Pirates in Peru

Well here we are again at the start of another week! This weekend has been full of craziness and God's blessings! Since you most likely don't know about my friends over seas, let me fill you in. The college system I graduated from has a great deal of student missionaries sent overseas every year. Currently, my brother's girlfriend is in Peru working in a medical clinic. She is a certified dentist in Peru after about a day of practice at pulling pig's teeth and deadening other missionaries gums!

Here is her page in case you're interested: http://laurensmission2010.blogspot.com/. Unfortunately the good pictures are all on Facebook, I don't think she wanted to gross anyone out on her blog!

ANYWAY, there are also some other girls I know serving as missionaries, although I didn't know they were missionaries until I heard about what happened to them this weekend. If you want to read the full article it is here: http://www.ucollege.edu/news/2010/10/08/student-missionaries-unharmed-after-pirate-incident.

Essentially, they were coming back from a trip upriver and were 'attacked' by river pirates. Thankfully, they were completely unharmed, only being stripped of passports and the like. While this is still a bad situation, it is better than their being killed or raped.

SO TO THE MEAT! Today at school I brought the incident up at prayer time, especially since my bro's girlfriend's parents are talking about not letting her go back to Peru after what happened to these other girls. Later, the kids were wanting to know about pirates. Of course, they had all the usual questions. "Is it like Pirates of the Carribean?" "What do they do to you when they catch you?" "Why do they want to catch you in the first place?"

After spending a great deal of time attempting to explain the pirate situation, some of my Karen students said the following "There is no way they are as bad as Burma pirates! They will hang you!" PRICELESS! It was so funny that they would say that, but so characteristic of the life they left. They know 100% the situation in Myanmar (which they taught me how to pronounce by the way, it is mee-uhn-MAH, whereas I always thought it was My an mar just as it is written. The kids say "English don't know how to say anything right!") and they know why they are here instead of there.

It is so refreshing to have immigrants who WANT to be here, even though it isn't there home. They are appreciative of what they have here, safety being #1!

Awww...another day in the life!