Pictures

Okay, so I really am not blogging, but John requested that I put these pictures up. This is our growing church! WOW!!!! Does it not blow your mind?

Taking a blogging and facebook break until after January 3rd. There isn't much going on anyway. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas

Yesterday was probably 75-80 degrees here (warmer if you are in the sun). It felt like a typical Florida Christmas that I am accustomed to. Perfect! Loved it!

We spent the morning as a family opening presents and randomly singing Happy Birthday Jesus (Jaxson's idea). We have converted the parking garage into our own personal playground. John built a storage shed down there (not yesterday, of course) with the wood from our crate and we are able to store our bikes, new wiggle cars, skateboards, roller skates and basketball hoop. We had a blast down there as there are hardly any cars since most people who live here don't have vehicles.

Anyway, we spent the second half of the day with 40 other missionaries that work in Lima. We ate the most delicious food, sang Christmas carols and had a gift exchange. The weather was perfect and the day was truly wonderful. And praise God, no homesickness whatsoever! Although, I did miss the grandparents seeing the kids expressions as they opened their gifts from them.

We ended the night with a trip to see Bolt in Spanish. I HIGHLY recommend it in Spanish. If it was inappropriate in the least, we TOTALLY missed it. It was adorable and funny and action packed. We all seemed to understand most of it and John and I were surprised how much we actually enjoyed a movie in Spanish. I think it might be a little feisty in English, but in Spanish is was appropriate. So go see it - IN SPANISH!

We love celebrating the birth of our Savior!

Homeschooling Curriculum

http://www.calvertschool.org/accredited-homeschool-curriculum/curriculum-by-grade/thirdThis is the homeschooling curriculum I believe I am going to switch to next year. Someone gave me a few of these curriculum books and I LOVE THEM! I have decided that I am not the artsy, crafty, let's get our hands dirty type of homeschooling mom. And Abeka is NOT for us. So....let me know if you have heard of this Calvert School! I love what I have seen so far and I also like that it is all inclusive. You can e-mail me if you know anything: phamilyof6@yahoo.com

Choclatada

Yesterday at the church we are trying to plant we had our Choclatada and gifts for the kids. I wasn't able to make it due to bathroom issues (and the fact that there is no bathroom in Oasis). However, I wasn't excited about the Chaos I knew was going to ensue. And I was right. In our minds, I think we might have thought we would pass out presents and enjoy Hot Chooclate and Paneton with the church in an informal setting. We knew it would be packed, but expected to be able to bond a little. It was nothing short of complete and utter chaos, begging, pushing, and unthankfulness. John said it was insane. He had to put everyone in the community center and each person received a gift as they left (to ensure that each person only got one) and then they headed to another location to get Paneton and hot chocolate. Well, he said the outsiders were shoving their kids through the windows and that little kids were climbing in them to get seconds. There were so many people that some of the regular church members did not get their gifts. And many people who committed to bring stuff did not. So we were short $15 worth of stuff to make hot chocolate and paneton. The people would then run over to get the hot chocolate and the entire neighborhood starting lining up for "free" food. Of course, this was not the intent. We are happy to serve them after the regular church attenders get served first.

John said that it was very hectic, hot and disorganized. He said it was NO fun and no one said thank you - NOT EVEN ONE! Bummer! A lot of money and planning went into that event, but it basically was just a begger's brawl.

Anyway, in short....lesson learned. We are not doing that again! Live and learn, right!

