Bourke - a few thoughts & a broken heart.....

My heart has broken. Well and truly gut wrenchingly, utterly shattered, and broken so much that the usual cure of sticky tape and super glue will not do. My eyes have laid witness to a dispair, a hurt, a brokeness that run so deep it was bred into the very blood of generation. It was a sight I never would have believed in a nation so beautiful and similar and "civilised" as ours, but my eyes did not deceive me, what I saw was true.

But no matter how deep my grief, God's is deeper. No matter how badly my heart breaks, God's breaks more. In the places and people I see brokeness, despair and pain, God sees HOPE.

Four of us from Invercargill joined with the guys from Highway Christian Church in Ulladulla (Australia) to help at REACH 08 - a conference with a complete missions focus and a desire to see God to move in a new way. We were equipped as the army of God to go into the community and show love as Chirst loved us in a real and practical way.

Bourke, NSW Australia is a beautiful outback town and to look at it I really wondered if what I had been told was as bad as what I had been led to believe. But closer inspection showed me a deep level of dysfunction and hurt. Almost every house in town was surrounded by high metal fences, with an almost as big dog, the main street at night looked like an industrial area with big garage doors and windows barred and then in the Aboriginal "missions" the houses were nice and normal but then you saw the smashed glass and boarded up windows.

And the kids. The beautiful children who knew no different from what they lived in everyday. 3, 4, and 5 year old children who are on the streets at all times of the night, abused and taking drugs and alcohol like they were lollies, whose idea of a good time was stealing cars and then burning them.

But despite it all, God is in that place.

You could see Him in the smiles of the children, in the fresh greening of the ground that had been drought-stricken for years, in the passion and perserverence and faith of the Christians in Bourke who had been faithfully praying for and serving in their community.

God was seen on the lives of young children, as small as 4,5 and 6 years old, as they stood silent and still in His presence. He was there in the midst as 200+ young people from throughout New South Wales, wider Australia and New Zealand stood and worshiped Him freely, separated not by race or circumstances but united in love as the whanau of God.

God was in the riverbed as the drunked, just released from prison, wandered aimlessly with his bottle of booze. He was there when he was struck by the power of the Holy Spirit and set free from his sin and pain, and came into the Kingsom of Heaven.

My time in Bourke has shown me a fraction of the heartbeat of God. Jesus died for these people, each and everyone of them, of us, saved or unsaved, black or white, male or female, old or young. We are not different. We are all seen the same through the eyes of God - His children.

I am still processing what I saw, what God has done and is doing in Bourke, and in me. It is beyond our comprehension to know how deeply God mourns over the blood shed there in the name of "civilised people" and government policy. How His heart aches for the children of Bourke, many who have never known a fathers love, a tender touch or a kind word.

But God IS in that place. And He is moving. Heaven linked with earth during the time Reach 08 was in Bourke, and even though we have left there, God hasn't.

Heaven hasn't.

Hope hasn't.

God is in that place, and He is moving. It begins with HOPE........

Reach out!

Missionary.

For me this used to conjur up images of little old people with grey hair, dressed in brown wrinkly stockings with brown knitted cardies giving a really long and incredibly boring slide show. (Crazy but in fact none of the missionaries I have ever met fitted this description - they are all awesome funky people with a fire in their belly and a passion for Jesus and the people they serve)

But lately my perspective is a little different. As you leave our church there is a sign above the door that has got my attention and started me thinking.

"You are now entering your missionfield."

Your missionfield. My missionfield. Does that mean that I am a missionary?

Now for those of you who know me, I would really hope you don't see me as the above desrciption of a missionary. (I don't have brown stockings, haven't worn a cardie since I was 12 and am reluctantly embracing the digital age.) Do you fit that description?

We are all missionaries. We are called to be salt to the world, making people thirsty for Jesus. As christians we carry something that the rest of the world needs whether it knows it or not. We don't have to go to a third world country or a diaster zone to do this. I am in no way discrediting overseas missions, just not all of us are called to serve in this way. But we are called to be missionaies in the place we find ourselves now. This may be our university, workplace, home, town or wherever.

