but now to live the life

outside the mall

2012-01-31T15:54:00.000-08:00

The contrast of what you find outside of the mall (versus what is inside it) is startling. Immediately upon pulling out of the parking lot you see poverty. Lima is truly a developing city. Riches and poverty, old and modern, dilapidated and rebuilt, all intermixed to form this city. Personally, I am thankful to have to face poverty as I enter the mall and I pray that I never get used to it or turn a blind eye.

Here are some pictures of the streets and neighborhoods surrounding the mall. Because I took these pictures at night they don't show the poverty in this area as clearly as I would like, but hopefully you will get the idea.

This lady was cooking meat that looked quite yummy. This area is alive at night with bodegas, small restaurants, street vendors, kids in the street, old people sitting on their steps, and so much more.

the mall

2012-01-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

Just for fun I thought I would do a post on the mall here in Lima. There are actually quite a few malls here, but this particular mall is only a five minute drive from our house. We don't have reason to go to the mall much, but last night Blake and I headed there for a date (dinner and the movies).

This mall was just renovated in 2010 to the tune of $100 million. Most people will be surprised to see such a nice mall in a developing country. Other missionaries will curse that we have such a place. I can't deny that we are thankful to live in a city that has fun restaurants and the movies. (We still miss Mexican food, Diet Coke, bagels, cookie cake, and powdered doughnuts though. Especially powdered doughnuts.)

This is one of two department stores in Peru. The inside of the store looks very much like any department store in the US.

One major difference between a Peruvian mall and US mall is that there are tons of banks in Peruvian malls. Banks normally stay pretty busy here. One reason is that bills in Peru are not paid online nor with checks (which don't exist in Peru). You pay your bills at the bank, grocery store, or business itself. To pay tuition for school here, you are given the school's account number and you then go to the bank and deposit the money in their account.

Starbucks. I think they are everywhere now.

Travel agency.

There's no Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Ikea, or the like in Peru. Most furniture is bought at mercados directly from those who make it. There is one home decoration store (that I have seen) and this is it. Casa y Ideas is full of cute stuff and always a fun place to browse. We got our favorite home decorations from here (dishes, bedspreads, window curtains, shower curtains).

There is a huge grocery store in the mall called Tottus.

The Home Depot of Peru.

Just opened: Pinkberry.

Also just opened: Subway! We're very excited about this one.

The food court.

Every food court in Peru has a huge tv for fútbol watching.

Our eclectic dinner. We got our drinks from Burger King because they are the only place with ice. Peruvians don't use ice in their drinks which for me completely defeats the purpose of a fountain drink.

The movie theater. We used a special promo last night which made the grand total for our movie experience $5.

Anything else in Lima that you guys are interested in seeing?

one year

2012-01-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

One year ago today we arrived in Peru to start our new life. My 2011 post was a good recap of our first year here. And I think I've shared ad nauseam about how life changing this year has been, so I don't think there's much more for me to say about that without making you all want to poke your eyeballs out.

I'm also just having a hard time finding any words for this blog right now. A somewhat ridiculous example of where I am right now: yesterday after spending the morning with stir-crazy kids, trying to do "school" with them, going to two hours of Spanish class for myself, and haggling with a taxi driver to simply get a decent fare, I found tears welling up in my eyes once I got in the cab. I was crying because I was just plain worn out and also out of relief that my day was almost over. Before we moved to Peru, I thought of myself as a strong person. And now I find myself driven to tears after the most simple things. It's humbling.

One year is a long time, but we still have a long ways to go in terms of feeling settled. But I am thankful to be here and for how far our family has already come. I'm hopeful that this next year will bring even more growth and peace for our family.

My friend, Jessica, asked for me to share some prayer requests, so now seems like a good time to do that.

Things we would love prayer for:

-The ladies of Krochet Kids Peru. Each lady has her own personal struggles and hardships. My heart aches for these ladies and the fact that making a better life for themselves and their kids will not be an easy road. The effects of poverty on all parts of a person are crippling. Some of these ladies are ready to give up and we are trying so hard to help them, but they have to want to help themselves. Some of our ladies are facing external circumstances that have kept them from continuing to work for Krochet Kids at this time. This is hard stuff.

-Interviews. We are starting interviews next week to hire at least 10 new ladies. We hate "picking" who gets a job with Krochet Kids. Everyone we interview needs the job. Prayer for our decisions during this time would mean a lot.

-Blake is super busy with work. Running a NGO virtually alone in a foreign country can make you crazy. He has been very stressed recently (which is unusual for Blake), so I know he would love prayer for peace, patience, and energy.

-Ford is having a very hard time learning Spanish. I know this seems small, but it has a huge effect on us. It causes so much frustration and disappointment in all of us. Of course, we only praise Ford and how hard he has worked (because that is what matters), but deep in my soul, I am discouraged. Ford has put so much time into trying and I wish he could see some results. With school starting in March and the need for him to know Spanish on a third grade level, our stress levels are very high.

-Riley developing a deep friendship. If Riley could find just one good friend I think that would make all the difference for her here. We are thankful that she has a variety of different girlfriends at school, but I want her to have that "best friend" that sticks by you and that you are always having sleepovers with. It is at the very core of who she is to be a friend and to have a friend. It's hard to see that piece of her missing.

-I think I've covered a lot of what I need prayer for since I'm always talking too much on here. I really want this year to be about surrender for me. I need to quit trying to fight all these battles on my own. So I ask for prayer to give it all over to God.

-And to be completely vulnerable, I do think that I need professional and medicinal help to deal with my anxiety and depression at this point. Trying to figure out how to get that help in a foreign country is too overwhelming for me. I have a few leads on people I can contact for help, but I haven't done anything about it yet. Prayer to find a professional that I feel comfortable talking to and also one that can help me find the right medicine would be huge.

-Wisdom. It seems like every decision here carries a heavy weight. It's a huge burden and can cause lots of anxiety and worry. So we always seem to need wisdom to make the best decisions for our family and also to have peace about those decisions.

-Protection for our family. I don't say this in a snotty way, but I do think that by taking this leap of faith, that we have opened ourselves up to more attacks. This scares me to be honest. We've seen glimpses of it this past year. I have no doubt that a lot of crap will be thrown our way in the coming years, so I would love prayers of protection around our marriage, our family, and our health.

And I think that's more than enough, so I'll stop! Thank you so much to everyone praying for our family. It is incredibly encouraging.

{I don't have any pictures for this post, so I thought I'd share this one of my favorite three year old.}

partnership

2012-01-17T06:51:00.000-08:00

One of the questions I was asked from this post was, "How do you do it financially?" I thought I would answer this question now because the time has come for us to raise our salary for 2012.

The simple answer to that question is this: our friends and family. This past year our friends and family generously donated to Krochet Kids on our behalf and that provided our salary. We took no salary directly from Krochet Kids. I wrote this post over a year ago asking for financial support of our family so that we could move to Peru and start KKp. We were blown away by how many people joined us on this journey. It was such a gift to be able to focus on settling as a family and starting the KKp program and not worry about how we were going to make it financially. To see everyone's excitement about supporting us was also a huge confirmation that this was what we were supposed to be doing. The bottom line is this: without the support of our friends and family we would not be here. We are so thankful. So, so thankful.

This year, with our great start in production and sales, we will be personally supported from within our KKp program. This allows us to reduce our original fundraising amount by one-third. We are still responsible for raising the remaining two-thirds. As much as it is easier to simply get our salary from KKp, the more money we can raise independently, the more money is freed up to go back into KKp (our programs, location rent, hiring Peruvian staff, etc).

Here is an excerpt from a letter Blake wrote talking about this past year and the future of KKp:

So many exciting things have been stirred up in the soil of Krochet Kids Peru. Honestly, in this early stage we are simply tilling and preparing for the greater things to come in the future. I can’t sit here today and write you about great success stories. Our success is simply that we have started. We have started knitting products with 10 ladies, started to enter into some messy poverty-ridden lives/relationships, and we’ve started to learn from them.

It will be in the coming years that we get to watch these women and their families develop into whole people - socially, spiritually, and emotionally. Our current offering of economic restoration to these ladies is only our starting point. We look forward to this coming year as we will add program staff to the team who will work towards building out our holistic restoration. We also have exciting news that in March we will be inviting 10 new ladies to join our family (making our total 20), with the possibility of more throughout 2012.

It is truly our family’s pleasure, even amongst the challenges, to oversee the work of Krochet Kids in Peru. We are passionate about the program and the families involved. We grow in our love for them each day and look forward to the years ahead with them.

As of today, we still need to raise almost $9,000 for our personal support. If after reading this and seeing our work you want to donate to Krochet Kids for our personal support, you can give online here. In the "note" section please specify, "For the Goodfellows." If you want to send a check, the KKi mailing address is also on that page. All donations are tax-deductible.

Also, if you have any questions, want more information about what we do, or want to discuss anything, please email me at goodfellowsinperu {at} gmail {dot} com.

Thank you for following our journey, thank you for loving our family, and thank you for allowing us to be here. It is truly our privilege.

some family questions & answers

2012-01-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

{Our real Christmas card picture.}

Finally back to answering questions from this post. There were a few questions about family life, so I thought I would put them together to answer.

-How do you have time to spend with Blake with that many kids?

Well, one thing Blake and I aren't scared to do is put our kids to bed early. We sleep trained our kids early on, so they have always been great sleepers. We also taught them early on that once we put them to bed, that is where they stay (unless they are sick or in special cases). Because of that, the three younger kids go to bed at seven on school nights and Riley reads by herself until eight. That leaves Blake and I with most nights to ourselves. We aren't necessarily intentional about hanging out together every night, but most nights we do sit on the couch and talk about the day and then either work, read, play Settlers of Catan, or watch tv or a football game together. I'm really thankful that we have always protected our time together at night. It really helped during all of the years when our kids were young and wore us out. And now with most of our kids in school, I can also go to Krochet Kids with Blake and spend time with him there. That's been a huge blessing of having older kids!

-You mentioned you do a date night with each of your kids...how does that work or how do you pull that off? What does that look like?

We started doing date nights with our kids about two years ago. It had sunk in that we had four kids and therefore needed to be intentional about spending time alone with each. Every Tuesday night is date night and we protect those nights. Usually the only reason we don't have date night is because of visitors from out of town. For everything else, we make sure to schedule it on a different night. We rotate through the kids, although Tyler has not yet been added to the rotation. She has a lot of one-on-one time with me during the day, plus she's not quite old enough to understand what we're doing.

For date nights, we keep it simple. Our budget for date nights is 20 bucks. We eat at a fast food joint, grab some ice cream, and then each kid has different things he or she likes to do. Riley likes to just sit and talk. The boys like to go to an arcade and play a few games. Ford likes to go to Starbucks and read together. I think date nights with our kids is one of the most important things we do with them. Riley always opens up and tells us a lot of what is on her heart which I think is laying a crucial foundation of honesty and openness as she heads into her teen years. The boys start talking about their dates a week out because they are always so excited. There are plenty of nights where Blake and I just don't feel like taking a kid out. Days are long and by the time six o'clock rolls around, the last thing we want to is go out again with one of our kids. But it is always worth it and I always want our kids to be able to count on having that time with us.

{Blake and Riley on a date.}

-What Godly counsel could you offer us mamas out there struggling to create a peaceful balance in our homes?

Ok, I really don't have a great answer for this one. If there is any area I don't feel qualified to give advice in right now it would be parenting. I've been a pretty huge failure as a mother this past year. I have buckled under the pressure of living in a new country and, unfortunately, my family has suffered the most because of it. We don't have a very peaceful balance in our home right now. Yes, there are times of peace, but it has also been a rough year and everyone has been a little on edge. Our kids have never fought as much as they have this year. The bottom line is we are a bunch of selfish people all trying to live together and do life together.

I have been doing a lot of soul searching recently as I reflect on the past year. One theme that has come up for me a lot in those times is that I do want things to be more peaceful in our home this year. I know that I have a lot of issues to work through to help make that happen. I know that I need to be praying more (not out of guilt, but because I know that to be what is most powerful). I know that I need to use my time when the kids are in school wisely, so that when they come home I am refreshed and ready to be with them. And that's all that I've got right now! Since I really have no great advice, anyone else want to chime in? I could obviously use the counsel myself.

{Other picture from our Christmas card.}

and we're back

2012-01-10T06:35:00.000-08:00

To playing soccer, that is. And back to feeling a little bit more like "us." Before this past year I had no idea how much our kids playing soccer was woven into the fabric of our family. Moving to a foreign country (no matter what country you move from and what country you move to) can strip you of much of your identity. Either the things you love to do aren't available in your new country or you are just too plain tired from transitioning, surviving, and learning to pursue those things at first. It is part of the loss you have to deal with when living in a foreign country. We have spent a year getting our feet under us and saying "no" to pretty much everything outside of school, learning Spanish, and starting Krochet Kids Peru. With summer and the break in school, we were finally able to say "yes" to some fun things. While swimming and going to the beach have been fun, I have found myself most thankful to see our kids play soccer again. Seeing my kids in their soccer uniforms with their sweaty and red little faces got me all choked up. How many times in the States did my kids look like that as they sat at the dinner table after practice? It's hard to explain, but I just felt like "us" again. Things were so normal for a moment and a bit of our identity as a family was restored.

Last year as a cheerleader! Next year Tyler will be on the field.
Soccer on a bluff overlooking the ocean.

riley's year end review

2012-01-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

I asked Riley to reflect and write about this past year. So, here is Riley...

Peru is crazy. Although there are mini-markets all over the streets and noises all around, I find it better than I thought. I mean, I have friends, a nice school, nice home, and all, but when we left our house in California I kept whispering, "Turn this car around. I want to go back."

On my first day of school, I was just a little bit late, so I knocked on the door and the teacher let me in. I looked around and sat down at the only empty desk. When I walked in I saw everyone looking at me. The only thing that scared me was that I had no friends and the only one who spoke English was the teacher. I didn't know what to do, so during recess I sat on a bench. On the next day of school, the teacher told me that a student in the class was going to help me get to know other people. I got to know her and she became a good friend. I did have a hard time with one girl who was very mean to me. She even poured juice in my seat one day and I got all wet. I prayed about it all and she became a good friend later.

Now that my first school year in Peru is over, I feel a lot better. I am proud of accomplishing one year of school. I have more friends than when I started school. I feel more comfortable there. I still miss my old school though.

I have only been able to visit one side of my family, but I will see the other side tomorrow! It has been hard to be away even though I have been away from them most of my life. In Peru, I feel a lot more far away. If I could change anything right now I would live closer to my family. I was really sad on Christmas morning that everyone was having fun with my only cousin and we were in Peru. It helped that we went to the pool with our friend Eric. We had a blast! There were some slides that were awesome! I went down all of them by myself and with my sister. I will start swim and soccer class tomorrow which I think is awesome! It has been a year since I did any activities and since activities were a big part of my life in the States it has been hard. Now that I am getting to swim and play soccer I am really excited! Since my school wouldn't let me play soccer because I am a girl, I am really excited to play with other girls who love soccer.

