Still waiting-

As of last night our part of the house is empty.  We got our first good look at it this morning.  I have been fighting off discouragement all day.  The space is fine, but the condition of it is not so great.  The owner has not seen this part of the house in 15 years.  Fortunately, she is concerned about the house and wants it to be in good repair for us, it just means more waiting and more time with people in and out of the house.  There are several projects going on and several more that need to be completed.  I am not sure when we will be able to move in, hopefully by the end of the week.  Most of the things that need to be done, can be done with us living there.

front door

Entryway.  Living room to the right, kitchen straight ahead and half bath and bedroom to the right.

Living room/dining room.  The back wall has a lot of water damage.  There is dirt piled up against the otherside of the wall that the neighbors are supposed to remove.  This is suppose to be re-painted today, but it is 3 and nothing has happened so. . .  Once this is painted, we will move into this room so the 40/40's can get moved into their space and set up.

Half bath- there was a shower in here too, but we would have had to kneel to use it!  So, she is installing a shower  in a another room.  The stairs lead up to the 40/40 part of the house(where we are staying now).

This is a bedroom that we will probably put the treadmill in and use it as a play room. 

This will be our bedroom.  We will all sleep here because there is no interior door to the rest of the house.  You enter this room from the patio or from the front of the house.  If we put the kids in the other bedroom (or in here), we would have to go outside and back inside to get to them.  There was a wall dividing the room, but the previous renter's wanted us to pay them for the wall(they installed it), so we told them to take it out.  Our shower will also be in this room.  It is being installed now, with a sink in the far left corner.  The owner is also going to paint and fix the floor.  So our shower will be here, and our toilet in the other part of the house.    

Back patio.  The door you see enters into the back of the dining room, there is also a door to the kitchen and this was taken from the bedroom door.  The owner is replacing the sink with a ceramic one, and will paint the walls and lay tile on the floor.  We are hoping she installs an electrical outlet so we can put the washing machine out here.  I am not sure where else we could put it, as it has to drain into a sink.  This area is totally enclosed and will be a great space for the kids to be outside once it is fixed up.  Ella has been talking a lot about planting flowers, so we will get some pots for the back patio.

The kitchen-we talked to the owner about putting some cabinets in, and maybe more counter top.  We'll see.  It is bare bones.  There are several broken windows that she will replace, and the faucet leaks, so that will be replaced too. 

Another view of the kitchen- you can see our bedroom door in the far right corner of the patio-

So, that's the news about the house stuff.  We are going to have to buy some dressers or something for our clothes, and possible something for storage in the kitchen, depending on what the owner decides to do.  We will also have to buy curtains.  As with any move, there are always unseen costs, we just REALLY don't like those when we are living on as tight of a budget as we can.

BLESSING #1.  We have had a great time getting to know Pastor Herman and his family. They are such a blessing, and Chad and I are so thankful to be partnering with them here.   They have been active and involved with the group since we arrived.  Chad and I had dinner with them this week, and were able to connect more and talk about how we want to direct and lead this group.  We have been praying for each other for so long and it is so great to finally be working together.  Today they took us all into the city and we prayed over 4 areas that our 40/40's will be assigned to.  We will do it again tomorrow in more areas of the city and then after we have prayed for each area, the pairs will be told where they are assigned.  

BLESSING #2.   There is a lady in the church that lives just down the road from us.  She told us that she was opening a "Menu".  Menu's are restaurants that offer a meal for a set price.  There is no menu to order off of, you just pay and eat what they make for you.  You can find Menu's for 1.50 up to 6.00 soles.  So, we have been going to her Menu everyday.  We pay 5 soles, and have had amazing food.  Soup, main dish, drink and dessert.  People from our team have been the only one's there, and it is not advertised, so we are thinking she started this just for us.  Whether she intends to make it public or not, I am not sure.  But, it has been such a blessing for us!  Her son is a chef and is helping her.        

BLESSING #3.  This group of people is amazing.  We have been living in tight quarters, sharing one bathroom (11 adults and 2 kids), running out of water daily, shuffling our belongings from one room to another, living out of bags and suitcases, trying to get leaky windows, broken toilets, light fixtures fixed, figuring out what to do for food, fighting off sickness from the altitude, trying to set up some kind of schedule, waiting to start work until we are settled, etc., and I have seen patience, flexibility, selflessness and joy in spite of all that is not right around us.  This group is committed and strong and eager to begin the work that God has prepared for them to do.  Thank you for praying for us. We are praying for and expecting great things to occur in Puno!!