Reaching out to those around us - it may be our family, friends, workmates, classmates, neighbours, or that random chick at the supermarket checkout. They may be broken in need of healing; lonely in need of a friend; hungry in need of a feed or lost in need of a direction. Whatever it is they are looking for, because we have Jesus, we have the answers that can satisfy them.

Matthew 28:18-20 – the great commission. Jesus basically told us to go to all the world and reach out to those around us. If you don't reach out in your world who will?

The ultimate example of a missionary is Jesus. He reached out to the misfits of society – prostitutes, murderers and thieves. (eg Woman at the well, Zaccheus in the tree, etc) Jesus quite literally was a radical – he didn’t conform to the bounds of society or focus on being seen as 'proper'. Instead he was a living example of the love of God. It says in the Bible ‘there is no greater love than to lay down ones life for another.” This doesn’t necessarily mean we have to physically die (although sometimes this can be the case) but to die to our own desires, wants, dreams or fears for the sake of another.

This could mean putting aside your own embarrassment to eat lunch with the school weirdo or instead of buying your usual latte on the way to work, put that money aside for a week and buy groceries for a hungry family.

I just want to challenge your perspective a little. Do you see yourself as a missionary? Are you reaching out to those around you, or is that up to someone else to take care of? Ask God to show you the outreach opportunities that surround and take a leap of faith and act. You never know what will happen!

(And when you do let us know what happens! We would love to hear your experiences!)

XBox Afternoon

Hey reson8rs,

Just a reminder, we have this XBox event happening tomorrow - be there or be square (it would great to see some female gamers representing their species as well - I know you're out there...).

Should be a great time. Email me for more details.

What's a reson8r?

Who Are We?

[last updated 12 February 2009]

Resonate is the tertiary student/young workers (approx 18-25) ministry at the Invercargill Christian Centre. We are full of crazy, off the wall but totally cool people on fire for Jesus, wanting to serve the young adults in our city and ignite a generation for Christ.

We have a number of life groups that meet in homes & flats around our city, as well as outreaches into the S.I.T.

If you are new to Invercargill, the Christian Centre or searching to find out more about God, then we are here for YOU!!! Just leave a message and we will be in touch!

Where Are We?

The Christian Centre is located @ 165 Leet Street, Invercargill. Here's a map if you were wanting to find us:

We have a number of cell groups running each week. They are:

Ray and Shannon's
Tuesday 7.30pm
1 Lowe Street
Invercargill
Home: (03) 214 1344
Shannon: (021) 130 1177
Ray: (021) 284 6149

Hannah Robb and Kate Cochrane
Wednesday 7.30 from Tuesday 24 February 09
45 Venus Street
Invercargill
Home: (03) 216 2561
Hannah: (027) 412 8686
Kate: (027) 479 9865


Contact Us!

There are a number of ways to get a hold of us.

Email Ray
Resonate on Bebo

Phone us @ church : 03 214 4562
Youth Cell Phones:
Telecom -027 710 8274
Vodafone -021 0225 7145

Address:
165 Leet Street
P O Box 713
Invercargill
New Zealand

Student Meal V2.0

Student Meal @ Friday Night Church

This friday night before church Resonate are running a FREE student meal. We are a student/young workers ministry and really hungry to make an impact in our community. So lets do our best to bless the student community by giving them a free feed to kick off the weekend.

The meal is happening from 5.30 - 7pm. If people want to come they need to contact the youth phone to book their place (we want to make sure we give them a great feed with lots of food!
So pass this onto your mates and invite them along! They are more than welcome to go to the church service after but there is no obligation to do so, and no pressure!! Should be an awesome night!

Okay so in order to make this work we need helpers!! So if you are available to help that would be awesome!! Let me or ray know asap if you are keen. we need people to help set up, cook, serve, clean up, mingle etc!!!

Have a fantastic week and don't forget to make an impact!

Shazz

Peru update: Earthquake - Safe N Sound.

From Lynda on 18/8/7!

Hey guys!