The hardest thing about this past year was when the soccer coach at school kept calling me white girl and I could tell he didn't like having me in the class (I took soccer as an elective once a week). That made me really mad and I didn't want him to look at me from the outside. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I can't play soccer. Next year my brother will get to be on the school soccer team, but I am not allowed to because I am a girl. That makes me jealous and mad. It was also frustrating to fail so many quizzes in school because I didn't know Spanish. I had to work really, really hard in school this year. Except in English class! Haha! It's also hard living in a city. I want to run around in the street with my neighbors, but I can't do that here. We are blocked behind tall walls.

Now I notice that something big has happened in my life. One of my good friends, Maria Fernanda, didn't know Jesus and God. So I decided to bring my devotional book to school and read it to her. When I finished I asked her if she understood and she said a little. So I told my parents what was going on and asked if we had any Bibles in Spanish for her. My parents said they had one at Krochet Kids and they would bring it the next day. I gave the Bible to Maria Fernanda and she asked me if she could keep it. I told her yes and she got so excited. Every free time that day, she was reading it page after page. Anyway, after doing that I had the best feeling ever! Now that feeling gives me confidence to tell even more people about God and Jesus. Doing that shows me why God sent us to Peru. Because if I had never come to Peru, I would never have been able to tell my friend about Jesus.

There were many funny parts of this past year! Running around and trying to find furniture, trying to speak Spanish, and trying to just live here were all funny. I remember when I could barely speak Spanish and was always using google translate. My favorite parts of this year were Christmas and telling my friend about Jesus. I feel like we are a lot closer as a family now because we have all had to get each other's backs this year. I couldn't have done this by myself.

My goals for 2012 are to know perfect Spanish, tell more people about God, not stress as much about school, stop fighting with my brothers so much, and go to God more with my problems.

2011

2012-01-02T06:59:00.000-08:00

Gosh, 2011 was so boring. I wish we could have found something to occupy ourselves with. Oh wait. Craziest year ever for us! We only moved to a foreign country and started a new program for a NGO.

January

Sold all of our stuff. My favorite line: I cannot wait to be on that plane and know that all of this planning, selling, packing, and logistical crap is behind us. If I only knew. That was all a piece of cake compared to actually making a life in Peru. Actually, if I only knew then I might not have gotten on the plane.

Last days in the States. Hard stuff. Hard to read because we still miss that life so much.

The trip.

First week in Peru. Honeymoon stage!

I got my first lesson in patience. One year later, we are still pumping our fists in victory over tasks that would seem small in the States.

February

We found a house! It has been a really great home for us. We're so thankful for it. Although we would love to move closer to the KKp program, with four different school drop off and pick up times, it looks like we are staying put for another year.

The Superbowl made me cry. First bout of homesickness.

Starting to settle in.

I got a very small glimpse of what it feels like to be resourceless. And the hopelessness that accompanies it.

We got schooled. And with reading that post, my anxiety just went through the roof. It's almost that time again.

March

First Peruvian ER visit.

Worst week ever. Honeymoon is over.

First days of Peruvian school for Riley & Ford and Brady.

Unexpected trip to Chile. I'm happy to report that just last week we finally got all of our carnets to be able to live in Peru for five years. That insures that 2012 will be a much less stressful year than 2011, right?

April

We got a car! It was such a relief to be able to go out without walking to get a taxi and then haggling over the price.

Our first Krochet Kids Peru update.

Our first visitor! Our friend Bree came to be with me on my birthday and celebrate Easter with us.

May

I really started to feel the burn and exhaustion of living here.

Mother's Day in Peru. Brady's school put on the most elaborate show I have ever seen. One of my favorite memories by far of this past year.

I shared some of the kids' prayers. This is one of my favorite posts. Always keeping an open conversation and praying with our kids is one of the most important things we can do here in Peru.

A day in our life.

Leaving it behind. My least favorite post to read. Still too hard to see all of those pictures.

June

First amusement park experience in Peru. The paddleboat ride will never be forgotten.

(Hmm, June was a quiet month.)

July

The need for easy answers.

My sweet Gramma died, so we made our first trip back to the States much earlier than we expected.

We marked our 6 month anniversary in Peru. Another one of my favorite memories of our past year.

August

I hit the 6 month low point. It sucked.

Second Krochet Kids Peru update. So close to starting the program!

I asked for ideas for blog posts which led me to share about our family and money choices. (Still need to finish answering all of the questions from the original post!)

Family Day. Another fun cultural experience for us.

September

I wrote about our journey to Peru.

We finally started the Krochet Kids Peru program! Such a special day for us. With the program now going, everything about our life here has changed.

Still experiencing firsts.

I answered a bunch of questions about KKp.

Riley had her first birthday in Peru.

October

I shared a need and within 24 hours you guys furnished a playroom for the kids of KKp. Definitely a highlight of this past year!

We had our first KKp party.

We traveled back to the States because my sister got married! (When we moved to Peru we had zero plans for traveling to the States within our first year. As I keep saying, things never go as expected around here.)

Video tour of the KKp location.

November

KKp officially launched hat sales on the website.

Video of Jacqui, one of the ladies in our program. This is my favorite.

Tyler had her first birthday in Peru.

I started a series of posts with profiles on each of the ladies in our program.

December

Advent 2011.

Ford and Brady celebrated their first birthdays in Peru.

We were padrinos for a preschool party.

The kids finished their first year of Peruvian school! One of our biggest challenges of this past year.

We went to the pool for Christmas.

Thank you guys for following along with us on our crazy journey this past year. You have provided more love and support for our family than we could have ever asked for. Thanks for letting me be honest and never trying to rush the end result, but just letting me be where I am. Thanks for hurting with us and celebrating with us. Thanks for loving our kids and the ladies of KKp. Thanks for buying hats and giving financially. Thanks for speaking truth and encouragement. Thanks for not giving up on us or letting us give up on ourselves. Happy New Year friends!

o holy night

2011-12-29T08:32:00.000-08:00

With Christmas occurring close to our one year anniversary in Peru, it was hard not to reflect on our past year over the holiday. Thinking about this past year brings up so many emotions, thoughts, feelings, hurts, joys, confusion, and pain. It was a heavy year for us. We have been thrust into the refiner's fire and it burns. The thing about being refined and molded is that the process can come dangerously close to breaking you. Bending your will, becoming more Christlike, laying aside selfish desires, being denied comforts you have grown used to are all painful experiences because our sinful nature fights it. It is a long path. One that we are only just beginning.

The hymn "O Holy Night" especially spoke to me this season. I feel like every line spoke truth about our past year.

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth

My soul felt Christ's birth and the redemption that set in place in deeper and more personal ways this year. Most days that is all we have to cling to here.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn

Yes, my weary soul and this weary world rejoice. Hope. A new day will come. A glorious day.

Fall on your knees, o hear the angel voices

O night divine, o night when Christ was born

O night, holy night, o night divine

How many times this year have I fallen to my knees overcome with grief, exhausted, spent, unable to go on? Begging God for strength and restoration.

Truly He taught us to love one another

His law is love and His Gospel is peace

Love is why we are here. We are only just beginning to learn how to truly love each other. So thankful that His law is love and His Gospel is peace. Peace for me, peace for my family, peace for our ladies.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His name all oppression shall cease

The chains of poverty will be broken. These ladies are our sisters, their

husbands are our brothers. Oppression shall cease. Oppression shall cease!

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we

Let all within us praise His holy name

Christ is the Lord, o praise His name forever

His power and glory evermore proclaim

And at the end of the day, whatever has happened and whatever is to come, may we raise hymns of joy and let all within us praise His holy name. Because Christ is the Lord.

peruvian christmas

2011-12-27T10:48:00.000-08:00

Our first Christmas in Peru was fun, different, bittersweet, and blessed. It was a fresh start for our family to make new traditions and re-center ourselves. We were thankful to not be pressured into the hustle and bustle of Christmas and really have a simple time together as a family. We spent Christmas Eve making cookies, going to the park, watching Elf and having pizza for dinner, and going to a candlelight church service.

In Peru, Christmas Eve is celebrated with fireworks. Lots and lots of fireworks from about 11pm until 1am. Then presents are opened that night. Somehow our kids slept through all of the fireworks. I have no idea how since they were so loud, but I guess they have gotten used to the noises of city life. (Car alarms, home alarms, honking are all regular noises throughout the night.)

Last year I was crying my way through our church's Christmas service and preparing to travel for one last Christmas with family. In some ways last year was harder than this year because we were experiencing so many "lasts." We were so thankful this year to have our friend Eric come spend Christmas with us so that we were not alone.

We decided it would be best for our family to get out of the house on Christmas day and do something fun to distract us from all we were missing. So on Christmas morning we surprised the kids by taking them to a club with a pool and water slides. Getting to spend the day outside the city and in the pool was the best gift for our kids. We even rented a bungalow, so we could spend the night and get an extra day at the pool. It definitely ranks in the top 5 of our favorite experiences in Peru. Our kids were so, so happy. ¡Feliz Navidad indeed!

christmas 2011

2011-12-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

Wishing You
Faith Love Hope

Blake & Sarah

Riley, Ford, Brady & Tyler

collages

2011-12-22T17:58:00.000-08:00

Our friend, Eric, came to Lima to spend Christmas with us. I thought I would share his pictures from the week so far, so you could see the city through his eyes.

school's out for summer

2011-12-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

{Ford was an elf for his Christmas presentation}

It is summertime here in Lima! The kids are out of school until March. We are finally wearing shorts and tank tops. Blankets have been put in the closest until next winter. All of the windows in the house are open and a perfect breeze is blowing through the house. And best of all, the sun is shining!

Being from California, we are used to warm Christmases, but it is still odd to be on summer vacation at this time of year. I think I'm in denial that the kids aren't just on Christmas break. We have some fun plans for the summer, but, honestly, I'm scared. I know how to do summer in the States. The pool, playing in the cul-de-sac with friends, and even a vacation thrown in. That's all my kids needed and they were set. Here, in the city, those options don't exist (unless you have a gazillion dollars to join a club or travel). So, I'm scared of long days with four kids at home. I'm not sure if you guys have picked up on this or not, but I'm not the crafty, energetic, go-getter type of mom. I feel like a yard, some sticks, a trampoline, and imagination should be enough. Unfortunately, so far, that hasn't seemed to occupy my kids as much as I would like. I am currently working on a summer plan to keep us from killing each other. The kids have to continue Spanish tutoring on a regular basis and we need to keep practicing math facts, letters, etc. (you've probably already picked up on the fact that I'm not the homeschooling type of mom either, so that will be fun). We're trying to figure out a plan to be able to go to Krochet Kids once a week. The space in our current location is tight, so it's not really kid friendly (unless you are little enough to go into the childcare). The kids have been begging to play soccer again after a year hiatus, so we are going to suck it up and pay for a summer soccer club. We're going to brave the insane crowds and go to the beach. And I won't be afraid to use TV as needed.

I have to admit, though, that we are all relieved to have a break from school. Well, except for Brady who has been crying most nights about missing his teachers. Remember in March when he didn't get into the only school we applied to? And that it was the night before kindergarten started? Yeah, that was a low point for us. I will never forget running around in taxis with four kids trying to find a school for Brady. I was devastated that his kindergarten year wasn't going to look like what I had expected. We visited five schools and they were all either not what we were looking for or too expensive. We went to the last school on the list. Our last possibility before major decisions that could have changed a lot for us had to be made. And that last school has provided our son with the most wonderful kindergarten experience we could have ever asked for. Brady's teachers have loved him well and been so patient with him as he not only learns his letters and numbers, but also a whole new language. He has thrived this past year and found such joy in school. I will be forever thankful. God provides.

For Riley and Ford, it has been an incredibly hard year. To be honest, if there was ever a reason we would pack it up and come home it would be because school here is just too hard on our kids. We have seen the joy in school be sucked out of Riley and Ford and replaced by enormous amounts of stress and worry. It makes me sick to my stomach. We see them only learning to memorize or take notes well and not to be critical thinkers. Ford is not learning Spanish and will now be entering the third grade completely illiterate in that language. That doesn't bode well for next year. Riley says girls won't be friends with her because they believe she thinks that she is better than them (and if you know Riley you know she isn't like that at all). Between just the two of them, there was at least one quiz or test almost every day. Did I mention they were only in second and fourth grade?

I know that we seem crazy for keeping our kids in school here after all I just said. Let me say that there have been great parts of this year. Ford has lots of friends that he loves. Riley has learned so much Spanish and has a near perfect Peruvian accent. Riley made a few sweet friends and had the nicest teacher who really took her under her wing. Ford's teachers have been very patient with his lack of learning Spanish. Our kids have learned a lot about Peruvian culture and the history of Peru. Ford got to be on the basketball team.

I wish all of the good outweighed the bad, but at this point it doesn't. I know that it seems there must be a better option if things are really this bad. Unfortunately, at this time, there is not. Blake and I have prayed about it a lot and strangely enough we do feel a peace about staying at this school for the next year. I have no idea about the future, we take it one year (or one day) at a time here. Homeschooling is not an option and we cannot afford, nor do we feel comfortable paying for, an international school. We are thankful to have found a school within our budget that has a good English program (so our kids will not get behind in those studies). And thankfully our kids' main teachers have been wonderful people. So while we hate the method of teaching and learning, we do love the teachers. We also realize that we have been spoiled and our expectations are quite high. Our kids are receiving a decent education and that is still something to be grateful for. (Because if I was homeschooling, they would be receiving, um, zero education.)

Obviously, with all that our kids have gone through this year, we are so proud of them. They never gave up and always tried their hardest. Ford went from crying hysterically about having to do cursive, to being the best at cursive in his class. He also handled it so well when his teachers told him, three quarters of the way through the school year, that he needed to start speaking Spanish or he was in danger of failing the class. Even though he is one of the most self conscious kids I know, he began speaking this language that is still so foreign to him on his teacher's request. Both kids rarely complained about having tutoring three times a week after already spending seven hours taking notes at school. Riley, the most social little girl I know, handled being without many friends so well also. She confronted girls when they treated her meanly and she stood by a friend who was going through a really hard time this year. She rarely complained about going from being with her best friend everyday to maybe one play date a month. Riley stayed up late studying without complaining. And when the soccer coach told her she couldn't be on the team because she was a girl, our girl who loves soccer more than almost anything else, accepted the unfairness of it all with a maturity beyond her years. This year has taught me a lot about our kids, but mainly this: They are brave and strong.

All that to say, there is a weight lifted now that it is summer. Freedom probably best describes how Riley and Ford feel right now. So we are going to soak it up, even when the days at home seem long. "Remember kids, being forced to play on the trampoline is better than studying for a quiz!" Yep, I'm that kind of mom.

advent fail

2011-12-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

After learning about David in our Advent devotion, Tyler got to put his slingshot on the tree as the coordinating ornament.

"Oh yeah, mama, Angry Birds!"

the kkp ladies :: adelaida & jacqui

2011-12-13T12:02:00.000-08:00

Adelaida

Adela is our oldest lady, and as such is also our most wise. She has four kids, ranging in age from three to twelve, and lives in a two room shack with her husband. Pacifico became home to Adela when she was 27 years old. She was born in the Huanuco district of Perú. Adela has been working since she was 10 years old when she helped sell groceries in the market. When Adela was in middle school, she was forced to drop out of school to watch her younger siblings while her parents worked.

