The year I'll move to Peru.
Finally.
With as much excitement as I feel now that the year is here, I can only imagine how ecstatic I'll feel when the day itself finally arrives. For those of you who don't know how or why I'm on my way to Peru, let me provide some background. When I went back to Cedarville for the fall semester of 2008, I already had plans for the coming summer, but when those plans suddenly fell through, I found myself scrambling to come up with a Plan B. I had always been interested in missions (some of you might remember the time I spent in Panama in 2005), and being an International Studies major, I had a cross-cultural experience requirement to fulfill. So on a whim, I applied for ABWE's short-term intern program and basically said, “Send me anywhere.” A few months later, I was on a plane to Lima, Peru.
For 3 months, I worked at Monterrico Christian School (MCS). I taught after-school piano lessons, tutored several students who were still struggling with English, subbed for sick teachers, graded papers, collated papers, laminated papers...whatever I could do to lighten the load of the other staff. At the end of my time in Peru, I was glad that I had gone and had enjoyed my time there, but I came home saying living overseas wasn't for me and that I doubted I'd ever go back.
But over the next six months or so, Peru and MCS began to weigh on me. I'd catch myself thinking about the school and the city and the kids in a very longing sort of way and think, “Wait a second! Why am I thinking like that? I don't even want to be in Peru. I like America!” It was like God kept poking and prodding at my heart until one night I finally said, “Okay! I guess I'll at least go back for a visit.” So I started saving my pennies for a ticket to go down over my spring break and decided it would be fun to take my mom with me. Between the time that we bought our tickets and the time that we actually arrived in Lima, God had done so much poking and prodding that I spent the whole trip saying to my mom, “What do you think about this and what do you think about that? And how did I seem in this situation or with those kids?” And by the end of the 12 days we were there, I had come to the point where I felt like coming back long-term was a real possibility for me. I didn't know how or when, but it was definitely on the table.
I spent the summer thinking and praying about it, and with graduation on the horizon, it seemed that the doors to every option I pursued closed. Except one. In September, I finally applied for a teaching position at MCS and within a month, it was offered to me for the 2011 and 2012 school years. I am so grateful that my home church, Liberty Baptist in Alanson, MI, has agreed to act as my sending church, and I am trusting that God will provide the financial support that I need in order to be able to move to Peru in May.
It amazes me how God orchestrates things so perfectly. I am amazed at the change in my own attitude toward Peru. Where there was once fear and resistance, there is now passion and an excitement that runs so deep, I don't even know how to express it. What I do know is that I cannot take any credit for it; it was entirely an act of God in my life. I'm excited to say that Peru is no longer my Plan B. I'm excited by the realization that God doesn't make Plan Bs. His plan is perfect. What great joy comes from following Him!
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