ADVENTure

our first christmas together

(warning: kat is longwinded) advent is typically known in the liturgical calendar as the four weeks prior to December 25. it is a season of anticipation and preparation for remembrance of Christ’s birth and is usually celebrated by readings and teachings that center on the second coming of Christ. this year, luke and I decided to prepare by focusing on a theme that fits our current situation: we have been reading the stories of ordinary people from the Bible that the Lord called away from their comfort zone and their life to a completely new place, so that He could use them to accomplish His will and also so that they could be taught. some of the characters we met were:
*jonah (jonah 1-3)
*the Israelites on their exodus from Egypt (exodus 12:31-exodus 16)
*abraham and his family (genesis 12-genesis 15)
*joseph when he was sold by his brothers (genesis 37-genesis 41)
*mary and joseph (luke 2:1-20)

through the stories of each of these people, I was amazed at the faithfulness with which each person did not hesitate, but rather was quick to obey and follow the Lord’s calling. luke and i are truly living into this advent story as we are on this journey. early last year, as soon as we were engaged, we took a leap of faith and bought plane tickets to quito, ecuador (before we had really even started to plan the wedding). we both felt a strong desire in our hearts to travel to South America, not knowing exactly what God had in store. some would say it was the holy spirit prompting us. there’s no way we could have ever predicted the experiences we have had up to this point. we both just knew we were being called to leave and so without hesitating, we left!

motokars, the main source of public transportation in pucallpa

in leaving and finding ourselves somewhere completely new, I am reminded that it is often in these spaces when we are away from all things known and comfortable that i become teachable. in these vulnerable moments where my focus is solely on God and my reliance upon Him, i can see clearly the things that my mind is normally too distracted to see.

in the church here, I have found myself in moments of discomfort, mainly caused by the fact that things are different than what I am used to or have experienced in my life. when I take a step back and observe, i can see beauty in the fact that my brothers and sisters here are without a doubt in love with the creator of the universe and that their lives are being affected in tangible ways by that relationship. God is moving here for sure! I am reminded of a verse I read while living in Nicaragua several years ago. Habakkuk 1:5 says, “Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.” the reality is that I probably wouldn’t have believed what God is doing here in Peru, and that is why I was brought here to see it in person. seeing God do big things reminds me that He is not the small idol I often tend to turn him into.

the luz divina church in pucallpa
part of our desire of spending time with the church here in Pucallpa was to have a community of believers with whom to celebrate Christmas. not until last week, however, did we realize that this particular church does not celebrate Christmas. everyone else in Pucallpa does, just not the church we have connected with. we would say “feliz navidad!” and they just smile at us politely. we have heard various explanations, the most common one being that nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus was born on December 25th, so how do we know to celebrate on this given day? on Christmas eve, there was a church business meeting and yesterday, on Christmas day, there was a church service, but Jesus was not mentioned by name- in regards to his birth or his life. rather, it was a prayer and worship service, typical to the one held each Saturday night.

making sugar cookies (note the PVC pipe we used for a rolling pin)

that being said, we were able to carry on some of our own Christmas traditions, such as making and decorating sugar cookies with some of the young people and handing out candy canes this morning in Sunday School. we have also been able to learn what a typical Peruvian family does to celebrate the season. during the week leading up the Christmas, there are “chocolatadas” held around the city, in which certain organizations, such as churches, hand out hot chocolate and panetonne- an Italian inspirited sweet bread filled with raisins and other candied fruit, donated by the government, to neighborhood children. most families prepare to eat ham for their Christmas dinner, and to do so, must kill a pig in preceding days. that being said, I witnessed my first butchering and am officially turned off any meat besides chicken. at midnight on Christmas eve, the town comes alive with the noise and lights of fireworks. children and adults of all ages can be found in the street lighting their shoddily made firecrackers, which generally are made of some gunpowder rolled in paper, with a fuse attached. the noise continues for at least an hour, making it impossible to sleep. also, consumerism is just as alive in Peru as it is in the United States. going downtown guarantees a glimpse of all the town rushing about to buy gifts that they don’t have money for and that their children don’t actually need. how have so many people lost touch with the reason that we are celebrating in the first place?

luke with his afternoon soccer club

when luke and I first arrived in Pucallpa, we came with ideas of volunteering and giving of our time. as it turns out, we have been giving more of ourselves through relationships with the people we have met. luke enjoys passing his afternoons playing soccer with the neighborhood boys, teaching rock, paper, scissors, and giving drum lessons to young people at church. i have bonded with many of the young ladies here who are all on vacation now, and we spend our time trying to speak in each other’s languages, and me learning how to make the killer fruit juices we are treated to here. we are putting into practice what paul writes in romans 12:16 “don’t be afraid to enjoy the company of ordinary people.” we are observing faith in action. we have been able to visit many of the satellite churches in the area and share a testimony of the ways we have seen God in our lives on our trip. we have both felt a strong personal desire to listen to God and grow in our relationships with him, both individually and together as a married couple.

we leave this Thursday to head to lima, where we will see a few more sights in peru, before heading through chile, argentina, and uruguay to arrive in paraguay, hopefully mid-february to spend time with luke’s family there. we will take with us fond memories of our time here and the brothers and sisters in Christ that we met. we will also leave challenged to act on the things that we have seen and encouraged by the fact that our Messiah is indeed ALIVE!