Dont know if you heard about the earthquake here..? It hit on Wed. night, and was a level 8 on the richter scale, Peru´s largest earthquake. Just wanted to let you know I've got out and I'm ok. The town we (my cuz and I) were in was hit, its only a few k´s from the epicentre. It gave me the scare of my life. There was no warning, the ground just started shaking and shaking, and then the power line snapped, and all the lights went out. There were a couple of girls wailing and screaming, so I just tried to calm THEM down, not having a clue what to do myself! Walls were falling down,and there were powerlines above us. All that training about going under a doorway just didnt seem so sure when the buildings are made of mud brick..! We were in a small town in a desert, surrounded by sand dunes, and we figured the safest place to go was up one of those, away from buildings and powerlines. We ended up spending the night out there, no way you´d get me to go back inside a building with all the aftershocks. I was so thankful, a group of Colombians and Ecuadorians took us under their wing, and brought out blankets, food, water and even a tent for us to cram into for the night.

I just want to praise God for His protection... We had been sitting outside at a table when it hit... and jumped up and ran out to the street. A few moments later the wall above where we were fell down and crushed the table and chairs we´d been on. arrrgghhh!!! Thankyou God for Your protection!!!!

Anyways, just so you know we finally got out of there now that the roads are passable, and are now safely in Lima. There´s so much destruction of houses here, and lots of people have lost their lives. Please pray for the Peruvians in this time.

My love to you all, I´ll be home in one week from Sunday.

Lynda xoxo

Missions Focus: Andrew Buxton

Hey reson8rs,

I just recieved an update from a really great friend of mine named Andrew Buxton. He's been completing missionary work in Ethiopia, and I personally find his story inspirational. I first met Andrew when he was a youth leader in Tapanui (a small town of less than 1000 people in the south of New Zealand), and we attended more than one Easter Camp together at Camp Columba. He's one of the most humble and servant hearted guys I've ever met, bar none, and I'm just blown away by the mighty way God has been able to use him simply by being available and ready to serve. Anyway, here's a copy of the email I recieved.

Hi Friends

Just wanted to let you know the change of direction that my life is taking. Near the end of the time I spent in Ethiopia this year I got talking with the people that are beginning to reestablish the work of SIM in Southern Sudan (SIM is an interdenominational Christian missions organisation, see www.sim.org for more info) and was tentatively offered me a position on the team. I have pursued this and yesterday was officially accepted as a full member of SIM and so will now be heading to the Southern Sudan as soon as I have raised the support I need.

The project is called "Rebuilding Southern Sudan: Church & Nation". A peace accord was signed for Southern Sudan in 2005 which has brought relative peace to most of the region and refugees are starting to return to their homes. SIM is working in some of the camps where the refugees are/have been staying and have been asked to come back to Sudan and help support the Sudanese people rebuild their communities. The main thrust of the work that SIM will be doing is related to health and education being done in partnership with local communities and church. A good overview of this project can be seen at http://www.sim.org/country.asp?fun=11&sid=78&slide=0&cid=62&mid=&pgid= (copy this web address and paste it into the address line in your web browser if the link doesn't work).

There are a few missionaries already in Sudan (from neigbouring African countries as well as the western world) but currently the work is being coordinated and supported from Nairobi, Kenya. SIM wants to have a base in Southern Sudan from which to do this and this is where I fit in. Myself and another guy will go into a city called Malakal to establish the facilities and relationships needed for SIM to make this a reality. This will initially involve renovating 2 houses on a compound that the church SIM partners with has. These houses will be used in the short term while we facilitate and supervise the contruction of a facility for this purpose. At the same time as the renovation and building work I will be learning Sudanese Arabic and have involvement with other ministry opportunities that I can realistically fit into my day.

Hopefully the building work in Malakal will be completed by the end of 2009. I plan on still being part of the work in Sudan after this, in what role that will be determined nearer the time. To do this I need a team of supporters that can support me through prayer, finances and friendship. If this is something that you would like to be a part of or would like to learn more about the Rebuilding Southern Sudan: Church & Nation project please contact me.

Thank you and God bless
Andrew Buxton

Mission Accomplished?

Hey guys,

Well, I dont know if my mission is ´accomplished´ but its over anyway, which is a fully unreal thought... What a week... Ive packed up, said my goodbyes, and today left Abancay on a bus to begin my 3week journey home.

I'm in Cusco, and as of today I am no longer a missionary, but just a lowly tourist for the next few weeks. My eyes hurt from crying like a baby, and Im just in a funny sorta headspace, closing that chapter of my life. I feel like I need to sit down (for like a year) and think through everything thats happened! I really need your prayers over the next few weeks, with all the travel, and Im already exhausted before I even begin..!

