Off to camp!

With summer break coming to a close for the kids, we're off for one last summer adventure this week. We're headed to camp on the beach of Peru, near the town of Camana. Tony's parents have been taking the kids to this same camp since the early 90's. We hear the facilities have improved a bit since Tony was last there (about 11 years ago), which I was glad to hear after listening to Tony reminisce about bathing in a barrel full of cold water when he was a kid!

It's been quite a task making sure all the kids have their essential beach items - swimming clothes, sunscreen, sandals, and towels... But as of tonight it looks like we're ready to go! I'm doing my best to go with few expectations because I know things will most likely be far different than what I have pictured in my mind! We should be back next Saturday night and I'll look forward to sharing some pictures and highlights with you when we get home.

We would appreciate your prayers for safety in travels and at the beach, as well as prayers for Tony as he's directing the camp and teaching on the fruit of the Spirit every evening. I'm so incredibly proud of him and his dedication to the work put before him. We're praying that God will use his words and efforts to make an impact in the hearts of the kids and church members that will be with us at camp. Wish you all could join us as well! We'll report back next week!

Sleepover!

Carlos, Luis, Santiago and Percy

On Monday night we had 4 little boys from the home over to spend the night. As part of the adoption process, we've been trying to help the boys get a sense of what a typical family home is like, because they've really only experienced what it's like to live with 9 other boys in the same apartment. We brought home the three boys who are being adopted, along with their best buddy Luis who didn't want to miss out on anything.

Santiago holding his newly discovered beetle in the park

We made pancakes for dinner, went to the park, watched some Bob the Builder, and before we knew it they were falling asleep. The next morning as we were trying to contain the chaos in one room and get breakfast ready to serve in the other room, Tony said, "Wow, this is a real wake up call on what it's like to have kids!" I told Tony what my mom always used to tell me when I'd come home frazzled after babysitting - "Don't worry, babies don't come out of the womb with the amount of energy that a three year old has. When you're a parent, you get to ease into it. You slowly get accustomed to the needs of your children and it feels much more normal than babysitting ever will."

Tony with the boys - Santiago, Percy, Carlos and Luis

A few of our observations about boys:
- Except while they were sleeping, there was never a moment of silence in the house.
- Even though they're young, little boys can eat a lot!
- If "daddy" burps at the table, they will mimic the sound for the next 10 minutes
- It's probably not a good idea to give a kid a glass of juice before bed, even if he is really thirsty. Unless you plan on getting up at 4:00am with him when he's wet the bed, only to discover you have absolutely no clothing that will fit him and subsequently wrap him in a towel until you take him home!
- Asking to see their Superman impression will divert their attention from most every problem. Here is Superman Luis and group shot of the 4 Supermen:


We had so much fun with the boys! We're grateful for the special times we are getting with them before they leave for Italy. Carlos and Santiago will be leaving on Monday with their parents, and Percy will leave the following Monday. Thank you for keeping them in your prayers as they come to mind.

From Peru to Italy...

The legal processes in Peru regarding the handling of abandoned children make it difficult for them to be adopted, so when children arrive at New Hope they are most often coming to stay for the long haul. In order to be eligible for adoption, children must receive an official declaration of "abandoned" from the government, which generally means that they have no known family or that their known extended family members have not made contact or visited the child at the orphanage. If the location of their family is known, the children cannot be adopted, even if the family has no intention of ever taking the child back. Poverty is the number one cause for abandonment, thus very few families will take their children back after turning them out.

Three of our little boys recently received their official "abandoned" status, and we just learned yesterday that they are now being adopted by two Italian families who have been waiting for several years for children from Peru. Carlos and Santiago, two brothers, will be adopted together, and Percy is being brought into family where he'll get a brother. We've seen pictures of their new families and new homes - they have beds set up and waiting for them already. The process has and will continue to move quickly - they'll be leaving us late next week.

Carlos

I have never been good at balancing two strongly opposing emotions at the same time, and I find myself facing that challenge again today. What joy that these little boys will now have mothers and fathers, stable families, abounding love and opportunities far beyond what they will ever have here! What heaviness of heart has taken over, however, at the thought of these darling boys leaving us. They are three of our youngest children (3 to 5 years old) and they have absolutely captured our hearts with their laughter, vivaciousness and sincerity of heart. They run around with capes made of bubble wrap, pretending to be Superman; they push each other around for hours in a wheelbarrow, imagining all kinds of grand adventures as they cruise around. This afternoon I watched Percy trying to throw a baseball in the air and catch it in his glove (never quite succeeding!) while Santiago and Carlos captured little butterflies from the flowers, studied them closely, and then released them again into the air.

Santiago

The thought of them leaving breaks my heart and I've been a crying mess all day. I selfishly want them to stay with us, though I know this is a wonderful opportunity for each of them. I feel like a protective mother, leery of these people that want to come and take my baby boys away. I don't want them to go through the difficult transitions that are inevitable - trying to understand why they're leaving, where they're going, saying goodbye and missing their friends here, learning a new language, developing trust and love for their new parents... I want to protect them from all of that, but I know it is necessary in order to move them into their new lives that have so much to offer them. It is a life lesson I know to be true - difficult things usually precede our great blessings.