As an adult, Adela worked at a florist shop during the week and sold food on the streets on weekends. Recently, though, she found herself out of work because she couldn't juggle working and taking care of her kids. Their family was trying to get by on her husband's wages, but it still wasn't enough for a family of six. Adela says she is very happy about her new job with Krochet Kids because she is learning something new and she can provide for her family. She has always wanted to know how to knit. Adela is also interested in studying nursing and education.

Adela is such a gift to all of us at Krochet Kids. Her maturity, wisdom, and joy inspire us all. We were once having a group discussion about an important topic and many of the ladies were resisting helping out in a needed area. Adela finally said to the ladies, "We are better than this. We can all come together and make the right decision." She led the charge and the other ladies followed her lead. Her eyes speak of her kindness and she is someone you seek out when you need a comforting word. She is already a leader and mother figure for many of the ladies in Krochet Kids.

Jacqui

Most of you already know about Jacqui from her video. She is a 19 year old girl sharing a small shack on the side of her parents' home with her husband and two year old daughter, Bianca. Jacqui has lived in Pacifico since she was a baby. Even though Jacqui's parents made her start working when she was 12 years old, she was able to finish high school. Her parents had her help them sell food in both Pacifico (during the weekdays) and two hours away by the airport (during the weekends).

Jacqui's parents still expect and need her to sell tamales on the weekends. In addition, she provides the majority of care for her daughter. Her husband doesn't seem to be able to find much work and therefore can't contribute financially. Unfortunately, there are still strong stereotypes in place here that say all of the responsibility for cooking, cleaning, and raising children falls on the women. Even if the husband doesn't work. That's a lot to put on the shoulders of a 19 year old girl.

Obviously, Jacqui has been forced to grow up fast. She is a wonderful mother and very smart. At her young age, she is already a leader for Krochet Kids. There is also another side of Jacqui, where you can see that she is still a child who wants to be free and have fun. She is very social and outgoing. Through it all, though, Jacqui accepts and handles the responsibilities given to her with much maturity. Jacqui's drive to succeed stems from her desire to make a different life for her daughter. She wants her daughter to have more opportunities than she had. Jacqui also wants to study nursing and one day own her own home. I have faith that all of these things will happen for Jacqui.

padrinos & a party

2011-12-10T09:01:00.001-08:00

This past Friday we got to attend the preschool promotion party of two of the KKp ladies' daughters (Carmen and Jacqui). We got to attend because we were "padrinos" of the party. The word "padrino" literally means "godparent," but it has also come to simply signify "sponsor." There are many, many different kinds of padrinos in Peru. There is the literal godparent role in a child's life and this comes with a mentorship and financial responsibility for the child. There is also "padrino de corte de pelo" where you give the child his or her first haircut, "padrinos de médico" that help with emotional and financial support during medical crises, "padrinos de quinceañeras" that financially help with the huge celebration that accompanies turning 15 and I just recently heard of someone being asked to be a "padrino del baño" where you pay to build someone's bathroom in their new home (this was an unusual request though).

This party had numerous padrinos to sponsor different aspects of the party and we were specifically asked to provide a gift for each child in the class. Blake and I went back and forth about a million times on whether we should do this or not. We knew we were being asked because we are white and have money. Do we want to reinforce the stereotype that white people are here to give money and gifts away? But there was a part of us that also hoped we were being asked because we have shown that we love Carmen and Jacqui's daughters. In the end, we decided to say yes for a number of reasons. The commitment was minimal. Just one party. That's something we can commit to right now. We also felt like, even though this was about providing financially, that this was a way for us to enter into Jacqui and Carmen's lives. We want to be there for them outside of the normal workday at KKp. And we just thought the party would be a fun cultural experience for our family. Did we make the right decision? I don't know. Maybe there isn't a "right" decision.

On to the party. The invitation stated the start time at 4:30. We've learned enough to know not to come at that time (nothing starts on time here), so we came at 5:30. Apparently we're still a little stupid because the party didn't actually start until 6:30.

First the kids were introduced and sat in their seats. Each of the families buys either a dress for their daughter or a dress shirt for their son in the chosen party color. This may seem confusing to us North Americans. Obviously these families are poor. If you have seen Jacqui's video, you know that she shares a one room shack with her husband and daughter. They don't have running water or a real roof. But following customs trumps all. Buying a beautiful dress for your daughter's preschool promotion is just what you do here. You save, scrimp, and whatever else necessary to make this happen for your daughter. Jacqui even rented a dress for herself in purple.

Then the girls and boys danced together. This is Bianca, Jacqui's daughter.

Then Tyler cried because we wouldn't let her drink champagne.

After Tyler's little show, we got a real show. There was a clown.

And Barney.

And dancing.

There was also a basket stacking competition between the ladies and men. Blake and I quickly became the only two people in the room tall enough to continue stacking and therefore competing. I was so nervous. I had the weight of a win for all of the ladies on my shoulders. We had almost reached the ceiling when Blake fatefully misplaced his basket and the tower came crashing down. ¡Las mujeres ganaron!

Following the fun, each of the kids got their promotion plaque (provided by a different padrino). Blake and I were asked to hand out a few of the plaques.

This is Carmen, her daughter Angela, and her son Marco.

Tyler stole Brady's candy and then thought she could hide by closing her eyes.

Finally, ~~Santa Claus~~ Blake handed out the gifts.

It was a really fun experience and we had a good time hanging out with Carmen, Jacqui, and their families. And to top it all off we got this amazing gift that is now prominently displayed on Blake's desk.

the kkp ladies :: ana g & lucy

2011-12-07T06:03:00.001-08:00

Ana G.

Ana G. is a sweet and thoughtful 30 year old mom of two girls. She lives with her husband (as all live-in boyfriends are called) in a one room rented shack. Ana was born in Ayacucho, but moved to Lima when she was 13 years old by herself. Her parents could not support her and she could not find a job in Ayacucho, so she came to the city to work as a live-in maid (a very common practice). Ana was able to finish high school and is very smart. She has also worked selling ice cream on the beach and watching her neighbor's son.

The job security of Krochet Kids means a lot to Ana because her husband is unable to keep a steady job. Ana dreams of having her own home one day and going to school to study nursing.

Ana's 16 month old daughter, Diana, is currently very sick. We are not sure what Diana's exact overall diagnosis is because Ana has not offered that information to us (and we are guessing Ana has not been given an exact diagnosis). What we can tell is that Diana is both cognitively and physically developmentally delayed. For the past 5 days, Diana has been in the hospital with respiratory problems and Ana has been by her side. Just prior to this hospitalization, Ana had come to Blake saying she was having a hard time paying her daughter's medical bills. Now her daughter is in the hospital and Ana is unable to work. I imagine she is extremely worried about both her daughter and her financial situation.

Yesterday at Krochet Kids one of the most beautiful things happened. All of the ladies decided to finish Ana's hats for her. Ana had made the panels for about 30 hats and they just needed to be knitted together and crocheted at the bottom. The ladies split the hats up between themselves and completed all 30 hats so that Ana could get paid for them. These are women who need to be working on their own hats, but instead chose to help their friend. Blake and I are so proud of the ladies and how far they have come in such a short time.

Lucy

Lucy is our master knitter. She is so serious about her work and it is obvious that Krochet Kids is just the first step on her ladder to success. Lucy is a single mom to Elizabeth, who is four years old. Ayacucha is also home to Lucy and she moved to Pacifico when she was 20 years old to live with her uncle. Growing up Lucy worked on her family's farm and, since arriving in the city, she has worked washing clothes, babysitting, and cleaning houses. Lucy also used to make and sell necklaces and work in a factory.

{Lucy helping the other ladies.}

As a single mom, having a steady job means a lot to Lucy. She said that she is so happy to be able to provide for her daughter now. Lucy was able to study technical nursing for a short time and she wishes to finish that degree. She also wants to have her own hat business. Blake (jokingly) told her that was fine as she wouldn't be in competition with Krochet Kids because we sell our hats in the US. Lucy shot straight back with, "I plan on exporting to the United States." The gal is sharp as a tack and an entrepreneur. I love that even after everything Lucy has been through, she isn't afraid to dream big. So, keep an eye out for Lucy's hat business coming soon to the US!

six & eight

2011-12-04T17:54:00.001-08:00

The boys had their birthday party on Saturday. Ford turned eight yesterday and Brady will be six on Sunday. They decided to have the same party as Riley did- movies and dinner. I was so thankful to avoid having a real party at our house. I just can't pull off a Peruvian birthday party right now (or ever). The fact that movies are so incredibly cheap here is one of our favorite things about Peru. Even more so because it got me out of throwing two birthday parties.

With 11 young boys, things were just a little crazy. At dinner, Blake got stuck sitting at the kid table to referee and keep us from getting kicked out. I sat with the adults and fried my brain trying to speak and understand Spanish. Then we came back to our house to sing happy birthday and have cake and brownies. (Brady is a weirdo who doesn't like cake.) The boys had an absolute blast with all of their friends. We are so thankful to see both of our boys have so many friends that they love and have fun with.

The bottom picture is of Brady's friends all giving him a huge hug. There was a bittersweetness to the party because Brady is switching schools next year. One of the friend's dad's emailed me this week and wrote, "Fabián lo quiere mucho a su mejor amigo Brady." {Fabián loves his best friend Brady.} To say we are sad that Brady only has two weeks left at his school is an understatement. His friends and their parents are some of the sweetest people we have met since moving to Peru. We hate that we are tearing Brady away from these relationships and making him start over, but so thankful that kindergarten has been such a wonderful experience for him.

advent 2011

2011-12-04T10:37:00.001-08:00

A few years ago we decided that we wanted to focus on Advent together as a family. It's a decision that I'm really glad we made. It takes work and lots of patience, especially with young kids. But I'm always thankful that our focus is on Christ's birth and the big, huge deal that it is.

One of the ways that we keep the focus on Jesus is that we don't celebrate Santa. Now I realize this is a controversial subject and many people think we're taking the fun out of Christmas. We have found Christmas to be no less joyful without Santa (we used to celebrate Santa so we are able to compare). If anything, Christmas has only become more joyful and more special as we have focused less on the Santa/present/consumerism part and more on the Jesus/redemption of the world part.

I saw this comment on Facebook the other day from someone that I do not know, so I can't give him proper credit (sorry Andrew!), but I have to share it. It's a pretty good summation of how I feel about Santa.

"I always thought it was strange how Christians will tell me they have this giant and awesome truth they know is true deep in their soul and want to share with me, but when 12/25 comes around they lie to their own progeny because, apparently, that giant, liberating, and awesomely simple truth is somehow just not enough. It may be a good narrative, but it needs a little something to give it some panache."

We believe that the birth of Jesus stands alone. God's decision to send his son, knowing he would die on a cross for us bringing reconciliation and redemption, is as wonderful news as we could ever hope for. I want my kids to know and celebrate that.

And even if we wanted our kids to believe in Santa Claus, it wouldn't be possible. One of the most important values we hold for our kids is that they are in relationship with people living in poverty. We believe God's instructions in the Bible to take care of the poor are clear and we believe that is best done through relationship. And here's the simple truth: if your kids are in relationship with those in poverty, it is obvious that there is no Santa. You can't hide or explain away why the majority of kids in this world actually don't receive anything on Christmas morning. And that just shows me how far off the celebration of Christmas is from the heart of God. Christmas is about people who have too much getting more, while people who have little are lucky to receive a few handouts. Why aren't we overcome by the fact that while we enjoy our more-than-enough, people are dying of starvation or from lack of clean water or from curable diseases? How do we justify that if we spent 1/20 of what what we spend on Christmas in just one year on the clean water crisis, that every single person in the world would have clean water?

I'm not saying that every child getting tons of toys on Christmas is the answer. This isn't about presents. Our kids get presents from family so we are not anti-gift giving. It's about our hearts and our posture. If you look around (at commercials, at facebook statuses, at Black Friday, at people's stress levels this time of year), you will see that our hearts and our posture are about entitlement and having more. And for our family, that takes the joy out of Christmas. Always trying to keep up and have what we need under the tree isn't fun.

It's not always picture perfect and our kids aren't running around shouting about how they love helping others, but we hope that we are growing hearts made of thankfulness and love. Thankfulness for the gift of Jesus and a relationship with God and love for others.

The past few years we have tried to find special ways to celebrate Advent. In 2009, we ate rice and beans every night for dinner and gave the money we saved on groceries to clean water wells. Last year, we had one of the kids pick out a gift to give someone in need each day of Advent. We gave things like a camel, rickshaw, sewing machine, pigs, desk, and clean water.

This year as we prepared for Advent, examined where we were, and prayed, we found ourselves in a place where all we are doing for Advent is reading our daily devotional and doing our Advent calendars. We will have a family meeting soon and give each kid a certain amount of money to give away however they choose. And we will focus on being together as a family, celebrating such a special time in a foreign country without most of the ones we love. And being thankful that a good friend who is like family is coming to be with us.

Peace, love, and joy. I love those words to describe Christmas. May they be written on your heart this Advent season.

the kkp ladies :: jhazmin & carmen

2011-11-29T13:54:00.001-08:00

Jhazmin

Jhazmin is a sweet, sweet young mom. She is 22 years old with a 5 year old daughter, Valaxa, and 10 month old son, Carlos. Jhazmin, her boyfriend, and their kids share a room in her mom's house. She was born in downtown Lima, but moved to Pacifico when she was 5 years old. Jhazmin finished high school which is a huge accomplishment here.

Jhazmin has worked in a label factory and has also cleaned shopping malls, but when approached by KKp she had no job. She says she is happy now to have job security (a theme among the women) and to have her children so close. Having her own home is a dream of Jhazmin's. She also wants to study computer science.

Jhazmin is another of our ladies who is heavy on my heart. The relationship with her boyfriend isn't stable and this has been very hard for her lately. Jhazmin is a very tender and pensive woman. You can tell that she feels everything deeply. Jhazmin is an artist and loves to write poems. Since her boyfriend has been the sole income provider for their family, I am thankful that Jhazmin now has a job and can provide for herself and her kids if needed. I hope that KKp feels like a safe place and one where Jhazmin can get any help that she needs.

Carmen

Carmen is one of our older ladies (37 years old) and she has three kids ranging in age from 19 to 3 years old. She is a single mom. Her oldest daughter is currently in nursing school which I know means a lot to Carmen. Carmen had to drop out of school her final year to take care of her daughter.

When she was 15 years old, Carmen moved from the Huallanca district to Pacifico. After working on her grandparents' farm and selling food on the streets when she was younger, Carmen moved to Lima to work as a live-in maid. In recent years she has washed clothes and cleaned houses to make money. I'm going to share Carmen's words on how her life has changed since working for KKp because I think they stand alone. "I feel calm because I have a steady job. I enjoy working with the other women every day and it has changed my life because I am learning something else to provide for myself."

Carmen dreams of having her own business selling knit hats. She also said that she would like to build a real home and that she wants her neighborhood to "get better." Carmen has a very caring heart and wants to help create jobs for her neighbors. Her attitude of wanting to transform a whole community is what we are all about here at KKp. I share that dream with her and I am thankful for the maturity and wisdom she brings as an older women.

festival folclórico

2011-11-26T09:55:00.001-08:00

This past Saturday Brady's school had their annual Festival Folclórico (Folk Festival). Every grade from preschool to high school performs traditional Peruvian folk festival dances. Many of these dances are performed during carnivals and are in honor of patron saints. Brady's dance was "Carnaval de Ocobamba" from the Apurímac region. That's about all the information I figured out, but I will add that seeing Brady dance in traditional Peruvian dress was definitely a highlight of his kindergarten year for me.

