Samantha Ryan Bagley

We would like to introduce to you our new niece, Samantha Ryan Bagley. Other than having a couple of very sleep deprived parents everyone is doing very well. She was born on Friday the 24th. This is a picture of her and her daddy, Chad, shortly after her arrival.

Overwhelmed and Unmoving

I know I am not the only one this happens to, but it feels like it at he moment . . . you have so much too do that you find yourself frozen unable to do any of it. I am home today with two semi-sick girls. Not sure if they have strep or just wanted a day off from school . . . today is Gavin's b-day, tomorrow is Beth's, it is my cranky time of the month, I have a boat-load of house work (amazing how one day w/o water can set you back), I have cakes to bake, pinatas to either make or buy, phone calls to make to find someone to buy the kids unused school books from the other school (they changed schools), other things I would like to look for in the market, need to go to the farmacia, if I were to make the pinata we should have started yesterday or at least early this morning . . .yet here I sit. How did I get here?
I was making our bed this morning when a song came on entitlted, "What Do I Know Of Holy" by Addison Road, and I found myself dropping onto the bed listening to the words and then swooped into a time of fervent prayer - for myself but more for a very young sweet friend of mine. I have not experienced such an amazing time of communion with God in a LONG time. It is so painful, but I love when god uses me to pray for others and I can feel their pain in my heart and pray for them in a way I couldn't have otherwise. Then some crazy loud Spanish song came on and the moment was over - but I am so thankful for that moment in the presence of the creator; that he loves my friend enough to burden my heart for her, and I know he loves me and draws others to pray for me.
So, even though nothing I wanted to get done today have gotten done yet I am deeply reminded that life is not about the stuff you get done and accomplish - it is about who you are and where you stand with God - I am a fool if I think I know what his plans are or should be for my family - my plans are made with a small mind and small eyes. I like to measure myself and others by what I can see, by what I can control, or by what I think they should be able to control - however that is not God's measuring tool. I have been forgetting that my purpose is not to DO things for God, but to simply BE with him. Great things will naturally follow being with him and being his hands and feet where ever go. So, overwhelmed I am right now, but unmoving is where I hope to stay. Unmoved from His hands, His gaze, His spirit, His love, and His presence.

Catching Up

A lot has happened over the past month since our last posting. Things had been pretty stressful and busy with the kids school and then add in a very small puppy who wakes you up several times a night you get two parents who aren't functioning at 100%. Throw in the Spanish factor and you have some extremely stressful moments. Take away our health and then we are floundering.

We have all had sickness since arriving in Peru but two weeks ago a bad virus hit us. Gabe and Christian seemed to have slept it off in one afternoon while the girls and Gavin seemed to barely get a fever. For Max and me it was quite a different experience. We both had high fevers and aches and pains that put us in bed for days. I ended up going to the ER - we thought I might have typhoid. Max seemed to get better but I didn't and after many, many tests it was determined that I had amoebas and salmonella (on top of the virus that has been going around). The whole family took anti-amoeba meds for a week. It was strong medicine and we are all feeling better but trying to share the nasty side effects of the Flagyl. Not more than a few days after getting over one illness a second of low fevers and terribly sore throats has hit our house. I am sick of being sick!!!!

Also this month after much prayer, question asking and information gathering we withdrew the kids from Colegio Internacional. The stress of the environment there was too much for us. There was little consistancy between what we were told would be expected of our children (free students) and what was happening in the class room. Our kids need to learn Spanish not live in fear of getting screamed at by their teachers for not completing homework that we can't do yet due to the language barrier or for not having a $40 science that they can't read anyway . . .there was a lot more to it than that but long story short we changed schools. The kids are now attending a much smaller school called Rey de Reyes. They have officially been there a week now and we are all much happier.

Over the past month and a half two people who have been very important in Christian's life and spiritual formation have passed away and this past weekend a fellow missionary in Pucallpa died while practicing for a motorcross race. I have to say, I flich a little everytime I open e-mail wondering what news shall come our way next.