Cultural Differences and Anecdotes

Yesterday each kid drew a name and bought a present for one of their brothers or sisters. Ally pulled Jaxson's name and bought him a flashlight. Unfortunately, he was with her when she bought it so he knew what he was getting. Last night after he went to bed, he called me to his room and said he really needed to talk to me. He informed me kindly that Christmas is NOT about presents....it is about JESUS! I agreed wholeheartedly. And then he reasoned that since it wasn't about presents that he needed me to give him his flashlight NOW so that at Christmas his present won't get in the way of the true meaning of Christmas! Now if that isn't deductive reasoning at it's finest - I don't know what is!
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When I was in the hospital a lady named Christina came to our house with her 3 children (ages 8, 6 and 2) to watch my children. Keep in mind that they live in very small delapitated shack with dirt floors in Oasis. Well, her daughter, bless her precious heart, went into our bathroom and squatted down comfortably, as she is accustomed to, and went potty (#1 & #2) all over the bathroom floor. Ally was mortified and called me in the hospital to tell me. And John and I had to assure her it was only because she doesn't know "how" to use a toilet. They usually squat in a corner and then cover it up with the dirt. Christina told me at the end of her stay here that my house was beautiful, but just too much work. I am sure that although to me her living conditions are unimaginable, that she feels the same about mine.
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In the hospital they brought me a pitcher of water - HOT WATER! Not warm, not cool, but hot! A few hours later I asked for some ice. 3 nurses came in to aske me "why" i needed the ice. Did my throat hurt? Was I feeling sick? What was the purpose of my ice?" I tried to explain to them that this was part of our culture, but they really didn't understand why in the world I would not want warm water. It was seriously a big deal to them that I asked for ice. When I explained to the one nurse that everyone in America drinks ice with water, she asked if it was because our throats hurt? LOL!
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My first night in the hospital I was having really bad night sweats because I was breaking the fever. The air conditioning was on about 75 in my room. The nurse came and in saw that I had been sweating and she felt my clothes and back. She told me I was sweating so much because the air conditioner was on. Huh?
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When I would use the bathroom in the hospital the nurses would follow me in, watch, hand me the toilet paper and then make sure that they "looked" before the toilet was flushed. It was SOOOO uncomfortable, but apparently this is very much a part of their culture. And a part of them "serving" me. UGH! I'd rather not be served this way. I'm sure you ALL agree.
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The local department store by my house has REALLY nice stuff and it is a little expensive. However, they have awesome discounts that make the prices very, very affordable. But guess what? You can ONLY receive the discount (including the 2 for 1 toys) if you use their Credit Card. So they put the ENTIRE store on sale (practically) and you can't get a discount until you want to use their credit card. That is just so sad! This culture does not have the means to be living this way. And from what I have heard, credit card debt is a HUGE problem here and the stores are only encouraging it.
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Peruvian Traditions at Christmas:
Paneton (think fruit cake) and hot chocolate (it's summer here and quite hot). And on Christmas Eve the families stay up until midnight to eat their Christmas dinner. NO THanks! I'd be so grumpy the next day. Apparently EVERYONE does this (except us).

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Shigella

Hi friends! I am home! I will write many more details later when I have all of my strength back. I am still weak and unfortunately the bathroom is still my best friend. I contracted an ineststinal infection through a bacteria in something I ate. The bacteria is called Shigella! Boy, it's a doozie! Hopefully in a few more days I will be back to normal. I am sooo glad to be home and feeling somewhat like a human being again. Thank you for your prayers.

Jessica in the Hospital

So I took Jessica and the rest of the family to the doctor. The doctor said, according to the preliminary lab work, Jessica has an infection. Possibly from food that she ate, but he will not be sure until the cultures come back tomorrow. He also said he did not feel comfortable letting her go home, because she was dehydrated. He wanted to start her on I.V.'s and antibiotics ASAP. Since his office is in a hopsital, we went downstairs and he admitted her right away. He is going to keep her there at least until Friday morning. But praise the Lord that he does not think it is anything like malaria or dengue fever. Thank you for continuing to pray.

Update on Jess

John wrote:

I made her an appointment to see the doctor today at 5 p.m. The doctor ordered 2 viles of blood and a stool sample. We got the fever down to 100.4 after 1000 mg. of Naproxen. She said the Alleve just makes the body aches and headache barable. She is thinking she contracted malaria or some type of "third world" disease or parasite. I will let you know what we find out.

prayer for Jessica

John wrote:

Please say a prayer for Jessica. Last night around 8 a.m. she mentioned she was nauseous and we thought it might have been from the seafood soup she ate at 4 p.m. Well, she ate some crackers and the nauseousness subsided, but then she developed a high fever very quickly. She has only had 1 other fever (a few months ago) in 5 years. Her body began to ache strongly and she spent most of the night with a high fever and terrible body aches. Around 4 a.m. the nauseousness resumed and she became ill in 2 other ways (if you know what I mean). She is in bed and has no strength to even sit up. I have never seen her this ill. Will you please pray for her? No one else in the family is sick. It's odd how quickly it just came on and was out of the blue!

what the church looks like in Oasis

Do you ever get so behind in blogging that you have zero desire to start? Well, that's where I am right now.

Okay, so God is really growing the church in Oasis. It is just simply unbelievable to think that a few months ago there were only 1 - 4 people that showed up or sometimes NONE! And this past week we had 40 adults and at least 30 children. Before the service we are now having Bible study/discipleship classes. Here is the schedule in case you are interested:

Sunday afternoons:
3 p.m. Ladies Bible Study, Men's Bible study and Teen's Bible study! There is also a small activity time for the little kids so that the parents can come to the studies. We meet in a small community center that is very third world. The lights don't work so we open the wood planks (windows) for air and light. The floor is concrete (praise God), but usually covered with a thin layer of dirt. The benches were hand made by a mission team. They are nothing fancy, but serve the purpose. The women meet in the community center for the women's study led by me (averaging 15-20 women each week). The walls are made of a very cheap ply-wood, but they serve the purpose to provide a structure and a place to have church.

