Life without Water

It's easy to take water for granted. Those tiny little crystalline droplets shooting out of the faucet are always there and abundant. But what if you had to live without water for two weeks? That's the situation at my house right now. They decided to start paving our street so they ripped everything up and then I don't know exactly what happened, but they haven't exactly been working on the street the last few days. So we've been without water. The picture is from one day that we were collecting rainwater in various buckets and dishpans. It was great, until I realized it was only enough for about one toilet flush.
God's spoken to me about a lot of things the last two weeks (okay, thirteen days to be exact). I've learned that without water there is no independence to be had. A lack of water creates community. For instance, without water, I can't take a shower at my house, which necessitates me going to someone else's house to use their shower. We can't drink the water out of the faucet without boiling it, so if we want drinking water, we go to Ron and Regina Shultz's (another missionary family) and fill up our water jugs, since they have filtered water. Were I to be independent at this point and refuse the help of anyone else, I'd be expending way too much energy to make it worth it. I realized this relationship between water and community when, after 3 days of being without water, I decided to take a bucket bath, then realized it was a decision between using that water to bathe or to wash dishes. I poured it back and called Ron and Regina to ask if I could use their shower before school.
One of the biggest blessings in the last week has been the advent of a public spigot about a block from our house. With a bit of ingenious rigging of multiple hoses from multiple missionary families, a system has been developed by which we can bring water directly from the spigot to our house. It's not quite the same as pushing the handle on the toilet and having it magically flush or turning a little knob and having water spew out, but at least we don't have to decide between bathing or washing dishes.
And then on Thursday, something happened to the piping that brought water to the public spigot. It ruptured or something. And there was...again....no water. Yet, in that moment, God spoke to me so strongly. I was starting to feel a bit uneasy. They said this could go for up to about a month or so. What if we have no more public spigot for the rest of that time? How would we do that? And in the same breath, God spoke to me: "Do not worry about what you will eat or drink, or about what you will wear." Okay God, I can trust You. Just then God reminded me as well of the story of Jonah and challenged me with Jonah's example. At the very end of the story, Jonah is sitting outside the city sulking because it's not being destroyed. God causes a vine to grow up and shade him. And then He sends a worm to eat the vine and Jonah gets mad. God basically says, "Okay, let's think about this. You did nothing to have that vine, yet you are mad because I took it away. You're concerned about the vine, but you have no care for the 120,000+ people in that city down there." I'd never understood that part of the story before. But God spoke to my heart. "You did nothing to have the spigot. It was put there and you benefit from it. But now it's taken away and you're concerned about where you're going to get water. How much more am I concerned about the people of Cusco - my creation and those who I care for and love - who are trapped in idolatry and don't know me. And how much more should you be concerned for them?" I don't think I'll forget the meaning of that story for a long time. For the record, the piping was repaired and we had water the next day. Maybe God just wanted to teach me a thing or two?!
And in the last two weeks, I've experienced so many blessings. There was the time that I was going to Ron and Regina's to shower and I got a free ride from my stop to their stop (which was very close, but I didn't have time to walk it). There are all the people who have been letting us use their showers. Like my friend Mari who, when I told her it could be up to a month, said, "Don't worry about where you'll take a shower. You can always take one at my house". Or Ron and Regina, whose house has been turned into a public bath of sorts for the missionaries (there is another family besides us who has no water). Or my pastor and his family, who let me use their shower last weekend when I was at their house. Or John and Cindy, another missionary family who have been letting us use their shower. And there was the woman at the little snack stop for the combi drivers. We live at the end of a public transportation line and there is a little snack stop there. Last weekend I heard there was a truck right near there that was giving out free water to people. I had some stuff to do but then went to get mine, but by the time I got there, the truck had left. I asked the women who were at the snack stop and they told me the truck comes every day but it had left for the day. But one of the women was kind enough to give me the better part of her 5-gallon bucket of water. And then there's our dear friend Marga who helps us out in our house, who has been wonderful in helping us keep our buckets and cans and things filled with water.
So, yeah, we have no water. But in the midst of that having no water, I've received so many more blessings and words from God. Yeah, it would be nice to not have to brush my teeth with a cup or pour water into my toilet to flush it. And it would be nice not to have to plan when I'm going to take a shower and rely on the mercy of others for said shower. But I think, for me anyway, the inconveniences have been more than made up for by the blessings and hearing God's voice in the midst of them.

