Guess what? I'm back.


I think most everyone knows that I am going on a mission trip to Peru at the end of June, but I'm putting this brief little information up here!

In the spirit of loving God and loving others, I have prayed about and decided to join a mission team to Andahuaylas, Peru, for nine days this summer. 

You may be wondering what could have possibly inspired me to sign on to a mission trip in the Andes Mountains. Was it because the dates fit perfectly in between quarters and summer weddings? Because the word Peruvian rolls off the tongue so nicely? Maybe it was because the trip had an asterisk next to its name that signified a possibility of “intense physical demands”? (Let’s be honest, that was influential.) Or that the organization we’ll be working with has a care program for children and a program for mothers to create micro-businesses? (If you have heard me talk about Half The Sky by Nicholas Kristof or other women’s issues, you already know that I strongly support micro-businesses for women.)

Those are great reasons, but the catalyst was the constant reminder that God has placed before me (and all of us) to take care of the widow, the orphan, and the exile. That call guides and inspires my research at OSU, and I believe that this trip will teach me more about loving God and loving others, particularly in this village.

This trip will work with ministries already in place (see www.friendsofperu.com) and our work will include evangelism, work in a family-owned children’s center that also fosters micro-businesses for the mothers, and transporting Bibles to nearby homes. The trip is through Heritage Christian Church in Westerville, Ohio, and it is the church’s first trip to this location. It’s scheduled for August 28 through September 6 of this summer.

My other summer plans include some trips to Michigan, some weddings, some running, some studying neuroscience (yeah, that's going really well) and developing an online course based on the child development course that I taught spring quarter. That will end up being my Masters project, so it will be great to get that out of the way and to get some credit for the work.

This quarter, I'm taking a course on Structural Equation Modeling (again, but the professor doesn't know that!) and adolescent literature (for teachers). 

I recommend: 

Witness  - Karen Hesse. A story of the KKK entering a small, Vermont town told from many characters. 

Jacob Have I Loved - katherine paterson - Interesting to read just after reading the (adult-ish) novel Prep. Both have these incredibly self-focused narrators in which the reader can easily tell the narrator has a skewed perception. It makes me think about how I am viewing the world. 

I'm sure I'll have more, but there are still 3 more weeks of that class!

After this week (I actually have a lot of work this week) I hope to have time to cook some yummy things with fresh fruit and veggies, as well as to read Sense and Sensibility. I've never read it before, so I thought I should.