A very small sampling of the dances and dress from other classes. (There were over 25 dances.)

And Brady's dance.

día de acción de gracias

2011-11-25T13:19:00.001-08:00

We had a fun first Thanksgiving in Peru! We kept the kids home from school (even though that stressed Ford out because he missed a test). After a little searching I was able to find the Macy's parade on the internet and we all sat around and watched it for awhile. Then we went and got our Christmas tree. And by that I mean we drove to the mall and bought a horrible fake tree. I'm sorry, but I just can't get into fake trees. Right now it just looks so pitiful all boxed up, but hopefully after we get it assembled and decorated it will feel more "Christmasy." We came back from the mall and watched some football and cooked and then we headed to our Thanksgiving feast. We were so thankful to be invited to our friends, Justin and Alison's, home and celebrate with around 40 other North Americans. Making a traditional meal from the United States is quite a challenge in a foreign country. Thankfully all of our friends have been at this longer than us and know to bring back ingredients from the States. Between that and lots of improvisation we had a very authentic meal! With being in the city and having no space for the 18 kids there, someone had the great idea of renting a bounce house. After dinner, the adults enjoyed a competitive washers tournament that even included a handmade (by Blake) trophy for the winners. I'm sorry to say that team Goodfellow was knocked out in the first round. We finally got home around 9 that night and there were some very sleepy kids the next morning getting ready for school. It was obviously a very different Thanksgiving for us, but we were still able to give thanks for much! I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

the kkp ladies :: ana h & belén

2011-11-23T05:43:00.001-08:00

Ana H.

Ana H. is a tiny and quiet (with some spitfire in her if needed) 37 year old lady with three kids. Her oldest daughter lives with her ex-husband and Ana has been left to raise the younger two on her own. She was born in Abancay (a city close to Cusco), but moved to Lima to help her mother pay the bills and have more opportunities.

Moving to Lima from outlying cities for opportunity is definitely a theme in these shantytowns. Where the mountains surrounding the city were once bare, there are now millions of homes. To those barely surviving, the city seems to promise jobs and an income. Unfortunately the reality is that 9 million people now live here and the job market cannot possibly accommodate the burst in growth.

Ana has finished elementary school. Like most of the ladies she had to drop out of school to work. She has worked as a housekeeper, selling food on the streets, and as a chauffeur on buses/combis (chauffeurs hang out the bus door trying to get people on the bus and collecting their fare). As a chauffeur, Ana would work from 6am to late at night and make about $10 a day.

Now, at KKp, Ana has a job where she not only works a normal workday, but can bring her kids. She said that she now has time to spend with her kids and can buy them the things that they need (food, school supplies, and medicine were the items she specifically listed). Ana said she dreams of one day having her own home because she currently lives with her sister. She also wants to study fashion which I just love because I never would have imagined that for her, but she hasn't let life steal her dreams.

{Ana asked me to take this picture of her and her son, Manuel, because she doesn't have any pictures of herself. She is standing in front of Belén's house.}

Belén

Belén has the most stable home life of any of our ladies. She has a sweet husband and three (mostly sweet) kids. Her youngest son, Rodrigo, purposely peed on Blake's leg on the first day of KKp. He is definitely giving Belén a run for her money! Belén and her husband have their own home which is obviously a rarity in Pacifico. The past year has been very hard on Belén as she had significant health problems requiring surgery. She was very scared for her life and she says that she still does not feel 100% and worries about her health.

Belén also moved to Lima from an outlying district (Aucayacu). Belén's parents divorced when she was young and she moved around a lot with different family members. She still has a hard time talking about her parent's divorce. Belén finished high school and you can tell that being schooled up to that age makes a significant difference in the intellectual capacity of these women.

Past jobs for Belén include housekeeping, selling food, and working in a factory. Belen says that she is more relaxed now because she has job security and she can bring Rodrigo to work. She dreams of having her own business making and selling crafts and party decorations like piñatas. Nursing is also a career that interests her. Belén has the potential to become a leader for KKp, but she does need to mature a little more. Each of these ladies is used to living day to day and when you are in survival mode you just can't take care of other people. We believe that with the KKp program, mentorship, and lots of prayer, Belén will grow into a leader.

the kkp ladies :: luz & eliza

2011-11-17T17:15:00.001-08:00

Luz

Luz lives up to her name and is a light at KKp. She is 35 years old and has two kids. Her husband has a steady job which is rare for the women in our program. She has always lived in Lima, but moved to Pacifico (the shantytown on the mountainside where all of the women live) 10 years ago because her husband's uncle gave them a room to live in. She had to drop out of school after 5th grade because her family needed her to work. She worked as a housekeeper and sold ice cream on the beach.

(Side note :: It is not unusual here to hire girls as young as 12 years old to basically be in-home servants. They work long hours and then are relegated to their rooms when not working. They are most certainly not treated as valuable human beings and, while I don't have any statistics, many Peruvians have told me that physical abuse does occur.)

In Luz's last job before working for KKp, she watched other people's kids and made the equivalent of $15 a month. Luz told us her dreams are to own a home and a restaurant. She wants to study cooking and she loves to bake. I can already picture Luz one day owning a restaurant. She is so positive and warm and would create a fun and relaxing restaurant environment.

Luz's daughter, Dora, comes to KKp everyday with her. She is very attached to Luz, so she has had a hard time adjusting to her mom working a full time job. I know that it has also been hard on Luz to put her daughter in childcare everyday, even though it's onsite.

Luz has definitely struggled with learning how to make hats. At the beginning she would get frustrated easily and she has come in tears to Blake a few times. She is a really hard worker and is not one to give up. She is doing much better now, so we try not to ask her to learn new styles of hats as much as some of the other women. We want her confidence to grow before we give her too many new challenges.

Eliza

Eliza is a 38 year old mother of three, but most days she seems much older. Eliza has had a hard life and she wears it on her face. She is a single mom with teenage kids and she worries about her kids a lot.

Eliza grew up in Puno, a city on the border of Bolivia. By bus it takes a full day to get from Lima to Puno. She never went to school as a child because her parents needed her to work their farm. Eliza moved to Lima when she was 18 and eventually found herself in Pacifico because she couldn't afford rent anywhere else. Her parents and brothers still live in Puno and you can tell it is very hard for her to be far from them. She loves to talk about growing up in Puno and has told us that she would love to be able to visit her family one day.

Before KKp Eliza sold coffee and food on the streets, was a housekeeper, and worked in a factory. She went to school at night and got through 2nd grade before she needed to drop out to take care of her first son. When Blake asked Eliza what she would like to work towards in her life, she said she wants to learn to read and write.

Eliza also wants to one day own her own knitting business, but her real dream is for her kids to finish school and have a different life than hers. Eliza sometimes has a hard time keeping up with work at KKp because she needs to be with her kids at home or get them to doctor appointments (her son has TB). You can tell that every penny that she earns is valuable to her. She has been trying to provide for three kids on her own without a stable job for a long time.

Just writing about Eliza makes me cry because I do worry about her a lot. I am overwhelmed with her life situation and I am not even the one living it. As I mentioned, you can tell that life wears on Eliza and that she carries a heavy load. Like Luz, she has also struggled making hats and seems to be easily defeated. Blake works hard to love on her, but also show her how strong she is. Any woman that can raise three kids on her own while living in extreme poverty is strong.

I know that Eliza's dreams are for her kids, but I dream that Eliza will one day experience peace and rest. I do see her finding happiness during the day at KKp and I hope that a steady income and our program development will drastically change her future.

three

2011-11-13T17:05:00.001-08:00

Things are a changing in our family. Tyler turned 3 on Sunday and, in our 10 years of having kids, the youngest member of our family has never been this old. Our identity as a family has always been that of one with many young kids. We are entering a new phase of life and are still in shock about it most days. This phase doesn't feel quite right for us yet, but I guess you are never fully prepared for new things. And there are certainly many, many things we enjoy about having older kids. Going to the bathroom by myself being high on my list.

So, even though it broke my heart a little, we finally moved Tyler out of the crib (in the closet) and into her big girl bed last month. Tyler is loving sharing a room with Riley and for the first few weeks, wanted reassurance a few times a day that she would get to stay in Riley's room.

Like most youngest kids, Tyler is obsessed with being like her older siblings. She wants to go to school just like them and has decided that Krochet Kids is her school. If we don't go to KKp, Tyler usually cries in the doorway as everyone else leaves for the day. Since KKp is her school, she now insists on taking her backpack every time we go. Last time I checked what was in her backpack for school, there was a tutu and ball.

Tyler decided to celebrate her birthday a few days early by busting her head open and getting stitches (again). Then she threw up all night on Friday. Our only birthday plans for Tyler were to take her to see a Cinderella play on Saturday, so I got a little nervous that we were going to have to miss her only celebration. Thankfully she was much better on Saturday, so we got to go to the play.

At first, Tyler was a little unsure of the dark theatre. There were some tears, but I finally convinced Tyler that Cinderella was her friend. By the end of the play she was dancing and having fun.

Riley felt that we weren't doing enough for Tyler's birthday, so being the sweet big sister that she is, she decorated the dining room for dinner. We enjoyed a dinner of pancakes and eggs and then Tyler dug into her birthday cake!

others' words

2011-11-11T05:36:00.001-08:00

This past week I've come across quite a few blog posts that have really expressed beautifully what I cannot right now. Our life in Peru has come at a much higher cost than we ever imagined, yet there is no where else we would rather be. These blog posts reflect all of the emotions this life elicits in us. These are posts that I have bookmarked and already gone back and read and cried over many, many times.

"Square Peg, Round Hole" by Scott Salvant (missionary in Haiti)

When you are a square peg getting smashed into whatever round hole is before you, eventually, something has to be sheared off to fit. For me, I pray that it will be pride, stubborness, indolence, selfishness, and the like. Let that American mindset be torn away and only what is Christ-like remain. But what can very often happen is that what gets shaved off is patience, joy, kindness, gentleness, empathy and so on; because deep down we (falsely) believe that we don't deserve to have trials, or suffering, or hardships. As a Christian, if you believe this, then you haven't read any whole book of the Bible, you have only read the verses that are printed on tee shirts and bookmarks and coffee cups.

"On Go Home Days" by Laura Parker (missionary in Thailand)

There are days when I can taste the loss of the chapter we chose to close– the mom-friends who brought me Starbucks on random Tuesday mornings, the family around the table, the social calendar of kids who had friends and activities and playdates to keep. I miss that– much more than I ever thought I would. Because there are days when the purpose or effectiveness of what we are doing here seems a feather on the scale of what we gave up to come in the first place.

And it’s the days of the weighing that often become the Go Home ones.

"The Cost" by Tara Livesay (missionary in Haiti)

I'd like to become a person that accepts the hard parts every bit as graciously as I accept the easy and fun parts. I'd like to whine less when things are hard. I'd like to lament less about the things that have changed. I'd like to say without reservation "I trust Jesus with everything I have and everything I am and at all costs I choose to walk with Him." And then, after that, I'd like it to be true.

"Because God Really Knows How to Meet Needs" by Ann Voskamp (visiting Ecuador with Compassion International)

Because when you hear a call, it needs an answer, deep unto deep, and lives that yield are always the one that say yes. Even if you don’t understand.

Jesus’ life, it was a cruciform life, a cross-shaped life, from beginning to end, and those who claim Christ aren’t only saved by a crucified Savior – their lives are shaped by the crucified Savior.

The cross isn’t some cheap wooden imitation of our faith — but the exact way the faithful embody the life of Christ.

Because the cross is the key to life — and it’s resurrected in the midst of the poor and the oppressed and the suffering. And when we don’t see the suffering, when we don’t stand in solidarity with the suffering, when we don’t surround our lives with the suffering – we never form our life like our Savior’s.

A Word-shaped life is not a wealth-shaped life but a cross-shaped life.

"When You Are in Desperate Need of Hope" also by Ann Voskamp

And it’s when we aren’t in right relationship with God, when someone or something in our life plays God, we work poor. The power hungry who play God in developing nations make very real people and whole countries poor and when I’m hungry for possessions, playing God, I make very real mothers poor.

And when we are all in right relationship with God and man, resources right themselves.

chabela

2011-11-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

Before I introduce all of the ladies in the KKP program, I wanted you guys to meet Chabela. Chabela is our trainer and production manager. You won't see her profile on the website or her name on any hats, but she is really the one who makes everything happen at KKP. I'm not exaggerating when I say that without her we would not have any hats to sell!

Many months ago Blake was looking for someone to make sample hats for KKP. He saw Chabela's name and phone number on a bulletin board in a yarn store and called her. Chabela ended up spending almost every day at our house for a month making sample hats for us. In the end she made over 100 hats and we saw how skilled she was at the hand machine. We then hired her to train the ladies for two weeks. It didn't take us long to realize that we needed Chabela on staff full time. Blake asked her to come work permanently for KKP and thankfully she accepted the job! She now oversees the ladies and all of the hats that they make on a daily basis. She is there for them when they are struggling on the machine and she helps them fix any mistakes they make. She keeps them on task (not always easy!) and helps them meet their hat quotas each week. She sews in tags, helps with quality control, and prepares the machines. Chabela is so excited for the ladies and all of the recognition they are getting, all while knowing that her name will never be known. She has really taken ownership in KKP and we are so thankful for that. To have someone that we trust with our program and the ladies is no small thing. In Chabela we see God taking care of our program and giving us just the right lady for the job.

Because Chabela loves the ladies so well, they all love her in return. They all call her "Chabelita" which indicates affection in Spanish. Saturday was Chabela's birthday and she invited everyone to her birthday party. Chabela rides the bus two hours each way to come to work every day and this past weekend it was the ladies turn to ride the bus to her house to celebrate with her. There was food and dancing- typical Peruvian party!

jacqui

2011-11-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

I love Jacqui and I love this video! It makes me cry every time I watch it because I have such hope for Jacqui. She has so much life, is so smart, and is driven. She wants a better life for her daughter and is willing to work hard for that dream. I know we can't pick favorites among the women, but Jacqui has quickly become very special to both Blake and me. We can't share many aspects of these women's lives on a public blog, but I will say that there are forces in Jacqui's life that are working to keep her from moving forward. Just like all of us, she has obstacles to overcome and we are thankful that Jacqui trusts us to walk alongside her on this journey. We are praying for wisdom on how best to help Jacqui and trusting in the knowledge that God is the one ultimately protecting and guiding her.

official launch

2011-11-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

Today is the day! Krochet Kids Peru hats are now being sold on the website. We have three styles available and each hat comes signed by the lady who made it. There will soon be profiles up on the website of each lady so you can learn more about who made your hat! I'm also going to share about each lady here on our blog. They are pretty special to us and they all worked so hard to learn how to make these hats. Blake has already been wearing his grey Riley hat everyday and now we are excited to finally share these hats with the world!

books

2011-11-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

*With the start of KKP I have had lots to blog about (and do in real life), so answering the questions from this post have been put on the back burner. I am still going to answer every question as time and brain space permits- I promise.*

My friend from high school, Rachel, wanted to know what Blake and I love to read and also asked for suggestions for good reading that is Bible focused. I had already been mulling around writing a post about books because I love to read so I'm excited to answer this question.

