Motion Sickness

I have been blessed with the ability to do ANYTHING in the car, plane, boat, train, blimp, helicopter, submarine... anything that moves.  I can read, write, watch movies, anything that might give other people a headache or send them scrambling for a brown paper bag.  My mother has always called me out on this and doesn't understand how I can do it.  I claim that it's from living in the country, so far from anything valid to call civilization that it came down to survival that I entertain myself in the car.  Long car rides were always a part of my childhood.

This week I've found myself in the center of change... a different motion.  So, here's a quick breakdown of what happened this week:

Monday a member of the Arequipa team, Daniel, was sent home.  I am at peace with the decision now, but don't necessarily agree with the decision.  He was sent home for his attitude.  I don't really want to get more into it, but please pray for him as he readjusts to American living... to be honest I'm slightly jealous of the food he is enjoying right now!

So, all week we were dealing with Daniel having been sent home, the Cusco and Arequipa team were more effected because he was from their cohort, but it was still upsetting regarding how many others had been sent home... it's never good.  Saturday, we all knew there were two major changes, but that doesn't mean we were prepared.  We packed up all of our things and moved over into a new apartment!  The girls have their own floor and the guys theirs.  We took down all of our beds and moved the dressers over... it was a ton of work.  But, at the end of the day we had to say good-bye to another part of our family, the Cusco team.  It was hard to let go of a piece of our family, but it's encouraging to know they are not too far away and that they are doing their mission work.  Please pray for our Cusco team as they start their work!  On top of that... we had moved to an unfamiliar place, which really isn't helpful when your faced with new uncomfortable situations or loss.

To top off a week of change, Sunday, the pastor of the Umacollo church, the church I have been attending, died.  This is also the man with whom Garren and I had lived while we were in language study.  Garren and I were walking back to the new apartment building when we ran into Cristobal on the road and that's where he told us the news.  It's still hard to believe.  We went to a service last night and got to grieve with my adopted family.  There are a lot of mixed emotions concerning the death of Pastor Genaro.  Maybe I'll expand upon that in another post.  His funeral is today.  Please pray for the family of Genaro and also the church congregation as we all deal with this sudden change.  He was just re-elected to continue his pastoral ministry not even a week ago, and now they have to find a new pastor to continue with the church.  He died Sunday afternoon and his birthday was Monday... he would have been 60.  A praise came from the apparent hopelessness of Genaro's passing.  Pastor Solano spoke at the service last night for Pastor Genaro and gave an invitation for salvation and a woman gave her life to Christ.  In the past I've been critical about the amount of people that accept salvation... but I was so happy.  The angels were rejoicing.

This week has truly been a storm.  I can't believe how much change we've been confronted with this week.  Please pray for us as we continue to plant our feet in the firm foundation of Christ.  Satan has been working on us this week to discourage us, but we remain strong in the Lord.