The men meet outside in the dirt for the study led by John. They sit on the benches and try to focus as dogs and children run by constantly.

The little kids meet in some kind of small classroom that is also concrete with no lights.

The study last for 45 minutes and women are straggling in until the very end (along with nursing babies, toddlers and stray flea-infested dogs). We usually have at least one dog interrupting. It is impossible to keep them out.

The women don't have Bibles so everytime someone new comes in I have to stop the study and give them a Bible (which is only New Testament) and explain to them where we are and what we are talking about. This happens at least 10 times during the study.

The study ends with me praying...the same way it began. No one wants to pray out loud probably because they don't know how to yet. I did have one woman who prayed last week, but it turns out she is Jehovah Witness.

Anyway, we meet for service at 4 p.m. All the kids and adults gather in one room and we have a time of worship. John usually sings (No, that is not his gift). He has now recruited a guy to sing and play guitar, but he came 20 minutes late last week so John had to lead half of the singing. He is such a good sport about it.

After worship the kids separate and go to there own classes. Children from ages 6-10 go a class with a national woman named Christina. We are trying to train her up to be a leader. She is happy to do this and doing a great job. John has to prepare everything for her in advance and he hands it to her each week and tells her what to do.

There is a similar class for children ages 1-5. They usually just color the story and have no interest in listening what so ever! We don't have the time, resources, or money to do fun little crafts every week. They are happy just coloring.

The service is preached by a national named Victor. He has a passionate heart to see the people walk with Christ. John tells him what to preach every week and Victor happily shares the message to the people. These people adore him. He is now going out there early every week to invest in the people, pray for them and share there needs.

Next week we are having a Choclatada and gifts for the people who attend church (not the whole neighborhood). All of the members are going to bring sugar or chocolate or something for the choclatada. I have no idea what it really is so I will let you know once we have it. They were SUPER excited to help out and have this event!

Another important note is that 7 people have decided to be Baptized in January. Also, we had a tithe offering for 2 weeks in a row. The first week we collected 13 soles, but 10 were contributed by us and Victor. Last week we collected 30 soles (5 from Victor). That is a total of $10. So we went from $3 to $10 in one week. Wow! They are already starting to be invested in the Church and obey the word of God.

Things are going fast, but slow at the same time. My entire group of women said they do not read their Bibles and 90% said they didn't own a Bible. Although we are constantly giving Bibles, we aren't sure what's happening to them. John wants to start a program that if they read 4 books of the new testament (the Gospels) and 2 of the old, he will give them a Bible.

Anyway, that is a quick glance of the ministry so far. We can't wait to see what God has in store.

We have 5 more areas waiting for us to come and plant a church. Can you believe it?

Oasis - areal view

This is a great picture of the neighborhood Oasis in which we are currently trying to plant a church. I thought this would help give you an idea of where we work.

picts

Sorry, but I uploaded more picts. to the facebook account. It's much easier to do pictures there. There is a set of ministry pictures, lima-half marathon picts, and some kids shots under Jessica Greer Pham! I also posted 2 yummy recipes!

Things here are going great! It really feels like home. Tomorrow we are conference calling with our home church via skype during the service and I can't wait.

Please pray for the 6 people who have come forward to be Baptized. There are many details we are working out for this event. Please pray Satan is not a barrier.

Language Update

We've almost been here for 4 months and FINALLY I feel very, very normal. I can understand most of what is being said around me. I have confidence to communicate again. I feel that my Spanish is finally improving and I am just overall very happy! :) I am making friends with my running club (running and Speaking Spanish and have a new friend, Stephanie, froma church I visited. We are having lunch on Thursday evening and I hired a new tutor and we are starting on Thursday. Today life felt so perfect and so very normal and settled. I even ran this evening with two girls from my running club and spoke Spanish for 40 minutes and it felt normal and comfortable. WOW! I just praise God that the transition period is FINALLY over! :)

Phamily Picture

We took a bunch of pictures tonight. To see more please check out the family pictures in my facebook account under Jessica Greer Pham! Blessings!

Phamily Picture

We took a bunch of pictures tonight. To see more please check out the family pictures in my facebook account under Jessica Greer Pham! Blessings!