Percy

As they come to your mind, would you join us in praying for their little hearts as they make this transition? They'll be staying with us at our house for several nights to help them get a better idea of what a family home looks like and I'm so thrilled to have that time with them before they go. We'll be talking with them a lot about their new families, and answer a lot of questions I'm sure. Little Percy asked today if he's going to have a brother when he goes to Italy, and when we told him he would he started jumping up and down with joy. They're starting to understand, and it's exciting to see those connections happening. And as you pray for them, pray for me that I'll be able to contain my tears and be a cheerleader for them as they join their new families. Thank you for all of your encouragement and interest in what we're doing here - it's wonderful to be able to share these kind of stories with you all.

Popcorn - the 'old fashioned way'

We realize that microwave popcorn, Stir Crazy, and the Pop Lite machines from the 80's are all relatively new developments in the world of popcorn preparation. But,being the young lads that we are, we had no previous experience in making popcorn on the stove top before today. We had a good laugh while making our first attempt at it and thought we'd try to recount it for you all. The commentary went something like this:

Tony and Julie:
Okay, here we go.
I guess we just wait until we hear the popping, right?

Julie: It's been popping for awhile. You better see how full it is now.
Tony: Oh no, we need to start emptying it - I think we put too many seeds in!
Julie: Put the lid back on and I'll get a bowl out!

Tony: You'd better hurry - the popcorn is pushing the lid off the pot!

Tony: The seeds are exploding out of the pan - I'm getting splattered with hot oil!
Julie: Pull the pan back (*no idea why this seemed like a good solution)

Tony: Hand me the lid - they're still popping!
Julie: laughing and laughing
Tony: laughing and laughing

Once all was said and done, about 3/4 of the popcorn ended up in the bowl.
The rest was scattered on the counters and floor, which our dog, Davy, was quite happy to see.

Superbowl earns spot over soccer!

American football has taken precedence over futbol (soccer) programming in Peru! Tonight we are watching the Superbowl with a group of boys from the orphanage. Tony is busy explaining the rules and hoping that after watching this, their next match of football will go better than the one on Thanksgiving! We just cleared up the fact that the New England Patriots are Americans, not English as their name would suggest to those unfamiliar with the US. We had a table full of snacks set out, and after 5 minutes every bowl is empty and all the drinks are gone. Teenage boys are hard to keep up with!

I usually try to make a different American snack to serve when the kids come over - they love trying our favorite things. Today I made my first attempt at Rice Krispy Treats. The only kind of cereal that was close was strawberry flavored Angel Krispies, but with a packet of My Sweet Marshmellows, they turned out pretty well. We don't have any chips and salsa or other classic Superbowl snacks, but we're loving the hot pink Angel Krispy Treats!

Pancakes have never tasted better...

In addition to all the great work the team from Liberti church did while they were here, they also left us some "luxury" food items they had brought from the US. The best of all:

This 10 lb. bag of pancake mix makes 240 pancakes, so we're looking forward to many months of quick and tasty breakfasts! Last weekend we had two friends from Lima visit for the weekend. Meredith is a missionary with the Evangelical Free Church and Raquel is her Peruvian roommate. After returning to Lima, the food Raquel raved about most was the pancakes and Mrs. Butterworth's syrup! Peruvians usually eat pancakes with honey, so maple syrup was a new taste that agreed very well with her.

A big thanks to our friends at Liberti!

Liberti 4 Peru Team

Two days after we arrived back in Peru after Christmas, we welcomed our first short-term team of volunteers since we've been here. The trip was led by a good friend of Tony's from college, Nathan Cottrell. Nathan had come down to Arequipa in August to help Tony and another friend, Brad, with a documentary video project to help raise awareness about the ministry of New Hope. Nathan went back to Philadelphia and started telling his friends and church body at Liberti Church about his desire to bring a short term team back to volunteer in January 2008.
Just five months later, Nathan had put together a team of 15 people who were willing to invest their time and energy in the kids. They raised extra funds for construction projects, planned crafts for each day of the week, collected donations of clothing, and came to offer every bit of love and energy they had. They served as the hands and feet of Christ, delivering the message of boundless love that God has for each one of them. Their generosity amazed us, and by the end of the week they were bags of their own shoes, clothing, jackets, and many "extras" to the office to leave for the kids.
We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with their team. We were encouraged by the selfless way they served not only the kids, but each other as a unified team. It was a wonderful experience to start the week by explaining the work we do and the issues that precipitate a home like ours, to then watch them interact with the kids throughout the 10 days, and then see the shared passion for these kids that had gripped their hearts by the end of their trip. To watch others catch the vision of caring for the orphaned and abandoned children of this world was wonderfully renewing for us.

The Liberti team kept a blog of their experiences on the trip. You can read more about their experiences and reflections at: liberti4peru.blogspot.com.