If I had to choose only one book to recommend right now that would be Half The Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. I actually wrote about this book last year and this is what I said:

Please read this book. Through firsthand accounts from women and girls who have suffered oppression, you will walk away heartbroken, inspired, and changed. I know that it is so hard for most of us to read about the brutal treatment of women, but we cannot turn a blind eye anymore. Especially if you are a woman, we owe it to other women to educate ourselves on this subject and fight for reform. As the book says, "It has probably become more dangerous to be a women than a soldier in armed conflict."

It is a book, in my opinion, that everyone should read. My second choice for a book that everyone should read is When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett. I think that it is required reading for all Christians who desire to help those living in poverty. Please don't go on a short term mission trip, volunteer with a local ministry, or give money to a ministry before reading this book. We are already seeing the harmful effects of well intentioned, but ill-advised helping with the ladies in our KKP program.

The book that has had the biggest spiritual impact on my life this past year is Interrupted: An Adventure in Relearning the Essentials of Faith by Jen Hatmaker. From the back cover:

"Are you one of the millions who crave a new direction in the church? Have you had enough of religious games, empty promises, and 'playing' church? It’s time to discover what happens when Jesus interrupts an average life.

Join author Jen Hatmaker in a transformation that begins with one dangerous prayer, 'Raise up in me a passion,' and concludes with a life of service to the last, the least, the forgotten, and the forsaken.

It’s time for revolution in the church. Are you ready?"

This book is a quick read, but will rock your world. We are definitely in Peru due in part to this book.

Other books that come in as close seconds are The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns and Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt. Currently, I am reading One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp and Blake is reading The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen. Blake's book recommendations are Crazy Love and Forgotten God by Francis Chan, Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard, The Sacred Romance by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis, and The Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay.

I also love, love, love reading fiction books. The most moving fictional book I have read recently is Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese. Do not be discouraged by the length of the book because by the end you will not want it to be over. It is such a rich story with characters that will captivate you. It is also an intimate glimpse into Ethiopian culture and life. Just thinking about it makes me want to read it again.

I have been on a little bit of a reading rage since moving to Peru. The Passage by Justin Cronin is Twilight for adults (it has an actual storyline and characters with depth). Make sure you have time to read it all because you won't want to put it down. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a fascinating look at the ethics of science. It is actually a non-fiction book (that reads as a novel for most of the book) about an African-American woman whose cells were taken from her body without her consent. These cells went on to "make some of the most crucial innovations in modern science possible." Room by Emma Donoghue, I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb, and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (also not actually fiction, but a memoir) are books worth reading. Currently I am reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Of course, I'm obsessed with The Hunger Games and recently bought the first book in Spanish. I decided if I was going to have to read in Spanish it was going to be the most amazing book ever. Strong statement I know, but as I said, I'm obsessed. I love how the topics of justice, power, corruption, and war are explored in this series. I know that the Capital and the actual Hunger Games are over-the-top, but the reality of that world is not that far from the reality of our world today. (And I don't mean the whole apocalypse stuff, but rather the theme of have and have-nots.)

So, what is everyone else's favorite books? Most life changing? Most informative? Most challenging? And most importantly, Team Peeta or Team Gale?

happy halloween

2011-11-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

We didn't know what to expect from Halloween in Lima. We had heard that kids trick-or-treat, but only in certain areas. We didn't know if that included our area, so we opted to play it safe and have a family night at home and watch a Halloween movie and order pizza. The (what felt like) gazillion kids laying on our buzzer made it clear that there is indeed trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. I didn't have any candy, so we didn't answer the door which only seemed to make the kids press on the buzzer harder and longer. Funny fact- kids in Peru actually say "Halloween" when you answer the door instead of "Trick or Treat."

Thankfully our friends Lee and Stephanie had a Halloween party on Saturday night so our kids were able to get dressed up. Riley got creative and put together a zombie outfit. Ford surprisingly (not so much) did not want to wear a costume. When I said he had to in order to go to the party he decided to be a shadow. Tyler was a princess. She had repeatedly expressed that she wanted to be Yoda. Since she was Yoda last year and since I had saved this princess dress from when Riley was her age, I really wanted her to be a princess. Blake may have told me that I was being a pageant mom, but all I will say is that Tyler wore the princess dress and was very happy. Brady wore his bat costume from a recent school play.

Long side story- I may have stolen that costume since I decided not to return it to the rental store. We searched high and low for this required bat costume and couldn't find one anywhere. One store finally said they would make one for us, but they charged us a ridiculously unfair price and since we had no options and couldn't let Brady be the only kid not in costume, we paid their price. (Side note to side story- this scenario plays itself out over and over in Peru for us. We have limited resources and limited knowledge and we literally always pay the price for it. Very high on the list of frustrating things about living in a foreign country.) I came back two days later to pick up the costume, waited almost an hour for them to finish making it (even though I came 12 hours after they promised it would be finished), put down my deposit and left. After thinking through the cost of a cab to return the costume and the amount of time it would take, I decided it was worth losing my deposit. So, in the end we paid over 20 dollars on and spent five hours acquiring a black piece of fabric stitched together that ripped after its first use. But I didn't look like a totally worthless parent because I couldn't figure out how to get a costume! (That was yesterday when I didn't send the required food in for the holiday party because it was a Peruvian recipe that I didn't know how to make.)

Today is the real holiday in Peru. It is Día de Todos los Santos (All Saints' Day). Since it's a public holiday that means no school and no work. Since we have to get our first shipment of hats out tomorrow, we spent the day at Krochet Kids. Between Blake, Riley, our friend Amanda (who graciously gave her time), our trainer Chabela (who graciously agreed to work on a holiday), and myself, we tagged, bagged, and boxed the final 500 hats for the shipment. Ford and Brady spent most of the day outside playing soccer in the street with friends. Tyler ran around and somehow kept herself busy for the eight hours that we were there. Each kid had their moment (and one kid in particular may have had more than one moment), but overall I am so thankful our kids were happy to be at Krochet Kids all day. Everyone came home filthy and exhausted which I think means it was a good day.

Anyway, here are the kids in their Halloween costumes...

a tour

2011-10-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to give everyone a tour of the Krochet Kids Peru program location...

*Yes, I sent Blake up to the roof because I have a debilitating fear of heights. The steps leading up to the roof have no protection on either side and I don't want to fall three stories to my death.

Also, we got our hat labels and the ladies were so proud to sign their names on them. This was the first time one of the ladies had ever signed her name, so she needed help with the spelling. Signing hats is a big deal. It is an act of empowerment for the ladies to claim what they made and know that whoever buys it will know they created it. For a woman, whose life has told her that she is nothing, to find out that she will be known is overwhelming and inspiring. It speaks of redemption.

the kids' room!

2011-10-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had the privilege of setting up and surprising the ladies of KKP with the kids' room using all of the toys and equipment that you guys donated. They were so thankful and were repeating "gracias" to me over and over. I kept telling them that my friends in the US were excited that they were able to have childcare and wanted to help out a little, so they did this for them. Of course the kids were so excited too and rushed to play with all of the toys. These toys will make a significant difference for these kids, most of whom spend seven hours in this room each weekday. So, thank you guys again for making this room happen. You guys were so generous and I know it not only encouraged the ladies, but Blake and me as well. ¡Muchas gracias a mis amigas!

As a reminder, here was the room before.

And now the room after.

It would be much cuter if I had been able to put up the wall decor that my friend, Jessica, sent. Because the program is growing like crazy we might be changing locations soon, so I want to save them.

A blog reader, Laura, sewed a doll for each kid. Such a special gift!

Empowerment: Our Model Unpacked

2011-10-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

The following post is written by Adam Thomson, International Programs Director for KKi. He is writing a series of blog posts explaining the KKi model on their website. I thought I would share it on here to give everyone a better idea of KKi and why and how we do things.

{photo credit: krochet kids international}

INTRODUCTION

Over the last 5 decades $2.3 trillion of aid has been poured into the developing world, yet more people live on less than $2 a day now than fifty years ago. Hmm… Something seems a little backward here.

While still in university my friends and I set out on a journey to understand why this was the case. In 2006 while volunteering at an orphanage in Uganda, Stewart met an old man named Franklin. Franklin was a leader of an Internal Displacement Camp on the outskirts of Lira, Uganda. After sharing some tea and conversation Stewart asked what he thought that we, a group of long-haired, ragged-looking college kids, could do to help. What Franklin told us was all too simple, “We want to work. We are relying on humanitarian aid like a baby relies on mother’s milk. I want to work so that I can provide for my own family.”

It’s a tragic metaphor when you think about it. Here’s one of the most resilient men in the world, having survived 25 years of rebel warfare in his backyard, and yet he likens himself and the people he’s entrusted to care for to babies. They are dependent upon others for their every need.

Franklin isn’t alone in this sentiment. Across the globe people are fed up with the damage that handouts are causing. They are tired of being dependent on organizations for food, water, clothing, education and occasionally, if the situation is bad enough, all of the above. They are ready to rebuild their productive capacities, invest into their futures and again take control of their lives.

In 2007 we created Krochet Kids intl. to partner with the poor and accomplish our mission statement: “to empower people to rise above poverty”. We designed a unique model that equips women with the assets, skills, and knowledge to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. With this investment into true empowerment we are breaking the cycle of poverty and, subsequently, the dependence on humanitarian aid. The result is long lasting and sustainable change that is being facilitated by the previously poor of the world.

The results are proof that the process is working. Compared to the national savings statistics, our beneficiaries are saving more than double the national average. They are creating and running some of the largest village banks in their country. They are leaders in malaria prevention practices and are making revolutionary steps towards raising a healthier and more educated generation.

In the following blog posts I’ll be explaining why the women we work with are changing their lives in such radical ways. We believe this is the case because they are supported by an incredible job opportunity, consistent mentoring on relevant topics and real-time monitoring and evaluation that provides us with verifiable indicators of our collective successes and failures.

- Adam Thomson, Intl. Programs Director

the wedding

2011-10-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

We are back in Peru after a whirlwind 10 days in the States. I don't think I've ever been this tired in my life (and that is saying a lot). With all of the pre-wedding errands and preparations and then the actual wedding activities, there was never a dull moment. We had another two days after the wedding to be with family and then do our shopping. We stocked up on peanut butter, contact solution, toothpaste, nilla wafers, and more lego holders. We also brought back birthday and Christmas presents for the kids. And then we had all of the wonderful donations for KKP! After many hours of packing and weighing, we had 12 full suitcases/boxes to bring back to Peru (we only had two full suitcases coming from Peru to North Carolina). I am headed to KKP tomorrow to set up the children's room. Thank you again to everyone who donated. We are still overwhelmed by your response!

The wedding was so special. My sister, Hannah, was beautiful and it was a really joyous occasion. Hannah has been through a lot in her life due to health issues, so this day meant a lot to everyone involved and was truly a reason to celebrate. Our whole family was honored to be a part of it. I was a matron of honor (along with my other sister, Bekah), Riley was a junior bridesmaid, the boys were ring bearers, Tyler was a flower girl, and Blake read scripture. One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was that Bekah's husband performed the ceremony. It was so special to be up there with my sister by my side, watching by other sister get married by my brother-in-law. And seeing all four of my kids come down the aisle brought tears to my eyes. I told Hannah and Chad at their rehearsal dinner that it finally felt like our family was complete. Of course more kids will be added, but the adults are all here now. I couldn't ask for better sisters or brother-in-laws and I know that we are going to have a lot of fun growing old together. Because we all love each other so much and love being together, it makes leaving and living so far away hard.

I have to admit that on the wedding day I was a tad bit stressed out with the kids and making sure everyone was dressed and in the right place at the right time (including myself). Therefore, I didn't take any pictures. I'm really sad about it, but hopefully soon we will get to see the professional pictures. So, here are the embarrassingly few pictures I got off my mom's camera...

There was a photo booth at the reception. Brady spent the majority of the reception dancing in the below outfit. He sometimes added the blow-up guitar, saxophone, or microphone. He was in his own world on the dance floor. Riley and Tyler also danced the night away. To no one's surprise, Ford's feet never touched the dance floor.

Tyler was watching everyone write a message on the chalkboard, dress up, and then take a picture. She finally went over, got the chalkboard, and wrote a "T" for Tyler. Then she dressed herself up and posed for a picture.

My parents. They are having a hard time dealing with their last daughter being married off.

Yep. The only picture I have with my sisters is this one.

Three out of four kids crashed at the reception.

first krochet kids peru video

2011-10-17T18:56:00.000-07:00

We're in the midst of packing up to head back to Peru tomorrow, but I had to take a break to share our first official KKP video! So exciting!

wedding week

2011-10-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

We are in North Carolina for 10 days living it up and getting ready for my sister's wedding on Saturday. It is so good to be with family and we are really excited to celebrate my sister, Hannah, and soon to be brother-in-law, Chad. I'm thankful that I can finally help my sister with wedding stuff since I have been a horrible matron of honor so far. We have also been planning a fun bachelorette party for Thursday.

We took a red-eye flight on Friday night out of Lima, had a 5 hour layover in Miami early Saturday morning, and finished up with a flight to Charlotte. So what did we do after 18 hours of traveling with four kids who barely slept? Well, we drove straight from the airport to a Wake Forest University football game. There was no way we were passing up the opportunity to cheer on the Deacons. And since we will not be in the US again during the fall we knew this would be our only chance to go to a football game for the next five years. The Deacons did not disappoint and beat #23 Florida State in an exciting game.

On Sunday we threw a surprise birthday party for the kids since they all either recently had a birthday or are having a birthday in the next few months. We thought it would be fun for them to celebrate with family. The kids also love cookie and ice cream cakes and neither are available in Peru, so they were pumped to each have a special birthday cake.

Monday was a day of wedding errands and bachelorette party preparations. All of us are now almost outfitted for the big day. Tyler's feet are too fat to fit in any appropriate shoes, so she will probably be a barefoot flower girl. Blake got a last minute invite to play golf with Chad yesterday, so that made his day. There's not much else he would rather do with his time in the States then play golf.

My sister and I took lunch to my grandfather today and then helped him with his physical therapy while the kids went to a movie with my mom and cousin. Now we're resting up before everyone starts coming in town tomorrow. We have the bachelorette party, bridesmaid luncheon, more golf, rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, wedding day brunch, and of course the actual wedding all in the next few days!

Here's some pictures from the first few days...

la fiesta

2011-10-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, we threw a "Welcome to Krochet Kids Peru" party for the ten ladies, their families, and other friends that helped us start the program.

We sat on makeshift tables and benches outside of our building and had lunch together. Blake gave a short speech welcoming everyone and sharing about our excitement about the beginnings of KKP. We also had everyone introduce themselves and explain their involvement in KKP.

At the end there was a big cinnamon roll hug with the ladies, Blake, and visiting KKi staff. This hug has a special meaning to KKi. When they first started the program in Uganda a few years ago, all of the ladies and staff there also cinnamon roll hugged. It was fun to watch the tradition carried on- especially since the ladies could not stop laughing!

a need

2011-10-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

**Updated**

Wow! You guys have blown me away with your generosity! We are so thankful and appreciative. I am just so honored that you love our ladies. Nobody ever does things like this for them. It will be such a sweet gift for them to receive.