This is such an amazing country, with beautiful people, and is a hard place to leave. Praise God that here I am, 6 months later, still alive and well. He has been my strength and my shield and I give Him the glory.

Will keep in touch on my travels, and look forward to seeing you all oh sooo sooon!
love Lynda xoxo

Update from Peru: 2 Weeks to go!

Hey guys! Wow, I can hardly believe I only have just over 2 weeks left here in this city. I leave Abancay on August 9, to do touristy stuff like Macchu Picchu with my cuz Michelle who´s gona meet me in Cusco. (That is, if we can get into Maccu Picchu. Dont know if it made it to the news over there, but the same week it made it to 7 Wonders of the World, massive strikes and protests prevented anyone from getting into Macchu Picchu, and stranded thousands of people in Cusco for a week. And today schools have finally opened again after 3weeks of strikes. Welcome to life in Peru!!)

I wanna encourage you with a couple of testimonies. I´ve had such awesome God stuff happen these past few weeks. Ive been getting to know more of the young women in my barrio (neighbourhood), and God has blown me away with the doors He´s opened into their lives. The 16yr old girl next door has been coming to youth group every friday for 3 weeks now, and is (hopefully) gona start going to cell group this week... the woman down the road that I regularly pop in to see asked me to stop just ´calling past´ and instead come back to talk and explain the book of John to her... and a couple of young women down the road want to learn English from me - by singing worship songs! Its just so encouraging to see that the harvest really is ready.

I would love your prayers for the next 2 weeks, that these women would be challenged to make decisions, and that they would be followed up after I leave. And that I would finish well, and do my best for these girls, and not get distracted :)Pray also for me as my wee heart is just not getting used to saying goodbye - no matter how many times Ive had to do it!! Help me to leave well, and to settle back in when I get home.

Looking forward to seeing y´all, and hearing what´s been happening in your life these past 6 months. Im hanging out to get to a good cafe... so coffee catch ups will be a definite!!!!

Love, Lynda

Ways to minister online in just five minutes

Just a wee bloglet...

Mark at faithable.com

Hey, just come across this guy's ideas for ministering online in just five minutes, and thought it was actually a pretty cool spin on making yourself available for the internet community. It included specific prayer websites, being available as an online question answerer, and even counselling. If you've got some spare time (tertiary guys, you know I'm looking at you... :) ... yes this is coming from the English teacher on holiday...), then go and check it out.

Ray

Peru Update: Guinea Pigs and Tambourines...

Hey there!!

I pray that you´re well, and walking in God´s awesome blessings. Ive heard about the crud weather y´all have been having - sorry to hear it!!

Well, after being exiled to Bolivia for 24 hours because of an expired visa, I am now safe and happily back in Peru. Just to give you an idea of what life´s like, here´s some highlights...
... eating guinea pig, which included bringing them home LIVE from the market, then watching my family kill, skin and cook them!
... at the most modern shop we have here, the supermarket (the only place I know that has eftpos), they didn´t have the right change to give me, so gave me a 10cent lolly instead
... I regularly play the tambourine in church hehe, at a church where they play the same 3 chords on the guitar, no matter what the tune is!

Funny huh

Yesterday I spent most of the day in the hospital, cos my neighbour was having an operation. It really struck me how much of a privilege it is to be here as a missionary. I got to know a lot of the nurses and doctors during the day, and every one of them now knows Im a Christian - it just comes up with the ´why are you here?´ question. And that can often lead into more conversations. I got to read the Bible to my friend who was panicking about her operation, and 2 of the nurses told me they want to come check out a church on sunday. It´s just so awesome, and I pray that I can make the most of these opportunities.

I´m still going to the community church down the road. Every week the pastor tells the church how thankful he is that I´m here in their church. They´re a very small, forgotten church in the outskirts of the city, with people who come originally from out in the villages. The other night they talked about tithes and offerings, and it was fascinating - If you have 10 rows of corn, one belongs to the Lord, and the practicalities of bringing your offering of a pig to the church! When I first started going, there were about 7 or 8 people in each service, but it´s been growing. Now we get around 15 or 16, and has been over 20 people a couple of times. Its really encouraging. And this one girl I´ve been praying for for weeks repented in front of the church and gave her life back over to God last week. It was so touching - no moving sermon, no music, not even an altar call. She just came up to the front of the church and repented.