Some good news: Christian's sister, Nicole, and her husband, Chad, had a baby girl on the 24th. We are proud to announce the birth of our niece, Samantha Ryan Bagley. Our baby is going to turn 6 years old tomorrow!!!! We spent 6 years straight being pregnant, and now I can't believe that it has been 6 years since our last baby!!!! Our sweet little Bethie will be 9 on Friday. It seems like just yesterday that we told her she was getting a baby brother for her third birthday. Oh, how the time flies!!!! We are inviting some Peruvian friends over for the party along with the gringos - birthdays are a VERY big deal here. We visited the street today where they sell all the b-day stuff. Some many pinatas!!!

We had a special visit from our good friends Kirk and Emily - Kirk also happens to be head of SAM and he had to come to Peru for board meetings and Emily was able to join him. What a blessing it was to us that they could slip out to Arequipa for 30hours. We had a great time. But I have to admit it was really hard to watch them leave . . . . however, they did not leave us empty handed. They we the deliverers of our new computer and a slew of gifts from our home group and others. Thank you to every one involved in that. And a special thanks to my gilrfriends who sent me a great selection of new jewelry to replace all mine that was stolen. I love it all!

Speaking of the robbery, we also received a new front door this month. It is now flush with the road so you can't hide in the doorway while you pry open our door. Turns out that the night we were robbed we were just the lucky ones. Other houses had been tried that night, our was just the winner. Our neighbor two doors donw was robbed over the week-end while they were all asleep in the house - they are getting a whole new wall and doors. That is just life here - not much you can do about it.

Libby Sparks Listro

Here she is. The newest member of the Listro family. Her full name is Libelulle Sparks Listro, but we call her Libby. She is a mere 4 weeks old and very very sweet. (Lily Lawrence, we named her 'Sparks" after you :0)

Much better than last week-end

Well, this week was full of the usual ups and downs but for the most part God gave us amazing hope and peace. I am not sure why it seems better, but things at the kids school seem to be going better . . . nothing has really changed except our heart and it is amazing how different life feels when your heart has been encouraged.
We had a busy week of classes, a meeting with Max's teacher, an impromptu visit from Marshall (fellower SAMer from Pucallpa), and 4 day visit from our land lord, and we got a new puppy!!
Last Sunday morning Christian and I were home cleaning up the mess the robbers left behind today I am home with our new boxer pup named Libby. She is a mere 4 weeks old and can't be left alone yet. We went to pick her out yesterday and intended to leave her with her mama a few more weeks, but after we paid we found out that the vet was going to keep her for a few weeks. If they sent her back to the mama the owner would probably sell her to someone else - so we said we would rather bring her home now than leave her in a cage at the vet. She is so tiny. She is like having a new born - she kept me up all night, but I don't mind. Soon she will be huge, frolicking with the kids and attacking robbers that try their luck at our house again.

Thing went very well with the landlord. She was very kind and understanding. She is putting in a new metal door in front of our wooden one and also installing fencing along the side and roof of the house. all the lock are fixed and she conceeded to let us have a dog!!!!

With Marshall came all sorts of greetings, cookies, prayers and even a love offering from our SAM family in Pucallpa. How wonderful to feel Gods love everywhere we go. Marshall flies back to Pucallpa today but will be back in June or July to get in somemore language school.

Many people have asked how they can help, if there is anything they can do after the robbery. Well, first and foremost, pray. I don't fully understand prayer or why god chooses to use our prayers, but he does so please keep praying for safety, wisdom, and a heart of love towards a people and a culture that is so different.
Also, some have asked where they could send a gift to help replace some of our lost items. If you are already a regular supporter you can send in extra with your monthly gift with a note that it is for replacing stolen items. If you are not a regular supporter you can still send a gift to South America Mission and they will deposit it and let us know. If you want a reciept make the check out to SAM and it will go into our service account (that is where the money for a new computer will come from) if you don't want a reciept make the check out to us and send it to SAM with a note that it is a personal gift. They will deposit the funds and let us know. SAM's address is
1021 Maxwell Mill Rd
Ste. B
Fort Mill, SC 29708

Thanks for asking and caring. We are so thankful for all of you.

