Disculpame!

Forgive me, to any of you who have been checking, for not writing an update for so long. Two and a half weeks ago we finally moved into our apartment. That was over a week after my last saying we were moving in on "Monday". But hey, we're here!

View out our living room window

The word "unfurnished" takes on new meaning here. It means no stove, refrigerator, toilet seat, or bathroom mirror. Anything that can be removed is removed. So it's taken a lot of time and energy the last two weeks to figure out where to buy things, how to transport them, and to ask enough different Peruvian friends to come with us different places and at different times to not completely exhaust anyone in particular. Thankfully, it's all worked out and life is returning to normal. A new and better normal, actually. One that includes sleeping in the same bed. :)

Since pictures are worth a thousand words and I'm a little short on time, please see the pictures below. We've had a really great week of meetings with different churches and ministries to talk about the savings program and try to figure out where and how it could best meet needs here.

The savings group at a church called Faith in Action that we visited on Sunday

The church above hosts one of the five current savings groups in the program. The pastor (light blue shirt, middle of the photo) heard about the program when it was first starting up over a year ago even though his church is not affiliated with the church in Comas out of where the program is run. He thought it sounded like something that would help his congregation so he started a group there.  We heard testimonies from two women about how hugely beneficial it has been for them. One said, "When we heard 'savings' we thought, 'Save what? I don't have any money to save'". To me it sounded a huge benefit of the group in her life was the she had an attitude of poverty - that she expected not to be able to provide financially for what she wanted and needed - that began to change as she saved.

Feeling empowered to achieve your goals is no small thing. These women were most definitely empowered as they spoke with conviction about the things that their savings have helped them to do. One paid for her daughter's wedding. The daughter is now saving and using it to pay her way through college to get an education degree. She shared that although she thought she had nothing, she's realized she has more than she thought...it was just being ill-spent as a result of believing it could never amount to much anyway. 

The house where the church, Faith in Action, meets

I don't want to incorrectly represent people here though. A good part of this community is what I would consider "middle-class". Most of Comas, I believe, does not have an attitude of poverty. One of our goals though is to find the people that could benefit from the problem, and it seems that there are many.

Also, a quick answer to prayer. I spoke with a doctor and nurse at a clinic today and will start volunteering with them in some public health projects focused on children in the community on Thursday. Thanks for praying with us!