Seriously, you guys- not even 24 hours after I posted this need the list has been taken care of!! As I mentioned below if anyone wants to purchase toys on their own or donate old toys they are done using, I can give you my parents' address to send the items to. Just email me at goodfellowsinperu at gmail dot com.

Thank you so much!!

Today we talked with the ladies at KKP about how we should structure childcare. Obviously it is very hard for all of the women to work with little kids running around, but each woman cannot afford childcare on her own. After a long discussion, the women decided that the best setup would be to all pitch in and share a childcare worker. So, now the ladies can bring their kids, but not be solely responsible for them while they are also trying to work.

While the women are going to pay for the childcare, we have decided to surprise them and set up a fun room for their kids to be in each day. This is where we need your help. I have created a small wishlist on Amazon of items we would love to have in this room. We would be delighted if anyone wanted to help us purchase these items. The good news is that our family is going to the States on Friday (for my sister's wedding!) so we can bring back the items (they will be sent to my parents' house). We are leaving the States on October 18th, so any gifts need to arrive by the 17th. I am sorry that this is a last minute request, but Amazon normally delivers pretty quickly.

If you guys want to pick out any other items (especially toys) that would be welcomed also. The ages of the kids we have right now are 9 months, 1 year, 3 years (2 girls and 1 boy), 4 years (1 boy and 1 girl). Also, if you want to send any toys that you are done using I can give you my parents' address. Just email me at goodfellowsinperu at gmail dot com. Thank you guys so much for reading our blog and caring about these ladies and their children.

The room before. I will post an after picture when we return from the States.

being here, doing this

2011-09-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

First off, we have some exciting news. Because the Kickstarter hats sold beyond our expectations, we were able to hire five more ladies! They started working today and it was fun to welcome them to the program.

{Original ladies making hats while the new ladies learn the machine.}

Three of Blake's bosses are in town this week (not as scary as it sounds). These are guys who started Krochet Kids a few years ago with no idea where it would go, but they had big dreams. They wanted to help women in Uganda who wanted desperately to work, but couldn't find employment. Now their dream has been realized in another country and this was their first time to see firsthand what was happening in Peru and, most importantly, meet the ladies of Krochet Kids Peru.

Monday morning was such a blessing for me. We sat with the ladies and each of them told their story to the KKi guys. This was the first time I heard them tell their own stories. It was beautiful. All of the ladies talked about how they had been praying for work. Most of them have health issues. They all were living meal to meal and trying to make enough money during the day to put food on the table that night. Some of the ladies are single mothers and others have completely unsupportive spouses/partners. Some are illiterate. Every single one of them said that they have never been able to find an employer who let them bring their children to work and that this has been the main barrier for them in staying employed.

{Tyler watching one of the ladies' babies.}

I am already overwhelmed by my love for these ladies. Last week Jacque said she was quitting the program. She lives in a very small shack that holds only a stove, small table and bed with her two year old daughter and boyfriend (who currently doesn't have a job). She is 19 years old. She comes home from work and makes dinner for her family. She also spends her Saturdays and Sundays helping her father sell tamales. There are some family issues that made Jacque want to give up. She stopped coming to work and sent a message through the other ladies that she needed to quit.

We knew we weren't giving up on her but didn't know what to do. We always want to respect not only our ladies, but their families. Jacque has been dealing with her family for 20 years now. We are new to the situation. We don't want to make a bad situation worse by our actions. After praying about it, Blake decided to go to her house and talk to her. Blake simply asked her how we could help. Jacque described her situation and the issues she was having at home. Blake explained the benefits of Jacque having a steady job to her boyfriend and assured Jacque that we could work with her and find solutions to her problems.

Thankfully Monday morning Jacque came back to work. We all got a little teary eyed welcoming her back. I just have so much hope for her. She has her whole life ahead of her and I know she can use her job at KKP to change her life and the life of her daughter. When Jacque was sharing her story with the KKi guys she said she wasn't going to come back to work, but after Memo (Blake) showed up at her house and talked to her she knew she wanted to come back. Tears. I'm just so thankful for this opportunity and that we have the privilege of walking alongside these ladies and loving them. And they are already sharing so much love with us. I know it's going to be a long road with lots of setbacks, frustrations, and disappointments, but at least we're on the road and we're all ready to fight together. Stories of redemption are being written right before my eyes and I'm just really, really grateful this week to be here, doing this.

{As you can see in the top picture, there isn't much for kids to do at our program, but Tyler finds ways to keep herself entertained.}

ten years old

2011-09-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Last week Riley celebrated her 10th birthday. I have definitely become the mom who can't believe how fast time flies. It feels like just yesterday that I was convinced my kids would be toddlers forever. And now we have a 10 year old.

Riley is pretty much the most amazing 10 year old around. We don't deserve her. She is so mature and wise for her age and loves people well. We are so thankful that she is our first born and that our other kids have someone of such character to look up to.

Riley decided to take a few friends to lunch and a movie for her birthday party. She really wanted to see a certain movie, so we waited to have her party until the movie was supposed to be released. Note the word "supposed." I got my information from Yahoo Peru. In fact, the opening of this movie was the top story on their movie front page.

Did the movie actually open on this day? Nope. Not in any theater in Lima. So we ended up going to the only other appropriate movie showing- Smurfs.

The day of the party our car got a flat tire. Our spare isn't very trustworthy, so Blake had to take the car into the shop to get the tire fixed. He made it very clear to the mechanic that he needed the car at 3 o'clock and the mechanic said that would be no problem. {Obviously we're new here for believing that.} Twenty minutes before I was supposed (there goes that word again) to pick up the girls from school for the party, I got a call from Blake saying the car was, in fact, not going to be ready.

But the good news was that the mechanic was going to let us borrow a car. Also the car was a stick shift, so Blake would have to be our chauffeur.

One year ago my jaw would have hit the floor if Blake had pulled up in the following car. Today, it just seems normal. It sort of freaks me out how right it felt to be driving this car for Riley's birthday party.

Some people get limousines for birthday parties. We get old school buses. Only the best for our girl.

Thankfully, the rest of the party went on without a hitch. Riley had a blast which means the world to Blake and me right now.

a must read

2011-09-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

This post. I don't know what I can even begin to add to it, so I simply encourage you to read it. Please.

krochet kids peru questions

2011-09-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

There were a handful of questions specifically about Krochet Kids Peru so I am going to try and answer all of those in this post (with a lot of help from Blake).

-How did you get involved with Krochet Kids and what are your and your husband's specific roles?

Many years ago when Blake was an area director for Young Life, the guys that started Krochet Kids were volunteer leaders for him. Those relationships continued after Blake left Young Life staff and a few years ago, the KKi guys asked Blake to be on their Board of Advisers. The more Blake got involved with KKi, the more he grew to love the organization's work. When he learned that they would be expanding their program one day to another country, Blake told the guys to keep him in mind for the job. We are thankful that they decided we were the right people to start KKi in Peru!

Blake's title is Director for Peru. Basically, he is in charge of all things KKPeru. These days he spends most of his time at the program with the ladies. He is also in charge of everything logistically that happens in Peru. One important aspect of his job is legally setting us up as an NGO in Peru and making sure we follow all laws here. His recent jobs have been hiring, buying sewing machines, ordering yarn, getting the location set up and ready for use, having sample hats made, and helping train the ladies. It is not unusual for him to spend a day running around to five different places to get all of his responsibilities done. The guys at headquarters, though, decide on hat styles and colorways and take care of all marketing, retail, and distribution for KKP. I am technically not on KKi staff, but obviously this program is just as important to me as it is to Blake and I am determined to be as involved as I can while also being home with the kids.

{First yarn order.}

-What do interns with Krochet Kids do? Will you eventually have intern positions in Peru?

Here's the official intern description from the website:

"Our internship opportunities offer amazing hands-on experience in roles ranging from social media and photography to inventory management and fund raising, and everything in between. Interns get a behind-the-scenes look at nonprofit/social enterprise work on every level, and are crucial to what we do. We love our interns!"

Some of the titles of internship positions in CA are Graphic Arts (Web and Print), PR/Social Media/Communications, Events, Retail Support/Visual Merchandising, and Inventory and Customer Care. Right now internships are available at our headquarters in Costa Mesa, CA and at our program in Uganda. You can learn more or apply online here.

We didn't plan on having interns in Peru for awhile, but with the amount of exposure that Krochet Kids has been receiving recently (and subsequent hat sales), we are in the process of hiring interns right now. Interns in Peru will do a lot of the behind the scenes stuff like inventory, quality control, yarn orders, and administrative tasks. Interns will work very closely with Blake. I will definitely post on here when we are ready for future intern applications.

{The ladies learning the hand machine.}

-Do you ever see a need in the future for other individuals/families from the US coming over for a few weeks or months to help you in the mission field?

Aside from internships, we do not see a great need for people from the US to come help. That doesn't mean that we don't want people to come visit- we absolutely do! We just don't have any missional roles that we need to fill. I have mentioned this before, but Tara's post on short-term mission trips is a great place for those wanting to learn more about the effectiveness of such trips. The bottom line for KKPeru is that we are here to empower both the women in our program and Peruvians in general. We never want to do for them what they can do for themselves. It is important for these women to learn the power of community and coming together to help each other. If in the future, for instance, one of the women needed a new home to be built we would approach it in a way that allows the community to help with this need, not people from the US. People from the US will come and go, but their community will always be there. To teach them responsibility for each other (instead of relying on those on the US) is a powerful tool. If, for some reason, there was an aspect of home building that needed to be done by a professional, we would hire a Peruvian. Our desire is to exhaust all options of employing Peruvians before we move on to using people from the US. I know this is a difficult subject to discuss and I can't address it well in a paragraph or even a post. When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert is definitely the most comprehensive piece I have seen on this subject. I believe every person that truly wants to help alleviate poverty needs to read this book.

As I mentioned before, traveling to Mexico and Guatemala are important parts of our family's story. So, we are not against families traveling to foreign countries. I think we should just be honest that these trips are more for those going than those in the visiting country. If anyone wants to come visit Peru we would welcome it. We love showing our family and friends what we are doing here and now we can actually introduce people to our ladies!

{View out of one of KKP's windows.}

-Why did KKi decide on Peru?

KKi choose Peru for two reasons: the poverty demographic and the yarn possibilities. Our program best benefits those living in poverty that have opportunity available, but are lacking resources to pursue these opportunities. Peru is a developing country with many opportunities, as well as many living in poverty that simply need to be empowered. Also, the textile industry is a rich part of the culture here in Peru. This enables KKi to purchase exclusive yarns in-country, unlike Uganda where it has to be imported. Blake and the guys actually have big dreams of one day having our own alpaca farm and making our own yarn. We'll see what happens!

the scooter

2011-09-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

We got Tyler a cheapo scooter at the mercado a few months ago. At first she didn't want much to do with it. Pretty soon, though, she learned how to ride it and now she is a little bit obsessed with it. In fact, she has decided that she doesn't so much care for actually walking around the house anymore. Instead she rides the scooter all throughout the house. It is pretty darn cute to see her zipping around everywhere.

She rides her scooter right up to wherever she needs/wants to be whether it's dinner...

...or helping me get ready for Spanish class...

...or watching television.

She rides her scooter to pick up Ford and Riley from school.

And stops along the way to tell a really important story.

At night and during nap time she always parks the scooter in one of two spots.

All of the members of our family have decided that she isn't allowed to grow up. We need a scooter-riding two year old in our house forever.

question mashup

2011-09-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

I'm still so thankful for all of the questions that everyone asked. They keep me writing and, most importantly, thinking and processing. I'm going to try and answer a bunch of questions in this post. So here goes...

(With random photos thrown in because I don't have any that relate to this post.)

-How long do you plan to live in Peru? Do you think you will return to California when you are done? Do you see yourself starting another Krochet Kids in another country where it is needed when you are finished with your time in Peru?

Our contract with Krochet Kids is for five years. We have absolutely no clue where we will end up when our five years are over. Riley will be going into high school at that time, so that will certainly affect our decision to some extent. We are not at all against our kids going to high school in a foreign country, but we do believe some stability during those years is important. We know that it will most likely be a very difficult decision and we will approach it first and foremost with prayer. Lots and lots of prayer. California is our home and ideally where we would like to return when we move back to the States. We are also open to moving to another country to help set up a new Krochet Kids program, but we don't know if that will even be needed or if they would want us to do that. And staying in Peru is definitely a strong option. I try not to think about the future too much because a lot is going to happen to us and in us in the next five years. I know we will be different people in many ways and there is just no way to even begin to predict where God will take us next. The most important thing for us to be right now is completely open and willing to go wherever it is that God leads us next.

-What do you miss the most? What don't you miss?

We obviously miss our families and friends the most. Being far from my niece is still one of the hardest aspects of living here. I also miss Target and Southern California weather. Our kids miss our cul-de-sac, neighbors, and school the most. I will talk about schooling in Peru in a different post, but it is not ideal and since our school in the States was amazing, our kids know what they are missing out on. I miss chocolate ice cream. I miss swimming pools and the sun. I miss how easy it was to get stuff done and run errands. I miss nicely paved roads and traffic laws. I miss the library a lot. And I really, really miss community and our church. Oh, and Disneyland. With the kids' birthdays coming up, I am missing Disneyland more than ever these days.

I don't miss the ridiculous pressures of the American culture. From having the latest technology to looking put together all of the time to doing crafts everyday with your kids. Playdates here are so relaxed. The kids are just happy to be together and I don't need to do much to entertain them. I don't miss the cost of childcare, movies or healthcare. I don't miss my homeowner's association. I don't miss owning a home. I don't miss politics and I don't miss the way Christianity looks in the US. I don't miss how upset people in the US get when things don't go their way (myself included). I don't miss not being deeply involved in ministry and not being in relationship with people in poverty.

{Brady's artistic interpretation of Star Wars. I can't express how much I love this picture. Also, you're a true Star Wars fan if you can identify everything in this picture.}

-Do you ever feel unsafe?

Overall, Peru is a relatively safe country. There are not the security issues of a war torn country or an unstable government. The most common crime in Lima is robbery and theft. It is not unusual to have your home broken into and most certainly your car. I have never heard a personal story, though, of anyone being injured in a home invasion. Kidnapping does occur here. A child was recently kidnapped leaving his school (forced out of his car) and held for ransom. The motive in kidnapping is money, not to be violent. The police are corrupt here, but not to the extent of many other countries. Obviously, violence, assault, and gangs are a part of life here- this is a city of nine million people in a developing country. These things tend to occur in certain parts of the city and we are cautious when we go to these districts. But even in the "nicer" part of Lima, Blake has seen a man getting robbed and attacked.

So, my answer is that I feel safe most of the time. Hearing about the kidnapped child has kept me up a few nights. Unfortunately, since we are not Peruvian that puts more of a target on our backs and we live with that awareness. The fact that I don't speak Spanish yet has a lot to do with my nervousness. If I got in a threatening situation with a cop or a taxi driver, it would be made much worse by the fact that I cannot understand much Spanish. The other issue is that my comparison is the United States. Of course Peru is much less safe than the US. It is hard not to feel that. For the most part, though, we are able to buy our safety through the home we chose and having a security guard. It makes me a little sick to know that I am able to feel safe because I have money, while millions of others in this city know Lima as a violent and dangerous place to live.