Robbed

We went out to buy some MORE school books yesterday afternoon . . . .after a long and serious talk between Christian and I about how hard things are here, how useless we feel unable to speak the language, how all the changes and stresses of the past 4 years have taken a HUGE toll on our family, yet we are committed to what ever God has for us . . .his best doesn't always come in the package we want to see . . . . So we talk to the kids about some issues happening in our family. Christian and I repent of our own selfishness and anger and then we get ready and head out the door. when we left it was light out. We were gone for about 4 hours. We walked all over the city to find the book stores we needed, we went out for dinner (did I mention most of the city, including our house, was out of water all day which was one of the main reasons we went out . . . no water= no flushing, handwashing, clean dishes, or cooking) so we ate out and then decided to have a treat somewhere because the afternoon was going great . . different than how it has been for a while. We ran to the pharmacy to get vitamin C and then to the grocery store to get yogurt for breakfast. we caught a taxi home and when we got there Christian opened the big wooden door in our front wall (can only be opened w/a key, no latch on the outside) our front and back doors were open, the backdoor was open and all the lights were on.
The kids and I immediately went to Scott and Meghan's and the taxidriver called the police. (we are using their computer to post this.) Christian and Scott went into the house and our computers were gone, the bedrooms ransacked, otherdoors kicked in and broken. Our cash was gone, they took our propane tank, and tried to take the T.V. It looks like they were spoked away because they didn't take the mp3 players from Gabe's room and they didn't get the cable disconnected. All of my jewlery is gone. Stuff I saved from high school, stuff my Gram gave me, my mom's wedding rings, the piece glass from C's first car that I unknowing had carried around for years before I met him (some of you know that story) anyway . . stuff that is meaningless to others but the only stuff I have saved through all of our moves. Our computers were important but they are replaceable, the photos on the computer and on the camera are not replaceable. Christian's backpack is gone too - they probably took it to carry the computers and will have found out later that our camera and my mp3 player were in there.
They pushed in our gatedoor (how w/o being seen baffles me) then they climbed in the den window (at least two of them, one had to lift the other) then they opend the kitchen door, took the computers, someone went out back and kick in a door - -there was nothing out there to find, someone ransacked our room, papers and underwear everywhere. they found the cash but left credit cards, banking info and didn't find the passports - amazing. They attempted to find things in the kids rooms but gave up fast. I'm sure they were dissappointed by our entertainment center that was full of books and card games. Some how they missed the playstation and our CD's.

Christian and I have to go home and clean up the house while the kids go to church w/Scott and Meghan. We don't want them to see their stuff like that, and there are 36 hours of dirty dishes I haven't had water to wash and our landlord could come from Lima anytime today.

God challenged me long ago about my faith - if he were to take something from me, even a child, would I still bless his name . . .I really struggled witht that question. Can I? Should I? I resolved that night 3 years ago that I would. I can trust that God loves me and my family more than I ever could or will. I CAN TRUST HIM. But I can be sad too. We were reading and thinking about Job this morning . . .Job I am not. God thought highly of him and blessed him even more after all his loss, but you can't tell me Job didn't have a huge pain in his heart from the loss he suffered. I thought that last week was the hardest yet. . . but it got harder. Christian is handling all of this amazingly well. If you knew him years ago when his GSX-R was stolen you would be amazed at how God has strengthened him. I am a wreck - I am sad - I find my self wondering what is next. I know that to know the Lord in all his Glory I must also know him in his suffering - but as I said last night -" knowing the suffering sucks" I trust my God, he will bring us through, but knowing him doen't mean a perfect life - it means peace in the turmoil, it means hope when hope makes no sense, it means having a God you can cast all your care, angst, anger, and fear upon.
we are thankful that it wasn't worse and that no one was hurt, but we are also reminded that personal safety is not guarnteed, nothing is for sure except for our creator. God is just as good and in control as he was yesterday morning. The Lord gives and takes away and we will choose to bless his name.

An Hour Late, But On Time

That title encompasses a lot of life here. How a scheduled plane flight can just be rescheduled that morning and then register as on time when you get in the air and hour and twenty minutes late is one of the mysteries of Peru.



