.

it´s our last week

One week from today we will be leaving our last village and on our way to final debriefing. This summer has been amazing. I never thought I would be in Peru for the entire summer. It is so amazing now to look back over the summer. Just 2 months ago 70 days seemed like an eturnity. God has worked in so many ways and I know I will never be the same. Please continue to pray for us as we are about to go home. And thank you all so much for all of the concern and support you have shown this summer.

STILL in Nazca.

Well yesterday I told you healtwise we are all doing fine. Today, however, Jon is not feeling good. It seemswhenever we tell everybody we are doing so well someone gets sick. I think now we are determined not to talk health issues.

In other news, we are staying in Nazca until tommorow morning. Then we go to Laramate for 1 day then we are off to our final 3 villages. :( I got the chance to talk to a friend last night and they said that they thought I would love Peru and woiuld end up staying, but I know I have to come home and finish school. So I am coming home in 17 days.

And I finally took a shower last night after going 8 days without a shower. I had to wash my hair 4 times before it would become clean.

We´re in Nazca!!

After getting up at 5am to get on a bus at 6:30, we have made it to Nazca. It was suposed to be an 8 hour trip but turned out to be 11 hours. There were not any combies going to Laramate (our next village) so tomorrow morning we will be on our way to one of our last 4 villages.

I have went 8 days without a shower but I think tonight I am going to give in and take a shower. We are in Nazca with some warm running water, so why not? I was trying to go 2 weeks but I still have some time for that. Going without shower has not been that bad. I have washed my hair and feet once in the sink. We travled through the desert today and that is my favorite place to go through. I am not sure why, but probably just because it is so different from any other places we have been. Healthwise we are all doing wonderful. I am going to miss all of my teammates this time next month. We have grown so close and now we have all of our inside jokes I don´t know what I will do once I don´t have them anymore. I have not gotten homesick hardly any this summer. Thanks to all of your never ceasing prayers and we have been safe 99% of our time in Peru.

I miss my Alabama more and more everyday, but I think it is just beacause we are getting closer to going home. I think most of us have our first week planned once we get home; where we are going, and even what we are going to eat and wear. We all miss some wonderful cold sweet tea. I most of all am going to miss this weather in Peru. It is winter time here because we are below the Equator. We have been on the Bolivia and Peru border where it was about 20 degrees at night. But during the day it does not get above 75 degrees and I am a hot natured girl from Alabama (NO exageration). This weather was made for me, I LOVE it.

50 Days in Peru!!!

We have now been in Peru for 50 days and 20 days from now we will be on plane on our way to the US. We are in Cabana right now and we will leave tomorrow. We have 4 villages left. For the past week we have been without internet access and I have not taken a shower in 6 days. It is not as bad as it seems. Our time in Peru has been so amazing. When we get home we have so many stories to tell.

Cuatro de Julio!

It is the forth of July and we are going to celebrate tonight with 2 village teams and maybe some fireworks. We arrived in Coracora yesterday after travling 8 hours on a miserable bus ride. Let´s just say we will be so glad when we actually see a paved road again. This weekend is more laid back than most days, so we are going to enjoy it while it last.

Most of the team has been sick over the past four days with a virus. Ashley & I have not been sick and we are praying that we do not. Please pray for them, it is not so easy being sick in Peru. We are now 29 days away from being at home. It´s not long but at times we may think it will never be here. It so wierd we are counting in days now because we have never really done that. As the tme is getting closer it is so easy to ponder on things that nedd to be done, all the school stuff, family issues, and all the choices we have to make. I found out a few days ago that the pastor of my home church resigned and now I don´t really know what the future brings once I go home. If there is one thing I have learned in Peru it is don´t worry about planning because things won´t turn out the way you planned anyway. I moved back home so I could be at church more and be more involved, and who knows now I may not even be going to the same church.

Life in Peru.

Today we areleaving Caraveli and we are on to the next village. Our time in Caraveli has been interesting, it is very full of Catholism, so much so that we do not use the word Catholic. The village team that is here goes through alot of persecution, the catholics will not listen to what they have to say. Yesterday we went to a local highschool and they were so surprised that the students actually listened to us. Yesterday and today Brandon has not been feeling so well. At first we thought he had the same thing Jon had about two weeks ago but now we dont think so. At 11:30pm tonight we leave for Coracora. We have only 6 villages left.

As of today we are one month away from being home. It is so strange now that we can count villages left in single digits and counting down days we are about to be in the twenties. For me it is exciting and sad at the same time, but I continue to ask for your prayers. Please pray that we will not lose our focus, we get more anxious everyday but I want my heart to be in all I do. And another prayer request, Kristen Seay is from Trussville, AL has been a missionary here in Peru for two years but now she is coming to the end of her term of service. She leaves with us, Aug. 2, please pray for her I know it is hard to leave a country no matter how long you stay, but she especially loves every bit of Peru.

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