My main ministry is English teaching. This means that I get to go to people´s homes and teach there, which is an awesome opportunity to get to know them. One woman has recently decided to become ´evangelical´ , which is very hard in such a Catholic society, and it´s great to be able to talk to her.

Thankyou for the encouragements I get, it means a lot to hear from home. Its hard sometimes being the sole kiwi, surrounded by people who know nothing of rugby, think I come from Europe, and stare at me for being white! :)

Prayer and Praise:
- Praise for good health
- Praise for the cool house I´m living in (house sitting for an American missionary family)
- Pray for wisdom to know how to reach people in the community
- Pray that my Spanish will keep getting better, so I can actually make sense when I´m talking to people about important stuff!!

Bless you all,

love, Lynda
PS Have booked my flight, and I´m back in NZ on Sunday Aug 26

Community and Connection in the Church

Over the last wee while we've been looking at the whole idea of community and connection, particularly how we can use community to be relevant to a lost and dying world.

To me, community is all about connection between people, the links that bind people together. Sometimes we get so busy doing church, that we forget to do life together, and it's clear in the New Testament in particular, that doing life together was an integral and inextricable part of what being part of a church meant.

We have to be relevant to the communities in which we are a part of and who we serve. If not, then we are just a historical institution, far outdated, and a far cry from the early church (See the end of Acts 2 for more information).

The local church is the hope of the world.
If it's not going to be us that's relevant, then who?

Anyways, here's the latest podcast episode - I really hope you get something out of it. Oh, and BTW, some of these guys have not really spoken in a public environment like podcasting can be before, so full respect. As for me, I'm still learning how to do this well, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Lonely - Ray's Rant...

Drawing from http://el-a-stupid-boy.blogspot.com/

I've been thinking about a couple a things, kinda to do with community...

Like, you know how we see quite a few people come in, particularly about our age, sit by themselves, listen to the worship (which is usually awesome), take in the message (ditto), and then quietly slip out as soon as the final song starts never to be seen again...

There's something wrong with that picture... and it's bugged me for ages... and i think I've finally nailed it...

People aren't supposed to sit alone.

People aren't supposed to be alone.

Sure, alone time is good, but it's not meant to be a permanent fixture...

How do i know this? Simple - God didn't want to be alone.

He created us in his image so that he had someone to hang with. In simple terms, he wanted friendship, fellowship, and that "togetherness" that comes with being with other people.

Do you remember the song "Piano Man" by Billy Joel? There's this one line which has always resonated with me:

Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness;
But it's better than drinking alone.

Interesting ay? Most kids at school fall into bad crowds because they're accepted there. And it's better to be bad together, than good alone.

So, snap back to our picture of the person sitting alone in OUR church, listening to OUR awesome music, being impacted by OUR awesome preachers, teachers, and just crazy awesome random people. The awesome church that we have, could be THEIRS too.

Y'know I think our church is pretty awesome. I think that our church could really find a place for the broken, the alone, and the lonely (in fact, Jesus in the gospels made it pretty clear that was part of his mission...). So, I'm praying for a time where there'll be no one sitting by themselves. You know who is going to sit by those people? ME.

And now, hopefully, you.

Peace out.

I'll be back...

Hey guys! hows life?

Hard to believe its only 2months and I´ll be back!?

I´m writing from Cusco, the Inca capital of south america, on my way to Bolivia. Why am I here, you ask? Well, Lyn-duh kinda forgot to renew her 90day visa, and I´m now a month over, and illegally in the country. Unfortunately, immigrations told me that if the police happen to catch me I can get into trouble and they can ban me from re-entering Peru for 6years. Woops! So I have to do a border cross into Bolivia, get a new visa there, and then come back into the country. We (an ozzie missionary chick is travelling with me) travel by bus wednesday night to the border. The systems here are soo not formalized, so it kinda depends who you get on the day as to whether they want to be nice or not. Another missionary guy who had the same problem was stuck in Bolivia for 30 days before they would renew his visa. I´m not really keen for that!!! So if you could have a wee word to God on my behalf to let all go smoothly, that´d be really awesome. Will keep you posted!!

