As I begin to settle in a bit more here I've had the opportunity to meet with the clinic staff. Lots of things in this ministry have changed since I started my journey to Cusco(including clinic staff). It was great to meet with the new doctors that are now staffing the clinic and it was nice to see the three nurses that I already know.
I had a good meeting with the M.D. and got to hear about his vision for the ministry in the next couple of years. It appears that my job description might have changed a bit. Since I last spoke with anyone at the clinic, there's been an explosion of nurses coming. There had been 3 Peruvian nurses and there will very soon be a total of 6 nurses(me included) at the clinic. It's wonderful for this ministry, but all six aren't needed in the actual clinic. This means that there are more possibilities for serving and meeting other medical needs within the community.
There is still a great need for home visits for clinic patients, but since we have more nurses we're looking at the possibility of work farther out into the country where there are so many needs and many people who need to hear the gospel. It's an exciting time for this ministry to have more missionaries making it possible to consider expanding the ministry to other communities.
My challenge is that I'm not really a think outside the box kind of person and I have now been give the opportunity to be a dreamer. I'm about to start the process of figuring out where I fit best in the ministry as a whole. Within the next couple of months I'll be jumping into whatever is going on inside and outside of the actual clinic to try to get a feel for different projects and hopefully figure out what I like, where there are needs, and just in general where I fit. It's potentially very exciting, will require lots of patience on my part(not a strong point of mine). But it will be a good lesson in patience and trusting God.
With all that said, I'm excited to discover what God has planned for me in His Kingdom work in Cusco. The adventure continues....
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Roots
Well, after a relaxing time at a confrence for Mission to the World missionaries in Mexico, I'm finally back in Cusco for good. In my new world of ever changing circumstances it's good to be in Cusco and be able to start planting some roots.
I'll warn you ahead of time that this is kind of long and may be boring for some, but others have asked about my living situation, so here's the info....
Before arriving here there were lots of unknowns(yes, I know it's just a normal part of life...). One of the things I've wanted to have ironed out asap was my living situation. My boss had opened his home to me and offered that I could stay there as long as I needed til I could find a place of my own. I'm not always a very patient person, so i was determined to find a place the two days I was in Cusco before going to Mexico for a week. God was gracious to me and quickly provided a nice place to live(such a great deal!!). I was able to move into my house the day I came back from the conference in Mexico. Yay!!
Friends on my team were so sweet to take me shopping(directly from the airport) for appliances and other stuff I would need so I could move in right away. So, I am now living in a place of my own. I've discovered that all you REALLY need is a fridge and microwave to get started. Houses or Apartments don't come with any appliances here, so it takes a good bit of work to get a place up and running.
It's a great little place for me. It's a cute little townhouse in a "gated community" on the top of a hill, so it's really quiet and has an absolutely beautiful view of the mountains from my bedroom window. There's plenty of room for me and a cute tiny backyard, which I am so excited about since I like to garden. Other favorite features: lots of windows and skylights upstairs, cute little kitchen, and newly painted walls in my favorite shade of yellow. Another added bonus is that there's a missionary family living just a couple of doors down from me. They have been so sweet to me and have really looked after me since I moved in.
It's been so nice to wake up to complete silence. After living with a family and lots of other students as well, it is so nice for me. Other nice features are that it's just a short walk to the clinic and church. There's also a market close by, which is very convenient if I just want to run over to buy a pigs head right quick.
So, at this point, I'm enjoying setting up the house and making it my own little space. The only think I've disliked about the place is the rat living in the kitchen since day #1. Not cool!! Thankfully, some really kind friends dealt with it for me. Otherwise it's been a nice place to start to plant roots.
I'll warn you ahead of time that this is kind of long and may be boring for some, but others have asked about my living situation, so here's the info....
Before arriving here there were lots of unknowns(yes, I know it's just a normal part of life...). One of the things I've wanted to have ironed out asap was my living situation. My boss had opened his home to me and offered that I could stay there as long as I needed til I could find a place of my own. I'm not always a very patient person, so i was determined to find a place the two days I was in Cusco before going to Mexico for a week. God was gracious to me and quickly provided a nice place to live(such a great deal!!). I was able to move into my house the day I came back from the conference in Mexico. Yay!!
Friends on my team were so sweet to take me shopping(directly from the airport) for appliances and other stuff I would need so I could move in right away. So, I am now living in a place of my own. I've discovered that all you REALLY need is a fridge and microwave to get started. Houses or Apartments don't come with any appliances here, so it takes a good bit of work to get a place up and running.
It's a great little place for me. It's a cute little townhouse in a "gated community" on the top of a hill, so it's really quiet and has an absolutely beautiful view of the mountains from my bedroom window. There's plenty of room for me and a cute tiny backyard, which I am so excited about since I like to garden. Other favorite features: lots of windows and skylights upstairs, cute little kitchen, and newly painted walls in my favorite shade of yellow. Another added bonus is that there's a missionary family living just a couple of doors down from me. They have been so sweet to me and have really looked after me since I moved in.
It's been so nice to wake up to complete silence. After living with a family and lots of other students as well, it is so nice for me. Other nice features are that it's just a short walk to the clinic and church. There's also a market close by, which is very convenient if I just want to run over to buy a pigs head right quick.
So, at this point, I'm enjoying setting up the house and making it my own little space. The only think I've disliked about the place is the rat living in the kitchen since day #1. Not cool!! Thankfully, some really kind friends dealt with it for me. Otherwise it's been a nice place to start to plant roots.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Home!!
Well, I'm here. After an enjoyable 10 hour bus ride I'm finally in Cusco. I'm serious about the enjoyable bus ride this time around. It was pretty much uneventful except for the losing my ticket part. I had to wait a while to get all of my bags. Thankfully I had locked my luggage and had the keys, so I could prove it was mine by opening the locks. All worked out and was pretty funny for my friend who was traveling with me....
It's good to be in the city I'll be calling home for the next couple of years, but does feel pretty strange not to be in school or studying. I still have plenty to do as far as set up, but I'm happy to be done with the moving lots of stuff and the hassle with all of that. I'm still current homeless, but am happy to report that I'm not living under the bridge I had previously thought I'd be calling home for a while. I'll be staying with my bosses family for a while til I can find a place to live. Cusco is a bit of a change from the city of Arequipa, but it's absolutely beautiful here. I'd forgotten how close the mountains are and how many wide open spaces there are here. It's beautiful!! I'm looking forward to hiking some of those mountains hopefully in near future.
In the meantime, I'm hoping to get more settled into home and work asap. Many surprises are ahead for me on that side of things and I'm excited to have less mysteries in that part of life, but wouldn't be surprised if God's answer to this request is NO, you need to wait a bit more.... For now I'm trying to be patient and enjoy the ride.
I'm looking forward to a little bit of travel this week. I'll be attending an retreat with Mission to the World for the missionaries in Latin America. Should be a good time of fellowship and renewal. I'm thankful for God's timing with my transition from school to Cusco and having the opportunity to attend this retreat. Hopefully I'll be sane when I get back...
Hasta Luego!!
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