This past week has been a rough one. The adjustment to school for the kids has been difficult. They have some really good days and other days when they cry most of the afternoon because they don't want to go back. It has been a HUGE adjustment for all of us. I have also discovered that the craziness of the last week and a half is common to all Peruvian households when school starts - "March Madness" has a different context down here.



Pucallpa was really great - it is difficult to describe so I am just going to show you a video of downtown. It will give you a little taste of the "city". This video was takes from the truck of a fellow SAMer as he took us to town to get us cell phones. It is of the part of the city right on the river.

I HAVE NOW TRIED 4 TIMES TO UPLOAD THE VIDEO - IT WON'T WORK. I WILL TRY AGAIN LATER. SORRY - A.L.

First week of school

The first week of school is almost over. I wish I could say it has been wonderful but that would not be the truth. It has been ok. The kids are troopers and are already picking up some Spanish after the first week.

This last picture is of their gym uniforms. They wear them to school all day on they day they have Educacion Fisica. The extra cutie in the picture belongs to our friends Scott and Meghan. Her name is Rachel and the kids love to have her around and play with her. (notice we dressed her up in an extra shirt).

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More to Come

We returned from the jungle last night. Pucallpa was great. We had a great time at the SAM field conference for Peru. We met up with friends from orientation and made many new ones. The kids loved their time there. It was a very profitable trip. We got to know Pucallpa pretty well and even got a lead/verbal contract on a house. We will see what happens.
I didn't have a good connection in Pucallpa so I didn't post anything. I have many pictures to get up and details to tell you about but right now I have to go grocery shopping, sew name tags into the kids uniforms and art bags, and then make 5 lunches, clean the house, go to bed early, and have everyone ready and at school by 7:20 . . . . I will post more when I can.

Gabe´s B-day

Well, it has been a very eventful few days. I got the uniforms - after more waiting and a few tears we are all set. I took pictures and will try to post them soon. We arrived in Lima last night for an appointment we have this morning with immigration. Gabe's b-day was yesterday. We can't believe he's 12!!!!! He want to have pollo a la brassa in Lima, but now he says the chicken is better in Arequipa. Such a conesseur. He got some neat gift's "imported" from the States and we also managed to find him a TinTin book, in English, at a book store in Arequipa. He was very happy. Tonight we will conclude the celebration by going to a water/fountain park here in Lima and finding him a cake.
We hope to pick up our resident visas and our carnets today, and also begin the process for the kids' carnets. But, this is Peru, nothing is simple so we shall see how it goes. I have to go out and search of a bakery or corner store to get some breakfast.

Frustrations

Getting used to the mentality here is harder than I thought. Every thing happens "tomorrow" and nothing is ever ready when it is supposed to be. I go tomorrow to pick up the rest of the kids uniforms . . . pray they are ready. I have already given her an extra 10 days from what she originally told me and wrote on my receipt.
We leave for Lima on Thursday and then head to Pucallpa for the SAM field conference on Sunday. There are a lot of loose ends to tie . . . like the fact that we are going to get our visas on Friday and still have no idea what it will cost. We still have no plane tickets for Sunday. We are waiting for a special, doing things the Peruvian way.
I probably shouldn't be writing right now . . .I a m a bit frustrated with things that are out of my control like Bank fees, credit card companies, and immigration offices.
Otherwise all is well.

El Misti in the Snow

Whenever it rains here in the city it seems to snow up on El Misti (the summit is over 19,000 feet) . . . we caught this great sight the other day and thought we'd share.