An unmerited gift

Also, I forgot to mention that there is a woman named Christina who has been helping us with the church. She is teaching the young kids Bible lessons. She has 4 children from 4 different men and really wants to walk with the Lord. Her house is the worst we have ever seen. The walls are caving in, the roof is tarps, the floor is dirt and 5 people sleep in a bunk bed. She is a single mom trying to do it all alone and cannot work because she has a 2 year old and a 6 year old. We don't know how she survives. The mission team from First Baptist McComb has generously offered to pay for her house to be fixed (new walls, floor, roof, house extended) and John and Victor are going to have to do all of the work, of course. They are also going to buy her a new bed and a give her money for groceries. When I told Christina this good news today she kept saying, "but why? I don't deserve this. I am not a good person! But why? Why me?" And all I could tell her was that this is a gift from God, just like Jesus. I reminded her of God's love for us and how he sent Jesus to die for us "while we were yet" sinners and how we don't deserve anything, but yet God keeps giving and pouring out his love to us - TOTALLY undeserved. I was so humbled to remember this truth in my own life and to see it poured out in another way through this unmerited gift of a fixed up house.

Life

This was too long to proof-read, so please ignore the typos, spelling and grammatical errors!


Today we went to visit the lady for whom we poured the concrete in her house. Remember, her baby has cancer. WOW! Her reception to us was almost cold. She didn't invite us in, acted as if she didn't know me (and I'm the one who set this up for her) and she definitely didn't say thank you or express any type of gratitude. I was kind of put off by her atitude and then right away the Holy Spirit gently reminded me of the AMAZING gift of salavation I have received from Jesus, but yet at times I am not thankful, act cold towards Him and don't invite Him into my daily happenings. My heart softened towards her and became repent towards God when I realized that I, too, am guilty of doing the same thing towards God, but DAILY and on a much grander scale.
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Yesterday we went to a GREAT beach. Once again, I got dressed, but this time in my bathing suit and swim dress. Can you believe I walked out of the house in my slippers again? How crazy is that? This time I realized it once we got into the parking garage to get in the car. Could you see me at the beach with my bedroom slippers on? Not cool!
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The beach was AMAZING! It had small kiddy pools for the kids to play in, umbrellas, lawn chairs, clean sand and a ton of restaurants with English music. We even ate world famous Ceviche yesterday. The only problem with the beach was that we were hastled every 3 second buy vendors trying to sell us stuff like fake tatoos, sunglasses, pirated movies and c.d's, ice-cream, snacks, sand toys and even beach clothes. You name it, we could buy it. We must've been asked no less than 40 times. This started to drive me nuts, but we endured it and had a magical day in the sun! It felt like a very normal day back home. And the beach is only 30 minutes away.
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Speaking of magical....last night I took the kids to downtown Miraflores (6 blocks from our apartment). I knew they were going to be having some kind of show, but I didn't know of what or when. So we went down and waited for about an hour until the show started. Guess what? Do you remember how I was so sad to leave Walt Disney World since I grew up there, worked there and frequented it like EVERY weekend. And holidays at Disney were the best. Well, God is so kind and unbeknownst to me, he surprised us with the best gift. He brought DISNEY to US! Yep, it was a 40 minute Disney Christmas presentation called Magica Navidad. Mickey, Minnie, dancers, singers, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast ALL came to see us. And it ended in with a grand fireworks spectacular. I could hardly even concentrate on the show becaue the entire time I just kept thinking, "Lord you are so incredible. This is incredible. Thank you for such a PERFECT gift." I so didn't want to leave Florida because of the great beaches, wonderful Christmas programs, but yet God is showing me that what He has is even better. I am so thankful that I let go and followed Him. What a MAGICAL NIGHT it was!
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Last weeks Bible study was awful so I didn't write about it. This week was GREAT! The women came and participated and are definitely warming up to me. We have a long, long, long way to go, but I am already seeing progress. Just the fact that they participated and asked me questions was huge. Normally they just sit and stare at me. We studied about following Jesus and living in obedience. I think it went REALLY well. John said his study was great too. We are learning more and more every week and things are starting to run smoother. We always end each Sunday night with a trip to McDonald's with the kids.
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And the last comment is about the lice. Today at Oasis, I saw this precious little girl who is about 3 that just adores me. She loves me to hold her and hug her and kiss her. Only problem is....her head is infested with lice. I felt so scared to even touch her. She is so precious! And then there were at least 5 flea infested dogs running around. They couldn't even stay on all fours for very long because they had to itch so bad! UGH!!! I definitely trying to get over my fear of fleas and lice. I think we have cleared out Ally's head and the rest of us our fine (for now). :)
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John and I are starting a new schedule this week. I will homeschool M,T,W & F. Thursdays will be my day for continued language learning, tutoring and other things that need to get done. I will be out of the house on these days and he will be doing "light" homeschooling with the kids. This will help my stress level SOOO much because I have a lot to do that I am just not getting done. He is looking forward to it and so I am. This way I won't be putting a Bible Study 2 hours before I have to walk out the door. :)
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My mom is out of the hospital. I think she is doing better.
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GO GATORS!!!!!!!