-What did you parents and/or immediate family think about your decision to move to Peru?

Debbie left this question on her son's behalf. He is 14 and reads our blog which is really sweet. So, first of all, hi to Debbie's son! As I mentioned before, our decision to move to Peru was a shock even to us, so it was most definitely a shock to our families. It was hard for everyone at first to come to terms with such a life changing decision. Certainly, because grandchildren are involved, the grief and loss of us leaving the country is even more powerful. Our families are very supportive of us and believe in what we are doing in Peru. There is a lot of sadness, but they are also so excited to see the journey that we are on. They are our biggest cheerleaders even though this all comes at a cost to them. A lot of this is my parents' fault anyway because they raised me to have a passion to help those living in poverty. (I say that jokingly- the fault part, not the way they raised me part). So, I guess be careful how you raise your kids. Because if you raise them to be serious about following Jesus, they just might be called to do that in another country. I didn't know this until we decided to move to Peru, but my parents chose their own vows for my baptism. Here is one of their vows:

"Have you covenanted with God if Sarah grows to adulthood and is called to some form of special Christian service, you will not stand in her way but rather encourage her?"

That still gives me goosebumps and about says it all.

{Tyler loving the sun while watching our garage door get fixed.}

firsts

2011-09-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

When I started writing this post I had a few "firsts" that we have experienced in the past few weeks in mind to share. Obviously, we have a lot of firsts happening in our lives right now because the list kept growing.

-The ladies all completed their first hats! If you want to pray for these ladies we would love that. What they are doing is no easy task. The effects of poverty are deep, so these ladies are already facing challenges. The ladies are (left to right) Elizabet, Ana, Jacque, Belen, and Luz.

-I knitted for the first time. And right after I took the below picture, I pulled apart everything that I had done because it was too tight. I will definitely not be finishing my first hat as fast as our ladies did.

-Ford has joined his first basketball team. It's also the first team sport any of our kids have been a part of since moving to Peru. We had been putting off sports because we have just been so overwhelmed with figuring out life here, but our kids have sorely been missing playing sports. We played soccer in the States and only since moving here have I realized how much a part of our life it was. We definitely took our ability to play soccer for granted. Our Saturdays revolved around soccer, we took kids to practices all week, and Blake was even Riley's coach. We have all felt the void left in our lives without soccer. And all of our kids have been asking when they could play soccer again.

So, as much as we don't want to get in over our heads right now, when Ford came home beaming because he was asked to be on the school's basketball team, there was no way we could tell him "no." This means, though, that twice a week he is at school from 8-5, has tutoring from 5-6, eats dinner, does homework, and goes to bed. But he is so, so happy to be on a team and competing again. His first game he didn't get to play until the last few minutes. When I asked him how he felt about that, he answered, "Well now they know how good I am." (All this talk of Ford playing basketball and soccer reminded me of this post from almost exactly three years ago to the day.)

-Brady rode the school bus for the first time. His school (and most that we have seen) don't have a bus system, but individuals (many times parents) run their own school buses. With our Krochet Kids program starting and Blake having the car at work all day, we need Brady to ride the bus home everyday. When Blake first told Brady that he may be riding the bus, Brady got really concerned and said, "But I'm only a kid, Daddy, and I don't speak Spanish. How will I know how to get home?" He thought we were putting him on the public buses! Then the night before Brady's first bus ride home, he broke down sobbing. Even though he knew he wasn't riding the public bus, he was still scared. The next day, though, when he got home from riding the bus, he said, "I love it! I want to ride it every day!" Classic Brady.

-Tyler and I had our own first bus ride experience. Obviously when I go to our program I need to leave early to be home for the older kids. It is easier to leave the car with Blake so that he can get home in time for dinner (using public transportation adds at least a half hour). Plus I'm still not comfortable driving long distances in Lima.

So Tyler and I take two buses home from Chorrillos (the district our program is located). The bus system here is fairly new and really nice. Thankfully the first bus we take is never full and we get on at the first station for the second bus so we always have a seat.

(Do not let this picture fool you. Traffic is normally never this light and calm.)

After the buses, we also take a combi. Combis are part of life here, so this isn't a first, but I thought I would still share about them. Combis are large vans or small school bus-like vehicles that you jump on and off. This explanation by Wikipedia is awesome, especially the part on combi culture. "These microbuses dash dangerously fast, frequently crashing and speeding off before their passengers have got both feet in the vehicle." (A combi has hit my car so I have to agree with Wikipedia's assessment.)

Overall it is a much more peaceful experience for me to sit on a bus and have some hangout time with Tyler than try to navigate the streets of Lima.

-We found Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for the first time. So yummy!

-Tyler had her first night without a pacifier. I know we're a little late on this, but I'm in no rush with the fourth kid. Also, Tyler's our first kid to use a pacifier so I'm actually a newbie in this area. Thankfully the transition went well and she still slept her usual twelve hours at night. Other first that needs to happen: Tyler's first night in her big kid bed. As I mentioned, she just sleeps so peacefully right now which means that I sleep so peacefully right now. I don't really want to mess that up. I also feel like this is the last step in moving from having little ones in our home to all big kids. I'm not the least bit ready for that.

selling our stuff

2011-09-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

Since it relates to my recent posts about money choices, I thought I would answer Laurie's questions about how we feel after selling almost everything we own and if we miss or regret selling anything. For newer readers, since our families were a plane ride away and we didn't feel right about paying to store stuff we weren't going to use for a very long time, we sold almost everything that we owned when we moved to Peru. The only items that we stored at our parents' homes were my scrapbooks, some of the kids artwork, and a few other meaningful items. (Being the paranoid person that I am I made us carry on the plane my large and heavy collection of scrapbooks.) After that, we only kept what we could take on the plane with us to Peru. So, here we are with everything we owned the day we moved. You can read about our adventures trying to get all of that through the Mexico City airport here. Let's just say that two adults and 24 suitcases/backpacks is not a favorable math equation.

The simple answer to how we feel now about selling everything is that it feels really, really good to have gotten rid of so much junk. Because really, when it comes down to it, most of what we owned was junk and doesn't matter in the scheme of life. There is something about moving to a foreign country with my family that made me realize they are really all that I need. We had a similar experience a few years ago when wild fires came within a mile of our house. We packed up our van with the important stuff and left not knowing if our house would survive. I had a lump in my throat leaving our home behind both times, but driving off with my family and knowing that we were together and safe became all that mattered to me.

One thing that I realized as I sold everything was how little it was all worth. We had spent more money than I want to think about furnishing our home and filling every nook and cranny with stuff and when it came time to get rid of it I sold it for pennies on the dollar. And I even worked my tail off selling stuff on Ebay and Craigslist so that I could get the most out of it. I almost had a full time job keeping up with all of the appointments of people coming to buy stuff and taking things to the post office to mail to buyers and I still didn't make much. It gave me a new perspective on the wisdom of spending a lot of money on stuff that turns into junk quite quickly.

There are a few items that we regret selling only because we have found them to be more expensive here in Peru. We kept ourselves to 12 checked bags because we didn't want to pay for anymore, but we have realized that paying $50 for an extra bag that we could have filled would have saved us some money in the long run. For example, a simple booster seat for a kitchen table (literally just the plastic kind that straps on a seat) is $70 here. We definitely can't bring ourselves to spend that much money on an unnecessary accessory, so Tyler spends most of our meals getting in trouble for standing up or trying to leave the table. Obviously, it would have been worth it to throw our old, cheap booster seat in a suitcase and bring it. Hindsight is always 20/20, right?

Everything we sold is replaceable, but I have to say that we have not wanted to replace much of it. Our kitchen cabinets are pretty bare, our kids have very few toys, and we have nothing on our walls. And it feels really freeing. We have realized that we don't need much and that accumulating stuff only creates more work. These days if we lose something we don't have to look far to find it because there really isn't many places it could be. And it certainly doesn't take the kids long to clean up their toys.

Once again, living in a developing country also keeps me in check. Above is a picture of the boys' bedroom which also serves as playroom I suppose. All of their toys (except Lego sets and these silly Transformer helmet) are stored in the two drawers under the bed. Part of me feels so proud that the boys' room is so simple. Then I step outside my front door and suddenly I feel ridiculous. The ladies we have working for our program? Some of their entire homes are not much bigger than that room. They dream of being able to afford one Lego set for their children. And I realize that I am a big jerk for feeling like we live so simply, simply because we have less than we used to.

I can honestly say that selling all of our stuff was much easier than I expected. There were absolutely some sad moments as people carted away the couch that we loved or the crib that all four of my babies had slept in, but in return we have received a much greater gift. We have experienced freedom from "stuff" and this new adventure as a family.

a new beginning

2011-09-06T05:54:00.000-07:00

The past seven months have been full of meetings with more organizations and churches then can be remembered, many false starts, many dead ends, lots of legal meetings, bags and bags of yarn purchases, sample hats being made and remade, sample hats being mailed, intense interviews with potential ladies, hours on skype, five attempts at opening a bank account, plans being made and changed and made and changed, location scouting, and massive amounts of prayer. And it has all been leading up to this day.

The first official day of our Krochet Kids Peru program.

Last week five women found out that they would going to be a part of KKP. Two of them cried and all were just so grateful to have a job. To know that someone was willing to take a chance on them and employ them even though they don't have a resume or, in some cases, can't even read. And I think that they all realize that this is bigger than a job. That this is an opportunity to change the course of their lives and their families' lives. They see that this is an investment in them on our part and that we are asking for an investment from them. We are asking them to show up on time, work hard, and produce quality products. More than that, we are asking them to view all of us involved in KKP as family. To place great importance on this community, to be honest and vulnerable, and to be willing to work together on issues both big and small.

So, yesterday, we sat in one of the ladies' homes (our location isn't ready yet) and these women began to learn the trade that I truly believe will change their lives. It was obvious that they were overwhelmed at first. Learning something new is always hard and frustrating. Doing it under the eye of your new, highly educated, rich, white employer is...I don't even know the word for it. Overwhelming times 100??

We tried to provide as relaxed an environment as we could. We told the ladies we knew they would not be able to learn how to knit in a day or even a week. We have set aside three weeks for training. At the end of the day, the women wouldn't stop knitting. They are excited. And so are we.

our journey to peru

2011-09-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

I think the question that was asked the most was, "How did you get to Peru?" You guys asked how this all started, our path to Peru, and why we moved to Peru instead of another country or staying in the US.

If you saw our lives five years ago you would never have believed that we would ever be living in Peru. We were your average, American dream chasing family living the life in Southern California.

{Our original blog header}

Our journey to Peru unknowingly started four years ago with a short term mission trip to Mexico. (Which opens a whole can of worms about the healthiness and helpfulness of short term mission trips that I can't even begin to address, but I would recommend this post by my friend Tara who lives in Haiti. This mission trip to Mexico most likely was not healthy or helpful which grieves my heart, but it is part of our story). In this essay that I wrote after returning from Mexico I shared how we had realized that obedience to God meant serving others and that having a young family shouldn't interfere with that calling. A year after our Mexico trip (yes, we sat on our butts for a year and did nothing) we started this blog and here is what Blake wrote in our first post:

"It was a year ago that our family experienced an awakening. It’s an awakening that we hope and expect to change the course of our lives forever. In July 2007, we spent some time in Mexico where we built a few houses for those in need and spent some time with a few of the locals. Our young family endured the challenges of spending four days in minimal living conditions and overall we enjoyed our time. We didn’t come away from our four day trip with any new profound thoughts, but it was clear to Sarah and I that our family, our lives, need to be lived out in a new way. We want to live a life of GOing - a life of action - as part of a revolution.

We see following Jesus awakens us and inspires us into action. The revolution of Jesus isn’t for the faint of heart or the middle of the road. It isn’t safe. It isn’t comfortable. It costs us a great deal to say yes, we will GO. We take hold of the revolution by abandoning ourselves to Jesus and letting go of everything else. GOing is a decision we are called to make daily, moment by moment - a call to choose others before ourselves... a call to be awakened to the needs right around us, and to respond through action.

In reading those words now it is no surprise that we ended up in Peru, but at the time we had NO clue what we were getting ourselves into. We just knew that we were finally starting to surrender our lives to God. We spent a lot of time reading the Bible (specifically what it had to say about poverty), prayed, and educated ourselves on the realities of poverty in our world today. In January of 2009, I wrote this post with frustration that our family was not doing enough, Blake wrote this post about challenging ourselves to life differently, and we started volunteering with the local motel ministry. This is the first time that sacrifice was brought up in our family.

In June of that same year, we spent a week in Guatemala. We had absolutely no intentions of moving to a foreign country, but we wanted our kids to experience life in a foreign country for a short time. We saw our kids (especially Riley) come to life in Guatemala. We saw them serving others with joy and loving on kids that had been deemed unlovable. Riley cried when it was time to leave.

We came home from Guatemala and still didn't quite know what to do with ourselves in regards to serving others. Riley raised money for clean water wells through service projects and eating rice and beans for a month, but it still felt like we weren't doing much. We were doing acts of service, but we were not living a life of service.

Then the earth shook in Haiti and I couldn't believe the devastation that followed. I desperately wanted to be there to help, but quickly realized I wasn't needed. I read Tara's blog and yearned to be in a position like her. I realized that in order to be available to serve others when tragedy or hardship hit, I had to be living that life of service. Not sitting in my comfortable home, living my comfortable life, and jumping on a plane when I was ready to serve. I kept thinking of Esther who, when her people were facing death, had been put in her position as queen "for such a time as this." (Esther, chapter 4)

I wanted to be in position for "such a time as this." I was tired of standing on the sidelines and watching from afar. After years of God working in my heart and slowly bending my will to his, I was ready to really step out in faith. In March of 2010 we put our house on the market in order to downsize and move into a low income neighborhood in our county. We wanted to live among the poor and know them. We felt that only by being their neighbors and friends could we ever begin to know how to help and serve them. We visited many neighborhoods, always praying as we walked through them for God to reveal our new home.

By July we were frustrated because we had no clear direction on where we were supposed to move. I felt like God was taking forever in getting back to us. At the end of July, Krochet Kids approached us with the job offer to start their program in Peru. Let me backtrack and say that at some point in the past (I can't even remember when) Blake had mentioned to the guys at KKi that when they did decide to grow their program to another country to keep him in mind for the job. I'm still not entirely sure why Blake threw that out to them (because he didn't really want to move internationally) except that he loved what KKi was doing and really wanted to be a part of it.

We took a month to pray about our decision, but it was pretty clear from the get-go that this was God's answer for us. Both Blake and I felt a peace and confidence almost immediately. We were just as shocked as everyone else that Peru was where we were moving. It hadn't even been on our radar, but when God speaks it's undeniable. In August of 2010 we accepted the job with Krochet Kids. I am so thankful to have this blog because it paints a very clear picture of all of the ways God had been working in our hearts to prepare us to say "yes" to moving to Peru. This obviously wasn't an overnight change, but years of pruning, praying, changing, learning, waiting, faithfulness, and trust. We weren't ready for this four years ago or even one year ago. But God brought us to just the right place at just the right time.

el día de la familia

2011-08-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we celebrated "El Día De La Familia" at Brady's school. It is similar to field day in the States if field day included the families, was super competitive, and lasted nine hours. At Brady's school each class held their own family day and picked their own activity.