The First Week of School

Since tomorrow is the end of the first week of school, I'll give you a little update on what's been going on here.
I was approaching the beginning of the school year with many mixed emotions. Last year I had some very difficult students. One of them, I found out over break, is not returning. This brought me great amounts of relief, although it sounds horrible to say it. Jesus, teach me how to truly love like You do. But still, I faced the prospect of another year with a certain amount of trepidation. Mixed in with that feeling was one of excitement and enthusiasm for a new year, a clean slate, a chance to improve over last year. On top of that was wondering how it was going to go teaching three grades instead of two.
Monday dawned cold and rainy. On top of that, there was some sort of agricultural strike which affected public transportation. Between these two factors, many of our kids didn't show up. Most families here don't have their own car and depend solely on public transportation to get around. So when there's no public transportation, things come pretty much to a standstill. But, undaunted, we started anyway.
As the week has progressed, nearly all of our enrolled students have showed up, thankfully. Our enrollment is about 130, up from 90 last year. It's been a good week overall. Yes, there have been challenges, but it's been positive so far. I am teaching third, fourth and fifth grade English this year, since we have a shortage of English teachers right now. Despite the busyness and the crazy running here and there, I'm enjoying it.
My third grade class is proving to be my most challenging so far. Managing them is difficult. There are several who I feel like I am constantly talking to. And there's Nohelia. Nohelia is being raised by her brother and sister, since her parents died about 2 years ago. The family is struggling to make it financially and Nohelia is struggling to make it emotionally. The complaint of teachers last year is that she doesn't want to do anything in class. She just sits there. Same story when you talk to her. She just sits there and doesn't respond. The third grade teacher this year echoed that thought when I talked to her yesterday. I noted her reluctance to cooperate yesterday as well in my class. My theory is that she needs a lot of love and a lot of discipline. So I'm trying something. I ask her every time I see her if she needs a hug. And she usually does. I don't know if it will work or not, but it's worth a try. Jesus, thank You for arms and a heart that love to give hugs!
My fourth grade class is a blessing! Last year they frustrated me quite a bit with their bad attitudes and a difficulty with listening and paying attention and obeying. Not all of them, but enough of them that just entering the room made my stress level rise many days, especially towards the end of the year. This year, they are so different! The absence of several students makes a difference, as well as the fresh motivation and some maturing after two months of break. They have been great for me this week and I'm really enjoying them! Thank you Jesus!
Fifth grade continues to be a blessing as well. They enjoy English, are motivated, and generally have a good ability to learn the language. They understand well and are also willing to speak. We have a good rapport. The class has a love affair with pizza which was revisited the second day of class when they asked me when we can make pizza in class again. Oh boy...
I decided to do something new this year and choose a student every day to choose an English song to sing. It's great English practice for them and they really seem to enjoy it. I've also taught all my classes this week a song about the fruit of the Spirit, since that's both a theme in the school this year and the verse we're learning this month. The song talks about how the fruit of the Spirit is not a coconut, banana, raisin, kiwi, cherry, watermelon, grape, etc. Each of the fruits has a motion to it. All three classes love the song and ask to sing it every day. I was very impressed to note today that a good number of my fifth graders are actually getting the words, despite the fact that they are fast and in English! Whooohoooo! Singing together has probably been my favorite part of the week thus far.
I realized, in processing all this tonight, that God has been so faithful and good and truly has answered many prayers for this year, especially as far as fourth grade is concerned and as far as I personally am concerned. I can tell that my attitude is much better since the break than it was before. As I teach my kids the fruit of the Spirit, that's been a focus in my own heart as well. I've realized since being here that my tree needs to be bearing much more fruit. I need to be more like Jesus.
So I'm looking forward to the rest of the year. Oh, I won't say that it won't have its difficult times. I won't say it already hasn't. But I know that I'm not alone in this and that God will continue to be my help and enable me to bear more fruit.