A Map

I never cease to be amazed by the wonders of technology. If you paste this address in you browser you will be privy to a satellite view of our house. It is not the greatest picture but it will give you a good sense of where we live.

this link should get you to a map and our house:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=-16.399751,-71.550447&daddr=&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=18&sll=-16.40004,-71.550044&sspn=0.002743,0.004807&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=18

If that doesn't work try these coordinates in the search box on the map site:
-16.399751, -71.550447

The Zoo

We had an interesting week-end. Saturday morning Christian and Gabe got up bright and early to go play soccer with some of the students and teachers from our school. They had a lot of fun and got a lot of sunburn. Christian was still feeling the effects today as he has a body full of sore muscles. Gabe on the other hand has been receiving complements all day on how well he played. Looks like the grown-up boys will be glad to let him play again.
Saturday night we had a cook-out with some friends. The Charcoal here is actually chunks of wood. It took forever to get the grill ready but the burgers were good and so was the strawberry shortcake. (I love strawberries for $.70 a pound.)
Sunday we went to church – which was shortened due to the fact that all the kids teachers and worship team were away on vacation. I have to admit that we were glad because it is hard to sit there for an hour listen to a sermon of which you only understand 50% or less. I just found out that Impact has the sermons on “TV” on their website. We may have to watch what is going on in Mi until we can understand what is going on in church here.
Sunday afternoon we got a nice phone call from Germany form some friends that lived in MI the same time we did. Volker went to SMAT with Christian and we haven’t heard from then since they left MI back in 2006. They are living in Germany, have 7 kids (they had 5 last time we saw them), and are still hoping to go to the mission field. We got a call on our house phone at the same time from a Swiss German couple who are here in Arequipa with us. They invited us to go to the zoo with them that afternoon.

(kids at the zoo with new friend Jan)

They meet us at our house and we took two taxis quite a ways out to the edge of town to visit the zoo. We saw many interesting animals and saw things that would make Northern zoo keepers cringe. Most of the workers in the zoo were selling ice cream. I did see one picking up trash but that was it. All the animals had just being feed but the monkeys weren’t interested in their fruit, they wanted the fruit all the visitors were handing to them. I found it amazing that people brought in bags of food to feed the animals even though the sign clearly said, “Do not feed the animals. They bite.” We got to see condors and armadillos, though. I’ve always wanted to see those.

(the kids, doing what they do . . .)

When we were leaving the zoo we decided to take a combi (bus) back to town, It would be much cheaper than the taxi. While walking to the combi stop Christian looked up and exclaimed, “I can’t believe we live here!” This was our view when he said that.

Yeah, we live here . . . and really, we are enjoying it. It’s a whole new adventure.

Late Start and Chifa

This morning started out like every other on here but then . . . .
we had no water. We thought it was just the gas for the hot water heater so we called the Llamagas man. He can right away with a new bottle of gas, but that wasn't the problem. Christian took our little hot water heater apart and the gas man thought it was the batteries (for the electric start) . . . well one of the hardest parts to find at 8:00 in the morning are D size batteries. He went looking and ever got taken by a taxi driver who insisted that Plaza Vea was open that early. The driver dropped him off and took off, leaving Christian outside a very closed Plaza Vea. He caught another taxi home and by then we realized we had no water at all.
By this time Christian was going to miss his first class. We sat down for some breakfast (yogurt and cornflakes) and decided to call the land lord in Lima.
We only understood 50% of what she said but we did get the part that she would call some one and call us back. In 30-40 minutes we had water again. The hot water was out due to low water pressure. I heard later on that a mud slide had broken a water pipe and whole chunks of the city were out water. So other getting a very late start to the day it all turned out well.
We decide to go have Chifa tonight for dinner. We had some of the best Chinese food ever. The kids all tried really hard to use chopsticks and got to drink Inca Cola. It was a lot of fun. I tried to get some pictures but my camera is being very fickle. it only works some of the time. But I think I got at least one picture good enough to share.

Waiting for Chifa:

One stick for each hand, right?

Our Street: Los Jazmines

Christian and kids in front of our house.

View down our street.
View up our street. If you could see through to the next block you would see the kids school.