A small little wish list

Okay...after yesterday's Christmas card plea I received a bunch of e-mails asking for things to send for our kids. Here is a short list of things the kids like, but definitely don't need. Anything you send should be placed in a brown padded envelope (all sizes are acceptable) and list the yard sale value. Take everything out of it's original packaging to make the package lighter. Shipping is quite expensive so I recommend sending it the slowest, cheapest way possible. Thank you for thinking of us and even asking:

Kid's sunglasses
Lip Smackers lip gloss (all flavors)
Stickers of all kinds
Little notebooks
Colorful pens and pencils
Paddle balls from the dollar store
ANYTHING from the dollar tree
anything small with Disney on it.
Pre-K and K workbooks from dollar tree.
Anything from the dollar section at Target when you walk in. THey have the best stuff.
Little calendars, papers, pencils, pens.
Toothbrushes
Extra green chewing gum in the big pack (the sleeve).
PRetty much anything cheap that you would put in a stocking, but please not candy.
And markers - crayola washable. They are just so expensive here. We cannot afford to buy them and we go through them like water.

Ally loves Dora, Avery Loves Barney, Jaxson loves LazyTown and Parker loves anything hunting or Toy Story. :)

Hope this helps! We love you ALL!

Christmas Card Plea

We would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to receive your Christmas card/pictures. It will make it feel more like home for us. Our address is:

Jessica and John Pham
Mision Bautista
Apartado 18-0765
Lima 18
Peru

THANK YOU!

One Word Wednesday

LICE!!!!!

Mom

I forgot to update on my mom. She is in the hospital once again. She had her surgery over a week ago and was recovering fine. But was admitted yesterday due to her hand turning black and blue again (circulation). I don't know much except she needs continued prayer and there is an issue with her blood that they are trying to resolve. She is scared about losing her hand and is in a lot of pain, but the report I received was that the dr. believes she will not lose it. THe good news is that she is not smoking. :)

Life

I'm still alive! No worries! The Lima half-marathon didn't kill me after all! It was a wonderful, awesome experience. There were lots of runners and we received a very cool Nike shirt, that was at least worth the price of admission. I ran alone and soaked up every minute of the race. Remember I said I would be happy with anything under 2:05. Well, I ran it in 2:02:45. WOOOHOOOO! That is about 9:27 a mile if you are . record keeper. :) The race finished in this park of HUGE fountains. It was seriously like the fountains at Epcot only bigger and LOTS of them. It was magical feeling and now I want to visit that park again!

I signed up for another half-marathon for December 14th. I wasn't going to do it, but John said yes and it runs RIGHT in front of my house and is on my normal running route. HOw cool is that? And...the entrance fee was only $11 (and I get a new t-shirt to boot). So next race, I am going to try to come in under 2 hours if I possibly can.

Today I banged up our new van pretty bad. I hit the wall as I was entering our parking garage. It's not good! I don't understand how I didn't cry, but somehow I managed to chalk it up to "that's life. Things happen." I hope the IMB feels the same way! EEEKKK!!!

Ministry on Sundays is becoming more and more hectic. We enjoy it, but it's definitely presenting its challenges. We just never expected things to take off so quickly, but we should've because that is the kind of God we serve. He thinks BIG!!!

Well, we flea bombed our house and car yesterday. Please pray the fleas are gone. This has been quite an ordeal trying to get rid of them. But we are thankful for the opportunity to work in the South Cone, so I think that means we are thankful for the fleas too!

One more thing to note....very sad. John's step-mother (the one who was married to John's dad), just lost her oldest son (25ish) the day before Thanksgiving. She lost her son and her husband within 2 months of each other. I think it might've even been to the day. Please pray for her. Our hearts are grieving with her. He was killed in a tragic car chase while working for the Miami Dade Police Department.

Sorry to end on such a sad note. But things here are good (except the car). We bought Christmas decorations, have unpacked our house and are slowly decorating it. We just love this comfy little home God has given us.