A day in the life of Jaclyn...

A day in the life of Jaclyn...

(if I am feeling extra motivated and energetic)

5:45am-6:00am run around the block to get in some exercise (this could also be switched out for going to the gym a few days a week)

(if I hear my alarm, but was not motivated enough to run)

6:30am morning devotions with the whole group-- this is a GREAT idea that is faulted by the fact that some people are not morning people, but good idea nonetheless

7:00am-8:00am breakfast; try to look alive for the day... showering never happens in the morning because the water is solar heated, and is therefore freezing until the afternoon. I do try to wash my hair every morning in the bathroom sink. This reminds me of being a kid, when mom would have me lay on the kitchen counter and wash my hair! (miss you so much, mom!!)

8:00am-1:00pm Bible classes @ Zamacola-- we take a different class every week or two, taught by different professors, all information is taught in Spanish, which means I have to concentrate extra hard!!

1:00pm LUNCH!!!!! For everyone who knows how much I love food, this part of the day makes me really smile :)

1:30pm Shower?? This is not an every day occurance, for anyone. Showering is usually an every-other-day plan.

2:00pm-

whenever Right now we don’t have our afternoons planned, which is nice since it still takes us longer to do our homework with the language barrier. In a very short time, we will be doing practicals in the community in our afternoons... helping in local churches with various projects assigned by pastors

10:00pm CURFEW! We have a curfew to be back inside the building by 10:00pm. This is definitely something to get used to, as I have lived on my own for the last four years. But... they know what they are doing. By 10:00pm, we are all so tired from thinking so hard in Spanish all day that we need the sleep. Although... normally I won’t actually fall asleep until after midnight, which makes for an early morning to start the cycle again.

Thanks for taking a few moments to step into my shoes :) I am loving it here! And God is doing some really amazing things, both in our own lives as well as the lives of the churches here, and in the city of Arequipa as well.

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts! I appreciate them more than you know :)

new group in Arequipa!

This morning, at 7:30am, the men and women God has called to be part of Cohort 4 for Extreme Peru arrived to their new home. A bunch of us from Cohort 3 went to greet them at the airport with smiling faces, as they fought to break through the sleep-deprived fog. They welcomed the reception, and were very excited that people had showed up and cared. This cohort is a bit smaller than mine, but still... God has called these amazing men and women to do some amazing things here in Peru! It is really cool because in Cohort 4 there is a diverse range of ages, more so than in any other cohort. And yet, they all are already so close after a week of orientation, as if their age differences did not even exist. This is AWESOME! I remember being in that exact spot, 3 1/2 months ago, when we all arrived in Arequipa at 11pm at night, tired from the plane rides and not having a clue what to expect in the coming days, despite the best efforts of Extreme's orientation. It was really cool today, though, because a few of us got to take some of the group around town a bit and show them a trick or two to surviving Peru :)

Thinking ahead into the future for Cohort 4... I know that in my cohort we all miss our families. Different amounts at different times, but they are still missed nonetheless. And I was just thinking about one of the 40/40's (who I admittedly don't know much about yet) that is in her later 40's, and is a single mother of an 18 year old daughter. That has to be hard... I think I have it hard not being able to be at all of the family functions. But, she is just on my mind especially tonight, and therefore is going to be in my prayers extra as well.

That's all. Not much tonight. Classes tomorrow-- pray, please! :)

our group!

This is our group!! We have been SO blessed with our Peruvian partners... still waiting on a few because of timing issues, but they are almost all here! Please be praying for all of them!

We are the faces of the tools God is going to use to reach people in Arequipa and Cusco, Peru. Thanks for supporting all of us! :)

Zamacola... my new home

Hola mi familia y mis amigos! I miss you all SO much! I am writing you from within Zamacola, a church outside the city of Arequipa, Peru, that I will call “home” for the next several months. We eat here... sleep here... learn here... hang out here... it is our own little fortress. We have two rooms for sleeping- 1 for the guys and 1 for the girls. This means that, in order to fit 16 women and their belongings INSIDE the room, we are sleeping on three-high bunk beds, and walking over suitcases. It’s pretty much like church camp, for those of you that can relate, except MORE people and MORE stuff. Why is it that, as women get older, we collect more “stuff” and need more “stuff?” I don’t know the answer, but I am an addition to the problem, as I also have a few bags of things. We are all learning to communicate, work together, be flexible, share, be patient and be respectful. Somehow, I think this was planned! :)

Today marks the official end of my first week in Bible classes. These classes are taught completely in Spanish, so I’m not quite sure how much I have actually taken out of this week, but it’s a start! Poco a poco (little by little) I will learn this language, and therefore be able to understand better. For now, I have plenty of friends here to bounce off ideas as to what was just discussed. I am really excited for these next several months. There is a different class every week or two. We attend classes from 8am-1pm, Monday through Friday. In the coming months we will also be adding in “practicals,” when we will go out into the community with our partners and help the churches already planting in this area, as well as other things needed. It makes me laugh out loud to think that I was going to attempt to take online college courses while here in Peru, just to “kill to birds with one stone,” because there would NEVER have been enough time, and I would not want to take my focus away from life here in Peru and my service and growth as a child of God. Thankfully, God already knew that, which is why it didn’t work out for me to take those classes. I love that He is always on top of things, and is looking out for me before I even realize it!!

