As most of you know Sam and I are one of 3 married couples on our squad of 45. Going through this journey as a married couple is such an incredible blessing, but does also present its own set of challenges. We have had to learn how to be married while living in community. Community living on the World Race means spending every waking and non-waking hour together. Getting alone time means turning your back and putting in your earphones. We’ve had to figure out how to have every kind of conversations with each other in front of other people. Sharing our marriage with 5 other people has revealed a lot to us about the way we communicate with each other. When you know someone else is always watching or listening to you (whether they want to or not) you think twice about what your say or how you say it. “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” James 1:19
Because of the nature of this community living Sam and I are allowed to have some weekend get aways every month or two to invest in our marriage. We appreciate the way Adventures in Missions values marriage. Additionally, we know that even though they value our marriage, they know that if our marriage isn’t healthy it wouldn’t only be a burden for us, but a burden for our whole team
. After the first month a getaway was much needed time for Sam and I to process through everything. We were able to really reflect on what it looks like to daily invest in our marriage, while simultaneously investing in our team. The first month was tough for us, but we grew a lot through it.
So… while our squad traveled by bus from La Paz, Bolivia to Trujillo, Peru we were able to detour and visit Machu Picchu… which was amazing! Our teammates and squad mates were so amazing to let us have this opportunity. Here are a few pictures from our journey.
We have been in Truijllo, Peru now for over a week. We are staying in a compound that is a church, school, and living quarters all in one. The 45 of us (it is an all squad month) share one cold shower and two small wash tubs to hand wash clothes. This week we have been putting on a vacation bible school for 100+ kids. Our team has been charged with the task of presenting the main message. Adri (our fabulous bilingual Costa Rican teammate) narrates while the rest of us act. They have been loving every minute of it and so have we! Next week will be different because the kids here head back to school after their winter vacation. It sounds like we will be working in the schools a little. You would think this is right up my alley, however not knowing the language and not really being able to communicate with them makes relationship building extremely challenging. Additionally, this is the first time in 20 years that I haven’t been getting ready to go back to school. I thought it would be very freeing, but it has actually been pretty tough for me. My heart hurts when I think about the first day of school at Lincoln Elementary and how I won’t be there.
Internet again this month is few and far between. We hope to update you all as much as we can. Thank you so much for your prayers. Pray that God allows us to be a light to these children despite the language barrier. Pray that God blesses our marriage. Pray for team unity. Pray for Joel and Maria Savage who are our amazing ministry hosts this month. And pray that many kids come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior this month! All of our love, prayers and blessings!
Susan and Susan
