Where's the Newsletter?!

Okay, so we have random pictures of our broken computer posted below...THAT is where all of our newsletter contacts and everything are kept. Thankfully the thing let Justin boot up long enough to get our contact information off of it and loaded onto our other, much older computer. Yes, that's right, the broken computer is the NEW computer that we bought just before we left the States. Thankfully we bought the warranty, so the new motherboard is free, but Dell has to ship it down...that can take two weeks or longer. We're thankful to now have all of our contacts, and now we've recreated our newsletter format anew on our old computer, and we're working from there. Hopefully we'll have it out in the next couple of days.

In the mean time: life is doing well. We miss family, and Justin is still getting into the groove of things in ministry, and the Lord has really given him a vision for working with men. We sometimes have "Bad Peru Days"...That's a phrase we've adopted from some friends who wrote to us from China saying they sometimes have "Bad China Days." This by no means is an insult to our host countries, rather our reactions to culture stress. The theme song from Cheers keeps popping into my head, "Sometimes you wanna' go where everybody knows your name..." It's like being a freshman all over again, meeting new people, seeing who you jive with, forming your routine, trying to balance work with play, but add in the fact that few people speak your first language, you have to completely relearn how to drive, and you have to barter all your prices for food because they want to charge you more because they think you don't know better...and sometimes you don't....and it just plain gets tiring.
I'm also still adjusting to facing poverty...though we live in a very nice part of town, there are still street children and impoverished street vendors on the streets leading up to our local shops and markets and everywhere in the city. Sometimes I get flustered trying to think if I have change for a handful of a woman's candy, or when a street person walks up to me and I have nothing, or I don't feel like I should give because they're just begging and not working. It's tough to balance out my feelings and to figure out the appropriate thing to do.

I am extremely grateful that the Lord has blessed us with an awesome apartment, we're all healthy, and busy with our new life. One day this will all be familiar, and I will forget that it once felt weird to have to pay guys to watch your car when you're parked on the street, or to dodge traffic like a fast game of Frogger, or to pay your bills at the bank or supermarket. I am thankful for this rich life. Now if I could just figure out how to quit setting off my car alarm everytime I get in :)

In Christ,
Gillian

These are the pictures of my Dell Latitude D630.

Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving, though we dealt with some major homesickness. We celebrated first at Alex's school, and then with our friends and missionary family for the whole big meal.

IPHC Ventanilla, Peru

While we work exclusively with Food for the Hungry, we are blessed to be included in some of what the Lord is doing through our denomination's churches here in Lima. Dan Clowers (Overseas Missions Coordinator for Latin America) and a team from the States came down to help one of our churches dedicate a new church building. Pastor Jorge Watanabe is IPHC Peru's superintendent, and his wife, Dr. Janine Watanabe and their two children are an incredible support the ministry. The people of the Ventanilla church are a warm and inviting crowd. The kids loved having their pictures taken and then seeing them show up on the camera screen. Who can resist capturing those precious faces. Alex and Nathan loved playing among the other kids. That night, several people came forward for prayer and to dedicate their lives to Christ. We considered it an honor and privilege to participate in such a special event.

Gillian Brickey - Warts and All

I sometimes wonder how I landed here, living in Peru. Those who know me, know that I like things to be well planned, predictable, stable. They know that I, along with my husband, guard our children with an iron clad shield of overbearing protection. If I were an outsider looking onto my situation, I would not have taken me for a girl designed for international living...and yet here I am. Being here fulfills huge desires and callings in my life, but I look around me at other missionaries and wonder, how did I get so lucky to get mixed in with this crowd. Most of the people our age down here, are usually more the healthy-types. You know, the kind who run for fitness. Whereas I like to reserve running for being chased by something. These people also seem very comfortable with grabbing whatever mode of transportation is readily available in their given destination: motorcycles, animals, micro-buses, anything. They figure, if they end up somewhere near their destination they're doing okay. Honestly, it's a stretch for me to branch out and be so adventurous. I like to know which bus goes where, and have someone experienced show me how to do it first. Even driving here, I like someone with me when I venture to a new spot.

I guess I've always been aware of my mortality - I've always been cautious. I wanted to say that I've become more so since my mom passed away seven years ago, and since my children were born, but that's simply not the case. I have always been a rule follower - a "play it safe" kind of girl. So how did I end up here with my husband and two tiny little ones? I know that part of it is that I have had this inexplicable gnawing at my spirit since I was about 12 years old to serve Him overseas. The Lord designed me with this desire to serve in this way. I also think it's because I seldom tolerate being hindered by my fears. I can't stand feeling boxed in or limited by fear. I've learned to recognize it lurking in the shadows of my apprehension. Sometimes I mistake it for an unction from the Holy Spirit that something bad is going to happen, so it should therefore be avoided. Very few times, after prayer and reflection, however, has this truly been the case for me. More often than not, my apprehension is none other than my own self-limiting fear. Fear of the unknown and fear of embarrassment or judgement. Whether Satan produces these fears or he sits back and lets my own nature take over, I'm not sure. But I do know, that a spirit of fear is not from the Father...and I crave what He has. I have noticed that every time I have shrugged off my fear of being judged and truly followed my heart, I have come out feeling true to myself, closer to the Father, and blessed for the journey.

So there's this other type of missionaries here...they're typically older than we are, though some not by much. They also have small children...or grown children, but their families are established. Some of them are the healthy types, but life slows pace with children, so they're healthy within the pace of family life. And when I look around me, I see other people like me. They're afraid to drive here too, and some are amazed that I've just taken the bull by the horns to do it. They don't know that I stick to the roads I know until I have a reason to venture farther. I realize that "missionary types" are as diverse as regular people, oh that's right, they ARE regular people. We vary in our calls, personalities, approaches to ministry, everything. So there's room for me in this world...my cautious, planning nature.

So here I am, Gillian Monson Brickey - The cautious, ever-planning, seeking the will of God for our life in Peru. Little me, big world, yet all things are possible. And I am ever-grateful.