A few things to update you on....

1) Our Peruvian partners have arrived!!!!!! (For the most part) We are still waiting on two partners.... they are having a bit of difficulty finding Peruvian women. It is often hard to find them here because, since this culture is SO focused on family, often times their families are not willing to let them leave the home, even if it is for missions. SO, please continue to pray for those women as Extreme looks hard and prays hard for them. Also, please be praying for the partners that are now here. We are SO excited and blessed to have them in our lives, and to have their help as well, as we learn the language.

2) Brandi Courts, my very good friend/ 40-40 sister is still suffering with intense back pain. It is not for certain, but looks like she might have to go back to the States for further treatment. She is very sad and frustrated with all of this because she only wants to serve, and her pain is stopping her from doing that. And, at the same time, I have never seen someone have SO much faith in a situation with so little positives. So... please be praying for her. We are all praying that she is healed and does not have to leave Peru at all. But, if she does have to leave for further treatment, she is going to need those services provided for because we ALL used all of our money to get down here. So, please pray as well that those services or funds would be provided and she could get treatment and a quick recovery. We know that God is not healing her right now for a reason, and we don't know what that reason is, but we have faith that He will not give her more than she can handle, with His help.

Thank you SO much for reading this. I miss you all, and it's nice to have some small link to the other side of the world, so to speak. Please continue to email me at Jaclyn_Finn@hotmail.com for any prayer requests you have. Thank you so much for your support, and especially your prayers.

Hasta luego! (See you later!)

LOTS going on :)

Hola! Como estas? Yo estoy muy feliz porque es un fin de semana, y yo termine clases del espanol!! Ahorita, yo estoy comiendo popcorn y mirando una pelicula en my habitacion. Todavia, yo no saber muchas palabras en espanol, pero yo estoy tratando aprender mucho. Cuando yo llegue a peru en febrero, solo sabia hablar algunos palabras... por ejemplo: "Hola" y "uno, dos, tres..." :) Ahora, yo puedo hablar con otras personas en espanol y yo entiendo mucho!

Hello! How are you? I am very happy because it is the weekend, and I finished my Spanish classes! Right now I am eating popcorn and watching a movie in my room. As of now, I do not know a lot of Spanish words, but I am trying to learn much. When I arrived in Peru in February, I could only speak a few words... for example: "Hello" and "one, two, three.." :) Now, I can speak with other people in Spanish and I understand a lot!

*****

That is just a little taste of how much I have learned in three months! I am truly blessed and surprised at myself, but excited as well. Sorry for my lack of existence in this blog over the last two weeks. It has been crazy here with finishing up classes, studying for finals, preparing to move. GOOD NEWS-- I passed Spanish :) Well, honestly, everyone passed because it is impossible to fail, with the way classes are designed. BUT, I must say that I am extremely proud of myself, as well as all my brothers and sisters here at how far we have come. This past week I had three final exams: written, oral and listening. All went fairly well, and I am pleased with the level I am at. Friday afternoon our group had a graduation ceremony. Carmen, the woman that runs the school, passed out certificates to each of us. There was torta (cake), of course! It was so nice to have a group celebration.

Yesterday we had a youth service at one of the local churches. Every Saturday we switch where the service is located, to give everyone a chance to visit all of the Naz churches and it is also a good way to get every single community involved. Last night, at Ramiro, I had the chance to help lead worship!! IN SPANISH :) For those of you that know me, I LOVE to sing. And I have truly missed being on a worship team! Even though I know God can use me in many different ways :) Nonetheless, I was very grateful for that chance.

This weekend, I am sick LOL. Go figure. My immune system is not the best, since I have been sick three times in the three months I have been in Peru. However, I am very thankful that this time it is only a head cold. Side note-- if anyone would decide to send me a bunch of tissues, it would probably be a wise investment! :) I am still pushing strong, but also taking today to relax, in order to hopefully get all my strength back and let my body take a break from all the rushing around.

This Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays are "free days" for us 40/40's. There are no classes, and we are all going to enjoy these few days of relaxation before taking the next big leap in this journey. What is that next leap? Well-- glad you asked :) This coming Thursday we are getting our 40/40 Peruvian partners!! We all have been praying for our partners for quite some time now... hoping our Spanish is understandable so we all can communicate, praying over any difference that we might encounter (which we will) and also praying for our ministries together. My Peruvian partner, who I know nothing about except that she is a girl, is going to be with me from this coming Thursday through April 2012! I am SO excited to see how God is going to use this relationship and our ministry to reach the people of Peru :)

Right now, all of the 40/40's live in different host family homes with one other 40/40. But when Thursday comes, EVERYONE (Peruvians and non) will move into one living space inside a local church here in Arequipa. Zamacola is the church's name, and here is where we all will live, eat, studying the Bible and hang out. We will still attend our separate churches we have been assigned to in Arequipa, because it is very important to keep building those relationships and letting the people of those communities know that we are committed to being here. But it will definitely be a change from our current living situations. We are very excited, but also a bit nervous and just praying for God to be in every bit of this! Please pray with us :)

That is all I have for now. I am praying for all of you! If you have any specific prayer requests you would like to share, please feel free to email me at Jaclyn_Finn@hotmail.com. Can't wait to hear from you! Take care, and God bless :)