Shoe Shopping

I left the house early this morning with the kids when Christian left for class. We grabbed a taxi and found ourselves over in the San Camilo area at the place where they make and sell shoes. I guess we jumped the gun a bit because they are just unlocking gates at 8:30 in the morning. We walked around killing time and I took the kids to the big market and other surrounding shops. It was interesting to watch everyone set up their stands. We picked up a few miscellaneous items for school and then head back to Acma, the shoe place. This place is a huge building with 4 floors, on all of which they make or sell shoes. We stayed on the first floor where there were at least 30 little 6ft x 6ft shoe shops. everyone sells things a little different than the others and every one different prices. It is really odd to ask to try on a shoe and have the sellers run outside and across the street to get your size, or whistle to someone 3 floors up.
After many, many shops and pairs of shoes we got everyone every thing they needed. We had to leave after only buying two pairs because I had to get to class, but after class Christian went back with us. He had never been over to that part of town before. I plan to back 1 or 2 more times this week to get the kids school supplies.

That area of town doesn't get much traffic from tourists so we were quite the sight. Really, almost every vendor and half the people on the street stare and count our kids outloud . ."uno, dos, tres, cuatro, y cinco. CINCO HIJOS!!" I think the word '5 ' and the word 'kids' are the first words our children understood well.

What Do On A Rainy Day????

Our kids have gotten very creative with the space they have to play in. We have a tiled driveway and no car so that gives them plenty of extra space. They have used that area to play soccer with covers from water bottles (that was before I bought the soccer ball last week.), they have played bowling with the water bottles, sword fighting and war with the the empty water bottles . . . . but when I arrived home after class on Friday their creativity had peaked. It had been raining for quite a while and , well, I'll let the video explain.

With or With Out Me

This week my Spanish classes has not consisted of the typical grammar and speach practice. Twice this week class has been replace by "cultural learning". I've gotten an earful of what the school the kids will attend is really like, found out that we will continue to buy more and more things through out the school year, C and I must attend parenting classes and PTA meeting or we can get a fine and it will effect part of the kids' grades . . . this is going to be quite an experience.
I am learning all about a part of town I haven't been to yet where all the Peruvians go to shop. I am hiring my friends house lady to bring me there on Saturday. It is a huge commercial area just east of el centro. Apparently if you wander too far off the main streets you are in a "red" area where all the drug sellers, addicts, prositutes and theives live. You can buy everything you could imagine over there - cheap too . . . .I am looking forward to going and glad someone will show me the places to go and not to go before I go there alone on Monday with the kids to buy black shoes for school.
Today we talked about this area some more . . the converation turned to the pain in peoples lives and how much culture and society won't change by legislation . . .the bad things in life like STDs, AIDS, Abortion, adultery, feeling unwanted and unloved, the feelings of worthlessness that lead to desperate behavior - these things can only change one person at a time, one heart at a time. As I sat in class chatting with Julio about all this I was overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness. I can't do anything about it. I have such a passion and heart to see families healthy and see marriages succeed and thrive - yet in the States where I speak the language and understand the culture I still have to sit by and watch as friends' marriages fall apart or exist in daily turmoil. There I know what to say (how to express my heart), I understand the problems (at least I can listen and understand as others share their hearts) . . .yet unless hearts are turned to God for truth and healing my words do nothing . . . I guess that should actually make me feel better - I am simply a tool used by God the results are not depended on me . . .but it seems daunting when I am here and I don't speak the language and I don't understand the culture (ie. .having a mistress is common place) . . .how does our/my being here change anything. I guess what I am realizing as I type is that I am powerless and always have been to change anything in the world around me - it is only God that has power. I am truly thankful for that truth, but it makes us being here all the more crazy.
God has a plan and it seems more unbelievable than ever and I see less and less clearly how we fit into the plan but I know we do . .so I guess we will have to wait and see what he does. We have fit perfectly and he has used us everywhere else we have gone so why would here be any different - the barriers of language and culture are nothing to God.
When I started typing I was a bit discouraged but now I am reminded that my hope is in Christ - everything good in me comes from him - every good thing in this world comes from him - all power in heaven and on Earth finds its source in him - through Christ all things are possible. I can love because he has loved me - I can trust him because he died to be with me - TRUE LOVE. His love casts out all fear - His love changes things with or with out me.

An Honest Heart

God, thank you for giving me such a nice house that I forget I am in Peru. I month ago I thought it was this awful place (but now I know it is not) and thank you for my family. Amen
-Emma