After many emails and discussion, Brady's class decided to have family day at a campo. Campos are everywhere on the outskirts of Lima. They are basically clubs (some are private, some are public) that offer fields, playgrounds, pools, and various other activities. The term club is a little misleading because they aren't necessary expensive. Our family of six only paid $15 for the day and the campo was very nice. (We all gazed longingly at the pool because we haven't seen one since we moved here and the kids begged to come back as soon as possible.) The best part of campos? They are in the sun! It was so refreshing to bask in the sun for a day when we have been surrounded by clouds and fog (pollution?) for months. As I've said before, the sun doesn't shine (at all) during the winter in Lima. We were a bit like prisoners who had been in solitary confinement and hadn't seen light in awhile. It took our eyes some time to adjust to the brightness.

After driving an hour and a half to the campo, we started the day with family introductions.

Then we played lots of games. Go Team Rojo!
In this game we had to unscramble Spanish words. Blake and I were a huge help.

Blake was totally cheating in this picture.

Introducing Memo. (Short for Guillermo which is William in Spanish. Blake's middle name is William.)

Tyler found a friend in Jesus. No, seriously, this is her new friend Jesus.

Mini-golf (golfito) with concrete "greens" where your ball never stops rolling around.

Blake told Tyler "no" about something. Oh, the drama.

Obviously Blake and I need to spice our wardrobes up because there were no adult red shirts to be found in our house. Or we just really like to make sure that we stand out because the skin color and height difference doesn't seem to set us apart enough here in Peru.

Brady loved having a special day with his class!

money choices, part two

2011-08-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

In my first post about money choices I talked about the effect of advertising in the US, the attitude of entitlement that dictates most financial decisions, and the need to be in relationship with those living in poverty.

It is sobering to stand at the top of a mountain and be surrounded by poverty as far as your eye can see.

This post I'm going to get more personal and try to answer Kristin's questions. Her questions/thoughts again were: "How do you balance or come to terms with what is OK to have or spend money on and what is frivolous? It must be hard to live in a poor area without always feeling guilty about what you have. And it's easy to look at what others do and compare and say, 'well at least I'm not spending money on a face lift like that person' but if I spend $50 on a special night cream how is that any different? Same concept just smaller dollar figures."

As I said in my last post, we don't have any concrete guidelines for deciding how to spend our money. (This doesn't mean we don't have a budget. We do have a budget which serves as a strict guideline for how much money we spend each month. How we arrive at our budget each year, though, does not follow any set rules. We also withdraw the exact amount of our budgeted money every month and only use cash. This keeps me from being tempted to overspend.)

What has been instrumental in helping us balance how we spend our money is a major change we underwent about three years ago. Our financial plan used to be that we tithed ten percent and spent the rest of our money however we wanted. Easy, concrete answer for us on how to spend our money. As long as we were giving away ten percent, we could live however we wanted. And we did. If someone needed help financially, we could easily say, "We're so sorry, but we have already committed our ten percent of giving to other people/organizations/church." Our giving never interfered with our lifestyle. It never came with a sacrifice.

Slowly and painfully our eyes were opened to a different way of looking at giving. We started wondering if giving without sacrifice meant much to God. Or if God even intended for us to spend the majority of our money on ourselves. The more we read the Bible and the more we sought out God, the more we found that following God required a lot more of us physically, financially, and mentally then we were giving.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:1-2

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Matthew 22:37-39

So, I stomped my feet and threw some fits. "But I'm too tired from raising four kids to get involved in a ministry right now. It always seems like people need my help when it's a hard (meaning inconvenient) time for me. Really, I just got all four kids to bed and now you want me to spend time with you, God? I love myself enough to make sure that I am always feed, clothed, and have a safe place to lay my head at night, but I don't really want to love others that way. Why do we have to give away money that Blake worked really hard for? I just really feel like you are requiring a lot of me, God."

It all felt like a punishment at first. Or some horrible list of steps I needed to complete in order to please God. Slowly and gently God broke down the walls I had built around my heart. My stubbornness, my greediness, my selfishness. When I allowed myself to be stripped of those inclinations I realized that sacrifice is not punishment. It is the result of an outpouring of love. It comes because my love for God is so deep and so real that I can't help but give him everything. It comes because I want to know God more. It comes because God commanded me to love others and has so filled my heart with his love that I can't help but share.

The next verse after Romans 12:1-2 (above) says:
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Good, pleasing, and perfect. Not punishing. And I think where we stand today is proof of that verse. If we had not turned this corner and begun to give ourselves, our desires, our entitlements, our money, our time over to God we would not be in Peru.

With the change in the way we viewed sacrifice, came a change in the way we spent money. Instead of tithing ten percent and calling it a day, we decided to live on as little as possible and give the rest of our money away. So then the question became, "How do we decide how much to live on?" It is very common for people to say, "It's different for everyone. Each person knows what they are comfortable spending on themselves." I like this answer in theory because I do believe that people should make their own decisions on how much to spend on themselves with prayer, humility, and love. Unfortunately, we are sinful people and it is not too hard to convince ourselves to be selfish. So I do not always trust my heart and I don't think other people should either.

Blake and I started by overhauling our budget together. And each year since we have overhauled our budget a little more to the point that we have cut our spending on ourselves in half. This included cutting back on little things like utilities by not using our heat and air conditioning (now we're in Peru where we don't even have those luxuries). We have, by American standards, a very bare bones budget. But as Kristin mentioned, it is easy to only compare ourselves to those spending a lot of money so that we can feel better about ourselves. That is a huge advantage to living in a developing country. I am always having to compare myself to those living in poverty because I am surrounded by it. "Oh wow, you don't have heat or air conditioning. Well, I don't have a roof over my head." Yes, some days I feel guilty, but I don't mind guilt. Guilt keeps me in check.

The view from our grocery store's parking lot. Perspective every time we spend money on food.

Blake and I also keep each other in check, by calling each other out when we are clearly being selfish or just asking, "Have you thought about if you need to spend money on that?" It is now easier to talk myself out of spending money than into spending it.

Our old pastor used to talk about how people always wanted him to tell them where "the line" was. The line where doing certain things crossed over into sinful or wrong. His advice? It's not about the line. If you are really interested in following God, you don't want to know the line of how much you can get away with before getting in trouble. You run as far away from the line and as much towards God as you can! So, Blake and I don't worry about the line with money anymore. We don't try to spend as much as we can on ourselves while trying to also please God. We try to run away from spending money on ourselves and then enjoy the times we do feel comfortable indulging ourselves. We also know a lot of people doing this whole living simply, giving away more money thing much better than us. We feel like babies in this whole process, learning new things everyday.

It is painful at times to say no to the things we want. We can get jealous of others or want our old life back. But, overall, it is so good. It has only brought us into deeper relationship with God and made us more dependent on him. There is freedom in relaxing our grip on our finances. Our hearts are changed when we stop expecting to get everything that we want. There is so much beauty in giving money away, especially sacrificially. The month we ate rice and beans forever changed our family. Once we started giving our money away out of love and saw the effect on our hearts and the hearts of those on the receiving end, we knew we could never turn back.

money choices, part one

2011-08-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

My friend Kristin asked, "How do you balance or come to terms with what is OK to have or spend money on and what is frivolous?" She also mentioned that it must be hard to live in a poor area without always feeling guilty about what we have. And she said, "It's easy to look at what others do and compare and say, 'well at least I'm not spending money on a face lift like that person' but if I spend $50 on a special night cream how is that any different? Same concept just smaller dollar figures."

So, um, yeah, here goes...

How we spend "our" money is something that Blake and I struggle with on an almost daily basis. I don't think that we will ever have concrete guidelines. The first thing that I would say is that the tension is good. This is a really healthy issue to struggle with and always be conscious of. I hope that I am never comfortable spending money without wrestling with myself about how I am spending it.

There are a lot of things that stand out to me now that I am living in a developing country. One is the effect of advertising. The only advertising I have been exposed to in the past seven months have been billboards. The other day Blake was watching golf online and American commercials kept coming on. Now at the risk of sounding like the crazy missionary lady, I just could not believe how stupid they all sounded. The iPhone ad started with, "If you don't have an iPhone you don't have..." and listed some really unnecessary features on their phone that apparently we do need. And that's what advertising in the States does best- makes us feel inadequate because of what we don't have and makes us long to have more. We don't think anymore about what we spend money on. We get new things because we are never happy with what we have and we have been convinced that more is better.

The effect of advertising is so powerful that it takes being completely removed from it for a long period of time to see its grasp on the American people.

Another thing I am struck with everyday is that the middle class standard of living in the States is not really middle class. It is upper class in the rest of the world because it includes a decorated home with at least two bedrooms, two cars, eating out regularly, entertainment galore, rooms dedicated just to toys, extravagant parties, and all of the newest technology. In the States, this is normal and, most disturbingly, what we feel entitled to. And that, to me, is where a large part of the problem in people's decision on how to spend money lie. Because if you feel entitled to all of the above, then you're going to spend money on it without putting the proper thought and prayer into the necessity of that item. As these are items you are entitled to, it will never cross your mind that you could live differently in order to help others.

Please hear this: I am the queen of entitlement. In fact, living in Peru has made it worse in some ways. Because I have given up so much to be here, the least I deserve is to eat out once a week or get the expensive Coke from the States or have a home I love. Let me just say that it is really fun living with me in a foreign country. Just ask Blake.

One last thing that becomes glaringly obvious when living in a developing country is how insulated from poverty we have built the US to be. Except for a few rare places, we have created a country where the haves and the have nots do not interact. We live in different communities, go to different schools, hang out at different places, and most disheartening to me, go to different churches. We, as the haves, have made sure that we do not cross paths with the have nots and have to face what living in poverty is like. And here's what I know to be truth because I have seen it happen again and again: when you enter the lives of people living in poverty, you are changed and therefore, how you spend your money is changed.

(When we decided it was time to get off our butts and form relationships with people living in poverty, we started by volunteering for our local motel ministry.)

Watch this video about the famine in East Africa. If you are purposely avoiding news of the famine, I dare you to enter this world for just a few minutes and watch this video.

Will it make you think twice about how much you need to spend on your own food tonight? I believe it will and I believe that is why we avoid the poor. It is easier to be ignorant, but if you were that parent walking miles and miles just for clean water and food for your child, would you hope for more from your fellow human beings? Can we keep turning our backs on those in desperate need because we feel entitled to certain things and it just feels too hard to give them up? When it is someone you care about starving, you will move heaven and earth to help them. So, we have made sure that we don't know those who are starving. We don't want it to be our problem and we don't want to be inconvenienced. I know that sounds harsh, but it is true.

Surprisingly (not really), I have gone on too long again and yet I have more to say on the topic. I realize that I haven't really answered the question. But what I have shared are some of the first steps to addressing this topic. If we want to make more compassionate choices about how we spend our money we have to have a more knowledgeable world view and we have to be in relationship with those living in poverty. We also have to give up our sense of entitlement. It's not only good for our wallets, it's good for our hearts.

Want to do something right now to help the famine in East Africa? My friend Lindsay's daughter, Faith, is raising money here. At 7 years old she is giving up getting a new lunchbox for school so that she can give that money to emergency relief in East Africa. Is there anything that you can give up?

Part two of my answer can be found here.

*I changed the commenting system so that this can hopefully be more of a discussion instead of me just talking. So please share your thoughts!

hats!

2011-08-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

Our first Krochet Kids Peru hats are officially available! This is a pretty monumental day for Blake and me. This program feels like our baby and it is finally time to introduce him to the world.

So, click here to check out our limited edition hats. The video is pretty awesome too. And one person is even getting a hat named after him!

I know that tangible results aren't what it is all about, but it feels amazing to finally show off our product after six months of hard work. Thanks for joining us on this journey!

adoption

2011-08-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

Erika asked these questions: "Do you think you will have more children? How would you feel about being pregnant or having a child born in Peru? Would you ever think of adopting? Would you adopt in Peru or in the US or elsewhere?"

(Warning: I ain't shy about talking about birth control, but I will keep it toned down for the blog.)

To answer this I have to start back when Brady (our third) had just turned one year old. We were undecided on if we wanted to have another biological child. We had always wanted to adopt, but selfishly I loved being pregnant, giving birth, and the newborn stage. Weird, I know. Since we didn't feel strongly one way or the other, we weren't using birth control (the pill makes me crazy). In March of 2007 I found out that I was pregnant. We were delighted.

Easter 2007. We were so excited to be a family of six.

At 9 weeks pregnant, we had an ultrasound because my blood work wasn't indicating a healthy pregnancy. On the ultrasound we saw a sweet baby with a heartbeat, but the sac wasn't big enough to sustain her. Twenty four hours later I miscarried. My heart was broken and I grieved deeply. I still mourn the loss of our baby deeply. It will creep up on me as I watch our kids run around and I realize that she should be running around with them. I would love to see all five of my kids together.

After the miscarriage, I desperately wanted to become pregnant again. I felt like I needed that in order to heal. For seven months we tried to get pregnant. Every month, when I found out that I wasn't pregnant I felt like I was reliving my miscarriage all over again. I finally couldn't take it anymore. The drive to get pregnant again was only causing more pain. God really worked on my heart and I was eventually able to let go of the idea that I had to be pregnant again.

At this point, I couldn't figure out why we were pushing so hard to be pregnant when we had always wanted to adopt. So, we started the adoption process through the foster care system. After taking forty hours of the parenting classes required to be foster care/adoptive parents we found out that we were pregnant. We had been responsibly using birth control. I am not sharing these details to be insensitive to those struggling with infertility, but I don't want people to think that we weren't being wise or that adoption wasn't our first choice. I still don't have an explanation for why things happened the way they did.

The pregnancy did not change our desire to adopt, so we finished our parenting classes, turned in the very detailed adoption application, and got fingerprinted. Then we got the call. Our social worker informed me that policy was that couples who are pregnant or have a child under one in their home are ineligible to adopt. I was devastated. To be honest, I went through many of the same emotions as I did when I miscarried. It felt like I had lost a child. We had prepared our hearts and our home for this child and suddenly she was taken away from us.

Almost one year to the day after my due date for the baby I miscarried, Tyler was born. She did, in fact, bring much healing to our family and I can't put into words how much she means to us.

When she was one we tried to start the adoption process again. This time our house was on the market because we were planning to move within our county, so we were again not eligible to adopt. Soon after that we made the decision to move to Peru.

As for where we stand now, Blake has had that wonderful surgery that should ensure no more pregnancies. To answer one of the questions, though, I know at least four women from the US and UK that have had babies here, so I would feel comfortable having a baby in Peru. We still desire to be foster parents (and adopt if reunification wasn't possible). What we know right now is that we are overwhelmed enough with adjusting to life in a foreign country that we need some time before we add to our family. I also only have a vague idea of how foster care works in Peru, so I need to become more educated and find out what steps we need to take as foreigners to be eligible. I do wholeheartedly believe that our family will grow one day through foster care, either in Peru or in the United States. I have spent a lot of time being angry and bitter that we have been unable to adopt and feeling that loss in our lives. Our move to Peru and all that we have been through in the past six months, though, has produced great contentedness with our family just as we are. (But if anyone has a newborn they want to let us borrow for a few days, we would be in heaven.)