As for the rest of stuff here, I´ve been working with the small church I´ve been going to and visiting people in their homes to chat and encourage them or read the bible. very cool. Starting to get to form relationships with other families in the community too, and will start going to 2 homes from next week to teach their kids english. Great outreach opportunity.

love y´all, huge blessings and may the God of all grace keep you safe in His hands in all that you´re up to!!!

Lynda

Where's Lynda?

(Hint: She's behind the flag - Ray :) Oh and we miss you too Lynda!

Here's the latest update from Peru...

Hey guys!

thankyou so much to yáll who´ve emailed me, I´ve now gotta go to an internet cafe to use email, so sorry if I can´t always write back, but know that your emails, thoughts, encouragement (gossip, stories...!) are fully appreciated!!!

Im now in my new home, a city called Abancay. I dunno what the population is, but it feels a bit bigger than invers, and smaller than chch. But hey theres like traffic lights and paved roads woohoo! but ya still see horses in the street, and mud brick houses, so its a real contrast. I was hanging out to go to a cafe, and was sooooo disappointed when I went. The waitress brought me over a mug of hot water, and a wee bottle of coffee concentrate to pour in myself WHAT??!! No layer of foamy milk with cinnamon sprinkles?? Ripped off! Although it did only cost me the equivalent of 90cents, so I cant´complain hehe

The trip here was a bit of a nightmare. It should take 13hours driving, so we left at 6am. But by 9.30 we arrived at this massive landslide covering the road. Remember this is peru, and the local tractor was in another village waiting to be fixed, so if ya wana get through you gotta do it yourself. So we started clearing rocks, 5 of us (including me, my 18yr old host sister, and a pregnant chick, not the best road works team!) We worked out butts off for 5 hours clearing that road... then once we passed it... there was another landslide round the next corner... and then another one...and another one..!!! We didn´t finish until it was dark, after TEN hours of rock moving!!!! arrrrrggggghhhhh Our hands were raw by the end of it, but we did it. One day I´ll look back and laugh.... but for now I´ll be happy if I never touch another rock in my life...!

Im living with a Peruvian family for the first month here. Theres a mum, dad, 11yr old boy and 2 yr old girl. We´re just getting over the usual awkward conversation stage, so should be a good experience. My address is really easy here (hint hint!) Apartado 206, Abancay, Peru.

I went to a tiny church of 8 people last night. Well, when they found out I was a missionary they asked me to speak at their youth group this weekend. In the midst of the languge barrier I kinda agreed before I realised they meant they wanted ME to do the speaking! So we´ll see how that goes! My spanish is gettng heaps better, and a guy I met in town asked if I was from Spain ha! that´s the best compliment!

Will get myself settled into ministry, and youth and kids work in the next week or so. Will be teaching English a lot here.

keep the stories coming my way, huge blessings to yáll xoxoxo

love, Lynda

PS To my prayer supporters: praise God for all that He´s teaching me here, please pray for the family I´m living with, as they´re not Christians, pray for Saturday as I speak at youth group, praise God for the support of the other missionaries here in Abancay, pray for Him to lead me clearly to the opportunities He has for me to serve here xoxo

Hola from Peru!

Hey guys, how’s life?? Did you have a good Easter? Didn’t see a single chocolate egg here (and no mention of giant bunny rabbits either). Actually, the Easter traditions here are... very different... Each village takes its “dead Jesus” idol (which is usually displayed in the Catholic church) and they parade it around the town on the Friday, remembering his death. But there’s no fiestas on the Sunday to celebrate his resurrection…. Like, THE most important part of Easter!

Hey go to http://www.sim.org/ to see that the Cotahuasi canyon does actually exist! It’s the mission website, and there’s a feature article about the work here in my very own village. Click on the “Deep Need in Cotahuasi” image, top left corner. The girl in the photo is my roommate (a few years back, when they first met her in one of the villages). It’s a good read J

I have finally made friends - and I can actually understand enough to have real conversations YAY! I went to visit this one friend I've made, Carmen. I've started helping teach her mum how to read (she had a pretty rough childhood, and being the girl child was never given the opportunity to learn to read). She took me on this big long walk to her family's farm. She took me around the whole thing, all the fields, stopping so I could taste like every fruit you could imagine. One of the yummiest fruits I've eaten here is called "tuna", which is the fruit that grows on a cactus. and it is SOOO yummy. Except I bit into one she gave me... and it had a cactus needle in it ..! The needle was about an inch long, and it pierced into my tongue and got stuck! Arrrggh! I'd only ever heard of that happening to one other woman, and she went to the hospital here in Cotahuasi, and they said "I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do" and sent her away! Fortunately I managed to pull it out, no damage done Whew! So I can now say I got my tongue pierced in Peru haha

I'm finally finding my place in ministry, and loving doing kids work. We go out to these tiny rural villages each week, round up all the kids and then do a programme with them for a couple hours - songs, teach them from the Bible, crafts, games, and just generally hangin with the crazy cats. I'm now in charge of running the kids ministry... which has been a huge challenge trying to run it in Spanish. It's made me really have to rely on God - and, as always, He comes through every time The hard thing now is that I'm leaving this town in less than 2 weeks, just when I'm really starting to get settled. Will be hard to say goodbye (I don't think goodbye's ever get easier, and I've done my fair share of them!)... but at the same time I'm looking forward to moving on to Abancay, where I'll be until August.

To my prayer supporters, I'd really appreciate your prayers as I prepare to leave here and move on to a new place (April 22). It'll be unsettling leaving here and trying to find my feet again in a new place... and it involves a 13 hour drive at high altitude to get there!

Keep in touch, and may you (yes, YOU) be blessed mightily by our awesome God!!

love, Lynda xoxoxo

Canyon Life - Lynda in Peru

Hi guys! How's it going? Thankyou for your emails, I really appreciate them, and for your prayers. Culture shock is setting in now, with frustration at the way things happen here. You just never know what's gona happen, or when, and if it IS planned, it'll happen an hour late anyway!

Thanks to Cattie and her technological genius, I can now show you pictures of my life here. YAY! Check out: http://www.ringo.com/i.html?i=161657762x922181

Latest episodes in canyon life..!

* I've started learning Quechuan, which is the language of the indigenous people here. It's a craaazy language with z's and q's and a clicking sound, but people are keen to teach me, and I spent Thursday afternoon learning by singing Quechuan worship songs with a couple of my new Quechuan friends. This is useful bcos in some of the villages we visit the people only speak Quechuan.

*One of these new friends was telling me about Easter in Peru. Here, they have parades in the street, and re-enact the crucifixion scene, and show films of Jesus' last days. Then it was my turn to explain NZ traditions. Do you know how silly I felt trying to explain to her about this giant rabbit that we celebrate?? "Yeah, well it's a bit different here... we have this rabbit... uhh a giant rabbit... well, he's not a real rabbit, people just imagine him... and to commemorate Christ's death and resurrection people eat a lot of chocolate..." She just couldn't understand at all. Something to think about with Easter coming up... What the heck are we really celebrating?!
*On Saturday I went with 4 others on a hike to this remote village not accessible by road. We hiked a couple of hours up a mountain to get there. Let's just say it wasn't exactly an "OSH approved" track ! with some parts so steep we had to pull ourselves up by the hands to climb over rocks. People in this village don't have their own pastor, so Peruvians from my town (who I went with) do this hike every week to go to them to teach and encourage them. That's commitment- I was knackered for days after just going once!

Good ol rainy season got us pretty wet on the way up to the village. We arrived to this mud brick building with a dirt floor and one lightbulb hanging in the middle. A local woman cooked us some food to warm us up - a bowl of potatoes, lima beans and corn kernals to share between the 5 of us. I'm learning things like to peel the skin off the beans (because of the lack of hygiene) and to tip a little hot tea over the side of the cup to clean it before putting your mouth on it. The place soon filled up with sweet, gently-spoken people. Women in brightly coloured traditional dress, with babies strapped to their backs. They had nothing, and yet God's love was so evident in their lives. These are truly beautiful people :)


That's enough for now. Give praise to God for His constant protection and joy when times get hard, and I pray His blessings upon you too. Take care, you're all in my thoughts,

love, Lynda xoxo